_____________
Behold the Changing of the Decor
Wintery things are away, light-colored flowery items have come out of hibernation! Tulips hang by the front door and in our dining room window; a gathering of sweet IKEA prints (KORT) in sweet IKEA frames (FANAHOLM) lounge on the mantel; a cheerful garden picture (a favorite Goodwill find) replaced the smiling snowman in our entryway; the wicker apple-printed basket transferred its kitchen utensils to the sunny yellow crock. I say spring has arrived! Nevermind the thermometer.
Wii Are So Smart
Because I want this ridiculous time-suck to feel super special to our children, my man & I devised a plan to have the kids pay for their portion of the Wii before they can play with it. (Although last weekend was a free-for-all because of the arrival of the Most Magnificent Wiizard; from now on, it's pay for play and only on weekends until summer. Responsible parenting is exhausting). So the cost per kid is $65 and because that number, when compared to his weekly allowance of $4.50, sent my son into cardiac arrest at the thought of NEVER being able to play, we created a chart of jobs (The Wii Payment Plan) worth various amounts so they can 'earn' their share by doing things around the house that
American Idolator
The minister at the memorial service yesterday looked unnervingly like Ryan Seacrest. I think that should be distinctly disallowed at church.
People, the man upstairs is watching! Pastor, out.Go ahead, ask me to find East Timor!
I have become obsessed with getting past Level 10 on Travelpod.com's Traveler IQ Challenge. (Click on the link or play at the bottom of my blog!) I am pleased to say that after fifteen attempts to put Suriname in Africa, I now remember that it is a South American country. And I'm getting the hang of which Italian cities are in the toe of the boot and which are up north. For some reason I keep placing Washington, D. C. too far south on the east coast, but I got within 7 km of Guangzhou! That was really exciting. See how freakish this all sounds? Imagine me telling my students how super fun this online game is; I'm an inch away from losing all credibility as a grown-up.
We went with our best friends to a rather trendy Portland restaurant Friday night. Our serious-looking waitress talked us into the Chef's Menu, which means we were at the whim of whomever is in charge of the kitchen. For each course, four plates were brought out for us to share except the 'starter,' which was a single (small) plate with radishes and a dollop of butter. Yeah. You missed a party with that opener! I think the guy who delivered it even smirked a little. The rest of the food was really quite delicious, but I'm not sure it was worth more than the Wii. Looks like we'll be putting together another payment plan for our next date night.
