Planning our next international trip is underway. Nowhere new really, but always exciting! See if you can guess by the comments that I came across while researching hotels:

"So, if you don't like to be touched by strangers, this is not the place for you!" (referencing the dining hall at a kibbutz resort)

"If you expect a breakfast with real meat forget it! It is Kosher all the way, with fish the only meat served."

Now, I don't know about you but I never had a big meaty steak for breakfast except after a long night of drinking and we wound up at the Waffle House at 2AM. I have firm belief that Israeli breakfasts are the best in the world.

Just finished a four day weekend. We flew absolutely nowhere. I did get to see the new Drew Barrymore movie "Music & Lyrics." Sure it was a romatic comedy and yes I saw it with ninjagirl. It was rolling on the floor funny and any movie that does a Pop-Up Video reference is all right in my book.
I also finished a scarf using this fascinating method taught to me by Mz. Librarian. The scarf is about 10 feet long and it is above freezing today so I didn't even get to wear it to work! I finally got around to watching this six year old animated movie called "Spirited Away." Not sure why it took so long but it was also excellent.
Martin and I also watched "The Empire Strikes Back" on Saturday. Best Star Wars movie, hands down. I'm such a girl that I would have fast forwarded through all that Darth Vader "I'm your father" broohaha just to see more of Leia and Han.
"Amazing Race All-Stars" was last night. Run Charla Run! They are in Ecuador, where every man looks like my uncle. And very well could be. The country looked so lovely and clean that I am ready to go find my long lost relatives. Cotopaxi here we come!

Three words: Ladysmith Black Mambazo

With a winter storm warning in effect my mind harkens back to Florida. Unfortunately there is nothing I can do about that. Not that living in Florida was that great. I had a horrible turn as a sportbike girl and got my tongue pierced. Most of my friends except for maybe two (yep two) worked with me in the libary so I wasn't much for getting out and about. Good thing is I'm still friends with these two folks. For now I am slowly making more friends. Most of them are still library-related.
I have tried to get into stamping and I even joined the Sisterhood at the synagogue. I went to a lovely luncheon in the fall where the speaker talked about finances for women over 50. Didn't really apply to me. At the same lunch, one woman actually asked me why I had even bothered to join the synagogue since I didn't have kids. These are the people that give organized religion a bad name. Because apparently they have nothing to offer if I don't have rugrats. I was disheartened that someone would think that way.
Of course, the stamping group is really not that different. (To be fair I've been to two separate stamping groups and one was far more diverse than the other.) Most of my stamping experience again revolves around people asking if I have children and when I answer in the negative they really don't have anything to say to me. This all is shocking to me since most of my friends have 1 or less children and I do not consider them odd. In fact, most of my friends aren't even married. So where did all these women with 3 kids come from? I don't even want to talk about the fact that most of them don't work and then complain that their husband gives them an allowance.
I feel like I live in the Twilight Zone or that I'm surrounded by haggard looking Stepford Wives who don't know how to dress. Aren't there any simpatico people in the 'burbs? Where are the young cool couples? They can't all live in Chicago. . . can they?

Eh, so the Bears lost. I am just proud to say that I sat through the whole thing! That is a first for me. It was rather exciting to watch, I must admit. Martin and I were particularly fond of the #63 Saturday who plays for the Colts. Mainly I think Martin liked the name. My favorite part of the game, though? PRINCE That man is freakin' awesome. After wardrobe malfunctions and old farts playing the half-time show, he really showed us how it's supposed to be done. And in the rain too.
My mother points out that I should always support Peyton Manning because my aunt made us follow his father through the New Orleans Garden District one Sunday morning. My aunt, probably one of the biggest Archie Manning fans to not really like football, made us take her picture in front of his house and just as we were leaving we saw Archie and his wife drive by. They were headed to church and my mother followed them all the way to the doors of the First Presbyterian Church. Even funnier is that she met Archie's wife a couple of years ago shopping for baby clothes. So, with a history like that, it seems that I have to support Peyton in my mother's eyes.
For the most part, as a transplant to Chicago, I remain unaffiliated to any sports teams. So don't feel sorry that the Bears lost or anything like that. I just like saying "Go Bears" because it seems like everyone will answer appropriately in Chicago.

This morning it supposedly felt like -12 degrees Farenheit. I am of the opinion that if it gets below say, 25 degrees, it is no longer that important how cold it is, it's just cold.
My in-laws are visiting this weekend. I have a cold and am not the happiest of campers. They (my in-laws) don't like cinnamon in their coffee.

Lately I have been taking friends' advice and listening to their music recommendations whether they know this or not. Some interesting stylings of late include:
the Decemberists
Imogen Heap
the Mountain Goats
Feist
The Submarines

I have been running errands and every chance I get I say the requisite "Go Bears!" It is interesting in that it is not so much a yell or spirited fighting words. It's usually responded to with a bit of excitement and sense of "this is the way it's supposed to be." I love it even though I am probably the least sports-oriented person in the entire world. Go Bears!