Living in a one-horse town

Most of the time I like living in a small town.  Really, I do.

Today is not one of those times.

Our post office was apparently only open from 8:30 to 10:30 this morning.  Not only did I have book orders to mail, but they’ve been holding our mail for the past week, and I’d dearly love to know what is sitting there waiting for me.

I was so annoyed that it was closed that I drove all the way home and was inside the house before I remembered that I wanted to go to the Pharmacy to get some Sudafed.

I hauled my cookies back out to the car and back downtown only to discover that the pharmacy was closed, too.

Moving on:

I can’t decide which of these two pictures I like better:

This is my adorable nephew Colin. We were watching Mark, Will, and Joe skate in Central Park.

Colin is such a sweetheart.  He’s sporting a hat that his Gramma Reed (my mom) knit for him.  He calls me Aunt Suzy and says “Suzy” in a way that I wish I could reproduce so you could understand just how cute it is coming out of his mouth.   He mimics everything.  If you ask him to say something, he’ll try.  It’s pretty funny to listen to him.  My boys didn’t talk as much (or as early).  He shares a nanny with a little girl that is 6 months older than he is, which I suspect has had an impact on his early language skills.  I wish he lived closer so I could spoil him more.  I will get to see him (and spoil him) again in another 6 or 8 weeks — after his little sister arrives!

TTFN-

S

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Trip report number 1

Our flight out of Newark was fine.  Our flight out of Minneapolis was 2 hours late, so we ended up with a 6 hour layover.  We could have rented a car and been home before our plane even left.  Oh well.  We made it.  The luggage made it.  The dog was happy to see us.  And it was nice to sleep in our own beds.

Unfortunately, I wound up with another cold, and  my head feels like it is going to explode again.  Flying with congestion is not recommended.

I’m not sure how many vacation pictures I’ll share, but I’ve started going through what we took and thought I’d share a few.  These will probably end up being completely out of order

Our list of Things We Really Wanted To Do in New York City included a trip to the Statue of Liberty.  We ended up doing that on Wednesday, which, ironically, was the day that had the worst weather.  We could barely see Manhattan from the Statue.  And it drizzled on us most of the day.

Couple of things I wasn’t expecting:  first off, technically Liberty Island is “in” New Jersey.  Second, she wasn’t nearly as big as I was expecting.  Don’t get me wrong:  she’s big, and she’s pretty amazing, but…not as big as I thought she was from seeing her in movies and in pictures.

We did get to go up into the pedestal (visitors are no longer allowed to go up into the Statue itself:  after 9/11 they started enforcing fire code, which would have made it nearly impossible for anyone to go up, so they just stopped letting people up at all.  Prior to 9/11, they would let something like 300 people up at a time, fire code would have limited it to 5 people an hour.)

It was still a pretty impressive view (even with the mist and fog) and they have a nice museum inside the pedestal.

One of the things you see is this replica of her face:

This is probably sacrilegious, but you do know what the next picture is, right?

I mean honestly, how can you expect two 8 year old boys NOT to put their heads up her nose?

I can’t remember how long we had to wait to actually get into the pedestal/museum.  It wasn’t so much the quantity of people as it was the security check.  We had had to go through security in order to get on the ferry, but this was an additional security check which included a machine that checked for explosives.

We did go to Ellis Island, but didn’t spend much time there.  The boys were completely uninterested, and we didn’t want to miss our assigned time for the trip to the Statue.

And even though the weather was a little bit yuck, we were glad we took the time to go see Lady Liberty.

More later, I have to go blow my nose.

Suzanne

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Quick update

We are waiting for the pizza delivery guy to bring our supper. My brother-in-law, nephew, boys, and I spent the day in the city at the Natural History Museum.  My husband took a trip to the doctor with my sister.  We were afraid he had strep throat, but it is apparently just a virus.  He was quite miserable yesterday, and I think he’s better today, but not by much.

Our plane trip was fine, but our luggage didn’t make it on the 2nd plane with us.  We arrived at about 4:30 PM on Monday, but didn’t get our bags until 12:30 PM on Tuesday.  Bummer.  At least we got them, right?

We are having a lovely time visiting, I just feel so horribly for my poor husband.  We’re hoping that he feels at least a little better tomorrow, as we are planning a trip to the Statue of Liberty.

I hope that all of you  are having a nice week, and I’ll babble at you again soon!

Suzanne

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Christmas Journal — days 20 and 21

The 20th says:

Just a few weeks ago, I wouldn’t have believed that I would have a picture of  my boys with their Smeigh cousins to put in my Christmas Journal.  David’s phone call telling us that he and his family were coming  — all the way from Tunisia! — to spend a few days at our house while they were in the States was a huge Surprise.  We had an awesome visit, and were so sad to see them leave.  Joe wants to go visit them in Tunisia next year.

