Nobbin' with all the muckety-mucks, I'm blowin' my dough and goin' deluxe

Yes, Newsies fans, I was in New York to see Al, and we saw the show!  What can I say, I am a lucky girl.  

If you follow me on Instagram [yes, I got an iPhone and have joined the 21st century!] you have seen some of these teasers.   Let me show you some more while I further delay my full recap of 5 days in The Big Apple.

Nothing quite like arriving at Penn Station via NJ Transit on a Thursday night.

Girls night out!  Drinks and apps at a wine bar in the East Village.  

Melissa [our auxiliary sis and Al's roommate] took the photo

Selfie on the Brooklyn Bridge - my first time into the borough! 

Newsies at the Nederlander Theater

We totally took a photo during intermission despite the rather LARGE no photo signs.   

Whatever - it was the mezzanine and the stage was empty.  No regrets

Just a normal day at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Recreating the Full House opening scene as I test out hair options for our upcoming race.  

Instead of Michelle, I got a Fat Bison

The Craziest Thing I Have Ever Done

Ripcord.

What is Ripcord, you ask?   A ridiculous but extremely fun thing to do, that's what.

source

Back in my senior year of high school I decided Ripcord would be a good way to get over my fear of roller coasters.  So one summer day in 2001, Michael and I drove to Cedar Point to do what remains the craziest thing either of us has ever done.

I remember being nearly silent on our drive out to the Challenge Park.  Very rare for me.  Despite being scared and nervous, I knew I would go through with it and not chicken out.  I was on a mission to conquer my coaster fears.  We arrived, paid, got strapped in, and we were on our way up.   This short period of time is probably one of the scariest of my life.   I am not afraid of heights at all.   But I was getting raised off the ground knowing there's one way down.  It was not a ladder.  We had to pull the rip cord.  Yikes!

Ripcord is sort of a fusion of sky diving and bungee jumping.  You're in a harness with a buddy (or two) and get hooked up to a cable, which then hoists you up to the top of a 15 foot tower.  Once you are up 150 feet in the air, the folks on the ground say 3-2-1-FLY! at which point you pull the rip cord and swoop down to the ground.   They say you come within 6 feet of the concrete and that you are going 65 mph at the time.   I have no idea if any of that is true.

What I do know is that Michael was the cord puller and he did a marvelous job.  We dropped, but it was smooth and not at all unpleasant in that regard.  The view was magnificent and the sensation was different than riding a roller coaster.  It felt more like a glide, or what I imagine you'd feel like if you could fly.   The ride up was scary, but after Michael pulled the cord, the experience was amazing.  Exhilarating.  Invigorating.  The craziest thing I have ever done.

Since this was 12 years go, and I did not own a digital camera yet, I have no photos.  I do, however, have a video of this experience at my parents' house in Ohio.  I bought it as proof that I actually went through with it!  I must convert that to a digital copy.  Until then, this video will give you an idea of what it's all about.


Still enjoying the Bring Back the Words Prompts from Ginger at RambleRamble.  What's the craziest thing you've ever done was a fun trip down memory lane!  Can't wait to see next week's prompts.


 

Sweet Summer

So it turns out I am enjoying these prompts.   I am trying to catch up because I started late.  This time I am working on June 23rd's topic.    Tell us a favorite summer memory.

When I lived up north, Summer is, by far, my favorite season.    After months of cold and gray weather, we enjoy warmth and sunshine and baseball.  The days are long, the pool is open, and school is out.   (Not that I didn't enjoy school.   I did.  But I also loved summer.)

Growing up with a pool in the backyard certainly spoiled us.  Al and I spent hours and hours swimming, splashing, making up games, diving for rings, and remaining generally water logged for the better part of 3 months.   Eric, our next door neighbor and de-facto sibling, was over almost every day.  We made him talk under water and have us guess what he said.   It was a ridiculous game and we loved it.  Every 4th of July we watched fireworks with Eric and his parents, and often had them over for hot dogs and sparklers before it got dark enough for the fireworks to start.   I have so many photos of us goofing around during the 4th holiday, but they are not scanned!   The below photo was no doubt taken with Eric near by.

