Quite a game last night!  If any other team had beat the Colts (especially with the slightly shady on-side kick) I would be kind of torked...but I do love the Saints, and I am very proud of Drew Brees.  He looked GREAT last night.  So, congratulations, Saints!  We won't let it happen again.

Jeanie, I'm not familiar with the cooking term "dredge".  Does that mean you dip the chicken in the buttermilk, then dip it in the breading, then re-dip in buttermilk and re-dip on the breading?  It won't wash the breading off?  This is probably a really stupid question, but coming from me (who would probably starve to death without a microwave), it's about as good as you're gonna get.

We're supposed to get up to 12 inches of snow between now and Wednesday.  This is permissible since it's still February, but come March 1 I expect sunshine, 60s, and daffodils!

...Yeah.  And I also want a pony.

Ahhh, so relaxed!  Had yesterday off, and I did NOTHING.   Ran early, then went to the grocery, cleaned a little, cooked, (!!) and watched movies.  This week it was "An American in Paris" with Gene Kelly, and "Mamma Mia" just because I like it.

How many of you are humming an ABBA song right about now?

You know, I do love a good Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers movie, but I do think I prefer Gene Kelly.  One of the funniest movies I've seen is the Kelly/Sinatra flick "Anchors Aweigh".  I saw it on the shelf at the library this week but wanted to borrow something I hadn't seen yet.

Am very proud of myself yesterday because I made up a new dish.  I cut up chicken and breaded it with a mixture of matzo meal, parmesan cheese, oregano, pepper, and garlic powder.  Baked that in the oven so it would get crispy, then made spaghetti noodles with marinara sauce and put it all together. I am proud to say that it turned out very well.   I need to figure out a way to make the breading thicker - maybe coat the chicken with raw egg next time? But it turned out most fabulously.

And today...COLTS FOOTBALL!!!  A fellow Colts fan is coming over to watch the game with pizza and ice cream.  Go, Manning, go!

I've been borrowing movies from the library lately.  My latest picks have been a couple Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers movies that have been really fun.  I also borrowed "Across the Universe"...I started watching it, but got about an hour into it and turned it off.  It's due today so I need to decide if I'm going to finish it.  I dunno...I adore musicals, but surprisingly, it's not doing anything for me.  I'm not all that fond of the main characters, I think I can already guess the major plot points ahead...and while the song choices are really fun, the performances have been kind of flat.  I think it wants to be like "Moulin Rouge", but it ain't gettin' anywhere close.  I'm kind of tempted to Google the movie, read about the ending, and decide if I want to watch it then.

I think I'm also giving up on the Thomas of Hookton series by Bernard Cornwell.  I've read The Archer's Tale and Vagabond...got about twenty pages into Heretic and decided I'd had enough of blood and gore and characters I didn't really like.  Maybe I'll try to finish Heretic again someday, but I've had enough for now.

On the other hand, I'm enjoying a book I haven't read before by Timothy Zahn (yes, it's a Star Wars book).   And maybe I'll check out Wuthering Heights again.  I tried to read that book last year but couldn't get into it.  But it's a classic, so I feel obligated to go for the gusto.

Between my almost constant hand washing, the odd paper cut or two, and a cranky cat earlier this week, my hands look like I was in a knife fight with a gerbil.  I don't think the gerbil won, but he certainly left a mark.  Those little buggers are fast.

Sending good thoughts right now to Captain Phil of "Deadliest Catch" - he had a stroke last week and was in a medically induced coma, but from what I can tell, I think he may have woken up. Hang in there, tough guy.

I'm making progress through Lewis' first space book.  It's actually quite beautifully written.  I seem to remember him making an Arthur C. Clarke-ian shift near the end - and if anyone has read 2001: A Space Odyssey, you'll know what I'm talking about.  Story's trucking along nicely, and then in the last three chapters, the author drops acid and you have no idea what just happened.  But I'm sticking to it.  I haven't reached the acid-drop point yet, and it's been at least ten years since I've read the book, so maybe I will be pleasantly surprised.

Today at work I will be playing catch-up.  I have a whole pile of charts I need to finish, and at least two phone calls to make.  So I'm going in early and planning on working on stuff during my lunch hour unless I get sidelined by something else.

In related news, February is National Pet Dental Health Month! Ask your vet if your dog or cat needs a dental cleaning.

Last night Tumnus let me know he was bored of his current toy by deciding to chew on my windowsill instead. REALLY??  Man, I thought his remodeling phase had petered out.

Thing is, it's really hard to buy toys for him because he doesn't play, he destroys.  So he has these big rope toys that are made for 80 pound dogs (he is 22.7 pounds) and very sturdy rubber squeakies that he can't shred.  And I have to be careful about squeakies - they can't have any protruding parts, otherwise he'll gnaw those right off. Stuffed animals are RIGHT OUT.  If they're lucky, they last five minutes before they're disemboweled.

Maybe I should get him a herd of sheep to keep him busy.

Tonight I've got a going-away party for one of the techs at work.  I'm really bummed that she's leaving, but she's going to a really good specialty clinic and they'll be lucky to have her. I almost never hang out with my work peeps, so tonight should be fun.

Jeanie, I'm sorry I made you turn on [patience mode].  I grew up with a couple kids who were convinced pro wrestling was real, and sometimes I forget that not everyone in the world is eight years old.

