In brief

  • My sister-in-law tells me she wants me to post here more frequently. I told her I would. Instead, I've been dedicating more time to Bejeweled Blitz. Hm.

  • On my wishlist.

  • I haven't spotted my "American Idol" winner, but Rockford believes that Jermaine from Joliet, Illinois, will be in the top ten. And I just wanted to make sure we had that in writing. So. Here it is.

Archives

2010: J F M A M J J A S O N D
2009: J F M A M J J A S O N D
2008: J F M A M J J A S O N D
2007: J F M A M J J A S O N D
2006: J F M A M J J A S O N D
2005: J F M A M J J A S O N D

Papa’s favorite ribs

She's also singing 'Bootylicious.' Parenting fail.

We ended up following my dad to my brother’s house, where we spent the weekend. It was a nice, unexpected visit, and Poppy came home with a new set of songs from “Glee.” She spent a good part of this morning singing “Halo / Walking On Sunshine” and doing a very Martha Graham dance to “Alone.”

What does this have to do with this week’s menu plan? Nothing. How’s that for a segue? (Oh! Speaking of segues, I saw a guy riding around on a Segway at the science museum on Saturday. Apropos of nothing, again, but it made me laugh.)

menubuttonMonday: Grilled cheese sandwiches & tomato soup.
Half of this equation is a known winner with Poppy. Someday, she’ll discover the joy of dipping the sandwich into the soup. I’m holding out that hope, anyway.
Tuesday: Shredded beef tacos
Wednesday: Vegetables korma
I’m trying to cut our meat consumption back to two or three meals a week, so when I saw that Amazon was offering a year-long subscription to Vegetarian Times for $5, I signed up. This will be our first effort from the magazine.
Thursday: Fish sticks with mac & cheese.
I’m not especially looking forward to this one, but it’s Make What You’ve Got week. So this is what we’re having. The kids, at least, will be thrilled.
Friday: Festival of appetizers.
I’m going to make some bite-size sausage biscuits, chicken salad in phyllo cups (both from Paula Deen) and a veggie tray so our sitting in front of the TV and watching the opening ceremony of the Olympics will be all festive-like.

Nichole's Superbowl ad scorecard

  • House made of beer: Not funny.
  • Betty White playing football: Mildly funny. I like Betty White.
  • Doritos, anti-barking collar: Not funny, with a streak of meanness.
  • “Robin Hood”: Not funny. But I don’t suppose it was supposed to be. I love the Robin Hood story, but I’m not sure I’m going to watch this one. Russell Crowe is on my boycott list. Rockford says, “Kinda want to see that. Kinda.”
  • Doritos, “Keep your hands off my mama”: Not funny.
  • Bud Light asteroid: Not funny.
  • “NCIS” head slap: Amusing, even though I’ve ever watched the show.
  • “Simpsons” Coke ad: I’ve always loved Mr. Burns, and his Warhol was lovely. Splendid ad.
  • Go Daddy, Danica massage: These ads annoy me greatly.
  • Doritos, funeral: Ridiculous.
  • Bud Light, voice modulator thing: Made me laugh a little. That T-Pain is a hoot.
  • Monster.com, fiddling beaver: Funnyish, I guess.
  • “The Wolfman”: I so will not be watching that.
  • Bridgestone, killer whale: Ha.
  • Shape-ups from Sketchers: My mom dated a guy who carried around a prototype for a shoe he had invented that was supposed to do something like Shape-ups. I wonder if he’s the force behind these.
  • Cars.com genius kid: Seemed to be an attempt to emulate Wes Anderson, but not very successfully.
  • I don’t know how much longer I’m going to keep this up. I’m pretty sure I know how much longer you’d like me to keep it up, though. Don’t worry. I’ll lose steam and interest soon.
    Continue reading Nichole’s Superbowl ad scorecard

    On movies, dishes, dads and seeds

  • We saw “Up in the Air” last night. It was a well-made movie, I suppose, but I found it pretty depressing. Possibly because Rockford is on the road quite a bit, and now I’m going to have to assume he’s cuddling on a boat whenever he’s away. (Even if it’s Milwaukee in February.) It was, however, not such a chore to watch 1 hour and 49 minutes of the entirely dreamy George Clooney.
  • Wow, there are a lot of dishes sitting on the counter, waiting to be washed.
  • I’ve been having smoothies every morning for breakfast. My frozen fruit stock is down to blueberries and raspberries this morning, which means I’m having a Very Seedy Smoothie. Like, Harvey Keitel in “Monkey Trouble” seedy. In other words, way seedy.
  • My dad has been visiting this week, and this morning he left for my brother’s, to help him with the plumbing in his own personal, never-ending episode of “This Old House.” The upshot of this for me is that there is one melancholy girl here today (and one boy who keeps saying, “Papa? Where is Papa?”)
  • I read “Shutter Island” a few years ago, and I can’t remember how it ends. This is driving me a little batso. Enough so to read it again? Unlikely. And I’m not sure I want to see the movie, because the previews creep me out quite proficiently.
  • Also. I sent an email to Phillips last week, because a light bulb in a brand-spankin’-new package was useless and also dead already. (Yes, I’m a complaint-letter person. I’m crotchety that way.) I got an email back from them this morning. It said, “Dear [ButterscotchSundaeLastName],you will receive a refun within 15 buss.days.” Which is nice and all. I like refunds. But oh the humanity, at least run some spellcheck before you hit send, Phillips.
  • Nine

    Happy anniversary, Rockford. I love you so much.

    A poem for the snow(em)

    Forecast: Six to Ten Inches
    The snow’s falling again. (A lot!)
    Am I pleased about this? (I’m not!)
    If the power goes out
    I will stomp and I’ll shout.
    And I’ll wish we’d actually bought a propane heater the last time it snowed a foot.
    And I’ll put on a few extra socks and huddle under the blankets.
    Still, I’m pleased snow’s out there and I’m not.

    Poppy just looked out the window and said, “Why is it still winter? Winter is too long a season.” And how.

    Because I'm still 13 at heart

    I have never seen “High School Musical,” but White House nearly has me convinced that I need to do so immediately.

    Somehow, we ended up with Musical Mango Applesauce(!) cups in our pantry. The lids have trivia questions on them, such as:

    What sport does Chad participate in at school that might help him caddy for

    << Continue reading "Because I’m still 13 at heart” >>

    Waking up is hard to do

    Around this time a few years ago, I decided to start getting up earlier. As I recall, that worked for awhile. And then I stopped setting the alarm clock again, and I kept sleeping until just before the kids woke up. Or until the kids woke me up. Whichever.

    I’ve decided, though, that it was a

    << Continue reading "Waking up is hard to do” >>

    Ten songs for a snow-dusted morning

    Hoodoo Voodoo (Wilco)
    Maranatha (Matt Maher)
    That’s All It Took(Gram Parsons)
    Skip to My Lou / Four Pence a Day (Pete Seeger)
    Jack & Jill, Verse (Baby Einstein’s Playtime Music Box)
    Wolves (Song Of The Shepherd’s Dog) (Iron & Wine)
    Unknown Legend (Neil Young)
    1000BPM (Beck)
    The Factory (J Dilla)
    Sweet Potato (Music Together)