A few summers, Mom went to grad school and spent a lot of time with Nene.   We covered a tri-county area fitting in zoo trips, SeaWorld, Cedar Point, visits to the park, and of course, more swimming.  Often during these carefree days, I ate dinner while wearing my swimsuit, and often ate ice cream in the pool.  (Dad sanctioned and still performed)

We caught fireflies, looked at stars, and stayed up "late" watching movies we rented for free at Drug Mart.  You see, my parents were avid weekend movie watchers, and always new releases.  After 10 new release rentals, they earned a free 'old' movie.  My parents never cashed in on this, so Al and I spent many evenings watching and re-watching our favorite movies at no charge to our parents.   We also ate our weight in Combos.  Evenings also included baseball games.   Either on TV or just on the radio, nearly every evening from my junior high career on, I had Indians on the brain.  I even dragged my little boom box out to the pool deck so I could listen to the Tribe while in my favorite place in the world.

In our house, Dad and I were the 'biggest' water babies.  We were up earliest and in the pool first.   This also meant that Dad cleaned and I helped, but it was a small price to pay for being able to enjoy the pool every moment of the day.   

When we were kids we had a small above ground pool that was large enough for floating around and playing.   One of our favorite things to do was to 'double dunk' Dad, in which we would both fill water bottles [from Rax kids meals!] and pour water all over him.   As we got older, this game shifted to mean we tag teamed him and flipped him off the float into the pool.  A double dunk indeed.

As you can see, I have many sweet summer memories.   But I leave you with one that always makes me laugh.  As we got older, a typical weekend included Juj and Dad breakfast outside, pool cleaning, and swimming laps.  Dad was on the East side of the pool, I was on the West side.   We alternated free style, and breast stroke.   Dad backstroked, and I kickboarded.  (Jules + backstroke = disaster) Kicking in the pool was loud and did not allow for conversation but we were united in our swim.

We often ended up on floats as the morning turned to afternoon.   One day in the late 90s (I think I was in high school, so I am guessing on the year), Mom and Al were inside and Dad and I were relaxing.  I was not asleep, but Dad might have been.   My eyes were closed, but it was sunny and I was chilling out.  Our relaxation was short lived.  All of a sudden, Dad and I were covered in ice and freezing.

You see, Mom had come up with a scheme that she and Al would fill pitchers with ice and sneak out the front door (not the back door by the pool) so we would not hear anything.  They then walked through the side yard to sneak up on us, and doused us with ice.   Dad and I both screamed, fell off our floats, and burst into laughter.  

Something you have to know about my mom is she is not the type to play these types of tricks.  She has a sense of humor and is fun and wacky, but this is atypical.   We never would have thought her as the mastermind.   I think that's what makes it so funny looking back.  It was MOM who was doing it!  Ganging up on her own kid, and encouraging the other one to help.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas - or is it?

Recently, Leah at agirlandaboy (one of my favorite blogs for those keeping track!) wrote about her Christmas traditions and thoughts about changing things up this year due to travel.  The comments were fascinating....  I kept going back to read more about what people do in their homes.

For better or for worse, I compare myself to others.  It's not my best personality trait, but I do it.   Is she a faster runner than me? (probably!)  How does s/he organize the pantry?  etc. etc. etc.  I think that is why I have a mild addiction to Pinterest and blogs in general.  I am curious.

Anyway---- Leah's post got me thinking about how we did Christmas when Al and I were kids, and how things have changed as we got older, but more accurately, since I got married and don't spend Christmas Eve or morning at 'home'  THE HORRORS

As kids, we used to all go to Christmas Eve Mass, presented by the children.  It was, and remains, very entertaining.  We then headed home to eat spaghetti and put the finishing touches on party set up- Mom has hosted the big family since I was in junior high.  (When we were tiny we ate spaghetti and I went to bed early knowing Santa would come.  I was exuberant, what can I say?)

Growing up, Santa wrapped our stuff in ‘santa paper’ and had different handwriting than any person's I have ever seen.  I swear, when I do have kids, my mother will be recruited for the gift tags.  Amazing!  The pile typically included two gifts per person, plus a themed stuff animal, from Santa.  My parents had a few gifts for us mixed in as well, and Al and I always got each other something at school's secret santa shop.  Stockings were hung on the fireplace, with each and every tiny little gift wrapped.  In Santa paper, of course.  Seriously.  My mom must have been cuckoo to have done that- but she did!


