2008 :: Year in Review

After my white-knuckled drive in a snowstorm last night (it took me an hour and a half to get home), I thought, do we really need another 6 inches of snow? I mean that's half a foot! I heard on the news today about record December snowfalls all around us. I guess it's good to end the year on top (of a snow bank, that is).

I seriously cannot believe 2008 is drawing to a close already. We always say time flies, but it really does, doesn't it? I look back and say life is not so different than it was a year ago at this time, but it is. We have more experiences, we have learned more lessons, we are older (groan) and we have even more blessings!

Here are a few takeaways from 2008:

Young at Heart: It's true when they say age is what you make of it. I had the attitude that I was going to embrace 40 -- and I did, with quite the birthday extravaganza, I might add.

Flight Preparations: My oldest stepson, a senior in high school, is readying himself for college. This is going to be a tough spring as we see him get ready to leave the nest (even though he only occupies it part time). Next year at this time we can wear one of those "I'm a college parent" sweatshirts. Yikes. Maybe not.

Out of Control: Speaking of teenagers, we have had a trying year trying to get the middle son to change his attitude about school -- or at least attend more often. We are realizing quickly that we can't change anyone or control their thinking in any way. But we are not giving up. No one said parenting is easy. No one said it could be this hard either, but we wouldn't have it any other way (well, maybe a few changes).

Fore! I had this sinking feeling I was the world's worst golfer but now I know it was just the clubs I was using. (Now I'm just in the bottom 5%.) I had a wonderful time this spring and summer breaking in my new clubs from Santa last year. Actually got to golf with hubby and some friends (and even Carter) more than the last two years combined. Still not enough, but we can build from there in 2009.

Career Builder: It seems my job at work keeps evolving. For the last few years (since my dream job shipped out) I have not been allowed to land in a comfort zone for long before my responsibilities change and I find myself working with a new group of people and/or on different magazines. I'm getting pretty good at adapting to change but I am hoping 2009 will bring a bit more stability. Yep, I know that's asking a lot in these times. Maybe I better just get working on that best-seller of mine. (By the way, Jim says his New Year's resolution is to win the Powerball. That would help, too!)

Frequent Flyer: While my travel for work was limited this year, it was the quality (meeting Ponch), not the quantity, right? I did enjoy my personal travel -- two trips to Texas this year -- and am so glad Jim got to go on his family tree quest out East. Jim still will have plenty of work trips in 2009, but I have a feeling our personal ventures will be sticking a little closer to home.

Growing Up: We were warned about this. Our little baby is growing up -- and fast! Carter just continues to amaze us and, sometimes, it's kind of scary to see what we created! Nothing like looking in the old fun-house mirror of dysfunction now and then! It's not too late to get the quirks out, is it? My biggest challenge as a mom was allowing our 10-year-old some independence this year. It seems so logical that the more independent he becomes, the less dependent he is, but that doesn't make it hurt my heart any less knowing that he doesn't need us as much. I don't see that improving in 2009 or any year. But I wouldn't trade that for anything in the world, not even a winning Powerball ticket.

I hope each of you take some time to identify the blessings bestowed on you in 2008. Granted, it was a tough year for a lot of people. But, if you are reading this, that means you are still here, right? That's a good sign. Why not start with that and move forward...

Happy New Year!

Tuesday Tidbits

Bedtime Stories: On our last vacation day yesterday, Carter and I went to the new Adam Sandler movie Bedtime Stories. Good movie. We both really enjoyed it. My girlfriend Becky was there with her son, too, so that was a bonus. Later, I did find myself on the couch again watching Ellen (I'm going to miss watching that show!) but only because McDreamy was on there. Now that's a nice bedtime story.

Another Snow Day: Was proud that I hit the snooze only three times on my first day back to work. Saw we got an inch or 2 of snow overnight and was thrilled I'm going to work and not on shoveling detail today. Then remembered I had to drive in it. My thrill was short-lived. Made it to work OK, though.

Christmas Wishes: While catching up on Christmases with co-workers, one of my friends said she has already forgotten Christmas because so much has happened since then. Her husband was rushed to the hospital with stomach pains on Sunday and they'll find out today whether he has colon cancer. How awful! When people ask what I got for Christmas and I say, "I'm just happy to have my health," I really do mean it! We can't take that for granted. Please add Joe to your prayer lists.

Alone Time: Hubby has off today and tomorrow to stay home with Carter. However, Carter is off to a birthday party/sledding day/sleepover so Jim gets the day to himself to do whatever he wants. I know he has to put a part on the snowblower, but then I hope he has some fun. Oooh, and we get the evening together alone, too! (Yes, the phrase "together alone" makes sense. Ask any parent!)

Diva Diet: Our cat Sylvester had her annual check-up today. Perfectly healthy! In fact, our fluffy little princess actually is down a quarter of a pound since last year. How is it that she can lay around and sleep 20 hours a day and still lose weight?! I am changing my diet plans for 2009!

Black Monday

Today, in football circles anyway, is known as Black Monday. When the NFL employees with less-than-stellar performances this year (like the poor, winless Lions coach) get the axe. I just call it Black Monday because it's my last day of Christmas vacation!

A week can go by pretty quickly when there's Christmas gatherings and traveling involved. Even with that, I can see how a person can go from career woman to couch potato in 10 days. Not hard to do. Now granted, I did get some exercise on purpose a couple of those days. Plus, I either snowblowed or shoveled (or both) on probably 7 of the 10 days.

And, as I hoped, I listened to more Christmas music this season than probably the last 3 combined. Mostly on the car radio, but that still counts. Plus, I did manage to see at least a half-dozen Christmas movies (maybe closer to a dozen) and am on my fifth holiday book. So yeah, the couch potato transformation can be done with some effort!

I'm not looking forward to putting on "normal" clothes tomorrow. Now I know why they call these "lounge" pants! I'll probably catch myself glancing at my feet to make sure I'm not wearing my slippers, either. Wow, this really is Black Monday!

I should probably make sure I do something fun and relaxing today to keep up my reputation. But, unfortunately, I do have some work that has to get done, some writing, and then there are all those cleaning and/or organizing projects I didn't get to (guess I ran out of time).

