Happy New Year All!

Sorry for the lack of bloggage, but as usual I have a trillion Christmas photos to edit before posting and am overwhelmed a bit. Also, Ava and I have been extremely distracted by the Electric Company dvd that I got from our local branch of the public library. Seriously? Allen County Public Library Rocks. My. World.
There are plenty of things to be grateful for in the year 2008, but there are a few things going on right now that make that not so easy to see. I am trying to keep a positive attitude and look forward to the continuation of all the blessings bestowed upon us as well as additional blessings for us as well as our friends and family, whether we deserve it or not. As for resolutions, I think I won't make any last minute ones except to be the best I can be and really take the time to enjoy each moment.
That said, I wish all of you the very best in the new year- peace, happiness, prosperity. And the end to the worries you have. Probably most especially that one.

Hey You GUYYYYYYYS!

Yesterday around 5 p.m. the doorbell rang, and before answering I saw an AEP truck in the front. I opened the door to two gentlemen in hard hats (one was Tom's doppleganger!) and was told they were there to put the line back up in the back. I called PJ right away, as he had called Friday then thought better of it since we actually had power and canceled the request. Now our concern was getting the line back up, getting the electrician to re-attach the line to the house (properly this time I hope) and then the ice storm knocking it down and having to pay again. Alas, they said that the line couldn't be down like that, they HAD to put it up. So there they were. They were contractors from out of town- the one that I spoke to (Tom's doppleganger was quiet like Tom!) said he was from Michigan. They had want of nothing-I offered them a restroom, perhaps some coffee, but they declined. The only thing one had need of was a charger for his cell phone as his was at the hotel, but none of the ones in our stash was a match. They had power back on within 20 minutes, and the line is now roped to the old connection (the original one) on the house. We are hoping it sticks.
(The dealings with the electric company made me think of the show- I miss it! And when I found this video, I found myself singing along. You think they have it on dvd somewhere?)

Duh

This evening we enjoyed a delicious meal and delightful company at our friends, P and J's house. When we came home the thermostat registered -0.6 (that's actual temp-not sure what wind chill is). We found a house key left for us between the screen door and the front door, and in my haste to get the front door unlocked, I popped said key into my mouth. I removed the key as quickly as possible as I had horrid visions of that scene in a Christmas Story with the flagpole. My tongue came away pretty much in tact. More updates tomorrow.

Weekend Update

This morning when I went out with Fred, about 7 a.m., it was -19 wind chill. Neg.a.tive nine.teen. The wind has been howling all day, and pieces of ice are blowing off the trees. We didn't get to Sunday school this morning as the car's check engine light was on- low coolant. PJ pulled it into the garage then walked down to the gas station to get more. At least this will get us to the dealer to see if we have a leak. So we will have that expense (as well as a coolant flush I am very certain as the coolant that was in the car was pink and the coolant at the gas station was green and from what I can surmise from the interwebs mixing the two causes gelling which is no bueno) along with the $150+ for the electrician and the shutoff / turn on charges from the electric company. Ho ho freaking ho. I feel really bad whining when dear friends as well as family are out of work. But I am feeling the weight of the ice. I am turning blue.
From what we can gather from the newspaper, as well as from acquaintances, the power line laying in the backyard that we are experiencing is not uncommon. Laurie called from Florida- she said her cable line is in their back yard. Her sister is at her house, and her brother and his fam are at her parent's place. No word on when their power will be back on- and they are not far from here at all. There was a lady interviewed in the newspaper whose power line is in her backyard, just like ours. She called the fire dept, who put some caution tape all around it (that was funny to me) as well as the power company who told her they could not shut it off, and to keep people and dogs out of the back yard. This made me feel better, a little, as that is what we are doing. But it went on to say that she knows she could lose power at any time and her neighbor who had no power wouldn't come over for fear that either the line would catch fire or she would be electrocuted. No longer feeling better.
The thermometer says it's 3 degrees out, but with the howling wind it's -21 wind chill. We are talking in Chicago ON the lake IN January. Not nice. And we are not looking for any relief until late in the week, and even with the rising temperatures there will be rain, some of it freezing. I'm officially in a funk. Please send warm thoughts. I know it will get better. But the boy deciding he is getting too big to cuddle with his mommy does not help at all.

