We swear. It's just that shortly after Thanksgiving, our lives were thrown into chaos. We finally did it. We started the work on the house. Wanna see?
More to come. Soon. We swear.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Yes, we're here. We're alive. Everything's OK.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
HRH Hunter
Met my sweet little nephew, Hunter, for the first time at Thanksgiving.
It appears he has inherited my brother's talent for being able to delight my dad like no one else. On his grandpa's birthday, on the playmat grandpa bought him, and on grandpa's command, he actually rolled over for the first time.
Check out how he sticks the landing:
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Ah, the magic of Halloween
My friend Deborah does a statistic evaluation of her Halloween every year that always makes me smile. Her girls look adorable which is fun to see, but honestly the count of candy dispensed always shocks me, and I love the inevitable stories of looney parents.
This year I was in Denver for Halloween and the man was hiding from children with the lights out in the house on his own in Chicago so we didn't get to enjoy handing out candy. We did go to some costume parties though. Real adult costume parties. Which made me realize Deborah's stats are always missing something. She's never mentioned the rather uncomfortable trend of increasingly inappropriate costumes for adults! So here's my contribution to her stats, based on what I witnessed both at parties in Chicago over the weekend and in the bars here in LODO this year...
3: men with "Dick in a Box" costumes. (Yes, the boxes had something inside)
1: Michael Vick, complete with his petite wife in a dog costume and a noose.
1: Full scale Marie Atoinette. Which was cool except, ehem, "the mademoiselles" kept popping out.
1: Guy in an video arcade outfit, with the joystick right there.
4: Britney Spears (all versions, including one with a K-Fed)
1: Paris Hilton
1: Nicole Ritchie (pregnant version)
1: Lindsay Lohan (super orange tan)
(BTW - the last three were out together, which was hilarious.)
Too many to count: "naughty".... cops, nurses, devil girls, angel girls, Dorthys. It seemed to me they were at the bars mingling with young guys that all seemed to be dressed as "jeans and t-shirt" guys. Not sure what that's about.
Sigh.
Next year I look forward to being back in OP for Halloween, where all I have to do is worry about the suspiciously-older city kids who apparently dress as thugs and try to grab at the candy by the fistful.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Meet your Champions
Very very odd. I'm watching a local news piece labelled "Meet your Rockies".
They're only days away from a run in the World Series and yet the town is literally just learning the names of it's pitchers.
Monday, October 01, 2007
Holy Smoke
Rockies win!
I can see the fireworks from my roof. The streets are filled with people celebrating. Horns are honking. People are hootin and hollering.
On one hand, it's fun to be in the throngs of victory. On the other hand, I wonder where all these people were two weeks ago when we went to a half-empty Rockies game.
Wow.
The Rockies are headed into a 13th inning! They could very well win the National League Wild Card tiebreaker!
Monday, September 17, 2007
Rocky Mountain Weekend
It's so nice when my lovely husband comes out to Denver. Not only does it spare me the hassle and fatigue of a couple of flights, but without housework, pets, or any other obligations here in Colorado we get to have pure fun.
This weekend, we got a double dose of Anderson goof off time, because R&M came out to Colorado too. They treated us to a drinks and a Rockies game. We treated them to breakfast, and, well, more drinks. :-) After they headed home, J and I made our way to the Monolith music festival at Red Rocks. Between the gorgeous surroundings, the warm summer breezes and the fantastic music, I couldn't have asked for a better night. Maybe I'm not too old for music festivals after all?
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Back to proper blogging
OK, so I recently admitted to myself that the cord that connects my camera to the computer will not just turn up. It has most tragically gone to the land of the lost - where I hope it enjoys a lovely life with its new friends: dark pearl earring I miss terribly, and every hair band I've ever purchased.
In any case, I bought another one, but it was the wrong one. And then I finally bought a correct replacement. Soooo, really all of that basically amounts to my sad apology on why I haven't blogged much lately. Without pictures, it's not as fun.
So, with that, let me catch you up on what we've been up to this summer...
Mmm. Nothing better than summer festival food in Chicago.
We goofed off in Millennium Park with Mike.
I planted some window boxes, which clearly confused Jethro...