So maybe today is more of a Transition Monday. Trying to transition my butt off the couch and into the office chair. Trying to transition those cookies into carrot sticks. And trying to transition my brain from holiday mush to 2009 business planning mode so I can be productive at work for two days before having Thursday and Friday off.

Hey, I never said I was rushing into anything!

Feeling kind of Sunday...

There's this super-fan commercial for the NFL that has some song about "feeling kind of Sunday..." that always gets stuck in our heads. I'll hear Carter sing it (at random) and then I'm joining in. Whether it's Sunday or not, it puts us in a Game Day mood.

Today was a big Game Day for us Vikings fans.

Of course, we awoke to another couple inches of snow. That doesn't get old, does it? So we tackled that task right away. The snowblower officially pooped out on us and a guy came and hauled it away -- but not before plowing us out with his truck. That was a bonus. We got the snowblower back later. It just need a good carb cleaning. Gotta watch those carbs!

The Vikings-Giants game started at noon but didn't air here. The stinkin' Packers take precedent on our FOX channel (and we care about the Packers-Lions game, why?). However, that did not stop us from getting decked out in Game Day gear -- including my new Viking socks from Santa. (I guess they're lucky.)

It really is hard to sit and watch the Packers and keep glancing at the ticker for our score. So I made some chili and put it in my new crockpot for supper and then made some banana bread. Carter had a friend over and they played outside while hubby and I listened to the last quarter of the game when we found out it was on the radio. Cool.

Nail-biting ending, which I hate. But it's OK when we come out victorious. First division championship since 2000. Whoo-hoo!

I tell ya, nothing warms the heart and tummy on a Game Day like a bowl of chili, banana bread fresh out of the oven and a Vikings victory! Now I'm feeling kind of Sunday...

No place like home....

Whoever wrote the lyrics, "There's no place like home for the holidays," knew a little something about ice, snow and slick roads around Christmas time.

Before heading Up North for my family celebration Friday, we had to snowblow yet another 3-4 inches of "white Christmas" from our driveway. Some of the road conditions were challenging but, all in all, it was an event-free trip up.

Part of my comfort level (yes, I tend to be a nervous passenger when roads are slick) was due to that fact I was in the back seat. I let Casey ride shotgun. Plus, I was watching my Mamma Mia movie on the new portable DVD player Santa brought. That works slick! Time sure goes by a lot faster -- and my mind was totally off the road.

The only bad part about the trip was that there were only 4 of us instead of 5. Clay couldn't make it at the last minute. That was very disappointing. Later, when we had our annual family program, we coerced, er, recruited my twin to do his part. She did an admirable job for not having participated in the dress rehearsal. (Just kidding. It was not a big production!)

All in all, it was great family gathering as always and, as always, we missed those who couldn't make it because of distance. We gathered in the fellowship hall at a retreat center just up the road from my parents'. The last time we held it there, my nephew Tony, who was home this year on leave from the Army, had just been born on Christmas Day. My other nephews, now grown and bringing wives or girlfriends of their own, were all around 4-7 years old and nearly impossible to contain! My how times change.

One thing that hasn't changed is the love we feel when we are together as family -- all 30-something of us. My parents said it best when they remarked, "What a blessing it is to look around this room at all these people and we can say 'They're ours!'"

After the party, we headed into Luck -- through thick fog and icy roads -- to the hotel. This morning, we met my parents for breakfast (my sister stopped by, too) then hit the road early. We knew it was going to be cooling off at some point today and it was predicted the roads would ice up quickly. Somehow we missed that, thankfully, so we were home in just under 4 hours. Pretty good timing.

As I unpacked and stared at the extra cookies and treats we took home and don't need, hubby was up on the roof chipping away at ice in the gutters. Ahh, there's no place like home...

Christmas Surprises

One of the fun parts about Christmas is the element of surprise. Maybe there is some gift you've tucked away that a person isn't expecting. Maybe a person is surprised because they actually got something they wanted. Or the giver is surprised how much the receiver likes it. I just love the smiles that surprises bring -- especially on Christmas morning.

Our first surprise today is that we started our day later than we expected. Nice. We had told Carter last night that no matter how early he got up, he could not wake the older boys (naturally late-sleeping teenagers) before 8:30 a.m. What a surprise that Carter actually slept past 8:30, too! That was a nice surprise for all of us.

Now the older boys are tough to surprise. We take them shopping and they pick out what they want so they know what they are getting and are happy with it. Sometimes they might forget one thing but that's about it.

Last night at Grandpa and Grandma Austin's they were drooling over some new jackets that both Daddy and Grandpa got from our aunt and uncle's bar called Austin's Pour House. Very cool black jackets with their names (Jimmy and Johnny) stitched on the front. I heard both Casey and Clay mention they were going to put that on their list for next year. So we were quite pleased to see their looks of surprise and delight this morning when they each got one, too. (Of course, I got one for me, too. How could I not?) Carter did not get one because he would outgrow it too soon. We told him it was because he didn't have a Y in his name. Whatever works, right?

Carter was surprised at some of his gifts, but really only had one item on his list -- a Nintendo DS (handheld video game system). He got that and was thrilled. But not really surprised. He thinks his new Vikings shirts and T-shirt from Pepe's in Texas are cool, though.

I got a big surprise around 3 this afternoon when Daddy and Carter remembered a gift they hid under Carter's bed when I was gone on my Sisters Weekend in early November. (So it was kind of a surprise to them, too, once they remembered.) That same weekend Jim took Casey down to UW-La Crosse (my alma mater) for a campus visit. They didn't dare leave town without a UW-L sweatshirt for me. Yay.

Jim and I got a wonderful surprise from Carter, who is getting pretty good at keeping secrets. We received a special hardcover book, his autobiography, which looks back over his life (as it says) and shares some of his thoughts and goals. Very, very cool. I will be sharing that with anyone who will look at it! That's the best kind of surprise. The kind that makes you so happy, you cry. Nothing tops a gift that truly says, "I love you, Dad and Mom," and, in his words in the introduction, "Thanks for always being there."

I hope everyone had just enough surprises to make your Christmas merry, too!

