She's Set to Begin Working on the Railroad Right After Breakfast

History Lesson: Goldwaters Department Store

While wrapping Christmas gifts for the chickens this year, and looking for a small box that would accommodate the six small cars that "Santa" procured for the boy, I came across a small Goldwaters box in the Christmas Wrap Stash. Such a lovely box, and you know it came from Gram. I began to wonder about the history of the box, and hence, the history of Goldwaters. So here you have it. (Found on Wikipedia.)

Goldwaters department store was a chain store that was founded in Gila City, Arizona in 1860. The store moved to Phoenix in 1872. The store was founded by Michael Goldwater, grandfather to Barry Goldwater, famous politician and excellent photographer. Diamonds acquired the chain in 1983. In 1989 the family reclaimed the store logo and reinvented it as Goldwater Foods. I remember there being salsa that was sold at Jacquelines in old town Scottsdale, but not sure what else there was. Very specialty, and upmarket.
The department store was located at many malls in the Phoenix metropolitan area. In Tucson it was at El Con Mall and Foothills Mall, both of which became Diamonds in 1983 and Dillards in 1984. In Phoenix the locations were Metrocenter, Paradise Valley Mall, Park Central (!!!) and Fiesta Mall. It seems that in 1989 these stores became either May and Co. or Robinsons, all becoming Robinsons-May in 1993, except for the Park Central location. This became Office Depot, and according to Wiki, the whole of Park Central is now offices. With the monopoly that is Federated, the remaining stores became Macy's. The flagship Goldwaters store was opened in 1961 at the Scottsdale Fashion Square, and after is incarnations as May and Co. and Robinsons, is slated for demolition to become a new Barney's New York.
I can imagine the inventory in that inaugural year, the dresses, the mens suits, the kids coats. What cosmetics did they sell? I bet it was amazing. And I can imagine Gram going down there (can you imagine what Indian School looked like back then???) and finding an awesome sale. A true blast from the past.

Heard on my ipod yesterday whilst cleaning the bathroom

"If you don't got Mojo Nixon then your store could use some fixin'!"

Plus, we used carline yesterday when taking Ava to school due to James' fever, and while picking her up I was the only one in line NOT in a minivan! I was so grateful, but then today I saw two (yes, TWO! Here! In our little burg!) Eurovans, so got on Ebay to remind myself how we cannot afford one and all, and they sure are purty. I think if we ever needed to get another (read bigger due to more chickens) that is the one I would lobby for. I know Daddy wants his MegaFordF65000 SuperDuperPower Diesel, but I would give it a shot. No new cars in our future anyway. Love the no payment. Can't not do that. Speaking of trucks, I was telling Ava this morning on the way to school that she and I drove Daddy's Nissan truck when he got his new (to us anyway) Ford, and that I would take her to Costco and purchase large bulky items like diapers and toilet paper, and cram them in the truck so I wouldn't have to put them in the very back for fear they would blow out. Whenever we put stuff back there I would look in the rearview all the way home expecting a bag of groceries to explode all over Oak. Never happened, and I am not sure I am over that, if we were to get another truck. Later. Much, much later.
That's all for now y'all. Off to find the ipod (Ava was listening yesterday) and clean the upstairs bath. Bye!

311

Friday afternoon I called the city's 311 line (Mayor Richard implemented this- you just dial 311 and they take care of you. It's insane and I wasn't sure it would work.) to ask about a huge gaping pothole at the end of the alley at Curdes. I was told they would take care of it. I thought, "Heh, right." But Saturday morning when I left for the Y sure enough both potholes had been filled. Thanks Mayor Richard!

Alert

James, after showing an interest in the potty, has since developed a great disdain for it. However, he is well aware of a mess in his pants and alerts us to the "oop". There is a big to do with the "Oop! Oop!" and some running around wondering what to do until I get him under control and get him upstairs to get some clean pants. This morning was no different. We were playing in the basement when on the slide he sounds the alert- and getting him down the slide and up the stairs was a matter of huge proportions. First, we had to stop the alert. Then we had to get down the slide. Then, although I had grabbed a Steve, we had to go back for the other one. Then of course, we needed juice. After an hour and a half, we made it upstairs. Now he is letting me know that he is "All done!".

