You're Going to Watch the What??

Before I even officially start this post, I'd like to preface it by telling you that when I originally wrote it - in my head, at about 2:30 am this morning, it was much funnier and it made a lot more grammatical sense than it's about to. So just pretend it's a better post, okay? Okay. Here we go.

So up until yesterday, I was under the dillusioned impression that we wouldn't be subjected to any SuperBowl hoopla since Fox is not among our three tv channels of fuzziness. Unfortunately, it finally dawned on me - after seeing I don't know how many ads for the game - that it will in fact be broadcast on CBS. And yes, there's a good chance, that like all good Brandonites, former or present, I will watch SOME of the game, in all its heathen, commercialism-driven, yet 'family-friendly' glory. Luckily this year's half-time show promises to be a glaring departure from...was it last year's debacle? In an attempt to regain some of its family-friendly wholesome appeal, the powers that be bypassed the likes of Christine Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, and even The Wiggles, in favour of the class-act who is Prince. Yes, Prince.

I can only imagine the conversation in the decision-making boardroom went something like this.

After hours of banishment to his desk to contemplate his suggestion of a grand halftime performance of Circque du Soleil, Gary, the newest chimp on the block has come up with a real winner of a suggestion. He runs to the boardroom, where he finds the rest of his comrades planning the SuperBowl with intensity, amidst multipacks of Budweiser, cheese doodles, and Popeye reruns.

"I've got it!" cries Gary. "I've figured out a way to spend less on the Half Time show AND have money left over for more cheese doodles!"

His fellow chimps grunt but barely look up as Gary explains his plan to hire Prince to perform live. "He's older, washed-up, and he still has bad hair. But he's cheaper than The Wiggles and I'm sure the kids will love him! Parents too! Not to mention that one song will give everyone a chance to refill their beer and popcorn before the second half!"

"Aye! The lad is brilliant!" responds the group in chorus. "It's settled then. Prince it is!"

Okay, it might not have been exactly like that, but seriously, what were they thinking!?!? Prince?!?!

I have seriously digressed. The REAL reason I'll be watching - or attempting too, since the tv is so fuzzy, there's little chance of actually being able to see the ball let alone any of the players - is that one of Brandon's hometown heroes will be right there in the middle of all the action. Yes, it's true. All of Brandon will be tuning in to catch Chicago Bear, Izzy Idonije in action! So I'm using this blog post to fill you all in on MY (albeit remote) connection to Izzy.

It all started in elementary/jr. high school and on Izzy's part, is a bit of a rags-to-riches story. Israel (or "Izzy" to probably anybody other than his parents) comes from a relatively large family. From what I remember, his Mom is a super-sweet lady and his Dad has one of the best afros around - still! His Dad used to be the principal of a very small private Christian school called The Potter's Wheel and the pastor of a tiny church. Every year, the Christian schools in Brandon would get together for a track meet. Yes, an actual track meet, with starting pistols, stopwatches, broken bones - the whole bit. I don't even remember what events Izzy competed in, I really only remember some big athletic kid. I DO, however, remember his older sister, Praise. She had amazing hair (I think it might've been in cornrows at the time) and by gum! She was FAST! That girl could run! Plus, she was super nice and pretty to boot. So there you have it, my - I told you it was remote - connection with Izzy Idonije. (My best friend from Back Home was actually friends with him in high school so I'm sure she'd have some good funny stories to share, but since she doesn't have a blog, well, my grasping at straws will have to do). Izzy started off playing basketball in high school and then either because they needed another player or for some other reason, was recruited by his high school football team. Then he played uni football in Winnipeg for the Bisons and now he's in Chicago. Cool!

For a moment though, let me head off on a rabbit trail and lament this so-called track meet. It was awful. Some of the worst memories of my elementary education. Every year we'd have this horrible track meet. I'm not entirely certain, but I think it was supposed to make us feel better that we were only competing against maybe three other schools so our chances to win ribbons and trophies were better. The problem was though, that we HAD to compete. Everybody - athletically inclined or otherwise (a la your's truly) had to choose at least two events in which to embarass his/herself, er, compete. I always chose the ones I thought would require the least amount of running or effort. Oh, I think I tried the 100m a few times, but with minimal success and progressing asthma, it was only a matter of time before even my teachers realized I was doomed to fail in anything that required sprinting more than say, 50m. So I ended up in long jump (I never could get a handle on triple jump, and I still don't understand it) and shotput. Altogether, a waste of time.

Preparation for the track meet consisted of two weeks-worth of gym class 'practices,' wherein most of the time was cunningly devoted to the students the teachers though would actually do well. Steve had a gift for shotput. Dale was an ace at high jump. Anthony ran 100m with decent success. Doug, also the most academically gifted individual I've ever met, was always winning anything involving distance running. Then there were the girls. Christina was also good at shotput as I recall. One year, at least, Maria managed to be 'sick' on track meet day. A fate, even if it WAS true, envied bitterly by Olivia and me, who competed half-heartedly in our events, then felt it was our duty to either cheer on whoever we were crushing at the time (so, really every boy in our class) or sit and gossip about the 'nerds' from Bethel. It's not that Olivia and I were completely athletically inept, it's just that Olivia's talent for softball (she was GOOD!) and my childhood passion for soccer and skating really fast, didn't figure in as track and field events. So that was track and field at CHS. I think I might've gotten a ribbon once when I was quite young. Probably a leftover ribbon given as a consolation prize.

