Fickle Weather

I guess this is par for the course in New England, but the weather has been all over the map, and not always in a good way. We got an early snowfall in the end of November, and the sky dropped quite a bit of the white stuff. Before we knew it, our area was a winter wonderland, which was very cool to us. It looked beautiful, and we were hoping that there was more to come. I think all the ski areas were stoked because it meant a Thanksgiving opening day, which they all hope for.

Well, here we are, a few weeks later, and we didn't really get any more snow, but it got warm and rained for days. We hit the low 50s yesterday or the day before, and on Christmas it rained all day. Fortunately the snow survived and there's still a lot of it on the ground, but once it cools down, and cool down it will, it will all turn to ice, and then conditions get a little precarious. Kind of a bummer.

Such is life up here, you have to just roll with it. At least we still have snow, and we're so busy with hockey that we have plenty going on. Even still, we are supposed to start skiing in January so hopefully things will stabilize. You just never know.

Until then, thanks for reading, and thanks to Naomi Rumaloine for the pic.

Big City Reporting

A week or two back the kids had to do a project up in the even bigger city of Burlington, and I thought they did a great job. They are doing a news project in conjunction with CSPAN (yes, they've hit the big time) that requires that they do interviews with a variety of people, including politicians and everyday citizens on the street. The politician part was fairly straightforward because these are public servants who make themselves accessible to their constituents. Most of them can be contacted by email or phone, though talking directly to them doesn't always happen. We happen to have a friend and neighbor who is in the state legislature, which made this faction a little more accessible.

The interviews on the street were another matter. The kids had to get opinions from people in Burlington about a local event, and that meant getting a camera and hitting the street. It didn't help that the weather was brutal with freezing rain and snow. We had a time frame to adhere to, however, so we packed up the kids and headed up there. NMP is part of the group so AM dropped her off with some vittles and we were all set.

One of the goals was to find local schools that were affected by this legislation, but it turned out that we couldn't find the darn things. Burlington is a big town, and the suburbs are extensive, so there are a ton of schools. We found plenty of schools but none of the ones we needed. It was really the first one that confounded us, and foolishly I printed directions that were all based on the previous school so we could hit them one after another. The problem was, without finding the first one, I couldn't find the next one and so on. Oh well, we still got some footage of schools.

We literally wasted 2 hours looking for this stupid school, realizing later that we were in Burlington when in fact that school was in Winooski. At some point we decided it was a waste of time and headed into downtown to interview people. We had packed lunch so we parked on Church Street and ate our food, then got out and sought out word on the street. Now it's not easy for a kid to approach a total stranger and ask for some opinions, especially in the bigger city where people have a contrived sense of urgency. People frequently said I don't have time when in fact they probably just didn't want to deal with us. Fair enough, I get that, but I do think seeing some kids trying to do a project should spark a little more understanding and willingness to help. Maybe that's just me.

Either way, the kids did a great job, and I'm proud of them. They went to the mall and waited out on the walkway asking for opinions and got shot down about 99% of the time, but they hung in there and got what they needed. One thing about Burlington is that there are a lot more hoodlums and whacky people. I made sure to linger nearby and keep the kids in sight in case I needed to give someone a karate chop to the head. One zany woman in particular was very opinionated but declined to be filmed. She spoke for about 20 minutes, then came back for more. I saw her throughout the evening talking to various people on the street, so clearly something was going on with her.

It didn't help that the weather was so poor, and at some point it started raining and getting dark. We took a break and got ice cream/hot cocoas at Ben & Jerry's, and in a stroke of good fortune, the guy working there was passionate about this topic and agreed to be interviewed. What a score. The kids headed to mall for one last try, and then we headed home. We could have stayed there all night, but it was getting late and we still had a 2 hour drive home in wet, icy conditions. Total bummer.

We had snacks so we chowed on those on the ride home, eventually making back to our town around 7:30PM. We called JP en route and he met us at our house to get his daughter, and we ate a quick supper and relaxed. Despite the challenges, I thought the kids did a great job, and again, I'm proud of them for mustering the courage to just do it. It ain't easy, even for an adult, but they did it.

Now they are ready to move on to the next phase, whatever that may be. Whatever it is, I think I'll be somehow involved. Funny how that works.

Until then, thanks for reading, and thanks to Doc Oren for the pic.

Getting Ambitious

Yesterday we were bantering back and forth about what to make for Christmas supper. The no-brainer would have been to roast a chicken since we've done it so many times and know the drill. Beef is always on the back of our minds, but roast beef seems to leave me a little flat because it's on the tough side. Ham is usually not an option, and beef stew is a family favorite except that we had it for Thanksgiving.