White Christmas

I'd like to find that person who dreamed of a white Christmas and give him a piece of my mind. I mean this is getting ridiculous. A nice dusting of snow is fine by my standards for a white Christmas, but we've had to either snowblow or shovel about 2 out of every 3 days for the last few weeks. Crazy.

So to cope, I plopped in my new White Christmas DVD this morning and was sort of watching it while multi-tasking with a few last-minute gift wrappings, etc., around the house. Then it was time to brave the elements.

We got an additional 3-5 inches overnight and the plows (the poor drivers) hadn't gotten to all the roads yet by the time I ventured into town for 1 p.m. church. It was a slick drive, but I wouldn't miss it.

Usually I go to the early afternoon service (there are 2 later in day) and it is not so full. But this time it was packed. Good to see. As always, I get a bit teary-eyed singing those Christmas songs and thinking how blessed we are.

After church, I headed home and we were out the door again within the hour, heading to the in-laws in town. Jim's mom wanted to eat early -- like 4 p.m. -- so you know what that means... the boys (well, Carter) want to open presents by 5! We made him wait until 6. We're tough, I know.

Tonight the big boys are staying with us. On the way home, we drove around looking at Christmas lights. And I will admit, they look prettier reflecting off the snow. When we got home, we played our Bustola dice game and laid out the stockings. Carter left some eggnog and his homemade "pretzel doughnuts" out for Santa.

All is quiet in the house and hubby and I are about to embark on the fun part of Christmas Eve -- helping out Santa. Then we'll see who gets up first in the morning!

Advent Calendars

My sister-in-law has kept up a wonderful tradition of giving Carter an Advent calendar each year. Part of the fun is the anticipation of opening each window to see what lies behind the cardboard shutter. In our case, we always know it's chocolate of some kind, but what shape will it be in? A snowman? A gift box? An angel?

It's fun to discover treasures as we count down to the celebration of our Saviour's birthday. And much like the Wonderful Life movie, we often find ourselves discovering new things about our lives in the holiday season, too. If we push aside the "shutters" of worry and doubt, we can see a new blessing every day.

I realize that despite the fact that parts of my material world seem to be crumbling around me, I am blessed that my faith, my family and my friendships hold firm. And really, what else is there?

Here's what else I have discovered this Advent season. God is perfect and no one else ever will be. The only person who thinks I need to be is me. I have this sneaking suspicion that God is reminding me I am not even close, though, through little things that go clank in the night.

Yup, it's true. I am pretty sure I am the one with anti-Midas touch. I can't blame Carter anymore. It's my fault we are in appliance hell. I think it's my touch. This morning, when my hair dryer snap-crackle-popped and started smoking, I just laughed. Are you kidding me?

Seriously, where's the hidden camera? Was someone filming while hubby and I "worked together" to put the belt on the dryer? How about yesterday when I had Carter hold the partially shattered mailbox in place while I duct-taped it to the post? What about today when the snowblower was stalling every 50 feet or so?

I want to yell, "Why me? I don't deserve this." But I should yell, "Thanks, God. I'm glad it's me." I'm in my deep thinking mode now and realize I can name a half-dozen people off the top of my head who would trade places with me in a second. A friend who just lost his wife to Lupus. A co-worker praying chemo will keep her dad around for another Christmas. Our racing buddies who just buried their mother. A couple who just learned the wife has breast cancer.

We never know what we will discover when we push that shutter aside. But we know that if we look closely, there's a blessing in each window somewhere. We don't know what shape it will come in, but with some faith we will learn to accept it and maybe even savor it.

I for one am going to keep opening those calendar windows until the ultimate blessing arrives on Christmas Day. Then I can rejoice and yell again: "Why me? I don't deserve this. But thanks, God. I'm glad it's me."

The Weight Clause

"While visions of sugarplums danced in their heads..."

I'm pretty sure I've never had a sugarplum. But I like those spicy red and green gumdrops at this time of year. And cookies... and candy canes... and fudge... and eggnog... It's no wonder I spend much of my Christmas vacation in sweat pants. I need that expandable waistline!

You've heard of the "Freshman 15," right? A person (usually girls, it seems) goes to college and packs on 15 pounds that first year away from home and may work the following summer (or following decade) trying to lose it. During the holiday season, many of us gain the "Fa-la-la 5." It's not really a concerted effort. There's just this stream of potlucks at work and homemade treats of all sizes, shapes and flavor dancing in our heads from Thanksgiving to New Year's. How do we not gain weight?

I am doing this program at our fitness center called "The Weight Clause." It's not a weight-loss program so much as an anti-weight-gain program. There's a few requirements (like participating in a certain number of classes) but the main gist is that you will be rewarded for not gaining weight over the holidays. If you don't gain anything, you will earn a $20 class punchcard for a mere $5. If you lose a pound, you pay only $4, etc., and if you gain a pound, the price goes up a dollar to $6 and so on. It's mainly an incentive to keep up the exercise regimen we have in place (right) over this time of fatty feasting.

Hubby told me that if I got bored on the treadmill, our cable system has some "exercise on demand" programs so I decided to try that today. I just select one and do the work out. He thought he saw something like Zumba, which is my "salsa aerobics" class, but I didn't find that exactly. Instead I found some cardio dance workout that required I dust off my old Step in the basement and set that up.

The beauty of this workout is that you can hit pause and rewind -- even though it's on cable -- in case you want to review a step. The other beauty of this is having a 10-year-old curious enough to watch so he could hold the remote and I just yelled, "Pause it!" when I needed to stop and figure out a complicated move. Of course, he had to swear he wouldn't tell anyone what a dork I looked like either.

This one was a tough workout. I think I'm going to try to master it over vacation. I just don't know how long I'll have my remote controller on the couch. Once Santa comes, I think he'll have better things to do with his time. I guess I'll keep dancing with the sugarplums on my own...

Cold enough?

Well I found out my suspicion that Hell is freezing over was wrong. Oh, it's cold alright, but the Vikings are nowhere near that Super Bowl. They were pathetic today! The problem is that we are our own worst enemy. The Vikings keep getting beaten by the Vikings -- who turn that ball over like it's tumbling in our refurbished dryer. Grrr!

Of course, those who know me realize the worst part about the loss today is that I have to (gulp) cheer for the Packers Monday night to beat the Bears. Oh, Santa, I am being waaay more good than necessary!

