November 30, 2006

snow day: a photo essay

The last shoes of November. With socks.

7:50 am

He stayed outside until it started sleeting, then decided that he’d had enough. So we came inside and made muffins. Can you believe it? I”m such a housewife.

8:45 am

Looks like a damn school in here, doesn’t it? Don’t worry, later there will be pictures of the kids watching a video and me having a cocktail. Let’s just hope that doesn’t happen until after lunch.

9:15 am

Pumpkin muffins, hot out of the oven. Don’t you want one? I want a shower, myself.

10:00 am

Moroccan chicken and lentils. As I was putting this together, I reached for a LARGE knife and grabbed it by the BLADE. Fortunately, I didn’t cut myself, but I did realize that I need to be WAAAAAYYY more careful, because I totally do not want to go to the ER today. Also, we probably need to sharpen our knives.

10:45 am

Henry: Can we watch a movie NOW?

Me: After lunch.

Henry: Can we eat lunch NOW?

Me: How about we read some stories?

Henry: Nooooo . . . .

Me: How about we won’t watch a movie UNLESS we read some stories?

Henry: Let’s read this one!

11:30 am

As I was sitting here I heard a crashing sound from Charlie’s room. The boys are outside throwing snowballs AT HIS WINDOW. Snowballs that are primarily composed of ICE. No, they did not break the window and no, I did not kill either of them. Of course, it’s only ELEVEN THIRTY, so there’s still time. And I still haven’t showered.

12:15 pm

In the middle of lunch, Henry announces, “Hey, I think I lost a tooth!” He pokes around in his chair and says, “Here it is.” Then he hands me the tooth (eeeww) and finishes his sandwich.

12.30 pm

Why my kids should NOT be allowed to chose their own videos. Yes, that’s Scooby Doo Meets Batman. You didn’t know that Scooby Doo and Batman were ever in a video together, did you? Well they were! And it’s really really stupid. And Robin doesn’t seem to be wearing any pants, which I find a little disturbing. Also, The Muppets Christmas Carol, which the kids are refusing to watch. I didn’t really rent it for them, though, I rented it for me. So there.

1:30 pm

Showered. Thank god.

1:45 pm

French roast, from Starbucks. Because I really want to lie down and have a nap, but the boys have other ideas.

3:00 pm. I think.

Two and a half hours of patch today! Whoo hoo!

Oh good lord I have no idea what time it is now.

Not fighting. For now.

Is it 5:00 yet? No? How about another movie?

Watching the Muppets. And loving it.

Oh thank the lord.

Everyone needs a stegosarus at the end of a long day. Oh, and a glass of wine.

Yes, I know I said I would tell you about the Fabulous Friday Playdate Contest, but you will just have to wait ONE MORE DAY because my husband is home and we’re going to get some dinner and some sleep. Tomorrow! Contest rules and regulations! And prizes! Fabulous prizes!

I know you can’t wait.

November 29, 2006

more swearing! and more haphazard punctuation!!! and a contest!

Baby, it’s cold outside.

I realized this morning that one of my favorite things about Christmas is the inevitability of hearing a gin-soaked Dean Martin happily slur his way through Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Thanks to satellite radio, my kids have heard every Rat Pack version of Frosty the Snowman ever recorded (including the one where I SWEAR you can hear ice cubes clinking in highball glasses), interspersed with various Boston Pops renditions of Carols No One Ever Actually Sings (seriously, Good King Wenceslas? Too hard to say. Also, was he a real king? I should Google that). At our house, Christmas smells like cinnamon and sounds like a swank cocktail party. Now THAT’S Holiday Cheer.

It’s cold as hell here today; in the time it took us to eat breakfast, the temperature dropped from 60 to 46, and it’s still dropping. I sent the kids to school in multiple layers of cotton and fleece, which was weird because just YESTERDAY they wore shorts and tee shirts. Of course, just yesterday it was in the mid-70s here. Sheesh.

Charlie somehow managed, during a fall where the average temperature was 186 degrees, to lose ONE mitten at school, but because I am nothing if not PREPARED, I went yesterday (YESTERDAY! while it was still warm!) and bought new mittens for him. And because I knew we were in for two or three days of bad weather, I stocked up on cheese sticks. Also beer and wine! What else do we need? At the end of the day yesterday I was patting myself on the back because WE WERE READY.

As it turns out, we’re not; we need milk and bread and cereal and perhaps something for DINNER. But at least Charlie’s little hands won’t fall off today, and I could throw a cocktail party if the whim struck (because cheese sticks! and wine! and Dean Martin!).

Henry’s school called a few minutes ago, to remind me about their policy for weather-related school closures because apparently there’s a good chance that school will be CANCELLED tomorrow. So possibly I may want to get something besides cheese sticks for us to eat. And maybe some videos for the kids to watch. And another bottle of wine for me.

Tomorrow I may very well be live-blogging the First Snow Day of the Year, which will certainly necessitate much swearing and random! use! of! punctuation! Plus I’m going to announce a Fun Contest! with a Great Prize! that YOU can win! right here! at Friday! Playdate! Huzzah! Check back tomorrow for details.

Because right now I need to go to the grocery. AGAIN. Dammit.

Hey, whaddya know? King Wenceslas WAS a real person! And he was hacked to death at the door of his church. Surprisingly, that detail didn’t make it into the Christmas carol . . .

November 28, 2006

holiday huffing

Perhaps the last sockless day for a while.

We have a basic plastic Christmas tree, because nothing says Happy Birthday Baby Jesus! like fake pine. The kids are in love with the tree and cannot seem to stop burrying their faces in the pointy pretend needles and inhaling deeply, which just drives me berserk and also grosses me out a little.

Me: STOP SMELLING THE TREE!

Henry: But we can’t HELP OURSELVES!

Charlie: Because it smells like GINGERBREAD!

The tree, if it has any particular odor at all, smells vaguely like warm dust, probably because last year we were too damn lazy to close the box completely and so it wasn’t exactly clean when it came in the house this year. We have two ornaments made of cinnamon (yes, really! and no, I have no idea how you make a Christmas tree ornament out of cinnamon) which really do smell lovely, although not really like gingerbread at all. The boys are fascinated by the smelly ornaments and have been sniffing everything else on the tree to see what Christmas smells like. Because, as Henry pointed out, they can’t HELP THEMSELVES.

I’m left wondering two things: one, can you get high from sniffing cinnamon? and two, how did I turn into someone who says STOP SMELLING THE CHRISTMAS TREE?

Ho ho ho.