Flashback Friday

This is a picture of the backyard of our house in Oak Grove, MO in January early 1970s. We lived out in the country and I can remember playing in the snow at that house and our dad throwing us in the snow drifts and struggling to get out. We'd go inside after playing in the snow and have hot chocolate with big marshmallows (of course) and cinnamon toast with lots of butter and sugar.

Pictionary

We've started playing Pictionary quite a bit when the family is all together. Okay, thus far we've played twice... once at Thanksgiving and once at Christmas... but since we've had the game since it first came out in the late 80s, I'd say twice in a month span versus twice in 2 decades could be considered frequent.

We have been playing with my sister and me against my mom (who is a former art teacher), my niece and nephew (who are both brilliant, if I may say so). My sister and I have yet to win. We both blame her inability to roll the dice, but it might also be our drawing talent, or lack there of. However, it may also be because we get some REALLY hard things to have to draw. For example:

Mohamed Ali - Yep, the boxer. I had one minute to come up with a picture that she would be able to guess who I was drawing. She got the drawing of the boxer, but then when I drew the butterfly and the bee I completely lost her. She did figure out that I was drawing insects... What would you have drawn?

Our other problem is that we get stuck on one concept and for me I am coming up with every single synonym for the word just not the correct word. For example:

Engrave - Marti draws a tombstone and scribbles what would be the letters on it. I'm coming up with granite, carve, inscribe, scratch, over and over again....the word "engrave" just doesn't come to my mind.

Of course some of the things we came up with and actually go were pure genius, and it is a little hard to explain here, but let's just say that some of the things I drew would never be understood if Marti and I didn't have some sort of psychic sister connection.

On the other hand, my niece and nephew truly are brilliant. Some of the stuff that they came up with was amazing. Often times Marti and I were certain that they wouldn't get a word, yet they did. Mom on the other hand....she may have been a hindrance to them as she has never been very good at stick figures and instead wants to create the wonderful works of art with accurate perspective, etc. (God bless her...).

I highly recommend that everybody play more games with the kids such as Pictionary. It challenges your mind and it gives the kids to show us adults just how really smart they are.

Classic ABBA Holiday Memories

Here are a couple of classic memories from this past holiday season:

• Playing Pictionary. My sister and I versus my mom, niece, and nephew. Yes, they spanked us twice. Turns out that I draw everything in my own image... sorta round and puffy...no stick figures here.
• Giving my dad the task of putting my Texas plates onto my car. While I assumed there would only be the need for a Philips-head screw-driver, it turns that somewhere, somehow, somebody replaced the screws on the front with little bolts so dad had to get a nice ratchet-thingy to take care of the plates.
• Going shopping in downtown Granbury with my mom and having a mother-daughter moment or two.
• Waking up most nights around 2 AM and reading for about an hour or so. I think I'm turning into my Grandmother. Sadly, this habit from the holidays has bled over into my non-vacation time and I'm finding myself awake in the wee hours with my headlamp on and a book in hand.
• Driving around on New Year's Eve in my pajamas with my friends and their baby in an effort to calm him down (he had a cold and was teething). We decided to not stay out too late since we really didn't want to be on the road when all the drunks started getting out on the road.
• Playing Wii for the first time. If you have the right attitude, it can actually be a lot of fun. Might have to invest in one of those someday....
• Getting pre-approved for a home loan. Now it is just a matter of finding the right place...
• Sewing, sewing, sewing. I worked on a couple of different quilts. I also did some repair work on a couple of sweaters by replacing buttons...as I told my mom "who knew that it was that easy to repair the clothes.... I've been just throwing them out...." (of course, this is said with complete sarcasm...I actually just wear them with missing buttons and torn hems and just look slightly unkempt.... Working on my "crazy" lady look.)

All in all, it was a quiet holiday season, but that is what I really wanted. Maybe next year I'll go and tear it up... but, I doubt it.

2010 Book 1 - The Art Thief

Somebody stopped by my office today and asked what I had done during my two weeks off. I told him that I hadn't done much of anything, aside from reading and quilting. He said that he had a friend who was a big reader and read like 200 books last year and each time she finished a book, she would post on her Facebook. Well, I've decided that I wouldn't post on Facebook when I finished one, but I would do a blog for each book.



This morning I completed The Art Thief by Noah Charney. I would give this book 3 out of 5 stars. It was a fast read and interesting. I was reinformed about the inner workings of the art world. The plot was very convoluted and yet predictable. In general, I would recommend this book if you are looking for a quickie book that you could take on a trip and not feel bad about forgetting in the hotel room or on the plane.

Was I This Annoying in Highschool?

As I sit here waiting for my order of sure-to-be greasy Chinese take out for the castle this posse of highschool wanna be punks come in. They are clingy and loud and difficult and lots and lots of PDA. Was I annoying like that? And when did I get so old that I find it annoying?