alls well that ends well

oh great- another post about the snow in vermont! just what you all were hoping for.

after a few potentially deadly runs down high meadow lane on the toboggan, julie and dad crafted a safer, shorter luge run for kids on saucers off the side of the leach field. aj couldn't get enough of this, despite some awkward endings. look at julie react to one of her son's near-disastrous sledding runs. better yet, look at aj's reaction to his crash.

perfect packing snow

not only was the snow in vermont good for sledding, it was also great snowball snow. evie helped me get started on the bottom ball for a giant snowpig, but it was soon bigger than she was. it also didn't help that i tried to get her to roll the snowball up a hill. she gave it the ole' college try, though, before finally brushing her hands of the whole affair.

one laptop per child

for matt's birthday, i got him a laptop through the "one laptop per child" program. although matt's hand's are not as beefcake-like as christian's (visible in photo), it is still quite obvious that these computers are designed for those with significantly smaller hands than any of us grown-ups possess. i suggested that matt let evie or aj have a go at it, but even though the keyboard is waterproof, sandproof, peanutbutterandjellyproof, etc..., he wasn't gung ho on the idea.

good sledding weather

we're up in vermont for a little christmassing. the conditions on sunday were just perfect for sledding.

the best of friends

the poem is actually a song from "the fox and the hound"


When you're the best of friends
Having so much fun together
You're not even aware, you're such a funny pair
You're the best of friends

Life's a happy game
You could clown around forever
Neither one of you sees, your natural boundaries
Life's one happy game

If only the world wouldn't get in the way
If only people would just let you play
They say you're both being fools
You're breaking all the rules
They can't understand, the magic of your wonderland
Hu-hu-hu

When you're the best of friends
Sharing all that you discover
When that moment has past, will that friendship last?
Who can say? There's a way!
Oh I hope... I hope it never ends
'Cause you're the best of friends

wasting time for a good cause

if you have a good vocabulary and you want to feed hungry people, you should go to the free rice website.

in the past four minutes, i have donated 1500 grains of rice to someone who needs some rice. i am both more of a hero and smarter than i was four minutes ago.

my new favorite thing

earlier this year, oak knoll was given a woodstove insert for our fireplace. it's made by a company called "quadra-fire," who donated the stove, stainless steel sleeve for the chimney, and installation of the whole thing. the company is generous and the stove is wonderful and heats the whole nature center and i love it and i wish we could get one at our house, but our landlady is afraid of fire.

as promised

when it is not much fun to be the little one:

the ice has been replaced by snow

it took me four hours to make a trip yesterday afternoon that had only taken me 90 minutes that morning. but i guess i had it easy- one of our neighbors is a teacher in boston and, even though school let out early because of the storm, her normal 40 minute drive turned in to a seven hour nightmare! we now have about 10-12 inches of lovely snow, but here's one last picture of the ice while i work on getting a video of the dogs romping about in it all loaded up on youtube.

ice ice baby

hearth

a few weeks ago, i went up to new hampshire with matt and helped him build this hearth for his mother's new woodstove. and by "helped" i mostly mean "sat on the couch and watched."

one worth checking

there are a few websites out there that i check every day. most of them aren't worth sharing with you, my beloved blog readers, because in most cases, knowing that i check these websites every day would only serve to lower your assessment of my character. sure, i'm willing to fess up about cute overload, but there are others. yes, there are others*. occasionally, i so enjoy something i read on one of these other websites that i share it with the few people who check this website every day. today, i want you all to read a post from leroy sievers' "my cancer" blog at npr.org. this is one of the website's i'm not embarrassed to admit that i like.

"After that day, your life is never the same. "That day" is the day the doctor tells you, "You have cancer." Every one of us knows someone who's had to face that news. It's scary, it's sad. But it's still life, and it's a life worth living. "My Cancer" is a daily account of my life and my fight with cancer."

Defying Expectations

Two years ago today, my life changed forever.

The day started out like any other. I had a job interview that afternoon for a position I really wanted. It was a phone interview, and the only thing that worried me was that I had started to slur my words. I couldn't figure out why. None of my friends said anything. I wrote it off to fatigue. I wasn't sleeping well. I was waking up with headaches, which was something new for me.

The interview went fine. But at dinner, it was clear that things weren't fine. One side of my face was drooping. We went to the emergency room and the doctor's first thought was Bell's Palsy, a temporary paralysis of the face. I remember thinking how awful it would be if that's what I had.

Then everything changed. I had a brain scan, and as I was wheeled back into the ER I caught the eye of my doctor. And I knew.

"We found a mass." I had a brain tumor and tumors in my lungs. I was told three to six months. I remember the room spinning, or was it my head?

Well, two years later, I'm still here. Thanks to the skills of my doctors, the strength of my friends and loved ones, and the generosity of all of you who have included me in your thoughts and prayers. And also a little stubbornness on my part.

I won't say I shouldn't be here, I don't think that's right. I wasn't expected to still be here, that's certainly true.

I'm a different person in many ways. Everything I've gone through, all the things I've learned, have changed me in ways large and small.

Who knows how this will play out?

Today I'm not going to think about that. Today there's really only one thing to say.

I'm still here.

*no, none of them are porn.

kenny g

every day, on my commute to and from work, i pass this whimsical celebration of the season:

which always gets me to thinking. no, not of jesus and the "reason for the season" but of norm macdonald, former host of saturday night live's "weekend update." one of my favorite quotes from norm:
"Kenny G released his Christmas album this week. Happy birthday, Jesus ... hope you like crap!"

with apologies to any kenny g fans out there, i have to say that i wholeheartedly agree.

making progress

i know any skeptic could say that these photos don't prove anything, but matt did successfully traverse the tire swing challenge last weekend. there were a couple of rough patches and i more than once thought he was going to rip every muscle in his groin, but he made it all the way down the row of five tires without touching the ground or rendering himself unable to walk home.

i want one too

sure sure, i've had my problems with the coyotes. and i imagine i would feel differently about them in general if one actually managed to catch and eat nina, but from the perspective of a not-making-my-living-off-my-livestock-whose-dog-has-never-been- eaten-by-coyotes kind of person, i think they are admirable creatures and wish them all the best in their travels and adventures. and after checking out this blog, i now desperately want one for a pet. matt, even more than the nina totin'-bag, i want a baby coyote for christmas.

when grandma's back is turned

grandpa steals his seventh piece of candy.

after an appropriate pause

so now that you all have had plenty of time to stare at that picture of a plastic-wrapped sausage, i guess i can do a new blog post.

we went to pennsylvania for the weekend to attend the 50-something-th annual myers family christmas party. this is matt's mother's mother's family and it's a big one. they were expecting over 80 people to attend, although threats of sleet and freezing rain kept the numbers down slightly. everyone was wonderfully nice and they loaded us down with so many tupperwares full of leftovers that nina didn't know which one to start chewing on when we stopped at a rest area to use the bathroom.

i really like this picture of matt and his grandpa, although grandpa had just stolen his sixth piece of candy from the table and is trying to hide it in the corner of his mouth.