New Year's Eve

Well, 15 minutes until 2009. The girls and I are watching ELF. Not all of the girls. Maggie is sleeping. Allie just tried to wake her up. This will be Allie's first New Years in a while. She is the one that is usually asleep and won't wake up. Then she complains in the morning that we didn't get her up!
Chrissy took a little nap this afternoon so she is ready. We will have mimosas made with sparkling juice and orange juice. We usually have fresh raspberries too but they were too expensive this year. The girls made our traditional New Year's dinner tonight consisting of meatballs, cocktail weenies wrapped in dough and barbeque chicken (pieces, not wings).

Magpie just got up! I guess we will all get to watch the ball drop! The Jonas brothers are performing on Dick Clark so I guess we will have a rocking New Years!!

Happy 2009 to everyone in blogdom!!

Donating Blood

I tried to donate blood today but I was not able to because my iron was low. I guess I haven't been eating right because my belly has been bothering me. My blood pressure was good and my pulse and temp. were good. Just my iron was low. Not too low but not high enough to donate. I feel bad because it was a special O drive. I am O+ so they like my blood. I did get a duffle bag for coming in which really makes me feel bad that I couldn't donate.
I have only been turned away a couple of time. Once during basic training I had a temp. of 101. They wouldn't let me donate but I had to help the other soldiers that could donate. I was really feeling sick and they were making me work. They tried to make me feel guilty because the others were donating and I wasn't. It wasn't like I was trying to get out of it!
Another time I was turned away because I had had a yellow fever shot and had been on anti-maleria pills. I didn't have maleria but I had just got back from Central America and they couldn't use blood that had those antibodies in it.
Oh well, next drive I will be ready.

Goodbye Romeo

The Browns fired Savage today which means Romeo is on his way out too. Goodbye Romeo. The Browns don't need a nice guy. They need a head coach. They need a proven head coach and not some one that might be ready like all of the ones we have had. Chris Palmer was a great assistant coach but he was in over his head as the first coach of an expansion team. Butch Davis I guess was a great college coach but he ruined the Browns while he was here. Romeo is a nice guy but as they say, nice guys finish last. This one finishes in the unemployment line.
Maybe next year. Gee, where have I heard that before?

Merry Christmas

It was a nice Christmas morning. It started a little later than usual-6:45! The girls loved their stuff. There were alot of clothes this year but clothes are always a big deal for my girls. They were wearing their robes this morning (I'm still in mine!) There's an assortment of jeans and leggings and hoodies under the tree. We all have a variety of tatoos on our bodies (I have a seahorse) from a tatoo kit that Santa left for Chrissy!
We just finished finished our Christmas breakfast of frenchtoast and ham. This afternoon's dinner will be our traditional Stouffer's lasagna (a long story). The girls have been munching on cookies, Ruldoph's red noses (Think cinimon imperials) and chocolate candy cubes wrapped like presents!
Right now Maggie and Allie are playing Mario Party on the Wii. Mary and Matt sent the girls the Mario game. They are having a ball. Chrissy was having a tea party with her Webkins friends and her new Tinker Bell teaset. The girls have already been to Webkins world to register their new friends and Chrissy registered her new beanie baby (a pink stripe zebra that some how became a cow online?!), and Chrissy also visited Littlest Pet Shop world to signup her Penguin.

I hope everyone had as much fun this morning as the Hanlon-Kurilec family!

Christmas Eve

The visiting and deliveries are done.(fudge, truffles and candies; Don's sister). The girls have opened their Christmas Eve present(bathrobes for the pictures in the morning). Dinner is almost done(prime rib that Don got an awesome price on!) The rest of the night will be quiet and uneventful. (We are under a wind advisory so hopefully we don't lose power.)
I'm sure the girls will be in bed fairly early because they were up very early this morning. We will tune in to the Christmas Story marathon(a tradition here), and Chrissy will sprinkle her reindeer bait-I mean food-outside before she goes to bed.
I wish everyone a safe and quiet Christmas Eve.

