Snug at the Hoytstead

You know, sometimes I just feel like I HAVE to get outta here. As though if I do not go somewhere, I will have a bonkers attack.

Tonight, however, is not one of those times.

I have been away all day, taking Carolyn to her electrophysiology appointment in Iowa City. Then it was back up to Waterloo to do the weekly shopping on our way home.

By the time I got to Fareway grocery around 4, the place was a madhouse. Then I remember the approaching storm...

While going through the checkout line, one of the guys announced that Cedar Rapids was under a blizzard warning.

Must have started shortly after we breezed through on our way north.

And Waterloo wasn't lookin' all that great when we left just before 5:00.

The trip home was at slightly reduced speed, which decreased even further after passing the 5th car in the ditch (I had tested the road when starting out, and the tires were gripping just fine. After that last car, I did another small test and the brake pedal did its impression of spazzing out--yes, I know this is merely the anti-lock mechanism....I suspect there was some black ice)

By the time I got off the highway it was getting difficult to see. Things were starting to drift a bit, and more so on the gravel road.

But we made 'er home, safe and sound, with a car full of groceries :-D

Plenty happy to sit tight, for a while.
 

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Screensaver

 

 

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Frost and Thaw

With warmer temps floating around, morning hoarfrost abounds.

Little Links on the Prairie


Tire Swing Detailing


Unbeknownst to the spading fork, it would be a cold winter.
However, it does make a handy sundial. And since this was taken at 10:00, it is approximately 4 hours ahead.

I believe that means spring will arrive early.

Cherry Tree, wondering if it will be alive come May.


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More good news on the diet front: Don't you love it when you wake up a whole pound less than the day before? Hmmm....two pounds lost over the last 7 days, so I'm callin' it for the week. That makes 7.5 lost in 3 weeks. I'm up to 4 miles per day on the treadmill (minus Sunday) and will keep up the 1200 or less calorie daily limit. Quite certain that's less than half the pre-diet scoffage.

Stuff is melting.
 

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Bowling for Splits

They really should make a movie entitled, Grumpy Old MA's.

Don't feel like doing all that many extra-curricular activities but I did break down and take four of the kids to the church bowling bonanza. They were shocked to pieces and so excited that I'm fairly certain they didn't even notice me sitting with my head perched on my arm (yawning) between frames.

Sorry. Just can't get excited about bowling.

Here is Trevor on the bumper lane.
He did OK until they took down the bumpers for the second game. But he did manage to end with a flourish by knocking down 9 pins in the last frame!

There was a pretty good turnout. We filled the joint!
Course, there are only six lanes :-)

I would have gotten more exciting photos, but I figured they didn't want me to stand by the pins, snapping pictures of my kids trying to nail me with a bowling ball.

Here's Nolan.
Delivery is a little unorthodox, but he was quite into the spirit of things, high-fiving people, right and left. A seeming prerequisite for this sport.

Ma attempted to balance out the enthusiasm by sitting quietly between turns.

And I didn't do that bad, actually, considering I haven't played more than twice since junior high, when we had it for a section of phys. ed.

If one could find a ball that would suit (large enough finger holes yet not too heavy) it would help immensely. And the fact that I was inserting the wrong fingers (thumb and first two fingers, instead of thumb and two middle fingers) probably didn't help. But at least I'll remember next time I go bowling. Probably in 10 years or so.

Even so, I squeaked out and 88 and then 94, very nearly achieving my goal of breaking 100.

Not that keen on the large split acquired on my thumb, but I'm sure that will heal in a year or two.

And my back hurts, but hey, other than that, and getting home over an hour later than I'd expected, it was basically just as much fun as I'd anticipated.
 

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How to Get Really Sore Calf Muscles

You're going to thank me for this.

Oh sure, one could google, "How to get really sore calf muscles," but all you would see is a list of (about) 124,000 entries on how to get rid of sore calf muscles.

Ma, on the other hand, is going to tell you a tried and true way to get them, saving you oodles of research time on those ridiculous websites that have gained fame and notoriety.

And just in case you still wish to google it, make sure you don't frame the question as, "How to get really sore calves," or you might end up with helpful hints along bovine lines.

So here is the definitive way:

Walk up and down the stairs for 40 minutes straight, pausing at the top only long enough to adjust the antenna, then go right back downstairs, pausing only long enough to realize the station isn't coming in on the downstairs TV.

