Winter Wonderland

Welcome to our view as we left for the grocery around 10 a.m.! PJ drove, and as we pulled out onto Anthony we swerved about 90 degrees one way, then back and another 90 degrees the other way. It was fun/scary. By the time we left the store, a lot of it was melted, and we saw one salt/plow truck. We're supposed to get some more tonight, so the kids might be out of school. PJ took them out to play this afternoon and they made the first snowmen of the year, with the inch and a half of snow that was on the ground. They had fun. And of course, there was cocoa. For all my Arizona peeps, this beauty is dedicated to you and the hope you are warm where you are!

Downtown Fort Wayne Festival of Lights 2008

Wednesday night we picked PJ up from work and went to view the Festival of Lights. We bundled up with gloves and hats, prepared some hot cocoa, and headed downtown. With the rest of the planet. It took us a while to get down there, but we were on time. We met PJ at his building and headed on over to the next block where Santa and his Reindeer, newly outfitted with fancy led lights, waited to be lit. There were thousands of folks, young and old, there to usher in the holiday season. The temps were in the mid to low '30's, but it wasn't too bad. We waited for about 15 minutes, and they lit the Santa. It was beautiful! Then we headed over two blocks away for the lighting of the Wells Fargo Christmas tree. I believe that also was newly outfitted with led lights. It was lovely. Then we basically turned around for the lighting of the Indiana Michigan Power wreath. The kids had a blast. We are so glad we went. It occurred to us as we walked back to the car that this was one of the perks of living in a small town- it was easy to get down there, and it was a celebration of the community. The kids had a blast! We took them home and fed them the rest of the hot cocoa before ushering them off to a late bedtime. They were too excited to sleep!

Thanksgiving Meal in Retrospect Item No. 492

When it comes to the brussels sprouts, don't change a thing!!!

Thanksgiving Meal in Retrospect Item No. 485

Pumpkin pie is not good when you accidentally omit the sugar from the recipe on the back of the can, no matter how much whipped cream you top it with.

Homer

Introducing the newest addition to our homestead, Homer! James and I found him planted in the front yard when we returned from Meijer on Friday. He's a good looking tree. Sturdy, with good branch structure. We took votes on names, and Ava suggested Tree, but I thought that sounded too dramatic. I suggested Homer, and Ava was all about that as he is in our yard in front of our home. She did balk for a moment though, not sure if the tree is a girl or a boy, so we compromised and his full name is Homer Pauline Thuringer. Pauline in case there's some girl in there. A hermaphrodite tree? My worst nightmare come to life.

Weather Update II

Winter Coats? Check.
Hats? Check.
Gloves/Mittens? Check.
Snowpants? One down, one to go.
Snow Boots? Check. (Ava got a pair of Lands End boots on sale at Sears this weekend that beat out Target and JC Penney's on price- yes, we are total midwesterners. The only thing more midwestern is if we would have shopped at Tractor Supply Co. Damn! I can't believe I didn't think of that- I loooove that store!)
Good thing we are pretty much ready, because it is SNOWING !!!!!!!!
The greens and golds and reds that were on the last set of pictures has been replaced by browns. Most of the trees have shed the majority of leaves, and the skies are pretty gray. Winter is setting in. I am in total hibernation mode, too. We did church on Saturday so we could have a lazy Sunday morning, and it was bliss. We spent all morning in our pajamas, and the only reason we left the house was to walk the alley to the Satters for dinner. On our way home, we saw the first flurries of the year. The picture is snow on the roof of the addition that is our bedroom, taken from the rear window in James' room. It's coming down now, pretty much has been flurries all day, but not cold enough to stick, thank goodness.
I spoke to Jason today. We aren't going to Chicago for Thanksgiving as they are going to Michigan to be with Matt's family instead of Matt's family coming down. I am not heartbroken, but disappointed a little. I really enjoy going to visit and the holiday was a good excuse- we will just have to make it a priority without needing an excuse. Poor Ava will be heartbroken- she left her doll there last year and has really been looking forward to getting her back. (Mailing her back is not an option- you do not send babies through the mail, y'all!) I'll have some 'splaining to do, but maybe we could do a quick Saturday turnaround. Could always hit Trader Joes while we're in the city, and we are out of two buck Chuck...
I am currently avoiding housecleaning. I did the floors and upstairs bath, along with major dusting (even furniture polish!) and think I have exhausted myself for the day. The Northside Neighborhood Association meeting is tonight at 7 p.m. I think I will go to get the haps on the 'hood. PJ is going to go to the one our City Councilperson Karen Goldner holds on Wednesday. I'll take notes and let you guys know of any critical neighborhood updates. The last one I went to was interesting, so you never know. I'm off for a cup of tea. Peace out!

