Aliya and I went to Disney on Ice with Michelle and Erin G. and Erin’s Brownie troop. The girls were enthralled with the show, and Michelle and I spent the time pondering the big questions – How are they driving the cars around on the ice? Is there someone in the car or is it remote control? Does the fairy godmother floating above the ice get paid less because she doesn’t have to skate, or more because she has to fly? Do the male skaters holding the women up in the air ever do anything inappropriate?

The only negative was that now Aliya wants to join the Brownies. I’ll be building forts out of matchsticks and sewing on patches in my free time.

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I used my new video editing skills (I use the term “skills” loosely) to make this video birthday card. We hope you like it Grandma Ginny!

For the rest of you…if you get bored with the cake-cutting, skip to the dancing scenes at the end.

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My old friend and coworker, Steve Poe, sent me this photo today. It was taken on May 30, 2005, of Cullen (my coworker Michele’s son), Evan (Steve’s son), and Aliya. I just LOVE the expression on her face! We were at Cullen’s birthday party and I have no idea what her problem was, but she looks so much like Norah. I think if a handsome older boy had his arm around her today she’d have a different expression, but at the age of 3 1/2 she just wasn’t that into him.
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I would normally poo-poo a convenience food like this but I have to admit, I actually like Bagel-fuls, which are frozen bagels with cream cheese inside. Here’s why:

1) They look like Twinkies so eating them feels *naughty*, especially for breakfast.
2) The kids and Ben don’t like the chive version, so I always know how many mornings I can feed myself before I have to make a run to Stop & Shop.
3) They take about a minute total – I toast them on the light setting and then put them in the microwave for 20 seconds. I can have a hot breakfast ready in half the time it takes the kids to get their seatbelts buckled.
4) I don’t have to worry about cutting myself while hacking through a frozen bagel. Spoiled cream cheese and freezer-burned bagels are no longer on my worry-list. I won’t ever get stuck with an old blueberry bagel again.
5) They have 200 calories and 4 grams of fat (2.5 grams saturated fat). A Dunkin Donuts sesame bagel with plain cream cheese has 560 calories and 22 grams of fat (9.5 grams saturated fat). I think I just heard Helga pass out. We also need to consider the fact that since I’m not going through the DD drive-thru to get a bagel, I’m also not buying a caramel latte or stealing a couple of the kids’ munchkins. 360 calories saved x 365 days in a year = 131,400 calories / year. If a reduction of 3,500 calories = 1 pound, that’s 37 pounds. I’ll be ready for ce-ment pond season in no time.
6) They cost less than half the price of a bagel with cream cheese from the DD drive-thru.
7) Call me crazy but I think they taste pretty good, particularly when you factor in the convenience, cost, and reduced calories and fat. Don’t knock ’em till you try ’em. And if you don’t like them, I’ll take the rest of the box off your hands.
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