New Year, New Stuff

This is out of order since I haven't posted the Christmas happenings yet, but who cares?  I got this post done, so I'm posting it.

For New Years I went and hung out with some friends that you're probably familiar with by now.  If you aren't familiar, then you aren't much of a follower of this blog.  I went back over to the cheesy state and hung out with Jax, Bex, and Jenx.  Here are the highlights:

1. Besides eating snacks, we spent a lot of time playing games.  Like a lot a lot.  We played Rage, Monopoly Deal, Qwirkle, Settlers of Catan, Scrabble, and Split.  We played some of them more than once.  Everybody won at least one or two of the games, so there wasn't too much pouting and crying.
2. In fact, there was very little crying.  We spent a lot of time laughing.  Let's just say that I like these friends because they laugh at my odd jokes and physical humor, which only eggs me on.  And sometimes they just laugh at me.  That's OK - I'm happy to be of comic relief service.
3. You may not know this, but I'm kind of a singer.  I'm not professional by any means because I don't really sing in public.  But when I'm amongst friends and family, I can't keep from singing along to whatever music is playing.  If there's no music coming from the speakers, then I sing along with the music in my head.  So anyway, I was singing a certain song for a bit that earned me the nickname "Meline Dion".  Hopefully that one doesn't stick too hard.
4. After SM meeting on Sunday, I was accused of being a social butterfly, which is definitely a new label for me.  This is the same friend who said I was a better conversationalist than her.  She must see a different side of me than I see when I look in the mirror.  Maybe she's seeing my back side.  :-P
5.  Saturday was jam-packed with stuff.  I'm not sure I'll have a enough bullets/numbers to contain it all.  I did purchase some new socks.  So far the only hole in those pairs is the one where your leg sticks out.
6. We made a stop by REI, one of my most favorite places to shop.  I only bought a couple pairs of Smart Wool socks, but I came really close to buying a new pair of hiking boots.  Like I said before, shoe maven.  And, I spent a lot of time drooling on all the outdoor gear.
7. Next stop:  Penzey's, the makers of spices.  That sure was a place to do some sniffing.  I tried to sniff every sample spice jar in the place, but I wasn't quite able to before my olfactory nerves burned out.  I asked the people there how you're supposed to cleanse your nose pallet, but they didn't know.  Also of interest was the "rodeo" smelling spice.  You think that's animal manure, dirt, popcorn, and cotton candy you smell at the rodeo?  Think again.....the bratwurst seasoning smelled exactly like rodeo.  Just some food for thought.....
8. Cubanitas.  Guess what kind of food they served?  We ordered (and ate) a wide variety of plantains, somewhat by accident.  It's a long story that I won't get into here.
9. Harlem Globetrotters - I had never seen them before.  It's a good show.  A little basketball, many dunks and tricks, and a lot of comedy.
10. Ice skating in downtown MKE.  The rink wasn't real big and the number of people was very large, but I still enjoyed taking some circles on the ice for more than half an hour.  I really enjoy ice skating, and I don't think I had been for a couple years.  It was good to strap the ol' skates on again.  Speaking of that, a long time ago when I moved out, I "permanently borrowed" my dad's ice skates (with his permission).  They're still the ones I use.  I was thinking yesterday that ironically I could more easily share shoes with my dad than my mom.
11. I ate poffertjes for the first time.  They are excellent with fresh fruit.  I didn't try them with the traditional powdered sugar.
12. I learned I have a monotone phone voice.  No wonder all those people at work fall asleep in my FMEA phone teleconferences!
13. Special meeting.  Like usual, it was special.  We heard a lot about being prepared for things God might ask us to do.
14. I went all out and ordered the filet mignon at Emily's.  Very delicious.
15. Speaking of food, we had delicious egg souffle with bacon for breakfast!

All that's left are the pictures.  One for each of us.

I call it "the joy of ice skating".

Jax demonstrates that she is literally a cheese head.

Jenx cheesing in the cheesy state.

Mel in Boots - more on that in a separate post in the next week.  This was after climbing Mount Patty O'Furniture.