Being the Christmas Elf that I am, I always woke up first.  It was so early that it was still dark out.  I would sit in front of the tree for quite awhile waiting for Al to get up- or eventually would get her up myself, if she was super sleepy.  We would sit in front of the tree together looking at all the boxes and the wrapping paper and trying to determine what was in each one.  We didn't pick anything up or shake the boxes-- it was just gazing.

Once Mom and Dad were up, Al and I used to take turns opening gifts, so that we could see who got what.   I never minded alternating, although if we got the same gift, the person who went 2nd was definitely not surprised!  Oh well.

Our ‘big family’ gathering was – and remains- a free for all.  One or two people pass out gifts to everyone else seated in the room.   Al and I have taken on this role the past few years- which I enjoy! -but I sort of hate the buzz saw aspect of gift opening and sometimes wish people took turns. Then again when there are 25 people it would take hours, so maybe it’s more efficient this way?  I guess I have mixed feelings about how to open gifts with the same number of people active on a MLB roster.

I happen to know that Michael's Santa gifts were NOT wrapped which meant he and his sister had to stay out of the living room till their parents were awake. That would have KILLED me as a kid so in retrospect, I am glad ours were wrapped.

As I got older, I actually made brunch for my sister and parents.  I am not a chef.  Or even a cook.  I will bake you cookies or boil pasta but I just don't cook.  I probably could figure it out, but I have no desire. My husband enjoys it.  What can I say?  I am a lucky girl.

But Christmas was different..... I created delicious menus and was able to put my early bird self to work on Christmas morning and make breakfast while listening to Amy Grant or watching a movie.   That is one thing I actually miss now that we spend Christmas Eve and morning at my in-laws.    I miss making breakfast.  (Don't get me wrong, my mother-in-law's breakfast is fun and I am not all weepy here, just sayin')  Once we have our own nuclear family I am confident I will start this up again.

For the past few years our schedule has been as follows:
December 24: Church with my family, dinner with Michael's, play games
December 25: Morning presents with Michael's family, breakfast, presents with my [small] family, stay at Mom's for the big party, at which point Michael's family will join us again

It's sort of a whirlwind but we are lucky to be able to see both sets of parents relatively easily.

So there is a snapshot of what we have done, and what we do now.  After the requisite comparing via the blog comment section, I am still most fascinated by the wrapped or unwrapped gifts.

What are your Christmas traditions?

Party Like It's 1929 ?

My dear Ashley celebrated her 30th birthday earlier this month and to kick off the new decade in style, her husband Jason threw a 20's themed party.   Including costumes!

Jason arranged for Hannah and I to fly out to St. Louis for approximately 38 hours in order to "party like it's 1929" as Pannie was fond of saying.

As if we didn't already know how much I love her... let the copious amounts of feathers, sequins, beads, head piece and general accessories I am wearing give you a hint.

The Best Damn Band In The Land

Having been an Ohio State football fan for most of my life, I am also a huge fan of their band.  In fact, I have the OSU fight song as my phone ringer.  I didn't go there, but I am a sports junkie and grew up in northern Ohio.   Our NFL football team is not known for its postseason prowess, and I have been an avid Buckeye fan nearly my entire life.  It doesn't hurt that their record, overall, has been a helluva lot better than the Browns.  Happy Saturday, sad Sunday.  Welcome to Cleveland, guys.

But I digress.

The OSU band is also known as "The Best Damn Band In The Land" and though I am admittedly biased, I think this video proves the point.   I wish the TV stations showed the halftime shows.  The game ended up being a blowout, and I think the band is just as entertaining!

O-H....

.....I-O!

A List from Mom

As you may recall my parents were in Florida for 3 months.  They arrived on New Year's Day and left last Friday.  THey enjoyed gorgeous temperatures, sunshine, theme parks, swimming pools, movie stars (ok, not really), and generally had a nice time away from the Ohio winter.  Ironically, northern Ohio had one of the mildest winters on record.  Dad said it doesn't matter because he was swimming in January and even a warm day in Ohio is not that warm.  Anyway.   I digress.


Mom and Dad got back to Ohio Saturday evening and were on hand to partake in the family Easter festivities.  They also got there just in time for a cold front and perhaps the grossest stretch of weather the county has seen in months.  Snow in April just is not fair.   Yesterday I received a list from my mother comparing northern Ohio to Central Florida.  I have posted it here for amusement purposes.  Guess which location she prefers right about now?


