tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44406074100356021752024-02-08T08:22:25.216-05:00bye bye night nightRecipes, funny thoughts and anectodes about family, relationships and life.Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09647611725434890947noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4440607410035602175.post-41631249334641448702011-07-19T23:38:00.000-04:002011-07-19T23:38:49.486-04:00Blame It on the Oatmeal!<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So sue me… I make oatmeal for breakfast for my boys when they ask for it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s instant for Pete’s sake!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Could this be the explanation for all that’s wrong in the world?!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to my husband, it is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">When the boys <s>don’t take out the trash without being asked</s> have a fit about being told to take out the trash, it’s because <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I make them oatmeal</i>; when they whine or act immature, it’s because <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I make them oatmeal</i>; when they don’t appreciate what they have, it’s because <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I make them oatmeal</i>; when they talk back, it’s because <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I make them oatmeal</i>!</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">He’s so ridiculous! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Especially since every morning I do everything for him but physically dress him!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I gently and lovingly wake him up (read: NO annoying alarm), set out his clothes (from head to toe), pack a gym bag (that’s a whole other story), I make his coffee-by preheating the coffee pot and the coffee mug and using <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">bottled</i> water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I pack a lunch bag (more like suitcase) with peeled hard-boiled eggs, a nutritional supplement drink, leftovers from the previous night’s dinner, and I finish with an escort to the car during which <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I</i> carry the gym bag, lunch suitcase and coffee to the car, I give him a once-over and a kiss and send him on his way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I never make oatmeal for him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Poor guy!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Good thing he doesn’t know about the iced tea that I make for them from loose tea leaves!</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">My husband just doesn’t understand how I need to nurture my boys in this way while I can.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They blew by their toddler years so fast and tweendom is abruptly descending upon us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I need to make more oatmeal before it’s too late.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Well, in case you have any nurturing to do in your house, here’s the recipe for my oatmeal:</span></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><u>Nurturing Oatmeal (That May Be All That’s Wrong with the World)</u></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">1 packet organic, instant apple oatmeal</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">1 packet organic, instant maple brown sugar oatmeal</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Approximately ¾ cup boiling water</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">¼ to ½ cup half and half </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">love</span></span></div>Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09647611725434890947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4440607410035602175.post-85172224244664537772011-05-15T23:45:00.000-04:002011-05-15T23:45:03.859-04:00Monster in the House<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Lucida Bright", "serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Gautami;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is a monster in my house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It doubles in size each day, compounding into a treacherous, scary monster.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Actually, we all feed it- I, my husband, and both of our sons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It doesn’t eat food, or animals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It doesn’t eat plants, fruits or vegetables.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The monster is fearfully dubbed: Laundry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Lucida Bright", "serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Gautami;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Every other month or so (okay so it’s more like twice a year), I get caught up on all the dirty laundry in my house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It lasts for about six hours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Before I know it, there are four hampers brimming with that monster again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Somehow, a couple of shirts, pants, socks, and pajamas have morphed into what looks like that belonging to a family with quintuplets!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t even imagine what it would be like to have another female in the house!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Lucida Bright", "serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Gautami;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am criticized by my husband for my laundry separation methods.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I of course have the whites and the darks, but I also have loads that are strictly “white with print on it”, red (which allows its distant cousin, orange to join in), gray (which takes in yellows, light blues and light greens), jeans, and darks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t forget the body-touched towels, kitchen towels and floor cleaning cloths (I scrub the floors on my hands and knees-I don’t own a mop…but that’s another story all together!).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh, come on it makes perfect sense to have those subcategories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Lucida Bright", "serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Gautami;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oh yeah, I don’t own any laundry baskets either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The clothes must be folded or hung as they come out of the dryer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This eliminates the problem of having baskets of laundry sitting on the bed, sofa, floor, and not knowing if it is dirty or clean, or having to rummage through a basket of clean clothes to find a pair of socks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, when the clothes get folded or hung right from the dyer, you have the opportunity to hand press the wrinkles out right then and there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Okay, neurotic? Definitely; but it works!</span></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Lucida Bright", "serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Gautami;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I subjected my husband to these rules of laundry right before we got married, when he was unemployed for a short time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had previously been forgiven the duty of laundry based on his color-blindness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seemed like a great excuse to keep my neurosis to myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He actually came through with shining colors!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It did have a way of taking the sting out of his unemployment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It made me a little sad when he found another job so soon.</span></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Lucida Bright", "serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Gautami;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When the laundry turns into the uncontrollable monster, every other week or so, my husband puffs out his chest and bellows “show me how to sort the laundry and use the washer and dryer”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not sure if he actually plans on doing it or if he just knows me so well that he knows I won’t let him do it. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do get satisfaction out of doing laundry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I like the way <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I </i>fold it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in -27pt 0pt 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Lucida Bright", "serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Gautami;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You may be judging me on my overly neurotic color separation or the fact that I won’t allow my husband to generously lend a helping hand in taming the monster.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t say that doesn’t bother me; just not enough to make me change my ways. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t sit there so smugly; we all have dirty laundry!</span></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in -27pt 0pt 0in; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in -27pt 0pt 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Lucida Bright", "serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Gautami;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Actually, I’m sure that this all stems from my childhood (doesn’t it all?!)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Growing up, all laundry could be found in clothes baskets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It didn’t matter if it was clean or dirty, it was in a basket.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were clean baskets and dirty baskets, but you couldn’t tell them apart unless you did a sniff test.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The clean clothes weren’t folded, just a rumpled mess.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in -27pt 0pt 0in; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in -27pt 0pt 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Lucida Bright", "serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Gautami;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It may not come as a surprise to you now, that I DO NOT OWN ANY LAUNDRY BASKETS!!!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nope, in my house, the clothes go from the hamper to the washer to the dryer to the drawer or closet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No baskets needed!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s just that simple.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in -27pt 0pt 0in; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in -27pt 0pt 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Lucida Bright", "serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Gautami;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Enough blogging, back to the monster…all of you!