Quiet Holiday

We had a Tofurkey (no, they aren't actually turkey shaped - they're more like rubbery haggises) for Thanksgiving, so we didn't want to repeat ourselves, and as we're all trying various wacky diets, we decided just to have two lasagnas, one GF, for Christmas dinner. But on Christmas morning Jami casually asked "do you think there's anywhere open that sells ricotta cheese?" Turns out, I discovered, after an hour-and-a-half tour of Flint, no there isn't. Gas stations and very depressing liquor stores (which, in Michigan, have the optimistic and misleading name of "Party Stores") sell exactly the same sad selection of milk and little bags of grated cheese for the sad lonely drunk who can't even grate their own. So we had to settle for pre-grated mozzarella. But it tasted fine, so Christmas was saved! Then, early the next morn, everybody but Frederick and me got up and sped to the airport, where Thomas, Jimmy and Grandma were loaded on a plane for Virginia, where Grandma had booked a holiday for 4 days. And let me tell you, it has been a blissful 4 days for those of us left behind. We did get one phone call from G'ma on the first night, telling us that Thomas abandoned Jimmy in a bathroom in Chicago airport, and as the gate changed for their flight G'ma panicked and had Thomas called over the airport tannoy, much to his chagrin, but after that it has been total radio silence. It's like the Simpsons Kamp Krusty episode where Homer is so happy he loses weight and regrows hair while the kids are at camp. We've watched a different artsy fartsy black and white movie every night with NO INTERRUPTIONS.

But, alas, it ends tomorrow. And as Thomas ran off with my camera, it is to be hoped he brings home a photographic record of their exploits.

Huge Pile O'Presents... Tiny Tree

All new at Stepping Stone Falls

For a few months one of our regular haunts has been closed for renovations. We checked it out today and it had opened again. I'm not sure I approve, but it certainly looks... expensive.

(Notice there is NO ice ANYwhere. As I said, crazy weather.)

Moving (Duck) House

We moved the duckhouse a couple of days ago so it would be closer to the outlets on the garage. Usually by this time we've got a heat rock plugged in, but it's crazily warm (El Neen-yo) so they haven't needed it. For the first night or two it was back to the old days of actually having to chase them down and throw them in at night, but last night they ran over to where it used to be, did a couple of amusing double-takes then sprinted over to its new location and hopped in of their own accord. You can teach old fowl new tricks.

One of Santa's Elves at work

Looks more like a Leprechaun, I must say.

'Murica

 Here you have camo-themed lacy underwear in the sporting goods store.  I can only hope this leads to post-Xmas divorces.

And here you have a car with the lovely sentiment "Keep Christ in Christmas"... along with reindeer antlers.  Because, as everybody knows, Christ rode into town on a reindeer.

Knotty and naughty

It works!

As Brad can tell you, using a tire/tyre to help chop wood is a real time-and-back saver, so I decided to try it.  And Brad's right!

Drama at Grand Blanc Commons

After yet another warm spell, this morning was quote nippy with snow flurries blowing about. Frederick and I headed to Grand Blanc Commons (he likes to show me his favorite trails) where we found this blocking our way:

Frederick always climbs atop fallen trees at For Mar, but those have been trimmed neatly and are usually laying quite deliberately along pathways. This was broken and DANGEROUS, which made it very exciting.

The top half of the tree had fallen across the bridge and was laying in the river.

Since no clean up had been done, it seems the tree had fallen last night or early this morning.

The Concert Season Begins

This is but a small sampler of Saturday afternoon's event.  It featured 3 groups:  the choral group, which we tolerate--barely, Philharmonia--the group Thomas was in aged 10-13, and Wind Ensemble, which Thomas is now--plus, a bonus, Philharmonia and Wind playing together for a rocking medley of Nutcracker pieces.  Normally, Thomas would be just in Wind, but there is a dramatic scarcity of percussionists in Philharmonia so Thomas and Omid were strong armed by Rob to assist.  Much grumbling from Thomas during the past three weeks when he had to be at FIM for 4-5 hours a day, five days a week, for rehearsals.  Here is one Wind piece:

Here is a holiday classic.  Thomas had misplaced his reed because the previous number (see above) had him on the drum set (I told him to keep reeds in his pocket but will he listen?) so he was in a bit of a panic getting settled in and playing.

