bowl.baby.

After most of the kids moved out of my parents' house, one of our yearly christmas presents was a family outing to a show (lion king, etc), grabbing dinner beforehand. This was mostly because we didn't see each other as much as we'd like, so it was a nice way to combine the present and the quality time. Two years ago, instead of going to a show, we were blindfolded and driven (not really blindfolded, but may as well have been) to a mystery location. We were all guesses for a while there, but without success. Our first stop was at a little italian restaurant someone had recommended. From there, we drove another 20 mins until it was obvious where we were going...bowling! We had such a fantastic time that it's become our new tradition. While the shows were fun, bowling lets us talk and be competitive (kids against grown-ups) which all of us, our mom in particular, loves. This year, i had the best three games of my life. The first round the four kids totaled 503, and i pulled my highest score yet- 147! I felt bad since kevin also hit his highest of 135, but still lost to me. The second round i had 109, and my final was 117. I considered becoming a professional bowler- purchasing the ball, the shoes, etc.- it could be fun! Then brian pointed out how you can always tell the professionals from the every-once-in-a-whilers because they're in peak physical form. Case in point, the beer bellied fellow next to us who was clearly in need of a personal hygiene class. He got strike after strike and even showed my mom how to hit some buttons on the computer to show her the best angle to bowl the remaining pins. He also talked excitedly about his upcoming trip to vegas for some bowling thing. Maybe i'm better off sticking with my current schedule of once yearly bowling.

pop.pop.

The kids' christmas present to my mom and aunt was tickets for the whole family to go to the pops. We got my dad something else since tickets to the pops probably weren't on his list. I'm not a fan of plain old unwrapping of tickets, so i made the two of them go on a hunt to find their present. We wrapped an index card telling them to "find 14 out of place items on the tree and unscramble to reveal the location of clue number 2." The out of place items were letters cut from magazines. After a little while (and some hints), they came up with this:

Clue number 2 had a music staff with notes spelling out "dad face." It took us a while to come up with this since there are only 7 letters in the music alphabet. After rubbing my dad's face for a bit, they found clue 3 on the back of a photo of their father. That sent them to the backgammon game in which the tickets were hidden. So much more fun than wrapping them in a box!
As for the pops, they were fantastic! It had been several years since i'd last gone, and i forgot how much i liked it! This might have to become another yearly present! Here we all are...

kids.night.

Every year, when julie and brian fly back for christmas, the four of us try to get in some "kid time." The first year it consisted of a day in boston- shopping on newbury, walking through the garden, and grabbing lunch. More recently, it's involved going out to a few bars one night. This year (thanks to brian's canceled flight eventually getting him in at 5am christmas morning), we had limited free nights. Friday night we had tickets to the pops, saturday night was family bowling and dinner out, and sunday was julie's birthday. So we managed to get dropped off around 10:30pm after the pops. We hadn't picked a bar in advance, but i was thinking the beehive (or another bar with similar atmosphere) and didn't bother changing in the car like the boys. So when we ended up at the pour house (a dive bar on boylston), i was slightly overdressed in my silk top and pearls. We hung around there for a bit, then walked over to kings for some pool (we'd originally planned to bowl, but reconsidered when we realized we'd be doing the same thing the next night). I hadn't played pool in forever, and it showed! Julie, brian and i were beat (kevin referred to us as "debbie downers") so we took off around 1am and they made their way back to acton. Here are some pictures!

julie.me.kevin.brian.

bad.santa.

concentrating...

brian...

julie.and.kevin...looking tough.

b.o.r.e.d.

One snow day that leaves you stuck inside without anything to do can be a nice break. Two of them in a row= boredom. Sure, there are plenty of things i could be getting done- cleaning, organizing, exercising, wrapping presents. However, i've been putzing around all morning accomplishing little more than the 30 minutes i spent forcing myself to work on hanon and concone piano exercises. My poor left hand has lost considerable strength and speed, so i'm making a concerted effort to practice more. If i had money, i'd sign up for lessons! I just painted some swatches in the "blue room" which will still be called the blue room even when it's not blue anymore. I suppose if i get that painted today, i'll feel more productive. I also want to take the T downtown to see a movie or do some shopping, but don't know that the trek in the cold, wet snow will be worth it. Bah.

my.scars.are.paying.off.

I just got a call from children's, and they nominated me for donor of the month for february! Since i've already reached my limit of 24 platelet donations within 12 months and won't be in there before january 9th, they're e-mailing me some form to answer, and then will submit a writeup in the children's newsletter for february! I also get the bulletin board in the donor center for the month where they'll post a picture of me donating, along with "fun facts" or something. So exciting!

more.pictures...

(Portia put up her own entry with some amusing pictures from my cocktail party. If you want to check it out, click here.)

bookclubs.bookclubs.everywhere.

I'm reading the book snow, by orhan pamuk. I won't lie...it's a little rough. Party because i only have three days to read it (since i refused to read anything other than school work through this past monday), partly because it has teeny tiny print and is over 400 pages, and partly because it's not pulling me in as much as i'd like. Bookclub number 2 meets tomorrow night, and since i can't commit to reading anything once the next semester has started, i'm even more committed to finishing this one so i don't join a new bookclub as the loser who doesn't read. I'll also be able to read the book for bookclub number 1 (the view from castle rock by alice munro) since we'll also meet before the new semester starts. Then i'll be back to being on reading hiatuses from both. The funny thing is that there's yet a 3rd bookclub that i was asked about, but it's still in the hypothetical stages. For some reason, a good number of my fellow graduate students (who apparently don't spend as much time reading school work as i do) were excited about starting our own bookclub. I turned them down flat- i can't keep up with one bookclub and i'm in two. A third would be a disaster. They did suggest that i could take on the roll of advisor, so if this gets up off the ground, maybe i'll hang out while they discuss. Right now though, i have to stop procrastinating and get back to snow.

cocktail.party!