</span></span></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span>Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09647611725434890947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4440607410035602175.post-27328396511684729092011-05-03T22:15:00.000-04:002011-05-03T22:15:58.986-04:00Trailer Park Dreams<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are times when my husband and I actually fantasize about trading in the roomy house with nice yard, the beautiful landscaping and all that comes with it (read work and expense) for a… double-wide trailer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We could live so fat!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would be quite the palace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We could furnish it with the best flooring, furniture and fixtures, and take lavish vacations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We would live like celebrities!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No more working to pay the mortgage!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We could live free and clear and large! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How much closet space does one a double-wide trailer have?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because I can now afford a seriously large and divine wardrobe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Would it be strange to have restaurant quality appliances in a trailer?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Would there be room for a housekeeper?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I suppose my husband would want to have that Ferrari parked in the… trailer garage???<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe we could buy an extra lot next door and get an in-ground pool?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m thinking that this kind of living large could really catch on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps we can find a gated trailer park community?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You know, an elite trailer park.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wait, Andy Cohen is calling; he wants to cast me in the Real Housewives of Trailer Parks!</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09647611725434890947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4440607410035602175.post-9620692976027560942011-04-30T23:51:00.000-04:002011-04-30T23:51:40.973-04:00Getting to Know Me<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; tab-stops: right 9.0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><u><span style="font-family: "Lucida Bright", "serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Estrangelo Edessa";">The Christmas Tree</span></u></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; tab-stops: right 9.0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; tab-stops: right 9.0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Lucida Bright", "serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Estrangelo Edessa";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></span></div><div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; tab-stops: right 9.0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Lucida Bright", "serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Estrangelo Edessa";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This tale is probably the best way to introduce myself and let you get a basic understanding of who I am. </span></span></div><div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; tab-stops: right 9.0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; tab-stops: right 9.0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Lucida Bright", "serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Estrangelo Edessa";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I leave my Christmas tree up longer than anyone else I know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not just a week or two longer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, more like a month or two longer than anyone else I know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m talking the first weekend of February at the earliest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not a cultural or religious thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not that I’m too exhausted from the holidays.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not even that I’m too lazy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I just love my tree.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Actually, it’s three trees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s one in the living room, one in the dining room and one in the sun room.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I painstakingly decorate them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It takes hours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t dismantle them just because their holiday is technically over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Before you judge me think about this: I’ve seen houses more decked out for Valentine’s Day than for Christmas!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; tab-stops: right 9.0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; tab-stops: right 9.0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Lucida Bright", "serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Estrangelo Edessa";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I’ve had friends call claiming to be the neighborhood “Christmas tree police”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They even had out-of-town friends call and harass us (me) about when the tree was coming down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have to tell you, this doesn’t bother me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Last year, a friend of mine asked what I had done over the weekend (the first weekend of February, yes).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I told her she didn’t really want to know, but I told her anyway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As you can imagine, she was surprised.</span></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; tab-stops: right 9.0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; tab-stops: right 9.0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Lucida Bright", "serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Estrangelo Edessa";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On the flip side, a friend of mine not only puts her tree up at the last minute (not Christmas Eve, but a few days before), she takes it down the day after Christmas most years. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When she’s feeling particularly festive, it stays up until the day after New Year’s Day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Come to think of it, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">she</i> doesn’t even put up her tree; her father does it for her!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is this someone who I’m going to let tell me when to take down my tree?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No!</span></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; tab-stops: right 9.0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; tab-stops: right 9.0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Lucida Bright", "serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Estrangelo Edessa";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the “Christmas tree police ‘officers’” is so scarred by his childhood Christmas tree that he still puts only white lights and a star on his tree.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No ornaments are allowed, because his (Jewish) step-mother put <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">so</i> much on the tree-including tons of tinsel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can understand parents who scar their children over things like eating liver or brussel sprouts, but not the Christmas tree!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s just wrong.</span></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; tab-stops: right 9.0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; tab-stops: right 9.0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Lucida Bright", "serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Estrangelo Edessa";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I guess now would be a good time to mention that only the actual <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Christmas </i>trees and decorations might come down on that first weekend of February.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The “winter” decorations: pine trees, snowflakes, snowmen, etc., stay up until… March 21, the first day of spring of course!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; tab-stops: right 9.0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; tab-stops: right 9.0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Lucida Bright", "serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Estrangelo Edessa";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Last year, our trees came down on February 18.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s a month before the deadline!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, for the first time, I had to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">dust</i> the ornaments as I removed them from the trees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I digress, that’s pretty bad.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; tab-stops: right 9.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Lucida Bright", "serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Estrangelo Edessa";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This year, we skied every other weekend, so the trees didn’t get disassembled until the third weekend in March.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was obvious that I control the universe a little bit, when the sun came out and the temperature soared to around seventy degrees!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><s></s></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; tab-stops: right 9.0pt;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; tab-stops: right 9.0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Lucida Bright", "serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Estrangelo Edessa";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Most people don’t understand my enthusiasm for “winter decorating”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I always say: “after the tree comes down, it’s just a long, boring, cold winter”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, when your tree is down, has been for weeks, and you’re bored and cold, drive by my house and see if my twinkling tree in the front picture window doesn’t warm you up <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and</i> entertain you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09647611725434890947noreply@blogger.com2