iPod crazed

My parents have officially welcomed me into the iPod world. For Christmas, they gave me a 30 gig, black iPod. I love it. I haven't had much free time to download CDs or fill it with the latest from iTunes, but I had some songs and playlists on my computer. (I was already using iTunes to buy songs here and there.)

Mostly I use it when I'm on the treadmill or listen while I read a book. Soon, I'll be learning how to play it through my auxiliary hookup in the Pilot. My dad loaned me his book, "The iPod Book: Doing Cool Stuff with the iPod and the iTunes Store," which is so easy to read and has great tidbits of information.

My dad is the resident iPod nut in our family. He got one a year or two ago and is never seen without it. Well, he may not take it to business meetings. But everywhere else. Just ask my mom.

Favorite new books

Brendan and Ryan received several new books for Christmas. Two have emerged as favorites:

Edwina, the Dinosaur who didn't know she was extinct, by Mo Willems: We've been huge Mo fans since our good friend Tyra sent us a pidgeon book a couple of years ago. This is another good one, and both the pidgeon and Knufflebunny make guest appearances (as usual). Brendan has enjoyed reading it a couple of times each day and surely spends his time thinking about what "extinct" means.

Here Come the Backyardigans, by Janice Burgess: Both boys truly enjoy this show, which focuses on childrens' creativity at its best as they play outside. Ryan loves this book, which has textured pictures on each page to touch and holes to explore. If you have a little Backyardigans fan around the house, this is a sure hit.

Happy holidays

You'd think I've been busy for a week since I haven't blogged lately. Truth is, I have simply been enjoying time with my boys, parents, and away from work. After all, this was my last week off before the baby arrives in late April!

Christmas was wonderful. Having my parents here made it more special for me and the children. (I'm sure hubbie enjoyed it, too!) They arrived Christmas Eve after a very long drive. Grammy was promptly put to work. Her mission: bake cookies with Brendan. They made delicious snowflake, Christmas tree, and reindeer sugar cookies.

That evening, the boys opened their early Christmas gift -- matching holiday PJs. This was a tradition in my home. We'd beg my parents to open a gift early, and usually the gift was matching PJs.



Christmas morning, we were overwhelmed with the wonderful and thoughtful gifts from one another and family. Ryan wasn't too interested in his gifts, but happily explored Brendan's. Note to self: Do not spend hours wrapping gifts for a 17-month old! After opening gifts, we gobbled down Papacakes (pancakes) and later enjoyed a fabulous Christmas dinner.

The rest of the week was relaxing and enjoyable. Unfortunately, the work week resumes for me tomorrow. We were fortunate to enjoy some special moments last week, though.

• Thursday, the boys stayed home with a sitter while Ken and I treated my parents to an anniversary dinner. They are celebrating 38 years!
• My mom and I got away for a few hours of shopping. Need I say more?
• Ryan quickly grew accustomed to asking Grammy and Papa to read to him ... over and over and over. Thanks, Aunt Jenn, for the cool Backyardigan books.
• The boys loved playing in the new playroom. Perhaps the newness will wear off and the excitement will fade, but they seem to enjoy having another place to play.
• Friday night, Ken and I snuck away for a night on the town. Well, actually, a night in a hotel. We stayed at the Omni in downtown Detroit. Usually, we'd seize such an opportunity to explore the town. Not tonight. We enjoyed dinner at the hotel, strawberries and champagne (just a sip for me!), then sleeping in. The night was truly about relaxing for us.
• Sunday night we enjoyed a nice dinner with my parents at home for New Year's Eve. Then we visited our friends Paulette and Joe for a small party. It was a great time.

Well, I could go on, but I know you all must have other things to do! Besides, my time is running out. Hope your holidays were just as wonderful.

Christmas sing-a-long

Brendan sang in his first Christmas recital yesterday afternoon at KidSpace. He's been proudly practicing his songs, which included his favorites "Santa Claus is coming to town," "Rudolph the red-nosed Reindeer," and "Jingle Bells," for a few weeks now. I love listening to him sing without any fear of embarrassment, which is definitely how I would sing even "Happy Birthday" these days!

The children were wonderful and sang several songs beautifully. Brendan eagerly watched for our response at the end of each song. (Ryan was less interested in it all.)

I did manage one photo from the recital!

