Last Christmas...

(This is one of my favorite pictures for many reasons. 1) My sister and I are SO stylin' 2) I have the chubbiest cheek smile going on and 3) Apparently at this point in the Christmas festivities I decided that I was going to sit in the new stroller for my baby... if you look closely you can see that I am sitting on top of the baby.) Yep, the baby doll mother of the year award goes to me!

I think it's funny some of the things that we carry over from our childhood. For me it is the little things, like Stella D'oro breakfast treats when my stomach is upset (this was my mom's cure-all treatment for an upset stomach), coordinating pajama's for my mom, sister and I at the holidays, and lyrics to songs. Lyrics to songs?? What? Did you read that right? Yep, I find that since I was little I have never questioned 5 year old Katie's translations of songs, which leads to some pretty funny mix-ups. My all time favorite is associated with a Christmas classic, Wham's "Last Christmas."

And yes, I do think that it is a classic. I think that another thing I carried over from my childhood is my taste in Christmas music. Little Katie enjoyed all songs that had enough of a beat to allow me to run around the house "dancing" and trying to get my cat to dance with me. We had this fantastic layout when I was little where there was basically a track through the middle of the house. You could start running in the living room, go through the kitchen, the dinning room and the foyer and end up back in the living room. Lucky for my parents I did this quite often and for quite long periods of time. I am sure they enjoyed it.

Anyways, back to Wham. At some point during the holiday season last year I stopped to actually listen to the words as opposed to mindlessly repeating what I have had stored away in my brain and I realized that I had made a mistake in my 5 year old translation. The part of the song that actually goes, "This year, to save me from tears, I'll give it to someone special," I had, up until last year, sung along singing "This year, to semi frontiers..." What? To semi frontiers?!?!? Yeah, I can't explain my reasoning, that would require a time machine, but I bet I would have a pretty good explanation.

Since this discovery, I have started to pay a bit more attention to the songs I am singing and have found some other funny gems (I think everyone should pay close attention to Lily Allen's "Not Fair." It was huge this summer in Italy, and I am guessing they didn't really get the translation either, or there would have been more laughs.).

Here are a few of the Ogden girl Christmas photo classics to brighten up your Christmas week:

I can't explain what we are doing here. We are on the mantle (which was also our "stage") and I suppose I was so incredibly happy with something that I needed to use my hands to get the most out of my smile. Perhaps I was super excited about my little house on the prairie dress? I hope not. (the haircut will have to be explained at another time)

I include this photo not only to show off my awesome wheels, but to also showcase my sister's range of smiles. For those of you that are not experts in the translation of Kelly smiles, this one is a hybrid between "you caught me doing something I wasn't supposed to be doing" and "I am still contemplating how to finish what it was you caught me doing." The worried look on my face makes me worry for what happens next. :-) Just kidding Kelly!

This is a testament to my ability to spot the creepy guys in places. I guess it was a talent I picked up early, I mean look at that Santa's face... Creepy!! Also, my mom is rocking the Farrah Fawcett hair! Bravo mom!

Every Christmas that included My Little Pony's as a gift is worth a cheesy smile! :-)

This is, by far, my favorite Christmas picture ever! It is photographic evidence of "we woke up too early and have hit a wall". I can almost hear my parents giggling as they took this.

This may not be "Christmas" (however, the inclusion of a sweatshirt does mean we were in the "cold season" in Florida), but this is one of my favorite pictures of Kelly and I, and it gives you a visual of the kitchen to dining room turn of my "track" that I mentioned earlier.

And we end with a sweet one. My sister and I on our first Christmas together. And yes, we are wearing matching dresses... as a matter of fact we decided to revive that tradition this year, so if you see us on Christmas Eve take notice! (we did decide to opt for different colors of the same dress, but it still counts!)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!! STAY SAFE!

Is it really a good thing?

The Holidays are upon us, bringing us packed parking lots, screaming children and way too many get togethers with people we enjoy not having to see the rest of the year. However, this is not a gripe about the holiday kind of post, in spite of all the craziness I actually enjoy the holidays. It is the one time of the year that I get to see my sister with any regularity, and lots of friends that I don't get too see to often I get to see now.

The purpose of this post is to explain my problem with one thing, one person, one woman in particular.... who???.... who else, Martha Stewart. I started my friendship with Martha Stewart at a young age, I was that girl that really did want to make pies from scratch, etc. One year when I was about 13 all I wanted for Christmas was a stand mixer and some other baking accessories. When K-Mart started carrying Martha Stewart items I was in heaven, I too could own all of the many items that she used to make her house and projects perfect.

My parents never minded because I would end up reorganizing their linen closets, pantry, etc following the "rules" set forth by Martha. However, overtime our friendship became strained. It started with small things, you know me not thinking that hand washing a sweater utilizing 3 sinks and about 10 towels was worth it. Then I started to find some of her craft ideas either unattainable for me or flat out ridiculous. As the years passed I started to realize that Martha was evil. She presented a view of life that was completely impossible for the normal person, and yet she mocked us for not attaining it.

