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December 30, 2003
My blog runneth over...
Well, not exactly my Blog alone, but I did run over my allowable disk space so my photo gallery is amok. Oh well...that will be on the list of things to do in the New Year. Wow...2004. I do remember thinking as a youngster that I'd be darn old in 2000; nah...I don't feel it yet.
So I still haven't taken anymore new photos but I did go though what I did have. I did take time out from watching Kieran and Maura to actually take photos Christmas Morning. Fortunately Morgan
took one of the more artistic ones...what an eye he has. Notice my new neon flamingo reflected in the window pane upper left wreath. Ahem...someone (coughlizzie) seems to think our den window resembles some Bar & Grille place with my new addition.
At anyrate, I think we are surviving post-Christmas stuff...Finished the rest of my shopping for after Christmas celebrations. Now I feel kind of ok with the fact that I never got too many decorations put up nor a christmas Tree at all. I don't have much to take down now. We may even manage to escape The Plague that has afflicted the Stamford Johnstons and may have made it's way west to Pittsburgh. I don't like being sick so I do believe my hands were washed red and raw while in CT. Now, of course, I did hold Kieran while he was ill, he even slept on me.. peed on me and everything, so I didn't shirk my Granny duties at all...I just washed my hands 25 times an hour. I hope that was enough. xxxfingersxxx
So, in case I don't get back here for whatever reason....Happy ..and Healthy..New Year to all.
Posted by frani at 05:36 PM | Comments (1)
December 28, 2003
Sooo Where's Frani?
I'm here, I'm here! Monday morning we left for CT to spend Christmas with the Grandchildren, their parents, Uncles et al. We had a great visit but barely enough time (ok, energy left) to read email, much less blog anything. We drove home yesterday, finished listening to our book on tape and slept......
*Maura: "What surprise! So nice see you!" ...melt...
*Kieran still has that big open mouth smile; he's determined to walk upright like the rest of the family...
*All our online orders arrived in CT as promised....
*PopPop Gary gave Maura sleighbells on the way home from Church; she actually exhibited rythmn as she conducted us all in rousing choruses of Jingle Bells and We wish you a Merry Christmas.
*Christmas Eve..cookies & Milk were left out for Santa.."Hey! What doing down there? Hear noises?"
*Everyone insisted they exhibited restraint this year...except Grandma Jean, she made no such claims and she was right...none of us did.
*I'm pretty sure Kieran liked some of his presents more than the boxes they came in...
* I got a new camera but as usual I took very few pictures; I think I might miss something...hehehe. I'll get better at it especially since it takes videos too. Anyway...I'm looking forward to better quality photos. (I suspect it really has more to do with operator error though...
Belated Merry Christmas to all.....
Posted by frani at 10:38 AM | Comments (2)
December 21, 2003
Chestnuts roasting on an open fire....
I think it's quite ironic that someone like me with a fondness for flames (legal, well, except for the fireworks) doesn't have a fireplace..or a woodstove...or even a gas fireplace. Maybe someday...in the meantime I'm spending a small fortune on candles....and wooden matches...lighters...butane. Maybe I need a welding torch.
I don't think a radio station should be advertising it's "all christmas music all the time" format with catchy tunes like o/'o/'o/'Chipmonks roasting on an open fire o/'o/'o/' 'Tis the things of which therapy stories are made.
I like wrapping bags...even if it does seem like cheating to some extent. In my case however, they are really fancier than anything I wrap...I don't tend to get too creative in my wrappings. If there is a bow on anything, it's there for a reason...ya know? I did find that wine bottle bags make for great wrappings of tall skinny things in general though. Hard to find a tall skinny box. some decorative plastic bags are good for oversized or oddly shapped toys...something perverse about using them for kids toys though...this bag is not intended as a toy; keep out of reach of children, hhhmmm...even though it's brightly colored with Santa and snowmen and Christmas stockings...
I still have to buy another bag...and some batteries...I know someone will have need of some batteries...I can think of 11 so far just for things I've bought.
It's likely to be a bit on the wild side out there today...last minute shoppers geesh. Even the pet food store yesterday had a line of at least 25 people! I couldn't believe that there were so many people just like myself who had pets in danger of starvation at the very same time! Only the memory of those two sets of eyes ..piercing..."go forth and buy food" kept me at the store and in line. Ok, Ok...I also got them more furry mice toys, but don't tell them.
Guess it's time...have a good day all...be careful out there.