So, this post has really turned into a mishmash of 'stuff,' but when I think of the Idonijes, I think of track meets and then I'm forced into some childhood reminiscing. And if there was another point to anything I was saying, I can't remember it now anyway.

Today I'm going to finally roast that free Holiday Turkey. Yes, the pantry and fridge are looking a little bare so we're 'cracking open' the turkey early.

Plus, later this afternoon is our ultrasound when we hope to finally 'meet' this child. Keep your fingers crossed for a clear sighting of that certain part of the anatomy....I'll post the 'results' later tonight.

Our 'Lucky' Saturday...Morning

Luke had to have some blood drawn yesterday morning, so we slithered out of bed and left the house at around 9:30. We got the hospital and I got caught up with my favourite registration clerk, Dee (I'm sure I've been seeing her at least once a week as of late). Then on to give some samples.

We had previously planned to stop at Tim Horton's for a Breakfast Sandwich since Luke had been fasting and we had a bunch of other errands to do in town. When we got there it was quite busy and the sandwiches were going to be a bit of a wait because they were still cooking the eggs. So we got coffee and a donut to share in the meantime. It took FOREVER to get our sandwiches. The owner guy was running around like a crazy man - I think he sucked all the craziness out of every one of the other six employees up front and was channeling it all into caring about these silly sandwiches.

Eventually, the eggs were finished, but he came out to inform us he was terribly sorry but they were out of sausage and the best he could do was either bacon or ham. Well! Ham isn't even normally an option, but I'll take it! (We'd gotten one of each - sausage and bacon - so Luke could have double meat on his.)

ALL THIS TO SAY, since it took so long and since I had to have ham instead of sausage (no complaints here), we got a 'coupon' signed by the owner-guy for a FREE BREAKFAST SANDWICH!!! FREE!!!! I'd wait every time if it meant getting something free. Good thing for uptight owners who care about their customers. And they say Tim Horton's customer service in America is crap! Bahhh!

I'm a Cookie!

You Are a Chocolate Chip Cookie

Traditional and conservative, most people find you comforting. You're friendly and easy to get to know. This makes you very popular - without even trying!

What Kind of Cookie Are You?


I need to make a revision to a recent tidbit of information. I mentioned in a previous post that we were supposed to find out this Wednesday who we should be expecting in June (boy or girl) and in fact, upon closer inspection (read: actually paying attention to) the date, I find it's actually Wednesday, the 31st. So we have nine more nail-biting days ahead of us. Argh!

I am sincerely hoping NOT to repeat the experience of a distant cousin of mine, who had a rather eventful ultrasound during her third pregnancy. She had been scheduled for an 'extra' ultrasound (before the 'main' one where the actual purpose is to check on the condition and development of the baby - if you're the doctor. If you're the parent, the only real reason to have said ultrasound seems to be to reassure you that #1) yes, there really is a baby in there and #2) it's a boy/girl!). So she goes in for the ultrasound, gets all comfy on the examining table and the ultrasound tech comes in.

Tech: I'm not sure why the doctor wants this ultrasound. The heartbeats sounded fine last week.

Cousin: Excuse me, did you say "heartbeatS," plural?

Tech: Yes, you're having twins. Didn't you know?

I'm not entirely sure if Cousin was only shocked or slightly horrified as well. What I do hope though, is that this isn't a 'fun' surprise that runs in the family.

More importantly though, what kind of cookie ARE YOU?

And more importantly still, the response to my dream interpretation contest has been underwhelming at best. What is wrong with you people!? This is a chance to exercise some creativity here! Use whatever bits of imagination haven't either dried up or given way to college-educated cynicism yet! What good is a contest without any entrants? Ahem. Ahem.

Dream Interpretation 101

The medication I take for my allergies/asthma brings with it the potential for a number of (medically speaking) relatively minor side effects. I've only ever really noticed one of them and it's one I think is great! "May cause vivid dreams." I've always thought my dreams were rather vivid. This medication kicks it up a notch though!

I've been told by many flattering friends that my memory seems to be above average and where dreams are concerned, this is no less true. It's an ability that provides Luke and I with much amusement from time to time as I can often remember them for days and sometimes weeks afterward.

