CLUE

12.16 km
in the dark
with my runners

i haven't done that in a LONG time. i really didn't think i could still do that. i like surprises, but it's an even better feeling when you surprise yourself! today is going to be a GREAT day.

Is that celsius or farenheit?

First post of the year- How typical, in true Albertan fashion, that it is about the weather! Seeing as though that is about all that's been talked about for a few days...Chinook, where are you? (that's another science lesson)

Hi, I'm Dave Thurlow from the Mount Washington Observatory and this is The Weather Notebook.(Keeping this intro means I am trying to NOT plagarize) 

 Today I'm going to talk about the significance of 40 degrees below zero. Now you're probably saying to yourself "Oh boy that sounds fascinating", but curious things happen at forty below zero, give or take a few degrees. Scientifically, 40 below is a temperature worthy of note.

First of all, am I talking about 40 below fahrenheit or forty below celsius? Well that's a bit of a trick question because the answer is both. Forty below is the only point where fahrenheit and celsius are the same, where the two scales cross.

It's also near the point at which mercury freezes. Mercury is the most commonly used fluid in thermometers and it's fine for temperatures above minus forty. For colder temperatures a different fluid is used, usually alcohol. Though mercury is more precise, alcohol doesn't freeze until minus 200 fahrenheit.

Interestingly enough, if you figure the average of the record lows for each state in the country, it comes to minus 40.

Minus 40 is also the point where it's no longer safe to expose any skin to the cold. At this temperature, or windchill temperature, skin can freeze almost instantly. This was determined, believe it or not, by a bunch of scientists who stood around in Antarctica until their skin froze.

Forty below also represents the ultimate freezing point of water. Microscopic drops of water can stay unfrozen down to around minus forty, seventy-two degrees colder than what we all know to be freezing for big water. This means that even clouds and fog are made of tiny ice crystals at this frigid temperature, but can actually be made up of drops of water at temperatures well below freezing. Forty below -- you might never feel it but at least now you know.

Oh, we know, alright. 

Here is how I keep warm at night. 

I named mine Phoenix.

Some of you will laugh and know why. 

Do you hear what I hear?

Last night was piano recital. Merry Christmas from the Crew.

Mother in Law For $200, please, Alex.

My mother in law is one of the smartest, most interesting- and interested- people I know. She is always learning and teaching us about, ...well... anything and everything. I can only best her in the pop culture category in Jeopardy :)
Case in point: Tonight we had a "trial run" Christmas dinner.  She was trying out a new method to cook turkey. No sooner do we enter the house and I hear "Merry Christmas. Who wants to see the spinal cord?"
Classic. She is the best. And we're smarter and better people because of her.

What Matters Most

If you're like me (and I hope I have some company) you have a To Do List that is nearly never ending, especially this time of year. But tonight I totally ignored it. Homework? Who knows..Haven't even looked at school agendas yet.  

Tonight we are just being together.

We ate dinner...very late...in front of the tele...and finished watching a Christmas classic. 

The antics of Marv, Harry and Kevin still make me laugh and cringe! 

Then, just before bed (because I drew the line at pulling an all nighter, Christmas movie marathon) we watched this:

His antics made me smile and get teary.

It was a very good night at the Stewart house.

Another Day Lived

It seems that not a day goes by that I am not reminded that my boys are not little anymore. That's a lot of nots.
Translation:   My kids are getting older.

How do I know this? Here are a few giveaways:
-They have pit stick- and use it! Ditto with hair gel.
-I dish up dinner and (if they like it) they eat more than us.
-They watch TSN and definitely not Treehouse (but still Teletoon Retro!)
-They will only kiss me goodbye if nobody's watching.
-They are practicing the piano without me begging, coercing, or forcing.
-Today at church someone came to tell me what a good boy I had (not telling which one ;) He had done something without me begging, coercing or forcing!
-We watched 2 littles for a couple days. Dean and Och were lifesavers. Without them, I could not have gotten all 5 of us out the door in 30 minutes or less. They couldn't believe what 4 and 2 year olds could and could not do :)
Finally:
-We were at Toys R' Us yesterday. When given the option of getting an early Christmas present...a LEGO STAR WARS advent calendar...they said "No thanks".

That made me tear up the most!

Silly Thoughts for a Monday

Did anyone catch the MLS cup game? My boys were cheering for LA, but it was a less than exciting game. (LA 1, Houston 0). Och was disappointed to hear it did not make the sports highlights on the morning radio news. Something about a certain "Sidney" playing hockey must have overshadowed it. Go figure.

What do you feed a sick boy if it was perhaps chicken noodle soup that got him sick in the first place?

Some of my favorite people are returning to the city today. I know Karri is bringing me home yogurt (sounds silly, but it's the kind you can't get in Canada). Bruce, what's not in your wallet? (said in the Capital One commercial voice) j/k

post script:
Bruce got home. He had a good time, learned alot and came back a new man. I told him it's like "How Bruce got his groove back". I may call him Stella for a day :)  You should have seen the boys eyes pop out of their sockets when they saw him. They love their dad.

The boys and I spent too much time on youtube the other day.
We're a little behind the times; check out anything by thepianoguys.com  (jon schmidt, steven sharp nelson and guests) especially:
All of Me
Pirates of the Caribbean by Jarrod Radnich (a new favourite)

Welcome Christmas!!!   Come let us Adore Him by the Lower Lights

And lastly...
It was a little chilly this past weekend...or was it?

That's all I got.