Lazy Saturday Goodness

Today was one of those days that was uneventfully perfect. Except for the fact it snowed again. Because, really, it's hard to get excited about snow these days. At least it's pretty? Maybe? *trying for the bright side I guess*

Let's start with the fact that I didn't actually watch the Opening Ceremony. I am sad about this. We didn't stay out too late at the dinner and it wasn't even over yet when we got home. And I started watching the re-run but didn't really want to see the part with our President, because I just like the Olympics not the politics. So I watched Saved By The Bell (yeah. for real.) and fell asleep after Zack, Slater and Screech saw Jeff cheating on Kelly at The Attic.

So because I had fallen asleep early my sleeping in all day didn't pan out. I still slept in until about 10:00 though. I came downstairs to my guys and we enjoyed reading, playing and some extra snuggles when I caught the toddler.

For lunch we had a hot dog party! It was a blast. After our hot dogs, baked beans, pasta salad and Cheetos for the boys we celebrated with one Girl Scout Cookie each! Love that they are on sale now, we only bought 3 boxes total so we're taking it easy on them this year. If you're curious it was Peanut Butter Patties we broke into. (There's a box of Thin Mints and Caramel Delights waiting on the sidelines.)

After a super short Skyping with my parental units it was rest time. Which was enjoyed by all because it is Saturday and we could!

Our late afternoon was spent shoveling the snow we didn't need, making dinner and playing. After our delicious evening meal of meatloaf, mashed potatoes and Caribbean blend veggies we all headed out to the living room for Wheel of Fortune and the Olympics.

It just doesn't get much better than that.

And because I was enjoying rather than observing I have no photos to document our pretty good day.

7 Quick Takes: The Big News Edition!!

1. I am incredibly impatient so I'll just get on with the good news... It's Friday. No really. The week that wouldn't end is actually coming to an end and that is today! Praise the sweet little baby Jesus, adult Jesus and any version of Jesus you like better than those two.

2. Now, technically the week is not over yet, I have to make it through today, which involves a work dinner with Husband and the 14 other people+spouses from his department. This dinner has been incredibly drama filled on the planning level and the 2 things I was looking forward to ordering are off the table as Husband's boss pre-ordered everyone's salads and desserts because it's a group of 16. (It is not the lobster bisque and bananas foster flamed table side that I was hoping for.) But lest you think I am ungrateful for a free dinner out at an expensive place, I am not, I just wanted it to be on February 21 because now I can't see the Opening Ceremonies. (Don't worry, I am staying up LATE and watching the rerun.)

3. Did you all watch the Olympics last night? First of all, my knees hurt just watching the Moguls. Seriously. And how sad it is for that American who injured herself badly and the only thing she asked her parents was "Can I still be called an Olympian?" Oh it broke my heart.

4. Second of all who thinks that Evgeni Plushenko

He's the Russian figure skater if you weren't sure

 Looks an awful lot like Johnny Lawrence from Cobra Kai?

That's William Zabka's character in The Karate Kid if you weren't sure. 

I am just putting it out there now because someone famous is going to say it and the world will think it's hysterical.

5. Sometimes I let C watch Jake and the Neverland Pirates because it's just so cute when he sings along with the songs. It's his favorite. When my parents were here last weekend they supplemented his pirate ship Duplo set he got for Christmas and now he has the whole Jake set. It is the best thing ever.

6. I've got to clean today and write up an instruction sheet for the babysitter. (Husband's uncle.) I'm sure it'll be fine but I still want to make it as smooth as possible. We don't get out much.

7. Yesterday was Ronald Reagan's 103 birthday. We celebrated it in our "social studies" class yesterday. We sang "Happy Birthday" and then we pointed to Ronald Reagan a few times on our Presidents of the USA place mat. C can find him by face now. (One side has them in order the other side they're all jumbled up.) We also practiced saying "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" Which pretty much consisted of saying "wall" but hey I'll go with it.

C was also able to Skype with his uncle and show off his Ronald Reagan skills. My brother is a pretty big Ronald Reagan fan. Both my brothers like government and politics and things like that so we work on social studies a lot with C. He can also find George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. (And we do "I cannot tell a lie" and "Four score and seven years ago" respectively.) 

Have a great weekend friends.

Theme Thursday: Church Windows

I was going to take a picture of one of my windows this week. Sort of a domestic church, front porch looking in, home is your castle introspective thing. But I didn't. You don't care how my drafty windows help me to be a better person and inspire me in a similar fashion as an actual church. Because the picture would be BORING. And a week like church windows should not include boring pictures even if the sentiment would be nice. 