So I've come up with a new feature for my blog. I think I'll try to make it a monthly 'contest.' I'll tell you about a dream I've recently had, and YOU get to be the Joseph to my Pharoah (strictly for fun, of course. I'm not about to actually make any life-altering changes because of any of these interpretations. I'm just curious what other people think is going on in my brain since I can rarely figure it out myself!). And yes, there will be prizes. For example, this month's prize is a rather unique one and it almost makes it necessary for the 'contest' to be won by a Manitoba resident. If you can come up with the best interpretation, you'll win a surprise visit from your's truly when I come Home at the end of February! As a bonus, if you live in the Toronto area and you win, we can try to make plans during one of my multi-hour layovers on the way to and fro. (If you don't live in Toronto or Manitoba, we'll have to figure out something else.) So without further adieu:

This Month's Assignment:
Once upon a time, in a city darkened by night (think Brandon skyline but with London fog and chill) there lived an Irish king. He was a good king who ruled vast lands. As with any king, however, he had a problem. One evening, he discovered his son, the prince and the prince's royal guard, was missing. He called in the best sleuth in the land, The Dreamer, to solve his mystery.

The king carefully explained his problem to the Dreamer and volunteered a score of his own men to aid the sleuth. The sleuth and the king's men made another thorough search of the castle and all the kings lands, but nothing could be found of the prince and his royal guard.

One evening, while the Dreamer and the king sat alone at the supper table, a plate appeared before them containing a strange assortment of gummi candies - a pile of green and white worms, one green, white, and orange worm, and three quite odd little gummies. One was black and bulbous, like a beetle or a strange ball, with a red gummi cape and a pointed stick. Another was indistinguishable except for the colour, it was green. The third gummi, that remained always between the black and green gummies, was yellow and can only be described as a ladder with eyes. There was a note attached to the plate that read: "Here is your prince."

Of course, the Dreamer understood straightaway! 'Aha,' she thought, 'Here is the prince, the green, white, and orange gummi set apart. Here is his guard, the pile of green and white gummies. And these three, these are the villains with their evil eyes and evil intent!'

She explained herself to the king who looked shocked and gravely ill. By this time, a crowd had gathered to see the gummi prince on the plate. Nobody could figure out what had happened to turn them all into gummies! The king dismissed the crowd and pulled the Dreamer into a darkened corner to speak quietly about what could be done.

Only a few moments later, they returned to the table and a scene of utter destruction! All the green and white gummies had been cut in half! And the green, white, and orange gummi had been cut in four! The Dreamer and the king looked up just in time to see the black beetle with the red cape and stick, the green blob, and the ladder laugh their evil laugh and fly off into the night over the 18th Street Bridge. The king and the Dreamer tried desperately to stick the gummies back together again, but it was an effort wasted. It could not be done.
****************
And then I woke up. As a background, I should mention that I'm presently reading a book about the legend who was Brian Boru, an 11th century Irish King who united much of southern Ireland with statecraft and war tactics never seen in Ireland before his time. Also, I like gummi worms, but if you set a plate of them in front of my, you'd notice that the only ones to disappear would be the green/white or green/orange ones. I'm not a fan of red gummi anything! (And yes, I DO dream in colour.)

I should also submit some rules which are very simply: 1) Don't take this too seriously. I won't. 2) Interpretations should be kept on the appropriate side of things and not include any "farm language" no matter how much you want to use it.

Okay, so there you go! Interpret! And no, Mom, you're not eligible here, because I know you'll just shake your head and say, 'Oh Daughter Dearest, you ARE crazy.' And I'd only reply, 'Yes, Mom. I know. It's been our little secret these 27 years!'

In the News this Week

I'm getting further and further between posts here so I thought since it's Saturday, I'd at least make an attempt.

Baby Report (Skip this paragraph if you're uninterested.)
We had another appointment yesterday with the midwife. Everything appears to be going rather smoothly (I'm having an EKG next week to get some answers about the heart thing). We finally got to really hear the baby's heartbeat. That was funny. It was kicking but it sounded to us like it just had quite the case of hiccups. The sum total of the midwife's instructions, give or take a few supplement adjustments: "EAT!" How I will ever cram as much food down my throat as she's suggesting is completely beyond me at this point, but we'll figure it out. On the 31st, we get to have the first 'real' ultrasound (with the first one you couldn't see anything but a white blob, so it hardly counts), when we'll find out the gender of this Kid, so we can finally stop referring to it as 'It.'

In other news, Luke got himself a new camera - some fancy digital thing that I have no hope of learning how to use. The cats have so far proven quite accommodating subjects. We can only hope to have a child who's not camera shy because it will be the most photographed being on earth when it gets here.

Honestly, things have been rather dull around here otherwise. According to the latest weather report, a Polar Ice Cap or some such thing is signaling our impending doom and the end of this mild winter we've been enjoying, so we ought to be preparing to experience the harshness that can be "A Maine Winter." It's a good thing we have lots of puzzles around and have made nary a dent in our Northern Maine Survival Kit (courtesy of DKB & Co.).

Happy Saturday to you all.

Ooh! Ooh! It's Back!!

I can't even remember how we stumbled upon this the other night, but now I have even more to anticipate when I head Home next month for a brief visit!

This is sweet, sweet news for all our Manitoba friends. Remember Pic-a-Pop of old? Well it's back! We found a discussion board based in Winnipeg that lists several stores where it's available. http://www.newwinnipeg.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=food;action=display;num=1126805660 Now available under The Pop Shoppe label and exorbitantly priced compared to 50 cents, they've changed the flavours just a little. You can now get pineapple and instead of plain old Lime, it's now called 'Lime Ricky,' and it also appears they've decided to add colour to the cream soda. Still, I can only drool over how worth it that wonderful lime taste will be.

