It's still cold and drizzly here, and while the kids did have school today, the rain has kicked up in earnest, and it is freezing to the ground on contact. This does not bode well; we could very well lose power sometime tonight. However, we're ready.
First, light. We have all our candles out on the dining room table, in easy reach. We located the lighter, so we're ready to light them. I also found a lantern outside that could be used as well. The batteries have been located for all the flashlights.
Second, warmth. We have a gas-powered fireplace that works without electricity, so we can keep the house warm. If the power goes out, we'll get everyone into the living room, bundle up, crank on the fireplace, and be nice and toasty for the night.
Third, food. This shouldn't be a hassle, since we have never lost for an extended time, but Morgan and I did just do those yummy foil dinners, which we could easily recreate for everyone, so we won't starve.
Actually, last time we had an ice storm, we had the time of our lives. We had lost power, but we were back online within 12 hours, so it was all good. In fact, I had just called my team lead to tell her that I could not be on-call that day due to no power when the lights came back on. D'oh! However, our friends did not have power or a fireplace, and their little ones were getting very cold. We practically insisted that they come stay with us. Now keep in mind, our house would not be called "spacious" any time soon, but we managed to make room for our five, and their eight, and not climb all over each other. They brought all their food, which they were afraid would spoil, and we ate well and had lots of fun together. In fact, we likely would not have bonded with them so much had we not invited them in our homes. These are the same people that now have us come out every Thanksgiving, so our moment of charity has paid HUGE dividends.
So, whatever happens, bring it on! Just ... let me post this first. ;)
Monday, December 10, 2007
Sunday, December 9, 2007
A Sabbath Without Church
It's been cold and miserable around here all weekend, but we still did not expect the call we got at 10:00 Saturday night. Our friend Erik called to inform us that, due to the roads getting slippery with ice, there would be no church services on Sunday. Shortly thereafter, I got three more calls, from our home teacher, my Elders' Quorum president, and the bishop, all saying the same thing, so we knew it had to be true. We also found out that the stake choir's rendition of Handel's "The Messiah", the highlight of the season, was also canceled.
We initially thought this quite the over-reaction. After all, I had been out all afternoon, going to the mall with Morgan, taking Joshua to his cousin's birthday party, going to the store for groceries. Then we noticed the weather forecast calling for freezing drizzle, and realized that the roads would get slick very quickly. We also have people at church who attend from much further away then us, who would have to brave icy roads for much longer, people whose sense of duty would not allow them to miss church unless it were canceled. People like me, except from longer distances.
So, we stayed in. It was good to sleep as long as we wanted for the first time in what felt like ages, not waking up until 10:00. I read my e-mails, and then puttered about the morning studying a lesson that I would have had to teach had there been church, that I will have to teach next week. Later, I decided to make something special for us, and made one loaf's worth of French bread dough, which I then split into 16 little rolls. Once they rose, I stamped them with a heart-shaped cookie cutter, then baked them. I am resolving to get our own digital camera soon, because they were cute. They also went nicely with turkey, peanut butter, orange blossom honey, and cinnamon butter.
The afternoon was largely wasted doing something I had not done in almost two years: watching pro football. It was good, but I wish I hadn't. I found it was really hard to fill that time that I would normally spend at church, doing something Sabbath-friendly. So, rather than sit around and watch the idiot box any longer, I went upstairs and threw myself into the kitchen. I started our spaghetti sauce, spent another hour studying my lesson again, then baked some snickerdoodles before finishing dinner. Yeah, my family enjoys my boredom even if my waistline doesn't.
Now we're watching Bewitched on TV and lounging about, and it doesn't feel like Sunday. It just feels like another Saturday. This is not a good thing.
We initially thought this quite the over-reaction. After all, I had been out all afternoon, going to the mall with Morgan, taking Joshua to his cousin's birthday party, going to the store for groceries. Then we noticed the weather forecast calling for freezing drizzle, and realized that the roads would get slick very quickly. We also have people at church who attend from much further away then us, who would have to brave icy roads for much longer, people whose sense of duty would not allow them to miss church unless it were canceled. People like me, except from longer distances.
So, we stayed in. It was good to sleep as long as we wanted for the first time in what felt like ages, not waking up until 10:00. I read my e-mails, and then puttered about the morning studying a lesson that I would have had to teach had there been church, that I will have to teach next week. Later, I decided to make something special for us, and made one loaf's worth of French bread dough, which I then split into 16 little rolls. Once they rose, I stamped them with a heart-shaped cookie cutter, then baked them. I am resolving to get our own digital camera soon, because they were cute. They also went nicely with turkey, peanut butter, orange blossom honey, and cinnamon butter.