We realized we may be getting too old for Lollapalooza.
And we had some exciting neighborhood news - a new restaurant opened right near us -- and they sell wine under $20. Sweet mother - what a gift!
Not included in photos, but will also be fondly remembered:
- I got to visit my best friends back in LA and finally meet their new little baby, who is an absolute perfect angel, naturally.
- Mr. A and Cousin K arriving home from a long and drunken night out, on ONE bike. Seriously - two grown men trying to balance a shared ride on one bicycle. Hilarious.
- The Harry Potter Night that our wonderful town put together. It was amazing - our main street became Diagon alley, one of the churches recast itself as Azkaban, and folks were in every costume imaginable. There was HP theatre in the park, butter beer served in restaurants, and even the town newspaper published itself as "The Daily Prophet". It restored my faith in community!
So all in all, between flights we managed to pull off a lovely summer. AND we still have a few weeks of warm weather to go!
Friday, August 24, 2007
Screw the storm. Let's get home!
Huge storms overnight. Huge huge huge. With floods, winds, fallen trees, booming thunder, and scary flashes of lightning everywhere.
You would have thought that would stop the pilots at Southwest, but NOOO.... Welcome on board folks! Hope you're enjoying this weather!
I love those crazy Southwest pilots. They are bound and determined to make their on-time ratings. Which (given how desperately I want to get home on Thursday nights) is fine by me.
In fact, here's what getting used to a crazy commute like mine will do to you... Last night as I was bumping around in the cabin (needless to say the turbulance was awful) I found myself looking out the window at the incredible bolts of light thinking, "Oooh! There's the Sears tower! I hope lightning strikes it! That would be so amazing to see from up here! Come on lightning... go go go!"
Monday, August 20, 2007
How 'bout that.
My brother is legendary for short no nonsense voice mail messages. They pretty much always go, "It's your brother. Call me back".
You can imagine then, how big the smile was on my face when last week I got this message...
"It's your brother. I'm a dad. How 'bout that!"
My little baby bro -- my little Robby Bobby -- has a beautiful baby boy of his own.
How 'bout that?!
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
I *heart* Mr. Anderson
There are (obviously) a million and one reasons why I love Mr. Anderson. Tonight though, I especially adore and appreciate him. That's because this evening I learned this: cable and internet installation is a big pain the a$$. And in all our apartments/condos/houses over the years my lovely husband just handled it. Didn't say a peep.
Tonight at the new place I had to handle it myself. And I was clueless. So this wonderful man helped me troubleshoot my cable connection problems via *web cam*. Seriously! And then he helped me sort out what I needed to order to get it hooked up.
Mr. Anderson is the best.
The booty lounge
That's right. Tonight I write to you from the ***the booty lounge.*** You you heard me. The Booty Lounge! That's my apartment's nickname -- or what the realtor calls it anyway. I didn't ask why. I'm trying not to think about the fact that someone else lived in it before me and had anything to do with "booty". Blech. (BTW, note to self, buy clorox wipes pronto.)
Anyway, it is by far the coolest crib I've ever occupied. I'm equating this vibe to the same feeling a woman gets when she puts on some high heels and some serious lipstick. Which, now that I think about it -- given that I still possess a full stick of Estee Lauder "true red" that I bought for a Y2K party -- is probably not a bad thing for me to be inspired by. Take a look... 
Haahaha. It couldn't be farther from the work-in-progress-house-in-the-burbs thing I've got going on in the midwest. It's so fun.
Check out the virtual tour.
Friday, July 06, 2007
Where's the aspirin?
I am currently packing for:
1) a trip to LA for the weekend, followed by...
2) next week's work in Denver, which will also involve...
3) moving in to my new apartment in Denver
Listen, my friends, to the chaos inside my brain right now:
OK, where's my moisturizer?
Ohhh. That's in the keeper bag at the hotel
Wait, I need moisturizer for LA. OK, I'll take the Chicago moisturizer. Note to self -- bring back Chicago moisturizer.
OK, that's going in the LA bag.
Wait, the bottle is too big for the LA carry on bag. Security. Need to put that in Denver Apartment bag because I'm checking it in.
