Where Was I?

Now, let's see here, where was I?  It's been so long since I've taken the time to form coherent thoughts here, that I'm not sure I can.

January has truly been a busy one and not all the fun kind of busy.  Work has been tough and I keep feeling like I'm slipping further behind.  I keep closing as many tickets as I can, but they're coming in fast and furious right now, and not all are related to the reporting month we're in the middle of.  And it seems like I keep finding myself eyeballs deep in something long and involved that isn't going to be cleaned up quickly, or even just be a bunch of grunt work.  Oh well, it's been keeping me on my toes at any rate.

We had a bit of an off week with Boo this week.  I think I mentioned it on Wednesday evening.  He was healthy the rest of the week, just a little off.

Yesterday we finally got some snow.  Yes, we had that nice big storm back for Halloween, but yesterday was the first day we'd seen anything other than a few flurries since then.  We have had a good bit of rain and a good bit of very cold weather, but not until yesterday did we have both cold weather and precipitation.  Thankfully for us, it stayed all snow.  I think we got about 4-5 inches or so.
The toughest part of the day was dropping Gak off at work.  The roads were truly a mess and the snow was still coming down pretty good.  Boo and I then put the wash in at the laundromat and played in the falling snow until the washers were done.  Then I peeled off his wet mittens and socks and tossed them in with the rest of the laundry.
After laundry I took some GS cookies over to Rachel because she managed to sell out of Caramel deLites in 2 days.  (That reminds me, I should probably put in an order for some more of some things... especially with the cookie booths we've got coming up... we'll see where we're at Tuesday...).  Actually, I ended up picking Rachel up and taking her with us to have brunch with Kat, Zoe and Granmom.  Zoe asked if Boo could come over sledding, and I said after Gak got off work but only if Boo napped.  That was pretty good incentive for Boo to stay in bed and I could tell he had played hard in the morning because he crashed hard and only woke up because Michelle from across the hall pounded on our door so I could move the car so Jim could plow that half of the parking lot.
So, after picking up Gak from work, the three of us headed over to Kat's house.  Kat was out with Scott (which is a good thing), but Zoe and Granmom were home.  Steph got home right after we got there too.  After a few I took the kids out sledding.  We had a lot of fun.  (I didn't get to sled much myself though, but was chasing them up and down the hill a lot.  Steph got Boo this awesome inflatable snow tube for Christmas.  He's so light, that once there's a path down the hill, he just flies!  He had so much fun.  He did end up in the prickers once or twice but he didn't really care.  I think we were out there for at least 45 minutes.  And once we came in, the kids wouldn't stop eating.  That's amazing for both of them.  They each had almost 2 servings of popcorn chicken pieces, Zoe had a little thing of mac-n-cheese, they split a packet of ramen soup, shared a huge slice of watermelon and then I lost track of what all they asked for and ate.  I know there were strawberries involved, and goldfish crackers, but I'm not sure what all else.  Very little of it was junk, so I didn't care.

Andy got home about an hour after we'd come in from sledding.  He cooked dinner and the four of us adults (Granmom had left for work already) hung out and had an enjoyable time.  It was very nice to be able to spend time with just Steph and then just Steph and Andy once Andy came home.  I really do enjoy hanging with them and they're my friends in their own right, not just because of Kat.  And it was also nice to be able to hang out without all 4 kids underfoot.  Don't get me wrong, I love them all, but all four in the house at the same time gets a bit crazy.

Today was mostly a low-key kind of day.  We went to Target and found this awesome Sesame Street DVD set.  It's two DVDs with the best highlights from the first 40 seasons.  It included things like the introduction of Telly.  The scene with Big Bird when Mr. Hooper died.  Maria and Louis's wedding and the birth of Gabby.  And there were a lot of my favorite counting and letter scenes as well, and a "Monsterpiece Theater" with Alistair Cookie.  I'm hard pressed to say who enjoyed it more.  Anyhow, the boys both took long naps this afternoon and I'm now about 7 or 8 rounds from completing my 3rd pair of socks.  (Yes, I've been busy this month.  3 pair of socks, finally finishing a shrug that started out life as a wrap pattern and I'm about 2/3 of the way through a circle vest too!  I haven't worked on the afghan for some friends I wanted to do, after starting I'm just not that into the pattern I've got and need to find another...)

So, it's now 8:30 and I think I'm going to finish off those last few rounds of the cuff of the second sock and call it a night.  (Boo, has other ideas though, he just paraded through here for about the 4th time since I tried to put him to bed...)

So, peace to you all and may you have fun adventures and good weekends.

Television

Today I'm supposed to post a picture of the cast of my favorite TV show.  This is one of those that I'm going to have trouble with.
You see, I don't have a favorite TV show, at least not really.  Yes, I do watch TV, but no where near the amount that many people do.  I don't seem to follow shows more than a season or two, or if I do, it's hit or miss.  There have been shows that have grabbed me and held my attention, but I usually wander off before they've run their course.  (Of course, Gak has Dr. Who on and I just spent the last 5 minutes being mesmerized...)
So, yeah, back to the topic at hand, television.  I have shows that I've enjoyed over the years.  There was Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers Neighborhood and Captain Kangaroo and Nova and 3-2-1 Contact.. Yes, all PBS shows.  Then a little later there was Mr. Wizard and Dangermouse.  I won't lie, I wanted to be Mr. Wizard when I grew up.  I wanted to "do" science.  I remember watching MASH with my parents growing up and liking it (I enjoy it even more now that I "get" it.)  We watched a few other shows now and then too, but nothing that really sticks in my head.

For me, books were always more of a draw than TV.  It didn't hurt that my dad's an avid reader and both my parents encouraged reading.  I also remember not being allowed more than an hour or two of TV outside of my parents watching the news or a show or two in the evening for many, many years.  I was also not really allowed cartoons (either that or I just thought I wasn't because I had such limited TV time...) until I was 10 or so.  Yes, this made life a little difficult with my friends some days when they would talk about things that I just had no clue about.  And yes, that still happens on a frequent basis.  I'm used to it though.

But, now I'm the parent.  Now Gak and I have to decide how much TV is good and what Boo can and can't watch and why.  It's a balancing act.  There are lots of good kids shows out there these days, but a lot of bad shows out there too.  Unfortunately, in our opinion, too many of the bad shows are the popular ones.  Oh well.  We've walked a fine line and Boo does have his favorites.  He loves Cailou and Elmo and Mickey Mouse.  But he's totally clueless about Dora or Diego or Thomas or Handy Manny (all good shows) as well as Sponge Bob and many of the bad shows.  Some days I feel bad, most days I don't.

Anyhow, that's my brief look at TV.  It's a complicated subject and I'm sure I'll make many more mistakes with Boo's viewing habits before he's 10, but we'll live with it.  I'm just glad that he has about 3 shows that he loves books more than he loves TV.  Yes, he often asks for TV and except at the end of the day when he's already tired and cranky, can he usually be persuaded to play with his Legos or books or something else.

But, Dr. Who and Rift is calling me and I must go.
Peace to you and may you find your diversions.