Sunday sweetness

The chickens in their Sunday best on our way to church. James looks adorable in the sweater he received from "Santa", and Ava is darling in her church tag sale Talbots dress. We caught them early enough in the day before the terror begins for their cuteness.

the '79 Lincolns was Robbed!

Not an actual 1979 Lincoln, mind you, but PJ's soccer team who didn't make it out of the playoffs successful. No matter. The guys played well and had fun, and it's my understanding that a number of them have expressed interest in playing again next session. I hope they keep the name. Even if they don't (the car that inspired the name is no longer a team mascot as it were) there's an awesome shirt! Congratulations fellas!!!

Life's a Breeze: A Story in Three Parts

PART ONE:
In 1953, Joe Breeze was born and grew up in Mill Valley California at the foot of the Marin County mountain that would become known as the birthplace of mountain biking. In his early teens he was touring California by bike. At 16 he began road racing bicycles, and at 17 took a cycling tour of Europe where he was impressed with the cycling infrastructure of Holland. His father rode his bike to work, and these two things seemed to put him on the course of his life. In 1974 he built his first road bike frame which was soon in demand. In 1977 he agreed to make a strong, light mountain bike frame for his friend Charlie Kelly to replace the old bikes (from the '30's and '40's!) he and his friends were riding around offroad and that were not holding up to that challenge well. In order to work out the kinks he built one for himself first, which he raced at the Repack downhill time trial and won. One thing led to another, and he continued his groundbreaking work and was inducted into the Mountain Biking Hall of Fame in 1988, it's first year. Fast forward where his interest in bicycle transportation outweighed his interest in recreation, where in 2002 Joe began producing a line of bicycles made for transportation type purposes.*
PART TWO:
In 2004 after deciding to move halfway across the country to South Bend Indiana, we also made a decision to become a one car family. Moving to a much smaller town would make that a possibility. Less impact on the planet, less impact on our pocketbook. We did fine with one car for quite a while. If I needed the car for any reason, Ava and I would take PJ to work and pick him up afterwards. If we were fine without the car, he would drive to the office. I actually have fond memories of waiting outside the City/County building in downtown South Bend anxiously watching for PJ to come through the doors and when Ava would spot him she would squeal with glee. Squeal. Glee. Really. But when I ballooned out of control with a tiny James in my uterus, it became clear we needed another form of transportation. It would become too difficult to transport Daddy with two small kids, and with doctors appointments etc. it would become messy with him taking the car. So PJ got himself onto the internet and started researching bikes. He knew from his college days a couple of guys who thought that Joe Breeze was the King of Bikes, so he started there. The Breezer quickly not only made the Short List, soon it was The One. So the next step was to head to St. Joseph Michigan, about 45 minutes away by car, where we purchased the Villager. This bike was seriously impressive. It was strong, lightweight, comfortable, had a built in generator light for the front and rear. A commuter. It was a no brainer. We took it home and PJ rode without fail. He actually enjoyed riding. When we purchased the bike we were living on Adams Street, about 1.5 miles from his office. I made the rule that there would be no riding in thunderstorms, so on days were there was too much snow or ice to ride, or on days that there was lightning he would take the car. Otherwise he enjoyed the ride. He was also asked to serve on a panel about riding to work during Bike to Work day. When we moved to Fort Wayne we made a conscious decision to only look for homes in neighborhoods where it would be a reasonable distance for him to ride to work. He has made an impression on several people in his office building who cannot believe he is as dedicated as he is. Due to his belief in riding, he has also been responsible for adding a trail linking downtown to Renaissance Pointe. Recently, however, the love affair foundered. The lights stopped working in the rain. Now he tried tightening the connections. Or jiggling them, I can't remember. I do remember having the bike up on the stand watching him spin the wheels with one hand while spraying water at the thing with the other hand while Ava and I stood watch making sure the lights worked. We thought all was fine. Until last night when PJ got home and there was a lot of grumpiness due to the fact that he rode home in the rain AND in the dark because the lights didn't work. After some gruffness, he decided to take my suggestion and contact the company. The shop where we purchased the bike no longer carried that brand, and there is nowhere around here that does, and since it's such a special type of thing it's not like any old person could fix it, so I thought, just go to the source. So he did. He stormed upstairs and sent an email, calmed down, we had dinner and we all went to his playoff game of soccer (another post on that next). We came home from that and put the kids down, and he went out for a drink with the team. I relaxed in front of the t.v. for a while with my secret crush when the phone rang.
PART THREE:
The time was 9:58. And I thought it was PJ. And the caller ID did not say Fort Wayne with PJ's number. So I was ready to let it out for whatever telemarketer was calling (it would have to be those darned FOP since I am on the do not call and they call me monthly looking for more money). But the caller ID said "Joe Breeze". I did not immediately make the connection. I answered and the caller asked for PJ. Which I thought was weird because I am the one who usually talks to the FOP. Then he told me why he was calling. I about fell over. He was the nicest man, and said that although he rides in a lot of rain and has not had that problem, he felt that we would be able to correct the situation. It was amazing. Truly the nicest man. I could not wait to tell PJ. He was pretty excited. He kept asking if I knew who I had spoken with. I have to admit I did not, but was impressed with him nonetheless if for no other reason than HE CALLED US AT HOME TO HELP CORRECT THE PROBLEM!!! That, my friends is the epitome of customer service. And that is the long and long of it. If you ever need a bike, I Highly recommend purchasing a Breezer. It's quite a bicycle, and the service is awesome.
*Borrowed HEAVILY from the Breezer website. Very interesting reading!
FOLLOW UP:
Joe was able to figure out the problem, and offered to correct it! A true gentleman and a true class act.

