Monday, March 31, 2008

Live and Learn



Things I Learned at the Cottage This Weekend


1. You do not walk on the seemingly frozen lake at this time of year. The ice is melting.

2. Three women are perfectly capable of pushing a car out of a snow bank and clear of the sheet of ice that caused the skid into said snow bank. (Next time bring salt.)

3. Sadly, some birds mistook the windows at the front deck for an area of clear sailing and met their demise. This feathery discovery was made by my friend who has a fear of birds (ornithophobia).

4. A monarch butterfly can survive a winter in an unheated porch. (How?)

5. The mice at the cottage are stupid. They do not get into the food but attempted to eat some of the decorative wooden beads on a sunhat.

6. (And speaking of stupid…) When imbibing wine and then pausing to do shooters, it is best to stop after two shooters if one continues with the wine. (Best for me, anyway.)

7. It is wonderful when your sister owns a latte machine. (Good morning!)

8. You do not get the full visual effect of Earth Hour at the cottage. There weren’t any lights to be seen outside before Earth Hour took place. (But our candlelight hour was lovely.)


P.S. The out-of-focus photo is of the above-mentioned butterfly and that is NOT a wine stain on the cushion.

21 comments:

PG said...

I hope you didn't learn #1 by experience.

Re: 4 - this may show my ignorance about butterflies...but may it survived in the cacoon form until very recently.

#8 - I didn't get much of a visual effect on Earth Hour in the city either. Looking out my windows, there were a lot of light on.

Sherry said...

You had a WONDERFUL time from the sound of this....just what you needed...okay, so the shooters post wine and then more wine may not have been THE single most intelligent thing to do -- but correct me if I'm wrong, isn't that what these type of weekends are for?!? Yeah Megan for having a latte machine!!!!!

Attila the Mom said...

Hehehe. How's your head after the shooters and wine? ;-)

megan said...

You forgot to mention the killer dance moves! And the laughs - the many, many laughs. Here's to giving our livers a wee rest....

Mrs. G. said...

Glad you had a latte to clear away the morning cobwebs. All of this (except for the mice) sounds great to me.

The Guy Who Writes This said...

Beth + Shooters is something I figured wouldn't go together.

Beth said...

psychgrad:
Re: #1 - Fortunately, my son warned me via a phone call before I tested the ice.
As for the butterfly, perhaps you're right but I'm wondering what it's going to do now?

sherry:
It was exactly the kind of weekend I needed - shooters and all!

attila:
The morning after - slightly queasy stomach, head fine. (Lucky me.)

megan:
Yeah, the laughs! My main goal accomplished. (Thanks, kid.)

mrs. g.:
It was all great - and I'm okay with signs of mice, just don't like seeing them live and active.

guy:
Glad I was able to surprise you!
(To be honest - Beth + Shooters is a rare occurrence.)

Shari said...

I am glad you guys had fun. Monarch didn't migrate? Hmmm.

Who tried walking on the ice? Who was the "ladiest" of you all? As in "ladies first?" Hee.

I will heed that advice about mixing wine with shooters (I love jello shots).

Did someone say "Latte"? I could go for a Chai latte right now.

Xavier Macia said...

Sounds about perfect. Maybe the monarch was doing shooters too, a little anti-freeze. What on earth is earth hour?

Nomad said...

HOw wonderful Beth!
I am glad you ha a super time, friends, salve for the soul...

Got it BTW...gosh your kids are cute...

Beth said...

shari:
We really did have a wonderful time. Don't worry about mixing shooters with wine - it doesn't make you feel sick. It's just that you feel the effects of those shooters - fast.

oreneta:
Maybe I should have left a (full) shot glass for the monarch - what's he/she going to survive on?
Earth Hour - All over the world (different time zones, of course) everyone was to turn their lights off for an hour. Purpose - to raise awareness re: energy conservation. Maybe next year for you?

nomad:
Friends are definitely salve for the soul.
(Glad it arrived in one piece!)

Anonymous said...

Sounds like the perfect time at cabin. Lots of laughs, lots of mysteries and lots of women proving their um..survial skills. Thank God for wine, shooters and lattes!! They all go hand in hand.

For mice, blast the place with those bounce dryer sheets. I swear it works, they hate them. It works at our cabin, it was amazing.

Unknown said...

So when you got loaded, were you tempted to write a blog post? What would it be like if you did?

Beth said...

eileen:
Thank you! I'll try them. I hate setting traps.

dorky dad:
Never even crossed my mind. Next time (next time??) perhaps I'll give it a try. Might be the best post I ever write.

Sornie said...

I have to ask if the lake ice got the best of you.

Shari said...

Oh, speaking of Earth Hour, I was googling for some homework research and Google is always white, but it was all black, background and all, in honor of Earth Hour. Pretty cool.

Ed & Jeanne said...

Could have been worse, you could have slid on the ice onto the cracking frozen lake ice to avoid the moth and have lost the latte machine and wine...

Anonymous said...

Lattes? Wine? Shooters? Butterflies? Mice? I'm so jealous!! But I'm also very, very happy for you. Sounds like you had a much-deserved fabulous time. You must do that more often. (And perhaps pack me in your suitcase the next time).

Lainey-Paney said...

mmmm...lattes & wine & a cottage get-away.
sounds good.

Angel said...

what a terrific time you had!!! Just what you needed, huh?...you are blessed.

Angela said...

YAY for the cottage! I totally cringed for you, though, at the walking-on-the-lake and car-getting-stuck points. Sounds like the rest of the weekend made up for it. Good for you! (And yes, the shooter rule is an excellent one to keep in mind! Me, too!)