Monday Musings (holiday delay)

Greetings you peeps!  I've missed being in touch!  It's been a busy past week.  In fact, I just was folding clothes and counted up 29 pairs of underwear for one of the MYP.  Yes, I do laundry often.  I just think this certain young person changes approximately four times/day.

So it's the holiday season!  We've had wonderful days that were balanced out between the Chairman's family and mine.  We hosted "the Italian's" on Christmas Eve Day.  The food was amazingly wonderful as usual.  The company lively and fun.  The heart happy.  The two "Grandma's" do the main course which is spaghetti of course.  I wish you all could taste it.  😋

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baby toes 💙

Then we were off to visit my side of the family.  This time it was prime rib and ham and all the delicious fixings and rich desserts and too many cookies and strong coffee.  Yum.

So what else?  We have a new family member!  It wasn't my idea.  It wasn't my money.  But his name is "Peanut"  or "Hammy" or as I call him - "Hamish McTavish" because when you weigh about 3 oz. you should have a formal name.  He might be more aptly called "Cat Bait".  He's actually quite cute and entertaining as he hops in his little ball to roll around the floor.

So we head to the Windy City in a couple days to just have some family time.  I'm excited to get out of the rut of life if only for 24 hours.

Speaking of ruts, I'm really really struggling with blogging anymore.  I feel like my oomph is gone.  Who knows if the 'Chairman and Co.' has a future?

Happy end of the year to you!  Soon it'll be 2017.  I remember when our daughter entered kindergarten 12 years ago and thought of 2017 being her graduation year and a very long time in the future.  Well, I blinked.  And it's almost 2017.

A Museless Muse

I'll be back in a week.  There's lots of family time coming ahead.  And I kinda-sorta need to get some 

Have a wonderful holiday!

Monday Musings

This is unusual.  I usually try to type out a blog post when the house is quiet except for the snoring dog and the cat purring on a chair nearby.  However, I decided I wanted to quick blog before I slid into my deliciously fuzzy-warm sheets and Monday turned into Tuesday.  The Chairman just left for the evening walk with Lisi.  He just yelled that it's only 12 degrees and he wished he had on long underwear.  Doesn't he realize I'm busy doing important things other than responding to his concern of a cold tush while walking?  Daughter #1 is exercising in the basement, son #1 is away at basketball, and daughter #2 is singing at the top of her lungs in the living room doing her homework.  I hope she doesn't come bother me for a bit.

To be perfectly honest, this post isn't worth your time or strain of the eyeballs.  I have little to share that's noteworthy.  The past week has been filled with pretty much ordinary days and ordinary living.

* There was a comment I heard from one of the MYP a few days ago.  Mom?  "Can I get XYZ when I get older?"  Then she quickly added brightly, "I'm going to be older tomorrow!"

* We got about 7 or 8" of snow over the past couple days.  Happy dance!  I'm so so glad we will have snow this winter.  I hope we get another 7-8" this weekend but unfortunately it seems like it'll only be in the 3-5" region.

* The dog loves the colder temps and the deeper snow.  The cat?  Not so much.  He sleeps most all day and half the night and then meows to go outside about 2:30 only to race back in at 6 am.

* I suggested to the Chairman the other night that maybe we should consider a king-sized bed.  He groaned and said it was a terrible idea.  We have a queen and that size has worked for 22 years.  But sometimes I fantasize about lying in bed without worrying about someone breathing on me.  Oh well.

* We might be adding to our family!  No, no more MYP.  My quiver is full.  The girls have been asking for a hamster and are promising to care for it and pay for it with their own money.  I just see the new arrival being cat bait.

* We cleaned a huge amount in the unfinished part of the basement.  I found utility bills from 16 years ago.  I also found a gift bag that a friend brought over to cheer me up at a very sad time.  It is slightly ripped and looks like it should go in the garbage, but I just couldn't.  Just seeing it makes me so thankful for thoughtful friends.

* Daughter #2 had four adult teeth yanked out of her mouth last Friday.  She was a trooper and got to drool and eat applesauce and oatmeal.  The body heals amazingly fast.  She will have tinsel on her teeth within 10 days.

I think that's about all I have for you!  See?  I told you life was kind of dull around here.

true that

two of the three MYP texted this to me...😁

trying to feel her chin

💗

a girl and her friend on a snowy Sunday

Son #1 took a picture of this because he thought it looked so amazing.  Cooking for teenage boys is so rewarding.

This is so good.  I'm a daughter and also a mother...  