Enough about that. I have a queasy feeling in my stomach already.

That could have to do with the fact other parts of the day were equally disappointing. We woke up to another 4-6 inches of snow. The good news is that the snowplow went through our subdivision. The bad news is that he took out our mailbox. Did you know plastic can shatter pretty easily in cold?

Even the snowblower (which we thought we fixed) was reluctant to work today. Heck, I would be too. Just too cold.

On the bright side (because I always have one), I did get every last present wrapped that we have in the house -- including 10 game prizes for my family's get-together on Friday. That took the longest. I made sure each had different wrapping paper and obscure containers. Hubby asked if that was necessary. "Yes," I said in my "duh" voice. "We don't want people knowing which prizes came from which family." Why? I don't know why but if a person is asking me when I am done wrapping them all, then I'll make up anything if it's not a rule, trust me.

I was able to cap off the night with a Christmas movie on Lifetime so I am feeling like vacation is starting already. Oh wait, it has! Judging by the forecast, I'd say I picked the perfect week to stay inside the heated house and not go anywhere!

A Bit of Luck

I'm not the superstitious sort. I don't waste time worrying about ladders or black cats or what day of the week the 13th falls on. However, I am starting to find some truth in that notion that "bad things happen in 3's."

Yes, I'm referring to this appliance hell we've been in. First the washer, then the dryer, then last night (I wish I was kidding here), the snowblower. It just wasn't doing its normal stellar job. It was stalling out (yes, I checked the gas) and leaving a path of snow in areas I was blowing. I got so frustrated I parked it in the garage and funneled my anger into manual (gasp!) shoveling.

When hubby, who was being a dear and making hot soup for supper, peeked his head out the door and asked why I wasn't using the snowblower anymore, I let out a stream of expletives about that piece of junk and resumed my shoveling. It wasn't long before two neighbor guys were over and helping Jim fix it. Apparently a pin snapped and prevented one side from rotating, so only one side was blowing snow -- thus the path of snow from the broken side. They got it fixed but did not leave before giving me some grief about breaking it and, I'm hoping based on what Jim told them, thanking me for teaching them some new words. I mean the guy 3 doors down couldn't have heard me, could he?

Thankfully our luck changed today and we had a very productive day shopping. We stopped three places and got all gifts taken care of except one that Jim will have to figure out. There was a mess of people out today and it was messy around here, too. Really wet snow coming down so we witnessed some accidents and, since luck is on our side, got home safely without incident.

But that's not all. We stopped at the Golden Arches on the way home and, as luck would have it, the eggnog shake machine was working. Yay! I sense our luck is taking a turn for the better. Now we'll just have to see how that Powerball drawing goes tonight!

Top TEN-sion List

From our home office in Wisconsin Rapids, the 10 holiday tasks that you should not do with your spouse if you want to have a Merry Christmas:

10) Untangling Christmas lights. One will inevitably say, "I can do this. Just give me a few minutes," while the other says, "Screw it. I'm going to town to buy new ones."

9) Hanging lights or decorations outside. "That's not even! A little to the left... no. A little more. That's it. Nope. Go to the right..."

8) Shopping. "Let's just see what we find." No. You must go armed with a specific list. This is not the time of year to fight crowds of other unfocused shoppers and expect not to snap at each other.

7) Picking out a Christmas card or composing the all-important annual letter (even tougher when both spouses are writers/editors for a living). One of you just take responsibility and do it! (But let the other one proof it.)

6) Shoveling or snowblowing. Actually, to avoid chronic back pain and bouts of pouts, you should work out a system to take turns (unless there's a doctor's excuse). Otherwise one of you will get grinchy.

5) Replacing a dryer belt. OK. I'm busted. This wasn't really going to be a list about Christmas tasks. I just can't get over how much bickering goes into a team effort of doing a home improvement/home repair project. (It probably sounded like the dad in the Christmas Story movie when he's futzing with the furnace!)

Let's see, it probably doesn't help that neither one of us really knew what we were doing. Although we acted like it because we had diagrams printed off the Internet. Oh well, we survived. We got it fixed and we have our first load of dry clothes to prove it.

May you and your significant other have an enjoyable holiday season. And don't forget to always end each day with a kiss -- whether there's a mistletoe nearby or not!

The Perfect Gift

There's always a certain pressure this time of year to find the perfect gift for people.

If we let it, the quest can drive us crazy. Oftentimes we end up giving up in frustration or we've run out of time -- so we grab the next best thing and sometimes that is what the person wanted all along.

Contrary to his practice in previous year of making lists 5 feet long, Carter didn't make a list this year. At first I was relieved. No choices. I can get the one thing I know he wants and the rest is a bonus. What I didn't consider is the handful of other people who normally buy him a gift. Without a list, it falls on my shoulders to come up with some other "perfect gifts." Judging from his reaction to a special purple-and-yellow themed gift he received in the mail today, I think he'll be pleased with all of his gifts -- whether they were on his list or not.

I'm pretty much the same way. I don't expect any gifts so I love every one I get! I received a few today from some of my employees. Apparently I have been letting my stress show through because I got a pen with the Serenity Prayer imprinted on it and a plaque that reads: "Some days it's not worth chewing through the restraints."

Perfect, wouldn't you say?

Cold SNAP!

Did you ever have one of those days that turns on a dime? You're riding the high wave when suddenly it comes crashing down, plummeting like a roller coaster, the stock market, a bungee jumper, all waiting to hit bottom so they can resume the trek upward.

That was today.

This morning at work I made the mistake of commenting that I was having a productive day, crossing things off my "to do" list.

After my Zumba class at noon, I was floating on the endorphins of exercise, feeling good about working my keester off, joking with hubby that it would be nice to cool off with an eggnog shake. He said we'd stop on the way home. Yay!

But then my day went South. Suddenly my stress factor was growing while my patience was thinning. By 3 I told hubby we better be stopping for that shake!

Then I had more crap dumped on my desk and I called Jim at 4:15 begging him to leave early so we had time to stop for a homicide-prevention shake. Yes, it had gotten that bad. Let's just say the steam coming out my ears was melting snow.