One might think this would not take nearly 40 minutes, but one would not be trying to obtain two different stations, located in slightly different directions. It's that little extra twist of difficulty that insures you will be going up and down....interminably.

It helps to have a TV upstairs that doesn't register the stations coming in when the downstairs TV does

It also helps to live in the country.

And there you have it.

Throw in a stressful afternoon and you have a ready made calorie burning experience. As an added bonus, you WILL become lightheaded.

So much for the "tip of the day."
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Went shopping this afternoon, and took the three boys along. The goal was to get two pairs of boots and one pair of good shoes.

Found the latter, but thanks to our Wal*Mart's near-nil-and hopeless selection, I guess Ethan and Nolan will have to keep going out in the snow, barefoot.

(if I get arrested, I'll have some peace and quiet)

Kidding, naturally.

But the 'older' younger boys will have to continue wearing boots that are too small, and/or "borrowing" some of Loren's footwear.

Other than that, it's been a typical Monday of getting through the schoolwork, fixing a couple meals, shopping, doing dishes and making granola.

And walking 4 miles on the treadmill.

With sore calves.
 

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A Little Good News

Woke up this morning to a surprise loss of 1.5 more pounds (which makes 5.5, total) so I'm treating myself to the 42 calories which inhabit one Dove's dark chocolate.

Assuming I read the scale correctly...
 

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*Insert Boring Title*

I may be blank for a headline but I did get a few things done.

First and foremost, we got through school at a decent time this morning...er, afternoon, and that means NO MORE SCHOOL UNTIL MONDAY!!

Ethan thinks the reason I love Friday is because it's movie night for Carolyn and me (and sometimes Ethan, if we're feeling particularly magnanimous).

But the real reason I love Friday is because I don't have to think about getting up and pretending to be enthusiastic with Nolan and Trevor's school.

However, there was slightly less hassle than usual--for the past two days, actually...it's almost scary--and the ol' studies went down fairly well.

There was one interruption. That downy woodpecker that I showed in an earlier photo has taken a liking to pecking at the window frame, close to the feeder. I'll try to get a picture, but I can't for the life of me figure out why it's going for the window. The chance of finding bugs seems rather remote.

On the weight-loss front, I have a slight bit of good news. Lost 1 more pound over the course of this week, making it 4 pounds lost in 2 weeks. I'd been hoping for 5 or 6, but I guess 4 will do. At least I think it's 4...one never really knows, with that scale.

Also got in 4 miles on the treadmill, both today and yesterday, so coupled with the 1200 calories, it should produce results, don't you think? I can keep going as long as I see results.

There was a totally uncharacteristic activity today, in that I spent a fair amount of time on supper. Cutting up chicken, dipping in egg and flour and frying all the little pieces for Sweet-n-Sour Chicken. Even Ethan made the incredibly supportive comment of, "That was moderately good, Mommy."

That, plus my health nut staring at it and asking, "Are there any vegetables (besides the obvious green peppers) in this?" are both good reasons to spend a messy hour cooking coated chicken.

Now I am off to my lovely hot bath, made all the lovelier by the oodles of hot water we have, now that both heat pumps are working.

And I'm going to need that hotness for quite a while. It was -15 last night and spring looks to be far off, at the moment.
 

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Surrounded!

The house, that is.

Loren had Ethan use the skid-loader to erect a snow berm around the base of the house.

This picture was taken 'bout Christmas time. Since then we had a partial meltdown (I mean, other than the ones experienced almost daily by "you know who").

So Ethan had to go and shore it up, as well as take a shovel and chop down against the house and pack it it in, again.

I know this because I heard it take place during several naps, ha ha.

Today the skid-loader was utilized in a new fashion...helping to get the Camry-with-a-dead-battery into the garage.

There was a complicated process involving a winch, as well. All I know is...every time I starting drifting off to sleep, the skid-loader was revved into action.

It's getting so a gal can't snore in peace, anymore.

As to the migraine, the left side of my head was remarkably calm for most of the day, yesterday. This was because the migraine had migrated to the right side.

So weird when your teeth actually hurt.

But now we're back to normal for this Wednesday. Meaning, it's back on the left side.

Not bad enough to warrant a cold washcloth and a lie-down on the couch though, so that's good.