Monday Musings on time!

I can hear the collective clapping for a job well done!  Musing on a Monday!  Thanks for your rousing support.  Or not.

We've got snow!  Based on social media sightings, you would think it never snows!  My feeder was full of pictures of potted plants and chairs and pine boughs drooping 'neath the weight of the beautiful white fluffy stuff!  I may or may not have taken a picture too.  I'm original like that.

It made for some sketchy driving.  But thankfully, the Chairman is a competent driver and we got to all our locations safely.

We purchased a new humidifier the end of October and suddenly it didn't seem to be working.  I tried this or that and then called the 1-800 customer service number.  The "lady" that answered said her name was "George".  It gave me pause, but then I started in on my problem.  "George" kept insisting my issue was with my filter.  I told "her" that I changed it and it still wasn't working.  She insisted.  I resisted.  I was utterly convinced it was the unit itself.  Finally after about six minutes of going back and forth, I did exactly what "she" told me to do with utter skepticism.  To my chagrin it worked.  I'm glad I don't have to meet "George" in person anytime soon.  I think she'd think I was an irritating person.  I may or may not have been called "bull-headed" when I was a child.  I can't figure out why.

Did you know you aren't supposed to use an apostrophe and an "s" when saying Happy Holidays from the Hansen's!  It's to be just Hansens.  You learn something every day.  And for those of you that have received holiday cards from us in the past, please don't hold my bad English against me.

I have a couple merino wool shirts that I purchased at Costco close to four years ago that I absolutely love.  They're like SmartWool only better as they are quite thin and layer underneath sweaters without giving you heatstroke.  The lady at Costco said they won't be carrying them anytime soon.  So I hit EBay and there it was!!!  And a couple dollars cheaper than I originally paid!  And free shipping!  Which I'm currently wearing as I type along this post.  I looked up the name/address where it came from.  The lady lives in nowheresville Idaho with four children.  Her husband is a wee bit chubby.  They look like a happy family.  Amazing what you can find on the internet.  Shirts and stalking.

I've been doing on-line banking and I love it!  I finally started doing the take-a-picture-of-your-check and submitting it after the MYP kept telling me it was simpler than starting up my car.  I have been and it's been quite handy!  I wonder if the teller-lady "Sheryl" misses me yet?

Someone just came this past weekend and sharpened all my knives.  I've got band-aids to prove it.  I just hope my thumb doesn't get chopped off this week.  He wanted to be sure they were sharp enough so that you could slice paper-thin grape slices.  I don't plan to serve paper-thin grapes anytime soon, but who am I to argue?

Today is Lisi's birthday.  She's doing good for her nine years.  Our first dog Lincoln died at 9 1/2, so we will appreciate the time we do have with her.  She seems quite healthy and quite photogenic, so we'll love on her while we have her.

Well this is enough Musing.  I will throw a few pictures here on the bottom.  Happy week ahead!  I'm off to tromp in some snow and get some fresh air.

homemade Texas Roadhouse rolls/cinnamon butter

super-special family time 

extra-special people

yep it snowed here too!

Monday Musings ta bit late

Well time to put my writer's hat on and see what words come out.  I should have blogged yesterday to be faithful to Mondays but I didn't have any words rattling around in my head yet.  Today I do!  Lucky you!

I just returned from visiting our orthodontist.  He has all this fancy technology and shows you the teeth in 3D and pictures and surround sound or what have you.  Quite fascinating.  Then he tells the treatment plan and the amount of money needed.  Since this is our fourth round of braces for the MYP (one had them twice), I wanted to pull out my pocket insides and show him that all I have is lint.  But I doubt that would have helped the situation.  He's model-magazine attractive.  So that doesn't help me being testy about the cost.

So we had an extra-special Thanksgiving.  It was so nice to be able to load up our contributions and go to another home this year.  And it was so nice to be with a full hand of extra-special people.  I hardly took any pictures.  But the food and friends and family together made my heart warm and happy.

My dad just celebrated birthday #86.  He's 'healthy as a horse' (his words).  But unfortunately, he cannot hear as he once did.  I really feel for him but am glad that there's technology that can help with the hearing and that he can thoroughly enjoy social interactions via text, Facebook, and emails.

My mostly-nice older brother and family were not with us this year.  Because of that, my self-esteem was soaring since he wasn't there to lovingly make a few well-deserved comments about what I just said.  I deserve it I guess.  There's something neat about siblings.  You feel like a kid again when you're together.  Thank goodness we'll see them within a couple months again so I can feel 14 instead of 51.

