and what are we reading tonite?

we started this book this evening.

so far it's ok,

but if a cat character doesn't become an important part of the plot

pretty soon

i'm going to put this book aside

and pick up the most recent

catfancy magazine.

(my favorite magazine is

my big backyard)

"shine"

marbled bowling ball that is our home....

joni mitchell's new album is called "shine" and i love it.

her voice isn't what it once was after a lifetime of cigarettes but she hasn't lost her awesome poetic talent.

the album isn't uplifting or romantic.

as a matter of fact it is pretty depressing.

it's an ode to our dying earth, victim of man's greed and thoughtlessness in his pursuit of dollars.

reminds me of a quote i read recently.

"the end of the human race will be that it will eventually die of civilization." (emerson)

(and yes, she does sing "big yellow taxi")

just had another thought. have you seen the bumper sticker that says:

well-behaved women never made history

must have had joni in mind. what a free spirit....

maxine on john steinbeck

the winter of our discontent is not my favorite
steinbeck novel, but reading it in this time
of pervasive hate for illegal aliens might be a
good idea for a lot of us.
people rage about how much illegals are "taking"
out of our system. i wonder if these same
people know how much the illegals contribute
to our economy?

blue monday

did you hear that january 21st is known as blue monday? it's the day when people feel most down all year, due to holiday bills, failure to keep new year's resolutions, and winter weather. among other things. the packer game, for instance.

the look on this guy's face says it all.

thoughts on football

MAXINE'S COMMENTS APPLY ONLY TO NEW YORK GIANTS PLAYERS AND FANS.
GREEN AND GOLD FACES AND POT BELLIES ARE BEAUTIFUL.
AND PACKER PLAYERS DON'T SCRATCH. THEIR MOMS TAUGHT THEM BETTER.

ENJOY THE GAME!! GLAD WE DIDN'T BUY TICKETS!! (IT WAS ELEVEN BELOW ZERO THIS MORNING)

GO PACK!!

MEET OUR LIVE-IN MASCOT, MY NEW PARAKEET!! TODAY HIS NAME IS FAVRE!

GREEN AND GOLD, JUST THE TICKET FOR TODAY'S GAME

tgif

she is one crabass of a woman, isn't she?....

"anyone ready for another captain and coke-o"?

"snow day"

this is kinda cute, isn't it?

we are on the way to a possible 8" accumulation of snow today.

schools let out at noon.

my library board meeting is cancelled.

choir practice is cancelled.

a couple people didn't make it into work this a.m. and a couple left before the end of the work day.

i want to move out of town. i want a snow day...

"achtung! haff you zeen my lederhosen?"

what are you thankful for?

things i am thankful for this week (so far):

• molly getting over her g.i. upset of the last couple days. it's hard to have sick kids, especially when they are away from home
• the fun of family visiting from far away
• the packer victory
• the cowboy loss
• today's waxwing sighting
• the oconto county sheriff deputy that pulled me over saturday afternoon but didn't give me a ticket
• the "iou a homemade cheesecake" that came in the mail today as a thank you for the floral arrangement pictured in this blog. sweet! (any flavor i want)
• not getting plowed into on the highway saturday nite when i was stranded.
• the cigar smokin' gentleman who stopped and pushed me off the road
• my husband who came to save me

a good day in winter

this morning i walked to work because my car is in the shop. (it died on the hwy., on the way home from green bay, in a snowstorm, at night. but that's another story.)

my office is about 3/4 of a mile away. due to my tendency to walk too fast for conditions, i decided to put on the cool pair of yaktrax that em and patrick gave me for christmas. it was a bit of a fight but i got them on over my shoes and off i went.

amazing!! i felt like a human tank, just cruising down the block, tearing up the icy sidewalks. they are the greatest things! about $20 a pair, go over boots or shoes. i think they should be a federally mandated requirement for anyone over 50 years of age living in a northern climate.

a half-block from the office i heard birdsong that was a soft buzzing, almost a murmur. sure enough--a flock of at least 50 cedar waxwings was at the tippy-top of a maple. groups of about 5 at a time were swooping down to a flowering crabapple, still heavily laden with last summer's fruit. they were taking turns feasting on what the flock had found. it was so cool. and there i was, i had my yaktrax, but alas, no camera.

if my car hadn't broken down, i wouldn't have walked to work, and i would have missed the waxwings!

a new venture (just in the nick of time)

i see i haven't done any blah-ging in a couple weeks. and that's exactly why--the january blahs are here with a vengeance! there's only enough time in the day to sleep, work, read, and sleep, sleep, sleep. oh--and eat. too much.

but--this past week i volunteered to do a flower arrangement for a friend for sunday services at church. (every week someone provides the flowers, usually ordered from a florist.) she gave me the $$ that would have gone to a florist to do an arrangement and also gave me carte blanche to do whatever i wanted. what fun! especially since it was someone else's money!

i tell ya, this might be my ticket out of my annual hibernation fest!

this is what i came up with. what do you think? i was a bit miffed at how shy the white lilies were at opening, but that's ok.

anyway, i see this turning into another volunteering opportunity. not everyone at church can afford a florist's prices, but i am free! at least my talents are. they can provide the $$, and even a modest amount can be turned into a nice bouquet. and i get to play with and shop for flowers in the dead of winter. what a win-win deal for all.

a plea from brodie

help me!! it's january 13th and i can't stop new year's party-ing! i need an intervention!! do they do dog addiction reality shows??

robert frost

Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know

His house is in the village though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer

To stop without a farmhouse near

Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake.

The only other sound's the sweep

Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep.

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

And miles to go before I sleep.