New note to self -- Chicago moisturizer for LA trip is in Denver Apartment bag. Remember to transfer Denver Hotel Moisturizer to Denver Apartment Bag and bring back LA moisturizer to Chicago.
Oh my lord. This is just the moisturizer, people. I still have to pack my make up and shoes.
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Monday, June 25, 2007
I had to ask the salesclerk "Who was that?"
So I managed to exchange pleasantries with a celebrity at the O'Hare Hudson News Stand this morning without having a clue that the woman was a celebrity.
She was looking for toothpaste while I was looking at magazines. I tried to help her find some and couldn't find any. We walked to the counter together. She ended up going with gum, and I continued to stand with her clueless. Finally it dawned on me she must be *someone* when she called over to a nearby bodyguard who passed over her Amex black card from her Vitton carry-on bag.
Classic.
Meet my new BFF.
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Congrats Mom
Not many women can say they're the proud daughter of a certifiable poker champion, but this week my mom outright won the Texas Hold 'em tournament at her favorite casino in Reno. It was an 80 person tournament and she whooped them all!! Wooo! Way to go mom!
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
You better be kidding dude.
So I was having trouble getting my wireless to work at the hotel and I called our night shift support technician to help me troubleshoot. It came up in the conversation that I was at a hotel here and currently commuting every week from Chicago. The tech guy says to me, "Wow. I don't know how you do that. That would be too hard for me."
I would have been fine with that response had the guy not just come back from his third and final tour of duty in IRAQ.
I asked him if he was kidding. He said he wasn't.
Dear Lord.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Reunited with old friends
I shouldn't have worried so much about the hubby being lonely. He's now got two dear friends keeping him company at home. First is his favorite cousin, K, who has moved in with us while he's waiting for his apartment to open up later this summer. Second is a brand new Nintendo Wii.
It ends up they all play well together. Maybe too well actually, because its nearly 1 am and look what's going on in front of the Wii in the basement...
Here's my favorite part - their online personas on screen... 
That's K on the left and Mr. Anderson on the right. Aren't they cute?
Thursday, June 07, 2007
My new favorite channel
So guess which two airports are experiencing delays today?
One saving grace - I was warned by several people that this could happen so this week I decided to experiment with flying Frontier into Midway. We'll see...
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Depending on the day, I live in Denver
I finally understand what this gimick is all about. For the last two weeks I've been so disoriented by this whole commuting experience that if it weren't for the carpet in the hotel elevator I wouldn't have a clue what day it is.
On a positive note, the hotel is gorgeous. The room my company has hooked me up with is unbelieveable. Take a look...
The hotel is only a couple of blocks from my new office. It's in Lodo, which is a fantastic area of the city that I'm really enjoying exploring. Next week I'll wander around and take some photos so you get a picture of what it's like here in the rockies. It's much more beautiful than I imagined.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Friday, May 18, 2007
Thursday, May 17, 2007
I'm Freeeee!
You know that uniquely wonderful feeling you get when you drive out of your office parking lot for the very last time? The very special joy of knowing that you're not going back.
You know how they're moving that VP from the other division over to yours? Who cares! You know how stressful its going to be when your dept. finds out that they're not going to replace the person who just left because of budget issues? Not my problem!
No more work. No more blackberry. No more awkward small talk with that weird woman from the second floor.
Yeeeeeeeeeeeee!
I've only got 5 days between this and the next job. I'm going to enjoy all 120 blissful, stress-free hours.
Friday, May 11, 2007
An unexpected response
I met with a rather large operations group that I manage today. I explained to them I was leaving the company, and told them a little about the new job. Just as I finished describing how the job was in Denver and how I would be traveling quite a bit, a woman to my left loudy interupted with, "And who's gonna take care of your man?!"
She and my mother both!
Sunday, May 06, 2007
We're back. And since I last posted...
- Mr. Anderson's little brother graduated from college. (Congrats J!)
- Our good friends M & E shared with us that they're having a baby. (And they're coming to Chicago for the summer - which we're so thrilled about.)
- My best friend found out she's going to be promoted to a Vice President at her company (Go B!)