Yes, Manitobans, rejoice with me! http://www.thepopshoppe.com/flash_site/main.html

One More Thing

I just entered a draw for a fancy-pants house. So if we win, I guess we're moving to Winter Park, Colorado, in which case, you are all invited over for some part of your winter vacation next year. Just don't book your tickets yet. I think our chances of winning are slim. If we'd have won last year, we'd presently be basking in the firelight in our giant 'cabin' in Lake Lure, North Carolina.

Oh, is it a New Year Already?

Funny how it just sort of sneaks up on us, isn't it? It's Christmas Eve one day and New Year's Eve the next. We had a very quiet NY Eve ourselves. We ate a few treats and watched a few of the CBC's offerings, then went to bed at 10:30. Yes, I know, how 'Old' of us, but we are both getting sick, so sleep prevailed.

Yesterday, Luke worked and I spent most of the day reading and coming up with some tasty dinner.

I think I had a whole lot more to say than just a review of our New Years 'celebrations,' but now it escapes me. I often lie awake at 5:30 in the morning writing blog posts in my head and then by the time I get to the computer, it's all lost. So rest assured, my ability to write anything interesting really is more brilliant than you are witness to by reading these lame-o posts. For example, Luke and I are presently working on a post devoted wholly to the topic of names, so look for it soon.

Otherwise, Happy New Year!

Oil Haiku, Round Two

*Sigh*
Yes, again. Enjoy the haiku.

**********************

Out of oil again.
Winter is cold without it.
We paid, they didn't come.

**********************

Haiku ("high-KOO") = Japanese form of poetry in seventeen-syllable verse form, arranged in three lines of five, seven and five syllables. Each haiku has at least one word indicating the season. (The last Oil Haiku I posted wasn't so true to form. This one, I think, is more so.)

This'll Only Happen Once

Well, I only get to publish this news once. We'll never have a second first baby to tell you about, so here it is. Confirmation: the rumours are true. (And for those of you still baffled, yes, this was planned.) We are indeed going to have a baby. He/She is due around the end of next June. And yes, we are mostly excited. We do occasionally have days when we sit here and wonder, 'What in the world are we doing??' It's gotten much better since I've started feeling better. The first three months I can only describe as The Blob Months. I felt like an utterly useless, lazy blob. I never dreamed a human being could be so tired and if I hadn't known I was pregnant, I would've been convinced I had some sort of sleeping sickness. At any rate, almost all of you that read this have probably already heard this news so I won't dwell on it, but I AM giving you almost six months notice to find yourself a new blog to read, particularly if you're squeamish about hearing baby stories all the time. Where else will I be able to rant about our cute little alien being - where nobody will offer advice and nobody can tell me to shut up already. Ahh, the sweet world of blogging. :)

In other only slightly less shocking news, it's Friday and we actually have plans tonigh!. Yes! Whoa, easy! It's true so keep your socks on! We're actually going out. We got invited out for dinner and we get to see the newly renovated bathroom at our friends' house. Seriously, they are so excited I promised that as soon as I walk in the house, I'll make a beeline for the bathroom. They are a really cool couple. They just got married last month and since Chris is from Central/South America (I'm forgetting exactly where at the moment), we get to swap lots of 'great' stories about the Department of Homeland Security and how much we 'love' those 'people.'

Also, my cousin just got engaged two weeks ago and the wedding date is set - 28 July. We are SO excited! (So this lucky little baby will be born just in time to head home for his/her first trip to Canada and the most anticipated wedding of 2007! Hooray for Shelley & Randy!!!) What's more, her fiance proposed in a quinzee he built! If you don't know what a quinzee is, then I'm sorry to say, it's not likely you're Canadian, but check out this website: http://www.call-wild.com/quinzee.html

It's been nine days since my last post and you're probably all vastly disappointed that I finally posted something on here and I just go on about weddings and a baby, not even bothering to post a picture of the Holiday Turkey. It came home and it went in the freezer. However, be ye not dismayed. As soon as we have a picture, I'll post one. I asked our friend Wendy how long turkeys keep in the freezer and she said some people keep them for up to a year. So I guess I know what we're having for next Thanksgiving. :)

I suppose I should also include a note about Christmas. Christmas Eve was superb as usual. Luke got the new U218 singles CD from me and I got the new U2 By U2 book from him, so we're happy. Also, new toothbrushes and slippers so we're set for the year! We ended up having a green Christmas (seriously, it could've been March out there), but it did finally snow on the 27th. We had at least four inches that appears at though it will stay now. It's been rather cold the last couple days.

Anyway, Happy Quinzee Building!

Odds & Ends

Well, I figured if I didn't post sooner or later, I was going to start getting nasty emails from my adoring public. :) So I'll fill you in on the latest.