In the spirit of full disclosure, I must admit that this week I am using old pictures that were taken by others. But I own the rights to these pictures so I am not in violation of anything and they are my favorite church windows. 

These first 3 are from the day of our wedding. At the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis. I would have taken them myself but I was a little busy. 

They're just beautiful and classic and huge. They just speak to my heart and that light shining through certainly made me feel God's presence that day. I don't know that I've ever been to a more beautiful mass. I am totally biased and all because I got to plan it but really, it was the perfect mass.

Ack, I am just sick looking at the beauty. I was going to take a stained glass class once and then realized that they were making stained glass tulips. And I love tulips I do, but when I yearned for this kind of majesty it was kind of a let down. 

So not just a church window but some of the other beauty the Basilica has to offer. 

This is a recent addition to the church window picture collection. Taken by Husband at our friend's wedding mass in September. Some church in one of those Chicago suburbs. Who can keep track over there?! Funny enough it was pouring, it was not a nice day, but you'd never know that by the window. That my friends is Divine Light. Glorious. 

Okay linking up with Cari and I cannot wait to see your awesome windows, and pictures you probably took yourselves for that matter. 

Sunshine Award: Wednesday Bonus Post

Allison tagged me for a Sunshine Award and so I thought, why not?

The "rules" for the award are as follows:

• Use the award image in the post. 
• Link to whoever nominated you.
• Write 10 pieces of information about yourself.
• Nominate fellow bloggers who positively and creatively inspire others in the blogosphere

Alright I've got the first 2 rules followed already. Now 10 things about myself. 

1. I loved going to summer camp. I learned life skills and who I was at camp. I really believe camps are a safe space to grow and develop away from home, which is crucial. Not that my home wasn't great, it was! But it was good to get out and explore too. I am not biased either, I loved day and overnight camp from 3 days to 1 month. Loved it. Working as a camp counselor taught me a lot too. Husband hated camp but I am firmly sending C to camp when he's the right age. 

2. I don't drink coffee or tea. I think tea tastes like sticks. I like the smell of coffee but I only like it if it's doctored with sugar and chocolate. That kind of coffee is expensive and it's probably been 3 years since I've had any. I try to stay away from caffeine but sugar pop is my weakness. We don't usually buy it but when we go out... I will most likely have a Coke. 

3. My earliest memory is of coloring while watching Oprah. Because of this I always liked Oprah. I don't agree with her politics or everything she says or stand for, but I did like her show a lot. 

4. I would only ever use paper plates if I had my way. I loathe doing dishes. It's the floating food particles. I don't care if it's bad for the environment or our bank account, the splendor of paper plates beckons me when plating food. I am thinking of giving up paper plate for Lent, it would truly be a sacrifice for me. Which sounds dumb but it's true.  

5. I was a terribly messy child but now I get all excited when I clean and the house looks great. 

6. I like to cook and bake but Husband likes it more so often I don't have to. I read somewhere that baking banana bread specifically is one of the most stress reducing things you can do and I have claimed that as my own. Husband can bake and cook anything he'd like but banana bread is mine. I guess it's something about the counting and following a recipe plus the scent of bananas. I'm sure you could Google it if you're interested. 

7. I read very fast and still to this day hate reading aloud as a group. (Syllabus reading on the first day of class made me want to claw my eyes out.) 

8. I very often look up endings to movies (never books though) because if I don't know what is going to happen it stresses me out. I never look up endings to romantic comedies though because I generally know they'll end to my satisfaction. My family hates this about me but I can't help it. 

9. I love the Duggar family. I love them. I liked them when they were just a one hour special. I have their books. My brother met Jim Bob once and I am totally jealous. I can name them all in order. I just think they are the nicest people. 

10. I eat ribs with a fork and knife. I don't know why. 

Okay so with that fun list of stuff you may or may not care about. 

I nominate:

Hafsa at The Peace of Christ 

Laura at String of Pearls

and anyone else who may stumble upon this and want to play! (Because I am a rule bender!) 

WWRW: Bomb

Not like this week's book was so bad that it was a bomb. But that is the title. Bomb: The Race to Build--and Steal--the World's Most Dangerous Weapon. By Steve Sheinkin. Winner or nominee of pretty much any award a book can get. Including the 2013 Newberry. In my book clubs "unofficial let's only pick WWII books" this is the new pick.

It is a book, which I am sure you can gather from the title, is about the process of creating the atomic bomb. The book is supposedly geared towards a YA audience though I am really starting to think that line has been blurred in the book world because it's about building bombs, and science and spies. I wouldn't say that the book is really intense, though SPOILER ALERT: the scientists succeed and the bombs are used against Japan. (I was being sarcastic about the spoiler alert, clearly.)

