Big Sur is beautiful - especially when it's 84 degrees out

What a wonderful weekend!! With beautiful, sunny skies and temperatures in the 70's-80's, there was much outdoor enjoyment to be had.

Saturday I got started on the garden. Barely. My plot was all full of weeds, and hadn't been touched in months, so I spent my time just digging the weeds into the dirt, and loosening up the soil. It was fabulous to be outdoors on such a beautiful day, with the smell of the earth and the trees...The garden itself is very nice and peaceful and well cared for. I took some before and after pictures of my plot and it looks much better now. This Saturday I will buy some compost, lay down some newspaper to smother the weeds and then cover it with the compost to promote decomposition and add some organic matter to the soil. It looks like really really nice dirt, though - fluffy and more sandy than clay. In Portland, we had pure clay and in some places, hard pan, which is just a fancy way of saying that the dirt has gotten so compacted and hardened that it is like concrete. Not easy to plant in. So this SF dirt should be delightful. Also, I checked out a book on gardening in the Bay Area, and it turns out that here you can basically grow things year round, because we don't have frosts. So I can start planting in February! Cool. The only downside to our climate here is that it doesn't get warm enough, long enough, for crops like tomatoes and peppers. Boo. Oh well, I guess we'll be eating fresh lettuce and broccoli, instead of corn and melons. Assuming, of course, that anything grows at all - I'm not known for my green thumb, or my attention span...

Sunday was the best day. I got a discount on a car rental from Enterprise so Neil and I headed down South to Big Sur for the day. What a perfect way to spend a day! We saw beautiful vistas, bountiful wildlife and 84 degrees!

We took Hwy 101 South to Salinas to bypass Hwy1, which we already saw on our last day trip, and joined Hwy 1 at Monterey/Carmel. (where we ended our last trip). We stopped at the first turnout - not realizing that there are turnouts every 10 feet along this strip of the highway.

Another couple also at the turnout pointed out a Sea otter down in a big bed of kelp. He was just floating on his back, taking a nap I think, with his little paws folded nicely on his belly. I took a picture of him, but then it was so far away, I accidentally erased it later cause I couldn't figure out why I would take a picture of a bed of kelp...

When we got back into the car, we noticed the temperature gauge said 80 degrees. We're from Oregon, and it is NEVER 80 degrees on January 11th, so we took a picture to commemorate the moment:


We continued our drive, stopping at almost every turnout for pictures. It was just so beautiful!!

Because we had driven so far (about 2 miles) along the coast, we decided it was time for a break, and stopped to walk down on a great beach that we spotted...The waves were large and an amazing shade of blue/green and it was warm enough to take off socks and shoes and wade in the water. It wasn't really cold.

So now we have two beaches to return to. We probably could have spent all day here, but there were grey whales to see, so we headed onwards. This is the migratory period for the grey whales heading south to Mexico and Neil was super-excited to see a whale. In February, they head back north with their babies, so they're closer to shore then, but we had high hopes of spotting one or two. At our next turnout, we saw our first spout of the day. It was so much fun! Then we started seeing spouts EVERYWHERE! There were so many whales out - I don't know if we just hit a good day, or what, but if you just stared blankly out at the ocean, you would spot one after another, after another. Neil had wisely thought to bring our binoculars with us, and if happened to be looking at the place where there was a spout, you could also see the whales backs and tails. So cool... At the first turnout we stopped at, the water was very choppy, so I didn't get a good chance to take any pictures...

We drove on a little further, and Neil pointed out some birds that were circling up ahead. I thought they were just hawks at first, but as we got closer, they kept getting bigger and bigger and then we noticed the crowd of people who had pulled over to look at them, and realized that they were condors. And so, of course, we had to pull over and get a better view. Which was simple, because they were flying right overhead. And not just one time, but over and over again. And not just one of them, but 11-12 of them. It's almost like they were posing for the pictures. They were SO big and so cool. Neil later said he could have stood there and watched them all day.

One landed on a rock below us, and up close, they are not very attractive birds. They look a little bit like vultures. Close up picture from the internet:


They are much prettier when they are flying around...

I finally tore Neil away from the birds and we headed out again, only to run into another bird: a pelican sleeping on the side of the road. Of course we had to get out and walk up to the pelican to snap a picture. I thought he would get scared and fly away, but he was totally blase. Didn't bat an eye, even when the flash went off:

Again, almost like he was posing for us. Did the wildlife know we were coming?

