Pants on the Ground

So it is mid January in Minnesota. I'm not much of a winter person so it is a bit of a "down in the dumps" time for me. Holiday decorations are put away, but for some reason the snow and cold refuse to be boxed up neatly until next year quite yet. In my book, there are three things I look forward to in January that help me going until Spring: American Idol, Playoff football and Girl Scout cookie sales.

This past week American Idol Season 9 debuted and it did not disappoint! I really am not a fan of the early weeks with all of the auditions. Usually it is the judges laughing away at untalented people desperate for a few minutes of fame, but this year there was a spark of light. General Larry Platt, a 62 year old man with an original song, "Pants on the Ground", that for some unknown reason has captured the nation. I don't know why the song is catchy or fun, but it makes me smile. Even after hearing it sung by Harry and Bella about a million times, it still puts me in a good mood. If you haven't seen it yet, check out this link : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMwhl4IrPNc Bet you can't get it out of your head!

On to playoff football. As a family of Vikings fans, we were excited that the Vikings had captured a 1st round bye in the playoffs. I have to admit that the Vikings 1998 NFC loss to Atlanta has caused Erick and I to become a bit fatalistic about Vikings games. The more you let yourself invest, the bigger the depression and heartbreak when the bottom drops out. Harry has already felt the losses hard this season and does not take them well. Anyway, we hoped for the best as the Vikings played the Cowboys this past Sunday and we were on top of the world when they walked away with a huge win. After the game, Brett Favre was shown in the locker room singing "Pants on the Ground" with his teammates. Guess it puts a smile on his face too! Next week onto the Superdome in New Orleans. We cross our fingers and hope for a win, knowing that we have once again given too much of ourselves and we will have a very hard time recovering if they lose.

Lastly, January brings Girl Scout cookie sales. This year Bella is a Brownie and is able to sell cookies door to door. She set her sales goal high and was excited to go out and sell. We walked around the neighborhood and she did a great job of introducing herself and asking people if they would like to buy some cookies. She had to answer questions about when the cookies would come, how much they were, and if payment was due at the time of purchase or delivery. I was very proud of her. As the mother of a deaf child, it was yet again one of those moments where it may seem so trivial, but without the invention of the cochlear implants and her success with them, it wouldn't have been a moment she could have experienced.

Other highlights in January will include Bella's 8th birthday, Harry's 1st racquetball lesson and a swim meet for Bella. Then onto February: a step closer to Spring!