New Year's at Brother D's

I babysat for Brother D. I was all set to be in bed by 10p, but then Brother D promised the nieces they could stay up til midnight. Then he was out the door. Oh, brother! I read a quote somewhere about New Year's Eve that went something like: When you're a child, you want to be an adult so you can stay up! You know you're an adult when you just want to go to bed.

I LOVE this kid. My brother always wanted a kid like Calvin, from Calvin & Hobbes. Well he got him in drag. Convo with Princess Marmalade:

Marmalade: Xena was being mean to me.
Me: Oh? What happened?
Marmalade: Well, I was just spitting on the hamper . . .
Me: Spitting?
Marmalade: And Xena yelled at me!
Me: Because you were spitting on the hamper. Where are you supposed to spit?
Marmalade: [sighs] in the sink.
Me: Sorry, gotta side with your big sis on this one. Hamper-spitting is gross!

We all played a new game from Santa:

Fancy Nancy gets to fancy up her bedroom.

Unfancy Nancy with the plain room.

You draw cards and spin a spinner & poof! You have a fancy room. At one point, Xena accused Marmalade of cheating.

Marmalade: Nuh-huh!
Xena: Yuh-huh! [to me] She's lying!
Marmalade: Nuh-huh!
Xena: Yuh-huh! I can tell. She's got her lying face on!
Marmalade: Nuh-huh!
Xena: Yuh-huh! [pointing] That's your lying face!

It made me think of Dave Dobson. He would never have said "lying face," but he could appreciate what Xena was noticing in M's Other-than-conscious-communication. :-) Incidentally, can you imagine little boys playing a bedroom decorating board game???

After Fancy Nancy, I said, "OK, girls . . . ." Marmalade gave a preemptive, "I don't wanna go to bed, now!" I said, "But you're not going to bed now. It's New Year's Eve. You have to stay up til midnight." 10 minutes later, she was zonked out on the sofa. [Negative reversals, gotta love 'em. Thanks, Dave.] And then there were two.

We played cards:

Triple War???!!!

I taught them how to play Crazy 8's. "You see, kids. Back when I was your age, we didn't have Uno. We played with real cards."

I was really fading! Xena held on as long as she could, but zonked out when I turned on the TV. Aphrodite & I played Spit (another card game) in between commercials. And then!

Kathy Lee Gifford & Andy Cooperson. Yes, I'm being a smartass. I know who they are.

I said, "Happy New Year. Now we can go to bed." "But when are Momma & Daddy coming home?" Hehhhhhh . . . we didn't last. HAPPY New Year!

HAPPY B-Day, Atlasta!

In the family photo album, Mum wrote for my brother, "At last! A boy!" after me & chiro-sister. So of course, we call him Atlasta, a.k.a. Brother D, on this blog. Today is his birthday. SIL has hers a few days prior, so we celebrated them together this past weekend. What would you like for your birthday?

Perhaps some tie-dye duct tape. :-)

Or maybe U2 tickets, in your piratey b-day card?

Make a WISH . . .

on your gluten-free b-day cake! Yes, it really was. :-)

Deva Premal

I was at Brother Atlasta's house watching Battlestar Galactica with him & SIL. We used to watch the cheesy version in the 70's; the new one is much more high tech. As the program started, Atlasta said something like, "That music is so . . . it's not even real words!"

And then. THEN! I started singing along. It was one of those moments of serendipity and surprise. He looked at me like I had 2 heads. "How do you know this? I thought you said you never saw the show."

"It's Sanskrit," I replied. [It's so easy when you speak the language.] "It's the Gayatri Mantra. I learned it from my friends at The Shirdi Sai Baba Temple." Now I have to say, it's so rare that I know something that Mensa Boy doesn't, that it's hard not to be a big sister & GLOAT. Hahahaha

So this is all a preamble to say that tonight, I'm going with my friend Susan, to see Deva Premal; one of my favourite singers. When Susan & I were in Sedona a few years ago, we had the against-all-odds opportunity to see her in concert. I'm ready for another night of Light, Love, & Spirit! NAMASTE, :-) H.