Sideways

Since James was roughly 7 months old, he has had the crib he sleeps in now. (The old one broke during the move to Ft. Wayne). When putting him down to bed, we would place him lengthwise into the crib, and in the morning we would find him tucked into the corner curled up like a little wombat. Now that he is almost 2 yrs old, we find him in the same position. I wonder if he has it figured out that he can lay another way and not have to fit his feet through the slats. It's like that Dr. Seuss book One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish:

Who am I? My name is Ned. I do not like my little bed. 
This is no good. This is not right. My feet stick out of bed all night.
And when I pull them in, Oh, dear! My head sticks out of bed up here!



Also his new thing is to fall down and pretend he is asleep when we go to get him.
He will holler at us till we retrieve him, but as soon as we open his door, he drops and plays
possum. Quite the little trickster.

Blue Jean Baby

So some friends of ours passed down some clothes from their two boys, and included in the last batch were some Levi 550's. They are a 2T, but slim, so I threw them onto the boy this morning. And how cute he was! They are a little snug, so will wash them in cold and air dry to get him in them a few more times this winter. PJ insisted I snap a picture of him in them, which was difficult, because James' schedule is FULL. Playing, running, up and down the stairs, Fussing (yes that is a capital F!) etcetera. But I did get him to stand still for a moment and then got him running away. What a view!

Just a new post

Not much new around here, I just didn't want the Don Schmidt post to be the last one there staring at me every day saying, "When are you going to post?". Now this will be the post to say that. Great. The new Vanity Fair arrived today with Harrison Ford and Shia leBoeuf on the cover for the new Indiana Jones movie. I am a big fan of Vanity Fair. Refined trashiness with thought provoking articles as well. And movie stars. In a good way, mostly.
I am ready for Ava to go back to school as her anger is increasing daily. I think she is ready to go back to school too. I think her attitude will improve in the next few days, not get worse. I am doing my best to keep a smile on my face and make sure that she knows we love her no matter what. Even when she is looking up her forehead at me (PJ says I do that) and using a rude and angry voice. Not allowed. At all. But said with a kind voice and a request for an apology that is followed with a hug. Seriously, all the stuff I have read says to acknowledge their feelings, be sympathetic, and let them know you love them no matter what as they do their best to push the boundaries and test everything they know. But this morning when pushed and I employed suggestions from the books and her sweet voice and lovely self came back, I was stunned. Seriously. It will be worth it to keep it up. That is easier than some of the suggestions from "The Happiest Toddler on the Block" which I am sure work wonders, but make me heave to consider doing them. Acknowledge the little ones frustrations back to them in baby talk. Seriously? That is hard to imagine. We got that book when having trouble with Ava, and I could not find myself able or willing to employ that method, and here we are with her years later incorrigible. So maybe I will have to suck it up. Beats getting hit in the face with a Steve.
We got a remnant of carpet and put it down in the basement with the slide, Ava's tent, a bunch of pillows and a couple of sleeping bags, the little tv and some books and toys. The kids really enjoy being down there playing. The only problem is that Fred takes up valuable real estate right in the middle of the sleeping bag in the middle of the pillows! I will have to rig a bed for him down there. I tried to get him to lay on the extra carpet pad next to the setup, but he was reluctant. Will keep working with him as well. Maybe I don't want another child after all...
It was WARM here today- 66* supposed to be the high today. We went on a nature walk but cut it shortish as James was pretty wet from falling down. The melting snow has made for damp conditions around here with Flood Watch a keyword during the weather forecast. The good news though, is that PJ rode his bike to work today, something he has not been able to do for a while. He got a new light (the kind that flashes). The old one was held together by electrical tape, and I am all for getting all out of the life of something, but this? Safety (and I) said time for a new light. He got one that is easily 2-3 times brighter than the old one and is slightly larger as well. I watched him ride away this morning and I really do think it makes a difference.
Okay I just remembered I have a mountain of laundry downstairs. Or I guess you could say a really big hill in our room and a really really big hill in the basement. I am off to conquer it. And do a little handwashing. And measure the dining room to see if the carpet remnant in the basement could be turned into a nice rug for the dining room. Hmmm. This is our life today. More soon.