The trick is organizing my migraine-blasting meds, which should only be taken every 6 hours. One doesn't want to take them when not necessary, but now I've waited and the pain is returning and I won't be able to get in a second dose before bed.

Guess I'll just have to stay up late, that blissful time when everyone is in bed and not requiring food, help with schoolwork, or intensive arbitration to avoid all-out-war between the male members of my tribe.
 

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One of those days

It's not a complete bust, since I'm listening to Il Divo. Already I feel a teeny bit better.

Loren was in the shower when I woke up (not complaining, Loren...just stating fact) so I went downstairs in my bathrobe and started cruising the web. I had barely gotten my vehicle out of reverse when one of the kids said, "Someone's driving in..."

Great.

Looking out the window, I saw it was the furnace guys.

SUPER great. Gotta get out of here in my bathrobe!

Suddenly, Loren's being in the shower was making sense :-)

Once I obtained possession of the bathroom, the next step was to weigh-in...

WHAT? I gained back 1.5 pounds?

Ahhh, so THIS is what I've been going hungry for. THIS is the result of careful calculations of 1200-1300 calories per day.

To add insult to totally undeserved injury, I couldn't even get on the treadmill, since the heating people were due to set up a temporary home in the basement.

Grrrrr.

Moving on to school (or the minuscule amount demanded of boys who would rather watch "Casey" in the dungeon), the barest bit of learning was achieved, and some of that was hard fought.

Nolan, who has been perfecting his passive-aggressive act of late, was quite the obstacle. Finally, as has often happened recently, I had to sit down at the same table and look at a magazine while he struggled to not do his math.

*deletes paragraph detailing episode which produced half the day's stress*

That done, it was on to lunch, dishes, and waiting for the workmen to finish so I could get out of the drive.

I was very nice and didn't raise the garage door until they'd started down the road :-D

On the way shopping, I saw three male pheasants going across a field of snow. I've always wanted to get male pheasants against the snow, but for some reason I didn't stop. However, as I turned the corner, I vowed that next time I WOULD stop...
...so of course, it was a female.

(don't do it!) They're always running across the road in front of cars.

Typical of today, I missed the best shot.
 

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As the Migraine Turns

Just sitting here at the computer, chilling, listening to classical guitar and trying not to think of the entire left side of my head.

Which hurts.

I must have missed the start of this migraine, because for the past 3 days I haven't been able to quite keep up with it. Even if the standard acetaminophen/ibuprofen combo tones it down, it always comes back several hours before the next allowable dosage.

Might have been from the long car ride on Friday. Loren procured a used car in Illinois and we drove out five hours (not that far from Chicago) to pick it up.

Took Trevor and Nolan along with carefully packed schoolwork. Of course, if you really want to have fun, include two kids in the back seat, one of which needs almost constant attention to keep on track.

But we made it safely there and back, though I could hardly think straight for the last two hours. Probably overdosed on country music :-)

The car is a '93 cream-colored Camry with 250,000 miles on it and looks to be pretty nice.

Out the window I can hear screams of glee from the kids playing in the snow. Or maybe it is Nolan, yelling, "Cowards!" He didn't go outside with the rest, and now that he is out, the others are ready to come in, setting off his hair trigger disposition.

The snow is courtesy of another little system that came in last night, bringing a few inches and drifting, for which Ethan had to re-clear the entire drive. He also had to shore up the berm around the house.

Now that we have a skid-loader, there are all kinds of projects needing its assistance.

Before I forget, here's a picture taken around Christmas time when we had all that lovely hoarfrost.

I was out exploring the wonderland and taking pictures, and when I heard a tap, tap, tap over in Mr. Lupkes's trees...
...Downy woodpecker. Or maybe it's a Hairy woodpecker...I don't know.

Too drained to check on it. That baby might as well be drilling on the side of my head.
 

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True Grit

Made it through another diety day. Lost half a pound, which makes something in the neighborhood of 3 pounds, since Monday. And that's the conservative view. If I knew what the first day's reading truly said, I might have lost more.

I only hope I had the 10's place correct...

Loren and I saw True Grit this evening, and it's one of those movies that doesn't hit you right away.

Of course, I may have been slightly distracted at the time, since we went to an earlier showing, saving dinner until afterward.