The problem was that I got called into a quick meeting right when I was set to leave so we ended up hitting the road late. No time to stop on the way home if we were going to get to the sitter's on time. We had a major "unloading" session on the way home. Only it didn't make me feel better, it got me more riled up.

I only had about 5 minutes at home before I had to head into town for what I knew was going to be a stressful church meeting. I get there at 6 and the other committee members aren't there. I wait until 6:15, none too patient. I decided I should go get that eggnog shake after all. So I leave a note that said I was there for the 6 o'clock meeting and no one else was, but if we are still meeting, call my cell.

So I drive over to the golden arches and get in line at the drive-thru. Naturally, at this time of night it's pretty busy. They recently rebuilt our McDonald's so there are two lanes to order but they converge into one line to pay and pick up food. So it creates this weird bottleneck. Not sure why they went with this design, but tonight it ticked me off.

I get up to the ordering console. "May I help you?" Yes, I said. "I'd like a small eggnog shake." (See I planned to be good and get a small.) Then the voice of doom announced, "I'm sorry but our ice cream machine is broken." Are you kidding me?!? That's all I wanted!

So here I am stuck in the bleepin' bottleneck of drive-thru traffic, waiting to pay for a Diet Coke, and thinking, this is how people snap. This is why we hear about those random acts of violence when someone doesn't get their coffee just right. Or their bag of Cheeto's or chocolate get stuck in the vending machine. Or someone can't get their eggnog shake. It's totally logical if they had a day like mine.

I ended up getting called back to the church for a 2-plus hour meeting. By the time I got home after 9, I told hubby I was so stressed it felt like my head was going to explode. I saw a secret Santa gift on the table needing wrapping. And I hadn't even started the work I had to do!

Since our computer wasn't cooperating worth poop, I figure I'll just go to bed and go into work early.

I did have a little eggnog ice cream we had in the freezer, but it's just not the same. At least I can still say "No crimes were committed in the making of this blog entry."

B-B-B-Bah Humbug!

It's so cold today my fingers are ch-ch-chattering as I type this. If that's possible.

This morning we woke up to 11 degrees below zero -- that's not counting the wind chill, which drops us down to numbers I don't like saying (or typing) out loud. And really, at one point do we even feel the difference between 10 below and 20 below?

I'm certainly not complaining. As my brother noted yesterday, this is the weather that gives us Midwest folks bragging rights!

My husband said that every time he travels to warmer climes for work meetings in January and February, there is one gentlemen (from the South) who always comments: "God bless you people for living there!"

We are blessed! I'm just excited the Vikings are going to win the Super Bowl this year! ... I mean hell is freezing over, isn't it? Sure f-f-feels like it!

The Curse of Carter's Clothes

I don't want to blame the 10-year-old but there's something suspicious going on -- and the one common denominator is his clothes!

It was only 3 weeks ago when our washing machine conked out, with Carter's clothes inside, and we had to fight Black Friday crowds to get a new one.

Today it was the dryer. Hubby was drying Carter's clothes this afternoon and when he checked on them, they weren't dry at all. So he put them in for another 40 minutes and left the house to go to knee rehab. He didn't realize that even though the motor was running and making noise, the drum was not turning. We easily could have had a fire, but thank God (and we are) we didn't.

Since Jim can't get down on his knees yet, I had to pull out the dryer and dismantle the back a little to see what was wrong. How would I know? Exactly. How would I know? I did not know what i was looking for but luckily (if you call it luck) I spotted the broken belt lying at the bottom of the dryer.

So I call Best Buy (where we bought it just short of 3 years ago) to see if they carry belts. They don't. But Mr. Customer Service said I could order it off their Web site and I'd probably get it sooner. So I hop on our computer, which has been threatening to die, too.

It took me a good 20 minutes to find and order that darn part -- and pay 30 bucks to have it overnighted. Of course I was steaming by then -- a combination of this dryer business and the slow Internet connection. That was when Carter chose to come into the computer room and ask if I could find a box of a certain size and wrap his Secret Santa gift up. Oh Carter, you picked the wrong time!

I apologized later for snapping at him but I had warned him when he asked: "Mommy is stressed right now. Do you really think now is a good time to be asking this?" He felt bad enough so I didn't even tell him I was blaming him and his clothes for these machine mishaps. At least we know better than to let him get near the computer... or dishwasher... or television...

Momma's Boy

Apparently there is some new television show called Momma's Boy that starts this week. It will be about mothers who don't think any woman is good enough for their sons, etc., etc. For some reason hubby says I should watch. That's not going to happen. For one, I don't get into reality TV and secondly, I'm not ready for that crystal ball moment just yet.

I was thinking about mothers today, though. Carter had his Sunday School Christmas program this afternoon. Each year we've presented the Christmas story from a different perspective. This year it was Christmas through the eyes of Mary.

Carter delivered his narration crisp and clear -- and the rest of the program was interesting, too. I forget sometimes that Mary was a mere teenager (not even old enough to drive in today's world) when this frightening but blessed event took place. How would any of us handle that situation? She had to be pretty strong in her faith. Can you imagine the pressure of trying to be a good mom? I'm sure just like every other mother, including me of course, she thought her son was the center of the universe. In her case, he was! The rest of us moms, I bet, will still argue our case. That's a mother for you.

After the program, we had to go to the funeral home for a visitation. The mother of some friends of ours died of cancer. Jim knows the whole family well and I know the three "boys" (Jim's age and older). We see them all summer at the races. This mother, like probably most of us moms, loved her kids and not only that, she cared what was happening to their friends, too. When we walked in, the funeral director handed Jim a newspaper clipping that the family had found in their mom's possessions. It was clipped from 1979 and pictured a handsome young teenager named Jim Austin sharing his opinion on the drinking age. Interesting. And what a cutie!

The family said their mom had a ton (probably literally) of newspaper clippings and such that she saved over the years. That's what moms do, right? What a special gift to all of us now to know how much she cared beyond her family circle. That's a mother for you.

My mom actually called me twice this weekend. Not a regular occurrence. When she called yesterday she was letting me know she was mailing some old picture she had saved. She called today to figure out a few rules on a dice game we taught them over Thanksgiving weekend. I asked, "Doesn't Dad remember?" She said, "I'm not going to say because I know he's on the other line listening in. I can hear him breathing."

