ICE BLAST WINTER STORM DEEP FREEZE FEST '09

We're having a snow day today, although there is no actual snow on the ground. We did get a good bit of ice, enough to cancel school for the first time since we've moved here. The kids were excited enough to run outside and whoop it up for a full five minutes before running back in, soaking wet, begging for hot chocolate. This is the place where I would produce a photo of the ice, but there was none left by the time I got up, and besides, I don't go outside in the cold if it can be helped.

The media in Texas, of course, goes completely nuts with this sort of thing and immediately sends its reporters out to stand pitifully underdressed on some overpass and proclaim, "Just look at our truck! There's like 1/4 inch of ice on the windshield and the worst is yet to come!" Also there is usually some sort of graphic involved with a title for the storm, but I haven't seen any of those yet. One channel, however, has earned my loyalty with a commercial advertising their website proclaiming, "The snowflake is coming! The snowflake is coming! Check out our website for closings." Well played, NBC5, well played.

So today we are sitting around in our PJ's, watching Bugs Bunny and maybe a little Planet Earth, eating blueberry pancakes and sipping hot chocolate. Later on I might make some cookies. Cold weather and low carbs don't go well together at all, can't you tell?

Speaking of snow, I was thinking today about a blizzard we had when we first moved to DC, back in 2003. My sister Wendy had come to visit with her two small children and I warned her that it might snow a little bit while she was here. Overnight we got two feet of snow and found ourselves completely stranded in the house with four very small children for several days. I still wake up in a cold sweat thinking about it. The really bad part was that we had only lived there a few weeks and did not own a snow shovel. Here's Greg attempting to make a dent:I don't know what he thought he could accomplish with that ice scraper, but you have to admire his optimism.

So now I'm off to make some cookies and play some Uno!

The Best Part of My Day Today

My Predictions for the LOST Season Premiere

1. Sawyer will be shirtless for the entire first episode, or possibly longer.

2. The Oceanic Six will get back to the island in the very last episode of the season, or possibly later.

3. That is all I know. What are your predictions?

When my parents were here for Thanksgiving, my mom told me she wanted a photo of Greg and me to put in their new house in Ohio. I told her we hadn't had one taken in quite a while, but that as soon as Greg shaved, I would have a friend come over and take one.

Let me just stop right now and say that my husband loves to grow facial hair. He changes it from week to week, and I never know if I'm going to come home and find him with a goatee or sideburns or a handlebar mustache or what. I think over Thanksgiving he was going for either a Grizzly Adams look or a David Crowder one, but either way my mom and I agreed that the picture could wait until he was done with that.

This Sunday at my church, there was a photo booth set up to take photographs of married couples. One of our church members is a professional photographer whose wife died suddenly a year ago, and his biggest regret was that they hadn't had their picture made together. So he decided to spend two Sundays photographing couples as a tribute to her memory. So sweet. So here we are in our Sunday-going-to-meetin' jeans, straightened hair, and clean-shaven face. Well, mine wasn't clean shaven, but you know what I mean.

Disturbing Images

This is an evil zebra with its head in my car window.
This is some sort of demon possessed bovine creature.


And this is what it looks like when a camel swallows your baby's hand.
Just a suggestion, if your baby's hand is going to be swallowed by any animal, it is best to have your camera set on auto, as it may be difficult to set the exposure due to your own hysterical screaming.

Another good suggestion: if your baby's hand gets swallowed by a camel, or by anyone really, it is also best to have a pack of baby wipes with you, because when she gets her hand back (with the camel food STILL IN IT), it will look like something straight out of Ghostbusters, and you will look quite foolish just standing there gawking at her slime-dripping hand and telling her to wipe it on her jeans. Especially since you will have just drawn a crowd with your hysterical screams.

Straight Talk

Hi, I'm Chrissy and I've had the same hairstyle for the last sweet forEVER. Normally it looks like this:

(only less bra strap)

Although let's face it, most days it ends up in a ponytail like this: (in my defense, I hadn't planned to be in the picture. Or even out in public that day.)

But for today, maybe for the New Year, it looks like this:

(I'm not too sure about it yet.)

Also, this is what my hair looks like when someone is whining and trying to climb me while I am taking pictures.

(Not now, sweetie! Mommy has to straighten her hair and then blog about it. Now get back to work taking down those Christmas decorations!)

What do you think? Too Rachel? Should I just keep it curly? Different cut? Discuss.

TEN Loads of Laundry.

Ten. That's right, I counted. I'm almost to the point where I can see the end of it. Happy end-of-vacation to me. Anyway, it reminds me of a link to my friend Tracy that I meant to post before Christmas, because it would have been funnier then, but it's still pretty funny. It made me laugh quite a bit.

I also have another link I would like to post, to a blog I have been lurking at for quite a while. Jenn writes beautifully and eloquently about her struggle with bipolar disorder, and it is gorgeous and heartrending and admirable and something everyone needs to read, in my opinion.

In other news, am I the last person on the internet to watch Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog? I read about it on Joy's site the other day and I am completely hooked. It's awesome. It's not helping me get my laundry done at ALL. So funny.

Well, back to folding...and questioning what my life has become. See you soon.

Hi Y'all! Happy New Year!

I've just returned from 8 days of total mayhem in a minivan: our somewhat annual post-Christmas trip out east to see our families. We visited Greenville, SC, Asheville, NC, and Nashville, TN, staying for a few nights in each place. We got slobbered on by camels and zebras, went snow tubing, hiked to a waterfall, lit sparklers, roasted marshmallows, had some Wii tournaments, went on a double date to dinner and the movies, ate some Krispy Kreme, closed down a Pizza Inn, and played Spades until we were delirious almost every night. We visited with each and every cousin, grandparent, aunt, almost every uncle, and some dear friends from college. We also celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary and kissed in the New Year. All that, and we drove about 2,000 miles and watched Looney Tunes for pretty much the whole trip.

So yeah, it was good. It was tiring. And I got a new camera lens for Christmas, and proceeded to take 80 jillion semi-blurry photos of the entire week, so you've got that to look forward to. Here are some of my favorites:

Battleship, Bed Head, and Pumpkin bread for breakfast.Sweet Brody, my nephew.

Bedtime at Grammy's house.

My daddy lighting sparklers with my nephew, Myatt.

Wii bowling tournament at Thomas and Dita's house in Nashville.

Quite possibly the cutest baby EVER, the long awaited firstborn of our friends Thomas and Dita.


And last but not least, here are Greg and me hurtling down a fake snow mountain with children perched precariously on our laps.

A very very good vacation. I'm saving the camel slobber photos for next time.