And by distracted, I'm referring to my stomach reenacting Little Shop of Horrors. I could swear I heard an underlying motif of, "Feed me...FEED MEEEE!" in-between bodies falling afoul of Marshall Cogburn's gun.

Let me tell you, that flat-bread sandwich from Subway (410 calories) was mighty delicious! It was my first solid food of the day...hey, you can't say I'm not trying, people!

But getting back to the grit...I liked the music.

Enjoyed Jeff Bridges.

LOVED Hailee Steinfeld, who played Mattie :-)

Found Matt Damon's character a bit odd, but naively enjoyable towards the end.

One thing that did strike me was the almost complete lack of verbal contractions. Now, did people really speak that way in that time period? Were they taking a cue from Gettysburg?

I was reminded of people reading off letters...at any rate, I'm no expert. And I'm not complaining. It was certainly arresting. And maybe that was the whole idea...to put one into a different world.

If I have one quibble it was over the ending. After all the drama building up, suddenly it was as if the story fell over a cliff. The ending was told through narration. And I can understand that for the final end, but the penultimate end could have been dramatized.

The more I think about it, I can sorta see it....

Anyway, I did like the movie. More than some people I was with, heh, heh.

And another interesting observation: among the five or six couples present, Loren and I were the youngest.

Which doesn't happen that often.
 

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Today's Data

• Pounds lost since yesterday: 1.5 (yes!)
  
  
• Difficult episodes with Nolan: two (about par)
  
  
• Times listened to Il Divo Christmas CD: one
  
  
• Times played favorite songs, Over the Rainbow and Panis Angelicus : twice :-D
  
  
• Felt hungry: often
  
  
• Naps: two
  
  
• Freak-outs during nap when discovered Asian Lady Bird beetle crawling on upper lip: one (ick!)
  
  
• New dish tried for supper: one
  
  
• Favorable comments on new dish: three (amazing!)
  
  
• Cars bought on Ebay: one (average of one per year)
  
  
• Times looked forward to everyone going to bed: immeasurable
  

 

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Day Two in the Diet of Desperation

As is usual with diets I started it out on the scale yesterday to see how much damage had been done and basically, for bragging rights.

This morning I was curious if yesterday's 1100 calories could possibly have made a difference overnight, but I'd forgotten how wicked that scale can be.

Suffice it to say that due to the digital display not reading properly, I think something happened...not sure exactly what. We do know this, however: a vertical line can indicate '1,' part of a '4' or part of a '7.' And since today's readout said '0' in the ones place, we can safely announce that I lost either one, four, or seven pounds. Probably not the latter, ha ha.

Today was another mostly liquid day and I am starting to feel a little weak, so tomorrow's promise of salads and veggies is lookin' great! Can't wait to have a chef's salad for breakfast :-D

Speaking of food, just to show what a nice person I am, I made (turkey) ham with pineapple, scalloped potatoes, and corn for supper.

It was met with, "Is it someone's birthday?"

Gotta love that!

But hey....one of these days the kids will be gone and I can experiment with better cuts of meat and more expensive foods of greater variety. At least, I will if I have the energy.

Boy did I want to dig into those potatoes! When it came time to put away the leftovers, it was all I could do to keep from sticking my head in the casserole dish and licking it clean with my tongue.

(I used a spoon, instead)

Tomorrow I am going to cook up a big mess of navy beans, which I may indulge in by the end of the day. Whoo-ee...solid food! The rest will be saved for a new dish I'm planning for the family. One that I can eat, too. More great comments, I shouldn't wonder. Probably half the kids won't like it.

Too bad. I say, "Let them eat cake!"

No, wait...let ME eat cake :-D

And thus the whole post has been about food.

*sigh*

It's gonna be a long 4-5 months.
 

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First Diet Day (and more!)

First off, I must give grudging admiration to the scale which held up quite bravely under the extraordinary tonnage when I weighed in this morning.

That over, we can proceed to shaving off the pounds.

Today was a mostly liquid day. By the end of it, I've held the caloric intake to just over 1000. This includes the reward of a crunchy Honeycrisp apple, which I am saving until ante-bedtime.

Tomorrow will be mostly the same, with Wednesday being a salad and veggie day.

On Thursday, Loren and I shall be going out so I'll be saving up 500-600 calories for that meal, alone. True Grit, here I come!