Power Down

Around 9 a.m. yesterday (friday) morning I opened the back door to let the pooches outside for their morning business. As they sped out, I heard a loud crackling sound, and as I looked around to see what was happening, the power line that runs from our house to the line in the alley fell into our back yard. It freaked Fred out, and he came in right away. Belly, on the other hand, isn't so easily unnerved and it took several minutes to get her back into the house. I didn't want to go outside to see what had happened, so I went to the back back door (the one in our room) and opened it to see what I could see. Turns out that the line that runs from the main line in the alley up to the house is run through a pvc pipe and attached to the house with a bracket around said pvc tube. This bracket had come apart from the house, and said tube had fallen to the ground. (Not sure if this had anything to do with the fact that the back and south sides of the house were covered in ice- even the windows were covered and could not be seen out of.) We called the power company, to see if they could turn off the power, have the electricians (the ones that put the lines in the pvc tube and attached to the house as the old way was dangerous and not up to code when we moved into the house) re-attach the line to the house, and have the power company put the power back on. The man said he would call PJ back when he was on his way to cut off power to the house, but as the number of customers without power grew in number in the radio reports, we thought we'd better hedge our bets and wait until Monday. The people who didn't have power needed to take priority. So there's a power line in the back yard. Needless to say, the car is parked out front, and the dogs are being walked. And even tho I am angry about the expense, I am grateful that we were able to stay warm and have light and provide shelter to our friends last night.

Ice Ice Baby

Around midnight of Friday (between Thursday and Friday) the predicted ice storm hit our area. At 7 a.m. Friday PJ went out to catch the bus to work, as even with the fancy new snow tires there would be no way that the bike was going to get through the ice. He waited nearly a half and hour in the rain, and the bus didn't come so he took the car. Ava's school, like most in the area, was cancelled. Everything was covered in ice. The poor trees, some of which had branches that lost the struggle to keep upright under all the weight of the ice, are burdened, and I expect more losses as there is no thawing for at least a few days. It is quite lovely, but depressing nonetheless. We were lucky enough to have kept power, which is more than we can say for about 100,000 of our fellow Allen County residents, including our friends Paul and Jennifer and their boys. They braved the day at home, and we convinced them to come and spend the night up here. The kids had a total blast, and when they returned home this morning it was to a powered and warmer house. I am sure they were all, including the dog, quite happy. Here are a couple of pictures I took of our neighbors tree right in front of her house, and our tree. Her tree sadly has lost a couple of branches, one pretty substantial, as has the house on the other side of hers. It was blocking the street most of the day until some neighbors came out and moved it to the side so vehicles could pass through. There is still a chance that there will be more power loss, but we are going to hope and pray that we keep warm and keep the spare room an option to our friends who don't.

Merry Christmas from Pee Wee and Charo (Coochie Coochie!)

Love Letter From the National Weather Service

Issued by The National Weather Service
North Webster, IN
11:45 am EST, Wed., Dec. 17, 2008

"... WINTER STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM THURSDAY EVENING THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING...

A MIX OF SNOW... SLEET AND FREEZING RAIN WILL DEVELOP THURSDAY NIGHT WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY SNOW OR ICE ACCUMULATIONS. THE PRECIPITATION SHOULD DIMINISH FRIDAY... WITH THE HEAVIEST SNOW ACCUMULATIONS POSSIBLE OVER FAR SOUTHERN LOWER MICHIGAN. THE HEAVIEST ICE ACCUMULATIONS ARE POSSIBLE OVER NORTHERN INDIANA AND NORTHWEST OHIO.

... POTENTIAL FOR SIGNIFICANT ICE AND SNOW ACCUMULATIONS THURSDAY NIGHT INTO EARLY FRIDAY...

.A STRONG STORM SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO IMPACT THE AREA THURSDAY NIGHT INTO FRIDAY WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR SIGNIFICANT ICE AND SNOW ACCUMULATIONS... ALONG WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL.

PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED TO START THURSDAY EVENING AS A MIX OF SNOW... SLEET AND FREEZING RAIN. HEAVY SNOW IS POSSIBLE THURSDAY NIGHT OVER FAR SOUTHERN LOWER MICHIGAN. HEAVY ICING IS POSSIBLE FROM THE INDIANA AND MICHIGAN STATE LINE SOUTH... INCLUDING NORTHWEST OHIO.

