January 11, 2009

Sunrise Behind Our House

Well it has snowed here a few times contrary to the general consensus that it does not in fact snow here and if by some rare occurrence it does, it washes right away. Well, it has been over a week now since this last non-existent snow storm has graced us with 5 inches more than a dusting and has since frozen in the 12 degree (fahrenheit) temperatures that we've also enjoyed for as much time. This is the kind of cold that freezes your legs when they touch your pants and you can feel in your bones, and in the snot that hardens in your nose the instant you step outside. I always hoped never to have to endure this kind of cold again after leaving New England but apparently it follows us around the world, special folks that we are, as it seems we are able to change the usual weather patterns wherever we may be living considering the locals maintain that it never snows here and is never this cold. In Florida last January we had a week of freezing weather that killed all of my plants and burst a water pipe in the outdoor shower. That hadn't occurred in the Panama City area for over 8 years! So I must conclude that it is our fault and we must bring a little piece of home with us wherever we go. That being said, winter can still be a beautiful sight and I was fortunate enough to get some pictures of the ice before it started to disappear this weekend.






I am not sad to see it go and I am not sad to see our illness go either. This new year has not started off well with a house full of sick people for over a week with the nastiest cold I've seen in years. It consisted of fevers up to 104 degrees, and hacking coughs which were not helped at all by the dry night air in our house. We have just barely started to get back on track and we are not usually ever sick. In my feverish state it seems that I forgot to post some funny anecdotes from our recent travels and I also have a new video of Brad escaping from his bedroom. The baby gates are all useless now and I must say that Rhiannon was 4 years old before she ever climbed a gate, and only after we suggested it so we didn't have to open it for her.



We drove for many hours through Germany during our travels. Normally we bring the DVD player for Rhiannon for long trips. Sometimes it's more of a hassle because she gets frustrated with various things on her movie and she will whine and complain from the backseat for me to make it louder or rewind it or whatever. This time she was watching Rudolph and she kept complaining that the snowman wasn't talking right. Well I couldn't figure out what she was talking about so Tori took the headphones and listened. Turns out, Rudolph was in Spanish! We all started dying laughing and set about to fixing it but that was easier said than done because for some reason the DVD player was defaulting to Spanish. I still don't know how it was fixed but next time I will think twice about bringing it. She seems to do fine without it anyway.

When we were at the Louvre Rhiannon commented that the place smelled like Nonna Donna's house. I couldn't stop laughing because anyone who knows my mom knows her house is like a museum. You can look at lots of nice ceramic figures all behind glass but there is absolutely no touching, no running, and everything is impossibly clean, until my family gets there anyway. Rhiannon is so insightful.

Anyway, Brad's got a bunch of new words under his belt. He repeats back to us pretty much everything we say now. He loves to say "yeah" and "ok" and "hi" pronounced with a thick New York accent. His eye check up went well and they still seem to be pretty straight but we are rechecking again in 3 months. Hopefully we can head off any potential future surgeries with constant monitoring.

Jim is well into his training by now and should be flying by the spring. He also starts his masters degree next month. I am still trying to get graphic work online and hope to see results soon. Another friend from Florida arrived this week. It seems a lot like old times lately, only much colder. Well, that's it for now. Will keep you posted on anything new and interesting.