Fa-la-la-la-la

We are blessed this holiday season with technology at its finest: a new 40-or-so inch flat screen hi-definition LED TV set for the family room. Of course this is something I've dreamed about since I was a young child, and now my dream has come true. Our cable company, H- - - - - - Tech, does not yet have the proper whirligigs to make the hi-def feature functional so Larry/Dad/Paco turned to Dish TV for help. A very nice young man showed up today with ladders, tools, cables, wires, boxes, and all types of technical do-hickeys to push us into the High Definition Age.

I returned home from work when the young dish installer was well into the process, so I wasn't too late I to observe a portion of his deft installer movements between television sets, adjusting this, tweaking that, "calling in" to the home office to recite codes and numbers to a computerized thing-a-ma-bob that efficiently recorded the information, and I assume our precise location in the solar system.

Young Dish Installer completed his labors, recited a brisk list of what to do when this or that happens, gave reminders about the savings we'd be getting and the costs we'd incur, and closed by asked for Larry/Dad/Paco's signature, assuring him that the installation went perfectly and we'd certainly never experience problems with the system. Of course we won't!

I can't tell you how happy I am to have the amazing dish system! Not only did it come with, of course, a DISH, but it has additional bonus features that have me twittering (but not Tweeting) with excitement. I'm thrilled by the 180 or so extra feet of thick black cording attached to each of our three TV's, which I plan to twist into festive shapes for the Hannukah/Christmas season. A few twists here and there, a little glitter on top, and Martha Stewart will be taking photos for her next holiday issue. Did I mention the three black boxes? One can never have enough black boxes.

The icing on the cake, as it were, is a feature that is truly amazing: we have three new remote controls (or "flickers", as they are known in the Potts' household), one for each TV set! Yes! Anyone reading this surely is sobbing with envy at the thought of yet ANOTHER set of remote control gizmos to add to the ever-growing collection of same. And I haven't mentioned the most exciting aspect of the bonus feature... in at least two of the three TV scenarios, the new remote doesn't actually turn the power on or off...we get to use one of our other remotes to power the TVs on or off; or, even more amazingly, we can go to the TVs themselves and press a button that will do the same thing. THEN we can use the remote/flicker that Direct TV provided to change channels. Wow. We've come a long way, baby.

Larry/Dad/Paco just called upstairs to me to tell met that the Weather Channel is unbelievable in high-definition. Well, with 1080 (or is that 10-80?) pixels vertical, how could you expect anything less? I should run downstairs and watch. This could be my big chance to convert to Highdefinitionism.

**Let it snow!**

Hannah, you might want to know that it *s*n*o*w*e*d* in MN yesterday! While your grumpy grandma wasn't happy about it at first, after she thought about how you and your cousins will enjoy playing in the snow, it didn't seem so irritating anymore! Bring warm clothes when you come in a few weeks!

Ethan and Owen

Just because I'm posting some cute pictures doesn't mean I'm back from blog vacation. It just means that you shouldn't miss out on adorable baby pictures.

Ethan, with a cross between his crinkly smile and mild irritationA bit too serious

Ethan, surrounded by more gadgets than he knows what to do with!

Another serious look.

Lucky head rub

Gma and Owen looking at pictures on the computer

Owen, feeling poorly but being sweet

Owen posing with Gpa

Owen, snoozing

Pause...hiatus...time-out

I'm taking a vacation from blogging for a bit. The Muse of the Blogosphere isn't doing much to inspire me, so I'll entertain myself by reading other people's blogs, and you can do the same.

In the meantime, Happy Belated Birthday to Angie, Happy Birthday (tomorrow) to Miles, Happy Thanksgiving to All, and Happy Upcoming Birthday to Annie.

Come and get it!

Mr. Wolf's Eye-talian meatloaf was on the menu for supper tonight. Dad/Paco/Larry/Mr. Wolf created his signature dish years ago, but rarely prepares it anymore. It's a dang shame because he makes a mean meatloaf.