Some more beautiful scenery:

Then we hit the whale jackpot. We came to a turnout and immediately started seeing multiple spouts together, in numerous places. There must have been a whole pod traveling together. I think I once saw 6-7 or seven spouts at the same time. And backs and tails - the whole works. Neil and I sat there sharing the binoculars for a long time.

And the ocean had calmed, so I got some pictures of the spouts as well.






So, that was about the end of the wildlife spotting, and we just continued our lovely drive with the windows down and the breeze in our hair, and pulled off to one last turnout to enjoy the sunset...

The sun set, and we headed back to Hwy 101, and the trek back to San Francisco. We realized that we had come much farther than we thought when we saw the sign saying 170 miles to San Francisco. The return trip was long, dark and boring - but worth it for the day that we had.

Back in San Francisco, we headed to Neil's friend Cathy's house for "family dinner". She and her roomates prepare a home-cooked theme meal for anyone who wants to come every Sunday. This weeks theme was Korean. Unfortunately, we missed the dinner. But we arrived in time for cake! And some nice time with friends to cap off a wonderful day!

I get Martin Luther King Jr. day off as a holiday (I love my employer) and so we might be planning a trip to Napa/Sonoma. Can't wait!!

Update on the goals

Just a quick update on the goals. I'm finding that they are not really mutually exclusive, and so far, they have all been running into each other. For instance, I've been faithfully running - Mon., Tues., yesterday, tonight - but I've been so pooped out afterwards that I haven't been able to work on artwork, or anything for that matter. I've barely been able to drag myself into the kitchen to make dinner. I know, it's so pathetic, I'm only running 30 minutes a day - but I am not built as a distance runner, for goodness sakes - I am a jumper. Jumper. So get off my back. :)

Also, I purchased the make-your-own-lamp kits off the internet the other day, to get started on the lamp-making, which violated my goal of be wiser with money. I am out of disposable income for this pay period, but purchased the lamps anyway, because I wanted to get started on the artwork.

So, it's a slow start - but atleast it's a start.

In other news, I may be running in a relay with Charlotte - from Napa to Santa Cruz in May. She does this every year, and just emailed me that they need another female runner, and it's right here in my area, so why not? It's 199 miles, with 36 legs of differing lengths and difficulties. You have 12 members on your team, and each member runs 3 legs. I think it will be a good warm-up for the half marathon in July. Some of the legs look really difficult! So, we'll see, but it sounds like fun!

With all the news about water and flooding up the PacNW, I'm actually feeling pretty happy to be down here in sunny California. It's supposed to be 70 degrees this weekend. Cool.

Yes, I have adjusted to the sunshine.

All that and the kitchen table

My home in San Francisco is finally complete. On Sunday, I happened to notice that Cost Plus was having a year-end sale on all of their furniture - including the tiny little kitchen table that I have had my eye on for, oh, the entire 4.5 months we have been here. So Neil and I took a little bus ride down to check it out, found that it was $20 off, and rented a zipcar to haul it home. I now have a kitchen table. It's so exciting. Another place to put things in my tiny kitchen and to possibly start up my metal work again. A perfect start to 2009.

And speaking of 2009, I have big plans for this year. Although I have never made "resolutions" per-say, this year I do have some goals. I like the idea of goals rather than resolutions, because resolutions come with the connotation of being broken - no one actual keeps a New Year's resolution, do they? Goals, on the other hand, are not just some vague, flippant idea that you throw out there on a whim because of a certain date. They are something tangible to work towards throughout the whole year. This year I will have goals. And what better way to achieve goals than to tell others, so that they can give you a guilt trip when you start failing to achieve your goals? So, without further ado, here are a few of my 2009 goals:

1. Run the Avenue of the Giants half marathon in July.
Yes, folks, that is 13 miles. I am really going to need guilt-trip help on this one. I started running again yesterday and boy, was it painful. I think I actually stopped making forward progress at one point, even though my legs were still moving. There may, or may not, have been a hill involved. Actually, I think not. But I have a plan, and I have a goal that I have shared with the world and I am counting on you all to shame me into running this race. Next step - actually sign up for said race. I'll keep you updated.