- None of the landscapers we had over to the house before our trip have called us back with estimates. (What is going to take to get the concrete off my lawn? What?)
- TIVO decided that I really needed to start watching Nickelodean and Spike TV. Lots and lots. Hmmm....
- Ringo has a new trick - one minute he's napping and then suddenly he'll jump up and run/leap around the house chasing nothing at full speed for no reason. (Reminder to self - he needs that annual vet exam pronto.)
- Our architect has made great progress and we are super close to having a plan for the house. (More on this later.)
- Oh, and I got a new job. It's a great business, a unique opportunity, much better pay, and (continuing the tradition of best friends going through things together) I'll be a VP too. On a more scary note, I'm going to have to start traveling to Denver weekly. (Whoooooooo.... Deeeeep breath.....)
- Considering the above, you can imagine it was an especially nice coincedence that I got to catch up with a high school girlfriend who happened to be in town and just recently completed her doctorate in Marriage and Family Therapy. Hahahaaa (Congrats K!)
Thursday, April 19, 2007
All better
Thanks to ginger ale, miso soup, crackers and the love of a good man, I'm back.
Mr. A finally got the monkey pictures up. We're officially going to sign off now and enjoy our last few days in paradise.
As they say here -- Pura vida and adios.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Mi esposa tiene el dolor de estomago
It's true. Sadly, Mrs. Anderson has been felled by a touch of the "traveler's malady." So I'm sitting here by myself, munching on a chicken sandwich and uploading the most recent batch of pictures.
This morning I arose at the crack of dawn when the stores opened and ran down the beach into town to get some remedies for Wifey. Apparently, no one in Montezuma has any need for Pepto Bismol or Maalox. Or Tums. Or Rolaids. They sell Milk of Magnesia - but isn't that used to induce vomiting? No, quite the opposite of what we're looking for, I'm afraid.
So I read the labels on all the little boxes and tried to find the Costa Rican equivalents of familiar medicines. "Panadol" in lieu of Tylenol. "Andrews" rather than Alka-Seltzer. Something else with the word "estomago" on the label. And finally, a big box of Soda crackers and a bottle of Gatorade.
A few hours later, Mrs. A seems better. I'm sure she'll be back on her feet in no time.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
What we're reading (expanded vacation version)
In the hustle bustle of everyday life Mr. Anderson and I never manage to read the way we'd like to. This vacation has been a bonanza for us. Not only did we bring our own books, but the lending library at this hippy dippy place is chock full of awesome and odd titles to dig into when we're finished with our own.
Here's what we've got so far...
JHA:
Currently…
* The Audacity of Hope, Barack Obama
Up Next...
* Cryptonomicon, Neal Stephenson
Finished…
* Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules, David Sedaris
* Everyman, Philip Roth
* The Final Solution, Michael Chabon
* The Cement Garden, by Ian McEwan
* Complications, by Atul Gawand
JLA:
Currently…
* Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules, David Sedaris
Up Next:
* The Audacity of Hope, Barack Obama
Finished…
* Blood Brother: 33 Reasons My Brother Scott Peterson is Guilty, Anne Bird
* Dress your Family in Courduroy and Denim, David Sedaris
* The Queen’s Fool, Philippa Gregory (Saucy historical chick lit!! Hurrah!! I love vacation!)
* The Constant Princess, Philippa Gregory (More more more!!!)
Notes for Virg, who shares my special love for court tv...
The Scott Peterson book was a quick read. She's not a terrific writer, so ultimately she really does just present a list of 33 incidents and thoughts that lead her to believe her brother killed his wife and baby. A lot of the reasons were odd and circumstantial - like in the midst of the ordeal, he ordered adult cable channels, and seemed to be obsessed with cleaning his pool. Huh? Weird for sure, but I'm not sure that means he's a depraved killer who murdered his wife in his pool -- which is where she goes with it.
In any case, 3 of her items stood out to me: he seemed uninterested in looking for her when she was missing, plus when the police would look in certain areas he would offhandedly comment “they’ll never find her there” (seriously!), and last but not least .... while she was missing, and they suspected she had been kidnapped by devil worshipers, Scott was flirting with his sister’s young babysitter. EEEwwwwwhhhh!!