It's ok, Mom.  It's almost spring.  I promise






Central Florida 82 -Northern Ohio 42
Publix Boar's Head meats - Giant Eagle Market Day Meats 
Publix chicken salads - No chicken salad at all
Walk outside - Run into house, desperately trying not to get wet
Air conditioning - Furnace
Hot steering wheel - Must wear gloves to drive
Sandals - Shoes & sox
Shorts - Coat
Disney World - Nothing
But the worst thing of all:
Jujle & Miko - No Jujle & Miko

Operation Surprise Ashley

So the suspense is over.   After two months of keeping my fat mouth shut* I can finally talk about the surprise visit this month.

It all started in September, about 8 weeks ago.  Ashley's husband Jason called Pannie and I one afternoon and explained his idea.  Essentially it was this:


I have 2 Southwest flights that expire in December 2011.  I'm not going to have a chance to use them.  I would love to fly you two out and surprise Ash for her birthday.  What do you think?


What do we think?!  Well he knew what we thought.  Ash's birthday was the first weekend in November but I was in Colombia and Pannie was Maid of Honor in her sister's wedding so the 2nd week won out. Good news is I think it might have helped throw her off.   Ash said she had an inkling awhile ago that he might surprise her (she knew there were 2 almost expired tickets and they mentioned it briefly this spring) but Jason kept throwing her off by telling her about the 'surprise' trip they had planned.

After we rang the bell and surprised her Friday we went upstairs and saw a good portion of Ash's closet on the bed as Jason encouraged her to 'pack' on Friday evening.   Once she gave him a little bit of sass about the trick, (all in good fun) we had a lovely relaxing girls weekend.

One of the great things about surprising someone is they don't plan anything - no agenda!  I had NO AGENDA!-  so you can lounge around and chat and drink tea or coffee or wine and enjoy each other's company because that's what it's all about.

We also finally watched the Friends series finale.  See, it aired after school ended on spring and Ash couldn't bear to watch it without us.  So she's been waiting for seven years and this weekend seemed like as good a time as any.

Quasi-related, I read The Hunger Games on my [free!] airplane ride.  If you have not read it, go ahead and order yourself a copy.   Amazon has it for $5!  The movie will be out soon and I am quite certain it will be good.  But you know the book is always better.



*I am in actuality a good secret keeper

The Photo Book

My sister is not always known for her proactive behavior relating to gifts.  When we were younger and our non-imagintive relatives would buy us the same darn gift at Christmas, I wrote a thank you card and Al signed her name.   If we need to give a major gift (graduation, wedding, etc) I choose a gift and Al writes me a check for half.  Minimal creativity and brain power involved.

Anyway.   The point of this is not to tease my sister.   It is in fact to sing her praises.  This year, just after Christmas in fact, Al approached me.   Boue, she said.  She calls me Boue, pronounced Boo, as in ghosts.   Have we talked about this?  Boue, I have a really good idea for a gift for Mom and Dad.  You know how you do Apple photo calendars at Christmas?   Well what if for Mother's Day and Father's Day we made them a book that is pictures of us when we were little? 

CREATIVITY AND BRAIN POWER RELATING TO A GIFT!   What an excellent idea!  The catch?  Al was bound for the airport to fly back to her home in the big city.   I was still in Ohio.   Which meant.......    I had the dubious honor of sorting through literally more than 20 photo albums full of family photos.   Luckily my mother is OCD about organizing photos.  Like crazier than me OCD.    She has every photo since her wedding shower in 1978 in chronological order in albums. It is quite impressive.

So I spent much to long curled up on the floor of the living room sifting through photo albums.  I had to be covert because this was a surprise and Mom tends to pop up at all the wrong times for surprises.   She is notorious.  But through some small grace of God I was able to grab what I needed, throw it in an envelope and take it back to Ithaca with me.

Then!   I spent hours and hours and HOURS scanning 1980s photos.  It was not particularly enjoyable.  But I would do anything for my sister.   After the worst was over, I got to also gather the digital photos I've been taking since college, and arrange the darn things in a book.   How to approach it?   Chronological?  Al pages and Boue pages?   Photos just with mom?   Family photos together?  All Christmas pics on the same page?   The combinations were endless.

But finally it was finished and I placed the order.    I ordered the book in early June after we got back to Florida.   Logic here: Ship it to my house so I could hand carry it home in July for Grandma's 80th and present the gift in person, with Al.    I did not want to risk it arriving at home and my mother, who we know spoils surprises at times, to be tempted.   Plus- I wanted to see it!

