Some favorite finds from Twitter today. Above is the March of the Penguins at the Saint Louis Zoo. This just made me laugh. I wanna waddle with the penguins! (But what is with the guy in the shorts?! Seriously? Then again, my dad used to wear tennis shorts and a parka in the middle of…

Thanks to some time off, my calendar feels a bit wonky. It doesn’t really feel like the new year has begun. Late mornings, warm comfort food (including hot cocoa with leftover candy canes – yum!), movie marathons…it’s been a total break from reality. But all good things must come to an end and it’s back…

For as long as I can remember, we’ve had a picnic-type basket that sits on the floor by our couch. Because it’s really more for decoration, I haven’t looked at its contents in years. In fact, I’d almost forgotten that it was there. Today I was looking for a place to store my knitting stuff…

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=8491259&server=vimeo.com&show_title=0&show_byline=0&show_portrait=0&color=00ADEF&fullscreen=1 You know who is the biggest TV fan in our house? (Particularly the biggest sports TV fan) Murphy. We found out a long time ago that he likes tennis, but he presses his nose to the screen for just about everything now. Game shows? Oh, sure. The Bourne Supremacy? That’s a favorite. Now for…

Watching Paper Heart while the kids are playing tennis. In the movie, Charlyne interviewed someone who talks about the HEA ending. Happily ever after ending. A little Disney-esque for me, but it’s a nice thought as this year comes to its end. But omigosh, I’m in love with this movie. Happy new year, all.

This morning brought with it a surprisingly steady snow shower. So after Tanner played tennis this morning (Drew is still with grandma and grandpa for another day), we headed out to Powder Valley to take advantage of the snow. I started out taking pictures of the normal stuff — snow on leaves, deer, and so…

Hard to believe that Christmas is already gone and we’re knocking on the door of a new decade. Christmas was spent with family and a good time was had by all. The boys have more clothes, iTunes money and seasons of That 70s Show than they know what to do with. But more than anything,…

It seems like the kitties have been a frequent blog topic lately, but this cracked me up. Wrapping gifts is tough enough for me as it is, but these two didn’t help. Now we’re at Denny’s for dinner because everything was closed by the time we got out of church. (yes, my son wore a…

This was what I woke up to this morning. I heard Violet purring by my head (her purr is like a lawnmower – you can hear her in the next room), but I didn’t realize how close she was until I reached over and turned on the lamp. Fortunately my phone was close enough that…

Lunch at California Pizza Kitchen with my two best boys, celebrating the completion of their finals (demonstrating their “thinker” poses). Live coverage courtesy of a new app on my phone. Technology rocks.

While I appreciate the enthusiasm, could they have possibly crammed more inflatables on this front porch? We’re going to drive around and look at Christmas lights on Christmas Eve, but I had to stop and get a closer look at this one (phone photo, sorry). And remember the house from last year that had all…

Quite by accident, today’s trip to Powder Valley turned out to be a study in colorlessness. But there was something so soft and lovely about it. I’m amazed by how beautiful nature is in every season. I saw the buck today. The buck — the one that looks like he has tree trunks growing out…

I hunkered down under the covers last night, fully expecting to wake up to a winter wonderland. Bright and early this morning, I got up, ran to the window, parted the curtains and…we got squat. You can’t even call this a legitimate dusting. I’ve seen photos and read reports from friends in other parts of…

Photos don’t do this justice. This van stuck out like a sore thumb for so many reasons. For starters, it’s not often that you see a vehicle parked in front of Frontenac’s Nieman Marcus that is being held together with duct tape and hope. But mostly, this van caught my attention because of it’s faux…

This cloud* reminded me of a snowy egret**.  It’s so hard to get used to driving home from work in the dark — especially when I leave on time.  * against the backdrop of a 4:30ish sunset ** Lovely photo is not mine, rather shamelessly stolen from a Google images search.

From the “photos in the news” section of the Chicago Tribune on the Web. I look up this feature on the regular because the photos tend to be so good, but these are especially wonderful. I find myself somewhere between “Ohhhh, I wish I could’ve seen that!” and “Darn, I wish I could’ve taken that!”1.) AP photo by Itsuo Inouye, six-day old…

Flannel-and-sweats-wearing, cookie-baking, candy-making, little-painting, lots-of-sleeping, movie-watching, new-book-reading, kitty-snuggling, cider-drinking kind of weekend. I’m so sorry to see it go. Conversation in the car on the way home this afternoon:Tanner: “Have you seen that thing on Facebook where you name the five people you would choose to be your bodyguards if you were president?”Drew: “I’d probably…

Not too long ago, my boss showed me a photo that she took in Italy that inspired me in the biggest way. So, for the first time in years (maybe since undergrad??), I actually painted. I started this last week and finished it tonight. I took some liberties with the photo (some things work in…

Much of this afternoon was spent making peppermint bark. Typically, it’s one of the easiest things to make. But I had a tough time because I switched the type of chocolate I used. I had to pitch out three batches. Honestly, I’m not blaming the chocolate. I think it’s just me. The kitchen and I…

After wrapping up the first phase of a huge project at work, I was able to leave the office a few minutes early. Here’s the scene at my house at this very moment: it’s a Friday evening. I’m wearing flannel pjs, eating mac and cheese that I picked up on the way home (a lovely…

Omigod. I was one of those mothers tonight. The mothers who invariably make me snicker and roll my eyes at every school function. Yes, I went there: I sat in one of the front rows AND I took pictures at Tanner’s winter orchestra concert. In my defense, I didn’t have a video camera and I…

Had to have my oil changed today, so the dealership gave me a rental for the day. Don’t get me wrong — that program is so nice when I need to get from A to B, but today’s loaner totally mystified me. It was this itty bitty scrap of metal that reminded me of a…

“I never thought it was such a bad little tree. It’s not bad at all, really. Maybe it just needs a little love.”— Linus Van Pelt So today was my office’s overly-complicated cookie crawl. In spite of my initial crabbiness, it turned out to be a neat day. For starters, our department’s “Charlie Brown Christmas”…

Tanner had his last match at oh-gawd-o’clock this morning, so we headed back to Belleville bright and early. Not ready to make small talk with tennis parents, I picked up some caffeine and headed back over to the Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows. There were so many things that were begging for a…