Oh, and people wonder where I get my competitive nature! Or, in a more positive light, you could say I'm just blessed with spirit. That's a mother for you. And I'm grateful to be part of the club.

Happy St. Lucia Day!

Hurray, it's St. Lucia Day! St. Who? I realize for most people, if they observe any "extra" holiday, it's St. Nick's Day. But when Carter was young, I decided we should do something to reflect his Scandinavian heritage instead. So we celebrate St. Lucia each Dec. 13th.

Now tradition goes that the oldest girl in the house should wear candles on her head (Lucia was the "light" saint) and serve the rest of the household breakfast in bed. Being the only girl in the house, I elected to bypass that this year (well, I have every year so far).

But we did check our stockings and we each received a chocolate treat and a Christmas movie of some sort to get us in the holiday spirit. Carter got Deck the Halls, Daddy got the Best of Saturday Night Live Christmas Skits and I finally got White Christmas. For some reason, we ended up watching the Christmas Story movie instead, but I'm sure we'll get to the other ones.

We decided that since today was a holiday we should treat it like one and have some fun. It was quite mild out so I went for a walk (fun for me) and Carter spent quite a bit of time outdoors building a snow tower of some sort. Then we stayed inside, drank hot chocolate and we all played Yatzee and Sorry and 3 to 13.

I seem to recall that I won all the games but really, who pays attention? It's not competitive. (ha) I'm just grateful to St. Lucia for giving us a holiday -- and a worthy excuse to spend quality time with the lights of my life.

Now that's more like it!

There's always this running list of "things to do" in my head. Some are pressing. Most are for "when I have time" or "when I get to it." Today, on one of those must-use vacation days, I chucked the list and really took the day off.

I had a fitful night's sleep last night so when I heard Jim's alarm go off this morning, I turned over and tried to get to sleep. When I heard Carter's alarm go off awhile later, I flipped back over and tried (again) to sleep. I dragged myself out to the livingroom but did not escort Carter to the bus stop. He went with the kids next door as usual. And I hopped onto the couch.

How do you work this remote thingy? Ahh, I figured it out. What? Dirty Dancing is playing at 8 in the morning?! OK, I should probably watch it since I haven't seen it -- in a month or so. Plus, since I just ran into Patrick Swayze's knee doctor two weeks ago, I should pay close attention to his moves. Which I haven't done -- in a month or so.

Before I had a chance to think about throwing some laundry in or hopping on the treadmill, I see that Pretty Woman is on next! Whoa. Now I really haven't seen that in quite awhile so I better park the butt back down on the couch. Awwww, another happy ending!

I'm finally hitting the shower close to 11 a.m. Now that's more like a vacation day! I had a little shopping to do so I ran into town. Got that done and decided I should probably watch a Christmas movie of some sort since that's one of the reasons I wanted time off. So I popped in It's a Wonderful Life -- while doing laundry and after dusting and vacuuming, I should add -- and watched that until Carter came home from school. Wasn't quite done with it, though.

This evening, we had a 2+ hour dress rehearsal for his Sunday School Christmas program, which will be this Sunday. When I got home, I finished watching the movie and was thankful, once again, that I was born (ha).

As I'm putting the DVD away, I hear hubby yell from our office something about fixing the computer today. That's when it dawned on me that I was never on the computer all day. I didn't work or anything close to it. A true vacation day.

Now that's more like it!

Domestic Goddess?

A funny thing happened last night. When I wasn't looking, my status as an undomestic goddess changed to domestic. At least temporarily. True story.

Last week, I was racking my brain trying to think of what little gifts I could get my employees. Nothing jumped out at me -- certainly not one item that all 8 of them would enjoy equally. Then, this weekend, I thought, "Why don't I make them something? As in bake them something?"

I may not be much in the kitchen when it comes to cooking but I love to bake. In fact, I always get comments on my banana bread (a special recipe from my childhood BFF Julie), so I decided that would be my gift (wrapped up with some other tasty and possibly minty treats). I bought the little disposable aluminum foil loaf pans. In fact I bought 20 of them because I didn't know how many I could make with one batch of batter and didn't know if hubby wanted me to make them for his peeps as well.

So last night, knowing it was going to be the one night home this week, I grabbed the old flowered apron off its peg and got to work. First batch ended up filling only 5 loaf pans. Not enough. Hubby says, "Five loaves? Hey I know that story!" I said, "Right. Wouldn't that be something if I put these 5 loaves in the oven with 2 fish and they multiplied?" Oh yes, that would be nice. But not gonna happen. So while one batch was in the oven, I mixed up another.

About an hour later, my sister from Texas called. I told her I had just pulled the 10th loaf of banana bread out of the oven (I had to make it sound like I was slaving all day at this). She said, "What's happening to you? Ever since you turned 40, you've gotten all domestic!"

Well not quite. One night does not a domestic goddess make. But the gifts were appreciated today.

Not to ruin my reputation, I'll just tell people that instead of getting visited by the ghost of Christmas Future, it was the ghost of Martha Stewart. Boo!

Picture Perfect?

Now that I've sent out all my Christmas cards, I can finally write about our not-so-perfect photo shoot.

I had warned the big boys that when they came over for Thanksgiving that I'd be taking a picture of the three of them for the Christmas card. So I set them up in front of the tree and coaxed a smile out of them. It wasn't until I checked the photo on the little screen (what did we do before digital cameras?) that I noticed Clay's shirt. (Take a good look at the photo above.)

"Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms." What?

Thankfully he had another t-shirt underneath that one. Just guessing a shirtless photo wouldn't go over too well with a segment of our Christmas card population. So we did a retake and I get another good smile out of them and the photo shoot is over. Pretty painless.

For my card, I like to layout and design the letter to include more than one photo. I kind of didn't ask permission to include the priceless picture of Ponch and me. But I did give hubby a proof and, after the eye rolling, got the OK to keep it in there.

The big boys said, "Wow, Robyn, you sure meet some cool celebrities. First Henry Winkler and now Erik Estrada." Yep, I could hear the sarcasm dripping off that one. So what if those two are in the 60+ club? That just means I'll love Jim even more in 15 years!

I promised them all that if they meet anyone famous next year I'd include their picture, too. But I'll settle for our brown-eyed dimpled boys in plain white tees.

