Daddy's Home... Bearing Gifts

Daddy came home yesterday. Since he travels so rarely these days, he usually comes home with surprises for us all. That's right, he even brings Mommy something small. Last time, I believe it was chocolates from The Lone Star state. Anyway, he was right on the mark this time with the kids. Sanjay has asked more than once for his broken airplane back. However, when it broke Mommy promptly disposed of it and so it cannot be brought back no matter what we do. Turns out... Daddy must have been reading Sanjay's mind, because he brought for him a little airplane that actually makes take-off and landing sounds as well as flashes red landing lights. It really is the most realistic airplane toy... see it in action here.



Priya is easy... she loves, loves, loves animals. So, he found a really neat pack of North American animals... 12 small animal figures and, as she noted, it included her favorite, the wolf. All smiles for the kids this morning when Daddy revealed their surprises. What did he bring Mommy, you ask? This lovely Moose Magnet... :)

My Paternal Cousins

Sometimes things happen that bring you back to your childhood and it's so nice to recall those memories. Tonight I chatted online with a cousin of mine with whom I'm not regularly in touch mainly because we live in different timezones and have our own families to tend to daily. Anyway, as always she had me laughing out loud. We were favorite cousins back in the day... it was no secret. At the time, there were 8 of us and we all drew names at Christmas for the gift giving. The name you drew from the hat was the person on the receiving end of your Christmas gift. For a few years though, no matter what name we picked, Michele and I exchanged gifts. We were so close we choreographed dance routines to the Footloose ("Let's Hear It For The Boy") soundtrack, formed break dance clubs in Granny's basement, shopped Family Night at K-Mart and took over the place, walked the "catwalks" in Granny's neighborhood to buy a snack at 7-11 and snuck alcohol into the Prospect Hall dances on Saturday nights.

These memories lead me into the times we spent together as cousins... all 8 of us. Oftentimes we had sleepovers at Granny's house on New Years Eve so our parents could all go out and welcome in the new year. I remember the late night stuffed animal pillow fights when we practically had to draw straws to see who would get the green snake... that one could really pack a punch. Of course, who could forget the morning waffles with orange juice and cold milk? Granny was famous for this breakfast and kept us coming back even in our college days to be served up this kind of meal. At holiday time, we all sat together at the "kids table" and collectively decided that the ham wasn't edible and it would be best if we just flushed it down the toilet. Another holiday tradition... hitting our parents up for money so we could all go see the latest hit movie together. It was all very well planned and executed. These were times when we all bonded and it didn't matter that we had formed the 4-oldest club and left the other 4 out, behind our locked door. Three more cousins came along years later... 15 years later, and I always felt a twinge of pity for them that they didn't get to enjoy all this special time at Granny's house with lots of cousins their same age.

Anyway, it's been fun to think back on childhood, if only for a moment. I dug up these pictures that best remind me of those days...

My Personality

The results of my personality test... according to 40 multiple choice questions. I'd say it's fairly accurate:

You Are An ESFJ

The Caregiver You are sympathetic and caring, putting friends and family first. A creature of habit, you prefer routines and have trouble with change. You love being in groups - whether you're helping people or working on a project. You are good at listening, laughing, and bringing out the best in people. In love, you value harmony and mutual understanding. You will apologize or give someone the benefit of the doubt, if it means getting over a fight sooner. At work, you are good at building relationships and connecting with people. You would make a great nurse, social worker, or teacher. How you see yourself: Organized, dependable, co-operative When other people don't get you, they see you as: Opinionated, critical, and know-it-all

What's Your Personality Type?

When Do You Blog?

I blog at night... really out of necessity more than anything. You see, Sanjay likes to drag out the bedtime for as long as he can. He's tucked in, some cars are in bed with him, books are on the shelf, lights are out, door is cracked open for a little ambient light... the perfect conditions for falling asleep. No, not really. He calls me back frequently, so I like to be right here at the computer only steps away from his bedroom. I can hear him... "Mom? Mom?". He usually has to tell me something and it's always one of these things:

1. Can you crack the door this (arms spread open as wide as he can get them) much?

2. Will you tuck me in?

3. I want you to check on me.

4. I need some cough medicine.

5. When I wake up, will you hold me?

Every night, it's guaranteed, that the final time he calls me back to his room it's to say these exact words "ummm... when I wake up, will you hold me?". Really it's always that question, phrased exactly the same way, in the same tone of voice... a really sweet, scratchy, tired voice that melts my heart. That's why I blog at night, so I can be there when my cuddle-monster wants to ask me that question.

Scrappin' Sandy

I'm so mediocre at everything I do. I'm an average swimmer and it turns out I'm an average scrapbooker, too. I entered this online contest a couple of weeks ago for the fun of it. It's 4 weeks long... each week you get a new kit for free and you have to use this kit to create an original layout, then post it in the gallery for judging. If they like your layout, you move on to the next round. If you make it all the way to the 4th round you become a Supreme Team member or basically part of the creative team for the website.

In the first round, there were 154 entries of which 54 moved on to round 2. I made it... I was part of the 54! Actually, I was a bit shocked because I really thought the competition was stiff. I mean, these gals can really scrap and they are seriously creative. So, I complete my Round 2 entry and upload it. Checking out the competition daily, I started to feel quite confident. This time... it didn't look like they had much on me. Yesterday they announced the 27 chosen ones who were moving on to Round 3... and well, I'm out! That's what I get for feeling cocky, I suppose. I even showed Bartee one of them which was literally all the elements thrown on the page around some central picture. It was awful... it really was, he agreed.

I think they run this contest every 3-4 months, so I'll try out again. It was fun and gives me a reason to get some pages scrapped, but I am really bummed that I didn't go farther. Sharing my Round 1 (Winter Is...) and Round 2 (Stitched With Love) entries with you... the contest is still going on in case you are interested in following along.

Skiing Alone

There's one thing that's better done alone and that's skiing. I discovered this over the weekend. The benefits far outweigh any flak you'll get from your friends or family... judge for yourself:

1.You can listen to your music while you ski.
2.You can gain access to the lift much faster by utilizing the "singles" line... added benefit, you feel younger and a bit more hip in this line.
3.Because you have your headphones on, you don't feel the need to make small talk with your chairmates.
4.You don't have to wait when you arrive at the Falcon Superchair before your partner.
5.You can ski at your own ability level (a-hem... blues and easy blacks) without feeling like you're holding your partner back.
6.You won't get sucked into a double-black trail by accident because your partner keeps saying... "stay up high, it's this way to Peak 8".

I love you honey... just would prefer to ski by myself some days.

So Tired

We are all exhausted after the first weekend of skiing this year, but I have never seen Priya this tired. We left the mountains after dinner so we reached home only at 9:30pm. Pulled into the garage, unloaded Sanjay whose eyes popped open the minute the car stopped, and grabbed a bit of luggage to take inside. I saw Priya move to unbuckle herself and I said... "Oh good, you are awake"... then continued to unload the car. On about the third trip, I noticed that she was still slumped over, arms hanging down over the seat... that's when I realized she had fallen back asleep while unbuckling herself. This 6 year old is completely worn out. Sweetie, get yourself ready... we're going to do a whole week of this stuff in February.

See a video of Priya Skiing