2 Below and another Manic Monday

No, not 2 Below the New Belgium seasonal beer... That is how cold it was today. And last night, it got down to -17 degrees! How exciting. It is the kind of cold where, when you go outside, your nostrils stick together. At least this year, Ang doesn't have to shovel snow for CSU grounds. Those 3am wakeup calls tend to get pretty tedious.

Where oh where shall we begin about today? How about when we let Tucker outside this morning and he couldn't even walk back to the back door because his toes were frozen together. Or, how about the fact that we had to leave the animals inside today so that we wouldn't get cited for animal cruelty. Or, how about that BECAUSE the animals were inside all day, Angela came home to a crazy mess (they went stir crazy). Please read the poem that Ang sent Chris today:


An ode to my entrance into our home:

Twas the day after the weekend
When all through the home
All the animals were restless because of the freezing storm
The brownies were flung and munched into
making them un-edible for me and you
The cats scurried making the carpets twist
and the silver tinsel all over the floor couldn't be missed
The cotton from Tucker's bone added to the frenzy
And the place mats weren't on the table, where they should be A towel was strung across the living room floor and the chairs on the couches aren't working anymore How I wish it wasn't two below So the animals could play outside I guess I should be thankful that the tree is still upright! Have fun at basketball! Love you

They seem innocent here...

Yes, oh yes, it has been a crazy day. But wait... there's more!

Today, at around 9:15, Ang got to take 50 junior high students to the nursing home where they sang Christmas carols to the resident's there. While it was fun, it was quite tiring. Meanwhile, at Kinard, Chris was forcing kids to run on the first day of basketball tryouts. At least he only has to cut 10 kids instead of 30 this year. What a Monday!

Is it a coincidence that both generations shown in the above picture of Angela's trip to the nursing home have trouble with bladder control?

Then, FINALLY, after an oh so interesting day, Ang got to come home and relax. She put on her sweats, grabbed and snack, and turned up the heat to try and get warm. Everything was going perfect until the electricty went out. No lights, no heat for the entire neighborhood...for almost 3 hours. It would have been wonderful, what with doing homework and reading by candlelight, except for the extreme cold! Not to mention, she was all alone while Chris was at basketball. Oh, and she couldn't leave because the garage door wouldn't open. Awesome! You can imagine Ang with her headlamp on trying to start a fire with no wood an old election ballot, some bark from the tree and a box of matches in the dark. If it wasn't so dark in the house, she could have definitely been able to see her own breath. Chris got home with some firewood just in time for the electricity to come on.

Angela's Survival Skills In Action
(very versatile for having no proper supplies)

But, alas, now it is 7:30, the electricty is back on, the heat is running, the animals have calmed down, the pipes didn't freeze and we are already thinking about going to bed! Only 4 more days until Christmas break and a nice cold 2 Below (the beer this time).

This is our beautiful Christmas home when the electricity is on :)

Cheers~