ThunderSnow.us

Tonight I was fixing myself a bowl of ice cream and discovered that the cap to the chocolate sauce was on the counter rather than on the bottle. The following exchange took place:

ABBY: Hon, do you have any insight as to why the chocolate sauce cap was on the counter?
DAN: Hmm… chocolate elves?
ABBY: Chocolate elves, huh? I dunno, I’ve never seen any chocolate elves. I was thinking more like, the last person who had some ice cream neglected to put the cap back on the bottle.
DAN: Yes, like I said, it was the chocolate elves!
ABBY: Uh huh. Chocolate elves. You know who I think the chocolate elf is here? “Twist me and turn me and show me the elf…”

And then I realized that not only is that not a reference he’ll get, it’s a reference that maybe three other people will get. *waves to her mother and sisters* How to prove yourself a contender for all time biggest dork ever: Get the last word in an argument by invoking cheesy Girl Scout ceremonies.

(The Explanation: Brownie Girl Scouts (grades 1-3) have a story, about a household where the chores never get done. The poor overworked mother says, “Oh, if only we had a brownie!” “What’s a brownie?” the kids ask. Mom explains. “A brownie is a little elf that helps with keeping the house clean and neat.” When the daughter asks how they could get one, Mom sends her to ask the owl in the woods. The owl directs her to stand next to a special pond, turn around three times, and recite a charm. “Twist me and turn me and show me the elf, I looked in the water and saw…” and to look into the pool, where she will find the brownie. The girl does this, but it doesn’t appear to work. She goes back to the owl and says “I did it all, but when I looked in the water I only saw myself!” The owl says “Uh huh, and does that fit in the rhyme?” “Twist me and turn me and show me the elf, I looked in the water and saw… myself. But I’m not a brownie!” The owl points out that she could act like one, and she and her brother become reformed characters, picking up all the household mess before their mom wakes up the next morning.

There’s a ceremony based around the story, whereby each new Brownie looks into a mirror placed on the floor and realizes that she is indeed a Brownie. It’s cute when the six-year-olds do it, honest.

Story very loosely paraphrased from the Brownie Handbook.)

I got off the bus this evening, and decided to run the distace from the parking lot entrance to our front door. I do this with some frequency, as it feels good to move after having been in class all day, and because I’m pleased that I can do it comfortably, even with my (heavy) bookbag. It’s evidence that I’m in better shape than I have been in the past.

Tonight, it being January, it was dark out at 7:00, but the parking lot is pretty well lit and the pavement was dry. Or so I thought. Two thirds of the way home, I suddenly found myself flat on my face with my bookbag over my head and the wind knocked out of me. There’d been an icy patch in a car’s shadow and my feet had gone out from under me. I picked myself up, noticed that several areas were about to start hurting, and walked sedately the last hundred feet.

Once I was indoors and could see, I took stock of the damage. A large patch of skin was detached from the palm of my right hand. My left knee was badly skinned, and I tore open the knee of my presentable jeans. There were other scrapes and bruises, but the skinned palm and the torn jeans are the most distressing.

The hand is what hurts. The last time I skinned my hands like this I was in fifth grade, playing Red Rover, and it sucked then, too. I don’t even remember exactly what that incident entailed, but I know I fell on my face on the pavement. I tore my Girl Scout uniform, too. Still, I didn’t take quite this much skin off my hands.

Ow.

When: 20:00 (that’s 8pm), Saturday, January 21.
Where: Our place.
What: A shindig. Get-together. Party. Thing. With people and goodies and games and such.
Who: You! And other folks you think might mix well (but run them past me first).
Why: You mean we need a reason? Well, us UNH folk are back to school, so that’s a reason. And some other folk are still around, rather than dispersed to far-off places, so that’s another reason. Happy?

Other Stuff:
Feel free to bring snacks, games, nifty people, or anything else that seems like fun.

We have two cats, medicate accordingly.

Crash space is available, but may consist of floor. Bring a pillow.

If you plan on coming, let me know. Rough headcounts are a Good Thing.

Returned Saturday from spending ten days in Italy with Dan, Gennie and Kelly. It was an awesome time, the four of us are a good travel group. Much fun was had. The picture above is from Florence, taken in the evening from the bell tower of the cathedral there. It’s Gennie’s. I don’t generally take photos on trips cause, well, everyone else does and it starts to seem pretty silly.

There may be other pics and some stories later.

I hereby declare thundersnow to be (more-or-less) live. *smashes champagne bottle over colobus*