When we got home from church on Sunday, we were sitting in the driveway still in the car and I made some comment about our neighbours being like icicles since we still hadn't met any of them; we rarely even see them. We tried waving to one we passed on the way down the street on Sunday, but only got a scowl in return. (Luke reminds me we should start seeing more people in the spring when they venture beyond their houses to work in their yards.) Well, of course, what irony. We went in the house and hadn't even been inside for five minutes when there was a knock on the door *GASP* A neighbour! A real, living honest-to-goodness neighbour! Marsha from down the street. AND, she brought us a cake. But not just any cake - a Santa cake! Anyway, it was the weirdest thing, but now, we know a neighbour!

Sunday night we went to a sort-of church Christmas party after evening service. It was quite fun. Luke has now been familiarized with all the ins and outs of snow shoveling in Maine - what types of implements work best for which types of snow. Various types of shovels and the proper techniques for their use.

In other news, I'm sitting here eating my very first Clementine. This is the Eastern Seaboard's excuse (I must emphasize the word EXCUSE) for a Christmas orange. It is awful. It tastes like my Grama's pickles. There was never anything wrong with Grama's pickles, but this is supposed to be an orange. *Sigh* One down, only a 15 more in the box. :(

Days Until Free Holiday Turkey Pick-Up: 2!!!!!

Ahead by a Barrel of Monkeys*

*Brownie points for Luke for coming up with a superb title for this post!

Settle in for a weekend saga.

Everything was fine when we went to bed on Friday night. When we woke up on Saturday morning, however, the air had a certain unfamiliar nip to it. Luke got up to get ready for work and tried to wash his face, but only got cold water. Our oil tank was empty. He had just gone down to pay for oil and delivery on Friday after work and thought we could make it till Monday, but evidently not. BRRRRR!!!!! Oh it was so cold! It got down to about 61F downstairs and 42F upstairs (but the heat isn't on up there now anyway). So I drove him in to work for 7 and came straight home. At 8:50, the oil man came, put a deposit in our tank and restarted the furnace. Nice and toasty in a half hour! Hooray for emergency oil men!

At noon, I went to a womens Christmas dinner at church. It was really fun. I met two more people that work at the hospital (seriously, already, who doesn't work there?!?). We had all kinds of tasty treats (even a chocolate fountain!) and a Yankee Swap. That's where one person picks a present and unwraps it. Then the next person unwraps another present and gets to choose if they want to swap with number one or keep what they get. Slightly different rules than back Home in MB, but better rules, we think. I ended up with this mug/hot choc. gift set. Yum. Then at the end, they had a whole table full of wrapped gifts and we were all just supposed to go take one. No swapping, just pick something and if you don't want it, give it away or wrap it up and bring it back next year. So there I got these truly hideous potholders. I won't even justify them with a picture they were that bad. So I sent them Home to Mom. :) Figured she can use them at their church. And another lady gave me her gift which was this candle holder that melts these peppermint smelly wax things. AND I got a mini box grater.

Okay, so after that, I raced to finish up Christmas shopping for Luke. I was rather impressed with how quickly I got it finished. I just need one more thing - though it's not imperative for the completion of the stocking. Then I picked Luke up (watched part of National Velvet while I waited. Never seen it before - thankfully! Sheesh!) and we raced home to get ready for his dept Christmas shindig.

This was a semi-fancy affair at a hotel in town, so we 'got to' dress up. We got there a little late as usual, but not late enough to catch some of his colleagues at their drunken best. Oi. Terry had been drinking since 8am!!! Talk about 'three sheets to the wind.' We had a really good meal and got 'free drinks.' Yippee. It was much more amusing watching everybody else drink.

Then for the Yankee Swap. Hooray! Same rules! I was number 41 and Luke was number 4. For whatever reason (I've heard his explanation twice now and I still don't get it), Luke traded his snowman ornament for a bottle of wine - which he was sure to hold on to for all of three more unwrappings! Way to take the most popular present! Argh! So lucky Luke, he ended up with a Santa-shaped box full of cookies. Ooh. Exciting. But me? Well! I fared MUCH better! I started out with a cheesy Christmas picture frame and two lottery tickets (not guaranteed to win, so why keep them?). I was going to trade them for a movie bucket (popcorn, pop, candy, and a free movie rental), until I caught Starla's eye and remembered the Barrel of Monkeys (you were wondering when that was going to be relevant, weren't you?)! Not just any Barrel of Monkeys! Nope, this one had a secret prize! A nicely folded $20 bill taped to the bottom! Hooray! Free cash! Sort of. See, we spent almost exactly $20 on the presents we brought for the swap, so we broke even there, but we still got the Barrel of Monkeys! So we're ahead by a barrel of monkeys! Brilliant! So Luke is stuck with his Santa cookies and I'm left to ponder what to spend my $20 on. :)

Sunday, was no less eventful. We ended up sleeping in because Luke had been on call the night before and ended up going to the hospital just after midnight and didn't get home till almost 3am. We got up, ate breakfast, and headed out to find the tree farm. We're a week or so late on getting our tree this year, but as you'll recall, we were in Bangor last Saturday so weren't able to get a tree them. After driving down a few rabbit trails, we finally found the tree farm! Oh it was just like the movies! Complete with free hot apple cider and a horse-drawn wagon ride! And we didn't even have to cut our own tree! They had a bunch pre-cut and we found our perfect one (the lady we paid said she'd never seen anyone choose one that fast....didn't know we were being watched....). It's just over six feet tall, ridiculously bushy (this is no five dollar tree from Loup Loup Pass), and essentially, swallows our ornaments. We even had to break out the second strand of lights this year!