Look behind you!

We had a bit of excitement yesterday. Eldest niece & I were outside taking some pix in Mum's backyard, when all of a sudden she points behind me & says, "Look! A bear!" I turn around with my handy-dandy point & shoot camera:

I got nothin.

Brother D came out with his fancy-pants camera:

And got this photo:

See? No? They are faster than you'd think!

Here's the little guy.

We were being careful because there's always Mama Bear nearby. We did see her back there. My SIL hightailed it to the house with the kids when we saw the Mama Bear. I told Brother D, "Oh, you're high enough up there. She prolly won't go after you." Sadly, no more photos.

Eldest niece wanted to write a letter to her friend about seeing the bear. "How do you spell dear?"
Me: D-E-A-R.
A bit later, "How do you spell bear?"
Me: B-E-A-R. There's your lesson on the wackiness of phonics. If it's dear, how can it be bear? Wouldn't you say dare or beer? Eldest niece says this is the best visit to GranAnne's ever.

On the way home, coming down my road, darting across the road: a bear. TWO in one day??? WOW! Imagine a fabulous photo of a big bear, because, of course, I got nothin'. Too fast for me.

More Googley Fun

Brother D: You know when people ask you something that they could easily look up for themselves?
Me: Yeah?
Brother D: Say, "No problem, I'll send you a link," and send them to this website.

So I'm re-writing my labyrinth website. And I almost thought about saying on the "under construction" homepage: "To learn more about labyrinths, click here." But it might not be so tongue-in-cheek as much as cheeky. So, I'm sharing it here. Thanks, Bro.

DELICIOUS

It's just the beginning of berry-picking season. These are red raspberries. Some people call them wineberries. To paraphrase Shakespeare, a berry by any name is still a berry. The leaves can be used to make a mild-tasting tea & help to relieve muscle cramps (yes, especially monthly ones). They also are a uterine tonic and help to prevent miscarriages.

I often liken my job with John Morgan Seminars to berry picking. There's a season. There's the bumper crop and then the slim pickin's toward the end of the season, but timing is everything. So I'm back to booking our fall season, a bit shorter than the new year. A few of my radio guys are on vacation. I got a "yes" from one at the beach. How nice that he can be at the beach and take care of things from there. I did something similar when I went to the beach last year with Brother D & extended fam. I would get up with the sunrise, have a couple hours on the beach and then work all a.m. & a bit of the afternoon. Someone said, "It's a shame you have to work." I said, "Are you kidding? I'M AT THE BEACH!" How many jobs do you know of where you have the freedom to work from anywhere as long as you have cell service & internet?

Back to the berries: they are v. juicy and sweet. Much like I'm feeling about life at this moment. It's nice when you have those moments of sweetness. :-)

Good Enough Girl

Pictured above is a project that my niece completed in school. A few years ago, my nephew had the same Gallon Girl...errrr... Gallon GUY. Anyway, Brother D/MENSA GUY said, post-eye-roll: "You know, Gallon Girl would have TEN fingers is she were metric." [insert minor metric rant here]. I remember we were supposed to switch to metric back when I was in grade school. It never happened. Except for science class, everything was inches and pounds.

It's an interesting metaphor about change and growth. The metric system makes sense. It's accurate. Most of the rest of the world uses it and yet...here we are, continuing with Gallon Girls & Guys for the next generation. Why don't we change it? As Jim Collins would say, It's good enough. Our nation is not striving for measuring excellence and accuracy. We won't change it until we have to; until there's an absolute need to. Until then, we're stuck with 8 fingers.