Friday, April 13, 2007
Bienvenidos a Ylang Ylang
Hola, LaPlanderson.com readers. I'm posting this from the bar at Ylang Ylang Beach Hotel in Montezuma, where Mrs. Anderson and I arrived late last night after a great road-trip adventure from Arenal. As you may have heard, the roads in Costa Rica are a little rough. Which is usually for the best, since the general rule down here is: the better the pavement, the faster you drive. (We passed by at least three massive accident scenes during the three-hour ride down from the mountains. Never have I been so glad to not be driving.)
As you can tell from the new photos, this place is incredibly beautiful, remote, and most of all, filled with filthy hippie burnouts peaceful, mellow nature-loving people. (The hotel has a yoga studio and serves sushi but no beef, if that helps paint the picture.)
We'll post more later. Right now I've got a Guaro Sour and a hammock with my name on them.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Things we never imagined we'd say...
...And yet, have. All within the last 48 hours.
- "¡Despacio! ¡Hay un sloth en el camino!"
("Slow down! There's a sloth in the road!")
- "Man, I really hope that volcano blows tonight."
- "Shhhh! Did you hear that? Is that a monkey?"
- "Lean back, you'll be more aerodynamic."
Monday, April 09, 2007
Apparently we *do* know the way to San Jose.
We've arrived safe and sound and its already fantastic. The hotel we're staying out tonight is beautiful.
If you're interested, we're posting our pics to a flickr slideshow.
Sunday, April 08, 2007
This is it people!
In the last few days we've been scrambling to get our act together before we leave for our trip. It's been fairly stressful to extract ourselves from work and make all of the homecare arrangements (plus I've had some rather big career things come up as well -- but that's for another day.) We managed to take care of an important issue though - we finally picked an architect!
We really like his collabrative style - he's even assigned us homework! And his team is great. We feel like we're in terrific hands, which is important because we're both so busy and worried that we won't be able to keep up with it all.
We're taking off tomorrow morning. The cells and the blackberry are staying behind but we'll have Mr. Anderson's computer for movies on the plane and occasional email. (Apparently I can't be trusted with mine.)
WE CAN'T WAIT.
I'm so thrilled to just be able to relax and do nothing - for 10 whole days!
WOOO!
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Happy Birthday Mom
Happy Happy XXth Birthday!
I can't say how old because she'll kill me. When I was 10 she told people she had me when she was 21. I think when I was 20 she brought it down to 18. Don't really want to imagine what she's got it at now.
Doesn't matter. I love you Mom. Have a fantastic birthday.
Monday, April 02, 2007
Yea, he's nuts all the time, but right now he's more nuts.
Ringo fans will be happy to know he's been unusually spry these days. In fact, he's goofing off in ways we haven't seen in years...
We're not sure what's going on. His meds are the same, and our routine is the same. Except we're opening up doors and windows now. Maybe it's just spring?
Oh, and Jethro fans will be unsurprised to know that he's exactly as he always is, that is, needy and grumpy.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
I just assumed he was ignoring me
Mr. Anderson left his old job months ago. Today I found out I've been leaving him voice mails at *his old office* this whole time.
Bwwwwahhhahhhaaaaahhhhaaaaa!!!
If I could stop laughing I might worry about what I actually said.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Mind the gap
Now that the snow has melted our neighbors have the distinct pleasure of waking up to this view every morning...
Not pretty
It gets even more lovely when it rains. Mud flows down the street like a river.
In a classic move, Mr. Anderson decided that before we could call a landscaper he needed to understand what it would take to fill this trench himself. So he bought 800 pounds of dirt, brought it home, and began to fill the hole...
Here's the result of his work:
Needless to say, the professionals are coming in this weekend.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
IPR
Girls night last night. Had a lot of fun, and was introduced to a fabulous new wine. Its so sweet, so yummy and so drinkable it's developed a nickname: IPR - International Panty Remover.
Villa Giada Moscato d'Asti
Heehhheeee
Saturday, March 24, 2007
High Risk Behavior
Friday night Mr. Anderson came home and decided out of nowhere that he needed to cut his hair himself. As you can imagine, that filled me with some anxiety. That was nothing, however, compared to the anxiety I felt Saturday morning when I saw this...