Whenever I ask Mr. Wolf what's in the meatloaf he says it's a secret--which is exactly what he said tonight. I'm all for recipes that are so special the creator won't share the ingredients, but when I hear "It's a secret," I think back to Bessie Jacobs, our neighbor on Chatham Street (may she rest in peace). Bessie often made kolakys (pronounced "ko LACH kees), a Czech pastry filled with cooked apricots or prunes or poppy seeds (poppa seeds, in Bessie's words). Sometimes when I asked Bessie what was in a particular batch of kolackys, she'd respond, "It's a secret. I cleaned out the refrigerator today," implying all sorts of disgusting possibilities.

Mr. Wolf assured me that his secret ingredients were herbs that we have in the cupboard, that I use myself in cooking. What a relief! If you're interested in enjoying Mr. Wolf's Eye-talian Meatloaf, make a reservation and he'll be happy to serve you!

Happy Birthday Grandpa Charlie

A good-sized contingent of Reps relatives joined forces today to wish CReps a happy 86th birthday. We're fortunate to have such a terrific dad/grandpa/great-grandpa who doesn't mind the craziness when a mob descends on him to celebrate.

Present at the birthday festivities were Mark ; Karla & Paul; Aunt Marguerite; Charlie, Angie, Ethan, & Owen; Annie, Tanner, & Miles, and also Larry/Paco/Dad/Grandpappy and yours truly. Missing and missed were Mary Jo (who called this afternoon); Elisabeth, Evan, & Hannah (who called this morning and sang "Happy Birthday" to GGpa Charlie); Kathy, Jamie, Oksana, Max & Yana (who are together in Washington, DC); and Mike & Margot (whose toilet woes prevented them from traveling).

I expected everyone else to take pictures so I only managed to take these few today. If anyone else has pics to share, please send.

Great Uncle Mark playing with Ethan

GGpa Charlie and Owen share an inside joke

Ethan showing GGpa Charlie how to stretch out and relax

GGpa Charlie, Owen, Miles & Annie

Grandpa Larry telling a worried Owen
about the financial complexities of retirement

Hello, Jerry

Dad/Larry/Paco/Grandpappy and I spent the evening at the Orpheum theater in Mpls laughing at Jerry Seinfeld. The Orpheum is a smaller venue than Northrup Auditorium, which is where we saw him previously. I suppose I could be lying about that, but we were in the balcony at the Orpheum and viewed Jerry and his props--a stool, a bottle of water, and a glass--perfectly fine.

I wish I could re-create Seinfeld's humor for you to enjoy, but really, you had to be there. A few of his bits were similar to the show we saw before, but since we hadn't heard the jokes in five years, they were equally funny. He opened by remarking on how amazing it was that in spite of everyone having busy lives, doing a variety of things all day long, we all managed to get to this place at this time to sit in these seats to watch him perform. I'm guessing at least half of the audience was stuck on 394 in 10mph traffic like we were, which made getting there even more astounding!

As anyone reading this who appreciates Seinfeldian humor knows, he's all about the ordinary and the mundane. Last night he painted a picture of himself as a guy who disdains fancy restaurants that get rave reviews from people who tell him, "You should go. You'd love it," and where the snooty wait-staff flaunts cooking terms like walnut-encrusted and infusion. He prefers to go to places that are deemed to have "pretty good food" instead. Just what you'd expect from a guy who used to eat here:

Other topics that made us laugh were Seinfeld's insights on commercials, Home Depot, cell phones, and being a husband and dad. Seinfeld came out on stage for a brief encore to answer questions from the audience, and of course did his great "Hello, Newman" sneer.

We sized up the audience as being mostly people between 35 and 50, with some younger and some old like us. One couple sitting in the row in front of us thought they were at a love-in, so that was somewhat distracting.

I've checked around for reviews of the performance, but since there are two more shows tonight I imagine the Sunday Trib will be the place to look. Anyone who watched/watches the Seinfeld sitcom would have to love seeing him on stage. We sure did!