Getting it Together

Where am I? I am not quite sure. Decompressing after the election, that's for sure. Slowly finding my way back towards normal. Still following some of my fave blogs, but the list has shortened quite a bit as the house and children demand my attention. There is so much to keep track of. Keeping track of Ava's school events is almost a full time position. Cookies to be made and brought on a certain day, Family Advent Night, when library books are due, when she has p.e. (so I can make sure she wears pants not skirts), when chapel is so I can make sure she has money, Friends and Family Day is coming up, etc. Then I have been going to the gym (twice this week, thank you very much!) and James and I have the little class at the community center on Thursdays. Menus don't make themselves, groceries don't magically appear, and the housework still demands to be addressed. And now they are saying we will get snow this weekend! My friend Laurie just called and we were talking about the weather and she instructed me to get out and get the kids' boots NOW because once the snow hits we will wish we had. (Add to the weekend to-do list, I guess). Taking inventory of outerwear- does everyone have a coat that fits? Mittens? Hats? Snowpants? What about footed pajamas? Oy. I am ready to hibernate, but it seems I have a few things to get ready before hibernating. So this is where I am. A little all over the place. I have to go get out the notebook and begin listmania. Time's a wastin' and I don't have it to waste. I'll be here, and when I'm back I'll have a little more of my head about me, I hope.
I get an emial from Garrison Keillor every day with a poem and some other stuff- about writers, things that happened on such a date in history. This poem came the other day and I can't get it out of my mind. I can't repost as I am sure it is copyright infringement, but please go here and read this beautiful poem. I am thrilled this book is at our local library. I am in love with her poetry found on poetryfoundation.org and for me she ranks up there with my current fave Ted Kooser. He makes me think of what might have been if my father hadn't passed in 1985- would he have written as he once aspired to? Beautiful representation of the midwest and regular people.

Hail to the Chief (of Staff, that is)

I am so excited. Rahm Emmanuel is a secret crush. I've blogged about him. I saved the Vanity Fair article he's in. Some of the blogs I've read are screeching about this choice- "I thought he was going to be bipartisan" (insert snarky voice) kind of thing, but here's what I have to say. Yes, this man has a reputation. For many things, and only those that know him know fact from fiction. But there's one thing most seem to agree upon; this man calls bull when he sees / hears it. Obama doesn't need a yes man. He needs intelligent men who tell him the truth. (If only Bush had had one. sigh) I also happen to think he's a handsome fella, and I look forward to following him in the news. I think this is a great appointment, one that will help President-Elect Obama towards success.
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(photo credit abc news)

Autumn

It's currently in the mid 70's here in northeast Indiana- almost 20 degrees above normal for this time of year. I truly cannot believe it's November! We were walking the dogs after school today and I decided to document the fall before it leaves us (pun intended) as Friday we are looking at mid 50's and Saturday mid 40's. So we will be spending as much time outside as possible for the next few days at least for sure- even if it means another round of raking, although I think we might succumb to the midwestern obsession- the blower. Ours is electric, so it's greenish, but not as green as the raking. I probably will get out the rake again, since as of last week I've been asked by two different neighbors if I've lost weight. (Barely got the ego thru the door on the way home, I can tell you :-)) We're walking to the meat market and library (braving voters at the library- if the cookbook weren't so anticipated I would wait, but I need something to get me through the night 'till results are in, so we'll forge ahead). Of course with the added benefit of feeling the warm sun on us. I so love this neighborhood and it's walkability. Two Saturdays ago I walked to 1) the tailor, on Anthony / Crescent behind the fire station, 2) the dollar store on Anthony 3) the meat market on Anthony 4) the library 5) the tailor on State (they were closed) 6) the PIO meat market on State and 7) home. It was a brisk day and I had the ipod to keep me company. It was awesome. Anyway, here's some autumn eye candy for my AZ peeps. You might be tempted to be jealous, but remember, we have SNOW in the winter.

Happy Halloween 2008!

The story behind the costumes:
First, Ava. She decided she wanted to be a pirate. I was thrilled as I figured most of this costume could come from the thrift store. But we were having dinner at our friends' house, and she and James were upstairs playing somewhat quietly with their boys, when she came downstairs in (almost) full pirate gear! They generously offered to let us borrow the costume, complete with sword and hook, as the boys had their costumes and they didn't include a pirate. Ava was beyond thrilled. We added an eye patch and some facial hair, and she was set. She practiced her pirate sounds a good few days before hand. You know, avast, ahoy, swab the decks mateys, things like that.
As far as James is concerned, that wasn't as easy. Several months ago when he was eating some kind of snack item I remarked that if James had a superpower it would be to save people from hunger as he always seems to have a snack handy. Hence, SnackBoy was born. I wrote it down thinking I would forget (who, me?) and as we are a year behind on costumes for him (he wore the bunny last year, and wasn't really into doing that again) we needed to go with something new. I got some felt for a big "S", some red satin and some blue bias tape for a cape at the fabric store. The cape was super easy, and the "S" on the shirt was ironed on one of his undershirts with interfacing. I made a mask out of the rest of the blue felt and some leftover elastic. We got a couple of small bags of pretzels and Sun Chips and fastened them to his cape. And he rode off into the sunset to save hungry folks from being snackless.
The kids had a great time. We shortened their canvassing from last year and they still made out like bandits. The turnout this year wasn't as much as last year. Same as last year, I didn't recognize very many kids as being from this neighborhood, but there were several houses on our end of the block that were dark, so we didn't get a terrible amount of traffic. We ended the night with a few Butterfinger bars left in the bowl, and that's okay with me. (Compared with last year where we had to turn the lights out early because we ran out of candy.) After the kids were done they came home and helped me pass out candy. I think they had just as much fun doing that as going trick or treating! They came down from their sugar buzz at a decent hour, and we wrapped up another Halloween. Thank goodness we have a costume for James for next year. I can only imagine what Ava will want to be next year. I can only hope that I have the skills to complete it in her vision!