2. Manage my money more wisely.
I know, I know... you are all thinking - you're an accountant, you should be very skilled at managing your money. No, no - actually I am very good at managing other people's money. So you should all give me all your money. :) I have grand plans for our life that include owning a house at some point before I am 60, returning to Europe before I am 60, and many other things to do before I am 60 that require savings. So, my goal this year is to stop wasting money on frivolous things.

3. Start working on artwork again.
This one was facilitated by the purchase of the kitchen table. It's much easier to work on artwork when you have a flat surface. Prior to the kitchen table, we really didn't have a flat surface in our house that I could work on. End tables are not so conducive to drawing, metal-work, etc. So "start on artwork" again is a pretty general goal, but I have two specific things in mind. First, I brought some of my metal-working tools back to S.F. from Thanksgiving and want to start doing what I can to work with that again. I don't have my torch, so it will all have to be cold-connected (aka no soldering), but that just makes it an interesting challenge. Secondly, I used to make lamps in my earlier days out of bamboo cane and paper that I really enjoyed making. Unfortunately, I would build them with hot glue and not a lot of forethought, so most of the time, they would disintegrate before too long. So my goal here is to find a way to construct the lamps in a way that will make them more durable and useful for more than a month. I already have some plans... and a kitchen table. :)

Three goals seems good for now, right? Nice, round number. I have so many other things that I would like to do/accomplish in 2009, but I think focusing on these three and actually accomplishing them is important, rather than just dreaming about doing many, many things.

Things have been pretty quiet since we made it out of the blizzard of 08' in Portland. It almost feels colder here in S.F. than it did in Portland, even though it's appx. 15 degrees warmer. I don't know if it's the wind coming straight off of the bay, or what, but it feels colder. Our apartment has been freezing lately, and we have been huddling around the heat dish. I got the day after New Year's off as a holiday, and so we had a four day weekend together. We went to a brunch in Berkeley on Friday - banana pancakes and homefries are delicious! - and then visited the U.C. Berkeley art museum, which was nice. It was the first time we'd been to Berkeley since we moved here, and it looks very cute. Saturday, I cleaned the house, which felt SO good. Took down the christmas tree and started the year off on a clean foot. And Sunday, we bought the table, and explored Polk Street, which is very close to our house, but we didn't know it existed until Sun. Very cool little shops and restaurants.

I meant to start on the artwork goal last night, but after my excruciatingly slow, painful run, I was down for the count for the rest of the night. I read about planting vegetables and amending my soil, instead.

One goal at a time might be enough.

An 18th Century Christmas

Christmas was interesting this year, to say the least. I was worried that Neil and I would get home for Christmas at all, with all the airport issues. But on Tuesday, I watched all the SFO/PDX departures and everything was departing on time, so I thought we'd be fine. When we got to the airport, everything was really quiet, and our flight was still scheduled to depart on time. Then, around 6:00, when we went to get dinner, I happened to glance at the departures screen and noticed a change in our flight - delayed. Now scheduled to depart at 11:50pm!! NO!! They changed our gate three times, and eventually we departed at 11:00pm, which was better, and atleast our flight departed. So, in the grand scheme of things, a few hours later was not too bad. We arrived in Portland at 12:30pm and flying in and seeing all the white on the ground was really strange - and beautiful. It was so quiet and peaceful and white. Mom and dad picked us up and we went to Chelsea's to collapse into bed. It was kind of a long travel day, and I finished a whole book while we were at the airport. 

The next morning we awoke to snowflakes gently falling down, with an accumulation of a couple of inches already by 8:00. Chelsea already had about 6-8 inches on the ground when we got there, which is pretty strange for Vancouver. With the snow already falling, we had to depart for mom and dad's house early, to make sure we got up there. In hindsight, we probably should have skipped this part and just stayed at Chelsea's - with electricity and heat and all those modern conveniences. :) A little foreshadowing there, perhaps? :)

We met Barb at Grandma's house and loaded up the van and Chelsea's car for the trek. It was really slow going - took about an hour to get up the road, and it usually takes half that. When we pulled into mom and dad's, Neil shoveled out a parking spot for Chelsea (he's used to shoveling snow, having grown up on the East side) at the bottom of the hill. Because there was so much snow, driving the cars up the hill was out of the question, so the only way to get up to the house was on our own two feet. Mom and dad gave each other snowshoes for Christmas last year, and I don't think they knew how much those would come in handy this year. They had already been using them to make a path up the hill, and Neil led the way with the snowshoes to break a trail through the new snow. We loaded up the two toboggans with all of our Christmas presents and trudged up the hill, the snow still coming down. I don't have any pictures of this part of the trip - the camera was still packed. 

