100 Days

Today was my hundredth day cycling to work this school year. We'll see if tomorrow will mean 101 since Environment Canada is predicting a significant dump of snow.

Snow - falling this time

We made it to Banff today. I wouldn't be surprised if it snowed tonight. We drove through snow at Highwood Pass (2200 m - open June 15 to December 1) and took highway 40 through Kananaskis Country. When we stopped for groceries in Canmore, you could see the line on the mountains above which the rain was falling as snow.

Winter Cycling

With the mild weather I have been able to cycle commute on far more days than last year. I rode everyday until the last two weeks of school before Christmas - that's when the wintry weather hit. This picture is from one of the two days I rode after that. We had a big thaw mid-January and so I've ridden every day for the last two weeks. It's hard to believe the difference, especially when I look at the pictures of our almost impassable street from last year at this time.

New Years 2003 vs. New Years 2009

As I was writing the last post some pictures popped up on my screen from New Years at the cottage when Luke was a baby. He would be 8 months then, so a few months younger than Grace is now. He is huge! He was about 26 pounds! I remember making those party hats with Liam. He used to and still does, love making crafty things like that. Check out the rosy cheeks from staying out in the cold a little too long last week.

Happy New Year!

I can't believe a decade has past since our Y2K party at our apartment on Yonge Street. Lots of changes have happened: two houses, three kids, two sister-in-laws, a niece and two nephews, my parents moving to Edmonton and a new teaching career are among the highlights.

For New Years, we spent four quiet days up north where there was lots of snow. Grace mastered climbing the stairs and kept saying "No, no, no" to the fireplace! She is also blowing people kisses which is really cute. Grace is saying so many words these days along with cruising along the furniture and trying to open cupboards. I should write her words down before I forget. Some of them are: baby, book, milk, nose, head, hat, clap, Miam (Liam), Mama, Dadda, up, nap, night-night and NO! And her favourite sentence is "No night-night!" Yes, we are still working on that. She did not enjoy sleeping in the Pack and Play at the cottage. In fact, I am pretty sure she cried each and every time, including for naps. Well, I guess we were bound to have one child who is a difficult sleeper. I keep saying one of the reasons we have 3 kids is because Luke was such an angel baby (Liam was sweet too but Luke really was an angel).

Luke is a different kind of angel now and he sure is funny even when he doesn't realize it. On our long journey home from the cottage (snowstorm) Dan pointed out some wild turkeys at the side of the road. Luke exclaimed "Oh, those are the turkeys that survived Thanksgiving!"

Happy New Year and all the best for 2010!

First signs of Spring

When I got home from school I noticed these shoots pushing up through the dead leaves. I'm going to wait until I put away my shovel.

Winter walk

Here's a picture from our walk to the hospital early yesterday morning. It's still hard to believe that the baby that was in there is now out here with us.

The snow banks are back!

It didn't take much snow for the streetscape to look like this again. I saw a homemade sign plunged into a snow bank while I was out today that said, "Reserved Parking - VIP." We need something like that for our street.

Snow pile alert!

The pile of snow in our backyard is now taller than the deck.

More snow!

It snowed another 15 cm today. It was tough slogging home with the boys. Then it was off to choir with Liam. We took Pottery Road and some cars were having a tough time climbing both the Pottery Road hill and the Bayview Extension hill.

Vanishing snowbanks!

While I was out skating with the boys yesterday, the city came along and cleared the snow banks across the street leaving this mess. Of course, this does nothing to alleviate our parking woes as we are not allowed to park on that side of the street and they left the snowbanks on our side intact. It does allow two cars to pass by each other with a little more ease.

Sunday - more snow!

It looks beautiful and it was light and fluffy to shovel. I'm not sure where we're going to put it. I already thought parking was at a premium. I took a few minutes this morning to shovel out some extra spots on the street. I walked to boys to Taya's birthday to keep my spot from being taken while I was gone.

Parking hassles!

The low of -20 last night turned the slush into ice and only exacerbated our parking woes. Perfectly usable spots have been rendered useless by people piling their snow on the street. Every night turns into a hunt for a treasured parking space.

Snowbank alert!

On the way back from church, Liam and I noticed this snow bank. I think you can tell from this photo that it's taller than him. It was a glorious morning to be out walking - about 5 cm of snow on the ground, sun, and crisp clean temperatures.

Should I be biking?

I took these pictures on Friday. With the roads looking half-passable and other hardy souls out cycle commuting, I wonder if I should be out there. The bike hasn't moved since December 15th and I miss it.

32 degree spread

The windchill was -20 C this morning at 8 a.m. and in Naples, FL it was 12 C. That's over a 30 degree spread. I love the winter, but March can't come soon enough.

The Sorel Replacements

We have been hit by some messy snow over the last two days and the replacements I bought for my leaking Sorels have been fantastic. The Keen Summit County Boots are warm, light, dry and provide great traction. I've loved my two pairs of Keen shoes, and these boots seem destined to follow. Thanks Mom.

Cottage update

Dad and I went up to the cottage on the 30th. Despite the big Boxing Day melt, there was quite a bit of snow. I took the opportunity to take a picture of the Hobie Cat and the canoe in winter storage. I'm looking forward to many happy hours out on the lake this summer.

My Sorels are leaking!

After only one season my Sorel Caribou boots are leaking. They have developed cracks in the rubber. So much for the legendary Sorel quality. A quick search of the Internet turned up similar complaints about a drop in Sorel quality since the company was sold and production was relocated offshore. The warranty is only one year so I've missed it by about 2 months.

First Day of Winter

We have another day of snow. After 2 hours of shovelling and car liberation, these big fat flakes from some lake effect snow bands started drifting down. It's going to be a white Christmas.