I'm dreaming of a White Christmas

"Lake effect snows occur when a mass of sufficiently cold air moves over a body of warmer water, creating an unstable temperature profile in the atmosphere."

In other words, we've got snow. Lots of snow. This is what yesterday looked like - all day.


And this is today. Yes, that snow is almost over Kip's head. Thank the Flying Spaghetti Monster for neighbours with snow blowers - I was only out for an hour shoveling, instead of 2!


Kip learned he can walk on water though - as long as the water is frozen, and only 3 paws are down at any one time.



I however, cannot walk on water, frozen or not. Yes, that is my knee.


The good news? The days are now officially getting longer, which is good - gives me more time to shovel...


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New Christmas traditions...

Once upon a time, a couple got married. One present they got was a wall clock, such as never has been seen before. It was heart-shaped shiny gold-coloured plastic, with a mirrored background. In one "lobe" of the heart, there was the actual clock. In the other "lobe", was a peacock. The best part - around the rim were mini-lights, just like the ones you use to decorate at Christmas. Multi-coloured Christmas lights. Why the fact that they were multi-coloured makes this clock even better, in a "OMG-that's-tacky" sort of way, I don't know. But to me, the multi-coloured lights were the straw that broke the peacock's tail.

Being a couple with good taste and an even better sense of humour, they didn't put the clock up on the wall. Instead, it was passed to each family member who subsequently got married. In this manner, the clock passed down to friends of mine, where it provided many moments of laughter and incredulousness (you mean there is really a factory where they make these?? Really?? And a store that sells them? And people who buy them????), until the day came for them to pass it along to the next lucky couple.

In that spirit, another friend bought a Christmas ornament for me last year. This shall be passed between the group of us, hopefully providing years of laughter and shared memories, and really, in my opinion, showing what the Spirit of Christmas is all about - friendship, joy, and tacky consumer goods.

Memories...

Memory is a funny thing. We generally think our childhood memories are set in stone, but then evidence comes up and bites one in the arse.

Case in point. I watched a movie as a child, called "Where the Red Fern Grows". It is a very touching movie, about the love of a boy for his dogs, two Irish Setters. The dogs die prematurely, and a rare red fern grows on their grave.

I loved this movie. It was right up there with "Black Beauty", and "The Incredible Journey", and "Watership Down" - books that I read over and over again, and, in fact, still own.

I loved watching TV shows about animals, reading books about animals, watching movies about animals... but "Where the Red Fern Grows" sticks in my memory more than the rest. It was such a sad movie, and it was about dogs, and I remember it so well.

Except one major thing.

Those dogs weren't Irish Setters.

They were Redbone Coonhounds.

So much for my memory. Sigh.

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Christmas memories, part deux

Clowns are scary - Steven King "It" clowns, Poltergeist clowns. Scary.

Almost as scary? My childhood stocking. It's a wonder I like Christmas, growing up with a stocking like this. Really, what were people thinking? Okay, it is from the early 70s, the age of kid's shows like "The Hilarious House of Frightenstein", and other mind boggling, they-actually-made-this-for-children productions, but still...



A close up - see, scary. Really scary.


Here is another freaky elf thing. Remember Ken Jennings from Jeopardy? And Hermey the Elf from Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer? Coincidence? I think not! Elves are scary, I tell ya.


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Christmas memories

Every morning while getting ready to go to work, I would listen to the same radio station. Every year at Christmas time, they would do a fund raiser for the food bank by taking pledges for playing a listener's Christmas song request. Nice and cheery, right? Really getting into the Christmas spirit.

Until the Year of the Cat Carol.

Yes, the Cat Carol - the WORST Christmas song ever written. Ever.

Imagine me, standing in the middle of my kitchen, listening to this carol, and bursting into tears. Imagine all the little kiddies (and those not so little) doing the same in homes across the province.

Imagine one year later, at the start of the very same fund-raiser show, the station manager coming on-air to announce he was donating money to the food bank, his only request being that the Cat Carol was NOT played that year.

Worst. Christmas. Carol. EVER!

So, of course, I have to share. Merry Christmas!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZMEXlHUQ0w

And the award for the best non-traditional use of feminine hygine products goes to...

The bedrooms all have ceiling fans. All of which, of course, were not installed correctly - there is a large gap between the ceiling and the fan. So they wobble when the fan is turned on. One enterprising tenant fixed this problem in an unusual way.

By using tampons to shim up the fan.

Fortunately, unused.


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Snow day

Kip loves the snow, so we went for a walk today, and then came back and shoveled. Kip loves to "help" me shovel - he'll stand there, wagging his stub, until I throw a shovelful of snow at him. He tries to chase the snow, and ends up covered in it. Then he comes back for the next shovelful. Funny boy!

Kitchen plans

I saw this ad, and really like the look of the kitchen. So this is what I'm working towards, in terms of the cabinets and counter top. But with a different colour on the walls. And white appliances. And a dark tile floor. And no "island". But other than that, exactly the same ;-)

I had an interesting conversation with a friend a couple of days ago, about how to start designing and decorating a room from scratch. We realized we go about it completely different ways - I need to have a picture in my head (like this kitchen), and then I can make decisions based on that picture. She looks for accessories she likes, and then decorates around them. For whatever reason, this does not work for me!

I also want my house to have a particular feel to it, and I want the decorating to fit the age and style of the house, with out being too "themey". So I think the direction I'm going is "cottage" - but not too cottage.

Sigh. I'm much better with power tools than paint chips.


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Floor plans*

(click on the wee pics to see larger versions)

Kitchen, dinette and bath:



*subject to change ;-)

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