Webcamming It

I used to be a techno-phobe, but now I feel like I'm in the 21st century. I still don't twitter or tweet, and I'm a terrible Facebooker, but! I'm loving the webcam. Here's a coupla pix of Brother D playing around:

SpongeBob Squarehead

I don't have pix of my first webcam adventure, but pictured above is me calling XM Radio Guy. So he wasn't answering so I called his phone. Hahahaha The whole point of me learning to webcam it was so I could have a personal training session with T-Tapper Lani Muelrath. AWESOME! Once I was out of my magic-of-webcam trance, I was still just grateful to have this technology. Lani was able to demonstrate the exercises and give me correction in real time. It was so cool! And I learned so much--I feel much more confident in my exercises. Here's what I love about this work: it takes no special equipment or even a lot of space. I can do it at home and traveling. It works as many muscle groups as possible AND it's not just working the muscles. You're improving posture, wringing out the lymphatics, enhancing your overall health. THANK YOU, Lani! This is the best thing since yoga!

All this exercise talk reminds me of something my chiro-friend Catherine said many years ago:

You know the BEST exercise? The one you'll do.

P.S. I'm traveling this week, so may not be posting daily. Today I'll be at our John Morgan Seminar in Cumberland, MD. Then tomorrow I'm going to NYC to see my GSF Vicky. And then! we're going to see Jerry Stocking, author of How to Win by Quitting, on Friday! Woo-hoo! BTW, if you're in NYC, the lecture is free on Fri. from 7-10p at the Meta Center, 214 W. 29th St. 16th Fl. Vicky has never met Jerry so this will be FUN. :-) H.

Cozy slippers

My SIL came shuffling into the kitchen one a.m. in these:

A gift from chiro-sister 2 years ago, they started off as horses. No, really, they did. This fam is all about horses!

Now they sorta look like hamsters, don't you think? Still furry & cute, modeled by one of the nieces. I found a really great quote, so here you go:

How people treat you is their karma; how you react is yours. ~Wayne Dyer

Treasure Hunt

It started at the Dollar Tree when I was getting wrapping paper. I saw V-Day cards and thought I'd get some for my sibs & nieces/nephews. I included candy necklaces and Chicklets. I sent those off to Pioneer Sister. But since I was going to visit Brother D over the weekend . . . one of my nieces requested a treasure hunt. Good idear! I love treasure hunts. Growing up, we would have rhyming clues hidden all over Skymont at Halloween and other holidays. When my stepsons were young, I'd do Easter basket treasure hunts and send them all over the place. Brother D's kids love horses and pictured above is a small representation of their collection, with all the clues, ready to hide: in Mum's car, out in the yard, in the laundry room, etc. How can we make this even more funner? Turn it into a treasure hunt.

Marlene's Birthday

Last weekend, we celebrated Niece Marlene's 3rd birthday. I LOVE this girl. She's so smart and funny. A familiar refrain is, Marlene! What are you doing? She replies, Plotting and scheming. Thanks to my brother.

On the famous YouTube stairs.

SIL was v. wise to get ONE balloon colour. Noooooo! I want the red ballooooooon! All avoided. It was a smallish affair with just the extended fam of aunties & grandparents. SIL picked up a cake. As a fan of Cakewrecks, I was hoping for something with a bit more wreckiness, but we got this:

You call yourself a Cakewreck?

Cakewreck worthy? Well no. But I do appreciate the migrating border in all its ploppiness. And the squiggly writing. And the brown leaves around the Crisco roses; v. appropriate for the winter season. Cue music: All the leaves are brown . . .all-the-leaves-are-brown . . . and the sky is grey . . . and-the-sky-is-grey . . . . If only it said "Happe Brithday" or we'd had a few misplaced quote marks. Alas.

That night at dinner after the rest of the extended fam left, we were at dinner. Mum asked Marlene how she liked her birthday. It was incredible, she replied. That's right, she's 3.

To the "brithday" gril:

May you're thrid year be

as good as to.

