Bad mommy

It's one thing to lie, gently, about Santa to help promote and preserve the magic of childhood.


But it's another thing entirely to fabricate photographic "proof" of that lie, just because you have a friend with Mad Photoshop Skillz. Many thanks to Jaime for the assist.

I do not rule

I do not blame the four readers I may or may not have left if they do not believe what I'm about to say.

My plan for 2009 is to rediscover my blog mojo. I could list a gazillion excuses for why I've been so derelict lately, but we all know that the real reason is Twitter. DAMN TWITTER!!

So I'm gonna finish out 2009 with one more roundup of all the stuff I shoulda coulda woulda been blogging about if Twitter were not such a time suck.

When I last bothered to get my camera out of my purse, it was Open House night at the Eagle -- a little event my team and I organized that included cookies, music, good will and a Santa with a very forgiving lap.


Joe was, ahem, persuaded to provide some of the music. What a guy won't do for a free round of bowling.



Last weekend, Maddy and Harrison joined us for some cookie decorating while their mom went for a run in the freezing temps.



Lexi's artistry was fully realized on this Mickey Mouse palette.



Sadly, more frosting went in the mouths than on the cookies. And more food coloring went on the floor than in the frosting.



Last weekend also was the long-awaited trip to "The Nutcracker," during which Lexi loudly asked such probing questions as "Why did that big mouse do that?" and "Is that all? Is that all?"

Next installment: Christmas.

Coming soon.

Been busy

I'm feeling bad for being such a delinquent blogger, but I've been busy folks. This weekend, it was getting the &%*# Christmas decorations up.


Usually, getting the house ready for the holidays feels like a burden -- a chore that has to be done. But this year, Lexi is seriously in to decorating. She probably decorated, undecorated and re-decorated my mom's tree 12 times over Thanksgiving.



Here's the finished product in the front room -- the artificial, pre-lighted tree that didn't stay pre-lighted for more than one season -- that's visible from the street.


We also put one up in the back room, where we do most of our hanging out. It's a real tree that I decorate with the far-superior colored lights.


As for my excuses for why I have not been blogging... Well, for a few weeks I was recovering from my stint with the nephews.


Then there was my birthday (and Mike's)...


Then Gingerbread Village with Grandma Wendy, the Lovings and the Welches...


Then Thanksgiving dinner...


Then my cousin's butt-kicking ninth place finish in the Galena half-marathon...


And then the Pad Thai cookoff: Carrie v. Nick. Fortunately for the loser, I'll stop here -- but promise to be a better blogger from now on.

Four down, two to go

The nephews -- Jack, age 4 and Joe age 3 -- are staying with us this week while their poor parents vacation in Cabo San Lucas. We've had them since Saturday morning, and they leave on Friday morning.


Thank goodness mom and Bowzer the Schnauzer are here to assist.


Lessons learned: Boys are different from girls, and three kids are much more difficult to tame than one.


They're lucky they're so cute.

What we've done since election day

Played dressup with big bag of crowns and tutus generously provided by Bon.


Ate a chicken fried steak at Stroud's, for research purposes...


...with Molly, Lori and Joe, the head researcher.



Attended nephew Jack's 3rd birthday party in Lenexa...


...which had a blue theme for kids and grownups both.



Took pictures of mom's squirmy new puppy, Bowzer the Schnauzer.



At a country fried steak, this one at Fat Ernie's, with Lori, Bonnie, and head researcher Joe, who declared we'd have to do Fat Ernie's over after learning that country fried steak is not exactly the same thing as chicken fried steak. No More. White. Gravy.


And, at Fat Ernie's, met a guy named Nunie who wears a Fun Meter...


...dialed to high, every day.

Lunch at Fat Ernie's

I'm so sorry. My attention just wandered away from what Lori was saying.

Well, he DID ask

Because talking about myself is one of my favorite pastimes and all, at least according to some jerkwad sports columnists, and because Bobby Rozzell is such a swell fellow (unrelated), I am participating in this blog tag game that has developed over the past couple of days.

Bobby, the creator of the very cool Douglas and Main blog, is the one who tagged me.


