Yesterday was Lindsay’s 7th birthday. We celebrated at a local bowling alley with a big group of her friends. It was fun chaos. Lindsay asked for a bowling ball-shaped cake, so the blue ball was just for her.
And to continue the silly fun, here’s a ridiculous video that we’ve been laughing over.
After a lot of talk of 20″ of snow and school closings, we got much less. They said we got 9″ in Central Park, but I think we got about 6″ here in Brooklyn. Much to my daughter’s chagrin, school wasn’t closed. She was told that if she slept with her pjs inside out and a spoon under her pillow, there would be a lot of snow. She felt totally cheated this morning. But the walk to her school was beautiful.
My chickens hate this weather. They don’t like standing on the snow, which is seriously limiting their range. I’m going to have to dig my way out to them later this morning.
Have you ever seen such sad and depressing snacks in your life?
Tweety doesn’t look nearly as happy as he did before he was frozen solid.
And seriously what sick-o came up with this idea? Clear-cut candy. Really it will be fun for the kids! And the poor rabbit running for its life because all its habitat has just been destroyed by the pipe-smoking lumberjack isn’t depressing. It’s cute and appropriate for children.
All winter-long, we have been congratulating ourselves on making it through the entire winter without getting sick. I’m sure you can guess what’s coming…pride comes before the fall, and all those other pearls of wisdom.
Neil brought the cold home, then I got it and now it looks as though Lindsay has it. Although at the age of 6, she’s cluing into the whole “if I’m sick I won’t have to go to school” thing, so I’m not sure exactly how sick she is. I thought I was better and then yesterday I got sick again. Don’t ask me what it is, I have no idea. We usually say we’ve been bitten by the tse-tse fly when we get one of these mysterious illnesses. Achy joints, tired and probably a bit feverish. Today is better, but I’m still mostly flopped on the sofa. I’m even watching daytime tv, which I’m not sure helps to make one feel better.
I decided to watch the Martha Stewart show because next tuesday I will be in the audience. They are doing an urban farming segment (and I think its even specific to chicken keeping) and they want all audience members to be urban farmers. The even asked if we would bring a chicken with us to sit on our laps. The thought of having a chicken struggling and pooping on my lap for 2 hours isn’t too appealing, so I think I’ll go solo. I’ll figure out when the show airs so I can see if they pan to the audience.
The other thing I didn’t do while I was sick was to hold my book giveaway. So today I would like to announce that the winner is Jess. I will be in touch with Jess to get her address.
Thanks for the comments. I love hearing about unusual wildlife interactions. I think I posted in the fall about our stand-off with a raccoon. We had friends over for dinner and were eating in the garden when a raccoon climbed down the ivy on the side of the building next to us. It kept trying to eat my chickens and they were running around freaking out. The little bugger was determined and not scared of us at all. We were spraying it with the hose and tossing bricks near it, but it was determined to eat chicken that night. In the end it gave up and left, but it came back several more times after that. I’m sure we will see it again now that the weather is warming up and we’re trying to eat outside more often.
When I was a kid I loved to stay up late and watch Saturday Night Live. I was usually pretty tired because it was way past my bedtime. It was always a bit unsettling when I was watching what I thought was a real commercial only to realize it was a spoof that was part of the show. That is how I felt the other night when I was watching tv and there was a pro-high-fructose corn syrup (hfcs) commercial. Unfortunately Neil wasn’t home, so I didn’t have anyone to turn to and scream, “Did you just see that??”
The video above is one of the commercials the Corn Refiners Association is running on tv. They have spent 30 million dollars launching this pro-HFCS campaign.
I find the commercials disturbing because of course they appeal to morons, who haven’t read anything about food in the past 20 years. But I also think it’s a good sign that the corn refiners must be getting hit with bad press. Otherwise they would never have coughed up $30 million.
Just in case you are like the woman in the video and can’t think of reasons why HF Corn Syrup is bad, click here for 4 very good reasons to avoid it.
I keep wanting to start a petition to abolish the goody bag at kids birthday parties. But then I think about about the zillion other causes that should probably take precedence like world hunger, human rights, animal rights. Oh you get the idea. Then there’s the fear that people will think I’m a total grinch. What really gets me about these party favors is that they are usually a bunch of junk bought for less than $5 and have about 10 minutes of glory before they get tossed in the trash. The sheer quantity of this plastic junk overwhelms me and ultimately makes me feel guilty about tossing it out. The kids aren’t really excited about the junk either, but they are so accustomed to getting a gift bag at the end of the party, that it’s hard to do without it.
So instead of abolishing the gift bag, we try and come up with inexpensive items that won’t get tossed out immediately.
Here are some ideas and please feel free to add your own.
I think some of the nicest ones tie in with the party. Make and take, so to speak. What the child makes becomes a lot more meaningful than a plastic smiley face ring. You get the idea.
Almost every year we can expect our first frost by the end of October and by the end of November the ground is pretty well frozen. It is now December and not only have we not had one single frost yet, it is over 60 degrees fahrenheit this morning. I am definitely not a fan of the cold, but this doesn’t seem right.
When I went out to let the chickens out this morning, even the worms felt that spring was in the air. In case you’ve never seen it, here is some worm lovin’. Don’t you just love their lack of commitment as they keep their heads (?) in their respective holes?
This is the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center as I saw it last week. It fits in oddly well into its New York City surroundings. Actually it reminds me of a Buddhist temple in a weird way.
I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving. We chose to stay in Brooklyn this year and celebrate with friends who invited us over. We didn’t have to get into a car because they live a few blocks away from us. On Saturday morning we were going for a walk and noticed how relaxed everyone on the street looked. And then it dawned on us that these were the folks who didn’t pack into their cars and drive a zillion hours to visit relatives. We had the relaxed glow all weekend as we ambled around our neighborhood going to the movies (Where the Wild Things Are) and the playground.
After we bought our movie tickets, we still had some time so we decided to go for a walk to a nearby toy store. We are in the midst of figuring out what to get Lindsay for Hanukkah, Christmas and her birthday. It’s a tough time of year that can easily turn into a feeding frenzy of gift giving and opening. We want the gifts to be meaningful and useful, instead of the kind that get 1 hour of play and then forgotten (and worse, thrown out). While we were looking around I noticed these stickers. No, they aren’t a joke! They are made by Dover, who usually publishes wonderful, and often educational, books and coloring books. I think I need to write them a letter. What are we teaching here?? And no, there aren’t overweight kid stickers included in the book.
We also watched the movie Food, Inc. over the weekend (actually the night before Thanksgiving!), but that will be another post.
