Power Outage Results Are In

Power Outage = Hours of Poutage

Last night's storm took out one of our tree limbs...





...and it took the fence panel that shields us from neighboring Section Eightage, also some of our, ahem, dangling siding, and the most tragic: our electricity!

Thankfully it came back this afternoon, but gawd is there anything worse than sobbing with your child because none of you can understand why you can't watch the Toy Story VHS. We were a mess, an electricity-deprived mess. But not anymore, welcome back Power, you soft and velvety glow of life!!!

Ed. Note: Actually, it wasn't so bad. The power went out late, Jimmy was already sleeping, Hubby and I actually got a conversation in and I'm still congratulating myself for scaring him with a Hitchcocky "Good Eev-en-ing" when he came home to complete darkness. Waking up the storm was gone, Jimmy and I went to the mall and by the time we came home the power was back. It was scary though, there were many detours and collapsed trees in the area, we are thankful to be safe and sound. Now, how we're going to get that broken limb down...

January is for Indoors

Today we decided to check out the new Greenlight Studios, which is basically an indoor playground and cafe for we who live in northern weatheralia.

Unsurprisingly, Jimmy headed straight for the train table.





He later very surprisingly placed a hat on his own head. And kept wearing it! Giddy up!





Along with the hat, he also enjoyed a blueberry smoothie off the menu. There may appear to be few children in the photos but there was a constant healthy mix of kids the entire 2.5 hours we were there. The staff and other parents were very nice, all the wee ones respected each other (2 girls were pretty patient with Jimmy during an extended episode of hesitance on top of the slide), and aside from my coffee tasting like a blend of lukewarm water and tannis root, we'd have to give Greenlight Studios a GO.

Travels to Northern Internetia

Who woulda thunk a place like arctic Nunavut, Canada would have such a thriving blog scene that it warranted its own yearly awards, The Nunies.



Glancing over some of these blogs I couldn't help but notice that it's only 11 months to Christmas, and the blog Trials, Tribulations, and Toques led me to the image of one uniquely awesome nativity scene:


Take the Polar Express to the Brrrrrr-irth!

A long list of Nunavut bloggers can be found here.

South of the border, I'm trying to decide whether Jimmy and I will bite the wallet and pay a vi$it to the new Greenlight Studio tomorrow. Only time, and my budget, will tell...

Bicycles

...are for summer. Icicles are for winter!





We spend a lot of time inside these days. Today, I attempted to resort my coupon stack.



I'm not done yet.

Like mother, like son:



I remember being little and going once-around an apple but refused to go further. Jimmy is the same way with pears, as resulted by screaming when asked if he was going to go for round 2.

Winter Movies

The snow's abund-y and the icicles are a-hangin' off the bay wind-y which means it's time for MY FAVORITE WINTER MOVIES. The kind of movies that aren't Christmassy and make cameramen go aaarg! (all that blinding white stuff) or just ones I just like to watch beside the woodstove.



Fargo

A no-brainer, the Coen Brothers at their finest, imho. Frances McDormand is awesome, lots of randomly usable quotes ("Heck, I'd go one over prime!") and no other movie has a character like Mike Yanagita.



Groundhog Day

The fact that Andi Macdowell will never be able to act is remarkably unnoticeable when Bill Murray is around. Funny, original, wintry!





Ethan Frome

I suspect no one who read this book in high school ever imagined Maddie's accent to ever (ever) sound like whatever Patricia Arquette is doing with hers, or that her chemistry with Ethan Frome could ever be so hawt! The good people of PBS get all that New England snow smokin', probably my favorite of the winter movies.



Off the Map

I don't think there's any snow or winter in this movie set in New Mexico (Land of Enchantment, as it makes a point of saying), but I often think of it as I'm staring down the fiery hole of my TempWood stove. It's an inspirational story for those interested in living with the land, it makes me happy knowing that some trees, some cast iron, and a couple skills is all we need to keep our home warm in a Maine winter.



Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

If the name "Charlie Kaufman" means anything to you... I have to leave it at that, otherwise I'll go on forever!!! Highly favorited movie.



The Sweet Hereafter

Canadians know how to do winter, and films. This one is anything but cheery, but it has stuck with me for several years. I have reservations about watching it now that Jimmy is here, being the age he is...it's very moving and disturbing. I still recommend it. =D

....and one winter movie I can't recommend:



Alive

UGH!!! I only rented this one due to an unhealthy 1990s obsession with Ethan Hawke. Alive wore me out, I hate that these people had to live through this terrible event, how it got worse before it got better, and I definitely never, ever want to relive it with them ever again! (I felt the exact same way for Cast Away; it seems extreme survival stories are just not my thing.)

Thanks for letting me share My Favorite Winter Movies!

Animal Tracking

Earlier today I went on an animal track expedition. I took a chart and started ID'ing winter footprints in my backyard.



I was surprised who was out there. I found the prints of a fox:



A 3-point gazelle:



The tracks of some sort of badger rumblefight:



Pixar's Mike and Sully:





AND Pixar's Kevin from The Movie Up:





And I love this Kumbaya photo of a collection of prints, tracking in harmony:



I less-than-secretly hope they are marching to tonight's Drink.Rock.Leave. event to see my hunny's band play. Support your local (hus)bands!!!

The 8th of the Month

It's the 8th of the month, the day of trepidation as my fingers boldy address the keyboard while my breaths tread but gingerly as I log into my online banking account, then I cross those fingies in anticipation that the $$$ total of my account is $xxx.xx less than it was the day before. It's the day the mortgage company withdraws our mortgage payment, with escrow, the day my math doesn't bounce, the monthly tradition of breathing a sigh of relief and reassuring myself "they're gonna let us live here for another month."

This month's 8 marks a special occasion, it's the five year anniversary that we bought this house. Happy housey-versary to us!!! 60 payments! Only a mere 300 to go! We are stylin'!!!

To celebrate the Special Day, I found some "BEFORE" photos of the house we bought, and some reasons why we quickly wondered "RALLLLPPPHHH????"









The best (only) compliments we ever got were on the Home Depot general issue front door. Oh yes, our champagne glasses refused to ching that night, instead we founded the anti-ching along with a determination to make things better.

My wonderful husband has worked wonders on this house, a home that keeps presenting me with frequent treasures even today--this evening was the first time it registered in my ickle head that in the non-leafy months we can see The Eastland from the backyard of our urban suburban industrial municipal homestead.



See the red light! It's there. This delights the cosmopolitan cockleparts that still live in my wee heart. Happy Anniversary to us!

Decemberian Updatia

Saturday: Das Global Varming Krisis ist Kaput!





Sunday: Never mind hair on your chest, spaghetti will put SPAGHETTI on your chest.



And speaking of chest, hair, and porkloaf on your face: it's Elvis of the flesh!


Some funny images at first, then bla bla bla until 3:00. Watch! Wa-atch!!! (can also be found here.)


Which brings us to right now, Jimmy is totally jamming out to this:



On Channel 8. Could there be a freakier Christmas special?

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