Here are the rules:

• Link to the person who tagged you.
• Post the rules on your blog.
• Write 6 random things about yourself.
• Tag 6-ish people at the end of your post.
• Let each person know he/she has been tagged.
• Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Six random things about me:

1. I was adopted. Most people who know me very well at all know this, and it's not a topic I'm particularly sensitive about. In fact, amazingly, I rarely think about it and have never been seriously tempted to go looking for my birth parents. Maybe it's because my actual parents are all the parents anyone could ever want and more. I do, however, wish I had my medical history. Especially now that I'm getting old and falling apart.

2. I'm left handed, but I think I was supposed to be right-handed because I do everything with my right hand except write and bat, not that I bat often or well. Many of the coolest people I've known also are lefties.

3. I was on "Who Wants to Be A Millionaire." Well, sort of. My husband, Nick, was a contestant the month after we got married six years ago. They showed me in the audience, and Meredith, that bitch, asked me some sort of embarrassing/awkward question. Nick ended up winning $125,000 (you'd be amazed how far that does NOT go after taxes.) Our all-expenses paid five-day visit to NYC felt like an even bigger prize.

4. My over-publicized pug, Norton, is named after county commissioner Tim Norton. He was a stray in our neighborhood (the dog, not the commissioner) and he followed Tim Norton into our house during a Gridiron scriptwriter's meeting on a freezing cold January night.

5. I worked from my sophomore year in high school until my sophomore year in college as a "teammate" at the Brass Buckle in Dodge City and then in Lawrence, hawking Pepe Jeans and Z. Cavaricci's on commission. I still occasionally have nightmares about working retail. And about Z Cavaricci's.

6. My journalism career started in earnest in high school in Dodge City, when I won lots of awards and scholarships for reporting the story about my principal being arrested on charges of lewd and lascivious conduct in an adult theater in Wichita. Thank you, Mr. Fox, wherever you are.

I tag:

Suzanne

Lori B.

Lori L.

Kathryn

Travis

Viva La Vida

Joe and Ben do a darn decent version of "Viva La Vida," in my opinion, and I captured a bit of it on video at Oeno on Friday night. Carrie says the hotness of it is diminished by Joe's arm scratching, but I say it just adds to it.

Junk in a box

After I got Cinderella tucked in bed, I headed out to Oeno to meet up with Carrie and Brenda, who was in town from K.C. for a visit.


We ran into friends Ryan, Caroline and Linda the sexy cop.


I, um, also ran into my city councilman Paul Gray.


The three of us served as judges for Oeno's costume contest, and the competition was fierce. This "Reno 911" couple really played the part.


This couple won a prize just for the effort alone. Apparently, they are some sort of Disney World characters.


In retrospect, though, I really think we should have given this guy first prize.

Cinderella recovered

...just in time to get in a little Halloween fun.

Lexi was diagnosed with strep throat on Thursday morning, bummer timing for Halloween. She got started on antibiotics and felt okay enough on Friday afternoon to carve a Jack-O-Lantern...


And to go to the annual newsroom Trick-or-treat party.


There were fewer kids there this year, it seemed. Probably a byproduct of having fewer parents there.


Among the friends we saw were Spider Man Kyle


Baby Noah in his freshly knitted Halloween cap


Dan the Man


Rachel, the mermaid and Lexi's wardrobe consultant


Casey, the only Loving child still willing to pose for pics


Hannah and Jack the Very Serious Iron Man



Blake and Coop, who were looking tough on purpose


And Gabby girl!


When we got home, Lexi mustered the energy to go door-to-door for a few blocks in our neighborhood, and I'm not sure she's ever had so much fun.


Norton, on the other hand, I'm sure has...

B.F.F.

Lexi's class went on a trip to the pumpkin patch on Monday morning, which turned out to be a very, very bad idea. It was so freezing cold in that freezing field, some of the kids were crying in misery. Here's Lexi before the pain set in.


Here is Lexi's best friend, Emma, who was my responsibility on the trip. I love this little girl. Wish she could come live with us, but I think her mom likes her pretty well.

B.F.F. Or at least till kindergarten.