Oscar night...

Jai ho! (click here to watch)

Overheard

Sam: Grandma, let's play Fierce Dinosaurs. Ollie and me are the daddy T. Rexes, and you're the mama T. Rex. The daddies are going to go hunt for meat.

Grandma Beth: Okay ... So what does the mama T. Rex do?

Sam: You stay home and clean the house.

Question of the week #3

Two questions for this week:

1.) Did you make any New Year's resolutions or something along those lines (or in general start anything new recently)? How have they been going?

2.) What are/were your Valentine's Day weekend plans? (whether related to Valentine's Day or not)

Questions for this week #2

It's so frickin' cold here in Chicago and winter seems so endless, I thought I'd put in winter-related questions (answer any or all):

1.) Favorite way to warm up/cozy up when it's really cold.
2.) Your escaping-winter fantasy
3.) Funny/fun winter-related anecdote.

(My answers in the comments)

Grand Canyon

Karen, Diana and I arrived at the Grand Canyon a few days after a major snow storm. It was a good time to be there because there was snow on the ground and the air was clear. We stayed two days and made a point of being at the rim of the canyon to watch sunrises and sunsets. We stayed at the Katchina Lodge which is next door to the big, expensive, historic, rustic hotel the El Tovar. There was a huge Christmas tree in the El Tovar lobby and the mounted animal heads on the walls all wore Santa caps. I don't approve of mounted animal heads on the wall, but they do look festive with Santa caps.

seasons of the crib

The 2 winter scenes are from today - this morning from the sunroom while it was snowing and this evening after clearing snow. The other 2 are from this last summer and spring. Thought they would complete the seasonal set with Luca's fall shot in the logo. 1471ers

Question of the week #1

(Since my baby is actually taking a nap while not physically connected to me, I'm a little giddy with the freedom. Sorry about the multiple posts.)

Since we haven't had much traffic on here recently, how about having a question of the week every week? I like Luke's about Millerisms. I am also experiencing winter wanderlust -- feel like I should be going to the tropics somehow. Instead I am enjoying the book set in Sri Lanka that Martha gave me for Christmas and reading old travel magazines. So how about creating your own Top 5/Top 10 travel lists, on any topic you choose. Examples -- My 5 Favorite Cities, 10 Best Meals I've Had While Traveling, 5 Most Breathtaking Spots in the U.S., Top 10 Crazy People I've Met on Public Transportation While Traveling -- you get the idea. I have my own idea for a list and promise to return to post it soon!

Boys

Martha requested some photos, so I thought I'd post a couple here. The one above is from last week -- sorry the picture quality on our camera when the flash isn't in use seems to be deteriorating. The one below is from Jan. 1, so not very recent. But very sweet.

Our little stocking stuffer

Millerisms

So I came into the lab this morning and saw that the lab assistant had made a whole batch of culture media for me (as I requested) and sat it by my bench, which will be very handy today, and the phrase "awesome as a possum" jumped into my mind. I also realized that the proper extension would be 1.) "awesome as a possum, munching on a blossom." And then I started thinking about how I only ever hear this phrase at home with certain siblings, usually later at night when we're in the middle of some game and are really warmed up into the game-playing spirit. And then my thoughts expanded to try to come up with all the Millerisms that I could - those special hilarious phrases that I only ever hear (and/or utter) at 1471. Can you add to the list? Please put your favorite ones in the comments.

2.) Heep-bleepin-steep, herf-derfin-snerf, dang-gankin-stang, etc: I analyzed this and I think the formula is to take a random syllable "x" and then (consonant #1)+(x)-(consonant#2)+(x)+("in")-("s")+(consonant#3)+(x). Am I right? There are infinite varieties.

3.) "Pain, Marty?" (This could start a whole other discussion on classic Miller movies & associated quotes...)

I'll add more as I think of them...