Marking the Day

As I grew up race seemed to be often in the background lurking just close enough to have an effect and make commentary. My very first memory of noticing color and difference was playing in a bubble bath with two neighbor girls and egg beaters. They were brown and I was not. That was it. I didn't pay too much attention. Later I got smashed on the head with it( sometimes quite literally) and I did pay attention. We moved to a neighborhood in transition and I attended middle school as one of a very small minority of white children. It was difficult and I haven't forgotten the hate and division I experienced. Unfortunately it is always the difficulty and the hate that sticks the most. In spite of the difficulties I remember that time (1970's) as a time when people believed in change and believed things were going to get better. People were going to get along they just had to work harder. Yep. I stopped thinking like that. Most people stopped thinking like that. Until recently it seemed to be that we were set to lock up a nation of young black boys and race relations were in the pits. Forever. Black people were set to riot and white people just didn't want to know. They were not paying attention. Barack Obama's swearing in today is so momentous and such a milestone. I am amazed.

Done With That Christmas Stuff!

This is a picture of the very last Christmas object left to pack away into the basement. Large basements are of course a blessing and enabling. If we didn't have a basement would I have a 13 foot artificial tree? That took me two days to dismember? Nope. But of course we used to have real trees and they were just as much of pain in the butt. The very first year we lived in this house I overloaded a brand new Shop Vac vacuuming up needles to the point where it burst into flames. I took it back. Ran too hot. The year I had my first hip surgery I only used the very tip top of the tree. I bought tiny weeny ornaments and set it on table in the window. That was nice.

I also have to put the cookies away. Far away into the deep dark depths of the freezer.

And every time I look outside and it is dark, windy, and snowy I must not run for my electric blanket. Well unless I have a really good book to read...

Yesterday I read a pretty good book about a girl from the Mosuo people of China who live near Tibet. They have a matrilineal culture and don't celebrate monogamy. They practice something called "walking marriage" but yet they have strong family structures. Wikipedia seems to offer a skeptical veiw of this but it made for interesting reading on a cold, windy, dark day in NY.

Leaving Mother Lake: A Girlhood at the Edge of the World

Another Snow Day %#@*!

It started sleeting last night at 9pm. This morning when we woke the roads were skating rink like and the kids had a two hour delay. At 7AM we had freezing rain and they called off school for good. I love my kids but really folks I do need my alone time!! How can I do Wee Fit naked when everyone is home! My scores just aren't as good fully clothed. Oh well, yesterday I Hula Hooped myself into being pretty sore so maybe a day of laundry is necessary anyway... Good thing I'm not at Bill's house because all those mirrors would also preclude anything naked.

Movie Night

Inga is away visiting Brad in Philadelphia. I spoke to her via cell phone tonight while she waited in line for a They Might be Giants concert. I wanted to make sure she had her mittens on. I know she is 16 but mothers don't stop worrying... maybe ever. Erik is frequently gone to friends houses so Karl and I have been spending our free time at the movies.

We went to see the Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The theater was filled with teenagers who all seemed to have their feet up on the seat backs. They were good they didn't talk or anything but still it was slightly uncomfortable to be soo old and seemingly short on hormones. Oh yes and the movie was very long. Very long. Generally the characters were unlikeable. The story wanted to be a magical fable but it fell short of the dream.

Last night we saw Happy Go Lucky which was excellent. The theater was filled with forty somethings. Funny how people are generally most comfortable with their own age group. Mixed age grouping is okay but really I don't want to be the ancient one! The movie was about a woman who is unfailing happy. She starts off as annoying but ends up as really likable. It has some startling scenes where she talks to a homeless man. I wanted to shake her for being so stupid. I definitely connected to her. Great movie. Oh yes she goes to Flamenco Dancing class which is just hilarious. The teacher is very passionate shall we say... Sort of like the kids at the Benjamin Button movie!

Webcams and Walks

Karl has been having a lot of fun with his new webcam. We talked to Bill and Carolyn and we talked to everyone at Ken's house. Carolyn looked pretty comfy on her couch. And her cookies looked pretty fine. Ken showed us his new wine glasses he made with the wooden stems. Inga waved at everyone. I like having the pictures to go along with the words. I'm a picture book gal at heart I guess! Skypers rock! We figure maybe we could pop-up randomly on the kids computers just to amuse them.

I did manage to get out for one dog walk. Yucky weather. Our Statue of Liberty looks a little cold don't you think? Okay I promised fluffy snow. I bought snow boots for my niece but all we got was icy rain. Weather never works for me in winter.

Flip and Glass

We went for a family outing to the Glass Museum. No holiday around here is complete without a trip to our favorite museum. We all did projects at the studio. Inga and I made glass flowers and everyone else including my 7 year old niece and my reluctant teenage son made glass ornaments. We used to take Inga and Erik to make an ornament every year so Inga wanted to try something different.

Before we did our project we watched the hot glass show to get "fired" up so to speak. My niece, Lara, filmed the hot glass show with her new Flip. The Flip is new flash memory video camera that plugs right into your usb slot on the computer. I am thinking of buying one so I had to check hers out! I am liking it though I have to figure out how to get the best quality video up on the blog. The picture looked a lot better before I uploaded to the blog. This thing is the size of a large credit card. Perfect for videos on the fly. I could carry it around in my purse. As always I do love the tech gadgets though sorting out the "how to" may be stressful! I guess that keeps me from atrophy.

Pinball Wii- Wizards

Mom and Dad are down for Christmas and my sister and family are on their way. They are set to arrive at 1AM. After dinner the adults retired to the TV room for a little bit of gaming. Video gaming that is. Who needs cards. Nana took pleasure in knocking off everyone's high scores. Which of course she would never gloat about. NOT. We opened up a new game. Pinball. Love it. Mom, Dad,Nana, Granddad all love it. Kids want to know what's up with the whole Tilt thing. And the kids are slightly disapproving of all this video gaming. Slightly bizarre says Inga. " Are you going to make us wait upstairs on Christmas until you beat the high score?"