Brian has finally gotten sick of watching Friends. I never thought I’d see the day. One day last week, I caught him watching reruns of Everybody Loves Raymond. I found that odd seeing that Friends was on at the time. The same thing happened again today, so I inquired about it. It turns out that he’s sick of watching it. I guess seeing each episode eight times will do that to you. I actually still think the show is funny, but I don’t watch it anywhere near as much as he does–I’ve probably only seen each episode six times a piece.
that rodent prognosticator
Punxsutawney Phil predicted another six weeks of winter today. Doesn’t he usually? Seeing that we haven’t even had six weeks of winter yet this year, it’s hard to complain about the forecast. I’m just glad we got through January. I hate that month. Not that February has that much going for it weather-wise, but at least the weather usually clears up by the end of the month.
it’s taxing
I’m done with our taxes. Sort of. The local and state taxes have been submitted. The federal ones are just about ready to go. (I’m still waiting on one of my forms. sheesh.) Thank God for TurboTax. We will be getting a few dollars back–enough to cover our upcoming yearly garbage bill and then some, anyway. That’s pretty much what I shoot for–getting a few dollars back. I don’t understand these people who get all excited about getting a bunch of money back from the government (otherwise known as an interest-free loan to your Uncle Sam). Maybe you ought to adjust the withholdings on your W-4 form and not get so much money taken out of your paycheck. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather have a fatter paycheck year-round than get my money refunded to me when I file my taxes. Of course, given how low interest rates are right now, it probably doesn’t matter.
family dinner 2005
Well, the annual dinner with the parents occurred this evening. As I mentioned yesterday, we did an Italian theme this year. For appetizers, I made an antipasto tray consisting of prosciutto, soppressatta, genoa salami, capacola, marinated fresh mozzarella, provolone, giardiniera, green olives, marinated artichoke hearts, roasted red bell peppers and Parmesan crisps. Drinks were served, of course. The options were vodka and squirt or homemade wine (Carmenere/Malbec and Symphony).
For the main course, we had Italian stuffed chicken breasts, herbed orzo, roasted asparagus, and a herb/mesclun salad. Amaretto-chocolate pudding with raspberries and whipped cream was for dessert. I haven’t eaten in hours and I’m still stuffed (and I didn’t even have dessert. of course, I could’ve easily made a meal just from the antipasto).
A good time was had by all. It’s kind of nice to get together this way once a year without something else hanging over our heads (like birthdays, holidays, weddings, etc.) Next year, I’m thinking of pushing the dinner back to later in the year, say March. As I mentioned yesterday, the tradition started because of the Thanksgiving turkey that Brian’s employer gives out every year. But, we’ll probably be able to use that up from now on because we’ve put ourselves into the holiday hosting rotation. Anyway, we had the dinner in January because I didn’t want to hold onto that turkey forever. But January is so close to the holidays that it would be nicer, I think, to have it a little later in the year. We’ll see.
the past few days
Nothing noteworthy has been going on recently, so that explains my lack of posts.
I did manage to do what no one thought could be done–fatten up Brian a little bit (enough to make him go buy an exercise bike this week and actually use the thing every day). Middle age=middle tire? Good thing we’re heading off the rest of the middle age crisis by buying his motorcycle this year.
Jacob had some excitement yesterday. I got a note from his friend Jake’s mom (Jake goes to daycare with Jacob). They wanted to invite him over for a playdate soon. So, I called her last night and the date has been set for next Saturday. Both boys are ecstatic. I have to assume they’re going to get along just fine seeing that they’ve been playing together at daycare for over two years now, so this could end up being a regular thing for the two of them.
Today, I’m just doing my usual Saturday work–washing clothes and straightening up around the house. Plus, I’m cooking like a fiend. Tomorrow is our annual “Dinner with the Parents” night. Every year at some point after the holidays, we have our parents over for dinner. This tradition started because Brian’s employer gives out a ridiculously large turkey every year at Thanksgiving, so we had everyone over in order to eat the turkey. This year, we had Christmas dinner at our place, so we ate the turkey then. But, the tradition lives on. This year, we’re having an Italian feast. More details to follow tomorrow…