On Friday I'm going to weigh-in, and fellahs, there had better be a decrease.

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Now...thought I'd show a recent picture of the famous DeFord twins, taken at church this past Sunday:
That's Benjamin in the foreground, with Shane located in what one can only assume to be the background. They had fallen fast asleep while Big Daddy Caleb preached the sermon.

Coincidence? I think not.

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I saw a bald eagle last week while coming home from shopping, but the photos didn't turn out all that spectacular, due to fading light. So instead, I'll share this one which was taken (out the window of a moving car) while Loren and I were on our way to see Tron:

This is a Sun Pillar, which I figured out after I saw something similar posted on the KCRG weather page. I'm sure that person was taking a picture the same time I was, for these only last for a few minutes.

A sun pillar is a vertical shaft of light extending upward or downward from the sun. Typically seen during sunrise or sunset, sun pillars form when sunlight reflects off the surfaces of falling ice crystals associated with thin, high-level clouds (like cirrostratus clouds).

And yes, I swiped that quote from a website.

They aren't that rare...I've seen them several times while photographing sunrises. But it's always interesting to find out the name of an observed phenomenon.

For instance, some day, you may wake to find a picture of me, minus gobs of weight. Then you'll pick yourself off the floor, search the recesses of your memory and whisper that one fitting word...

...miracle !
 

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Back to Blahdom

Jason and Derek left for Texas this morning, followed shortly by Kendra heading for Indiana.

They are all safely at their day's destinations, for which we are thankful. Especially since Kendra ran into bad snow conditions around Valparaiso.

The boys have stopped off at Aunt Elizabeth's in Tulsa and it sounds as though things are in party mode! They will drive the last 5 1/2 hours, tomorrow.

Needless to say, it has been very quiet, here!

Let me rephrase that...it has been...very....quiet...here.

I did notice that with Jason gone, Trevor is again willing to snuggle up with me, proving that age-old maxim:

The largest mass does not always have the most pull.

I think the older ones were ready to take off, as evidenced by Jason's cheerful whistling and Kendra's bags being packed and stacked by the door before I'd climbed out of bed.

I'll be glad to get back to the routine, myself. Well, except for the dieting and the homeschooling and the household chores. Other than that, I'm good.

But getting back to today...it seemed the perfect time to dismantle and put away the Christmas decorations, so I worked my legs to stumps doing most of that.

The kids were responsible for the tree, but I didn't realize the extent of the decorative odds and ends.

When we put them up in December, it usually takes several days to decide what is going where. But taking them all down in one day meant a lot of weight on these overworked feet. And by that I mean, every time I stand up my feet are overworked, since I am overweight. So I definitely have to get psyched up for my new diet, on Monday. I may start out with two days of liquids, just to teach the body who's boss.

Chocolate is a liquid, right?
 

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Shoe Rx Us

Have I mentioned recently how much I love the medical profession?

This morning I had my appointment with the new PA at our local clinic. It's 25 minutes away and for the middle of corn country, that is local.

Oh sure, I could have gone even localer, but then you have to limit feeling bad to one or two days per week, and I find that inconvenient. I have a happier outlook on life if I know I can whine about my health on any given day.

ANY-way, this ol' foot had been bothering me for about a month, so I decided to have it checked out. Normally, I would complain to Loren and try and get a few sympathy points, but frankly, that has never worked in the past. Usually he says something annoyingly practical like, "Why don't you go to the doctor?"

So, in an amazing display of pre-cognitive submission (triple bonus points!), I did what I thought he would tell me to do, and made an appointment.

And I must say, the new PA is very nice and personable. Plus, I displayed incredible self-control by not saying, "Hey...my daughter is starting a 2-year PA program this summer...do I get a discount?"

Right away she came in saying something about, "So...you're having foot pain..."...*glances at my Dr. Scholl's on the floor*...."You need new shoes!"

I thought they'd held out pretty well for 1.5 years, but on closer inspection, besides ripping out on each side, the "gel" pads in the heels were completely flat.

As in, died an ignoble death underneath months of chips and chocolate.

Of course, she did an exam of the foot, and had me stand and push up on my toes and she pushed this way and that...."OW!"...and mentioned a few terms that were much too hard for me to remember (by the way, Kendra...make sure you have some good and impressive words handy before you see each patient...very effective).