Lots of papers and finals over the past two weeks, but now i'm done, and have time to update this poor neglected blog. First matter of business is my cocktail party. It was one of the best nights i've had in a very long time. I had a total of 31 people, dressed "to the nines" (in portia's words) and the last people didn't leave until close to 1:30am. The battle field the next morning was impressive. 33 empty wine glasses (that were washed, thanks to lauren), plus an empty cabinet where the 12 drinking glasses used to live. Bottles of leftover wine? Zero. Empty bottles of vodka? Two. Pama? One. Seriously depleted rum and whiskey as well. Surprisingly, not much interest in the gin- which is my favorite! We had both fireplaces going and lots of food was eaten. The company could not have been better, and i was happy that my four groups of friends cohabited quite well for the evening. Here are some pictures to share...

Everyone in the kitchen before i convinced them to spread out.

Evil twin#1, nadine, me, andrea.

Portia, me, shirley, laura and jessica.

Eva, lauren, amie, aki, mallory and jessica.

Ben, rob and ed. They were talking about being 2/3 of the party, or something.

Cheers!

i.had.a.nightmare.about.my.cocktail.party.

Next saturday is the long awaited update to my annual "classy gourmet christmas dinner party". Because i've made a few friends over the past year, i chose to host a cocktail party instead. Now i won't worry about leaving special people out, plus, i don't have to stress out over cooking a meal! This is also serving as my "almost done with the semester" treat. I will have finished my four big paper/presentations by then (one of which i should be working on right now), and will have one more last final the following monday. So i'm quite excited about it! I found fancy crystal wine glasses at an undisclosed store for a huge deal, and just finished my handmade ornaments. (Part of my dinner party criteria is that everyone brings a set of handmade ornaments which then get handed out. So we all go home with 10 or so brand new ornaments to hang on the tree! Though i'm not making it a requirement this year since there are a lot more people, and some who i haven't known long enough to feel comfortable enforcing!)

So. Last night i fell asleep, and woke up a short time later very disappointed. In my dream (or nightmare, really), i was welcoming the first four or so guests, and we were sitting around in a bedroom. The next thing i knew, i woke up and realized that everyone else had come and gone, and had a great time without me even knowing they were there. It was so sad! Luckily it was a dream, so i'll be sure not to hang out in a bedroom next week with the first four people to arrive!

first.date.

My friend michelle just forwarded this along to me, and instead of continuing the forward, i figured i'd post it here (since i don't have time to write my own posts). It's supposedly from a tonight show episode (though truth or fiction says it's false) and it was a good break from studying!!

Jay Leno went into the audience to find the most embarrassing first date that a woman ever had. The winner described her worst first date experience. There was absolutely no question as to why her tale took the prize! She said it was midwinter... snowing and quite cold...and the guy had taken her skiing in the mountains outside Salt Lake City, Utah. It was a day trip (no overnight). They were strangers, after all, and truly had never met before. The outing was fun, the skiing great, the coffee hot. The day was uneventful until they were headed home late that afternoon. They were driving back down the mountain, when she gradually began to realize that she should not have had that extra latte. They were about an hour away from anywhere with a rest room and, to top it off, they were in the middle of nowhere! Her companion recognized her discomfort, and suggested she try to hold it, which she did for a while. Unfortunately, because of the heavy snow and slow going, there came a point where she told him that he had better stop and let her go beside the road, or it would be the front seat of his car. They stopped and she quickly crawled out beside the car, yanked her pants down and started. In the deep snow she didn't have good footing, so she let her butt rest against the rear fender to steady herself. Her companion stood on the side of the car watching for traffic and indeed was a real gentleman and refrained from peeking. All she could think about was the relief she felt despite the rather embarrassing nature of the situation. Upon finishing however, she soon became aware of another sensation. As she bent to pull up her pants, the young lady discovered her buttocks were firmly glued against the car's fender! Thoughts of tongues frozen to poles immediately came to mind as she attempted to disengage her flesh from the icy metal. It was quickly apparent that she had a brand new problem due to the extreme cold. Horrified by her plight and yet aware of the humor of the moment, she answered her date's concerns about 'what is taking so long' with a reply that indeed, she was 'freezing her butt off' and in need of some assistance! He came around the car as she tried to cover herself with her sweater and then, as she looked imploringly into his eyes, he burst out laughing. She too, got the giggles and when they finally managed to compose themselves they assessed her dilemma. Obviously, as hysterical as the situation was, they also were faced with a real problem. Both agreed it would take something hot to free her chilly cheeks from the grip of the icy metal! Thinking about what had gotten her into the predicament in the first place, both quickly realized that there was only one way to get her free. So, as she looked the other way, her first-time date proceeded to unzip his pants and pee her bottom off the fender. As the audience screamed in laughter, she took the Tonight Show prize hands down. Or perhaps that should be 'pants down. "Did you ever see the young man again?" asked Mr. Leno. "I married him," was the reply. "He's sitting right here next to me."