Amusing Notes

It's so cold...so very very ten-below zero not including that nasty wind cold. And if your company has several thousand people, an almost phobic mistrust of parking lots, and you eat breakfast with a late riser, the walk in from the middle of third lot (where you feel elated that your Focus fits nicely in a spot no one else could manage to fit so you don't have to park in a fourth overflow lot even further out) feels like something out of To Build a Fire.

On to stories that have nothing to do with the cold:

• My brother's friend, a financial advisor, called me yesterday. He did the normal chatting up the potential customer schtick, and asked what Pooteewheet does. I said we had started her up with her own private practice in therapy. Response: "Massage therapy?" That is so not Pooteewheet that it's funny. And I never would have guessed someone (particularly someone who wants my money) would have immediately went there rather than the minimum, "What kind of therapy" where you could at least misconstrue it as CBT, or "for soliders", or "child" or something. I sent Pooteewheet an email about it and she replied that happy endings are indeed extra.
• I walked into the bathroom at work today and one urinal was almost full to the top with what was obviously coffee. The first thought that came to mind was, "I've never had quite that much!"
• I went to Curious George with Eryn and Pooteewheet today. Can someone explain to me why Maggie, the love interest for Ted, the man in the yellow hat, has feet so small they're barely as long as her calves? Is it some sort of nouveau footbinding statement? And it really seems like her feet and ankles change sizes everytime she's on the screen. It was seriously distracting. Eryn liked the movie, although she hasn't quite mastered whispering.
• Ok, one funny story to do with the weather. In my inbox, regarding today's group bicycling ride for my Minnesota-based bike club: "FEB 17 FRI 2:00PM SPRING'S JUST AROUND THE CORNER is canceled due to weather". No shit. I think my bike is currently frozen to the rafters in the garage.
• A word of warning - bouncing off sofa cushions on the floor can result in bouncing directly into inconviently placed objects like the grilled door of the puppy kennel. Pooteewheet says this is "learning by consequences" so having an official phrase for it makes it a growth experience. My mother used to highlight these sorts of things by adding, "Did you learn anything?", just in case we weren't aware we had hoisted our own petard.