Oh the Weather Outside is Frightful

The temperature today is 9. With the windchill it is 20 below. We are having LE snow and some serious wind. The first day of winter came in with a bang!!
I had to break out the parka and a pair of gloves so you know it is cold. I took Madison out but she didn't want to go potty. She just wanted to sniff! If you have to go, you have to go. Why can't she just do her business and come back in instead of sniffing the air as the wind gusts at 40 miles an hour.
The girls have to spend their first official day of vacation inside because of the weather. The only one I'll let out is Maggie and that will be to take the dog out. I am sure it will be crazy at work today because when the weather is bad, people feel the need to come grocery shopping. I am only out today because I have to work. Don called me at 6:15 from the restaurant. He has about 7 old guys that come in every morning at 5AM They don't open until 6 but these guys are there by 5. They were all there this morning despite the frigid temps and blowing snow!

Near Miss

We didn't get the snow that was predicted. I came down pretty good yesterday morning then it turned to rain. What was left on the ground was heavy slush. The first day of winter isn't until tomorrow so there is still plenty of time for snow.
The weather guys get all excited. If I have to work, I'll get up a little early in case I have to dig out my car but I don't worry about how much is coming. Whatever we get, we get. I don't know how they predict how much is coming. It seems like a racket to me.

It's A Wrap!

I did it. I have all of my presents wrapped. I am very proud of myself. I usually find myself wrapping on Christmas Eve in my bedroom on an unmade bed with cats and the dog trying to help. One year I spent a small fortune on gift bags because I didn't want to wrap. I reused the bags the following year but then they were lost in the flood so I had to go back to wrapping them.
Don't get me wrong, I really don't mind wrapping presents. I have been wrapping gifts since I was 4 or 5 years old. My Dad used to send me to my room with paper, tape and scissors to wrap my Mom's presents. I wrapped more appliances than you can imagine. (Appliances were outlawed the year he bought her an electric pressure cooker!) I felt important wrapping her gifts. God knows what they looked like. I'm sure I thought I wrapped like a pro. Evidently my father thought I was a better gift wrapper than he was or he wouldn't have given me such an important job! Right??
Anyways, mark Christmas 2008 as the year that the wrapping was done early.

Wrapping Day

As soon as Maggie leaves for school, I will start wrapping. I got some done last Friday but there's a bunch more to do. Besides, I have shopped 2 more time since last Friday. I bought more paper and I have my new coffee pot set up. (That was a very tragic event the other morning: I was making coffee at 4:30 AM when I discovered the pot was broken. I had to buy coffee at work!)
The weather is pretty crappy outside so I have no excuses not to finish. I am not driving anywhere today! The girls do not have any plans today. Tonight we are having a fudge making party but we have everything here.
Yesterday Don made chocolate truffles and peppermint bark. The girls made Christmas cookies. I tasted it all and everything was delicious! I don't like fudge but I'll assume that it will be delicious too.

Pictures

The lovely Allie and the 5th grade chorus.

The 3rd grade chorus. Chrissy is in the second row, center.

Willie Wonka and Oompa Loompa #12!

Allie's Concert

Tonight was the third and final concert of the Christmas season. Allie's 5th grade class sang and played their recorders. They sounded terrific. Allie, Nick and Cody played their bells for the first time in front of an audience. They did a great job too. The played together and accompanied the recorders for a few songs. Allie's music started to slip off her stand and one of the Dads came to the rescue and held it up for her so she could finish her song. A big thank you to Mr. Otterman!

Spring concert season will be just as hectic. Maggie's band has one, the fifth grade chorus has one and the 5th grade band will play their first concert as a band! In early June, Allie will have her first piano recital. It is amazing how musical our family has become since neither Don nor I ever played an instrument. He sang in the chorus in school and I did too (a little). I'm glad my girls enjoy participating in band and chorus. Don and I certainly enjoy listening to them!

Shopping

Don and I went Christmas shopping today. We did pretty good. I earned $90 Kohls cash so I get to go back again. Maggie needs sneakers for gym next quarter and Allie needs boots so we will go back next week and spend the Kohls cash.
We stopped at Dollar Tree and bought some wrapping paper so tomorrow I'll wrap while they are in school. It's better than housework which was my original plan for my day off. I still have to do housework so maybe I won't take all day to wrap. I didn't get that many things.