With all the possibilities and nowhere to turn, we decided to get a little crazy this year and do something that I've never done and in all honesty, never thought I could do: make prime rib. It was on sale at the store, and not that I like succumbing to marketing, but the price was too good to pass up, especially since prime rib is so expensive. I went and picked out a small roast, about 3 pounds with one bone, and tossed it into the freezer until the big day. I then went online to search out the best way to cook the thing, since not only was this new territory for me, but the stakes were high: it was a big occasion and the meat was expensive. That's all I need in life, more things to worry about.

On Christmas Eve, I took the meat out to thaw, then let it sit uncovered in the fridge overnight. The purpose of this is to let the meat dry out, at least on the surface. I then left it at room temp for about 2 hours before popping it into a 200 degree oven for 3 hours. Low and slow, as the butcher told me. Once the meat was cooked, I let it sit at room temp for an hour, then back into a 450 degree oven for 10 minutes, along with the Yorkshire pudding. I even made au jus sauce with the drippings.

All in all, the meat came out pretty darn good. My first prime rib, and it wasn't a disaster. Feeling empowered and invincible, I may try to make it again... then again, maybe not.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to the Kansas City Steak Company for the pic.

Belated Merry Christmas

Hope everyone had a nice Christmas, hope everyone was well and at home with the people they love. I managed to get through it without being too cynical, and I'm happy for that, but the holidays are still going, so give it some time. There's always New Year's Eve to gripe and moan about.

Until then, Happy belated Merry Christmas and thanks for reading, and thanks to Val West for the pic.

Christmas Cards

I love this time of year and really hate the fact that it has to be stressful. It all makes me so cynical, and I don't want to be cynical. Last year for a number of reasons I didn't send out postcards, and I vowed to get it done this year. Of course, since Christmas seemed to come out of nowhere (Christmas does kind of come out of nowhere when you really get down to it), I am way behind the curve. That means I'm a little stressed out about something I'm only doing because I enjoy it. How does life get to be so paradoxical?

Whatever be the case, like all things in life, whining about it doesn't make it happen. I'm in the process of getting it done and I should be able to pull it off, but the clock is ticking, and Christmas is on the horizon. Life would be so much simpler if I didn't have all those "other" things to deal with, not that I'm whining, of course.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Anastasia Wahalantantiri for the pic.

Christmas Tree

I realize it's Christmas Eve and this post is a little late, I've been swamped and little overwhelmed, but no whining, right? For the record, we got our tree about a week and a half ago.

This was a little on the late side, and there was some question as to whether or not we were going to pull it off. We had the usual busy weekend with hockey and traveling, but at some point during the prior week we had decided the time had come. We agreed on a day and went and did it.

Christmas really seemed to sneak up on us this year, because we are way behind the curve on a lot of things, including our tree. When we arrived at our usual tree vendor, the guy was sold out. Actually, he had two trees left flanking his big "Sold Out" sign. We were surprised, to say the least, but the two trees left were pretty nice, albeit small. We ended up choosing one and were happy with our selection, and he was happy to sell the last of his trees. He mentioned he had done an extra load this year and they sold out quickly. I noticed that there were plenty of trees leading up to the weekend, and then almost overnight, they were all gone.

We brought the tree home, R brought down the decorations, and the kids powered through getting the tree all set up. They did a beautiful job, and now the holiday spirit is finally starting to come to life, at least for me. Somehow I just wasn't feeling it until the tree went up.

Oh well, that's the holidays for you. You just never know what's in store. At least we're all set on the tree front.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Vivienne Gucwa or the pic.

Back Again

So how is this for bad luck? I was walking out to the car two days ago and slipped on the steps and landed on my back. Not just on my back, however - I landed in a way so that my back hit the corner of the step, and believe me when I tell you, it was a free fall. Talk about brutal. I was holding a sandwich, water, and cup of coffee, and just like you'd see in a movie, my feet came out from under me and I slammed the ground, with my food flying off in all directions.

I was laying in the snow in extreme pain, wondering if I'd broken something, and managed to get on my feet and stumble back into the house. The bummer was that I was on my way into work, so I had to get a grip and drive over to the big city, and then run practice at the arena. This was my turn to come up with the practice plan and run the show, so I couldn't bail out. To add to the misery, two of the other coaches couldn't make it, and the third almost didn't show up, though he did make it as he said he would. Thanks to DW for that one.

I ended up skating with the players but suffice it to say that I was morbidly afraid of falling on the ice, which is a pretty realistic possibility given the nature of the game. Some of the players rallied and said they'd help run the practice, which was nice of them, and once DW showed up, my spirits lifted. I made it through and so far I've been reasonably functional, though in constant pain. Having hurt my back in the past, I was not looking forward to dealing with life with more back pain, but so far I've managed. Hopefully things will only get better from here.

Until then, thanks for reading, and thanks to Ms Kat for the pic.