The other day we had unseasonably warm weather - a record high of 62 degrees by late afternoon. Of course, having such freakish warmth in January generated not only the rapid melting of some 9 inches of snowpack, it also produced an unusual wintertime thunderstorm, complete with driving rains. By late evening our backyard looked like a small lake - although it was actually only low spots in the grass with a few inches of water.

Yesterday the temperatures dipped to "normal" and we even got more snow. And then I got an idea last night while walking the dog and sensing the declining thermometer readings.

I checked the news before bed and sure enough this weekend was predicted to be in the single digits; as I write this entry it is 7.

And as I suspected during my dog walk, the small "pond" in the yard turned into a smooth glaze of ice, just thick enough to support the weight of a certain 5-year old I know.

So I scurried up to the attic and produced a pair of those "kiddie skates" - the double blades set wide apart that strap on to shoes or boots.

I stated to my daughter over breakfast, "What would you think about bundling up and ice skating in the backyard?"

She was perplexed and asked a flurry of questions about the logistics of my proposed activity. But I guess I convinced her well enough to stuff her into a warm snowsuit, layering on a balaclava (ski mask type thing), fleece socks, double-padded mittens and then head outdoors.

Luckily for us, the sunny skies made the otherwise arctic atmosphere bearable, and we had a fun time stumbling about on the ice.

Something of a new "tradition" in my family has transpired over the last few years. Since my daughter's birthday is so soon after Christmas, one of my sisters buys tickets for "Disney on Ice" as her birthday gift which plays around the holidays in Philadelphia. She, my other sister, and sometimes my mom, take the little one to the show either before or after meeting up with the rest of the crew (me, dad, brothers-in-law, etc.). This year, they picked her up early and took her to brunch at the Oregon Diner before the matinee.

Since we are all hooking up in or near Center City, we make it our day to take the annual pilgrimage to Lord & Taylor (formerly Wanamaker's) to see the famous Light Show. Then, we re-assemble at my middle sister's 200-plus year-old "trinity" home (a traditional rowhouse style with living space on three levels) on the edge of South Philly before making our way to a big, boisterous, family dinner at Marra's on Passyunk Avenue.

(NB: If you click the links to the Oregon Diner or Marra's reviews, you'll get a chuckle courtesy of one of my middle sister's best buddies, Lauren, a fellow restaurant reviewer.)

I need to locate some other VERY amusing South Philly photos we shot that night (thanks to digtal cameras and a little chianti) but here are some pics of the sisters and me convening at Marra's, right before the escarole soup arrived.

And, yes, although you can't *quite* tell in the pics, we are a blonde, a redhead, and a dark brunette...I have grey-blue eyes and freckles, middle sis has aqua-blue eyes and peachy skin, and baby sister has almost-black hair (naturally!), hazel eyes, and a rosy hue. (But of course we all have nearly IDENTICAL voices.) My sisters are the GREATEST!

Well yesterday I got my new-ish (well, new to me, that is) laptop; my old one was first ghosted then reformatted and fixed up so that my little one would have her own machine for all the various kindergarden-level PC games she got for Christmas. My clever and cautious husband also set up a proxy server on one of our machines here, and that functions as a super-mega-Internet filter for her machine so that she is limited to venture only to specific sites (NickJr.com, PBSKids.com, etc.) that he's setup for her.

Of all of the gifts I received over the holidays...

...the most puzzling would have to be the carefully bubble-wrapped package mailed to my husband and me from my mother-in-law.

She sent us a framed photographic portrait of HERSELF. In an appliqued and beaded sweater, no less.

Now, I could see if it was for my daughter or something, but she sent it to US!  It now resides in the depths of my china cabinet, ready to be pulled out and displayed when she visits.

Just a quick update and a big HELLO to everyone in blogsville.

I hope everyone had a happy and safe holiday week. My husband very smartly planned our road trip to avoid all frozen precipitation so we made great time and actually breezed though those 770-some miles each way with relative ease.

I have many pictures to post but hubby hasn't uploaded them to our server yet as he's been busy putting some of his new (gift) power tools and handyman accessories to use fixing up this and that aound the house.

Speaking of gifts, he overwhelmed me with EVERYTHING on my Target.com "wish list" that he had shipped to my parents' house. Nothing says "thoughtful" than a man repeatedly clicking the ADD TO CART button 15 times in a row. hehehe.

One of the gift I received (which was on my "wish list" and so I was NOT insulted to receive it) is a electronic scale/body fat monitor, which seems to work very well. In fact, according to my new "toy", I manged to not gain any weight over the holidays. Now that is certainly a gift in and of itself!

Well, I am feeling a bit harried as my husband called this morning to inform me that we'd be leaving asap this afternoon for our road trip to Philly (instead of tomorrow) due to snow across Indiana and Ohio.

I have now been requested by two bloggers to complete one of these quizzes that I find to be akin to a chain letter about angel kisses or needles in the McDonald's playland. But to be a good sport, and yet NOT to lie (I am wholly against outright lying, if it can be helped) I complete this little ditty partly in the form of lighthearted parody, partly in utter truth. The challenge for you is to determine which is which.  Some answers (the truthful ones, that is) may surprise you. Enjoy!

3 names you go by:  'MommyCanIUseYourComputer', 'HiHo', 'Yo, Adrian!'

I am now heavy-hearted after learning that one of our prized Christmas traditions will not be around this year.

... and as I promised soswryter and Lyly, who both noted, vis-a-vis an internet quiz, their interest in nude bathing at a European beach, I offer the following joke:

Q: Why don't women drink beer at the beach?

A: They don't want to get sand in their Schlitz!

What's likely even more humorous than this goony joke is that I told it to my dear great Uncle George (my grandmother's brother-in-law) when I was three years old. He laughed his porkpie hat off! My mother was mortified.