We finally got everything up to the house, after two trips, and there was still power at this point, so we were nice and cozy in the warm house, while the snow piled up outside. Neil and I laid down for a long nap, and when we woke up, things were no longer so cozy - the power had gone out... So, we lit the fire, and the candles and the lanterns. It was cozy in a different way. Mom and dad have a gas stove, so we could still cook - which was nice - but not a turkey or a ham, so mom put some chili in to warm up and dad cooked hot dogs and we sat down to a lovely Christmas Eve dinner of Chili dogs. Fancy. Actually, it was very nice. Devin said a really wonderful prayer, and he prayed for the power to come back on. 

I know this is a dark picture, but I wanted to really show what it was like! :) After dinner, Devin finally got to open one present - he had been waiting for this all day. Earlier in the day, he told me, "Auntie, I sure am anxious to open my presents". Heehee

It was a book about the Christmas story, so he and Poppa read it together. Right about then, the power came back on. Hmm... It was strange to have so much light after the darkness, and so we actually turned most of them back off - the only lights we had on were the Christmas lights. It was really pretty. I tried to take some pics of the snow outside.


Then, it was time for a squirmy little Devin to go to bed, and Neil and I headed up to the "wrapping room", aka mom's bedroom, to wrap all the presents we brought. We were talking about how nice it had been with the power off - nothing to distract us from being together and enjoying each other and a few seconds after Neil mentioned it, the lights went out again. So, I guess we negated Devin's prayer somehow. Mom started playing Christmas carols on the piano, and it was a really lovely evening. Very quiet and calm and warm, with the leftover heat from the power, and the woodstove cranking out the warmth. We all finally straggled off to bed with flashlights. 

I didn't have visions of sugarplums dancing in my head that night, I had visions of electricity. But when we awoke, it was not to be. Still no power Christmas morning, and the snow had REALLY started coming down. We pulled out the cheese ball (christmas morning tradition) and got to the presents, without Christmas tree lights or Christmas morning traditional music. But I'm slowly learning that it's less about the traditions, and more about being together. Great-grandma and Lila were not able to be with us, because of the hill and the snow, and they were greatly missed - it was just not the same Christmas without them. Art, Linda, Crystal and Nic were also not able to join us in the afternoon, and that was different as well. 

But Devin loved opening his presents from Santa. He got a big semi-truck, filled with little cars. It's a little boy's dream and when he opened it, he said, "it's just what I wished for." So cute:

Devin helped us all open our presents, and every time he helped he would say, "I sure hope this one is for me". Oh, kids. :) It just kept snowing harder and harder the whole time we were opening presents and by noon, when we finished, there was atleast 6 inches of new snow. Neil and I strapped on the snowshoes and went for a walk down the hill. It was a winter wonderland - beautiful, peaceful white wonderland. It was a wonderful walk. 

After the walk, it was lunch and another nap. This one I could not wake up from. Everyone else headed up on the roof to shovel the snow off - 4 feet of snow on a roof is not usually good thing and so we needed to try to get some of it off. I could hear them on the roof above me, but could still not manage to wake up. It was a really strange feeling. When I finally woke up completely, the roof was shoveled off, everyone had gone off sledding and it was almost dark. I headed outside to try and snap a few pictures before it got too dark:

Then I found everyone sledding on the hill on the toboggans - the snowshoes path made a perfect chute for the sled:

Christmas dinner was Costco pasta from a bag which ended up being delicious and got us all powered up for - singing Christmas carols around the piano. Like I said, it was a different Christmas. :) It was actually really fun, though. My mom played all the traditional carols - the first Noel, Silent Night, etc. and we sounded terrible, I'm sure - but it was great fun once you got over the initial embarrassment of hearing your own voice. Then we sang all of the songs from the Yale School Christmas play and that brought back tons of memories. I still have all the lyrics to most of those songs memorized. Whenever I hear Silver Bells, all I can think of is that this song signals the beginning of the Christmas play. I love it. We sang "will you come", "little gray donkey" and "up on the housetop". We finally got Chelsea to join us on the last few tunes, after Poppa took over reading Devin a story. Neil refused to join in - I guess he just wasn't ready for that kind of humiliation. :) We'll get him someday, though - I have a feeling this will become a new Christmas tradition - off-key singing around the piano - even when we have power. 