Farewell and Thank You to Don Schmidt

While I voted for Karen Goldner in the 2nd district City Council race, that does not mean I don't appreciate all that Don Schmidt has done for the 2nd district and the city during his 36 year term. Being pretty new to the area, all I really knew is his record for the last 6 months or so, watching on CityTV. There is an excellent article in the Journal Gazette featuring his service on council. I particularly found this interesting:

Listing all the things Schmidt helped accomplish over his tenure would take a novel, but he was able to select a few things that brought him pride.

For example, during his first term on the council, then-Gov. Otis Bowen decided to build a regional jail at State Boulevard and Parnell Avenue, next to North Side High School.

Schmidt and a group of residents went to Indianapolis to meet personally with the governor to protest the location. The group was successful and Northside Park now sits where the jail was planned.

Those of you who are familiar with this area will be as appalled as I was to read this. A JAIL???
People say that state politics go nowhere outside of Indianapolis, that Indy is the entire state to those in state politics, and I would have had to agree on that point!
Anyway, thank you very much Mr. Schmidt, and like Mr. Crawford I hope to see you involved in continuing to make the city a better place just in a different capacity.

I Blinded Myself with Science

Apparently there's an old wives tale floating around out there that when one feels a sickness, such as a cold or flu, coming on, it behooves one to slather the soles of their feet with Vicks Vaporub before bed, then cover the feet with socks. After waking up two mornings in a row with the stuffiness and sore throat, I decided to conduct an experiment last night. On went the Vicks (which I did not purchase for this particular purpose, I purchased it because it is winter season and between PJ and I there will be several opportunities for use!) I woke in the night feeling the chills and stuffy, but am not sure of the time as the only clock is on PJ's side of the bed. I was angry, hoping this little trick would work. But when the alarm rang and it was time to get up, there was no sore throat and the chills were nonexistent! I was still a bit stuffy, which is fine, and am feeling fine in general today. I went looking for a picture to use for this post (the ones I took did not turn out) and came across this little tidbit. I do not at this point have a cough, so I will continue with the experiment for one more night to see if it's just the cough it takes care of. If I wake up the same then I will hold off till the cough comes. My little experiment is shadowed by my husbands desire to conduct a study showing whether a 95% furnace is more efficient than a geothermal heating/cooling system by finding the source of the electricity we use. He blinded me with science!

Happy New Year with a personal resolution

Happy New Year to you all! My first resolution is to not allow anyone else to take pictures so I can't be in them until a) I drop a couple of pounds and b) get a haircut!
Wishing you all the best for the year to come with love from the Thuringers xoxo

More Christmas

christmas cont'd part 2

christmas cont'd

Merry Christmas 2007

For this portion of our programming, I will just post some pictures of cute chickens opening presents. Thank you all for your generosity, and know that the kids were so happy and had so much fun, and continue to have fun with all you sent. Thank you!