Sigh.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Welcome to the blogosphere Wendi.
As we all know, most "funny" email forwards aren't really funny. So imagine my surprise when one of the funniest ones I've ever read turned out to be written by someone I actually know and love.
She's finally put some of her best work on a blog. Take a look and appreciate fantastic humor at its source.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
R&J heart Dick Van Patten
So I'm sure you've heard about this pet food recall. Unfortunately, the weasels' favorite food was affected.
Poor Ringo was left without his Nutro Chicken and Giblets.
Poor Ringo was left without his Nutro Chicken and Giblets.
Ringo: "This is bullsh$#t! Where's my gravy?"
I went to the pet store and (due to the fact that it was such a widespread recall) was stuck with only two choices: Science Diet, and Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance. (Really! Dick Van Patten - from Eight is Enough!) So come on, I had to go with the DVP. If its good enough for Tom Bradford, it's good enough for my boys.
Guess what? They love it. Who knew? Go DVP!!!
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Architects
We've been interviewing architects so that we can begin the big kitchen project. It seems like such an overwhelmingly important choice. We absolutely love this house, but (on occasion) it really frustrates us. This person is supposed to help us transform it to the perfect house. They're supposed to fix it all. How on earth, after just an hour or two in an interview, are we supposed to know they're the one?
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
A vacation!
For our 10-year anniversary Mr. Anderson and I have decided to take an honest-to-goodness romantic 2 week vacation. This is unprecendented. I am beside myself with excitement. We're going to Costa Rica! 
Thursday, March 01, 2007
More Warm Wine!
Messy ugly storm tonight, which means (of course) its time to curl up at home and have more MEAD!
Tonight we rate Chaucer's Mulling Spices.
In honor of the father of English literature, I will attempt to rate this lovely warm adult beverage in drunken iambic pentameter.
So warm so sweet I want to drink too much.
So smooth I ask if booze has been withdrawn.
The tone is pale and gold with light it shines.
Too weak the spice but not so that I halt.
For that, I gulp and deem the wine a 4.
Hey, Ms. Bennett was right. Learning this stuff was worth it!
It *is* useful in real life.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Oscars
Growing up in LA, you couldn't help but know someone who was an actor/producer/writer/director/music editor "in the industry". Most of the time it seemed perfectly normal but now that I think about it, it did make for some remarkable childhood memories. Like when the Los Angeles Dodgers came to my friend Katherine's 10th birthday. Or when my schoolmate Michelle had a rollerskating party and Dorothy Hamill joined us.
As my mom reminded me back then, kids in Kansas don't generally get to say they showed off their freestyle moves to Dorothy Hamill. (Actually, what I really remember was how glad I was that I was wearing my jeans with a pink roller skate patch on my tush. I was super sure Dorothy was impressed.)
Inevitably I ended up dating the actor/producer/writer/director/music editors. I never got to a level where there were paparazzi pics of me with anyone (unless one shot in Teen Beat counts) but the experience was sort of surreal in any case. I mean, in Kansas, when the girls go out on dates do the guys say, "I'd order the tempura, but it's horrible for my skin and I've got an audition for a Crest commercial tomorrow."
I'm actually a second generation Los Angeleno so my mom and I have always had that in common. Did I ever tell you that Natasha Gregson Wagner could have been my stepsister? Anyway, it's a long story.
In any case, later in life I worked at Warner Bros. and got exposed to the more traditional Hollyweird stuff like learning the names and phone numbers of every agent in town by practicing with index cards, and remembering what execs were and weren't speaking to whom and why, and (of course) getting coffee for celebrities and getting screamed at when it wasn't non-fat-soy-with-whipped. So with all those fine skills, when I left the business what I was ultimately left with was... well, very little -- except an amazing talent for witty/snarky color-commentary during the Oscars and an impressive record of winning every Oscar pool I ever entered.
This is why it was so strange to be in my room at the Marriot in Boston tonight and turn on the TV and realize I completely forgot the Oscars were on. And I have no idea who's nominated. And I doubt I've even seen more than 3 of the movies.