And after determining there was nothing wrong structurally, she showed me warm-up exercises and said, "Give yourself a New Year's present and buy yourself some new shoes....GOOD ones!"

And if the pain doesn't go away I can go back for an x-ray to check for arthritis. (hmmm....wonder if I should have mentioned those other achy joints...oh well)

The doc said new shoes, so baby, BABY needs new shoes!

That was phase One.

Phase Two involved getting the new shoes :-D

Remembering that Famous Footwear almost always had a "Buy one, get a 2nd pair half price" sale, I inventoried my college students to see who was in the most need.

Derek had the same ones we'd bought when he started college and they were showing wear, SOOooo, we had a winner!

Naturally, for purposes of returning before nightfall, we needed to leave soon. Before lunch. Necessitating lunch out.

First the Rx for new shoes, and now lunch away from home. What's next...2 months at a spa?

Good times in the car and Panera Bread. Derek and I pretty much solved the world's problems AND discussed Emma and Pride and Prejudice. WooHoo for stimulating conversation!

Off to the mall. Gotta say though, trying on umpteen pairs of shoes is not my idea of fun. I like the end result, except for that small glitch when we hit the cash register.

They were not having their "buy one, get the 2nd pair half price" sale :-(

Never mind they've had that promotion every single time I've been there in the past 8 years.

"No, I'm sorry. Do you still wish to make the purchases?"

Well, after the 90-minute trial of choosing between 50 different styles, it's not like I'm going to drive 45 miles home with nothing.

ARRGHH. Oh well. Live and learn.

It was still a nice afternoon :-D

I should go to the doctor more often.
 

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Tron: Legacy of Ma's non-appreciation

Loren and I went to see Tron: Legacy tonight...oops, I mean yesterday evening, and here's my official review:

I give it a solid 3 stars out of 21; the same age, incidentally, as Al Gore when he didn't invent the Internet.

And it's not that I'm any more technologically-challenged than the average 52-year-old female that typed her college papers on a manual typewriter. But there's something uniquely unenjoyable about a movie that utilizes only three colors: black, red, and white.

Make that one actual color.

Visually, it got old.

But what it lost to repetitive neon graphics, it made up for in.....well....nothing made up for that, actually.

Fortunately, the theater where we viewed the--and I use this term loosely--"film" had the volume turned up SO loud, that it gave a fresh air of importance to the utterly banal dialogue, itself in mercifully short supply.

There was one appreciative quality, and that was the perfection displayed in the alternate world of "the grid." I mean, Jeff Bridges' beard had every hair in place, fer cryin' out loud! It was downright inspiring.

The other thing I enjoyed was planning my pan on the way home. It was a special feeling, and you don't get that with every movie, nowadays.

Have to say though...I feel a little bad running it down, since I know there are those who enjoyed it.

But it's also been a while since I sat watching a movie, thinking, "When is this going to end?

Just not my cup of zen, I guess.
 

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All Quiet on the Hoytfront

Life has been fairly subdued since Friday afternoon.

That's when half the crew went down to Cedar Rapids for the annual Scholl New Year's Eve party. My kids were almost 1/3 the total attendees :-D

Can world domination be far away?

We poor cast-offs left at home were forced to find our own entertainment. And our church was planning its usual game night for New Year's Eve.

With only two drivers left in the house, and one of those planning to stay there, it was up to Ma to ferry the troops to Allison. I planned to make an early night of it and leave around 9:00pm.

Armed with Sharon's leftover Buckeyes, I drove through the cold, cold winds of Iowa avec the three remaining family members willing to go: Ethan, Nolan, and Trevor. We arrived to an unlocked church, fully alight and completely void of people.

They began trickling in however, and I found out two interesting bits of information:

1) There was a full schedule of events, with the games not starting until 9:00pm.

2) The master of ceremonies was there, along with a stomach bug.

A quick call to Loren and the decision was made to beat it out of there. So our big new Year's Eve party lasted all of 25 minutes, but I didn't care, since I hadn't been keen to go, anyway.

Nolan, however, DID care, but a quick promise of rewatching How to Train Your Dragon mollified him somewhat.

As we began to depart, Trevor expressed quite a bit of concern at leaving our snack, so I grabbed the Buckeyes and we skedaddled.

Probably looked a little weird, but I can live with that better than nine people and an intestinal virus.
 

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