Super Bowl

Steph had a Soop-er Bowl Party Sunday night, with vegetable soup and chicken noodle soup.  Both were yummy.  

When I got to her house, the kids were in the living room, dressed for the occasion.  Nora was wearing a hockey jersey with shoulder pads and a batting helmet.  And football gloves, although she took them off to use her crayons.  It's a sporty house.  I understand that the newest equipment is boxing gloves.  They are big Play It Again Sports fans (resale store.)  And both Nora and Aaron really want to play football.

I am enjoying using the book Achieve Anything in Just One Year.  Today's exercise is putting three quotations into a notebook.  I don't really have a notebook, because I use my phone as an away-from-home note keeper and I have an online journal and a picture journal.  That's enough for me.

Here are my three quotations:

1.  Knowing how to be solitary is central to the art of loving.  When we can be alone, we can be with others without using them as a means of escape.  bell hooks

2.  We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down.  Kurt Vonnegut

3.  The painter has the Universe in his mind and hands.  Leonardi da Vinci

Aaron and Teacher

Another picture from the Book Fair:  Aaron and his teacher.  And his new Minecraft book.

The Minecraft book was the one both kids were hoping to find.  After that, the selections weren't quite as exciting.  The Lego Movie book.  A book about sea creatures.  And one about unusual happenings.  The Minecraft book was definitely the star.

Aaron especially could relate to a facebook post that someone's daughter's Kindle was stolen during a car break-in.  She lost a year's worth of Minecraft building.

Around Christmas, Aaron's Kindle stopped charging.  Amazon very nicely sent him a new one, since his was at the very end of the warranty.  His old one had to be returned.  All his books were in the cloud, but the huge Minecraft roller coaster he'd been working on couldn't be retrieved.  He was so sad, but his new Kindle was an upgraded one, so that helped ease the pain.  

I think he's over it by now, but he might tell you otherwise.

Blogging Slacker

Here I am, the blogging slacker for the past week or so.

It's not because I've been snowed in, because I haven't been.  In my part of the world, it snowed once, early in November, and everyone predicted a horrible winter with lots of snow.  That could still happen, but it hasn't happened yet.

It's not because I haven't been working on projects, because I have been.  It's just that I haven't finished any, except for some alterations for customers.  And I don't take pictures of those.

It's not because I haven't been cooking nice things, because I have been.  At least I've tried.  I made some shrimp tacos on Friday that looked lovely in the picture but which were, in fact, terrible.

And it's not because I haven't been going anywhere, because I have been.  Most noteably, a new antique store very close to my house that is clean and lovely and well-priced.  There is a rocker there that I may go back for.

It's just that I've been kind of writing lazy.

But, above, is a picture of Nora and her teacher.  Thursday night was grandparent night at the book fair at the kids' school.  I was glad it was in the evening because it is crazy when they have it before school.  Turns out that it's crazy in the evening too.  The lines were long, much to the kids' dismay.  I loved the idea, though, that all those grandparents were buying books for their grandkids.  How wonderful.

Nora really, really likes her fourth-grade teacher.  And that's wonderful too.

Paczki Donuts

I wish I had a picture, but it's too late!  Maybe next year!

I had an errand in Clifton this morning and stopped at Graeter's on the way back.  They have wonderful daily soups, posted on the door.  Broccoli cheddar, yum!, was on for today.

I got that, but there was also one Black Raspberry Paczki donut left.  These are a seasonal thing, and by Lent they will be gone until next year.  I've been doing great with cutting down on sugar and carbs, but these feel like a once-a-year celebration so I got one and enjoyed most of it.  Every bit as good as last year.

And, they are taking orders for King Cakes.  If King Cakes are coming, spring can't be all that far behind.  

Where Was I?

I went to the Selma matinee today and was the only one in the theatre.  Not so unusual at the early matinees, but I did expect at least a few other people.  It was a great movie, hard to watch but I know I'll watch it again later.  I think some folks were right - it would have been nice to see an Oscar nomination for David Oyelowo, as well as the director.

The Selma march was in my young adult lifetime but I don't remember it.  I was a sophomore in college and at that time there were no tv's in rooms and I rarely watched.  During the Kennedy assination and funeral we gathered in an upstairs lounge and watched as often as we could, but I don't remember watching Selma at all.  I rarely saw a newspaper.

It's discouraging to me now to think that I missed this part of history because I had my head down in books and class and work.  I don't remember that we discussed it in classes.  I know I was taking French and probably intro to journalism and a photography class.  Probably English of some sort.  

And the next year I was in off-campus housing and probably missed all current events.  I hope that today's college students are better informed.

Hotel Picnic

On this January weekend, Steph and the kids and I went to Bluffton to visit relatives and to have some mid-winter hotel swimming for the kids.  The kids swam like they were starved for it, two long sessions.  After last night's session they put their tired bodies in pajamas and opted for some carry-in instead of going out.  There was an Applebee's right next to the hotel, how nice was that?

I loved just sitting in the warm pool area, watching them and looking at the snow outside the window.  Yep, it's a little farther north, and about half way there we started seeing snow on the ground. 

There had been gray skies further north, but the longer we drove toward home this afternoon, the more blue appeared.  And the more the temperature rose.  After some grocery and TJ Maxx shopping in Cincinnati, it was sunset when I was driving home.  When I pulled off at my exit, the sky was gorgeous.  

It was a great visit, and so lovely to have a January break.  

Friday Off

Today was an in-service day at school, so the grands and I went to Newport on the Levee.  We saw the movie Paddington, which just came out today, then spent some time at the Aquarium.  The kids spent quite a bit of time admiring the fish, which usually get a passing glance on the way to the alligators or turtles or sharks.

Then we ate lunch at Dewey's Pizza, which has a window into the kitchen for watching the dough being stretched and thrown.  Nora, bless her heart, worked her way through a large salad before moving on to a slice of pizza.  Even Aaron ate a little salad, but probably more because he was really hungry than anything else.

Back at my house, they played Chopped with play dough.  Aaron insisted that I had to choose a winner, even though I said it was a tie.  Nora whispered to me to choose him, it was ok, but she still had kind of a sad look on her face when Aaron was announced as the winner.  Really, her veggie burger was lovely, with sesame seeds and a lettuce leaf.  Aaron was very original, choosing a lobster leg sandwich.  I think he was a little influenced by the aquarium.

Don't you love Nora's name on the hood of her hoodie?  It was a hand-me-down with another kid's name in that spot.  Since it was a satin stitch, it wasn't hard to pick out the embroidery and replace it with her name.  It was the first time I'd seen a name done on the hood.