The afternoon was largely wasted doing something I had not done in almost two years: watching pro football. It was good, but I wish I hadn't. I found it was really hard to fill that time that I would normally spend at church, doing something Sabbath-friendly. So, rather than sit around and watch the idiot box any longer, I went upstairs and threw myself into the kitchen. I started our spaghetti sauce, spent another hour studying my lesson again, then baked some snickerdoodles before finishing dinner. Yeah, my family enjoys my boredom even if my waistline doesn't.
Now we're watching Bewitched on TV and lounging about, and it doesn't feel like Sunday. It just feels like another Saturday. This is not a good thing.
Thursday, December 6, 2007
No more dialing China
Last Saturday, while in my excitement to remove my dirty clothes from the campout and get into something warm, I did something phenomenally stupid, even for me. I left my cell phone in my jeans pocket. I then proceeded to throw all my clothes in the wash. Yup, by the time I realized what had happened, I had a very clean, but utterly useless, cell phone.
Of course, this could not have come at a worse time. I'm dead broke, so buying a cell phone would be impossible. And I really need to keep a phone on me all the time, for work.Melissa's got a good cell phone, but she needs hers as well. Fortunately, after calling around the family for soemone with a spare cell phone, I found one that could be programmed for Cricket. Nothing exciting, but I don't need exciting, I just need functional.
So, here it is, the new thing:
And now, enjoy some Horrors. This connects, really. :)
Of course, this could not have come at a worse time. I'm dead broke, so buying a cell phone would be impossible. And I really need to keep a phone on me all the time, for work.Melissa's got a good cell phone, but she needs hers as well. Fortunately, after calling around the family for soemone with a spare cell phone, I found one that could be programmed for Cricket. Nothing exciting, but I don't need exciting, I just need functional.
So, here it is, the new thing:
And look Ma, it's a flip phone. This is good, as I'm fond of stuffing my phone into my pockets and ignoring the beeps and boops emitting from my old Motorola non-flip phone. I would then pull it out and find a long line of gobbledygook thereon. I'd stare at it and wonder, "How the heck did I manage to type in a P?!? This phone isn't in txt mode!"
Well, here's to clearing out your pockets before doing the wash, and to new technology.
And now, enjoy some Horrors. This connects, really. :)
Monday, December 3, 2007
Loose Shorts PWN All
So, I got back in one piece from the campout. Actually, it was better than that. In fact, it might have been the best campout I've experienced.
So, everything got rolling with a couple of calls from Morgan's Scout leader, asking if I would be so kind as to pick up a couple of other boys who were supposed to go with us. I figured it would be fine, since I was taking the Explorer, so I agreed. One is Morgan's best friend at church, so that would have worked out well. However, I got a call that Morgan's friend couldn't make it, because he was sick, but apparently not too sick to ditch the school bus and go skate with his friends. Oh well.
As soon as Morgan got home from school himself, we set about gathering the things we would need, and throwing it all in the car. We planned on preparing our foil dinners at the campsite, so I grabbed heavy-duty foil and the following items:
2 chicken breasts
4 potatoes
3 carrots
2 onions
Old Bay seasoning (a recent discovery)
lowfat Italian dressing
spicy brown mustard
butter
2 bananas
cinnamon
brown sugar
The drive was relatively uneventful, although we did have to wait a bit long for our other boy to meet us. Morgan immediately slapped on his MP3 player, which left me free to enjoy the sneaky menace of A Place To Bury Strangers. We arrived at the campsite at 6:00, the last ones to appear, and the last ones to set up our tent and get our dinner going. Ugh. I hate making people wait.
As soon as we got the tent up, we started chopping. We sliced the potatoes, and laid one out in a single layer on a big sheet of foil. Then we chopped up the chicken breast, and arranged it atop the potato. Next, we applied liberal amounts of Old Bay, and Morgan reached for the Old Bay while I grabbed the salad dressing and mustard. Then we chopped up the carrots (2 for me), and the onions (all but a quarter of an onion for me). What? I like veggies! Finally, we laid the remaining potato on top of our heaping piles of food, and sealed the foil into a tight pocket.
After about 40 minutes on the hot coals (and one flip to make sure everything cooked through), we opened our packets to enjoy what was within. Yum! They turned out so good. Our bishop had come to the camp for the sole purpose of judging the foil dinners. While he declared ours "tantalizing", he declared the father and son who wrapped up Wal-Mart chimichangas the winner. Bah!