The story weaves all the elements of the bomb's creation. It simultaneously follows scientists in the US working on building the bomb, scientist solders in Norway trying to prevent Germany from building the bomb and the USSR using spies to steal information so they could also build the bomb.

Bomb gets down to the nitty gritty of the science and the secrecy behind everything. Although this is a non-fiction book about spies so let your conspiracy warning alarm go off in your head as you wonder how much more to the story there really is. The direct quotes from the Presidents (Roosevelt and Truman) as well as others taken directly from their writings make it at least as accurate as it can be.

Even though the book takes place during WWII almost entirely, it is much less about war than it is about science. As a good discussion point, the ethics of the bomb and how it changes the world are absolutely touched upon. (Also the punishment of spies is a good ethical talking point.) I think if you have a homeschooler in upper middle/high school this would be a good book for science, history and ethics curriculum. Even if you don't homeschool this book would be a good one for your older child. The last chunk of book is copies of primary sources so it really is an approachable book that is not over the heads of many.

It does make you wonder whether it was a good idea to go down this path at all and what else the government is working on secretly. I am certainly not the scientist they'd be recruiting so I'll probably never know. Bomb also reinforces my belief that I would MUCH rather perish in nuclear fallout than survive. From a purely internal ethics thought process I found the book to be deeply fascinating so I would recommend especially if you've got a budding physicist, philosopher or politician on your hands.

I am looking forward to my book club discussing this book and would really love to discuss it with any of you WWRW/blog readers as well.

Linking up with Jessica for WWRW because that's what I do.

Trudging Along

Trudge:

1. Walk slowly and with heavy steps, typically because of exhaustion or harsh conditions.

I feel like I am trudging through this week. And it's only Tuesday. I don't think it is because I am exhausted. And while it is supposed to snow another delightful round this afternoon/tomorrow I don't know that it is because the conditions are particularly harsh.

The trouble with trudging is that it's so easy to continue once you've started. If trudging is getting you where you need to be why would try much harder than that?

My parents were here this past weekend. It was fabulous. It was restful and relaxing. Cozy even. My dad even made me my favorite breakfast ever, the incomparable Jelly-Rollups. He was unimpressed with my frying pan and spatulas as it happens (frying pan too deep and spatula not the right kind) but they were wonderful. And even after they left my house smelled like Jelly-Rollups and that made everything okay. But when the smell dissipated that left me with real life once more and the trudging began.

But today is a good day. It is February 4. Which not only marks 8 years since Husband and I started dating but also the very day that Husband got his first cell phone. There are many things to be thankful for and I just need to put a little pep in my step to really enjoy.

So I am going to! I am going to ignore the fact I'll need to shovel in a few hours and I am going to just enjoy the afternoon. I am going to Tigger my way through this week--that means I am going to bounce. Probably more figuratively than literally but you never know.

It's a good week ending in THE OLYMPICS and a free delicious work dinner. That's pretty snazzy. (We are going to miss the opening ceremonies for the dinner and we don't have DVR but NBC is going to replay it starting at 12:10 AM so I'm just going to pajama party it in bed and watch it anyway!)

My Random Opinions of Important News Stories (Not really)

I have to get this off my chest.

I know that J.K. Rowling wrote the books and that they are essentially her characters. But she is wrong. Wrong I tell you.

I can accept that maybe Ron and Hermione might not have made it in real life, but there is no way that Harry and Hermione would have been any better. Harry and Ginny are an excellent match up and it allowed him to really become a Weasley, which is all he wanted the entire series. Oh and I think adult Ron would serve Hermione positively as a "stop taking everything so seriously" kind of guy. Or maybe Hermione would have been great with Krum in the long run. Or someone else not at Hogwarts. But it's not relevant because Harry and Hermoine would NEVER have happened. That would have been disastrous!

Furthermore I think (which of course makes me the foremost expert here) that J.K. is just crazy over thinking the books this many years later and wanted to cause a stir. Because, at the end of the day, she wrote the books. She controlled all of their fates. So just buck up and deal with the ending you created.

Okay, Philip Seymour Hoffman. What a sad thing. Why do people feel the need to do drugs? It's just such a waste of talent and life. This is pretty much why I can't bring myself to watch Breaking Bad. Yes, Walter is going to die, but does he have to take down others with him? Drugs are bad. The end.

The Super Bowl. Here's what you need to know about me: I don't love football. But when I watch football I love it when players make a safety. It's my favorite. So imagine my shock when the Seattle Seahawks made a safety within the first 15 seconds of play and I HADN'T turned on the television yet!!! Bummed is the only thing I can say.

Alright. Thank you for listening.