Break Up Cabin Fever With Free Pancakes

I feel like our blog is getting boring as we have not done very much over the past couple months... I blame it on this thing called "Cabin Fever". We stay in more often than we go out. This past Fat Tuesday, however, it was nice and sunny! So we headed to IHOP for their free pancakes (thanks for the info Jody!). Even though we didn't go until lunch time, it was pretty crowded. The IHOP is the newest restaurant to come to town. It's been open for a few months, but this is the first time we went. We sat their long enough for me to realize I drank the whole pot of coffee they left on our table =p
I tried to spread the word about National Pancake Day and free food, but I think only Janelle listened and here is her picture with free pancakes:
On my way to work, I finally slipped on ice. Not in the car, on my feet. The weather was deceiving- the sun was melting the snow and it felt "warm", but in the shade it was still below freezing. So the water that dripped from the roof fell on to the sidewalk and froze. I'm sure it would have been quite the sight to see me slip and fall, but nobody was around to witness it. And I landed on my left hip instead of my cushioned bum. Booo. I will be walking through the yard until summer now.
Anyway, as I mentioned, we have a bit of cabin fever. We stay in and watch a lot of movies, read (well, I do that), and now... apparently we're little gamers. Since Jan-Michael and I both got game systems for Christmas, we seem to be playing them a lot. Here we are playing "together". When he plays his shoot 'em and run 'em over games, I play my flying fairies, making theme parks, solving mystery games! Does anyone else have a Nintendo DS? I'm not a very experienced gamer and wouldn't mind a few suggestions when it comes to games. So far I have 5. My favorite has surprisingly been Mystery Case Files MillionHeir because you have to find objects to solve a mystery. My least favorite has been Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire because you have to use the controls, not just the stylus. I also have Imagine: Wedding Designer, Tinker Bell, and Thrillville Off the Rails. Since Jan-Michael had the Xbox 360, I can just rent games for him... but I don't know of any company that rents DS games, so I usually buy them used. But once you buy it, what if you don't like it?

50's Style

Check out the newest and cutest diner to come to town! We finally got to go this past week. It has been sitting on top of the hill, taunting us for months. Actually, since May! It's hard not to notice this shiny silver trailer. It finally opened in November after our 3 attempts to go. It was deceiving because the outside looked finished, but the inside took a while. Finally, we saw the announcement in the paper last month and decided it was safe to try again! Yay, the doors were open! They had great food and friendly service. My only request is for the girls to wear Poodle skirts =) If you go, order the forest of fruits pie- it was amazing! We ate our dessert at the counter for the complete experience =)

What REAL American Girls Say...

As told to me by Janelle....

Janelle is a personal shopper for American Girl. Her favorite client is a 7 year old girl who we will call Kirsten (because that's the name of my favorite doll).

Mom: "Ok, Kirsten, decide which one you need the most and we will buy it."
Kirsten: "But I really need them all."

When she's in the office she sees a picture of Janelle and I, which is her screensaver.
Kirsten: "Is that your sister or your BFF?"
Janelle: "That's Krysta, my BFF. Why, do you think we look like sisters?"
Kirsten: "No, that's why I asked first. Does she live with you?"
Janelle: "No, she got married and now she lives in Pennsylvania."
Kirsten: "She's married?! How old is she?!"
Janelle: "Well, she's my age."
Kirsten: "I thought you didn't get married until you were 37?!"
Mom: "Well, I married your Dad when I was 24."
Kirsten: "Mom, that was a LONG TIME ago!" "Does she live really far away? Like, could we drive there?"
Janelle: "No we couldn't drive there. She lives pretty far."
Kirsten: "Oh she kinda looks like Barbie because she has blonde hair. She could have come to my friend's birthday party as Barbie."

Mom: "Do you think we should set Janelle up with your cousin?"
Kirsten: "I don't know Mom... I mean, he's kinda cute for a cousin, but Janelle is really really pretty."

She hands Janelle a Valentine card...
Kirsten: "How many valentines have you gotten today?"
Janelle: "You're the first one, Kirsten! Thank you!"
Kirsten: "Why do you not have a lot from boys?"
Janelle: "I don't know, Kirsten."
Kirsten: "So you only got one? Well, that's retarded."
Janelle: "Well, I'm sure Krysta is sending me one, I just haven't received it yet."
Kirsten: "Oh, you mean Barbie?"
Mom: "Kirsten, you can't just change people's names! Krysta is a lovely name."
Kirsten: "Well, she looks like a Barbie."

Kirsten: "Do you know when Julie's movie is coming out?" (Julie is her favorite American Girl Doll)
Janelle: "No, Kirsten, I don't know."
Kirsten: "Well, could you let me know? Because I could totally be Julie in the movie."

Kirsten: "Is Krysta your client too?"
Janelle: "Yes."
Kirsten: "So, when she comes, is she your favorite because she's your BFF?" (Sad face)
Janelle: "No, Kirsten, you're my favorite client."
Kirsten: "Ok, I was just checking."

Weather

Nothing much to post about except our crazy weather. We had two warm days... and when I say warm, I mean 50 degrees (wow, have I adapted or what?). Then last night we had this loud wind and rain storm that blew out our power for about an hour and continued to flick off and on for the rest of the night. Today, it's back to being chilly. Just before this crazy warm and stormy weather, we had some weird snow turned to ice turned to rain back to snow in 24 hours. Have I experienced east coast weather now or what?!

Face In Hole

Our friend Ellen made these:


Which made me make these:



It's a time-consuming fun little website =p

Are You Ready For Some Football?!

Can I just say that I love football!!! Anyway, today's the day for some huge family rivalry. I encourage everyone to participate and send negative Steelers comments to my husband and in-laws =) Of course, if you're a Steeler's fan, you can do the same to me and my family. It's only fair =) I have to say though that the Steeler's fan base is amazing. These people have so much spirit. I've never seen anything like it. You would have to live here to even get a glimpse in to the craziness. I can't explain it! Anyway, wish me luck as I wear my Cardinals shirt to work today (yes, I'm missing the whole game!). I must be insane to wear Cardinals in Steeler country. But I'm little and a girl so I'm hoping nobody will jump me =) HAPPY SUPERBOWL!!!