Best present of the year

At Ava's preschool there was a top secret something going on. Ava let me in on the fact that there was something coming home for me, but very mum on the details. She was gleeful keeping the secret, and I was glad. For what came home for me on the last day of school before Christmas break melted my heart into a big puddle. This preciousness will continue to melt me for all my days.

Melting

If this does not melt your heart, you are cold. Very very cold.

Making Cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve

Santa has a hard job you know. It's the least we can do to provide some sweet sustinence for him on Christmas eve. So it was decided we would make gingerbread cookies, and Daddy's favorite, oatmeal cookies. I had a good recipe for the gingerbread cookies (which called for a food processor, and let me tell you folks from experience that a blender, even though it has all those buttons, is a poor, poor substitute for a food processor. We ended up just squishing everything together by hand and with spoon and hoped for the best. It turned out great!) and followed the recipe on the back of the box of oats (meijer brand and they were awesome!). We toiled through the afternoon but the results were really good. Dad kept busy while the kids and I worked in the kitchen. James has been loving the stool and brings it in when it's in the other room to the kitchen to see what is going on and see if he can help. Really I think he is just trying to see if there is anything edible on the countertop. The boy likes to EAT! Here we are measuring and mixing. We opted to go with some icing for the gingerbread cookies, and of course we needed sprinkles. Ava was right. They did taste better with them. She has been loving being in the kitchen with me which pleases me to no end. We had a blast working together, and she even volunteered to wash some of the dishes. I was so proud of how hard she worked and what a great job she did. Later that evening while I put James to bed, Daddy helped her write out a little note to leave with the cookies. The end to a perfect Christmas Eve!

Read this Now!

Go right now to your local library (unless you live in Fort Wayne then wait for about 3 weeks since I have it checked out now) and check out Spymistress by William Stevenson. The true story of the trials and tribulations of Vera Atkins, a secret agent who truly helped win WWII. It's not some Mata Hari story, nor is it a love story of any kind, but a true story of extraordinary people in extraordinary circumstances putting doing the right thing before themselves and making a huge difference in the world. Disturbing some of the things that went on during that time, horrible things beyond the devastation of the concentration camps, but the amazing story of how these people found each other and worked together to make the world a better place. Go! Now! I am going to go try to steal a few more pages before cleaning the kitchen...

Christmas (Dinner) Blogging

Of course there will be a whole lot of Christmas blogging going on, but first I have to write a bit about our Christmas dinner, as I still have the taste of the leftovers on my tongue, and it was darned good. PJ said he wasn't overwhelmed with a desire for ham, and we did a turkey for Thanksgiving, so I decided we'd do a pork loin. At the store there were 2 size choices, medium and really really big. Being our first time doing a whole loin, and there only being 2 of us, I went with the medium. I also looked for brining bags at Meijer, which I could not find, so the smaller choice was better anyway since I could fit it into a ziplock bag. The America's Test Kitchen cookbook (hereon referred to as ATK) extols the benefits of brining your meat, and I've wanted to try it. But the turkey was so big that I didn't have a proper receptacle, so I thought the pork loin would be good to try. HOLY COW (or pig as the case may be) was it amazing!!! A brine for those who don't know is a bath of water, salt and sugar. They don't suggest sugar for their turkey brine (I can't remember why) but for the portion of pork we had it was 1 1/2 quarts water, 3 Tbsp sugar and 3 Tbsp salt. I soaked the pork in there for an hour, following the directions to a T, and hoped for the best. PJ had asked earlier in the week if I wanted him to grill it, and as the weather was not atrocious I said YES! I prepared a maple glaze (also from ATK) and sent him outside. He worked magic. It was an amazing combination of super tender meat, cooked to perfection, and an incredible glaze (sweet with a hint of spicy). I had planned the menu out a few days before: pork loin, stuffing mix from Whole Foods Jason sent us home with after Thanksgiving (they had an extra bag), candied sweet potato casserole, skillet broccoli with toasted garlic and lemon, sauteed mushrooms with shallots and thyme, and pumpkin pie. Everything with the exception of the stuffing and pie came from the ATK cookbook, and was amazing. The stuffing I prepared by chopping up an onion, 2 celery stalks and a large carrot, sauteeing for a while, then adding to prepared stuffing. The pie came from the recipe on the back of the pumpkin puree can. Both turned out quite nice. Ava and I made the pie in the morning since it requires a lengthy cooking time and an even longer cooling time, and we even prepared our own whipped cream! (the best part about that was that the kids each got one of the beaters from the electric mixer). The skillet broccoli was awesome, and part of the reason I liked it was that it used the stalks of the broccoli as well- you just chop off the rough outer part (1/8 inch or so) and slice and cook with the florets. Really quick and easy, and I will definitely make it again. The mushrooms I almost didn't make, partially because I didn't want to buy fresh thyme and they didn't have shallots at the store (!!!). But in the spirit of using what I had, I substituted dried thyme and used a smaller amount of onion instead of the shallot and threw in some minced garlic, and they turned out great. Again, unbelievably fast and easy, and even Ava liked them! The sweet potatoes came from the csa. The recipe called for a pinch of cayenne pepper. I had chipotle chili pepper instead, so threw that in. The result was unusual but really great- you couldn't taste the hotness until after you had eaten the bite, and even then it was a faint trace. Very subtle. The sweet potatoes came out really sweet, with all the brown sugar, but would definitely make them again. I liked that you cooked them in butter and brown sugar and salt and pepper, before transferring to a baking dish, adding the topping and baking the rest of the way through. Again there was a little working around it as the recipe called for chopped pecans or walnuts to add to the topping, and I didn't want to do that either, but it turned out pretty good. PJ even called after eating his leftovers for lunch and said that if it's possible the meal was even better the 2nd day! So the lesson learned here people is that brining=good. I need to find some bags and brine the next chicken I roast. I'll let you know the results!