Immediately after Thomas had to race back to the opposite side of the stage to play xylophone. When he got there he realized that his music was not on his stand waiting for him....So he raced back to his bassoon stand to check his folder...Not there.  So he raced back.....Amazingly, it hadn't magically appeared in the time he was running back and forth.  Meanwhile, the audience howled with laughter, Rob glowered, and Omid smirked.  I felt a pounding migraine set in and couldn't record anymore as it was too stressful.

Eventually Chris Hall, director of Wind ensemble, called an end to the slapstick theatrics and told Thomas to go without music, which he managed to do (not without copiously sweating, but no mistakes to be had):

This is the second time this has happened to Thomas. (The first was at his Honors Percussion Quartet recital last year--he spent many minutes racing about the stage looking for his music, at one point putting his hands on his hips and demanding from his quartet mates "Ok, who took my music?!"--it turns out that he had left it on a music stand which was then moved off stage and into the curtains, so it wasn't really his fault.  But why do these sorts of things always happen to Thomas?)  Although Thomas thinks he is invisible, he has in fact developed quite the reputation among both FIM students and their parents as being the "absent minded future professor".

[Ah ha!  Here is a twist in the tale:  I ran into Rob today at the FIM and it turns out that Omid did have Thomas's so-called "missing music"!  Apparently after their final rehearsal before the performance Saturday Thomas left his music on a music stand at the FIM and Omid took it, ostensibly to return it to Thomas next time he saw him.  But he didn't return it, and later insisted (at the time the music went missing) that he had "no idea where it was" when in fact it was in his music folder all along!  This latest incident will do nothing to calm the freniminess that rages between those two. (Thomas is very suspicious of Omid's claims that he forgot he had it.)]

Our hero

These old guys live a couple of houses down.  Apparently the smaller of the two has feline AIDS, so the larger has decided to give him whatever he wants.  And what he wants is to stroll the neighbourhood.

That's more like it

Sadly the weather is now balmy. It's hovering around 60 for the next couple of weeks. Quick, buy real estate in Antarctica.

Wood time

It's frosty all of a sudden:

But the cupboard is bare...

That means it's time to get wood (no rude jokes please)!

Well, it's a start, but we'll need much more...


Annoying sidenote: this wood is TOO GREEN! It's hissing as it burns on the fire. This means that our chimney will rapidly clog with a tarry substance and, just as it's coldest and people are least likely to want to climb on our roof, the chimney will totally clog and the fire will be unusable. Argh - why can't people not lie about their wood being "kiln dried"? However, my cries of rage spurred Jami into a frenzy of Googling and YouTubing and she discovered a whole firewood-related subculture, full of handy hints like "use an old tyre/tire when you're splitting logs and you won't be always bending over!" and "make a solar-powered log-drying lean-to in your back yard!" So it will be a busy spring. In the meantime, I have to scour Craigslist or stands on the side of side-roads for actually burnable wood.

Out with the old, in with the new

On all days when we don't have to drive Thomas to school at ungodly hours (i.e., 6 AM), we are finally coerced out of bed by Frederick thundering downstairs. Yesterday it was me who gave in first and followed him downstairs to make him his usual toast-based breakfast - only to find that his toaster (i.e., the one assigned to Gluten Free bread) was broken. Well then, I thought (after trying for about ten minutes of futility to get the plunger thing to stay down), I'll just use the other (glutenous) one, just this once. Good thing we've got two, eh? Well no, because IT HAD BROKEN IN EXACTLY THE SAME WAY. What is this, a toaster curse? So anyway, Jami braved the Black Friday crowds and came back with a two-for-one deal.

At the same time she picked up a replacement for the bin we found at Goodwill about 15 years ago and that has never worked properly.

Now I feel bad:

Michigan weather

From this:

To this, in a couple of days.

Too soon!

Okay, a little smattering is to be expected before December.  But this is silly!  We haven't stocked up with wood yet!
Morning, Grand Blanc Commons:

Afternoon, a walk to the office.  Frederick models his new lime green snow pants.

Even the trees weren't ready for winter: