January 31, 2008

Addictive? (10 Comments)

Filed under: Blog Stuff,Life — The Spider Herself @ 4:17 pm

KN asked the other day if blogging was addictive because she is finding that reading them can be! (Hold on a second while I figure out how to link to a comment. Oh that wasn’t so hard.) Is “be” a preposition and did I just end a sentence with one? Gosh! The things one runs into with Bloggy Stuff. (A copy editor reads this and, I am sure, cringes at each post- but fortunately, I think she’s becoming addicted.)

Back to the subject at hand, I wouldn’t call the actual blogging part addictive. It can be quite difficult to think of catchy titles and figuring out which category to put things in. (One blogger I know doesn’t put anything into categories but I have used it to find things on here before.) Plus, the really important part is actually having anything worthwhile to say! I have posted about having nothing to say (now, where is that? Oh! Here it is.) But one can only get away with that a few times (Hmm, it’s been almost a year….). The kids only say so many cute things and as they are getting older, there is less of that and I only do so many dumb things, thank God! A bright spot is that the weather has provided some blog fodder but that only goes so far too. The actual writing part takes time and thought. I am thankful for Spell Check.

But, the part that is addictive is getting comments. That part is fun! It says someone has read what I’ve written and has thoughts on it. Then, it’s more of a conversation than a monologue. I like the sound of my own voice for only so long.

Last night, I went to the Church’s Monthly Soup and Prayer meeting. I drove the Suburban because our driveway and lane were still snow covered and there were areas on the roads that have snow, ice and slush on them. On the way home, I was on a bad stretch and things were going well. I was thinking about KN’s comment and composing a post in my head when I noticed I was sliding. Towards the ditch. I slammed on my brakes.

Ha! Got ya! Did I hear you slapping your forehead and saying “She didn’t!?!?!?” I’m not (quite) that dumb. I eased off the throttle and steered it out of the slide. I paid more attention and went slower after that.

So…. blog writting may not be as addictive as reading them (I know, I am addicted to reading several) but it can be hazardous to your health.

Now, I am off to check my favorite blogs- think they’ve posted anything yet today?

January 29, 2008

Happy Anniversary! (3 Comments)

Filed under: Blog Stuff — The Spider Herself @ 9:47 am

Happy Anniversary Dear Blog!

It’s a year since I started blogging. I’ve only posted 170 times (with a few from Col. Panic thrown in). That’s not very active- only about 14 per month. I see several blogs that post multiple times a day- but I don’t have that much to say. I have increased my readership from 2 (Col. Panic and ever faithful Boo Boo) to 10, at least occasional, readers. Whoopee! The numbers astound! One complete stranger subscribed but it turned out to be a spammer. I read one blog that started just over a year ago and she has thousands of readers and hundreds of comments. I keep wondering if that is what I want and in reality, I don’t. I enjoy writing for my friends and family and don’t want this to turn into a “job” or a “have to” situation. It’s a record of our lives and what I am thinking about and that is good enough for me.

To celebrate my wonderful husband is taking me out tonight. Oh, O.K., it’s the regular weekly date night and it’s my turn on the rotation. It sounds better the other way.

But I am concerned about the blog’s content- when one is reduced to talking about the weather, is it all down hill from here?

January 28, 2008

Winter (3 Comments)

Filed under: Life — The Spider Herself @ 3:51 pm

We don’t usually have a very severe winter here. If we have snow it would be anywhere from a skiff to 2 inches. The people here are pretty hardy and it doesn’t paralyze things like it does in a certain large city I know. Unfortunately, I am not one of those “hardy” folk due to growing up close to that certain city and prefer to just stay off the roads. Col. Panic, however, loves the stuff- loves driving in it, loves watching it fall and loves being out in it. This year he is getting plenty to play in. We are actually getting a winter!

Last week there was a snowfall with about a 2 inch accumulation here at our place. Then yesterday it snowed all day and so we have a grand total of 10 inches in the yard. It’s very pretty. Especially now with the sun shining and blue sky, at least on one side of the house- the other side is still gray. This year the snow is sticking around for more than a few hours and sometimes it stays around a week. The weather forecast says there are chances of snow showers everyday this week. But they have been known to be wrong before.

The Col. moved things around in the shop last night so he could get the Suburban out this morning. He was very disappointed that the snow plow got to the road before he did. Gasp! That is an unheard of event, normally our country roads are the last to be plowed. The kids did their usual things. The Boy wanted to throw snowballs and his sisters are too wimpy for that. I had to go out and lob a few around. He needs a boy to play with! Pixie would walk around in it but wasn’t interested in being too adventurous. TG stood on the porch and played with the broom. Ah, that scary snow! She’ll declare she likes it when there is none to be found but once there is a trace on the ground she’ll refuse to leave the porch- and I have to (not so gently) insist she go out that far.

It’s been an interesting winter. Often we have an inversion that creates a cold fog bank that sticks around long past it is welcome but this year, due to winds, we haven’t had the fog. I am not sure which is preferred because the winds have, at times, been strong enough to cause damage. We are missing quite a few shingles and we got off easy. Since November about 19.5 inches of snow has fallen. Wow! Some of you may get more but it’s highly unusual for us. We also have had a low of minus 8 degrees Fahrenheit.

And the show isn’t over yet! What is nature’s equivalent of a Fat Lady singing?

January 26, 2008

“Agony!” (0 Comments)

Filed under: HP,Personalities,TG — The Spider Herself @ 12:06 pm

“Agony! Oh agony!” shouted The Boy. He wasn’t really in “agony” although he may have been uncomfortable as he was playing Spider Boy (climbing the walls) to get his “camera traps” down from the top of the closet. The camera traps were large Legos made into various forms and placed on top of the closet in the living room area to spy on people. They have been there for almost a year, I mentioned them here back in March and I was tired of their presence. So he was climbing up the closet opening to reach them all and having to stretch to get them therefor the “agony” part. A great exaggeration.

TG heard him and after a few times started saying it herself.

“Ago-him!”

“Ago-you!”

January 24, 2008

Local food or Identifiable food? (2 Comments)

Filed under: Life — The Spider Herself @ 10:07 am

Col. Panic. has been having adventures at work. They tried to implement something new and it ended up causing quite a few problems. Some of them effecting the 911 dispatch- not a good thing. He has been working late hours trying to get it all sorted out. Monday and Tuesday night he was there late and didn’t have enough food to tide him over so he scrounged around and found some MREs to eat. MRE stands for Meals Ready to Eat. Yes, the lovely things that our soldiers out in the field get to eat daily. When you are hungry- food, or anything slightly resembling food, is a good thing. He described the omelet and hash browns he ate on Tuesday night to us last night at dinner. (He made it home in time to eat with us last night! Yippee!) He said the eggs were kind of recognizable, using your imagination, and the hash browns were a soggy mass but he poured hot sauce on them and that covered a multitude of sins.

We had tortellini soup for dinner last night with fresh focaccia bread, celery sticks with cream cheese in them and salad. I was feeling rather good about our meal because I have been reading a lot lately about “local” food or “knowing where your food came from”. I didn’t make the tortellini (I’m not that crazy, but it might be interesting to try someday…) but the turkey broth was some I had made from our Thanksgiving Turkey and the green beans and broccoli (I chopped it up small and no one seemed to notice it was there. 🙂 was from my Parent’s garden. The rest of it was from who knows where but I thought it was a start. The Col. looked at it and his first thoughts were not that it was “local” food but that it was “identifiable” food.

Look a green bean! Look pasta! Look bread! And salad! Not this says it’s egg, I hope they are right.

I am very thankful we live in a place that has an abundant, identifiable food supply.

January 22, 2008

Highlights and she’s how old? (5 Comments)

Filed under: Life — The Spider Herself @ 11:41 am

I was in the Beauty Salon a few months ago getting my hair trimmed. I’ve been trying to keep up on this. I have a tendency to get it styled and then let it grow out and then a year and a half later do it again. But in keeping with my new outward “image”, I’ve done well with the maintenance this time around. Plus with these long bangs, it has to be cut frequently and I am under strict orders to not cut my bangs myself. (Shhh! Don’t tell! But once in awhile I break the rules.) Anyway, back to the Salon. I was sitting there watching the other people about me in the mirror when I noticed a young girl get a pop from the machine. I put her about 10ish. And then I noticed the foil in her light brown hair. For those of us who are hair challenged, this means she was getting highlights- or lighter streaks put into her hair. I hope my jaw didn’t hit the floor too loudly.