I obsessively tracked the order and shipping.  Finally it was delivered as per the FedEx site.   I went onto my porch and --- my doorstep was empty.   (not really- there was a welcome mat)  So I paused a moment and came back inside.  Michael did not hear the bell ring nor did I.  I checked the ground below the porch.  You never know.   Nothing.    So then I took a walk around the neighborhood and checked homes whose addresses are the same digits as ours but in different orders.  Nothing.  So I came back home and called FedEx.   This resulted in a very thorough detective search between customer service managers on the corporate level and local level and all sorts of folks in between.  It was a mess and lasted more than a week.

I explained the gift was for my parents, not an iPod.   The item was sentimental and had no street value, so to speak.   It was time sensitive because of the impending trip home.  Blah dee blah.   Well, turns out the box was delivered to the wrong house.   The driver came back out and drove to the house where he dropped the box and.... it wasn't mine.  At least he admitted it.  But since we live in a resort community and he dropped it off at a rental property I couldn't even ask a neighbor.   That house has no neighbor.

Good news: I called Apple and had the book reprinted and shipped to Ohio.   Of course at this time the darn book was going to arrive AFTER our July trip.   Darn it.  C'est la vie.   It did arrive the following week and Mom and Dad loved it.

Flashforward: Today Michael saw a package on the porch.   It was the original book its cardboard sleeve- not original box.   So here we are 4 months later and the poor sap who thought he was getting a free MacBook Pro opened the damn box and saw it was a book of a bunch of crazy midwesterners with bad 80s fashions.  So I guess they - covertly? - dropped it off today.   Neither one of us saw anyone.  Um way to be late, poor sap.

So I am keeping it.   I have a new coffee table book.  It's just like my parents' book and it's awesome.

When are you going to start dancing to Time After Time?*

Ten years ago this month I attended senior prom with Michael and also prepared to graduate from Lake Ridge Academy.   I spent 13 years at LRA where I made many friends and participated in more activities than I can count.  I recently volunteered to be a class agent and serve on the alumni council, which means I had to also attend the 10-year class reunion this weekend.

Our class had 39 graduates, and 10 of us showed up; not a bad percentage.  The front row includes me and 2 members of our quartet.  Jane was a year younger so it's no wonder she wasn't there.  I've known some of these guys since 2nd grade, and it's very cool that I had a chance to see them again this weekend.

Highlights include seeing everyone, working with Blake (former Student Council ally) to move tables together for dinner, beer on campus, and more specifically, beer during the "2001 kids take a campus tour" segment.  I didn't even want a beer but I grabbed a Sam Adams so we could all hold them in the classrooms.

Elena and I first watched Romy & Michelle's High School reunion when we were sophormores (I think) and the moment had finally come:  We didn't order the business woman's special or have a crush on Billy Christensen or dance to Time After Time, but we did do this.   It was probably the highlight of the night for me.... especially when she showed me how to hold my arms.  Love you, Lenie-Pie!

            

*Lakshman actually asked us this

Great things to come out of Ohio

For years, my sister has had a 'great things from Ohio' list.  We have added to it over the years, and to my knowledge, it's never been written down.  In honor of our trip to the Buckeye state on Wednesday, and our impending reunion with one of the funniest people in the world (my sister, again!) here is the list.  I'm sure it's incomplete, but it's a start.

• Smuckers
• My sister Alison
• Buckeyes: trees, nuts, candy
• The Wright Brothers
• Thomas Edison
• Bob Evans
• Wendy's
• Stouffer's frozen foods
• American Greetings 
• Longaberger Baskets
• Drug Mart
• Nickles bread and Donut Fair™products
• Great Lakes beer
• The hot dog 
• Cedar Point
• Malley's Chocolates
• Neil Armstrong  
• SEVEN U.S. Presidents!  Can you name them?  I can because I looked them up:  Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley, William H. Taft, and Warren G. Harding
• Ermal Fraze, who invented the pop-top can in Kettering, Ohio

It Feels Like Home to Me

We're going home next week.  Where is home when you've lived in five states in less than ten years?  It's where your Dad sits on the couch with the newspaper spread on the coffee table, your Mom cooks all sorts of things in the kitchen, while having minor explosions about a pan being in the wrong cabinet, and your sister leaves Diet Coke cans all over the place and alternatively reads French novels and Little House books.  And in the summer, everyone runs around in swimsuits and various levels of coverups at the table, and ice cream is served in unlimited portions out by the pool.  For me, this comfortable, familiar place, is Ohio.

