A Chair That’s Just the Right Size

One of L’s aunts bought him something from IKEA for Christmas. He’s getting more use and enjoyment out of it than Pam and I thought he would. He’ll sit contentedly in it for 10-15 minutes while he watches his farm videos–he has to keep in touch with his farm roots somehow. L also has at least one bruise courtesy of the chair. He was sitting in the chair, leaning over the front of it to get something that had fallen on to the floor when the back of the chair lifted up and dumped him over the front. He hit his head on the ottoman on his way down.


Safe Arrival

We are home, in fact we made record time by arriving last night. This summer when we traveled with J&S we made it through Chicago on the first day; Lowell and I were able to do that again now. So we drove 2 long days but got to sleep in our own bed on the second day. Again L traveled very well. L has had a terrible cold the last week as some of you know, thankfully he is feeling much better. He still has the occasional cough and runny nose. We found our apartment just as we left it, but the modem for our phone is not working. Strangely enough we are not having internet trouble this time around just our phone modem. As I am writing this I am on hold with Vonage trying to get them to send me a new modem as we had trouble with the modem’s power supply in December. We are using Skype until further notice so for those of you who use Skype we can be found there, for those of you who don’t you will have to wait for us to give you a call.

What Were They Thinking?

Apparently, a recent ad by Ford backfired in Manitoba. You think?! (See CBC story.) I’ve been thinking about the ad, trying to come up with some way of seeing the ad and thinking positively about Ford vehicles, but I’ve been unsuccessful so far. On the other hand, I can see many ways a person, especially one from Manitoba, would have a negative reaction to it. Let’s see. Seems to me that I remember there being a funeral in Winnipeg not to long ago for a cyclist killed by a 16-year-old driving a stolen vehicle. And then there were the incidents on Wellington Crescent where some teens driving stolen vehicles were trying to run down joggers. And then there are all those people in Winnipeg who have had their vehicle stolen and trashed. `Built for life in Manitoba.’ What, exactly, did the makers of the Ford ad have in mind?–if you catch my drift.

Who Says Entertainment Needs to be Expensive?

This was L’s reaction to his uncles’ game of ping pong. His laughter was so contagious that his uncles found it difficult to concentrate on their game.
Sometimes the best toys are the ones that are completely free. We all got a kick out of watching L take potatoes out of the pail and put them into the space between the dishwasher and the fridge. L (and his audience) were entertained for at least 15 minutes while he moved potatoes around.

Happy 1st Birthday!

We made it to Manitoba. L traveled very well. He sat in his carseat as long as Pam and I sat in our seats, and didn’t complain all that much. I would never have predicted that L would travel as well as he did. L celebrated his birthday with one set of uncles, aunts, and grandparents. He will celebrate his birthday with the rest of his extended family soon.

Christmas has come and gone. Now it is time to see the rest of the people we came to Manitoba to see.

Happy Holidays!

We’re leaving for Manitoba tomorrow morning, so we decided to have our Northampton Christmas today. Actually, we went out for a late breakfast, ran a few errands, took some time to open a few Christmas gifts, and then set to getting our things together for the trip. I had to make sure that I got the car loaded while I had daylight to work with, and Pam tried to get some cleaning done while L had his afternoon nap. We’re looking forward to seeing friends and family. Hopefully, the weather holds out and the trip goes without a hitch. Anyway, back to packing.

Happy holidays everyone!

Inclement Weather and Runny Noses

Yesterday, UMass closed its campus at noon, because there was snow in the forecast. Turns out the forecast was correct–we got nearly a foot of snow–but it’s not at all clear that the conditions warranted shutting the campus down and inconveniencing all the people that were supposed to have exams later in the day. There was no wind, and it wasn’t cold. In fact, looking outside brought to mind the song everyone likes to hear while they’re shopping: I’m dreaming of a white Christmas…. People here don’t know how to cope with snow and sleet, and I don’t really know why. Snow is certainly not unusual for the New England states. People here should know how to drive in snow, but they don’t. My bus-ride yesterday took me 2 hours; I could have walked from UMass to Northampton in that time. A couple inches of snow, and everything grinds to a standstill. Sigh!

L is also working through his first real cold. He has a runny nose, a hoarse voice, and sometimes feels slightly feverish. But through it all, he has been relatively cheerful; he’s a trooper. I guess, now that he’s no longer getting anti-bodies from his mother’s milk, he’s more susceptible to various bugs. Hopefully he gets over it–and doesn’t pass it on to Pam and me–before we hit the road to Manitoba next week.