As I've mentioned about eleventy-billion times already, my parents sent us Rock Band 2 for Christmas. And even though I don't have much time to actually play it myself, I still get a lot of entertainment value from it. Walking into the living room to find Severin serenading his youngest sister with the Billy Idol song "White Wedding", for example, was fairly LOL-worthy. There was poor Alexa, curled up in an armchair, intent on her Nintendo DS game of Harvest Moon, when all of a sudden she looked up to find Severin kneeling in front of her and singing into his mic "HEY little sister , what have YOU done!?"

And then there was the time I was in the kitchen and heard a strange sound coming from the living room. It sounded kind of like a cat being repeatedly kicked -an elderly, alcoholic, hillbilly cat with a speech impediment.

I HAD to abandon my cooking and go see what was going on.

It turned out to be Severin trying to imitate Bob Dyan singing "Tangled up in Blue".

As the 'song' ended, the kids turned to me and started in with a list of incredulous complaints along the lines of: What the heck WAS that? Why does that guy sing in that creepy voice ? Have you ever heard of him? Why does that freaking song go on forever?, etc

Valentine said "Whoever he is, he has to DIE. Please tell me he's dead."

Sadly, I had no words of comfort for her. "Au contraire, my child". In fact, he recently released a Christmas album."

Nobody believed me, but I assured them that it was true.

"I wouldn't lie about something like this. You haven't truly suffered until you've heard his version of 'The Little Drummer Boy'. "

Let's get this straight:

Bing Crosby can sing "The Little Drummer Boy"

David Bowie can sing "The Little Drummer Boy"

They can even sing it together on an uber-corny Christmas tv show.

But Bob Dylan cannot and in fact should never try to sing "The Little Drummer Boy".

Ever.

Did anybody actually buy that album? I hope not. It just encourages him....

Also:

Dear Santa,

How are you? I'm fine.

How are your reindeer? Tired out after the recent holiday season, I bet. Did they like the carrots?

Anyway, down to business: If , by next Christmas, they put out a Rock Band Track Pack of Bob Dylan songs, I do NOT want to find one in my stocking.

I'd rather have coal.

Really.

Love,

Beth

Here is my list (and I do so love lists) entitled: "Why I Like 2010, So Far".
I know I'm tempting fate by posting this, but here it is:


1. I finally found my fave pair of gloves. It's COLD and I need them! They were lurking at the bottom of a drawer that they had no business being in. Naughty!


2. The holiday rush is over and I'm getting the house back in order. I HATE it when my regular cleaning schedule is interrupted. (And yes, as a matter of fact I am a Virgo. Why do you ask?)


3. The departure of my MIL and the kids going back to school mean that I am no longer surrounded by people 24/7. I need at least some solitude on a daily basis or I get very cranky. It's not pretty.


4. My parents bought the kids "Rock Band 2" for the Wii and it....well...ROCKS! I don't actually have much time to play it lately , but I enjoy watching the kids go at it when I have a spare moment. They're so cute and some of the older songs really puzzle them, ex: 'Spirit in the Sky' (provokes hysterical laughter every time) and 'American Woman' (Mallory: "Why does he hate that poor lady so much? Geez!)


5. I suddenly remembered that I used to make risotto quite often (about 10 years ago!) I dug out an old recipe and it was an instant, huge hit with everyone. And a new menu item is no small thing, as all of us who cook for families well know.


6. This is the month that work begins on the addition to our house! I'd given up all hope that it would happen in my lifetime, but our buildrr actually came by last night to go over last minute details of the plan. He's preparing the wood right now (perhaps as I write this! Squeeee!) and will definitely start by the end of this month. By the end of February, we should have 20 more square meters of living space. Hooray!


7. I just got done watching season 2 of 'Heroes' and am looking forward to borrowing season 3 from a good friend that just got it for Christmas. as soon as she's seen it, the kids and I are going to enjoy catching up with Hiro, Claire and even the oh-so-annoying Peter.
You don't watch 'Heroes"?
Well, you really should. Really.


8. I'm going to see "Avatar" soon, somehow. I tried to go on Sunday, but both showings were full. But I'll try again next weekend. I've been looking forward to it for quite a while. (PS- If you've seen it and it disappointed you, PLEASE do not rain on my cinematic parade and tell me so. I plan to enjoy it and will not be dissuaded)


9. I've got several good book to read all lined up and waiting for me (Thanks, mom!). I'm just now (today!) going to start on a new fantasy series by Mercedes Lackey.



10. Mallory finally got glasses and wore them to school for the first time on January 4, 2010. She'd been complaining that she couldn't see well and, after some procrastination on my part, we took her to the local optician to get her eyes checked in early December. It turned out that she's sudden become very nearsighted- as blind as a tiny, blonde, adorable bat.
But I couldn't just get a prescription for her, as children under age 16 in France have to be examined by an opthamologist. So, I wrangled an emergency appointment for her with a doctor at the hospital clinic. We got in just before Christmas and got the glasses ordered asap.
When they arrived, Mallory was thrilled to see the world through them. "The grass has blades! It's not just green, fuzzy clumps!" was one of her first remarks.
So, Mallory has started out 2010 able to see correctly. Plus she looks cute. Win!
(side note: As JP works in Switzerland, we don't have the French public health insurance. We pay for private coverage. Usually, we have to pay the bills and then are reimbursed afterwards-
but it's not as bad as you might think. To pay for an opthamological exam at the hospital, for example, I gave a mere 20 Euros. Total. No lie.)



So, that's it- my first post of 2010 and my first list of the year. Sorry I've been offline so long. I've been having computer issues and a severe lack of time to deal with them. But I hope things will be better now....

I've been trying to load several pictures for the last half hour. There seems to be a problem with Blogspot right now. All I managed to put up was this picture of Severin proudly showing off his Rock Band 2 guitar on Christmas Day.

I'll try again tomorrow to load a few more...