I got a text at 3 am this morning that said "I'm really sick and puked".  I'm glad I didn't read it until this morning.  I just find it amusing how that seemed like a normal thing to do for him.

I recently got a new phone.  Phone plans are about as easy to understand as x-y+b*q = z.  They are clever in that they tell you all that you are saving, but hardly on how much you are really spending.  Nonetheless, I really really like my new camera that came with it!

The new phones are kind of spooky though!  Sunday morning just as we got in the car to head to our usual home, my screen lights up to tell me how long it will take to get there.  I never told it where we were going.  It tells me when I should leave home for an appointment.  Then it tells me where I parked.  Then it tells me when to go to bed based on my alarm.  Pretty soon all I need to do is not use my mind at all.  Wait a minute.  That's kind of me already.

We were worried the other night about daughter #1 not leaving work even though she had been supposedly off an hour+ before.  So the Chairman calls at nearly 11 at night and asks very anonymously 'are you open?'.  He wanted to be sure it wasn't being held up or anything.  The next day we tell her that dad had called.  She said, 'are you serious?'  The boss got off the phone and said, 'boy some people are really stupid!'.  Heh.  We don't consider ourselves helicopter parents, but you sure heard the blades whirring that night!

We read in the bible to hate no man.  And I can honestly say I don't.  But is it ok to hate something?  Please say yes.  Because I HATE cancer.  Hate it.  I wish they could tell me that if you drink a tea at 2:37 on a Monday when there's a full moon that you will be guaranteed to not get it.  Life and disease isn't that simple.  I have friends/family that have been or are going through the journey of cancer.  It's terrifying for them and scary for us.  I hate cancer.  And I hope those that have or will be facing it know that there is a literal army of people that care and love them and support them.

So this is enough.  I'll add some pictures at the end here!

yum for homemade Indian food!

sweet sweet Lisi

cuties

WI was well represented in IL for Thanksgiving

Mama warming the lefse

My dear parents.  I'm so fortunate for them.

These lovelies visited us for several days.   

I consider myself good at parallel parking but am always conscious of what others are thinking...

Monday Musings

It's Monday!  And I'll Muse!  How about I throw some stats at you first and foremost?  This is probably more interesting to me than you.  This is post #1256.  There have been 88 page views so far today.  In the past month there have been 3,194 views.  Goodness who are you all?  Well hello indeed!

So what's new with you?  Shoot.  I can't have two-way conversations here.  Just drop me a text if you know my number so I can hear!  Or call.  Or write me an email.  Or a letter.  Doesn't matter!  I need to write some of you too!

We just got word a few hours ago that yet another classmate of one of our MYP has passed away.  Two weeks ago it was a 16-year old to a fast-moving cancer.  Today it was due to a car accident.  For the life of me I cannot hardly wrap my mind around the emotions those parents are feeling.  At all.  Each and every time our MYP drive out of the driveway, I smile with a small knot in my stomach.  I hope that goes away sometime, but I doubt it does.

Son #1 had a successful hunt this year.  I'd show you a picture but I think it makes some people squeamish to see a dead deer.  I'll just post this picture - the mom where he's staying at - sent me today.  Thank goodness he's home in a few hours.  I miss him and it's only been three days.

Remember me kind of tooting the kefir horn a post or two back?  You know the one that says it has a gazillion pro-biotics and I never-ever get sick?  Yeah that one.  Well, I got sick.  Nothing too horrible.  Just a sore throat for three days and congestion thanks to a couple sick daughters.  I complained to the Chairman and he said, 'well you could have been sick a lot worse if you weren't drinking kefir'.  So I'll keep believing and drink the swill. 

I had a super-sweet getaway for 27 hours this past weekend.  Some of us ladies all holed up in a condo and ate ourselves into a stupor and then shopped a bit besides.  I just felt like my heart was full of happiness after our time together.  I am thankful for friends that make me feel that way.  

I think teenagers master the selfies better

I like this quote I read lately, "hugs were invented to let people know you love them without having to say anything".  I'm not good at either one much quite frankly.  Must be the stiff Norwegian in me.

Speaking of quotes - I had to write this down after our daughter said it,,, "Maybe I should be rebellious and then when I'd come back you'd appreciate me more and give me money to be a good kid".   She's a nut.  I think she takes after...  (oh never mind)

So we have a wonderful week ahead with Thanksgiving and friends and family and food.  Happy Thanksgiving!  See you back here soon for post # 1257!

Here's a few things that made me smile.