Die Hard

Lisa and the youngin's are in Chicago getting pizza, GC is at Grandma's, and I just introduced LuLu  to this great film! Her only critique was that McClane didn't "try" the phone before slamming it down - she didn't realize a landline has an audible dial tone lol

Duh

Hour four of a BBC America marathon of Kitchen Nightmares - with Lisa  

Vegetable Soup

The wind is howling and sleet is tap dancing on the windows. A good day for homemade vegetable soup Lisa- thanks!

The Christmas Paintings

We opened our presents at midnight on Christmas, because we were just arriving home from visiting my sister. I'll spare you pictures of the gifts, except for these: paintings Lisa had made for each of the kids. She snuck out to Splash Studio four times between Halloween and Christmas (once with Trudy), wanting to create something special for each of their rooms.

Daddy's Home 2 and a Wonder Woman episode

We watched the Wonder Woman ('70's) episode "Amazon Hot Wax" with Rick Springfield and Judge Reinhold!

-and-

Daddy's Home 2 -  Obviously this isn't Oscar material, but what it is is warm, and honest, and funny - basically, everything Bad Moms was not.

Manicure Day!

LuLu is giving Yaya a manicure with the set OJ bought today for Boxing Day.

Christmas at Alex Q's

After Mass #TeamSlap journeyed over to our friend's house for a get together with their family. They hosted a White Elephant gift exchange, a Bingo game for the kids, Surge, yummy turkey, and some potatoes horrifically covered in cheese. ;)

Fantastic Four

It's not as bad as people say, but it isn't very good. No one is very likeable, least of all Johnny Storm (tho Jordan did a good job with what he had), and the action at the end was abrupt and pointless.

Many Thanks to Smiley

Kudos to my son, the only child to wish me well before the surgery. He even asked to come along and wait with Lisa, which we sensibly refused. He was the only one to greet me with a hug when I came back, personally set up the cooling machine that draped my hip all night, and volunteered to help me out. He even chose to cuddle up to me on the couch. Time and again, I think that whatever bumps lay ahead, in the end he'll be a fantastic husband and father. I love you Smiley!

I'm Home

I got home from the hospital only an hour ago. What a long day. Recovery didn't go smoothly, although I remember little of it. The doc told Lisa how the surgery itself went, and her impression was not optimistic, but I'll relay more info after the follow-up. Right now I'm sore and tired and a little high, and more than a little irritated that I'm -for the moment - not very independent.

It's A Wonderful Life

 #TeamSlap just watched my favorite movie of all time at the Avalon. I made Lu wipe the tears that were streaming down my face! lol

I made French Onion soup from scratch today. I still have to perfect the recipe, but it wasn't half bad.

A Great Gift!

#TeamSlap is celebrating an early Christmas with Jennifer J. Look what she and Sydney bought me! #Creed

Here's JJ's gift to YaYa

And for Smiley,  Jenga Quake

UPDATE:  Dropped the kids off, went to the grocery store, then dropped Lisa off too so I could cruise around and listen to my new #Creed CD.

Is This Normal?

Ok....mind craft [Minecraft] /roblox moms and dads.... Do your kids watch videos of other people playing the game? I think my kids enjoy watching others play more then they actually like to play! Is this normal? Lol - Lisa

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

(3D) With Smiley  and his friend Evan. I saw Nancy Z there too!

My (spoiler-free) verdict? 1. It makes the Lucas prequels look just as bad as u remember. U suck George. 2. As a movie, it's not as good as Empire. But that's a high, high hurdle, innit? 3. Not impressed by the bad guy. Yawn. 4. Death Stars are to SW as Daleks are to DW: iconic but so overdone 5. It's a damn fine SW flick. I'd rank it only behind 4 & 5, and welcome the resurgence in the series!

 I miss my Dad this Christmas even more then last. I think it's finally set in that there will be no other Christmases' with him, and that just sucks. Enjoy your parents while you can. Love you, Mom! Xo - Lisa

Surgery

Earlier today. All dressed up and nowhere to go.

Surgery Eve

Tomorrow morning is my surgery. I've tried to get done what I could beforehand, knowing I'll be out of action awhile. I put air in all the tires, ran some errands, stocked up on household products, and made sure to walk the kids home from school, as it's the last time it'll probably happen until spring. Now all that's left is setting the alarm for the wee hours.

 I'm at Candy Cane Lane with Lisa and Junie 

Technically, the task was completed

"Put the silverware away Smiley," I said.

Goodbye dear toaster

After 19 years the 4 slice Proctor-Silex toaster  Lisa and I got as a wedding present went kaput, ruining the last good thing to come out of that day. ;) So here's the new one, complete with fancy-dancy buttons and removable crumb trays. If you bought us the original toaster, thank you.

Counting On

We're watching the new Duggar show. We've missed them. #JillAndJessa

Elf

You either love Will Ferrell or you hate him. If you hate him, you're an awful human being.

Good Job Girls!

On Saturday morning Junie's Girl Scout troop spent time at the Rescue Mission helping prepare Christmas gifts for homeless families. Afterwards the troop retired to the leader's house to decorate gingerbread cookies and dine on pizza. Proud of you kid!

Poop

From LuLu's Snapchat.

Fury

The Brad Pitt WWII flick. I enjoyed it a lot. I'm not saying it was realistic, or that the characters were good people, just that I liked the film. 

Beautiful

I did YaYa's nails - Lulu

More Nightmares

My sleep was riddled with nightmares and I woke up angry about something I no longer even remember. Gotta shake it off.

Winter by Marissa Meyer

Friday LuLu begged me to go buy her this book at Target. 

Saturday she texted me and said she was bored. Read your book, I wrote back. 

Her response: "I finished that last night😕 smh."

A Theory

I've got a theory about why sports are so popular. Yes, following a team creates a regional identity, a sense of community loyalty, and gives you something to talk about over the water cooler. But: there's also an ingrained anti-intellectualism in our culture, and sports -with its detailed stats, its research, its strategy - gives us a chance to dive into academia without sacrificing that machismo. 

The Oscar Pitorious Case

Two things the all-knowing Internet comment section fails to notice about the Oscar Pitorious case: 

1. Under their law, killing an intruder in your home, even in clear self defense, is a crime 

2. An appeals court convicted him of a higher offense than what the trial court chose. What kind of justice system can take someone that's been duly convicted, toss out the verdict, and immediately convict him of another crime without trial? #ThankfulToLiveHere