Our final falling out occurred when she went to Camp Cupcake. I can't say I care about why she was in jail, but I enjoyed having a real reason to not like her.

I have managed to keep my Martha annoyance to a minimum and avoid her. I find her daughter's new show hilarious and watch "Whatever Martha" whenever I come across it. I have to admit I probably wouldn't mind the person, but I do mind the brand that is Martha Stewart.

Sadly all of my tactics that I have in place to avoid Ms. Stewart cannot safeguard me forever. The other night I ate a dove chocolate and was eagerly waiting to see what kind of wisdom the Dove promises would impart on me (for those of you that don't know, Dove promises are little sayings on the inside of the wrapper) when I saw the following:
"Turn old toys into nostalgic ornaments. Martha Stewart" WHAT???

What on Earth were the good people at Dove chocolates thinking when they decided to use Martha Stewart as the Promise writer for the holidays?? Obviously they weren't thinking too clearly. When the holidays come women typically resort to the Dove chocolates when they have hit their limit. This typically occurs on the night when the presents have to be wrapped following a day of shopping for last minute gifts all while mentally preparing for all the things to come the following day. This is when someone will reach for the chocolate, when their Christmas is spiraling out of control, and WHO is going to comfort them??? Martha? Nope, she is going to taunt them. Why didn't they think to grab Timmy's old radio flyer and tie it to the tree? That's what Martha would do.

So yes, Martha is back on my naughty list. Not so much for me, but for the wellbeing of all people everywhere this holiday season. :-)

Freakin' Cold Runnings

I know I have been neglecting you, I am a horrible blog mother. The only real "excuse" I have is that I haven't been doing much. I finished up my thesis, went to visit some family in New Jersey, and went to the Art Basel fair in Miami. I suppose any of these things could have been blogged about, but I have become horrible at taking pictures and figuring out what is worthy to post, so I apologize. However since it is the season to be giving I have not come to this post empty handed. Sadly, I did not get you all that luxury car you have been lusting after, or the blueray player, or the Jimmy Choo's, but what I did get you is a new blog format.

I realize that if I use my Amelia adventures as the benchmark of whether to post or not, I will never post again. I mean Amelia is like when Dorothy woke up in Oz in pure technicolor glory, and now that I am back in black and white on the farm how can it ever compare? So, I have decided to share with you some of the random thoughts that come in my head to see what you all have to say about them. I encourage participation (and if you are anything like my students, by saying this I have just cut participation down to about 2% of people) so please feel free to post your ideas too.

So yes, my Christmas gift to all of you is a peek into my mind and the odd things that run around inside there. :-)

Having spent some time in the North recently (where all of my friends and family could see what a wimp I am when it comes to cold weather) I understand that there are a lot of things about cold weather that I just don't understand. I don't understand how to dress warm. In Florida you can buy sweaters, sure you can! However, the purpose of the sweaters you can buy here is fashion, plain and simple, not warmth. So I get very confused when trying to amend my Florida wardrobe for Northern temperatures. I know, LAYER, and believe me I do, but it is still a trifle hard to pack within the 50lb limit and bring everything I need to layer.

Moving on. This is not something I don't understand, but something I do find worth noting, the igloos in all towns near the major highways that have salt in them. I know you need to have salt to de-ice the roads, but igloos of salt look weird to me, the out of town guest. I always wonder if there is a equivalent to the igloos in Florida... is there something that doesn't even make it on my radar that you guys would say, hey screw our igloos you guys have __________? I wonder.

Next, how do you stop your nose from running? ALL THE TIME!?!!?! And more importantly why does the nose start running when it is cold, when you are outside with gloves on, and when you really can't find a lady-like way of holding a tissue because you have gloves on and they aren't allowing you the typical dexterity you enjoy without gloves???

I could go on for days, but I will stop here and try to focus on why I started this rant. Again, I know there are a lot of things about cold weather that I just don't get, but can anyone explain to me why there is always a lone jogger whenever pictures of record snowfalls are recorded?? I would like to direct your attention to the photo above. That was taken this morning in Wisconsin and smack dab in the middle of the photo is a jogger. What are they thinking? Is this some kind of extreme sport I don't know about? Do news trucks employ joggers to make their snowy photos more interesting? And more importantly how does one jog in temperatures like that? My throat starts to burn when it gets in the 50's.

Maybe it's something I don't understand at all... maybe because you can't drive until they plow the roads this person is merely trying to be a good employee and get to work? Maybe they are training for a triathlon in the arctic circle?

So there you have it, the first peek into the mind of Katie, I'd like to welcome you and ask that you keep your hands to yourself and don't touch anything, we don't know how stable this brain of mine is. :-)