Signs of Life

We're still alive and wreaking havoc around here--don't worry, I'll start posting stuff again soon!

Unplugged

When I've got way too much on my plate, the blog is always the first to go...I've even recently unplugged from Facebook for days at a time. Don't worry, I'll come back with something worth reading in a while. In the meantime, just keep swimming...

Paranormal Activity

I am still home and have nothing exciting to talk about, except to recall some more of Bryan's ponderings (I love my husband--he totally cracks me up).

Bryan's best friend is Brian from work (I call them "Bryan-with-a-Y" and "Brian-with-an-I"). Anytime they get together at our house in the evening, it spells nothing but trouble.

Example: I had a huge business meeting with my vice president one day--requiring me to be at work extra early. This meant Bryan had to take the kids into daycare, since they didn't open early enough in the morning. I got up that morning, noticed he wan't in bed (not unusual for him to fall asleep on the couch watching TV all night), and got myself ready for my big day at work. As I turn to leave the bathroom, Bryan comes bumbling in reeking of alcohol. He had just come inside to pee after staying up all night drinking in the driveway with Brian. So he obviously couldn't drive the kids to daycare--I had to call our friend in the next neighborhood over to come help out. Complicating matters was that our driveway was lined all the way around with empty beer bottles--lined...all...the...way...around. I don't have a picture because I was raging mad AND I didn't realize they were even there until I backed out of the driveway and ran over a bunch of them. You can't imagine the outrage after that... Those guys are lucky they are so darn cute. Or I would have KILLED THEM.

Now I realize I've written all about one shining example of Bryan-Brian mischief, and nothing about what I set about to actually write. Stay tuned for a later post about Bryan-Brian and paranormal activity.

Ponderings of Bryan

I am being held hostage at home by those germs the kids keep bringing in. We've survived the flu, stomach bug, etc.--and I guess it's finally my turn to get some of that nastiness. While I sit here an feel sorry for myself, I figured I could at least post something so you guys know I'm still alive. Here's a little conversation Bryan started on the way home from work the other day:

B: If we were in a plane crash stranded at the top of a snowy mountain and were dying of starvation, would you eat me if I was dead?

J: What?!

B: I mean, would you rather eat me or a stranger?

J: What brought this up?!

B: Think of the health reasons. I'd rather eat someone I know because I'd have the knowledge of how that person ate and took care of herself. Of course, it would be traumatic.

J: There's no way I could eat a person--whether I knew them or not.

B: Really? I think I would be a prime choice of meat. Think of my belly and my thighs--they'd be perfectly marbled with fat. I bet on planet Marklar I would be a very expensive cut of meat.

J: Well, no one would want to eat me. I'm thin and gangly--I'd be gamey and chewy.

B: If I had to eat someone, it would be you--just because of the health reasons. I wouldn't want to eat a drug addict or a bum--yuck! Maybe you should pose this question on your blog--would you rather eat someone you know, or a total stranger?

J: I don't have enough people reading my blog to get a good population of answers.

So...Bryan poses the question to my 5 readers. What do you think?

Short Hiatus

Pardon our absence--we've been held hostage by various germs in the last few weeks, ranging from stomach bug to strep throat and all kinds of nasty colds, etc. The only good part of this is that in searching for a good germy picture, I stumbled on a new blog to follow: Nucking Futs Mama.

Cub Scouts Derby Race 2011

This year was the boys' first Derby Car Race--and we are so proud of them! They picked out what they wanted their cars to look like from the internet, and we cut them roughly into those shapes for them. They did all the final sanding, painting, and decal applications.



They even showed us where to put their weights. Among all the work, we forgot to take pictures of them with their cars (oops)--but we managed to get the cars by themselves.

Brandon's car:

Tyler's car:

#18 and #20 among the contenders:

We didn't come home with any trophies, but overall the boys placed high in speed--very good for their first try! Can't wait for next year!

My Retort

And my reply to my dear hubby's ego: (in case you missed it, it's here and here.

Can you count them all? I count ELEVEN.

I Know, I'm Awesome

Some More Stuff from Our Mouths...and Our Relatives' Mouths

Things that came out of our mouths, or from our immediate relatives' mouths, over the holidays:

• Eat for two, fart for two.
• I'm a cowlick reader.
• I'm pretty sure Dorsey doesn't want my nose hairs on her grave.
• No, I'm pretty sure Dorsey doesn't want her grand-daughter to have nose hairs.
• It's not Christmas without Granny threatening to beat me over the head with a bean spoon.
• I'm gonna park as close to that f-ing cow as I can.
• You're thinking outside the box, Jen. That's not authorized in the Wrenn family.
• The words "fart" and "lust" shouldn't ever be used in the same sentence.
  
  

Merry Christmas to MEEEE!!!

Here is this year's most awesome present to me, from me. The funny thing is that Jen was completely against it, but once again, I won and now she loves it and can't live without it. When will she learn that I'm always right??

Living room before my intervention (note that it looks boring and average to any male with high taste in electronics and gadgets):

Yes, that is from 2009 but it looks THE SAME. I looked at that room and thought, "What would Tim the Toolman Taylor do?"

VOILA!!! Sophisticated, tasteful living room after my masterpiece is completed:

Make no mistake--this image does no justice for the quality of my new projector. It is every bit as good as watching Bluray on the TV. Only much, much bigger. Add in my awesome surround sound and now we've got one hell of a home theater!

And don't listen to Jen (aka crazy wife):

Our 59" plasma TV was just way too small for my Bluray movies and Playstation games. She is always yapping on and on about how she misses Texas and how everything is bigger and better there...who's talkin' now???

White Christmas

Yeah, I know everyone else in the world has already packed up their Christmas decorations and moved on to the next holiday--but we got our stuff out late and we're gonna leave it up a while to sit back and enjoy. And I have some posts to catch up on, anyway.

So, we finally had a white Christmas at our house. And it was a BIG white Christmas--over 13 inches of snow! Great for building forts, huge snowmen, and some sledding.

Except that we weren't here for it. We were somewhere where there is always snow on the ground this time of year, so I shouldn't care. Except this year there was hardly any snow! We were in the Rocky Mountains in Northern New Mexico, where I grew up skiing on the slopes of Angel Fire, Taos, Sipapu, and Red River. Luckily, the slopes had enough snow for the older boys to get on skis for the first time (and for Mommy to show Daddy who's the boss on skis. Again.)

Brandon and Tyler were in all-day ski school the first day, and loved it so much that they went again all day the next day! Taking after my sister and I at that age--the boys were on the leading edge of uncontrolled chaos on the bunny slopes. They've learned to somewhat veer around people as they go straight down the mountain, falling on their butts to slow down and eventually crashing to a stop. I couldn't be more proud of them. We didn't get much video of it, but we got a good family picture:

Nick and was content to stay at the cabin and sled with his cousin Ty:

Make your own photo slideshow

Needless to say, we had a ball! We've got the skiing bug, so it's time to start looking around here for some decent slopes for the kids to keep practicing on.