Posted by frani at 10:17 AM | Comments (1)
December 18, 2003
Rain, ice and snow, oh my...
Interesting mix of weather conditions yesterday; rained all day then the big fat flakes started coming down around 4:30pm. Looks like we got another 8 inches of very wet slippery stuff. It's clinging to the trees and even the fence out back and looks very pretty. I'm sure I'd hurt myself if I tried to shovel it though. (the photo is the WCAX skycam atop their facilities in SB)
Opppss...just remembered the green car is still running out there. I didn't expect the snowplow guy to come back so soon since it didn't look like much accumulated after he plowed this morning...2:38 am I believe. Actually I was pleased he came back to clean it up from the street and sidewalk plows. This also gave me a chance to move cars so he could finish up.
I'm sure he was most impressed by my appearance in my flannel flamingo pajama bottoms......but probably didn't notice how trendy I was in my Ugg boots though. Men...they just don't know fashion.
Posted by frani at 10:39 AM | Comments (0)
December 17, 2003
More things that make you go hmmm...
I went shopping yesterday......yup, braved the big box area for the few "knowns" on my list. Run in, grab, pay and leave as quickly as possible. Of course some lines were worse than others but I managed to always pick the slowest moving one. Stupid me, I even switched lines and you KNOW the one I left processed 3 people ahead of me who would have been behind me had I stayed put. This morning I'll brave downtown Burlington......yup, going big time.
Sooo, you ask, where's the hhhmmm??? Well, along with the shopping comes the wrapping and looking for boxes that have weathered not too many Cristmases so as to appear distressed. While gathering goods from the guest room closet I found 3 flat boxes...wrapped...looking vaguely familiar. Hhhhmm..looks like they came from a men's store. hhhmmm...has the look of something my Mother-in-law might have picked up for her son and two grandsons.
Hhhmmmm.....now what year could that have been? My Sister-in-law suggests I just rewrap and add them to the pile and appear generous..unless of course they contain cash where apon yes, she left them in the closet over Thanksgiving. Hhhhhmmmm....
Posted by frani at 08:12 AM | Comments (2)
December 15, 2003
By Popular Demand...
These are all "after" shovelling and second snowplowing...I had not taken photos because I had not installed a photo resizing/editor on my "new to me but cleaned up" computer. Now I have one.....
The measurement was taken just off the sidewalk..looked "untouched"
Car across the Plowed Driveway
Posted by frani at 03:18 PM | Comments (9)
Another Manic Monday....
It's still snowing. How much we got so far is hard to say.
The snowplow guy came around 2:30am and he doesn't plow unless there is 4 inches or more...or less if it's been a slow season and it's March.
Diane drove out this morning leaving tracks in at least 5 inches of snow since it was plowed...she must be nuts.
I can still see the sawhorse I used to mark the end of the new sidewalk but only about 6 of the top inches.
I parked the green Saab next to the house and it's not visible at all...just a big lump...no wheel wells..nothing. Ok, wait...I can see a side mirror sticking out.
The snow is higher than the 3rd step up to the porch but not the forth...or is that the 4th but not the fifth? hhhmmm....
However, it's sooooooo deep that Knoel tried to go out twice this morning for his business. He finally gave up and used the litterbox...I've never seen him do that.
Now that is deep....I'm guess-timating 2 feet of the pretty white stuff.
We are prepared though. I bought groceries and got 4 movies that aren't due back for a week. Oldies...last night's viewing pleasure was Hotel New Hampshire . John Irving book...wow, youngish jodie Foster, Beau Bridges and Rob Lowe!!
I also have all my Christmas decorating to do minus the tree...I didn't get one yet. I have crafty things to do...books to read... and banana bread to make judging by those long black skinny things in the fruit bowl.
o/'o/'o/'o let it snow, let it snow, let it snow o/'o/'o/'
Posted by frani at 08:51 AM | Comments (2)
December 13, 2003
Home...
We are home safe and sound...it's a cold 13 degrees out there..there is still some snow left after Thursday's rain...Whew.
" We'd like to Welcome you to Kennedy International Airport where the time is 6:05am. Please stay seated with your seat belts fastened until Captain Johnson parks at the gate. This is for your safety in case he has to turn sharply or stop suddenly...and, as always, he likes to be the first one to reach the gate."
Posted by frani at 12:29 PM | Comments (4)
December 12, 2003
Martha Overload...
