I love the State of the Union Address and try to tune in every year, faithfully from the moment the “Special Report” card is televised until the president opens his mouth. (I prefer to read the transcripts; black-and-white writing is — ironically– a more reliable vehicle for political speech.) I've had a crush on Brian Williams ever since he was on the not-sharing episode of Sesame Street so I watched NBC.

Here's what happened this year!

9:05 Sergeant-at-Arms Wilson Livingood looked particularly robust this year. Incidentally, that is the first time I've ever spelled “sergeant” correctly on the first attempt. Also, he goes by “Bill.”

9:07 The Democrats and the Republicans are sitting side-by-side in a way that reminds me of the lobby at a dentist's; the lobby at a dentist with a stringent dress-code and a voluminous slush fund for interior decor.

9:08 Mr. Williams announces that President Obama “has become sensitive to any darkening of the national mood” and I thought he was going to say “darkening of the President's hair.”

9:08 Williams mentions a Salon.com video about “aisle hogs” who reserve a high-traffic spot every year and BAM! There's Hillary Clinton.

9:09 My own observation: When judges get the shaft, they REALLY get the shaft. You should google “Judge Lemkau” sometime, if it hasn't all been censored away by this point…

9:10 Dick David Gregory pronounces the House Speaker's name “Baner,” like “one who Banes.” Or maybe “The Banisher,” which come to think of it would make an AWESOME comic-book villain (dibs). But I guess “Baner” is better than using its probably Germanic-root pronunciation, which would be “Boner.” (heh heh heh German is funny sometimes.)

9:10 Joe Biden cracked up at whatever it was that President Obama said to him while they shook hands. I'm pretty sure it was along the lines of, “hey, Joe! Thanks for not cussin' tonight.”

Annnnd, that's what happens. Maybe tomorrow I'll show you how to dissect the transcript of the State of the Union Address so you can find out for yourself what it really was about. If you're lucky, and I don't go to Worcester, but I might go to Worcester, so whatever.

My mom is in the hospital. Please pray for us.

… but you should google “filthiest movie” and see what comes up #1, before even Pink Flamingos. And yes, it's #1 both with and without the quotation marks.

Researching this from my referrer stats has reminded me of a long-overdue Public Service Announcement: If you are pregnant and you go on Ain't It Cool News and denigrate the movie Sin City, someone will respond that he hopes you have a miscarriage.

Didn't we just have a snow day LAST Tuesday? It hardly seems fair to have another today, particularly the day after another school holiday. It's supposed to be snowy and icy and generally gross all day today; no break planned for sledding or outdoor time. Thank God that Monstro cleared out the garage so we can get both our cars into it. The plowman will be happy about that.

Today's day eleven: 20-something degrees and icier than yesterday, but I still did two miles plus a little over. We'll say I'm at a halfway-point of 15 miles in my “30 miles in 30 days” running challenge.

high-20s, slushy as h&ll, back from a run (2 miles!). Yay, me. Brings me to 13 miles since Jan. 6. So far, on track for my 30 miles in 30 days challenge.

2.4 miles today, running where it wasn't icy. That brings me to nearly 11 miles in 5 days — pretty good, considering my goal is 30 miles in 30 days!

Here's to

you, Fringes, for

keeping your

firstborn

daughter

not just

alive, but

sassy and

thriving for

sixteen

years

(omg).

Here's to

that time you

told the doctor

to make the cuts

in her leg

during sugery, which

cemented you as

the wisest

mother I

know.

Here's to

the sweetest

sixteen ever

for J, the

daughter of

my model

of tenacity

and heart,

my bff,

Fringes.

Love,

MM

I ran more than 2.5 miles today — a good mix of sprints and roads. I developed a new route I call my “1×3”; you run once around the Halloween loop and then three sprints down the lollipop stick of the loop. I did two of those, and then ran back up to the almost-end of my street and back.

For those of you, OK, me, keeping track, that's 8.5 miles since January 6th. Well on my way to 30 miles in 30 days.

All that, AND the bread-and-butter note for our neighbors is in their mailbox. And I picked up a quick project today, and asked someone else to bring me on part-time, and kept a few other irons in the fire hot, too. Happy Monday!

People don't usually knock on our door so I was surprised when I heard MFM open it on Saturday night. There stood P, the stepdad of one of Lex's friends from kiddie basketball. P invited us to come to their home on Sunday for a fancy dinner — the Christmas dinner they'd planned earlier but ultimately postponed.

Heck yeah, we said yes. MFM decided not to go so it was me, Monstro, and the boys. Everyone had a wonderful time and I had not one, not two, but three different French wines (P owns a package store (liquor shop)). Our cocktail hour was more like four hours: just the way I like it. It was tremendous, the appetizers were spectacular (five cheeses! smoked fishes! baguette!) and the prime rib, served with a five-hours-in-the-making sauce, was out-of-this-world. Best of all, though, our host and hostess were charming and well-travelled and fascinating. We all had a blast.

When I got home that night I drank three pints of water. Seems to have worked — I'm tired this morning, but without a wine headache. I'm going to go run a couple of miles later this morning and that should shake loose the cobwebs.

Happy Monday, all!