The prompt for the 21st was to take a picture of your house right NOW — was it ready for the holidays??  Was it a mess?  Well, the pictures I managed to take that day all had to do with the family that was filling up my house, so that’s what I decided to go with for the day’s entry.

If you are interested in the credits for the digital elements, you can click on the picture(s), which will take you to Flickr, where you can view the entries larger, read the credits, and see past entries as well.

And with that, I really am signing off.  We were supposed to have visitors today, but with the weather, that didn’t work out:  which meant some unexpected time today to get a few of my journal entries caught up.  After this, though, I’ll be taking notes and pictures, but not doing the actual entires until my return.

TTFN-

Suzanne

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A funny

I was sending an e-mail to someone and just remembered this funny from this morning.

At some point, possibly after the Wii got opened, but maybe before (I can’t remember, it was such a blur…) Will said, in a very thoughtful tone:

“It doesn’t look like I’m going to get a plasma TV.”

Ya think?

Happy Holidays!

Suzanne

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Reporting in from Snowdrift Central

Woo-weeeeeeeeee

It is still super, super windy here in Iowa.  We can’t even go south of our house, the road is drifted shut.  Mark is out plowing our driveway (for the…3rd? 4th? time today) in order to allow us to get out and make a trip to check on my Mom.   I’m not really sure how much snow we’ve actually gotten.   In some spots, you can see the layer of ice that was there before, in other places, the drifts are several feet high.

The wind was supposed to have died down earlier this afternoon, I just hope it gives up and quits overnight so that our flight isn’t delayed (or, heaven forbid…canceled….)

The following picture pretty much says it all as far as our Christmas celebration goes:

They started playing at 10 AM, and except for a few quick bathroom breaks didn’t stop until we made them come eat supper at 5:30 PM.   No lunch, no snacks, no quick drinks:  just uninterrupted Wii action, all day long.  I’m surprised they even stopped to visit the loo.  They know that being allowed to play all day long is pretty unusual….and I thought I’d say it out loud, lest any of my readers think we are horrible parents.  We decided that since we were going to be dragging them away from it right away, we’d let them get a bunch of play time in.  Of course, my sister has one too, and I suspect that they’ll be allowed to play hers a little bit, too.

I was excited to hear that the weather in Hoboken/New York City is supposed to be in the 40s/50s while we are there, which will be a welcome relief from our current weather situation.  Plus, some of the things we are planning to do are outside, so having decent weather will make everything much more pleasant.

I suspect that I will not be blogging much while we are gone.  Maybe a quick update once in awhile, but don’t expect much from me until I get back next weekend!

I hope that you are having a wonderful and happy holiday season.  Stay warm and safe!

Suzanne

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Faux Christmas Eve

Because of our impending trip to see my sister, we decided to e-mail Santa and ask if he could come a few days early. Unfortunately, we didn’t realize we’d be getting a snowstorm this evening when we made that request. He seems to think it won’t be a problem, though, so tomorrow morning Wii will have lots of Christmas news to report.

Mom seemed to be in pretty good spirits tonight when we took some supper over to her. I think she’s still in quite a bit of pain, though.

On our way over to her house, we had to stop at a friend’s house so that the boys could take care of their bird and fish. Would you believe that when I got out of the truck I fell? Good grief. Luckily I’m just sore and not actually hurt. Well, only my pride.
After we got home we watched The Polar Express and read Twas the Night Before Christmas.

I had to finish a top secret quilting project, but now I’m ready for bed.

Because, of course, Santa can’t come until we are all asleep, right?

TTFN-

Suzanne

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Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake

Susan asked if I would share the recipe for the coffee cake recipe that is a Christmas tradition in our family:

First, you need to turn on your smell-o-vision.

Second, here’s proof that this is a well-loved recipe:

Can you see all of those buttery smears? LOL

The picture is more legible than I would have guessed, but I’ve created a little recipe card for you, too.

I started this post several hours ago, but had to stop midstream, and have only just now, 6 hours later been able to get back to it.

My poor Mom fell part way down her stairs and broke her ankle.  Again.  The same bone she broke several months ago.  Slightly different place on the bone, slightly worse break, will take longer to heal.

Phooey and Bah Humbug.

Taking her to her doctor was no problem, but waiting for her prescription painkillers and doing some last minute shopping at Wal-Mart was NOT fun.   “It’ll be ready in 25 minutes.”

Yeah, right.  An hour later it was finally ready, then I had to head to the checkout, and every single one of them had a line that was 3 or 4 people deep.  I nearly cried.