So it's Friday and I'm packing...yeah not too quickly since I don't check out until 1pm and our flight doesn't leave until after 11:30pm...sigh. I have the movie page saved and packed in my computer bag.
I'm watching Martha Stewart Living on TV...ack!! I want to make ribbon candy ornaments...I want to make the sugar cube candy house as an alternative to ginger bread...I want ! She drives me crazy..I want to do it all too! I see those Seafood Shooters as a real possibilty. In case you don't want to look just now, they are little glasses of bloody marys with chopped shrimp mixed in. Yum!
Whew.....actually I also like the sugar cube house too. Reminds me of playing with plastic bricks as a little kid but also that Greg gave me 4 barrels of plastic bricks for my birthday the first year we were married...;-D I do believe they are down in the basement somewhere. I think I have to find them.
Eh, now there's a chore. I guess we can make the sugar cube house another Christmas...don't have to do it all this year.
Hmmm 11:16am...only a short 12 hours before we get ready to start boarding our flight home...my how time stands still.
Posted by frani at 01:17 PM | Comments (1)
December 11, 2003
Not This Granny...
So I thought I had found the cutest "book" for my Grandchildren...."My Granny's Purse" by P.H.Hanson. At first glance it struck me as being a lot of fun, visions of little critters sitting with me as we explore the contents of the purse...keys and notebooks and passports...discussing all the possibilitties in the world found right there in Granny's purse. Cute Grandmothery type words of wisdom written on the contents as well..." Sweets for my Sweet"..."Never say Never"..."Life is an adventure"...Great huh?
Nope.......
Each one of those Pearls of wisdom from Granny is predicated by something "Mommy says..." "Mommy says Never go through anyone's purse/ Granny says Never say Never"....Get it? Wrong
This Granny says Never overrule Mommy.
Sigh....what a missed opportunity....that could have been a fun toy.
Posted by frani at 10:34 AM | Comments (2)
December 09, 2003
Soooo, where was I...
Saturday and Sunday it snowed...a lot...in Vermont. I was there. We got about 16 inches before we left Sunday evening and it had started snowing again then. Looks like winter arrived with a real snowstorm and there will be a white Christmas this year. Yea!
We are now in Utah...got to the Hotel about 4am Eastern time yesterday .... made for a short sleep night for us. I was listening to the radio this morning about the big storm they had yesterday and a few more like that would make a significant different in the drought conditions. I certainly hope there was something more in the mountains because there is nothing here on the ground that is all that exciting...rain either for what I could tell. Maybe I missed it being inside. It's cold but the roads and sidewalks are all clear. No boots necessary, Thank you, since I didn't wear/bring any.
So I sometimes meanmouth my preferred status airline USAir..I know, you haven't really noticed. Anyway...when they do something right, I feel I should say something. This morning's email brought notification from USAir that no longer would Expedia be allowed to sell tickets on USAir flights. Seems USAir was not thrilled with the $5 surcharge Expedia tacked on to begin with but sometime over the Thanksgiving Holiday, the fee increased with no warning to $8.99. Factoring in these fees represents to the public that USAir tickets are more expensive than competitors blah blah blah. Sooooooooooo not only was Expedia getting commissions from USAir for selling their tickets, they were also getting fees from the consumer and ONLY those consumers buying USAir tickets. So, USAir told them NO....good for them. I have to say I haven't bought a ticket or reserved a room from any travel site which tacks on their own fees on top of the commisions they are already earning from the hotel or airline in quite a while. I'm not going to either...the noive. Bad Microsoft....
Soooooo, what do we think about Al Gore endorsing Howard Dean for President? I think most Vermonters are still flabbergasted and may now have to consider Howard's chances very real. Oh my.......
Hey out there...be careful...use a virus scan....I've been notified that 2 viruses have been removed from my computer in the last 5 days...one worm this morning. Whatcha all doing to me? What have I been doing?? Where have I been??? Why am I getting these? Of course in the hotel, I'm not behind a firewall either. gggrrr.....
Guess I'll go out there again to see what I can find for Christmas gifts...have a find day all.
Posted by frani at 11:55 AM | Comments (1)
December 06, 2003
Adventures in Traveling..
...the saga continues....
It rained most of the day at the hotel...a little wintery mix now and then from the sound of it all. The ride to the airport was uneventuful thanks especially to our knowledge of the "back route". By the time we got near Reagan National there was no evidence of snow at all. I had been spending the day looking up flight status of other flights to VT. I was confident.....silly girl.
