it's a marshmallow world

last night some time after seven the snow started sticking to the ground... this morning everything was covered. this is the first real snow of the season and so we must celebrate with hot chocolate and a version of It's A Marshmallow World by Los Straitjackets. when i was 15 or so my younger sister sang It's A Marshmallow World in her girls' chorus class. it's a pretty goofy song but i can't help but sing it when is snows and it looks like marshmallows.

it's a marshmallow world in the winter,
when the snow comes to cover the ground.
it's the time for play, it's a whipped cream day,
i wait for it the whole year round!

those are marshmallow clouds being friendly,
in the arms of the evergreen trees;
and the sun is red like a pumpkin head,
it's shining so your nose won't freeze!

the world is your snowball, see how it grows,
that's how it goes, whenever it snows.
the world is your snowball just for a song,
get out and roll it along!

it's a yum-yummy world made for sweethearts,
take a walk with your favorite girl*
it's a sugar date, so what if spring is late,
in winter it's a marshmallow world!

*the girls chorus said 'guy' so that's how i remember it

holiday music reform

it's not like any of us really need to comment on the holiday music ambush that is taking place, but after the bombardment i sat through at a nice Italian restaurant yesterday i cannot help myself. i know it's customary to take to the stores the day after Thanksgiving in order to get the holiday deals and i know that holiday deals must be accompanied by holiday tunes. but why oh, why for the next four weeks does all other music have to be placed behind closed doors and swept under rugs? people don't replace all of their other non-holiday stuff with mistletoe and cinnamon scented candles. no one i know towels off after a shower with a tree skirt or replaces Lost with Mr. Kruger's Christmas. so why must we jam in yet another rendition of Let It Snow where a perfectly nice, equally as pleasing non-holiday song should go?

now don't get me wrong, i have almost seven and a half hours of holiday music on my computer... i'm no Scrooge. alls i'm saying is, for the same reason you're not pouring egg nog on your Cherrios every morning this month, let's mix in a few songs that are fine and good the rest of the year into our holiday audio experience. i bet there would be less fighting and more Christmas cheer if we did.

full, adj. 1. completely filled

with Thanksgiving just around the corner i think we should take some time to reflect on the relative term 'full'. in the olden days full meant what we would now describe as satiated. these days full really means 'no more food please' or 'stuffed to the brim' or 'i'm in pain from eating too much'*... something along those lines.

waiter: 'so did you save room for dessert?'
you: 'oh, no thanks...' (bummed out shake of the head) 'i'm full!'

but even with our updated definition of full, Thanksgiving has a way of making the term even more slippery than ever before. first of all, almost everything at Thanksgiving dinner is delicious. i mean, heck! the holiday is all about eating dinner. secondly, you can always manage to eat more mashed potatoes. they are way too good. the 'full' light simply does not ding on. finally, Thanksgiving is as much about pie as it is about turkey and stuffing and when are you ever too full for pie? in fifth grade we would sing this song that went,'too full, too full for broccoli. but i still have room for some pie.' see, even kids songs understand this complex contradiction between gut and mind.

then why am i feeling a bit glum? well eating for two isn't what it seems. you get full (see second definition above) much quicker than normal and to add insult to injury - or maybe it's the other way around in this case - being full is really uncomfortable... more so than with a regular, non-inhabited belly. and it lasts.

so this year my Thanksgiving mindset will have to be different. i'm going to have to cut out the dishes that don't have a five-star rating. i'm going to have to use a small plate (so i can still go back for seconds). and i'm going to have to let full be full.

*my friend's dad once sprained his stomach from too much food. that's right, sprained... doctor's diagnosis.

Boris is a girl!

the ultrasound tech said she was 85% sure it was a GIRL and apparently those are pretty good odds! so baby girl it is! needless to say we're thrilled and while we didn't ever have a definite feeling, we did have some pretty strong girl vibes. :) now the challenge will be to find at least a few baby girl clothes that aren't pink. ha!

delightful drink

baby, it's cold outside. come on in and have something to warm you up... here is the recipe for one of my all-time favorite cold-season drinks (that i invented sometime back in the 90s):

1. get your best mug.
2. add a little less than the regular amount of instant hot chocolate to half a mug of hot water.
3. stir in just a smidge of Pero (Postum works too but i think Pero is better).
4. stir in enough milk to almost fill the mug.
5. stir in a bit of egg nog.
6. heat a few more seconds in the microwave if it's not warm enough.

mmmmmm... delightful.

p.s. my sister used to make fun of the original name of the drink (mocha) so i changed it to delightful drink. can't make fun of that one, eh Linds?