WARMER AIR WILL BE TRYING TO PUSH NORTH THURSDAY NIGHT AS THE PRECIPIATION IS OCCURRING. THIS WILL ALLOW TEMPERATURES NEAR THE SURFACE TO RISE OVERNIGHT TO NEAR OR JUST ABOVE FREEZING. THIS WILL BE CRITICAL IN DETERMINING HOW MUCH ICE ACCUMULATES AND WHERE. AT THIS TIME... IT APPEARS THE BEST CHANCE FOR SIGNIFICANT ICE ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE FROM NEAR THE HIGHWAY 30 CORRIDOR TO THE INDIANA... MICHIGAN... AND OHIO STATE LINES. SOUTH OF THIS AREA... SOME ICE ACCUMULATIONS ARE STILL POSSIBLE BUT TEMPERATURES MAY RISE ABOVE FREEZING FAST ENOUGH TO LIMIT ACCUMULATIONS TO LESS THAN ONE QUARTER OF AN INCH. "

Here's hoping that everything I've learned about extremely unpredictable weather here, which pretty much boils down to you don't know until it's actually happening, holds true.
(photo courtesy of my favorite, Google Images)

Fancy Nancy Redux

We checked this super cute book out of the library a while ago called Fancy Nancy. Nancy is the only fancy person in her family, and so has to embellish her belongings for ultimate fanciness. She wanted a canopy bed, but there was none to be found in her house so she improvised and came up with her own canopy bed. And that is exactly what we did. We haven't gotten a mattress set for the twin yet, so am not sure if this set up will work when that happens, as the bed will be bigger. But we did some re-arranging, which we all think works better, and here we are. Ava loves it, and feels very fancy. Thanks, Nancy!

C.Y.O.T.

Cut your own tree, that is. At the St. Joseph Tree Farm. We all bundled up, long underwear and snow pants (for those who had it) and all, and traversed out to the tree farm. We went last year, and it was fun, so we decided to do it again. When you come in they give you a map of sorts that shows what types of trees are where, how tall said trees are, give or take, and how much they cost. It was snowy and cold, but not bad at all. We trekked out towards the back of the property where the trees we wanted were, and PJ and the kids searched for the perfect one. A bit taller than I am was the ideal height, as it goes up onto the table for the train to go around. As we were heading back, I was unnerved by the sounds of gunfire. When I mentioned it to PJ, mostly for verification that I am not insane, he didn't seem concerned which unnerved me a bit more. But then the perfect tree was found, and the sawzall took it down with moderate convenience, so the gunfire was soon forgotten. (Most likely a hunter, but still, a little too close for comfort for my taste.) We were lucky that the farm has a tractor with a couple of "cars" attached- you can ride and the rear one can hold the trees. So it was us and another family with a little girl about Ava's age and a total wee one. We all climbed aboard, which thrilled the kids to no end, and hitched a ride back to the barn, where we offloaded. They tumble the trees to get loose needles out, then bundle them for easier transport. While that was going on, we headed into the barn (where they had the most beeeeautiful wreaths for sale) and sipped hot cocoa to help warm us up. Soon enough, the tree was ready. PJ loaded the tree into the car while I loaded the children, and we were off towards the old homestead. Heading the opposite direction of the gunshots. Whew! It was getting late, so that night all we got accomplished were the lights and the train, but once the train got moving, the ornaments were quickly forgotten, and the kids were okay with waiting till Monday as long as they could make that train go around the tree.

Scenes from the living room, Christmas 2008

I went through the Christmas boxes and put out some decorations. Some are at the Goodwill (kitchy stuff I bought years ago and never really liked) and some are destined (three lighted faux wreaths left in the attic from the previous owner) and one or two things missed the chopping block this year but might not make the final cut next ( a pretty wreath found in the attic from previous owner that am not sure where to place). For some reason I am feeling kind of minimalist. Ava asks me if we can hang the glass ball ornaments from the chandelier in the dining room, but with the advent wreath on the table am not feeling it. The Claus's are out, as is the nativity (also found in the attic, and about which, for some unknown reason I am super happy) as well as the jingle bells on the front door and the mistletoe hanging in the front entryway. It's faux, but if it's an excuse to get some extra sugar, I will take it. Ava has a little faux tree in her room, and James has a couple of little decorations in his too, to spread it around the house. It feels more like Christmas this year I think- last year it didn't so much to me. Maybe it's because there's so much going on at church that I can't deny it. Here's what it looks like around these parts. I hope the Christmas spirit is filling your homes, blessing you all.

Guilty!!!

The burglar pled guilty. Sixteen years. Sentencing hearing December 29. Should I (we) go? What do you think?