After everyone had enjoyed their feasts, we had a nice spiritual message from the bishop, and one of his counselors. The boys then retreated to their "man-cave", a natural shelter they selected for their campsite. That was fine by me, as even at my reduced poundage, Morgan and I don't fit real well in our small tent. After an enjoyable time chatting with the other adults, we called it a night and headed off to try to stay warm. Truth be told, I didn't get too cold, even when it started to rain. I had remembered to bring an extra sleeping bag, which went under the bag in which I slept. That soaked up all the rain that leaked into the tent, keeping me dry, except for the times I had to get up to go to the bathroom. (note to self: drink less water during campouts.)
By morning, the rain had slowed down, but had not entirely stopped. After a warm breakfast of blueberry pancakes, scrambled eggs, and bacon, we got busy with the main activities of the day. There were two activities scheduled: an orienteering course, and an obstacle course with ropes. Morgan and I volunteered to do the orienteering course first, and were thrown for a loop when directed to a canoe. We had to cross a small section of lake to start the course! Feeling up to the challenge, we decided to go on, paddling across the lake with no problem. It took us an hour on the other bank to try to find the markers, with only a compass and a set of directions to guide us. We had to backtrack a couple of times because we struggled to find markers the first time. We found five of six, but the last marker completely escaped us. After trying again and again, we gave up, and tried to head back to the other bank. That didn't work out so well, as the wind and current had gained strength during the time we were there. Despite our best efforts, we ended up on the north bank, a good quarter mile from our camp. We had managed to drag the canoe halfway there when some of the Scout leaders, who had seen our struggles, came and bailed us out. We got back to camp tired, wet and cold, but still feeling pretty good.
After a brief lunch (cold sandwiches, chips, and cookies), we got to see the obstacle course for the first time. There was a rope for shimmying between two trees, which led to a two-wire bridge, which then led to a monkey bridge, ending with a rope swing. There wasn't a thing there I would have attempted last year, but with some food in me, I felt ready for it. We were paired as fathers and sons, and our goal was to:
1) Sprint to a canoe
2) Carry the canoe overhead 50 ft, around a tree, and back to its starting point
3) High-five the shimmying rope, which didn't work out as it was too loose to climb
4) Cross the two-wire bridge without touching ground
5) The boy crosses the monkey bridge and swings off the rope swing to the ground
in the fastest time possible.
Once again, we went first. We made it to the canoe in good time, but just as we got the canoe overhead, disaster struck. My lovely American Eagle belt lost its buckle, and my jeans, which were too big before getting bogged down with rain, slipped to my hips. I reached down and grabbed my pants, and tried to keep them up as well as possible, while everyone else (except Morgan) howled with laughter. Good thing I had my thermals on! Through the rest of the race, I had to keep tugging my jeans up, and yet we finished. Since we were first to go, we had no idea how good our time was. It turned out good enough to win the race. w00t!
So everyone then got to have fun on the obstacle course. I walked up the monkey bridge, and then enjoyed the rope swing, until I had to dismount. I almost ended up upside-down before the other adults helped me off. Then we started to pack up, and that's when the rain hit with full force. Ugh. By the time we got the camp torn down, everyone was soaked and miserable.
We left after everything had been loaded in the trucks. Morgan and Todd (our other passenger) fell asleep again, leaving me free to enjoy some Ceremony on the ride home. (At some point, I will stop obsessively playing Ceremony, but not soon. Heh.) We made it home just before sunset, in time to shower and pass out. I wish.
So, everything got rolling with a couple of calls from Morgan's Scout leader, asking if I would be so kind as to pick up a couple of other boys who were supposed to go with us. I figured it would be fine, since I was taking the Explorer, so I agreed. One is Morgan's best friend at church, so that would have worked out well. However, I got a call that Morgan's friend couldn't make it, because he was sick, but apparently not too sick to ditch the school bus and go skate with his friends. Oh well.
As soon as Morgan got home from school himself, we set about gathering the things we would need, and throwing it all in the car. We planned on preparing our foil dinners at the campsite, so I grabbed heavy-duty foil and the following items:
2 chicken breasts
4 potatoes
3 carrots
2 onions
Old Bay seasoning (a recent discovery)
lowfat Italian dressing
spicy brown mustard
butter
2 bananas
cinnamon
brown sugar
The drive was relatively uneventful, although we did have to wait a bit long for our other boy to meet us. Morgan immediately slapped on his MP3 player, which left me free to enjoy the sneaky menace of A Place To Bury Strangers. We arrived at the campsite at 6:00, the last ones to appear, and the last ones to set up our tent and get our dinner going. Ugh. I hate making people wait.