Concert 2

The 7th and 8th grade band concerts were tonight. They sounded terrific. Each grade played about 5 selections. I was really impressed with Maggie's 7th grade band. They have made big improvements since last spring and I thought they sounded good then!

Next Monday is Allie's show. She is singing with the 5th grade, the 5th grade chorus and playing the recorder and bells. Wow! Not all at once mind you. She will accompany the recorders on her bells for 2 songs I think and play her recorder with with the whole group.
Today she had piano lessons. Mrs. Reese is trying to teach her as many Christmas songs as she can over these past couple of weeks. Next week is the last lesson before Christmas break. her teacher says there will be a recital in the spring. I can't wait.

Concert 1

Chrissy's concert Monday night was wonderful. This is a rather large 3rd grade class so they really sounded great. Chrissy was very pretty in her green velvet dress and white bow in her hair. Although she was in the second row again, I could see her smiling face the entire show.

The Week Ahead

I just finished laundry for the night. 4 loads-enough for people to have clothes for school. Last night was the second and final night for Willy Wonka. It was wonderful. Maggie was wonderful and she didn't fall!
Tomorrow night is the 3rd grade Christmas concert. Miss Chrissy has a lovely green velvet dress to wear. We picked up some nice cable knit tights so she can wear them all winter. Tuesday night is my company Christmas party. I needed to pick up a top to wear so I went to Walmart and found something nice but comfortable.
Wednesday is Maggie's 7th grade band concert. She introduces the band to the audience. The 8th grade bands plays after. Two bands for the price of 1!!
Thursday Don and I will start our shopping. We are starting at Kohls then maybe Target. It will be a small Christmas this year so I need to get the biggest bang for my buck!
Friday I am off and I am probably going to clean house and wrap any gifts I may pick up. I'm already dreading the end of the week!!

The Baritone

We have a new instrument to add to our music corner. Yesterday I picked Maggie up after school because it is a "pain" to bring the trumpet home on the bus. Not only did she have her trumpet but she also had a baritone. It belongs to MMS but it is Maggie's as long as she plays it in the MMS band. The case is as big as she is!!
Maggie told her teacher that she thought she might like to try the baritone. He said she could take it home over Christmas break and try it out. He gave it to her on Thursday. The highschool band director gave her a lesson on it. She will play it with the band next Friday after their Christmas concert.
Mag is really excited. She really enjoys playing it. Last year her teacher wanted her to play the baritone. He said her mouth was shaped perfectly for it. The highschool director said the same thing. Maggie wanted to play trumpet, not baritone. It costs me $27/month for her trumpet. It costs me $0 for the baritone since it belongs to the school!! That's OK. As long as she is happy I guess. Anything for my baby.

Willie Wonka

Last night was the opening of the Madison Middle School production of Willie Wonka. It was awesome!! The kids did a terrific job. Of course my favorite was Oompaa Loompaa #12 but they were all wonderful. In one of the scenes they use a bubble machine. Right after that the oompaas come out to dance. Maggie slipped on stage. She was ok and like a true professionial, she just jumped right up and kept going. She banged her elbow but of course she was now the main focus!! My kids can always steal the show.
Last night's show was a soldout performance. Tonight is the final performance. There will be a photo op. session at the end so I will certainly post some pictures.

The Game

The game was pretty bad yesterday. The only good thing was the Brown's defense. Anderson was terrible (and now he is out for the season!), Winslow was bad (he's probably out for the season), and even Peyton was crappy.
I had a great time. The seats were awesome. I think I did a little too much "tailgating" but a good night's sleep tonight will take care of that.
Even though they didn't play very well, it is a lot of fun to go to Brown's Stadium to watch the game. It is definately a blue collar, beer and bratwurst group of fans at the game. The Dawg Pound is a wild and crazy place.
Tailgating in the "Muni Lot" starts around 6AM. People have motor homes or campers parked there. They grill, smoke or fry almost anything. Bratwurst is probably the one food item that is being cooked at nearly every spot. Some people don't even go into the game. They have their satalite dish and watch the game on TV in the lot. There is usually some sort of touch football game going on and of course cornhole.
It is somthing to experience!!