Our friend Christian (that's him on the right, on a visit to Petaluma with his lovely fiancee Joanna) turns 34 today!
Wishing you the best my friend, we'll be sure to raise a Saranac or two in your honor tonight.
February 2007 Archives
Just uploaded a new batch from the past month, including some great ones from Uncle Jesse's visit. Enjoy!
Well the snow has finally stopped, leaving us about 18" on the ground. Our last accurate measurement was last night when Brandie took the yardstick out after shoveling - it looks like we got another 2-3" after that.
Now you may wonder what sort of husband makes his wife go out on Valentine's Day to shovel fifteen inches of snow in sub-zero temperatures, but you'll have to believe me when I say she volunteered! They make 'em tough in Idaho.
Unfortunately now that we finally have some snow to play in, it's too cold to go out and enjoy it! The thermometer read 4 when I got up this morning, and the high is only expected to reach 13; with wind chill the low is -15.
It is pretty though, we'll try to get some pictures today.
We started the day off right here: heart-shaped pumpkin pancakes, cottage bacon from Hawley Farms and fresh-ground coffee (finally rescued the coffeemaker from storage, hooray!) I also got some Scharfenberger dark chocolate-covered pretzels (made right here by Brandie & Sophie) and a very nice over-sized mug from the Butler's Pantry in Montrose.
A very big thank-you to my wife for being wonderful.
The snow is still coming down with no sign of letting up, I'd guess we have at least a foot or more already on the ground. We're all glad we don't have to go anywhere!
We're in the middle of a big photo update, the one above is from just after Christmas. In this set are pics from Uncle Jesse's visit, our attempts to rebuild Eeyore's house at Pooh Corner, and Sophie helping me work. More coming soon!
Unlike our friends up in Oswego, we haven't had much snow at all this winter. In fact, it was almost February before we even plowed the driveway and it probably would have melted off on its own if we hadn't.
Today however, that seems about to change. Forecasts are calling for between 14 inches and 4 feet of snow, with strong winds causing drifting afterwards. Schools are already closing, and we're running around trying to find clean bottles for drinking water and buckets to flush the toilet with in case the power goes out.
This is a weird area for weather, probably because we get so much of it: last I knew Binghamton was the 7th rainiest city in the country, and the third most overcast. We don't get the lake effect snow, but forecasters around here are rarely right: the big storms usually take us by surprise and when they hype it up it turns out to be nothing.
We'll let you know how it turns out!
The game we're working on was announced today!
Here are some links:
The Official Site
New York Times Article
Adventure Gamer's Article
Our friend Eula has a new name, given to her by The Juice: "K-K-KKKK!" (like you're imitating CB static or preparing to expectorate). She only makes the sound when she sees or hears Eula, or if one of us mentions her.
This is mainly significant because while she says "ma-ma-ma" and "da-da-da" it's not necessarily at us or about us (that we can tell, anyway): this sound is really her first unique naming of something.
Which isn't surprising, I guess: Eula has become more of a commonplace feature around the house now that we've moved. She doesn't have a nice heated garage to sleep in anymore, so she's got a special bed by the dryer next to my office downstairs. And truth be known, she sometimes gets to sleep on a blanket in front of the fire.
We received the sad news yesterday that my friend Chris's dad had passed away. His obituary is here.
I don't think I ever called Mr. Fleischer "Bill": I had too much respect for him to call him by his first name. Despite claims to the contrary, he was the smartest man on Franklin Hill: a ballistics physicist with a love of great music, food and drink. He inspired a lust for life in his sons and their friends, along with a healthy attitude for balancing career and family.
Some memories: enthusiastically supporting our Middle Earth Role-Playing sessions, devouring Sunday roasts with glee, decrying the drum-playing of our favorite band AC/DC as "pot banging" (he preferred jazz), hosting some fantastic family reunions, somehow arranging for all our friends to sit together at our graduation, outlasting some hardened college party-ers at an 18-hour drinking marathon to fete our friend Dan's birthday (I passed out shortly before midnight, he closed the bars and flirted with more girls than the rest of us combined - at the venerable age of 72 I believe.)
I've been fortunate to have great friends with great parents: at times I've felt as close to them as I have to their kids. I guess it's genetics, or more likely the character and values they instilled and inspired in their families.
