Too Cold

1. Weird week. We had Pepper the pup through Saturday night, but my cousin got sick and went home early, taking her dog with her. Alex and Miranda, who had been promised a dog through Tuesday, were disappointed. But it was a good look at how the kids behaved with a dog in the house. Alex was fine, Miranda had to be watched to be sure she was allowing Pepper to be undisturbed when the dog was done playing. That's probably just a case of maturity. But I am still hesitant to have a dog that could be carried around by my kids; I would feel safer with another hound that outweighed them.

2. School started up again on Wednesday and Miranda was thrilled to go back since she missed most of the last week in December but Alex was irate and has been torturing his teaching team since. When he came home from school yesterday, I announced I was taking his crayons (the ones he has peeled and sorted from the huge pile of crayons we've accumulated in the last few years; Miranda isn't allowed to touch them; he carries them around in a plastic box that he stole from my mother) for the night and he could earn them back by being good at school on Friday. And if he wasn't, I would take the birds for the weekend.

You remember his birds, his Angry Birds Plush Toys that we so carefully packed and took with us to San Diego last summer? He loves his birds. But Mean Ol' Mommy wants an end to the school problems.

3. Simcha was really funny yesterday. Don't miss it.

4. CNN has a great preview of movies for 2013. I will probably refer to it when I make up my own list. In the next week or so.

5. If you've been looking for our 2012 Christmas letter, it isn't finished yet. We had it mostly done when the car crash happened December 7th, and haven't yet rewritten the content. Sorry. Hopefully, it will be done in the next couple of weeks.

6. Hallmark movie channel did a Perry Mason movie marathon over the weekend and I watched half a dozen or so. I liked some of them but realized what they were trying to be but couldn't quite reach was a Morse mystery. Raymond Burr was good, but John Thaw and Kevin Whately are better. Regular readers of my blog will hardly be shocked by this conclusion.

7. Many of the blogs I follow have long lists of the books they read or have read this year. I have lists of television shows or movies I've seen. I'm feeling a little insecure that while I love to read, the visual medium is easier to fit into my life right now. Because when I pick up a book, usually a novel, it is a rare circumstance that I can put it down before finishing the book. Or am I just making excuses? Or is this just a reality with the level of stress that my life has borne in the last few years? I haven't even had the emotional energy to reread the Castle book series, including the new one that has been sitting on my shelf gathering dust since its publication in September. Not sure what this means, if anything.

Jen has been in the hospital much of the week with blood clots. Please pray for her. Hallie is hosting today.