What to do on a cold & icy day?

Hang out in your cozies.

 Line up your trains so they can watch cartoons with you.

 Make The Pioneer Woman's Chocolate Valentine Cookies.

And enjoy, even though they look (and likely taste) nothing like hers.

Pretend to shop at Target.

Say "cheese"!

Frozen Friday Fun

 

#4

Today is the fourth day this week out of school, so what started as a snow day on Tuesday has essentially become a snow week.  Truly unbelievable.  The weather experts are still saying that it should warm up this weekend.  I hope that's true because, on top of all the ice that hadn't had a chance to even begin melting, we woke up this morning to a thick blanket of fresh white snow.  Steve's drive into work today was, in his words, "Terrible."  I hope he'll leave early this afternoon to beat the rush (though I'm sure everyone else will have the same plan). 

Yesterday was a big day: I put on jeans (instead of sweats), a touch of blush, and a few strokes of mascara, piled Sara in the car and headed for Target.  We needed an outing, and I needed to buy ingredients for the crock pot full of soup that I was supposed to take to school today for our Souper Bowl party (needless to say, we'll be eating soup around here for the next few days ...).  It felt good to get out of the house for a bit, but upon realizing that very little progress had been made in terms of improved road conditions and that the Target parking lot still resembled an ice rink, we shopped only long enough to get the items we needed, and then got back home as quickly as we could.

I had considered going out and about a bit today, too, but the snow and our not-even-close-to-plowed has changed my plans.  So it's another day at the house.  Like I said, it is supposed to warm up above freezing tomorrow, and if it does, we are getting outta here for a bit (along with probably everyone else in and around the metro area).  The Super Bowl festivities I mentioned a couple posts ago are still taking place, but I feel bad for the local businesses who were relying on this week to boost business.  While fans are still eating out, bar hopping, taking in the cities, etc., it sounds like patronage at many establishments hasn't been what business owners had been hoping for and expecting.  Last year the Super Bowl was in Miami ... a far cry from what we are unfortunately offering this year in cold, icy, snowy DFW.  Chances are, once the teams play and then pack up and leave, we won't see weather like this again for years and years.  In fact, it's colder here this week than it has been since the late '80s or early '90s. 

Anyway, I guess I can't say much more about the weather and/or the Super Bowl without boring you to death.  Our indoor days have had us spending lots of time in the kitchen, though, which has been fun.  We've made pake (obviously - see post below if you haven't already), French Onion soup, taco soup, big breakfasts (which sure beat our usual cold-cereal-in-the-car routine), hot lunches, muffins.  We don't always have (or take?) the time to enjoy such luxuries during a regular week. 

I know that many of us are feeling the cold blast accompanied by other winter weather.  I hope that wherever you are, you are staying warm and safe.  Does anyone have big Super Bowl plans?  I know that those of you up north who can swallow the idea of cheering for the Packers in lieu of your teams who didn't make it to the game will be doing so.  Last year during the big game I was in bed fighting flu symptoms, so I'll just be glad to take part this year as a television spectator!

Pink Pake!

In yesterday's post, I mentioned that Sara and I spent part of our cold snow day making the pink pake mix (for those of you who aren't two years old, that translates into strawberry cake) that she'd been eye-balling in the pantry for some time.  After she woke up from her nap, we iced, decorated, and ate the pake! I know you are anxiously awaiting the results of our combined culinary skills ...

Here's our pink pake, ready for decorating.

We made our own frosting out of powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk.

The decorating begins ...

Sara hasn't yet adopted the philosophy that less is more.  Truth be told, when it comes to sprinkles, maybe more is more anyway.

The Decorator was so proud of her finished product (and, of course, ready to eat after all of her hard work).

The Taste Test:

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm.  Good Pake!

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Update: By 5:00 this evening, school had already been canceled for tomorrow.  My district rarely makes the decision to cancel school (remember our big snow fall in early January? - we went to school), and never before 4:00 or so in the morning.  I don't think I've ever had two snow days in a row (not sure we even had two total growing up in MN).   I know many of you in other states are experiencing this same phenomenon.  Truly crazy weather!  As far as making up the days, it's no skin off my back since I have to work through June anyway ... so I'll just stay home, bundle up, and enjoy another lazy day with my girl!

Today Sara and I are home enjoying our first - and likely only - snow day of the school year.  I think the better term for it is cold day.  Last night around 9:00 it started raining to the west of us.  That spread, the temps dropped, and the rain became sleet and then snow.  Of course the roads have taken a beating.  But we've had snow here before, as you know, so the precipitation is not the crazy part.  Right now it's about 20 degrees outside, and getting colder.  The low over the next couple of days is hovering around zero, and with 40+ mph winds, the wind chill is negative.  We're not supposed to be above freezing until maybe Friday.  We are used to snow that disappears within twenty-four hours of falling because the temps hover in the high 30s or low 40s ... a week of what we have today may just put some North Texans over the edge.  Let me put this in perspective by reminding you that it was 65 on Saturday.  We went to the park in t-shirts.  That's crazy.  As Sara keeps telling me, "It's yucky outside." 