We wolfed down a hot dog when we got home, then headed to church and that was the weekend. Whew! Luke was on call on Sunday night too but never even got called in. $2/hour just to sleep! Cool!

Days Until Free Holiday Turkey Pick-Up: 10!!!

Oil Haiku

Should've checked the tank.
Forgot and now we'll pay
$80 for after-hours service.
It is cold. Brr.

Another Year, Another Birthday

Last Sunday, Luke celebrated his 26th birthday. He didn't want a big shindig (he never does) so we decided to go out for drinks and appetizers in the evening and pick up a movie.

The day started off well. Every week at church, we end up singing the Birthday Song for everybody celebrating birthdays during that week. We spent the afternoon grocery shopping and at Lowe's checking out Christmas tools for Luke.

As soon as we got home, we grabbed ID so we could race over to Canada to pick up Luke's cake. We felt a little silly going across just to pick up cake, but on the other hand, it was McCain's Deep 'n' Delicious Double Chocolate Cake. MMmmmmm.......so tasty! On the way back, the Customs guy didn't even ask for ID (yes, CL, I have a new favourite customs officer!)...he just kept eying the cake in the back seat. :)

So Luke had heard from somebody at work that Slopes has the best bacon-wrapped sea scallops (come on, say it like a pirate or it doesn't count) around. We got there at 6:30. We decided to sit in the dining room instead of the lounge. It was gigantic! And empty. (Could that have been our first clue?) We at least got to sit right beside the fire and since we were the only people in there, the service was attentive to say the least. Luke got a beer sampler, and even to a novice taster such as myself, the only difference between them all was colour. He was NOT impressed. Even the root beer that I got was terrible. There could've only been 2 ounces in that glass and at least one of them was water. Yuck.

Then came the appetizers. Luke ordered the sea scallops (no, no! like a pirate!), and we also got nachos and crab cakes. Well I broke my sea rule and tried a scallop. I got two tiny bites before I realized it smelled like....well I won't say what it smelled like. I did break my crustacean rule and ate a crab cake - perhaps the only redeeming item on the table. And the nachos? Oi. One entire jar of olives and jalapenos later, they were so soggy, I was sure they'd been left outside in the snow all day, they just threw them in the oven for five minutes to try to dry them off. They were awful! The funniest part of this whole deal is that on the way out, Luke grabbed a comment card and sitting right beside them? The chef's own business cards!

Then home for the movie. We rented A Prairie Home Companion. We had such high hopes for that movie. We persevered and watched it till the end, but even by then, we still hadn't found a plot. It was a confusing, Lindsay Lohan-filled mess. I can't remember the last time I've checked my watch that many times during a movie.

Luke's highlight was however, his birthday present: a carve-your-own Dala horse kit from Sweden, complete with Swedish carving knife and Swedish bandaid! We'll post a picture once he's got one finished.

For now, no drooling over the cake!

Headin' Down South

We spent almost every evening last week debating about whether or not to go to Bangor on Friday night and get in some Christmas shopping on Saturday morning. Thursday night, we finally made up our minds to go. We made our reservation and decided to leave as soon as Luke got home from work on Friday.

Well it was snowing when he got home so we raced around trying to get everything ready so we could leave. The drive down wasn't that great. There was already a lot of snow stuck to the road and it was sleeting. There were a few cars in the ditch and we passed a number of plows (I still don't think there was enough snow to warrant plowing, but this is Maine - they do things differently here). I don't know what time we left, but we made it to Bangor by 8:30. The last 45 minutes of the drive, there wasn't any snow at all, but it was POURING rain, and windy!

After depositing our stuff at the hotel (Motel 6 - wouldn't recommend it. I'm nearly positive they were pumping cigarette smoke IN through our bathroom 'fan'), we went out to get something to eat. The Seadog Brewery is our latest favourite. It was crowded in there because, well, Bangor is a university town, the Seadog has good beer (supposedly....of course....), and it was Friday night. I had a big ol' juicy burger and some of the craziest ginger ale I've ever had - it burned! Luke had a giant tuna steak burger. Yum! Then 'home' to bed.