2007 St. Peters Lutheran Preschool Recital

Once again, the photos fail us. And without Photoshop, there isn't much that can be done. There are a few shots that allowed me to correct redeye, but unfortunately most of the shots didn't have red eye, but blank eye, like little orphan Annie or something. Anyhoo, here are a couple of pictures from last night. We will have to wait for the video for the good stuff. I will say that all the chickens were completely adorable, and there is nothing like getting dozens of 2-4 year olds together to sing a few songs! At the end of the recital they presented each of the children with their own beginners bible. Ava was thrilled, and could not wait to get started with it. We are so thrilled to have her there, and I think next year depending on how he's doing, we may try to get James in the 2 year old playdate class.

She Won!

Karen Goldner emerges from the 2nd District recount victorious by 12 votes. Doesn't get any more apparent that every vote counts. We are excited to see Karen in action!

Death by Magic Jewel

This morning our teenager, I mean Ava, was angry (what else is new?) that I was not altogether interested in going outside to play in the 18 degree weather. She screamed at me until I suggested she go to her room to calm down, and when she felt better she could return to play in James' room. Mere moments later, she came in brandishing a golden jewel and commanded: "By order of the Magic Jewel you will be KILLED!". I was not alarmed as the jewel had previously shown no signs of having magic powers. Disappointed, she turned and stormed back across the hall. Within 15 minutes or so we were all playing quite happily and I am sure she was glad that I was not dead.

Local Politics

Our star reporter P.J. Thuringer checked in from the City Council chambers a short while ago, where Mayor Elect Tom Henry announced some key members of his new administration. There were no big surprises (for me anyway). I was a little bit disappointed for personal reasons in one of the decisions, but also am sure he knows what he is doing. Two key persons he announced were Deputy Mayor Mark Becker, who is currently Deputy Mayor under Graham Richard, and John Urbahns who will be continuing as Community Development Director. I am fond of both of them in a professional sense, and look forward to having them serve in the new administration.
Also of importance to note: the 2nd District council race recount was held this morning and the winner will be announced tomorrow. Am still pushing for Karen as I truly believe she is the best person for the job. Regardless it's a whole new world when it comes to the City Council, and while we talk about losing the cable, it's hard for me to imagine not having CityTV to watch!

Speed Reading

The following took about all of 45 seconds or so. Enough time for Ava to fuss about putting something on her feet (socks or slippers). They are both wearing their slippers, and reading time is over. Now on to breakfast.