Our pizza is almost here, so I’d better wrap this up.  Hope you are having a sparkly day.

Suzanne

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New jammies plus Christmas Journal Day 19

This is normally a Christmas Eve thing, but since my niece and nephew won’t be here then, we decided to give the kids their jammies tonight. They were playing Mouse Trap, and I tried to get some pictures, but mostly what I got were big blurs of silliness.

This one turned out pretty well:

The jammies are all humongous on the kids, but that seems to be part of the tradition: Mom (aka Aunt Suzy) buys them really big, so they fit for a long time….the matching set I got for my 2 year old nephew are going to be really huge on him….oh well, at least they are drawstring waist…

The kids got to stay home this afternoon/evening with my husband who fed them grilled cheese sandwiches and entertained them. My brother, his wife, my mom, and I all went out for supper and some last minute Christmas shopping. Lest you feel sorry for my husband, he just got back this afternoon from a trip to Kansas City and was wiped out. Staying home, even if it meant corralling the 4 kids, was much more appealing to him. Besides, the 4 kids are getting along so well, I don’t think he had to do much to keep them entertained.

The kids are having a sleepover tonight, 2 kids in each bedroom. They didn’t stay awake and giggle as long as I was expecting. I think they were tired.

More fun tomorrow, then they will head for their next stop on Saturday (weather-permitting….stay away winter storm….)

I’m running a day behind on my Christmas Journal, and the entry for the 19th isn’t technically finished:

I’ve asked my boys to write letters (Will has done so, and a copy of his is in the envelope).  I also asked my niece and nephew if they would like to contribute a letter.  Sofia created the love note that you see here.  I still need to write my letter….and to convince Joe to write his….

Phew.  All that shopping wore me out.  I ought to have hit the sack ages ago.

TTFN-

Suzanne

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Christmas Journal — Days 17 and 18

 First, I must report that my brother and his family did arrive safely right at supper time last night.  We are having a lovely visit:  the 4 cousins seem to have bonded pretty well, and the adults are having a nice time visiting and catching up.  They went to visit Great-Grandma Humphrey today (plus my aunt and cousin and her baby).  I didn’t get to go because I had to go to school for the Holiday Music Program.    It was nice, but sitting on a bleacher for 1.5 hours is a killer.

The prompt on the 17th was “I saw this and thought of you” — to journal about perfect gifts, either that you’ve given or received.  I really struggled with what I was going to say, but I’m happy with how it turned out.

The page about food took me ages longer than it should have because Photoshop crashed on me last night and I had NOT saved in awhile.  So, I gave up and went to bed.  It turned out OK, but not terrific.  I’m trying to remember that I don’t have to knock every single page out of the park — it’s supposed to be a learning experience, but it’s also supposed to be about reflecting and not creating amazing works of “art” every day.

I think you can probably read the text of the first OK, the journaling on the food page reads:

The only food that our family “requires” for Christmas is Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake.  I have fond memories
of our Christmas Brunches at the Johnsons.  The only other food I remember from those events was the custom
omelettes Dr. Johnson made.

Depending on the year, and whether or not we are in Iowa, we host Christmas Dinner for my Mom’s extended
family.  In the past this meal has been a traditional turkey dinner with all of the fixings.  Last year, though, we did
something different: I made several batches of pizza dough, bought lots of pizza toppings, and let everyone make their
own personal pizza.  It was a lot of fun, and we’ll be sure to do it again!

With David and his family here, we are planning on a nice meal of some sort on Friday:  I don’t know what that
will be, but I suspect it might be turkey, potatoes, green bean casserole, and other yummy foods like that.

We usually get together for a nice meal with my husband’s family at some point during the month.  My mother-in-
law is a wonderful cook, and even though she has decided to stop doing the turkey meal (which always requires so
much last minute work), we always eat well at her house.  This year’s meal was a momentous occasion: Grandma E.
decided that the 4 grandkids were old enough to use the fancy dishes and real glasses!

We’ll be at my sister’s for Christmas Day, and I don’t know what she has planned for Christmas Dinner.  She is
8 months pregnant and has a toddler.  None of us will complain if she decides that we will be having a Traditional
Pizza Meal rather than something requiring significant amounts of cooking.

************

Today’s prompt:  write a letter to Santa.  I got Will to write his, I need to twist Joe’s arm to write one as well.   I can’t decide if my letter is going to be serious (i.e. Peace on Earth, Goodwill to Man), greedy (i.e. a list of “things”) or wishful thinking (i.e. an extra hour or 2 a day).   I suppose that Katie should write one as well, although I don’t know what she would ask for, as her life is pretty perfect the way it is.

TTFN-

Suzanne

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