Let it Snow

Carter was pretty convinced last night when he went to bed that we were going to have a Snow Day today. I mean the conditions were ripe for it. We were in a winter storm warning with 6-12 inches expected here during the night and the day. Plus, for the first time in my history at my workplace, we had plans in place to shut down -- if needed. Sounds like a Snow Day is a comin'.

So the snow fell silently while we slept and I was up before my alarm even, checking the TV and Web sites. Nothing up yet. I had to wait until 6 a.m. So I went back to bed and kept getting out to check the TV. Suddenly all the listings were there. Oh, Iola-Scandinavia is closed. (That's where we work.) Looking optimistic here. We're the in the W's now... Waupaca... Waushara... Wild Rose... Wittenberg... What? They skipped over Wisconsin Rapids?

No Snow Day for us! So I fire up the snowblower at 6:15 and blow the 4+ inches we already had and got ready for work, running about an hour behind schedule. But then, we weren't the only ones. Thankfully I have my chauffeur back because not everything was plowed very well. (Also thankfully I made Carter do his homework last night.) When the sun came out at noon and it looked like the snow ended 6 hours earlier than predicted, I conceded that the school district made the right call.

Hubby commented on the way home that the reason adults are mad that there wasn't a snow day is because they don't want to go to work. Ya think? The worst part about a borderline snow day is that after we adults freeze our butts off snowblowing and shoveling in the pre-dawn darkness, we still have to go to work and give 'em an honest 8!

At least the kids get recess...

Back to the Future

Remember the Back to the Future movies -- specifically the second one -- where Marty McFly goes into the future to see what he will be like when he's "old"? I think I had that experience last night.

We got some more snow yesterday afternoon. About 8 p.m. hubby (the one recovering from knee surgery) says he probably should go out and shovel. I'm like, what?! Don't be silly! If you slip and fall, the doctor will have have your head and kick my butt for being an incompetent and negligent caretaker.

So I wrap myself up in the fashionable blaze orange ski mask and my rusting green boots and head outside. It wasn't long before Carter, our professional shoveler, joined me. I didn't let him help too long because I thought perhaps his assistance was more about avoiding bedtime than anything else.

As I'm shoveling and scraping and wincing a bit when my back spasmed, I was thinking about my parents. How the heck do they handle snow removal? My 81-year-old dad walks around with a cane so would have to shovel one-handed and my 76-year-old osteoporosis mother would literally fall apart if she slipped and fell. I bet they both argue about shoveling, though, and both stubbornly claim they can do it. Is that what Jim and I will be like when he of the bad knee and me of the bad back are old?

As I washed down my calcium and joint-lubricant supplements after my high-fiber breakfast this morning, I was beginning to think I may already be there.

W-I-N (for 5 points)

You know the old adage, "It doesn't matter how you play the game as long as you win"? Oh wait, that's not it. But I can see how it would work in some circumstances.

Today, for example, our Vikings were pitiful against the winless Lions. So pitiful, in fact, we almost gave them their first "W" this afternoon. Almost, but not quite. So we'll take one in the win column and remain on top of our division (dismal all around this year) but certainly won't be bragging about it.

You'd be proud of me, I didn't even call my dad to rub it in that the Vikes had a win while the Pack was handed another loss. See, I told you this wasn't worth the boast. Plus, I'd end up talking to my mother (a fellow lover of English, spelling and all that is grammar) and have to admit to her I can't seem to beat her youngest grandchild in Scrabble.

Now last night, I helped him quite a bit, so he beat me by quite a bit. No surprise he wanted to play again tonight after supper. Of course, I'm happy he wants to play a game where he can "work" on English, but I said I wasn't going to help him this time.

Well I did help him just a little bit and then he won, again, by just a little bit. He had all the good letters! (whine, whine) I have this feeling that if I didn't help him at all, the best I'd do is tie him.

I guess when the real adage says, "It doesn't matter if you win or lose, it's how you play the game," they're referring to having fun, bonding with your child and figuring out how to make a word with a Q and a J.

Fa-la-la-la-load

OK, I lied yesterday. I am a load. Make that two of us. This morning, while Mommy and Daddy were snuggled under their blankets, the 10-year-old was out shoveling the driveway by 7:30 a.m. Yeah, we sort of slept right through that one. Didn't hear a peep.

What a nice surprise to wake up to, though. We didn't think he was taking it seriously when we said last night, "If you get up early, you can shovel." He also took Daddy's advice to heart and did a thorough job. "Dad said it better be clean enough for me to place a piece of cake on it and eat it."

Say what? Apparently Jim said it should be smooth enough to eat lunch off of. That's still not clear to me what that means. But naturally, Carter (like me) would substitute the word "cake" for "lunch." Any time, man.

To thank Carter, I made cinnamon rolls for breakfast (well, baked them anyway). Then we all proceeded to have a day of fun. This afternoon, we picked up some friends and headed to Stevens Point for the UW-SP basketball game against Jim's alma mater, the mighty Warhawks from UW-Whitewater.

If you follow college hoops in Wisconsin, you'd know that Whitewater was supposed to have a slight edge. And they did. Until the end when Stevens Point tied it and we went into overtime. They (the Pointers) ended up winning by a basket. My how the "mighty" have fallen.

It didn't really matter to me who won. I was just glad to see a good basketball game. It was kind of cool to see some "kids" playing that we watched during Wisconsin Rapids high school games just a few years ago. They did pretty well today so that was neat.

Afterwards we stopped in Point at a pizza joint and had supper. Now we're all full -- and claiming our couches for the night. Because, wouldn't you know it, there's more college basketball on TV tonight! Go Badgers!

That's OK. We're just coming full circle. Waking up loads and wrapping up the day in the same fashion. I know. You're just jealous...

TGIF (This Girl Is Freezing)

I'm just chillin' on a day off. No seriously. I am chilling. And even more than that, I am freezing! And yes, just stating the obvious. It's winter in Wisconsin. What else was I expecting?

I had the day off today. I know it sounds like I'm a load with all these days off lately, but I just didn't get any vacation time used up this year. So now it's use it or lose it. I'd rather use it -- even if it turns out to be more work sometimes than, well, work!