I wish I had photos to share, but it was difficult to get good shots with the room setup. Some day, when we have a digital camcorder, we'll be able to share more of these moments that aren't the same in still photography.

Go Frogs!!

The Horned Frogs were smokin' hot in Tuesday's Poinsettia Bowl against Northern Illinois. The defense was awesome. Those guys were so fast and had no mercy on the Huskies. We loved watching! Even the offense, which always makes me nervous, turned in a good performance.

Check out these highlights from ESPN.

What to look forward to next season: the same defense, which is only graduating two seniors.

Other reasons why I was proud of my school while watching the game:

• LaDainian Tomlinson, who was interviewed just before halftime. He looked good, spoke intelligently. Thankfully, he wasn't sporting the gotee (is that what you call that thing) that his teammate and former NIU running back Michael Turner had. For those who didn't know, LT encouraged TCU alums who couldn't attend the bowl to buy tickets and donate them to his charity, which would then allow underprivileged children a chance to attend the game.
• Quarterback Jeff Ballard and offensive tackle Herb Taylor, graduating seniors. It was great to see they were awarded their degrees in a ceremony in San Diego because they missed the graduation ceremony in Fort Worth. Hey, not all jocks are idiots and some schools actually graduate athletes.
• Do I really need a reason?

Go FROGS!

Santa and straight hair

All I want for Christmas is straight hair. OK, at one point in my life, I'm sure I would have really told Santa that one wish. Nowadays, I don't mind the curls so much.

Still, when I went to get my haircut Saturday, my stylist convinced me to straighten my hair. She almost always asks me if she can, and usually I say no for lack of anywhere to go after the appointment. But since we had a night out with friends planned, I thought it would be fun.

So for those of you who have only known me with curly hair and for my family who surely remembers life before that, here's Laura with straight hair:

It's quite a bit longer when it's straight! Ken was a little freaked out by it, and the boys couldn't stop touching my hair that night and the next day. Brendan was sweetest of all when he said, "It looks beautiful." Nevertheless, he wanted to know when the curls would return.

And onto other Santa wishes ... Brendan has visited Santa three times in the past two weeks. The latest visit was in our neighborhood Sunday. Santa brought him the Dinoco Lightning McQueen (from Cars) and brought Ryan the car Hamm from the movie. (You have to think back to the credits to remember who Hamm is.) Both were thrilled, though Ryan missed out on the visit because he was napping.

Blogger is misbehaving at the moment. I'll post pictures from our Santa visits soon!

Frogs kick off bowl season

The next couple of weeks are bittersweet in college football. It's post-season time, where the best of the best battle it out in bowls all across the country. Yet it also means college football is ending yet another season. March Madness is exciting and all, but that's about all we look forward to until August.

Yes, bowl season has lost some of its luster now that bowl names change yearly to accommodate sponsors and 64 teams get invites. Very little is sacred these days. Still, we cheer on our teams because this is what it is all about (or so they say).

The Horned Frogs (10-2) will play Northern Illinois (7-5) in the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia bowl on Tuesday. The Huskies feature the nation's leading rusher, Garrett Wolfe. However, TCU features the nation's fourth-ranked defense and hasn't allowed a 100-yard rusher all season.

Game time: 8 p.m. (7 p.m. for the central zone folks)
TV: ESPN2

GO FROGS!!!

Where has the last week gone?

Can anyone tell me what's happened to the time? Oh my! In the interest of saving some, here's the latest from the Healy house.

