Froggy Bottom Lounge: Winter is Here.
Make yourself at home. Wrap Presents. Bake Cookies. Warm up from skating.
Newcomers and Lurkers are welcome!.
Just jump right in and introduce yourself.
Just jump right in and introduce yourself.
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Holiday Egg Nog in the Refrigerator; Snacks are available. Help yourselves!
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Please recommend (and unrecommend the Cafe/Lounge from earlier)
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Hey! That 4 looks good on you!
Yeah, I’m hosting.
The above painting is Love of Winter, painted in 1914 by George Wesley Bellows. It hangs in The Art Institute of Chicago.
I thought it might get those of us who DON’T have snow, in the mood.
.
In a December in which bumblebees, butterflies and even swallows have been on the wing in Britain, European brown bears have been lumbering through the forests of Spain’s Cantabrian mountains, when normally they would already be in their long, annual sleep.
«« click on pic to enlargeA horse rests on a snow-covered hill in Pajares, in the northern Spanish region of Asturias. Northern Spain was hit by freezing weather, with strong winds, heavy rain and snowfalls. Reuters/Eloy Alonso"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."That’s a cool picture. You’d think the snow would be too cold for the horse to lay in.
Poor mother bears have to work year round now. Thank you global warming.
I noticed early this morning while I was trying NOT to watch HJ do her business that the forsythia is starting to bloom. Dang, global warming sure is pretty in its early stages.
Forsythia in December. Something is very wrong.
Can HJ not go if you are watching?
No, it’s just a little unappetizing before I’ve had coffee.
i’m sure that announcement was the thrill of everyone’s saturday.
You’re a step ahead of me then.
of Too Much Information, brought to you by the Froggybottom Cafe.
I just talked to my cousin in Chicago. She was supposed to go to Colorado for Christmas to be with her sister’s family but … her flight was cancelled due to the snowstorm and the soonest they can get her out there is Wednesday! So I told her to come to St. Louis and stay with me. Guess I need to find the guest room sheets.
Crap. Now ‘meet me in st. louie’ will be stuck in my head all day. Hopefully it will replace ‘it’s the most wonderful time of the year’ and not join it in an endless loop.
seems to get stuck in my head (pa rum pum pum pum).
maybe I’ll watch that movie this afternoon. I love little Margaret O’Brien crying and bashing in the heads of the snowmen.
when I start to describe the detail washing of various of my saggy body parts …. close your eyes if you don’t want to know ….
ha, ha. just kidding
I hope this doesn’t involve a turkey baster.
So you noticed the baster in the shower when you were here?
I won’t tell. Even though you gave some lame excuse for why it was there.
since jim’s the one that uses it.
wrapping?
jim’s not home and i’m not doing anything till he is
these are all gifts for HIS family? I assume? 🙂
I guess I lack the appropriate Xmas spirit — but then again that seems fair to me.
I was down organizing all my Christmas wrapping stuff instead of just stuffing it into the cupboards like I usually do.
Seems fair to me.
I finished the omnivore’s dilemma.
will you ever eat again?
It got less depressing as it went on — and I’ll bet you’d really enjoy the part on killing chickens at an organic farm.
CG hasn’t mentioned those chickens in ages. Wonder if they’re still alive or if she ate them for Sunday dinner. 🙂
LOL No I blew them all up on my computer.
perhaps you are starting to soften toward them.
Wondering isn’t the same as worrying.
Howdy Folks. All this talk about snow made me create a new design fro next Holiday season that isn’t even at my site yet. LOL
Nice. No hope of snow here. The sky is blue now.
Well we have clouds and some rain and I am hoping it stays rain and not snow or sleet. LOL
Oh, I hope so too. Sleet isn’t good.
I’m feeling very lazy right now and don’t feel like doing anything. I don’t even feel like taking a nap.
I was considering napping with Sniff on the couch but as soon as both of us got comfortable, Giddy wanted out and as soon as we both got comfortable again, she wanted in.
I’ve been really tired all week. Last night I went to bed about eleven — right after you left in fact. I didn’t wake up until 8. And I was still tired so I rolled over and slept until 10:30!!! I haven’t done that in years. Sometimes I want to, but as I’ve gotten older I usually can’t fall back asleep.
So I’m not really tired right now. Just feeling lazy.
I think it’s the holiday season — it’s just so loaded with stress that people find it really hard to relax.
Maybe. If the holidays didn’t coincide with the end of the calendar year it would make it a lot easier. All the things clients want/need to get done by the end of the year — that’s enough stress. Add all the short weeks to do it, and you have lots of stress.
I think it the ‘familiness’ that causes the stress, not simply the fact that there are holidays or the timing of the holidays. There’s no real stress at Easter because there’s no real family traditions attached to it. OTOH, I see the same kind of stress around Passover seders.
I don’t know. Familiness doesn’t stress me. Clients do.
The only time I’ve ever been stressed around Easter was when it fell at the end of a calendar quarter and I had a huge closing that HAD to happen and the Canadian bank screwed up and couldn’t fund and then informed us that Banks are CLOSED in Canada on Good Friday.
For me, the stress comes from work and trying to get too much done in too short a time that’s made even shorter because there are a lot of days off in there. Last year I took off the week after Christmas and it was wonderful. But I had no vacation left this year. And I can’t do it every year anyway.
I refuse to let work or clients stress me out — though I certainly used to. Of course, my situation is a bit different since I have to provide detailed quotes for the work I do so I’m declaring upfront exactly what I’m going to do and in what amount of time and what I had to learn to do was to not be pushed into making unrealistic quotes and agreeing to scope creep.
yeah, our situations are different.