In other news, I love your little "Up on the Housetop" ditty - but since I don't know that song, (I know, where have I been?) the tune that popped into my head was the theme from "The Elephant Show".  Anyone remember that one?  That's why I love you-tube.   I used to watch it all the time as a kid.  Although now I'm thinking those are either some teensy elephants (which would be cool), or that's a huge-ass spider (in which case, Armageddon may be at hand.)

And, oh my gosh, I had completely forgotten "Fred Penner's Place"!  I used to watch this too, but not often...every once in a while, I'll remember this show, but I had completely forgotten the title!  I just happened to see this when I went to look for the Elephant show.

DD, your goats have unlocked a forgotten part of my childhood.

But now I'm remembering Raffi, who was also a major musical influence of my formative years.  And I'm thinking it's kind of weird that my childhood was filled with bearded, balding, guitar-playing men.

Wow, journal of the week!  Thanks for the congrats, everyone!  When I saw all the comments people had left, I thought everybody was as excited about the Super Bowl as I was.  Turns out, most people aren't, because I live in Chicagoland and almost nobody cares about the Colts. (I can't imagine why.) We Indy fans may be few, but we are not far between! I was in a texting frenzy with my mom, brother, and a friend of mine who lives up here during the game.  So even though only Tumnus could hear my cheering, the Colts Love was filling the airwaves.

"Psych" starts up again tonight!! Yays! It has been too long.  I do loves me some James Roday.

Actually, it's kind of embarrassing - Roday and Dulé Hill were supposed to host the WWE Monday night raw...so I actually tuned in to watch.  I endured several minutes of intricately choreographed violent dancing (y'all are foolin' yo-selves if you think that's real) in the hopes of seeing the "Psych" dudes.  Hill was there, but Roday wasn't.  Apparently an appendectomy was more important.  But the embarrassing thing is how long I watched.   It's like a car wreck - you can't look away.  And then I kept watching because it was funny - the theatrics were cracking me up.  I had to change the channel after about an hour because I couldn't take it any more, but it was a highly entertaining hour. 

An hour out of my life that I can never get back. 

In other news: I am trying so hard to get through C.S. Lewis' space trilogy.  I've read the first two books before, but it was like slogging through waist-deep mud.  Couldn't make it through the third.  It makes me feel bad, because I ADORE the Chronicles of Narnia, and I really like his other stuff like The Screwtape Letters and his apologetic stuff, but for some reason, this group of books does NOTHING for me.  But I'm trying again.  So far I think I'm on page 10 after three days.  But in my defense, I have been trying to read on my almost-nonexistant lunch hours, so I haven't had time to really get into it.  I am determined to make a Herculean effort.

COLTS AND SAINTS SUPER BOWL!!!!!

Aw, yeah.   This is gonna be a FUN game!  Of course I'm rooting for the Colts, but I won't be sad if the Saints win.  They've never been to the Super Bowl, and of course you gotta give mad props to Drew Brees - he's a fellow Purdue homeboy.  So I'm going to be happy no matter who wins.

I'm just a teensy bit worried for Manning, though - the Saints/Vikings game was brutal.  Favre kept getting DRILLED.  I have never seen so many hits on a quarterback.  So I hope the Saints defense doesn't try to plaster our boy all over the turf.

Ahhh, yes, t'was a grand day for football.

And yeah, that's all the news I've got.  My life is boring to everyone but me.

The days go by and I feel so busy, but I really don't know that I do all that much.

Flew to DC last weekend for my friend's wedding - had a great time with some of the ol' college posse, then flew back home the next day.  I would also like to say that I  Southwest Airlines.

Work this week was broken up by youth group on Tuesday and my day off yesterday, which was filled with cleaning, my first unsuccessful foray to find a black sleeveless dress for Cami's wedding, a trip to the library, and a "Scrubs" marathon.  I dunno - the show is still funny and it keeps me entertained (and I LOVE that Elliot is making more appearances) but I still prefer The Old Days.

Don't really have grand plans for the weekend yet.  We'll see what happens.

One other development over the past couple weeks is my new sleeping habit.  I can't remember when I last slept in my bed - it's been at least two weeks.  I just keep sleeping on my couch.  I don't know why - I've just had a really strong preference to sleep out in my living room.  It IS warmer out there than in my bedroom...and sometimes I wake up more easily when I sleep on the couch vs. my bed...but my motivation remains a mystery.  Even now, sitting at my computer (which is in my bedroom), I think about my bed behind me and my brain goes..."Meh, no thanks."

*shrug*

I think anyone who tries to text while driving is a Great Thundering Moron and the fact that we need an actual law saying it's illegal is just pathetic. Apparently common sense is a recessive trait, which shows that Natural Selection has just flown straight out the window.  This is what happens when the natural predators are extinct.  We need some T-rexes roaming the streets.  Everyone knows that they would prey on the injured, weak, and texting.

Was SO proud of myself yesterday because I got everything done on my list! Usually there's at least one thing I decide to put off or forget to do, but not this time! And when I went to the library yesterday, I borrowed the Clark Gable movie "It Happened One Night".  A book I was reading talks about that movie a lot, so I finally remembered to look for it.  I loved it!  Such a fun movie.  Everyone should go watch it now.

The other night I had a dream about examining a turtle.  I haven't touched a turtle since I was a kid playing with the box turtles we'd find in our yard, but I was quite adamant that in order to anesthetize the thing, you couldn't put it in a box to pump in anesthetic gas because it would hold its breath. The next day I was on a veterinary resource website and saw an article saying how you shouldn't try to "box down" turtles because they hold their breath. Spoooooky...