Today was very productive. Walked Carter to the bus stop. Went to Mr. Back Cracker. Got all my Christmas cards mailed (fa-la-la!). Got just about the last present bought (more fa-la-la). Did a few more loads of laundry (love that machine -- am pretty much caught up now). Dusted and vacuumed. And yes, did sneak in one Christmas movie on Lifetime this afternoon (while folding clothes). Carter and I even delivered a present, too. But that was an outside job -- as in outside, where it's cold and snowing.

Then I stopped moving. My back was a bit achy from its earlier "adjustment" so I sat in my comfy chair to read and just got chilly. I guess it helped I was on the go all day. Kept me warm.

Now my electric mattress pad has been warming up for me for 2 hours so I am going to lay down and read a Christmas book. It's my day off after all -- even if it took 'til 9 p.m. to start relaxing. As a bonus, I don't have to set an alarm either. TGIF!

Label Reading 101

One of Carter's "homework" assignments this week is finding two items (food, personal products, whatever) to bring in for a label-reading project -- "We're checking for nutrition and chemicals and stuff."

I'm not sure I will like where this is going. First he was reading the plastic water bottle "recycling numbers" last night and was ready to throw out our fancy one because it had some number Carter deemed to be dangerous for us.

What if he starts getting nosy and starts looking at my Diet Coke can?? He'll be like, "Mom, do you know what aspartame and phenylalanine (and he'll be able to pronounce it) are doing to you?" I'll be like, "Yes, I know, but it keeps me awake a work."

Not a good answer. Bad mommy.

I will say I do read labels a lot. Seriously, I mostly am looking at the calories and fat content. Doesn't mean I won't buy the product (I mean, some are worth it), but it's good to know what the truly healthy options are out there.

I remember when my dad had just gotten out of the hospital after a heart procedure. He'd also learned he has diabetes. So here I am shopping for healthy food for him and I was shocked when I was reading the labels for "healthy" soup. Ohmigosh, there is so much sodium in one can! Shopping was a quite a challenge, but as usual, you can't go wrong (unless Carter learns differently) with fruits and vegetables.

At our house, we've pretty much cut out salt as much as we can from our diets. I mean it's probably hidden in food, but I don't add it to anything. We're big fans of pepper, though, and other spices that aren't sodium-based. I came across a mention of this one recently in an article.

Cardamom: One of the most popular spices in the world, cardamom is used around the globe in both sweet and savory dishes. For an entirely new taste, try mixing a little bit into your ground coffee!

I think I might try it because the name sounds like "carter-mom" doesn't it? Then it has to be healthy. And sweet, too! But that goes without saying...

A Cleansing Breath

Shhh... Can you hear that? Swish, swish. Swish, swish... It's the sound of our new washing machine with its inaugural load of clothes! Ahhh. Who would have thought it feels this good to do laundry?!

I realize it's only been 10 days since we washed clothes (8 days for Carter), but it seems like forever. And hubby was right (yep, print this page out for the record), I did not run out of clothes! We both sort of ran out of socks. Well, I still have a drawer full, but we ran out of the ones we like to wear -- or can wear in the winter anyway. That does tell me I probably can get rid of some of those! Oh well. Let me revel in this cleansing moment first!

I lucked out (in a way) and didn't have to help unload and set up the new machine. Our brother-in-law, a truck owner by coincidence, picked up the machine and helped install it -- plus took away the old one. I was outside snowblowing (yes, this old girl remembers how to do it without help) so I didn't even get to direct the unloading or installation. And it still works. Something tells me the old lady with the bad back is just not needed sometimes. The big boys came out to help, too, since it is best Jim doesn't do any lifting or deep knee bends just yet.

About the time they all got done, I was wrapping up the driveway project so we all went out to eat. A way to a man's heart is through his stomach ... so naturally, the way to tell a teenage boy thanks is by feeding him! I was going to just stay home and do laundry but I wanted Jim and Carter to share in the magical moment of the first load.

Of course, Jim is already saying the machine looks too complicated for him. "Too many buttons!" I see where this is going. I didn't fall off the appliance truck yesterday!

Movie Shorts

Typically, you won't find the Austin clan sitting down and watching a television show together -- unless it's football. Once in awhile, though, we'll find something we all want to (or should watch) together.

Last week, we enjoyed A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving followed by a short Peanuts special on the Mayflower. This was of particular interest to us since Jim and Carter are Mayflower descendants. (I should have Jim guest blog about that sometime.)

For last night's viewing entertainment, we gathered around the computer to watch a DVD of hubby's knee surgery. It wasn't the blood and gore I expected. Instead, it was a recording from the micro-camera inside the knee that the doctor actually used to guide his surgery. Pretty amazing when you think about it. You could see the bones and stuff I won't even start to describe or I'll get woozy again.

Carter and I could only handle a minute or two and then we decided it was too much. Didn't want to keep visualizing that all night! Even Jim admitted he was a little light-headed after the doctor showed him the video earlier in the day.

I guess for future family TV times, we'll steer clear of those PG movies when the PG stands for Pretty Gross!

Music to My Ears

I've been secretly listening to Christmas music for weeks but now that it is December 1, apparently it's "legal" for me to go public. There have been a few radio stations playing it already but today was the first time it aired on our Muzak system at work. That's usually a sign we can officially acknowledge it!

I just love Christmas music. It started when I was a kid and we'd listen to Christmas records on the old phonograph. Over and over we'd play them until we knew the order of songs on every one, plus which ones had scratches and skipped and needed a needle nudging to keep going. Good times.

I still love the "oldies" but do enjoy some of the new renditions and have been a fan forever of Mannheim Steamroller. Carter likes the holiday music, too. He enjoys singing along to the Muppets version of the 12 Days of Christmas and doing all the character voices. (Imagine that.) This year on the way Up North, we only listened to that particular CD once. Last year, I think it was 5 or 6 times. I'm OK with the change.

He also likes that silly song Grandma Got Ran Over by a Reindeer. Yes, it's a catchy tune but I think we'd be wise not to perform that one for our family Christmas program. Something tells me someone would not find it amusing. Now bring out the Bing and we're in good standing! Gotta love it.

Well, you don't gotta. But I plan to! Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la....