Underneat that write

Yay U in blue

Teapot Instructions

Brother D & I did some shopping at Costco for the Xmas Fam Gath. As we were walking thru, SIL called and then after he got off the phone, he said, "Oh yeah. What do you want for Christmas, Hal?" I pulled an electric teapot off the shelf. This. I ooohhhed & aaahhhhed when I opened it. "How did you know I wanted one of these? It's perfect!" So I was reading the instructions this a.m. and this is what it said:


Really? Do not pour in the direction of people or OVER people? Hahahahaha

You know that some nut prolly did this, so they have to warn against it. Or their Legal Dept. is ruling out all options of misuse. There was also the do not submerge in water while plugged warning. But I already knew about that one because I have a hairdryer. ;-)

Happy 2nd Day of Christmas

The 12 Days of Christmas isn't just a song, there really are 12 days. I like this idea because it spreads it out. How was your first day? Merrie? Let me tell you what I did yesterday--wait, back up to Christmas Eve Day: mild weather, perfect for . . . cleaning out gutters? Really, Mum? This is how we're celebrating? Hehhhhh . . . . here's a little tip about gutter cleaning: if you wait until it's been freezing, then the gutter stuff comes out in convenient, icy chunks and it goes relatively fast. I also split my first log for the woodstove. First and last. Now I know I can do it if I have to. My Pioneer Sister is a regular lumber jack with a real ax. We used some wedgey-splitter thingie. Yeah, I'm a wimp.

On to Christmas! It was another mild day and Mum was looking out the window. You know what would be good to do today . . . .

Really, Mum? Wash the cars? That's how we're celebrating Christmas???

But we decided to have a Bones Fest. She made a big pot of veggie soup (YUM!) And then, THEN! Mum stabbed her hand getting an avocado pit loose. That's all right, I'll be fine. Just a minor flesh wound. And she wanted me to stitch it up. But then she found some steristrips from 1978 in her first aid tackle box. Once I knew she was OK, I immediately called Brother D to make fun of the situation.

When we were growing up, he cut his finger and Mum stitched it up at the kitchen table. When Brother D winced in pain, Mum told him to "think of England." So of course, that was the first thing he said, after recommending super glue. We didn't have any, but apparently it works v. well, tho it stings. Well, just think of England.

Day of Rest

OK, I'm at Mum's and there's so much going on, but I will endeavor to slap up a post. The above picture was taken from a Sample folder, but I thought it looks appropriately frosty. Mum is doing the crossword puzzle and Brother D says my quote this a.m. should be:

I am the grammarian about whom your mother warned.

He is, too. He's the reason they created a Grammar Award at Wakefield School. Yesterday we did Xmas. One of the funniest parts of the day was when Brother D was re-enacting the woman in the parking lot who was freaking out. "I done lost muh teeth!" she said while digging down her shirt. Hahahaha

Chiro-sister is celebrating the fact that we have real Q-tips here and not "the daggers" from a previous visit. None of us can leave the house without cleaning our ears. Yeah, TMI. All right, have a GREAT day-of-rest, back tomorrow.

P.S. Here's another quote:
"Marlene, that snowflake is for looking . . . I said LOOKING, not licking!"

Post T-day Food Coma

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz . . . .

We had an AWESOME Gluten Free T-day at chiro-sister Ruth's. And yes, this will be a Hair Wash post because I'm at Brother D's with the nieces. Marlene has just informed me that she has snot. "It's yucky." Hahahaha Speaking of Brother D, last night was the typical lose-it-during-grace. He is the Instigator, but my BIL didn't make it v. easy. He led a v. sweet grace but then added a moment of silence.

*snort*

I keep my eyes closed so I don't see Brother D biting his lip and shaking with silent laughter.

*snort*

Doesn't help because I can feel the table shaking. Hahahaha

It's not funny. Except it is.

And can I just say?

You may have noticed that I didn't post yesterday. I was on the road back home from my quickie-visit to Brother D's. Here's the b-day card I gave him:

This was actually a card I got by mistake. It must have belonged to the person ahead of me in line, and the cashier gave it to me instead. In any case, it did not go to waste! It got the laugh I was looking for. On the inside I thanked him for letting me & SIL celebrate his b-day with Kathy Griffin.