Saturday was a great! First, we headed downtown to find this bakery I'd found the address for online - The Friars' Bakehouse. Well, Friars they were indeed! Dominican monks, complete with brown habits, sandals,....and the requisite SUV??? We're not sure if they were actually supposed to be open or not, but there were lights on and people inside and goods in the case and hey! They're monks! They're not going to tell us to leave are they? We got some scones to take home (the richest most cranberry-filled scones we've ever eaten) and we each got a cinnamon bun for breakfast. But not just any cinnamon bun. Nope, they gave you a choice: Venial Sin-ammon buns (just icing) or Mortal Sin-ammon buns (nuts too). Hah! Monks with a sense of humour even! (We went for the mortal sin.) Then when we were getting in the car to leave, we spotted two monks getting into an SUV across the street. *gasp* I saw part of the monk's bare leg! Is that allowed? Or the better question, aren't they at least allowed to wear longjohn's in winter? It was COLD out! (LK, we'll defer to you, our Seminary Student Friend, for confirmation about Official Monk Attire.)

Then on to the mall. Got some Christmas shopping done, ate some pizza at Sbarro's ('Non-punks need not apply'), and had Starbucks. Oh Starbucks. How wonderful to have commercially prepared espresso again. (Yes, it's true. It's nowhere to be found up here.)

Our last stop was the natural foods store. Now that was a store! I've never seen so many foreign products under one roof before. Lots of things we'd never heard of - or at least never dreamed we'd have the opportunity to buy (though we didn't). Sweets imported from India, fancy preserved lemons from China, and lots of packages with writing in other languages. It was a great!

The drive home was much more pleasant. The roads were dry and hardly slippery at all until about an hour from home. And then it was cold too, but we stopped at Tim Horton's to get tea for the rest of the drive home. Overall, a very enjoyable trip 'down south.' But the moral remains: when in Maine, always travel with a raincoat!

More Maine Goodies

It snowed again last night so now we have about an inch of snow on the ground that looks like it will probably stay. The local weather lady (perhaps one of the most inept we've ever seen) keeps saying we're supposed to expect "showers." However, she uses the term 'showers' interchangeably to mean either rain or snow, and since both come from grey clouds, how are we really to know which to prepare for?

I say snow.

Today's post has TWO subjects (oh boy, aren't you all lucky...). The first is long overdue because elections took place a few weeks ago already. I thought I should share the website of my favourite candidate for Governor with you though. Check out his website - and make sure you scroll down or you won't get to see his picture. It's priceless! http://www.phillipmorrisnapier.com/platform.htm

Second, we thought we should fill you in on all the great skiing we'll get to do this winter. There is in actual fact, a world class training facility not ten minutes from here - The Nordic Heritage Center. Last year, they hosted the US World Junior Team Biathlon Trials there, and this year, the IBU 2006 Biathlon Youth/Junior World Championships. The facility also trains a large number of America's Nordic Olympians AND they give free lessons every winter, AND they let you try out biathlon!! Luke is beyond excited!

But, we wouldn't want to let the Nordic Heritage Center get all the glory. Northern Maine is also home to some of the best resorts in the country! Well. Okay. No. It's not. I don't know what we were expecting, but here's some pictures of our favourite - Quoggy Joe Ski Center (they even have a T-Bar!). Oi. I think Manitoba has bigger hills. Nope. I know Manitoba has bigger hills.

It's not stolen, but it's not our's either....

So yesterday was The Day After Thanksgiving. Not really for us since we're not celebrating until tomorrow, but for the rest of America. Since we're having company on Sunday and since we'll eventually need one anyway, I thought I'd drive Luke in to work and brave the madness that is 'Black Friday' shopping to get my hands on a $4 coffee maker at Walmart. Well I got there at around 7am. I had zero luck finding the coffee maker, but did discover that the best time for grocery shopping at Super Walmart is at 7:30 in the morning on a Friday. The grocery section was almost completely empty. I actually could go slowly and didn't have to fight my way around seven other carts in the canned vegetable aisle (all those people and their GREEN BEANS!!)

After the Walmart run, I headed over to the opposing Mart of K to check for leftover Thanksgiving themed goods. No luck, but some cranky shoppers piling their carts full of every battery-operated children's toy under the sun. Away with battery operated toys! Away with them all! Then, as extreme fatigue was setting in, I headed home.

After a relaxing afternoon reading, doing laundry, and doing a bit of prep for Thanksgiving Dinner, I drove back to pick up Luke and our 46 cent bottle of hospital issue Tylenol (ah, the perks). Back to Walmart to finish the shopping and pick out a turkey (and the now $10 elusive coffee maker from the morning visit). Then over to the mall to check out a few sales for Luke.

So far this all sounds rather uneventful, doesn't it? Well you just wait!

The 'check engine' light has been on in Luke's car for about a week already (you can see where this is going to go, can't you?). This has happened before and we've had it checked out multiple times and nobody can figure out what's wrong. Well, to our dismay, this time it actually meant something. Not quite halfway home, the brake light and battery light both came on. Then the gauges were gone. Then the ABS brakes were gone. Then the headlights started to dim. We were just at Quaggy Joe (stay tuned for an upcoming post on that one) so we pulled in. Luke called his Dad for a diagnosis: the battery or the alternator. We had just gotten off the phone and the car started again. So we headed back to town. Luckily we were at the part of the drive where you're going 55 and then there's this big downhill stretch. Good thing cause the car died near the bottom of the hill, but we had just enough 'steam' to park in the Rob's Convenience parking lot.