We laid Devin down for bed and then gathered around the coffee table for a game of hearts. Dad promptly shot the moon on the first hand and then Chelsea managed to get the Queen every round after that. But I ended up losing anyway, somehow. It was fun. 

The next morning we packed up and got the heck out of Yale. No power is fun for awhile, but then you get cold, and run out of water, and haven't flushed the toilets in a few days. So, you see, the shine starts to wear off. The roads were finally plowed and clear and we headed down to GG's house in Woodland for a gathering with the rest of the family - Grandma, Art, Linda, Crystal and Nic. 

When the family started to get a little bit older, and bigger, we decided not to exchange gifts with everyone, we started doing a gift exchange. It's always fun. Neil didn't participate this year, because he is low on $$, so I didn't have an "ally" in the exchange. See, in a gift exchange like this, it's always good to have someone to be in "cahoots" with, so that you can get the best chance of getting something you like. You have to form alliances, and make deals. Nic happened to be sitting next to me on the couch, so I wheeled and dealed with him, and we joined forces to get just the gifts that we wanted. Neil and I ended up with two $15 itunes gift cards, and Nic ended up with a $30 amazon gift card. Perfect. Overall it was very fun, and there was some good gifts this year. 

Then, Neil and I headed off to visit Lila in Aberdeen. The doggies greeted us at the door in full Christmas regalia:



We had a really nice time visiting with Lila and the doggies. All the doggies are such good friends - in order from largest to smallest: Buddy, Smoky, Homer, Lola and Swarley. Buddy keeps his eye out for the little guys. And Lola had decided that Homer is her new boyfriend - she flirts with him shamelessly. Poor Homer doesn't really know what to do with all the attention. On Saturday, Steph, Lee and Sydney joined us for some spirited present unwrapping. Good presents were had by all. Grandma Lila got Sydney decorating some Christmas ornaments for next year. They were masterpieces. Then Steph and I settled in for some episodes of What not to Wear and the rest of the household took naps. It was very relaxing. After naps was a delicious turkey dinner (our first one of the holiday) with mashed potaotes, stuffing, corn, rolls and finished with chocolate pie from Costco. Delicious. My stomach is growling just thinking about it now. Steph and Lee headed home after the dinner and Lila and Neil went to hit the stores for some after-Christmas browsing. I stayed home and snuggled with my little doggies. It was nice. We watched the Dark Night and called it a night. It was a really nice visit and nice to spend time with Lila.

We headed back to Portland the next day for lunch at our favorite neighborhood pub, the Lucky Lab. It was really nice to have a laid-back lunch there, catching up on Portland news through the Mercury and the Willamette Weekly. San Francisco's weekly newspaper is not nearly as good. After a good lunch and a good beer, we headed back to mom and dad's. The power was back on, finally! 

The flight left to head back to S.F. at 7:00 on Monday and mom, dad and devin dropped us off at the airport. Devin liked the escalators and the baggage check. We said our goodbyes :( and settled into the Laurelwood pub for once last local beer. I miss Portland beer so much. For those of you in the Portland area, I highly recommend the Laurelwood Winter Warmer - Nut ale. It was delicious - such a nice beer. Our flight went off without any hitches, and we found ourselves back at home in S.F. in our apartment by 10:30. And it was straight to bed for me, as Tuesday it was back to work and some good news was waiting for me! (see previous blog). 

Overall, it was a great Christmas in a lot of ways, even if it was sort of strange and different. I don't think I would want that much snow every year, but it was pretty for awhile, and I think the power being off really made us slow down and enjoy each other a little bit more. Merry Christmas to all! Hope it was magical for everyone!

Oh my god - they're giving me a garden!!!!!!!

Okay - I know I have yet to post the big Christmas blog - but this bit of news takes precedent. I checked my email today and found a gem! The guy at the White Crane Springs Community Garden (doesn't that sound beautiful) was letting me know that they had a garden plot open up and do I still want it? DO I????!!! With all of my heart and soul, do I want that plot. And dad just bought me herb seeds for christmas. Oh my god, I am SO excited. I'm already planning ways to get the most out of a tiny, 6x8 foot plot.

