The Rock

This am while watching Sports Center (after eating his oatmeal), Gerrit said to Adam:

"Throw me the ROCK, dad!"

Watch out - if Gerrit throws his butt into your legs and elbows you - that is because Adam was working on 'boxing out' last night!

A Special Visitor

Z-town was lucky enough to have a special 'sighting' of Santa tonight. We were lucky enough to remember he was going to stop by the library after dinner so we hustled over there to get a quick glimpse of the man.

Before we left, I changed Gerrit's shirt so it would make for a better photo when he went to say hi to Santa. Adam didn't understand why because he knew Gerrit would not go near the guy!

And Adam was right! Maybe next year?

Shaving

We don't know why, but Gerrit calls shoveling 'shaving' and he loves to 'shave'! The shovel he is holding was one I had when I was a kid that my parents gave to us this fall. He would be outside all day holding on to his shovel if we would let him. He tried to shovel the snow (which was on the grass) this weekend. We shoveled after daycare today - I should correct myself and say I shoveled and he watched holding his! It was no wonder he was cold and we were able to go inside - he wasn't doing anything!

Kissmas Time

Gerrit loves to play with the ornaments - unfortunately some have paid their dues because of it. I'm hoping we can make it the rest of the season without anymore needing to be 'retired'. Our tree all trimmed and full of lights. Yes, the star touches the ceiling - couldn't have picked a more perfect height this year! My favorite - the nativity set that Gerrit loves to look at and see baby Jesus (and of course the angle with a basketball).

Gerrit-isms

A few pictures to show you what Gerrit is like these days...

I don't know where he learned to clean the floors or why he shows interest in it because I surely have not been on my knees cleaning it!

If you look closely, you'll see Gerrit tackling the laundry

His 'ramp' for his cars - very clever!

Days After the Blizzard

We are settling in after all of the shoveling from this past week's big storm. It was the single largest snowfall we've yet to experience in Minnesota. It's been quite a transition from the mild weather we had a couple weeks ago.Gerrit's blood is still thickening as after 10 minutes outside he proclamied in a low voice "daddy I'm cold," to which I asked if he wanted to go inside and he responded "yep." As Caryn mentioned, the theater district made a new acquisition. The old snow blower lasted 26 years and served us well. We are very fortunate to have some great neighbors that have taken care of us with hand-me-down snow blowers and a lawn mower. I'll be happy to blow out the entire block with this new toy! Gerrit was fairly impressed as well.

Blizzard 2009

I will retell the happening of the past 24 hours as best I can. Most of the happenings occurred in Z-town...

When I went to bed last night the county in which my school is in was added to the "blizzard warning" which made me think we would not have school today. Just as I was to get up, the phone rang giving us the sweet, sweet message of 'no school' today! So we stayed in bed and tried to sleep a bit longer.

I called Adam around 7 30 to check in and he was trying to take care of the drifts (up to his knees in some parts) so he could bring Gerrit to daycare. Gerrit was a trooper and hung out inside while Adam worked on the driveway. He didn't see much action next door or he would've brought Gerrit there for a bit. By 8 am, Adam said forget it and gunned it to get out of the driveway. He was able to get Gerrit to daycare allowing him a bit more freedom to work on the snow and get some real work done.

Following the daycare drop off, Adam went to Bridgett's for coffee and ran into some towns people that we are aquainted with. He enjoyed his coffee and conversation until a pharmacy worker waved the men across the street. An older gentleman got his car stuck so the guys did their civic duty and helped him out. Before they knew it, the barber shop next to Bridgett's cleared out and those men came over to assist as well! Once they got the car out, they headed back to the coffee shop and asked to pull the shades so no one else could see these men inside and call them out to help!

Adam did one round of snow blowing which included the walks of the neighbors as well as our own. He had a conference call mid morning and during it, the phone rang a few times. Adam was a bit embarrassed to have all this noise in the background while talking to the big wigs in St. Paul!

In the meantime, I was knitting and enjoying morning t.v. and hoping to get my Dr. apt moved up earlier so I could go home. No such luck on the dr. apt so I ran a few errands and then to the dr. All seems well with me and the baby. I won't go into detail, but I'm progressing in the right direction.

Adam went next door to learn about the new purchase for the theater district - a new snow blower! The one the neighbors had was brand new but worked like an 'electric broom' as one of the men said. So they bought a new one and want to store it in our garage. This would mean we would be storing 3 snow blowers! We inherited the old one from the neighbors which works great on our gravel driveway and my parents gave us their old one now that they don't need it in the condo. We don't want to use that one on the gravel and ruin it. (Once we get the driveway paved in the spring, we can get rid of the old one.) Adam was trained in on the new one and it has everything automated and is just shy of hand warmers! Adam said 1.5 swipes (if that is possible) is all that is needed to clear the sidewalks it is so wide! And he only went up to level 4 for speed and said he'd need his running shoes if he were to try the highest speed! I think we will be lending out the other snow blower to friends for a while since we have the posh snow blower now. And our end of the deal? Keep the gas can full and help with the maintenance! What a deal and what great neighbors. During the inservice it was also said that Gerrit can come next door when Adam is alone and needing to take care of the snow - they are retired and can sleep whenever! So call and wake them up was the message.

Following his training, Adam met Dave D. for lunch at Bridgett's. He didn't go in either as he works in Roch too. His boys didn't have school but were at friends and his wife was stranded south last night and possibly tonight too. So both men were bachin' it today. My guess is they had dinner together tonight.

We decided it was best for me to stay here tonight instead of risk the drive home. I probably would be fine, but the wind is pretty strong and there are a lot of flat, open areas I'd be driving through. Of course, I spilled on my shirt today so I will be doing laundry tonight at Sue's (I only took 1 set of new clothes). She's out and about and I have some quiet time at her house. A bit more knitting and early bed is in store for me - its like a little vacation!

The snow has stopped, the cities got about 7.5 inches and Adam guesses they have close to a foot - hard to tell with the drifts. I see that the blizzard warning has expired which means school will be on tomorrow. Despite the cold wind chills (-20 to -30), school will go on...its Minnesota! Luckily I only have a little over a week of the 'winter driving' to and from school and then things should be a bit easier if I can be around to help with the kids if Adam tends to the snow.

What a day Adam had. I asked if he got any work done - a few phone calls and his conference call was all he had time for! He said he could never work from home - too many distractions.

I can think of all these other great things I would've been able to get done had I been home as well, but am thankful I have a great place to stay in case of bad weather. Sue takes care of me and my safety is more important than a few loads of laundry I could've gotten done today.