Wordless Wednesday

E: What kind of yogurt am I eating?

M: Strawberry Shortcake

E: I like it!

M: You know, when I was a little girl I had a Strawberry Shortcake doll.

E: What is a doll?

M: It’s a toy that looks like a baby or a little girl.

E: You ate your doll!?!?

M: No. I think we lost something in translation here….

The One where Carolyn is Emotionally Distraught over Fictional Characters….

If you were a fan of the TV show Friends, you might remember that all of the episode titles followed the same format….

The One where Phoebe Runs
The One with Ross’s Teeth
The One with All the Thanksgivings
My personal favorite: The One where Phoebe Hates Pottery Barn

So, in keeping with this format, this blog post is The One where Carolyn is Emotionally Distraught over Fictional Characters.

The only way I can read books for leisure these days is to listen to them on CD during my commute. So, I got a library card two years ago and I check out books on CD. Some of the books are challenging and thought provoking, but many of them are just fun fiction. Last year, I went through the entire Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. Towards the end of the year, I listened to the book Three Weeks with My Brother by Nicholas Sparks. You might recognize him as the author of The Notebook. Anyway, I loved Three Weeks with My Brother and decided to listen to some of his other books. So, I listened to True Believer and the sequel At First Sight. I finished At First Sight this weekend and I am seriously saddened by some of the events in the book. *spoiler alert* I cried when I heard the ending of the book and my heart continues to ache when I think about it now.

I guess it is a sign of a good book, but I can’t help but think it is also a sign of a manipulative author. I downloaded another Nicholas Sparks book on my iPod, but I can’t decide if I’m ready to go back for more just yet. I’m a sucker for happy endings, regardless of how implausible they may be. My real life isn’t overly drama-filled, and for that I am grateful. I’m just not sure that I want to add drama via my leisure reading selections.

Any advice cyber-friends? Are you laughing at my misery? Has anyone else been impacted like this by works of fiction?

Technical Difficulties

Okay, I hate to admit this but I'm not nearly as technically adept as I would like to be. My husband excels in this area, so we make a good team. Rather, he makes up for my inadequacies. It rarely has an adverse impact on my life, but it does surface from time to time in small ways.

Like my blog layout? Good. Because I can't change it. I couldn't even copy and paste the html code correctly from another website. My friend (Hi Dana!) had to log into my account to fix the formatting for me. It was cute, but then one day I logged in and the formatting was gone. I couldn't revive it, so I went with the bland and boring Blogger standard. When I add photos to my posts, they have a mind of their own and go wherever they want. Fellow bloggers - want to help me out? I'm clueless here.

We have so many pieces of equipment connected to our TV, that I can't figure out how to play a DVD. If Evan wants to watch Bob the Builder, there are about 154 steps to play the stupid thing. I think our "DVD" player is actually the PlayStation, or the xBox or the Wii or something...

TV Input... Nope.
DVD Power... Input... Video 1... Nope.
DVD Power... Input... Video 2... Nope.
DVD Power... Input... Video 3... Nope.
DVD Power... Input... Explorer 8300 - Score!

Play... Wrong remote... I give up!

I got an iPod Nano from hubby for Christmas this year. It's pink and super cute. I also got to spend some time in the iTunes store today. I think the iTunes store and I may be a dangerous combination. It's a little like online gambling. Give them your credit card into, and just click your way to bankruptcy. But, I digress...

So, I'm embarassed to admit this, but I bought the Glee Volume 1 soundtrack tonight. Or, rather, I intended to buy the Glee Volume 1 soundtrack. You know what I bought instead? I'm even more embarrassed to admit that I actually bought the Glee Volume 1 KARAOKE soundtrack! Don't know what the karaoke sound track is? Welcome to the club - no pun intended. It is the background track to the Glee Volume 1 sountrack. Like, in case you are so serious about singing along to this silly music that you want your own instrumental tracks, buy this! Or, if you're so new to iTunes and you're a little trigger happy, we'll suck $7.99 from you to capitalize on your stupidity!

Dave - just roll your eyes and shake your head when you read this. Chuckle a little to yourself about how stupid your wife is. It will make you feel better about the $7.99 I just wasted.

Everyone else - stay tuned. I'm going to use my extra time with this to work on a rousing rendition of track 11.

09 Blizzard - Digging Out

I haven't seen the "official" snow totals yet, but the "unofficial" reading we took on the deck last night was 24 inches. This is what it looked like:

See that man shoveling his driveway in the middle of the blizzard? That's my husband. Pretty much the BEST husband ever...

Where do you start with this? We can't even open the door...

Maybe having two cars is overrated. I wonder what would happen if I just left my car here until the spring thaw?

Frosty Flashdance

Driving to School with Evan

E: Ice! Ice! No Ice! Mommy’s car! You turn on car! I drive your car! I want to be warm! Why beeping? Toy magazine? Toy magazine! What that Jeep doing there?
M: It’s not a Jeep, honey. It’s a Hummer.
E: Why people in it? Where are they going?
M: To school. Everyone on the road at this hour is going to work or to school.
E: Yellow! Why that light yellow!?!?
M: It’s a warning sign. Like “Warning! The light is about to turn red!”
E: What red mean?
M: You know what red means.
E: Stop! Green. What green mean? Green means go! (Giant sneeze) What’s that sound?
M: Um, it’s you. Sneezing. (Looks in rear view mirror to see impossibly long trails of snot coming from E’s nose.)
E: I have a snail trail!
M: Hold on, don’t touch anything! I’m getting a tissue for you. Here, wipe your nose.
E: I can’t! You do it!
M: You have to try, the light is green and I have to drive.
E: Okay mommy!
M: (Looks in rear view mirror to see all snot is gone, but the tissue has not been used.) What happened? Where did all of that snot go?
E: In my mouth!
M: Oh, Evan, yuck-o!
E: That’s so silly!
M: That’s not silly, it’s gross. Next time use the tissue, okay?
E: Okay mommy! That’s the YMCA! Why am I going to the YMCA? Who drop me off? Who pick me up? Make u-turn! Why this a u-turn, mommy?
M: Because it’s shaped like a U. Look – long straight line, turn at the bottom, long straight line.
E: Do it again!
M: If we do it again, we’ll be driving in circles.
E: Do it again!
M: Look! We’re at school!
E: (Attempting to unbuckle his car seat) I do it ALL BY MYSELF! I can’t do it! You help me!
M: Let’s do it together.
E: Lock the car! Flash the lights for me! (lights flash) That’s so silly! Where’s my cement mixer? I play on the playground! Miss Sandy! Let’s play with your Christmas toys! Bye mommy! You say bye-bye mommy!
M: Bye Evan! I love you!
E: Who pick me up?
M: Daddy will pick you up. Love you!
E: Love you too mommy!