I suppose I shouldn’t be shocked. But I was. Of course, being the cheap frugal person I am, I kept wondering about the cost of getting it done and upkeep- for a 10 year old! Now, if she was in a position to pay for it herself then that would be a different situation. But I bet her Mom was paying for it. I cut my girls’ hair (and all the men’s too) but I can see a day when my Fashionista will want a “real” cut and I can see us paying for that but I don’t think we’d pay for “color”.

Am I showing my Conservative roots again? What do YOU think?

January 16, 2008

Finally (4 Comments)

Filed under: Life — The Spider Herself @ 7:09 pm

I finally got all my Christmas stuff packed up. The tree is unadorned. The boxes are ready to go to the shop. I am just waiting for my strong Man to come home to help carry them out.

I am telling you this so you who have completed this task weeks ago can feel smug and competent. I am all about making you feel good about yourself. 🙂

January 15, 2008

She said WHAT? (6 Comments)

Filed under: Life — The Spider Herself @ 9:05 pm

When I circled the item in the catalog as an idea for my Mom to get Pixie for Christmas I had no idea. What was it that I so innocently thought was a good idea? One of those heads on which a child can style hair and apply makeup. Pixie is so into clothes and making her hair cute- I thought it would be a fun thing for her to have. Sounds safe enough. Little did I know.

Pixie opened it on Christmas morning and immediately found the button that made her talk. I hadn’t noticed that feature in the catalog description. OK, slightly annoying aspect to the thing but we’ll get by. Maybe by not replacing the batteries when they run down. But then we listened to what that dumb blonde in her best Valley Girl voice was saying, and I quote:

“Back to school, need to look intelligent!”

Excuse me?

“O la la! I need to look slick and chic to go with my new outfit!”

This was supposedly for ages 3 and up.

“I feel like a Princess get me ready to Party!”

And the final straw-

“Make me look wild…. grrrrr!”

Yes, the thing actually GROWLED!

Pixie’s Papa took the batteries out while she cried on her Grandma’s shoulder. It was a sad thing but one we felt we had to do. Who comes up with this stuff? Who thought that a doll that growls was appropriate for ages 3 and up? Not us. Sigh.

January 11, 2008

Gifts (4 Comments)

Filed under: Life — The Spider Herself @ 11:43 am

Because I know you are just dying to know what we got the kids for Christmas, especially after my rant here and several rants verbally if you were close enough to hear.

The Children received from their Wise, All Knowing Parents (I’ll wait until you stop laughing….)

5, cinco, funf, five presents. (Plus stocking stuff).

Here is a run down of what they got:

1. Pajamas. Do you know that it is nearly impossible to find nightgowns any more? Much less ones made of cotton or flannel or ones without some T.V. character on it that don’t cost a fortune.

2. White boards, markers and erasers. (Thanks Dawn for the tip!) They are pretty small 12X 10 or so. Blank on one side and with lines on the other. They like drawing on them and we can use them for school. Ooow! Double use!

3. The Girls- tutus. I was going to throw them in their stockings if we didn’t get anything else for The Boy but we found a snap together model airplane for him.

4. Bibles. The Girls shared one and The Boy got his own. (O.K. so The Girls technically received 4 1/2 presents.)

5. The Boy got a telescope and microscope set. Pixie got one of those fashion drawing things where you put paper over the templates and rub with a crayon to make the silhouette. I had been thinking about getting one for her anyway- I always wanted one as a kid and then KN suggested it too. TG got Lincoln Logs. I am disappointed in the set because it has very few larger pieces and tons of the little one inch ones.

So after all that angst and gnashing of teeth, the kids did get presents and I think they actually enjoy them. They, of course, received many wonderful gifts from Grandparents and Uncles and friends. Overall, it turned out to be a Blessed Christmas.

January 9, 2008

How to…. (2 Comments)

Filed under: Dictionary,TG — The Spider Herself @ 11:08 pm

…blow your nose.

Take a tissue, more than one if you can manage it, hold it up to your nose. Sniff loudly. Repeat if necessary. Throw practically unused tissue in garbage. When Mama says “Blow!’ complain loudly that you are blowing and sniff again.