Who'da thunk it?
You can't take LA completely out of the girl though. In only a few minutes, I'd ordered wine (yes mom, occasionally I drink alone and it's OK) and settled in for good night of solo snarking. I mean, did you see the look that Penelope Cruz gave Ellen after the insinuation that she was Mexican? ¡El horror!
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Just sixteen days...
since my last update and yet so so much has happened...
Grandma Anderson passed away on Feb. 7th. Jane was a devoted wife, a loving mother, an indulgant grandma, and a proud great-grandmother. She also had a great gift for crochet, a wicked sense of humor, a love of dancing, and the instincts of a classic and true matriarch -- to feed and worry about the well-being of every member of her clan (especially the boys.)
She'll most certainly be remembered through her recipes, but we will also miss her every time we wrap ourselves in the warmth of her hand-made blankets. Or find one of her "hug coupons" in our scrapbooks.
Before she passed, Grandma told us how happy she was that we were such a "great couple" and she knew she didn't have to worry about us. Just a few days after her service -- on the 15th -- we celebrated our 10th anniversary. As the day passed by, I thought of her and her comment more than a few times. I take a lot of comfort from that approval. After all, she was the Anderson family matriarch, and she knew a thing or two about love - she and grandpa were married 66 years.
So in her spirit -- here it is -- we're shooting for at least 56 more. I think it's the best way to honor her (and Grandpa), and I know she won't mind when we break her record.
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Brrrrrr
Today's high: 0 degrees. -13 with wind chill.
Last year in our shiny new condo we wouldn't have noticed the sub-zero temps. But in our old crickety bungalow, we can feel the wind and cold blowing in from every corner and seam -- especially in the kitchen. We didn't manage to get the baseboards installed before winter so now we put on wool socks and slippers to get coffee in the morning.
Apparently we're going to have a few more days of this. I don't think we're ever going to get the cats off the radiator.
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Not my best birthday.
I'm sick with a really awful cold, and the Bears just lost the Superbowl.
If it weren't for the yummy piece of chocolate cake I had a halftime this whole day would be utterly pathetic.
That's the magic of chocolate cake, people.
Saturday, February 03, 2007
We're way past passion. This is mania.
As I drove to work this morning I noticed several kids walking to school bundled up in Bears hats and scarves. At my office there were dozens of people wearing jerseys. And as I drove home I was floored by how many cars were flying Bears flags. This is an amazing thing to be a part of. Even the city skyline is rallying for the Bears... 
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
5 days till the Superbowl!
The original tailgater, Grandpa Anderson, was in the Chicago Tribune last week.
Bring this man the superbowl trophy!
Monday, January 29, 2007
Sorry honey, but...
another drummer has stolen my heart.
Behold my best friend's son, aka the world's next great rock star.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Winter in Malibu
This is a picture of a ranch I used to go to for summer camp way back when. It's in Malibu, and yes, that's snow.
I remember once when I was really young a (very very short) little flurry of snow hit LA and it seemed like the most magical thing ever. Actually even now, when the first snowfall of the season hits Chicago I'm awed a bit.
Sighhhh.
Soon after though (like any other grown woman in the midwest) I find myself making puppy eyes at my husband and begging him to shovel for me.
Photo: S. Cambell at Calamigos Ranch / KNX
Sunday, January 14, 2007
We're off...
While the football forecast calls for "Good Rex" the weather forecast looks decidedly bad. To rally myself, I look (of course) to Ditka.
GO BEARS!
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Sunday Night
Look at this forecast for Sunday night, will you? I keep hitting refresh hoping it will change. "Potentially messy"? What on earth?
I love the Bears. Really, I do. Which is the only explanation why:
1) I would pay a ridiculous amount of money to get tickets and let them ruin my New Years Eve.
2) And then, return two weeks later for more abuse to watch them bounce back.
Look for me on TV will you? I'll be wrapped up in two pairs of long johns, jeans, three pairs of socks, two sweaters, a hoodie, and a big down jacket, plus a Bears wool hat (of course.)
Ok, wait. Nevermind. Don't look.
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