We can drive home in about 6 hours, so once Michael's accounting exam ends next Wednesday, we are outta here!  It's not like we're going from Ithaca to Rome or anything.... we're going to Ohio, after all.  But Ohio is engrained so deeply in our being, it's always good to go back.  Our agenda includes doing laundry for free in our mothers' machines, eating food we don't have to cook, and catching up with our sisters.  Yes, all four of us will be in the same place for three days!  And there's no wedding, so we'll have a bit of free time.

There's just something comforting and relaxing about going home for a few days on your days off.  Not a vacation.  No planning, no itinerary, no hotel room, no sight seeing.  Not particularly 'interesting' but you know,  good for the soul.

Recovering

I survived the trip to Ohio, thank goodness. Our venue is squared away, makeup has been practiced, hair has been finalized, and I met with the priest and photographer. The kicker is most of the vendors know each other! "Oh, Dan has photographed many events here" or "That is a great church to get married in" or "Dan? He's great. We've worked with him for years" or "The Club is so beautiful. I love to take a photo in that one window when the light shines in" Don't you love a small midwestern town?

Thankfully, there was a bit of a break from the wedding stuffs when Al decided to clean out the basement and donate a large chunk of our childhood to Goodwill (except Barbies and stuffed toys, of course). Why did I keep most of the Sports pages from the 1997 baseball playoffs? I don't know.

The wedding showers were quite enjoyable. Saturday's included 36 family members and close friends and featured delicious IGA cake and important players meeting each other. Namely, Michael's maternal grandma and my maternal grandma, both named Margaret. They are obviously very cute. And of course, Pannie meeting most of my family, but not having to take a quiz to remember their names. (Did I forget to mention Pannie drove in from DC?!) I was lucky to have 3 of the 4 bridesmaids to help me unwrap, record gifts, and create the ubiquitous ribbon bouquet. We missed Ash! (see incomplete photo, below) Sunday was a smaller gathering at Patti's house with a lovely brunch with ML's golf friends and other friends who don't spend time on the links. Everyone was very generous at both showers, and thus has resulted in me writing many thank you notes this afternoon. I took a break to type to 'rest' my right hand! Additional photos will be available in the next day or two at both the normal photo page and the wedding website.

Alaska, Day 2

I landed in Ohio on Wednesday afternoon and quickly learned on Thursday morning that the sun comes up early out here. 5:47AM to be exact. How do I know this? The light-filtering (not black-out) curtains in my room told me so. And in Florida, when the sun is just starting to come up at 6:20, I am getting up anyway. It works well. (and so do my black-out curtains that I have in FL) But in Ohio, where the sun is up until, no joke, 9:40 PM, things are different. It's almost like being in Alaska, where sometimes there no light at all, and other times, there's no darkness. Guess which time we're in now?! Yeah. It's summertime, aka the sun never sleeps! What's ironic is that in winter, you don't really see the sun, and on Christmas morning, even if the sun is 'out' it's so far away that you have to put on the Christmas tree lights and a lamp to see anything in the room. But back to our opposite, Alaska summer, problem. I sort of jokingly contemplated going to Target to buy a blindfold yesterday, but did not deem it necessary. Haha, said the rising sun. Guess what time I got up today? If you said 5:47, you'd be right. I shall stop by Target today after completing my 3 wedding-related appointments. I don't think I have normal appointments anymore. Am I meeting a non-family member somewhere? Definitely wedding-related.

By the numbers

I am now in Ohio for a week to celebrate the holidays. And we're definitely not in Florida anymore...

1 - degrees Fairenheit when I went to bed Sunday night
3 - number of stores visited today that did not have mini M&Ms, which I need for snowman cookies
4 - number of times I got stuck on the ice going up the hill of Grandma's driveway Sunday night
5 - degrees Fairenhit when I woke up Monday morning
5 - layers of covers on my bed (flannel sheet, blanket, comforter, knitted afghan, down comforter)
15 - approximate number of wedding gowns I tried on yesterday
15 - approximate number of wedding gowns I did not like after trying them on
35- approximate number of Christmas gifts I wrapped at Nene's on Sunday