• We've all been battling a vicious, nasty stomach virus since Ryan became sick at school last Tuesday. It coincided with Ken's trip to Atlanta, so that meant 1) I had to take care of two sick children by myself for 2 1/2 days and 2) Ken got sick in the hotel and had to fly home feeling miserable. Thankfully, I got the mildest case, which is good because I'm not sure I would have survived otherwise.
• The Polar Express, which is a wonderful book and a holiday movie, is much too intense for youngsters. We tried watching it with Brendan on Saturday night, and though he watched, he looked scared at times. Fifteen minutes into it, we turned it off. We'll try again in two years.
• Our Christmas shopping is almost complete! I tried very hard this year to make lists, stick to them, and shop early.
• Having said that, I will never again shop at Toys R Us. I always go with high hopes, and I leave disappointed. For such a huge toy store, they certainly don't carry much that is unique. It's all big brand-name toys, and I challenge anyone who says those are the best toys available. More importantly, though, I get overwhelmed just as easily as any child. Seeing all of the toys, it's so easy to say, "Oh, the boys must have this!" Seriously, how many cars/trucks/planes on wheels do these kids need?
• Last weekend we did manage to attend Ken's office children's Christmas party. What a hit. Brendan went right up and sat on Santa's lap when Santa called his name. Then he politely answered Santa's questions and received his gift. He loved getting Wingo, from the movie Cars, though he really wanted the "little" Wingo. I'm sure Santa will be back. Ryan was less enthusiastic, as most children his age were, but he was happy to get his MegaBlocks helicopter.
• For those of you who hear me complain about Michigan winters, you'll be happy to hear it is very mild here. We're talking a high of 50 nearly every day for the past week. The sun is even making appearances. And we have only had about three inches of snow. I'll take a nice snowfall on Christmas Eve or Day, but then the 50-degree weather is welcome to stay!
• So with a little more than week until Christmas, I still have so much to do: finish shopping for and decorating the playroom, clean out the rest of the basement and give many items to charity, shop for stocking stuffers, plan our holiday meals, and prepare the house for my parents' arrival on Christmas Eve. Oh, yes, and we'll need to wrap some presents!
• Before that craziness begins, though, we're going out for an adults-only dinner tomorrow night with our friends at Bravo. This is becoming our little holiday tradition with our other friends displaced to Michigan. Looking forward to it!

Weird things about me

OK, I'm succumbing to peer pressure. Stacey tagged me, and I see that Tyra already responded. So, here are six weird things about me ...

1. Give or take, I'm six feet tall. I don't happen to think that's weird at all, but judging from the reactions I get constantly, it must be weird. Or unusual. Or something like that. (For the record, I've never had issues with being tall. However, I do have issues with clothes for tall women. More stores are offering longer inseams, in particular J Crew and Gap. But often these stores don't offer every style in tall sizes. Also, stores that claim to cater to tall women, such as Tall Girl, assume you're either a size 8 or 10 just because you're tall and that you have no interest in current fashions. It's worse when you're pregnant!)
   
2. When I'm pregnant (which I am now), my hands develop a mild case of carpal tunnel syndrome. My wrists hurt when I work at the computer. Now, my left thumb is almost always numb, which means my fingers will soon follow.
   
3. When I dress to run, I always tie my shoes twice. First, I tie them after I put them on. Then just before I get on the treadmill, which is exactly a 30-second walk from my bedroom, I tie them again. I do the same thing when I go outside to run. It's an odd quirk that's developed since living in Michigan.
   
4. I have weird nicknames for my children, such as "Bubby," "Booger Bear," and "Stinker." What in the world is endearing about Booger Bear? I have no idea, and I have no idea what possessed me to say it.
   
5. My hubbie says I always sniff my food before I eat it. If I really do, I don't notice this. That said, this morning I made him smell the milk to see if it was sour. I cannot stand a whiff of sour milk, and once I smell even a hint of it, my morning bowl of cereal is ruined (even if it has good milk). And I hate when my breakfast is ruined.
   
   *** Backing up to #3, it just dawned on me that I used to have similar quirks while swimming. I would put on my cap, adjust it a couple of times, then take my goggles off and on a couple of times before my race. Hmmm ...
   
6. You know those velour-like blankets that most mid-level motels have? I can't stand to touch them with my fingertips. It drives me crazy, especially if I have recently broken a fingernail. My roommates used to make fun of me at swim meets.

I have no one to tag! My hip blogging friends have already played the game. If you're reading along and you do blog but haven't told me, let me know and you'll be it!

Voting fun

Interested in how the coaches voted in the USA Today college football poll? You may be if you're at all following the "Who's No. 2?" debate.

USA Today has a cool little graphic online that lets you see how the votes came out. OK, so for me, this was about seeing who voted TCU back into the Top 25.

Kudos to Rocky Long of New Mexico, who believes the Frogs should be 18th. You gotta love Texas Tech coach Mike Leach, who was one of only two coaches who ranked TCU higher than Texas A&M. Dennis Francione, who gets no love in our household, put the Frogs at 25. Bob Stoops, who we do love, didn't put the Frogs in at all. Now, come on, Bobby. Throw some love to the local guys, OK?