In addition to the weather, the other big news around town is the fact that athletes, fans, reporters, celebrities, and others are arriving by the thousands for Sunday's Big Game, which is taking place at The House that Jerry Built.  Of course Packer and Steeler fans won't have problems dealing with this week's weather, though I'm sure they were hoping for slightly nicer temps during this break from their much colder homelands.  It is supposed to warm up for the game on Sunday, but I heard on the news that there are roughly 220 different Super Bowl related parties happening between now and then, and these conditions could potentially hinder party-goers.  Not that any of that matters to us.  Steve did throw out the idea of paying our way into a party in Addison being hosted by The Situation, but after weighing the value of our time, we decided we might rather just stay at home.

This morning after sleeping in (!), Sara and I enjoyed a leisurely breakfast of raisin toast and clementines.  We watched Cat in the Hat on public television, started some laundry, and then I weighed whether I should use this day off to do some cleaning.  I'm still undecided on the cleaning, though I have found better things to put on the list ahead of it ... so we'll see if I actually get to a point today when nothing better remains to be done than to pull out the vacuum cleaner.  There has been a box of pink (strawberry) cake mix hanging around for a couple of months that Sara begs me to make nearly every time I open the pantry door. We made it this morning in a heart-shaped pan my mom gave me a while back.  I don't have any frosting on hand, so we'll make some from scratch (which always tastes better anyway) and then decorate drown the top of the cake with sprinkles after nap time.  In a little while, I plan to put together a pot of French Onion Soup for us to enjoy tonight after Steve makes what is sure to be a very slow trek home from work.  Other than that, Sara and I are hanging out in sweats, listening to the wind whip and ice pellets make *tinking* noises the windows. 

It goes without saying that today we're staying inside 'cause, baby, it's cold outside! Brrrrrrrr........

Book Talk

At our last book club gathering, we discussed Allison's pick, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.  I use the term "discussed" loosely because among those of us who made it to breakfast, I was the only one who read the book.  Still, I put in my two cents there and I'll do it again here: I dearly loved this book.  When I posted about it originally, I had just started reading it, and already acknowledged my shock at the fact that it hadn't landed in my hands at some point during my reading career.  To me, ATGIB ranks up there with To Kill A Mockingbird on my best-of list.  It's a heartfelt and raw coming-of-age story told through the eyes of a young girl who desparately tries to make a better life for herself while growing up in the Brooklyn slums pre-WWI.  This is a book I'll share with Sara during her teenage years; I hope she'll pick it up and adore it, too. 

 There were a few weeks on the calendar between finishing ATGIB and the next book club meeting, and I knew I'd need some reading material to get me through.  Furthermore, I'd be flying to Chicago without anyone but myself to entertain, so I had the perfect opportunity to turn a few pages.  I picked up Something Borrowed on a trip to Half-Price Books in early January.  I know everyone else read this book when it came out years ago, and I finally picked it up because I was intrigued by the combination of the fun, easy read and the $1 pricetag ($1!).  SB turned out to be an enjoyable, completely non-challenging, perfect-for-my-flight-to-girls-weekend read.  I don't feel a need to continue with the series, but SB served its purpose.

 I also finally bought The Girls from Ames (not even on Amazon.com or at Half-Price, which should indicate to you how badly I wanted to read it).  Leigh and I wandered into a mom-and-pop type bookshop in the Lincoln Park area of Chicago (you know, the mom-and-pop type shop that features lots of gay porn, but that's beside the point), and I picked up the book my friends had been raving about.  I began reading at the airport the next day, and finished the book no more than four days later (and it only took that long because I chose to also do things like hang out with my family and go to work).  TGFA was especially touching because I had just spent the weekend with my girls from Ames, but is also certainly a story that will be cherished by any woman who has ever had - or been or even wanted - a true and life-long friend. 

Now I've started the newest book club read - picked by yours truly, recommended by my friend, Christine - The Thirteenth Tale.  I have only read through chapter two, and although I thought chapter one was a little on the slow side, some interesting revelations in chapter two have sparked my interest.  I can only hope that someone else reads the book so we can discuss it at least breifly between bites of breakfast and gossip when we meet in February.  Ahem.

"A book is the only place in which you can examine a fragile thought without breaking it, or explore an explosive idea without fear it will go off in your face. It is one of the few havens remaining where a man's mind can get both provocation and privacy."

Edward P. Morgan

I Love Us!

"Making your way in the world today takes everything you got.

Taking a break from all your troubles sure would help a lot.

 Wouldn't you like to get away?

 Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name, and they're always glad you came.

You wanna be where you can see our troubles are all the same.

  You wanna be where everybody knows your name. 

 You wanna go where people know, people are all the same.

You wanna go where everybody knows your name."