But, I don’t have to work until Tuesday so let’s not talk about it anymore 🙂
I found a shoe blog site. I wonder if Izzy knows about it.
now there’s an absolute stopper for a conversation with me. 🙂
We could talk about future vacations instead. Do you have a big trip planned for next year (damn, next year is 8 days away)?
Maybe Denmark or Sweden in May. Just a thought. You still thinking Oregon?
I can see you walking the pack in those Andi. LOL
That is why I ignore the holidays as much as possible and refuse to get caught up in all the stress.
and don’t go anywhere near your family.
see I am smart. LOL
wonderfully walkable city
didn’t like sweden but I wasn’t in a very appealing part. Worst food I’ve ever had anywhere.
we haven’t gotten very serious about summer yet — we’re still working on spring.
i suppose if we’re going to continue to talk w
were you kidnapped in mid-word?
I’ve never been to either place. My sister has to go to Copenhagen for something in May so I was thinking of flying over to meet her and then we’d go on to whereever we’re going. I’d like to go to Norway.
i started to put that comment to the right and say we had to go left and then decided in mid-sentence to just go left but left the sentence in.
Anyway, I highly recommend copenhagen — lots to see and wonderful food (a moment of reverent silence for the hazelnut tortes).
Anybody home? 🙂
everybody’s home.
how many bodies are there at your home?
Hi Andi, only 5 at the moment, but there’s another 7 out at the farm house and 5 over at my sisters. Everybody else starts pouring in tomorrow.
I’ve been out at the farm house most of the day and I took my camera to take picutres of the inside, but forgot the card in the computer. I’ll try again tomorrow.
I’m really looking forward to the guided tour post.
If I can ever remember to keep the card in the camera, ya got it.
as opposed to blogging at a coffee shop. Where are you?
You can’t be talking to me. I’ve never been to a coffee shop. 🙂
I don’t know why I left the house today. I turn on the tv and I’ve already missed a half hour of the history of cranberrys.
I’m sure.
Is that the band The Cranberrys or the fruit?
The fruit.
of cranberries would not be possible if mass sugar production was not possible. Otherwise who would eat them?
Yep I sort of saw that. I was reading earlier about your cousin in Chicago. Is she coming down for the holiday? That would be nice.
but I told her she shouldn’t spend Christmas alone. So she’s going to drive down Christmas morning (because the traffic out of Chicago will be better than tomorrow) and probably stay until Thursday.
Of course I’ll be at work Tuesday and Wednesday.
So she’ll have a chance to snoop through your medicine chest while you’re gone.
2 minutes. Then what will she do?
Snoop through your desk drawers and your closet. Then try on all of your clothes and imitate you in the mirror. Then answer your phone and pretend to be you.
I’m ok with that 🙂
While on the phone she’ll make a date with that guy you’ve been trying to avoid who chews with his mouth open and has massive amounts of black chest hair.
some sort of subconscious indication of how you feel about your cousins?
Guess what? As big a nuclear family as I have I only have a few cousins and I don’t know them.
and I like almost all of them. This one is practically a sister though. We grew up together. Went to high school together. She and my sister in Chicago spend most weekends together.
No one does. I’m safe.
What about the guy who always stares at your chest while you’re talking and uses lines like ‘are you a mirror, cause I can see myself in your pants’.
Even he realized I’m a cold hearted bitch and I wasn’t worth it.
Are you kidding. She’ll probably go straight for the basement.
worries me. There’s an intricate set of locks …
LOL. I would take down any phone number for grocery delivery off the fridge before she got there.
That’s good. One of my cousins we never see said he would be here this year also.
They bounce and it’s fun to watch the cats chase them. That’s reason enough for me to buy a couple of bags each year.
I tried that with Cat, but the cans bounced off her. She didn’t like it.
Ouch. 🙂
Maybe if I could ever get Cat used to catnip she would enjoy it. 😉
Did you ever try fresh catnip?
Yeah, but I didn’t like it. 😛
I don’t even know what fresh catnip looks like.
It’s a plant that sort of looks like mint. I used to have a big patch of it in my yard and it was always smooshed from cats rolling around joyously on it.
I’ll look it up, if it can grow there then I sure it can grow here.
You know after grocery shopping until midnight last night, I forgot one the biggest things. We orderd two cakes from the home town bakery and I had to pick them up by 2:00 pm yesterday. I forgot. 🙁
Do you think they gave them away? I’m surprised they didn’t call you.
These cakes are made to die for. They sell out every year and if you don’t get yours you’ve lost it. Although I have to go down when they reopen and apologize for forgetting to pick them up and will offer to pay for them anyway. These are real good people and FMom has known them for years.
There’s always Sara Lee or Mrs. Smith.
Won’t work with my family. My oldest brother and s-i-l say they know a place they could pick a couple up, but it won’t be the same. All day Xmas I’ll be hanging my head in shame. I forgot the cake. 🙂
What is bouncing that the cat’s chase?
fresh cranberries.
Just making sure we didn’t need to stock up on peroxide and bands aids. LOL
Not with my cats. I think they’re both too lazy to do anything, but eat and sleep. Hey, I’ve taught them well. 🙂
I’ve heard many good things about it. The trip isn’t set in stone so I haven’t given it much thought. Earlier I was thinking about Portugal in March — again, my sister had to go to Lisbon and we talked about me flying over and staying a week. But now I have to go to a seminar in DC that week so it won’t work.
This was my favorite place.
did you walk to the top?
It doesn’t look like stairs, it looks like a ramp?
Yes, it’s a ramp; apparently they didn’t have the engineering to do stairs that high.
The view from the top is fantastic.
I heard this on Wait Wait, Don’t Tell Me, today:
Why do Scotsmen wear kilts?
why?
Cause wool shorts itch. LOL
Because a zipper would scare the sheep.
Leave the bad jokes behind and come to the Holiday Happy Hour