Put your party planning hat on

In just less than three weeks, Mike will turn 40 years old. He wants a party. And truthfully, given the year we've had so far, he NEEDS a party. But I'm at a bit of a loss at what to do.

I thought about taking a group of people out to the baseball game. I considered renting out a theater for a showing of Star Wars or some equally nerdy movie, although I'm not sure you can actually do that.

Oh, and there's that little detail where he currently is unemployed and money is kind of tight. (Although he does have some hopeful prospects out there, so that could change...)

He had the oh-so-helpful suggestion of renting a replica of the Dukes of Hazzard's General Lee and nemesis sheriff's car and parking them in my front yard. Yes, he is turning 40, not 14.

Anyway, a home party would probably be the most cost-effective, but perhaps a little more work to pull it off than I'm hoping to do. I still have the stable from the Christmas nativity sitting in the family room if that gives you an idea of what it would take to get this house party-ready.

So...no idea is a bad idea. What's been the most fun 40th birthday party you've attended? What kind of party would you want to be invited to? (That's no guarantee of an invitation.) How would you want to celebrate a milestone birthday?

Frozen fragments

I'm sure the "Frozen Fragments" title will be about as original in this icy week as "ice, ice baby." But I've been in the house since Monday, so my creativity might be a little stifled.

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Today is the kids' 4th snow day/ice day in a row. Overall, they've held up well. One saving grace was the fact that the slope of our backyard made a terrific sledding hill -- as long as they stopped themselves before hitting the neighbors' fence. I can't believe how many hours my kids and their friends spent out there sledding, with and without sleds. Here's the gang:

The boys tried to convince me to try a little body sledding myself. The results were less than spectacular:

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Annie and I cracked under the pressure of nature-imposed house arrest yesterday afternoon. She was teenager-cranky and I was in the mood to push buttons. So I highjacked her Facebook page and posted "Waaaahhhhh! I M soooooooooooooooo bored...so I'm b'in crabby to my fam just 4 fun." I thought it looked and sounded like something a teenager would post. She didn't see the humor in it, which of course made it all the more fun for me.

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I've often thought I'd like to push the pause button on the world so I could catch up on all the stuff that I never seem to get done. Well, if there was ever a pause button to be had, this ice storm was it. And guess what? I didn't get much done. Sigh...where's a type A personality when you need one?

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We're 9 days away from Annie & Robbie's birthdays. I guess we'd better be deciding how we plan to celebrate. I suggested Annie take a friend or two to get a mani-pedi and Robbie could have the bigger party this year. She protested, saying, "I don't want a big party. I just want to invite..." then she proceeded to name 10 kids. Clearly, "big" is in the eye of the beholder.

I think the deep freeze has gone to my brain because that's all the fragments I have today. Not enough? Visit Mrs. 4444s for more Friday Fraggers.

Crab salad

I just posted this status update on my Facebook page:

"Warning: I am crabby today. Like I could eat small children for breakfast. That is all."

For the record, I already had breakfast (that did not include any human ingredients), so I am not crabby because I'm hungry. And I feel a little guilty spewing my crabbiness online on a Sunday, but I'm hoping that getting it off my chest makes me feel better.

So here is a list of ingredients for today's Crab Salad:

1. My children keep reading over my shoulder. "Mom, what did you just type? Why are you looking up that?" Next time they do it, maybe I'll Google "How to give your kids up for adoption" or "3 ways to pay for military school."
   
2. Mike is trying to plan a 40th birthday party for me, which is very nice. What is not nice is that he is not listening to my pleas for something simple. So when I logged into Facebook to see that he is looking for a freaking BAND to perform at the party, I went from content to crab in about 1.4 seconds.
3. I'm anxious about money. Who isn't? But this time of year -- back to school -- seems to suck it out of my bank account faster than it goes in.
4. Charlie's birthday party is today (only 4 weeks after his actual birthday) and he's not being very humble about it. I know he's excited and he's 11 and it's my job to teach him to be humble and gracious, but why does he have to be so thick-skulled about it?
5. Robbie did not go to bed until after 11pm last night because I was not home. And the effects of the late bedtime are already showing. This must-be-within-3-feet-of-mom-at-all-times phase is really starting to wear on me.
6. I have to go back to work tomorrow and I'm regretting not getting more done around home during my week off.

I guess the good news is that I didn't even make it to 10 things that are making me crabby. Only 6, which is likely manageable. So maybe later today I'll be able to come back here and post something that is more wit than whine. Thanks for letting me vent.