My Life is Complete and Other Random Notes

1.  I go back to work tomorrow.  Sigh.

2.  We've had a huge bough dangling from the tree in front of our house for a good six months now.  It had almost broken free but was caught on a branch.  I had hoped a winter gust would bring it down and sure enough yesterday, with a huge crash, it did.  Thank you wind!

3.  Yet again, staying at a hotel had increased my resolve to buy a new mattress.  I might just do it this time.  Owen put in a vote for a king size bed but I don't think you could make it into our bedroom with one.  And pillows.....I want new pillows!!!

4.  This warm weather has given some of the plants ideas.  Look at this Swiss Chard thinking maybe it has a chance....

5.  We'd thought about a couple of outings on New Year's Eve----the Duke of Uke at Fries and Peanuts at 4:30 and then a party later but after being away it seemed we all just wanted to curl up at home.  So everybody got to choose a food which led to cheese pizza (Owen), Cheetos (crunchy of course) and a weird bacon/shrimp appetizer (Ernie and me).  Actually Ernie and I had other appetizers planned but we didn't get to them.  He liked the bacon/shrimp thing----it was o.k. but I think I could improve upon it.

6.  We pulled out some of the new games we got.  We started with Scrabble with Owen putting the first word triumphantly in:  "um."  That pretty much sums it up.  Oh, and a quick piece of advice:  NEVER play Scrabble with someone who constantly does crossword puzzles.  We moved on to Monopoly which is a new version using little debit cards instead of cash.  I was suspicious because I'm such a traditionalist but it's really been fun.  Watching Owen shake the dice with both hands yelling things like, "come on, Owen needs a new pair of undergarments" is uh....refreshing.  Then when he gets so excited that the dice keep tumbling onto the floor we take a break so we can all calm down.....  So far Ernie has the least money but he most properties and I must note that I am the proud owner of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.  Wooooo!

7.  Are you wondering why my life is complete?  Well....it's because there if finally a video of the Motor City Rockers (Jimmy Marinos' post Romantics band) on YouTube.  WOOO-HOOOOOO!  WOOO-HOOOOOOO!  They were one of the best shows I've ever seen in my life and I put that up with EVERYTHING else I've seen....I kid you NOT.  Biddy Mulligans.....ewww, that place always smelled like old beer, but sometime in the early 90's Ernie and I walked over there from our apartment in Rogers Park and got totally blown away.  We chatted with some girls that had come down from Detroit to see them----they told us how lovely the guys were.  Oh, and they WERE!  hee, hee hee.....     OHHHHHHHHH.  I couldn't sleep for days.  Ernie finally found me the CD and gave it to me for Valentine's Day a few years back and I've been looking online forever.....ahhhhhhhh......  They should have been huge Cheese Metal stars.  Life is so unfair, huh?

8. Happy New Year all!  Uncle Mistletoe lives (evidently he's in a display case in Field's--oops, Macy's, because he's too frail for the tree!  Thanks so much to Sol for letting me know!  So Uncle Mistletoe lives and I've got a video of Motor City Rockers----oh, yeah....and my family of course....it's going to be a good YEAR!!