Since we were 5 hours early we were given the chance to give up our 9pm direct flight to VT to get on a 6pm to Phillie and then a 8pm to VT..both first class. Seemed reasonable thing since our 9pm was already listing as being an hour late and the weather was going to deteriorate. We took it...silly people.
First it was delayed...then we were told we wouldn't make our 8pm connection ( but there was a 9:45) then they finally announced the plane wasn't even going to land in PHL at all so unless you were planning on going to Portland Maine..get in line. We got in line at the USAir Club where that woman said no way would she have ever switched us to Phillie flights since they'd been having trouble all day there....I seeeee. So we got rebooked on our 9pm direct flight to no snow land.
It looked promising when we boarded at 9:45 when they showed a 10:21 departure...it looked less promising when we started taking on more fuel at 10:45pm and even less exciting when we finally left the gate at 11:45pm to get in line to de-ice. We got home around 1:45am.
Add to the mix some interesting (not) folks sitting near us...the guy who immediately took off his shoes...AND SOCKS..and proceeded to stick his yucky crusty foot out into the aisle near Greg. Since we had just seen on the news that there is a terrorist threat of carrying explosive materials onto planes via socks, I was tempted to alert the crew. As it turned out, he was just annoying especially when he decided to put his sneakers out into the aisle along with his water bottle and made no attempt to move them or apologize when people had to step over them. I guess some people think their frequent flyer privileges are more extensive than others.
The young lady behind him ..and I use the term "lady" loosely...was also annoying as her language deteriorated along with the weather and delays. I do believe we all realized how effin' frustrated she was. I wonder if the foot guy ever figured out she was reading his computer screen over his shoulder...I would think he would have felt her breathing in his ear.
At any rate...as I said..we are home..it has started to snow here now but I have to go out and get some stuff.....have a good day all.
Posted by frani at 10:32 AM | Comments (0)
December 05, 2003
o/'o/'o/' Oh the weather outside is frightful...o/'o/'o/'
hhhhmmmm...we could have stayed home and missed this! Hello, Hertz? It's winter now...a car brush/scrapper would be an appropriate item to have in the car. There may be a scraper in the glove compartment; I haven't looked yet, but that doesn't take 5 inches of snow off the car. BTW...this is definitely snowman snow...wet...heavy...packable; yup slippery! I'm sure it will be a joy traveling to work this morning and back.
NOW...your job for the day is to send clean up and stop vibes down this way so our flight leaves for VT relatively on time..ok ok...I'll even settle for TAKE OFF!
Update: Ok...the glove box contains this yellow plastic thing...It might make a good back scratcher but that is about it. Hello, Mr Little Black Truck with no season tires? Going faster is not going to straighten you out. What happened to my lane? One minute it was there and the next it was not only snow covered, it was nearly too deep to get out of...and this on a 5 lane road!! It seems to be sleeting or something now...interesting.
Posted by frani at 07:19 AM | Comments (3)
December 02, 2003
Body Language...
So I've always contended that our bodies tell us what we really need, explaining why some of us favor salt over sugars and such. Hey, it's MY justification! Anyway, I can handle the arguements I have with my body for the most part. You know the ones....not letting go of the stored fat ( no we aren't experiencing an artic freeze or entering a famine state) or going overboard in reminding me that fats in general just aren't healthy. BUT, I do take great exception when my body tells me we don't need to sleep! Yes we do...we like sleep, sleep is good and I certainly did NOT get enough of it last night. Hrumph, someone else didn't sleep well either but how come we both thought the other one was sleeping as we tossed and turned all night??? hhhmmm???
Oh yeah...Hertz gave us a Subaru Legacy 4 door....it's not a bad little car at all.
Hey...I just noticed the decorative jar of fancy pasta is missing from the shelf in this kitchen here at the hotel....hhhmmm...I wonder if it's going to be someone's Christmas present? Who's cynical?
I went shopping yesterday...there's a surprise. I found a few things I was looking for but what I really need is a mold of a lobster. Sand toy, candy/candle mold...something substantial in size though...not lollipop size. Any suggestions? I did find one online but geesh, the shipping charges were going to be outrageous for a $2.38 piece of plastic. I'll be checking out Michael's and toy stores today. Oh yeah...and I need it in Vermont Saturday morning...early.
Almost time to be able to go out and play this morning....damn these stores open late...I've been ready for hours. Oh right...I didn't sleep.
Posted by frani at 08:29 AM | Comments (0)