So after a very long and confusing phone call with a VERY inept AAA representative, we decided to leave the car where it was and call the hospital. Well thank God that Luke works with such great (and LOCAL!) people. Nikki was there in less than 10 minutes to pick us up. I had never met Nikki. Funny, funny girl. She's the evening receptionist in x-ray. The Lowly Secretary. (So we discussed the underappreciated status of secretaries nation-wide. Ahhhh secretarial bonding.) To the hospital we go. (All this in what are now subzero temps at night - but hey! At least the turkey was starting to thaw!!)

Back at the hospital, Nikki set about using her exceptionally handy secretary skills to try to find us a rental car. Felicia, whose Dad just happens to be a mechanic, set about finding out which Cowlett we should leave our car in the care of. [This is a funny story in its own. Felicia's family knows all the Cowletts. There are 35 of them listed in the phone book. Our car was parked at Rob's which is a convenience store AND a garage. Across the highway and down not even 200 yards, is Rob's brother Alan's garage. I can just imagine Rob thinking we used him for his parking lot and then this morning his brother comes over to tow the car across the highway...] Anyway, we are assured that the car is now in good hands. It might even be fixed today. (It did turn out to be the alternator.) Holly efficiently filled the roll of moral support and jokester.

Now you may in fact be wondering, 'How did you get home afterall?' Well, it just happens that ALL Nikki's calling was in vain. No place in town will rent you a car after 5pm, so Felicia to the rescue again! She just happened to have dropped another coworker - Jill - off at the airport a week and a half ago. She also just happened to have Jill's truck key. So Nikki drove us up to Jill's and we got her Jeep. (Keep the heater going full-blast at all times - otherwise it'll overheat; and hope it doesn't rain because it might not start if it's damp...)

So we drove home. In a not-quite-stolen Jeep. And did I mention Luke was driving all the while without a license? (He forgot it at home.) But the point is, we made it home, Luke had a vehicle to get to work in this morning, the girls at work are VERY resourceful, we're making new friends (although perhaps not with the WHOLE Cowletts family), and hopefully by Monday, our car will be fixed.

I'm not sure why it is that we seem to be constantly plagued with car troubles (at least with Luke's cars. My little Linda the Honda was, of course, perfect). If it's not one car it's another, and buying a new one hasn't helped to date. On the other hand, if constant car troubles are the worst thing to befall us in this lifetime, I guess we're doing okay.

What's the moral? When the check engine light comes on. Don't wait till you break down halfway home to figure out what the problem is. :)

Missing Canada

So surfing the internet tonight, I came across this great new blog by a lady in Ontario (she's funny, so we'll forgive her for being from ON). Anyway, she referenced this article from the National Post about Canada's favourite treats. So I thought I'd share the link so you all can feel sorry for us missing our favourite Canadian goodies.

For Luke's birthday in 12 days, I'll be making the big drive (okay, two miles) to NB for McCain Deep 'n' Delicious chocolate cake. We can hardly wait. Maybe I'll get two.

Anyway, check out the article and see if you agree!

http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=c84dc36d-ade6-4595-931b-62faf0773bb0

The Rain in Spain....

Well, no, actually, NOT the rain in Spain. This is the thing. I'm not convinced there's any rain left in Spain. It's all falling HERE!!! It has rained EVERY day for at least the last two weeks. Oh wait. No, there was one day when we had about 30 minutes (total) of various degrees of sunniness - and I don't remember any rain that day. It is actually rather 'warm' outside today though. There's a possibility of thunderstorms this afternoon, but so far, nothing - it's just pouring rain.

In addition to - or possibly as a result of - all this rain, Luke made an 'amazing' discovery in the basement the other day. Yes, Friends, a discovery only a man could get excited about. I was already pretty convinced that I needn't ever set foot in the basement. Suspicion confirmed. Luke found FROGS in the basement. Yes, FROGS. Not huge ones, mind you, but FROGS all the same! GROSS!! He said he found two the other night, but when he went down last night, there was only one (this downsize could possibly have something to do with the basement door having been left open and two cats investigating in there...). *Shudder*

I should account for our eight day absence here. When we finally got moved into our new place here, Luke tried setting up our new DSL account. It didn't work. Only for us to discover that we had no dial tone. It was already the 13th and our phone service was supposed to have been set up on the 2nd. So just this past Wednesday, the Verizon man came and fixed the problem (their's, so we don't have to pay - hooray!) and not even 15 minutes after he left, my Mom called! Unfortunately, her phone call was followed by a record FIVE telemarketers in one night. No good.

Regardless, we're back online and happy to be so. Now we can resume mostly regular posts.
For now, I'm going to eat macaroni salad. Cheers!

Look! Look!

Okay! Check it out! As 'luck' would have it, all the snow has already melted and the leaf sucker was back! And now I know that the other guy that rides in the truck isn't there in case the vacuum guy gets sucked up, he's there to rake the leaves. So there's a Driver, a Raker, and the Vacuum Man. Oh the wonders of Maine...