Here is a picture of the gardens:



This is honestly one of the best Christmas gifts I could have asked for - what a treat! And even better news is that it will only take me one bus to get there. It is located in the Inner Sunset District, which is a little ways away from us, but, as luck would have it, there just happens to be a bus that goes directly there. Oh, I'm going to pee my pants, I'm so excited...

So, I just wanted to send this little bit of excitement out into the universe - I will post the Christmas blog shortly, with pictures. Oh, and I noticed that Charlotte left a comment that she might be making her own cheese at home, so I thought I would post instructions for anyone else who might be interested:

Homemade ricotta:

What you need: 1 gallon of milk (or double recipe), 1/4 cup white vinegar, a large colander lined with cheesecloth (I got mine at New Seasons and Williams Sonoma)

1. Heat the milk in a large saucepan to 185 degrees, stirring to prevent scorching. Don't let it boil.

2. Turn off the heat and add the vinegar and stir the milk a few times. You should start to see the cheese and whey start to separate a little bit, and become thicker. Let the pot sit for a couple of hours, for more cheese curds to form.

3. Drain the cheese through the cheesecloth and colander. Let the cheese sit for awhile in the colander to get firmer cheese. Pull up the corners of the cheesecloth around the cheese and squeeze the liquid out. Again, squeeze less liquid for softer cheese, more for firmer cheese. Salt the cheese to your taste, or leave plain.

The ricotta will keep in the fridge for about a week, so I read. Also, the whey (liquid left over) can be used to make other cheese, or I've also heard that it is an excellent liquid to use to make bread. Oh - and you can't use super-pasteurized milk - pasteurized or raw milk only. Super-pasteurized will not form curds.

I usually only use a half-gallon of milk, but if you want a lot of cheese.

Okay - happy cheese-making all! It's good stuff....

Hiatus

The blog is officially on hiatus until January - there is just too much going on, and not enough time to write at the moment. See you after the New Year! And Merry Christmas to all! :)

60 degrees is warm, people!

DAYS TIL WE COME HOME FOR CHRISTMAS: 12

Thing that I like about San Francisco:

THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE FOGHORN

It has a lovely musicality to it - slightly haunting - and is the sound of cozy, warm fuzzy fog. I haven't heard it in awhile, and we have been pretty fog-free around here lately, and I have found myself missing it...

I don't have too much to say - after the high of my chicken cutting, cheese, butter and granola making weekend, I've settled back into the gentle rhythm of life. :) We did have a delicious spinach canelloni dish for dinner last night which I can take no credit for. I have discovered the world's best cookbook. Nothing wrong can come from this cookbook, it seems. Every recipe that i have tried (5-6) has been not just good, but fantastically good. It's called "Food to Live By" and it's by the woman who runs Earthbound Farms, which is a huge organic farming conglomerate here in California. I'm sure you've seen their bagged salads in the grocery store. But the cookbook is really great - it uses really normal ingredients, no fancy-schmancy ingredients you've never heard of - and the flavors in the foods are usually amazing. So I used my homemade ricotta cheese in the cannelloni and combined with garlic, onions, basil, thyme and parmesan cheese, topped with some organic tomato sauce from Bi-Rite(new favorite grocery store, remember) - they came out just absolutely fabulous. Neil doesn't really care that much for pasta and he even commented on how yummy it was. He actually took the leftovers for lunch, which he doesn't do unless he really likes something.

Tonight I have to buckle down to the christmas cookie making, because we may (or may not) be having a small get-together with neil's school friends tomorrow night, for cookies, hot cocoa and wassail. So I have to get prepared, just in case. And I'm sure there will be no trouble getting the cookies eaten, even if the event doesn't happen.

On a final note, Californians are big, fat babies. We have had highs in the low 50's and lows in the low 40's this week, and you should hear the people complain about how "cold" it has been! Wow! I'm basking in the warmth, enjoying being able to go out in December without hat and gloves, and people down here are looking for their below-zero size parkas. I saw a guy get on the bus this morning with his scarf up covering his mouth and nose and gloved hands tucked under his armpits like he was just barely holding onto life in these sub-50 degree temps. Are you kidding me? The last time I had a scarf up to keep my chin and nose warm was when we were cross-country skiing in Leavenworth two years ago - AND IT WAS 18 DEGREES OUT. Hmph... Like I said - big babies.

Hope everyone's having fun with their Christmas preparations.