My blog has been under a robe, or a Snuggie anyway.

Remember that scene in A Christmas Carol when the Spirit of Christmas Present opens his robe to reveal the spirits of Ignorance and Want? Very creepy. And sad.

My neglected blog now appears to me as if it were one of those orphans under the robe of Christmas 2010. Or The Christmas Snuggie of 2010.


Yes, I received a zebra-print Snuggie. Here's where I'd like to insert a saucy "Meeoww" making fun of this Snuggie, but I don't know what sound a zebra makes. My kids' animal books did not teach me that. I hope it's not "hee haw," because a racy zebra print deserves something way more flirty than that.

So here I am, January, 1, 2011, or as 685 clever people have pointed out on Facebook already:

1/1/11

And I am playing catch up on my blog.

Big news? On December 30, we had an earthquake here in Indiana. You may have heard about it on the news. I was awakened at 8:00 am by my bedroom mirrors and windows rattling. I thought it was thunder or Jesus returning, but when I bolted to the family room and saw that Zoe was still with us, I knew the Rapture had not happened.

Here she is reading instructions about what to do in case of earthquake emergency OR Jesus returning:


For New Year's Eve, the Five Crows plus The Two Significant Others went bowling. We have not bowled in years. I would like to point out that while I did not have the high score amongst the 7 of us, I did best myself by 4 points, from 75 in the first game to 79 in the second. Goal for 2012: Break 80 in bowling.

But my kids did state that I had the best "back it up" technique after releasing the ball of anyone. I have no idea what they're talking about.

Then we went to a much-revered Hoosier pizza chain called Pizza King. When that meal featuring slow conversation and arms so weakened by bowling that it was difficult to lift the pizza to the mouths was over, we said, "Whew! Time to head back home! What time is it? 8:30 pm?" It was only about 6:00 pm. But since it gets dark around 5:00 pm, we're all confused and feel the need to fall asleep at least by 7:00.

So we left, and then Jorge and I went to our friends' home where we played a rousing game of Password and were clearly whipped by the friends who have musical backgrounds and kept receiving, suspiciously, musical terms to guess.

Then we came home, went to bed, and I watched Dick Clark and checked Facebook from there. Highlight of the show: Mike Posner singing "Cooler Than Me" which has been in a loop in my head since October, and I am not exaggerating.

Today I ran outside, enjoying the sunniest, warmest January 1 I can remember, 37*. I have missed the big blue sky lately.

I'm wearing a pedometer daily now, attempting to get my 11,100 steps I'm told I need to get in, and I'm making yogurt smoothies daily and omelets with fresh spinach and mushrooms. I have discovered that if you microwave or saute mushrooms a little too long, they start to pop like popcorn, which makes your plain old omelet kind of exciting and festive.

Aside from marathon Scrabble games in which Kristin has become enlightened to the thrill of the triple word score in the corners and is rabid about getting them for herself, that's about all the excitement here to report.

Happy New Year, everyone.

Little blog, you may step out of the robe. Cause it's kind of creepy in there, and you could use some sun.