Friday Brain Dump

Maybe I should call it a Friday brain FREEZE, since GOOD GOLLY MISS MOLLY it's cold out there!  

1.  The thermometer was hovering at 10F (that's -12C, for you metric folks) when Wyatt bundled up and headed off to school in the dark.  The good news is, it's not windy, at least here at our place.  North of town?  Probably colder.

This time of year, the days are so short that many people leave home (for school or work) in the dark, and come home in the dark.  You could go a whole  (M-F) week without seeing your home or your neighborhood in daylight.  And even in the daylight, it's not always very light.  I drove to to town for the Sing-A-Long Messiah last Sunday, and the street-lights were all on at two in the afternoon.  Crazy.  At least our bitterly cold days are usually clear and bright.

2.  Huge relief - we heard from my dad, on his way home from a hunt in Colorado.  He and a friend were heading home yesterday morning, in -30F and blowing snow.  Now, if you're from a cold climate you'll be familiar with something I had forgotten about (from my winter in Wisconsin) - block heaters.  We don't need them here in Washington because it's just not that cold!!  But in bitterly cold places you have block heaters on your vehicles.  You come home, turn off your car, and plug it in.  There's some kind of engine block heater that keeps everything under the hood from freezing solid.  (Or slushy.  Or whatever.)  So they were supposed to head out at 8am, but at 11am they were "warming up the truck".  (How?)  And then we didn't hear from them.

Until this morning, when they called from Pendleton, OR.  I suspect that once they got the truck warmed up and going they probably just had to keep going until they were somewhere warm enough  that they could stop without the engine freezing.  I bet it's quite the story... one you'd rather hear about later, when it's all said and done, than go through yourself ;D

But on the bright side... they won't have to worry about keeping the meat frozen!

3.  Cold weather around here looks like this.

... snow up in the hills, and a little of Monday's snow still hanging around, but mostly cold and clear.

4.  And inside the house?  Gunnar, not quite feeling fabulous, but staying warm and snuggly.

... meanwhile the temp (thermometer in the sun) has climbed all the way up to...

... 15F.   Or -9C.  Whichever you prefer.

5.  So, enough about the weather... we're hoping to get our Christmas tree today, sometime between Wyatt getting home from school and Wyatt and I leaving for the concert.  Hoping!

6.  I love to see photos of how you all decorate for Christmas,  you?  I mean, does it seem petty and vain to post pics of our Christmas decorations , or is that something you like too?

7.  A blast from the past... December, 2001. Gunnar was a baby, Wyatt was five, and Tate was 3. My sister was coming home for Christmas, and this is how we met her at the airport.

It's a photo of a photo, so not great resolution, but aren't they cute?!  Gunnar had a little star-shaped fleece suit, and Wyatt and Tate were the gifts.  Though they (Tate especially) looks like a very mischievous gift.  (No surprise there!)  *Happy Sigh*

8.  19 Days Until Christmas!