Make Way For Ducklings...

Or also titled - try to catch one very cold duck...

So this afternoon I happened to walk by the window and notice a duck (yes I said a duck) sitting in the middle of our very busy street.

A guy in a car had given up trying to catch it and drove away. So I called the vet thinking they would help out. I was told that the duck wouldn't survive in the winter conditions on it's own and that I should catch it and bring it in to them. And how do I catch it????

Feeling bad for the duck I put on my shoes and stepped out side to see what I could do. By this time another neighbor was slowing sneaking up on the duck and got within about 2 feet before the duck flew away (it could only fly about 10 yards) So, I get the bright idea to throw a blanket over it to catch it.

Now picture this if you can (and try hard not to laugh at me)...

My neighbor and I are in the middle of Central avenue, sneaking up from opposite sides on a duck. Cars are stopped on either side of us. The neighbor has his hands out in a monster type pose and I have a lightning mcqeen blanket held out ready to throw. Tyler is standing on the corner cheering us on. After about 20 minutes we gave up.

Kurt was on his way home for lunch so I called him and asked him to bring a net home from work if they had one. (I truly think that my husband has decided that I have lost my mind now) Kurt pulls up into the yard (without a net I might add) and finds me trying to coax a duck out from underneath a pontoon boat with bread in one hand and the blanket in the other. He scared the duck who flys out from under the boat and I took a flying leap to try to capture it. All I got was a head full of snow and did my husband help me up?? No, he just laughed...

So needless to say I never did capture the duck to bring the vet. I hope he is warm and happy somewhere, but I sure feel bad that I couldn't help him out. But, at least I gave my neighbors and the cars driving buy a good laugh today.

You Know You're A Minnesota Hockey Mom When...

• You count the days until the temperature hits 32 degrees so you can flood your backyard to create your very own rink
• You paint blue lines in your backyard
• You think the Excel Energy Center is the Taj Mahal of hockey
• You think the Battle Hymn of the Republic was written specifically for Gopher home series sweeps
• Your kids grow up wanting to wear the "M"
• Your kids have destroyed your basement/garage/doors/windows with all those hours of indoor/outdoor hockey at home
• You spend more hours in hockey rinks than you do in your own home
• You cheer a lengthy cycling of the puck
• You cheer a successful penalty kill
• You sarcastically cheer when a ref you swear is out to get your team finally calls a penalty in your team's favor
• You discipline your kids with "minors," "majors" and "misconducts."
• You know where the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame resides
• You know where the world's largest hockey stick resides
• You refuse to say "shutout" until the final horn goes off
• You throw your hat onto the ice after a player on your favorite team scores his/her third goal
• You think there are three periods in basketball
• You may dislike Norm Coleman for a lot of things, but you'll always love him for bringing the NHL back to Minnesota
• You teach your kids the signals for all penalties before you teach them the alphabet
• You use a puck as a paperweight
• You don't even notice the smell of a hockey locker room anymore
• You keep your skates and stick in your car...just in case
• You enjoy the "Mighty Ducks" movies and beem with pride when you recognize locations on the screen
• You can point out all the inaccuracies of the otherwise excellent movie "Miracle"
• Your kids grow their hair so it comes out the sides of their helmet
• You fit your kids for skates the moment they start walking
• You think hockey homework is just as important as school homework
• You consider the state high school tournament days as holidays
• You know the name of the person who sharpens your kids skates
• Your kids play hockey year round
• You take the parents vs. kids games really seriously
• You scout your town's Squirts to see what your high school team will be like in five years or so
• You have searched piles of snow for an errant puck at your local outdoor rink
• You think there's no temperature too cold to lay hockey outside
• Your kids consider the Hanson Brothers major celebrities
• You can instinctively drive to any town's hockey arena
• You specifically shop for boots that can withstand the temperature at the coldest ice arena in the state
• You think the Zamboni is mankind's greatest invention
• You can walk or job on a freshly resurfaced sheet of ice without losing balance at all
• You bought a minivan or SUV for the sole reason that it can hold all your kids' hockey equipment
• You know the arena in the state that serves the best hot chocolate
• You don't find it the least bit ironic that your favorite sport when it's cold outside is played where it's cold inside.

Santa is in my shower...

It's December and Tyler is in full Christmas mode. And that's an understatement!! Tyler has been begging to decorate for Christmas and since we didn't have a tree yet (usually I have it up the weekend after Thanksgiving, but somehow this year time has gotten away from me) I gave him two sets of lights and told him to go decorate his room. He left the living room with the lights and the outdoor plastic Santa that meme gave him.

A while later I got up to go to the bathroom and found this (I really wish my camera had been charged so that you could have had a visual of this)

My bathroom was completely decorated. Strings of lights were wrapped around the faucet, toilet, toilet paper holder, and up over the shower curtain rod.

Behind the green frog shower curtain was a bright glow. Yes - Santa was in the bathtub in all of his Christmas splendor!!

After quite some coaxing Tyler agreed with me that the bathtub was not a place for a light up Santa to stay for the holiday season. The Santa and lights were untangled from the bathroom and brought upstairs to the bedroom and our bathroom is once again free for use.