As soon as we got the tent up, we started chopping. We sliced the potatoes, and laid one out in a single layer on a big sheet of foil. Then we chopped up the chicken breast, and arranged it atop the potato. Next, we applied liberal amounts of Old Bay, and Morgan reached for the Old Bay while I grabbed the salad dressing and mustard. Then we chopped up the carrots (2 for me), and the onions (all but a quarter of an onion for me). What? I like veggies! Finally, we laid the remaining potato on top of our heaping piles of food, and sealed the foil into a tight pocket.
After about 40 minutes on the hot coals (and one flip to make sure everything cooked through), we opened our packets to enjoy what was within. Yum! They turned out so good. Our bishop had come to the camp for the sole purpose of judging the foil dinners. While he declared ours "tantalizing", he declared the father and son who wrapped up Wal-Mart chimichangas the winner. Bah!
After everyone had enjoyed their feasts, we had a nice spiritual message from the bishop, and one of his counselors. The boys then retreated to their "man-cave", a natural shelter they selected for their campsite. That was fine by me, as even at my reduced poundage, Morgan and I don't fit real well in our small tent. After an enjoyable time chatting with the other adults, we called it a night and headed off to try to stay warm. Truth be told, I didn't get too cold, even when it started to rain. I had remembered to bring an extra sleeping bag, which went under the bag in which I slept. That soaked up all the rain that leaked into the tent, keeping me dry, except for the times I had to get up to go to the bathroom. (note to self: drink less water during campouts.)
By morning, the rain had slowed down, but had not entirely stopped. After a warm breakfast of blueberry pancakes, scrambled eggs, and bacon, we got busy with the main activities of the day. There were two activities scheduled: an orienteering course, and an obstacle course with ropes. Morgan and I volunteered to do the orienteering course first, and were thrown for a loop when directed to a canoe. We had to cross a small section of lake to start the course! Feeling up to the challenge, we decided to go on, paddling across the lake with no problem. It took us an hour on the other bank to try to find the markers, with only a compass and a set of directions to guide us. We had to backtrack a couple of times because we struggled to find markers the first time. We found five of six, but the last marker completely escaped us. After trying again and again, we gave up, and tried to head back to the other bank. That didn't work out so well, as the wind and current had gained strength during the time we were there. Despite our best efforts, we ended up on the north bank, a good quarter mile from our camp. We had managed to drag the canoe halfway there when some of the Scout leaders, who had seen our struggles, came and bailed us out. We got back to camp tired, wet and cold, but still feeling pretty good.
After a brief lunch (cold sandwiches, chips, and cookies), we got to see the obstacle course for the first time. There was a rope for shimmying between two trees, which led to a two-wire bridge, which then led to a monkey bridge, ending with a rope swing. There wasn't a thing there I would have attempted last year, but with some food in me, I felt ready for it. We were paired as fathers and sons, and our goal was to:
1) Sprint to a canoe
2) Carry the canoe overhead 50 ft, around a tree, and back to its starting point
3) High-five the shimmying rope, which didn't work out as it was too loose to climb
4) Cross the two-wire bridge without touching ground
5) The boy crosses the monkey bridge and swings off the rope swing to the ground
in the fastest time possible.
Once again, we went first. We made it to the canoe in good time, but just as we got the canoe overhead, disaster struck. My lovely American Eagle belt lost its buckle, and my jeans, which were too big before getting bogged down with rain, slipped to my hips. I reached down and grabbed my pants, and tried to keep them up as well as possible, while everyone else (except Morgan) howled with laughter. Good thing I had my thermals on! Through the rest of the race, I had to keep tugging my jeans up, and yet we finished. Since we were first to go, we had no idea how good our time was. It turned out good enough to win the race. w00t!
So everyone then got to have fun on the obstacle course. I walked up the monkey bridge, and then enjoyed the rope swing, until I had to dismount. I almost ended up upside-down before the other adults helped me off. Then we started to pack up, and that's when the rain hit with full force. Ugh. By the time we got the camp torn down, everyone was soaked and miserable.
We left after everything had been loaded in the trucks. Morgan and Todd (our other passenger) fell asleep again, leaving me free to enjoy some Ceremony on the ride home. (At some point, I will stop obsessively playing Ceremony, but not soon. Heh.) We made it home just before sunset, in time to shower and pass out. I wish.
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