Hum Drum

So I'm having some difficulty coming up with a blog topic this week. Mid-winter blahs, I guess. Not much going on. Even with the weather. Remember, how last week we were under a blizzard warning? It passed us by. We got some snow but not nearly as much as they were predicting. Wendy and I stayed home from work anyway. From what I hear, most of our colleagues were no-shows as well.

The weather not being a good blog topic, I pondered what else has happened this week. Wendy and I did kind of convert a spare bedroom into a nursery. It's a spare-looking nursery right now--a Pack 'n Play, LaZ-Boy recliner and my electric piano is pretty much it. I even dug through my music collection for some kiddie tunes. Think it's important that our new grandson gets exposed to musical instruments, especially since music runs in my family. Check out this photo that my brother-in-law posted on his Facebook:



That picture of me, my brother, my dad and my uncles was taken 23 years ago at my brother-in-law and sister's reception. Wow, no grey hair on any of us!

We did visit our grandson again this past week, but he's still in the vegetable stage. That's entertaining to new grandparents like us but probably not to the public at large. Still, here's a new photo of him, eyes open now.



Since he's nursing, it's not likely we'll be baby-sitting anytime soon. A co-worker related to me an amusing story involving her father's baby-sitting exploits one night. Her youngest stayed with his granddad for a few hours while mom took her older siblings to a circus.

She was nursing her baby as well and made sure he was well fed before dropping him off, but left a can of concentrated formula with her dad "just in case." And as the night unfolded, sure enough, junior got hungry. But her dad being a typical guy, no need to read instructions on the can. Just open and serve. So baby got unmixed, concentrated formula that night. Not quite like what mama makes, I'm sure.

What else is new here? I've been trying to shed a few pounds that have stubbornly dogged me since the holidays. To that end I pulled out our "Sweatin to the Oldies" VCR tape and did aerobics along with Richard Simmons. Is he still around? I've also been keeping a dietary diary, tracking roughly how many calories I consume and making sure it's not too many. I overheard somebody say that a good weight loss plan involves photographing each meal before eating. Hmmmm, I can't see doing that.

Wendy and I did see a fairly good movie yesterday--Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs, about a scientist who produces a machine that can produce precipitation of the food variety. Just not the variety of food I should be eating--vegetables and tofu--but instead steaks, cheeseburgers, pasta, ice cream, etc. Probably not the movie I should be watching when I'm a a little hungry. I enjoyed it nevertheless.

I did spend part of the weekend collating all my sales receipts from the past year, figuring that since we bought a car and all, we probably paid gazillions in sales taxes. So maybe I would have lots to itemize on my 1040 and could get a big refund this year. Alas, I discovered that if I claimed the sales taxes I paid last year, I couldn't itemize my state income tax as well. What?? When did this change happen? So much for itemizing my deductions.

*Sigh* I think I need another snow day. Last week needs a re-do.