Pond Skating

One cold Sunday afternoon in January, Frank and Tyler headed out while most people were sitting by their warm fires. Where did they go? To one of our local ponds to play hockey! It had been cold enough over the last week that everything was frozen solid.

When Tyler and Frank arrived to the pond (also known as a water hazard at a local golf course!), there were only a few other people there which made the prospect of skating for the afternoon look even better.
Tyler, of course, could not wait to try out his mad skating skills he has been perfecting this year. He even has his game face and game stance down pat!

Fortunately, as the mother of a hockey player, I am lucky that Tyler can hold his own and is very quick on his skates!

Of course, being quick also means falling harder! Thank goodness for padding and equipment!

Today in History

Today in history (a short lesson):

In 1912, New Mexica became the 47th state
In 1930, The 1st diesel engine automobile trip (in a Packard sedan) completed
In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt outlined a goal of "Four Freedoms" for the world: freedom of speech and expression, the freedom of people to worship God in their own way, freedom from want and freedom from fear
In 1942, The 1st around world flight occurred (Pan Am "Pacific Clipper")
In 1958, Gibson patents the Flying V Guitar
In 1968, The Beatles' "Magical Mystery Tour" album goes #1 & stays #1 for 8 weeks
In 1970, Frank Vincent Genovese, a son, is the first child born to Frank and Patricia Genovese in New York, making this day his 40th birthday
In 1973, "Schoolhouse Rock" premieres on ABC-TV with Multiplication Rock
1994 Ice skater Nancy Kerrigan is attacked by Tonya Harding's bodyguard

People about ready to take the plunge (also known as people born in 1970):

Kelly Ripa

Andre Aggassi

Matt Damon

Beck

Claudia Schiffer

Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Connelly

Vince Vaughn
Tina Fey

Lara Flynn Boyle

You know you are born in the 1970's if:

1. You know that another name for a keyboard is a "Synthesizer".
2. You know who Max Headroom is.
3. You could breakdance or at least wish you could.
4. You wanted to dress like the Hulk.
5. You believed that "By the Power of Greyskull," you HAD the POWER.
6. You thought that Transformers were more than meets the eye.
7. You remember what Michael Jackson looked like before his nose fell off.
8. You knew what Willis was "talkin' 'bout".
9. You know where to go if you "wanna go where everybody knows your name."
10.Punks actually "shocked" people.
11.You remember when ATARI was a state of the art video game.
12. You own many cassettes.
13. You were led to believe that in the year 2000 we'd all be living on the moon. And you would be like the 'Jetsons'.
14. You had a Swatch Watch, or three.
15. You had a crush on Bo Derek or Heather Locklear or Cheetara.

Happy birthday, sweetie! Tyler and I both love you! Don't worry, you don't look (or act) a day over 39!

Love,

Jennifer and Tyler

New Years Eve 2009

This year for New Years we took it easy. After a crazy month, we were ready to spend some quiet family time together and welcome in what we hope to be a calmer and more relaxed 2010. Also, Grammy and Grampy were still in town and we did not want to overwhelm them with our partying ways!

After much thought and consideration, we decided on a nice meal of Porterhouse steaks, baked potatoes, and broccoli—yummy! Tyler was not going to eat that yummy meal so we asked him what he would want for dinner. His choice? Chicken nuggets and tater tots (with Ketchup, of course!). We made dinner, ate, and headed down to the basement for the rest of the evening. I managed to shoot a few pictures just to document the fact that we really did stay awake and acknowledge the New Year’s coming!

The adults all played games and Tyler did, well, Tyler things. At one point, he even played bartender for us and made sure that all the poker chips were accounted for (!):
After that, he chose to start winding down a bit. After all, staying up to watch the ball drop is not so easy, is it? He opted to watch a movie a cuddle on the floor, joining us for the countdown to 2010.

As for adult game time? We played ‘Battle of the Sexes’, men versus women. Frank and I have played this game numerous times and I think the overall tally of wins and losses is Jennifer, 1,291 wins, Frank, 1 win. I thought it would be a good game to play since Grampy usually has the answers to everything. The woman definitely kicked some male butt the entire game until it got to the last question for the win—we just could not get the answer (or so I thought!). One question “What is a Biathlon?”, threw me for a loop—my answer? Shooting and cross country skiing. What the card said according to Grampy? Luge and Skiing. Because of that oversight on my part, the men won, and we would never hear the end of it—or would we? Thankfully, Grampy has a good conscious and he came clean the next morning about his cheating escapades (which Frank claimed to know nothing about, but guilt by association!) and the women were set for the rematch the next night—who won this time? You got it—the women! So now the tally stands at Jennifer 1,293 wins, and Frank, 1. Sorry sweetie! Better luck next time Grampy!