Say What?

We had a really nice get-together at Jackie and Jerry's home for Thanksgiving. I can't recall better weather for the holiday than what we enjoyed; sunny skies and temps pushing into the 60s with very little wind. Short-sleeve weather. My only regret was not bringing the pups with us to play with Tucker and Gracie in their fenced-in backyard. They would've loved it. In typical Jerry and Jackie style, the dinner was great. What more is there to say? Photos  and video from the day. My 24" Simplicity snowblower has served me well over the years since purchasing it new in the fall of 1986 but I decided it was time to replace it with what will likely be the last snowblower I'll need to buy in this lifetime. When we're due for another new one I'm guessing we'll be living the maintenance-free townhome lifestyle. I've had my eye on an Ariens blower for a couple years but I just couldn't ever find it in me to pull the trigger until Friday . I de...

I relented to Rachel's pleadings and spent much of Friday putting up our Christmas lights. The task included two trips to Fleet Farm for lights and several trips up the ladder to the roof which really doesn't bother me much at all. It's the section along the front of the house where I have to fully extend the ladder and stand on a rung beyond where I should and reach further than I like to secure the lights that gives me the creeps. I always hate that part and am glad when it's done for another year. I was somewhat amused at Rachel's logic though in that I "have never fallen off the roof before!" Haha! Tell me that when I'm lying broken on the ground below. The job is nearly done with the exception of some shrubs and our flowering crab tree. And just in time. We had our first snowfall of the season on Saturday afternoon. What a mess. I don't think I've ever seen an inch of snow cause so much havoc out on the roads. But truth be told, it wa...

We've been enjoying the new Coldplay CD that came out a couple weeks ago: Mylo Xyloto. The one song on the disc that I can't seem to get enough of is Major Minus . I can't wait to hear when it comes around on my iPod Nano while on my bike. I have an extra gear for songs such as this! We were in the studio for four hours on Friday morning. When we got there we went straight to the cold shop as we always do to check out our work from the previous week. I was especially pleased with two vases Tammy did, here's  one of them. She's beginning to expand more in the shapes she's doing and it's fun to watch. I had one piece I was happy with. Tammy spent her studio time Friday working on Christmas tree ornaments—something she's been wanting to do for a while. Out of a half dozen she did, I think there will maybe be at least a couple keepers. She suffered her first nasty burn from the annealer door. Those things are bound to occasionally happen. I spent my t...

I first came across this little brain-teaser several years ago. I'd like to think that I tend to give up on these things too quickly but more accurately, I think I'm just not smart enough to figure them out. Notice how the picture shifts from 12 people to 13 people. Where does the extra person come from or disappear to? The answer is obviously right before my eyes and yours—so tell me. Tammy's bonsai plant is not only surviving, but it's also thriving with plenty of new growth! She's got many skills but botany has never been among them so I'm pleasantly surprised. She's been talking about getting another bonsai plant but there's just one thing that concerns me: they need to be watered daily. That means not only do we have to find somebody to watch our pups when we leave town for a few days but we also have to find someone to water her bonsai plants. I've been enjoying my new Droid Bionic and have experienced few problems if any in the month o...

Rachel mentioned to us a few weeks ago about a desire she has to travel to India this summer and volunteer with a medical team there. I admire so much her ambition to follow her heart and seek out that which is often only found on the road less traveled. She's not normal. Can I say that? Tammy made a brief mention of Rachel's budding plans for India in the video I posted to my previous blog entry which prompted a couple of responses from family and friends. Rob from work commented on how his daughter did much the same thing by traveling to India a few years ago as a college student to study and the life experience that it was for her. He gave me his daughter's contact information to pass along to Rachel. I'm hoping she seeks her out for any and all advice she has to offer. Speaking of Rachel: for all the many times I mention her here, I was surprised to find that when I did a wordle on the content of my blog, Rachel's name barely registered. I don't understa...

I had to take some forced time off my bike this week and given the mild weather we've been enjoying it left me chomping-at-the-bit to be out there. Sharp pain in my right calf had me hobbling around for most of the weekend. When an ultrasound was negative for a blood-clot (my main concern), the radiologist suggested it was possibly a muscle tear deep in the tissue and undetectable. A muscle tear? The only thing I could come up with was when I was hauling my 24 bags of leaves out to the curb Monday night after work. I was trying to hurry the job along so I'd run between each trip. Oddly enough, the pain which began abruptly didn't show up until 36 hours later which had me discounting it as the reason but I can think of no other. Too many times this weekend I was tempted to try and sneak in a short ride to see how it felt but Tammy's admonishment to rest it because I'd only aggravate it won out. She's a telephone triage nurse so I have little choice but to heed...

I had an extended weekend having taken the last two days off from my work-week. I don't have plans for any more vacation days this year and likely won't take any until next June. It's times like this when I catch myself daydreaming about retirement and the ultimate days off, Monday through Sunday. If I had to guess when I may finally pull the plug on my career I'd guess December 2013. That's the tentative plan anyway and it's definitely subject to change. I'm not even sure I've shared this date with Tammy yet. I spent Wednesday being totally lazy. It was a rainy, stormy day and that made it all that much easier to ignore any yard work that may have been taunting me. Tammy and I traded Wordfeud moves with one another throughout the day then spent a couple of hours in the evening, coffees in hand, kicking around Mall of America. I love that place! Speaking of Wordfeud! I've uploaded nearly my entire music library to Google Music . This is an ama...