This is the wrapping for his gift. Hot Wheels paper! I orginally got this from XM Radio Guy & we've passed it back 'n' forth a coupla times. Brother D said, "Oooooh...Hot Wheels!" And the gift inside:

Original 1992 Simpson Halloween masks with all your favourite characters! And now for something completely different:

Can I just say...OMG, she is hysterical! She starts off with Where are my gays? As you know from the previous post, Brother D sent me & SIL with his friend Gay Dan--who was so much fun! [Side note here: I was driving SIL & Gay Dan to their cars after the show & SIL was giving me directions. She said, "Go straight at this light." Gay Dan said, "Never!" He said it right before I was going to say, "Except for Dan." Hahahahaha] OK, so back to Kathy: it started with clips from movies, shows, specials, interviews, etc. She was in Pulp Fiction? Really? And then she came out waving both hands to great applause.

Watching her is like having a conversation with her. Did you see [fill-in-the-blank TV show]? And then she gives her quirky, irreverant observations. She talks about her box-of-wine mother, her experiences at the Emmy's, encounters with celebrities, opinions on current events. It was all v. entertaining. So here's the thing--and an unexpected gift of insight from a night with Kathy. She would do a quickie imitation of Sarah Palin (spot on!), and then she'd say, "I've got lots on Sarah later. Don't worry, I'll get to her." She said that a coupla times. She told this hysterical story of sharing a dressing room with Pamela Anderson and then: that was the end of the show. And SIL said in the car, "She never got to Sarah Palin." And here's the thing: she didn't talk about a lot of things, but she didn't put those things on our radar. She didn't give us the idea that she'd be talking about Celine Dion or American Idol. And then not do it. So even tho it was an AWESOME performance, it felt like there was something missing. If she'd never said more on Sarah Palin later, we'd not have been waiting for it. Something to think about when we make promises or suggestions....

OK, So here's the deal:

That's how Kathy Griffin starts: OK, so here's the deal:

SIL & I discovered that we share a guilty pleasure: My Life on the D-List. So Brother D scored us tickets to go see Kathy tonight! YAY, us! And he's sending us with his friend who happens to be gay. How perfect is that? We have our own gay to take to Kathy's show!

BTW, it's Brother D's birthday today. I asked him what he wanted and he said, "You know what I'd really like? I'd like to stay home and babysit the kids while my wife & friend go out with my sister." Hahahaha

HAPPY B-DAY, ATLASTA!!!

If You Need a Good Laugh . . .

This is Brother D's youngest, Marlene. She is so smart and funny and sweet. Marlene! What are you doing? is a familiar refrain. I'll get it on video yet, my brother calls it her Guilty Dance; I wasn't doing anything wrong. See? I'm just dancing.

My favourite on here is her second pass down when she yells, "Awesome!!!" My brother makes a brief appearance to investigate. That can't be good for you sweetie, he says. Later that day we went shopping and I took footage of him riding the shopping cart in the parking lot. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. :-)

Random Brother References

Brother D & I went to the beach yesterday & played in the churning ocean. I was not as brave as he--pretty much I went in up to my shins. But when a wave came, it was up to my waist. It was a good workout, tho. Afterward, we sat on the beach for a bit. There were some girls nears us. I thought they must be cousins or sisters or friends. One of them had this bathing suit:

Brother D said, "Oh, look at that. A fake tramp stamp? Printed on the bikini?" Then she put on a T-shirt and it said, Jesus Loves this Chick. Ohhh...church group. I thought they were sister-cousin-friends....

It was v. windy and little sand pieces were coming at us. Then it started spitting rain at us. Should we go in? Then we both started doing our Mum imitations: No that's all riiiiiight. I'm not getting wet. Then Brother D said, It's a DRY rain. Hahahahaha

We have a huge fruit bowl, but Brother D said no one could eat this peach:

Because it looks like a butt, of course.

No Swimming

When the red flag flies, don't go swimming.

Unless you're my brother.