And that's all there is, there isn't any more

So now I am caught up. And not much skipping over either. Really not any. Will try to be better about consistency for a while. Speaking of consistency, I made Grams fudge this year. Two batches. Neither one turned out as thick as I would have liked. I needed to keep it in the refrigerator. But one thing I DID make that turned out how I wanted was strawberry gelato. It was great! I got a book from the library with a bunch of super yummy ice cream recipes, and since the little Scott's up the street didn't have the kind of cream I needed, I opted to purchase frozen strawberries instead and make the gelato. I threw a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar in at the end with the vanilla, but once frozen you couldn't really taste it. But it was heavenly. Again, a little more difficult to make than I had anticipated, but I think that's because it was my first time. There were recipes in that book I never imagined- like Key Lime Ice Cream (SUPER easy with sweetened condensed milk), Guiness Ice Cream (really?!) and Oatmeal Ice Cream with a recipe for baked apples (with butter and brown sugar in the middle) on the side. You know I am making that one. All of those, actually, and many more. Thank you Debbie for leaving your ice cream maker here! I promise to have super delicious ice cream in the flavors of your choice waiting next time you visit!!!

More of the snowy evening of December 16, 2007

The Big Snow, the next day

Saturday evening we had our friends who live on the next street over to visit, and it snowed a little before they arrived at 6:30. They were bundled up and she was wearing her snow boots. They left a few hours later, and it had snowed maybe a bit more, but the big surprise was this morning when we woke up to a Winter Wonderland! We immediately turned on the news, who reported that there had been 7 inches of snow overnight, and that there was a Level 3 Driving Conditions Warning in effect, which pretty much means don't drive unless you are an emergency vehicle or in need of emergency help. So we were watching the screen for cancellations. (They post school delays and cancellations during the week, and church service and civic type cancellations on weekends.) There were several churches listed as canceled, but not ours. Which put us in a conundrum. I had agreed to sit the nursery this weekend. So PJ put a call into the church, where the pastor answered the phone (!!! We didn't think anyone wound answer!) and told us the other pastor was doing the early sermon for which there were only a handful of people, and although he understood our commitment, he felt it better and safer if we just stayed home. What a nice guy! So in we were. There were gusts blowing hard and snow was trying to come down, but the wind at times was so great that it was just horizontal. After it died down, PJ got Ava bundled up and got the snow thrower out. He did our driveway (which the guy across the alley blew snow right back into when he did his driveway and it made me grinchy) and the walkway up to the house from the garage, around front, and down the front walk to the steps that lead to the sidewalk. A few people had gotten out their snowblowers, so the sidewalks were already done. It was lovely to have the snow on the weekend when people could clear the sidewalks (which will help immensely as we really need to go to the market tomorrow and last time the snow was on Sunday night and barely any of the walkways were shoveled, blown or salted). I brought James out, who was tentative, and then the dogs who totally were not. Fred was leaping and running and galumphing all around. He really likes the snow. We let him run in the front too, and he wore himself out. We all piled back inside for warmth, more coffee (for PJ and me) and hot cocoa (for Ava). Later, after naptime, we took the kids back out for Snowman Building time. James was not interested in the snowman, but wanted to go for a walk. He went down to the Secret Sidewalk and turned left, just like he always does. I told him we weren't going to Henry's, but to come back and find Daddy and Ava. He would have none of it. I had to bribe him with Snacks (one of his new words!). That barely worked. He loves to be outside regardless of the elements. Dad's child for sure. Here's some evidence of the wintry goodness.

Getting ready for the Big Snow

The Vipr HD Weather Center Radar Thingie went off on the television Saturday to warn us about an impending snowstorm. The city usually comes to collect leaves if you pile them up at the curb (which was amazing to watch- they had small front loader type machines and blocked off the road and it was quite efficient and graceful) but the last time they were scheduled to come we got sidelined by a snowstorm, so even though the previous snow had melted, the street crews hadn't been out to collect. And since the new storm was to be quite big, PJ decided to go out and rake the leaves closer to the curb. (I had been the one to collect the leaves via rake and blower, but due to time constraints with the kids napping only a little bit and it getting dark before 5 p.m. and all it wasn't as far out or together as it should have been.) So Ava donned her new coat and the hat I crocheted and went out with Dad and while he chatted with a neighbor, she put herself right to work. What a big girl!