A Love Worth Giving.

It's currently -19° with a windchill of -33°. Last night was Philip's first night to work since we've been here (he's been in base training for two weeks, not counting all the holiday breaks), and they were outside running an exercise. The windchill hit -47°, and even after he came in and warmed up a bit, I felt him slide into the bed with his chilly skin! Tonight should be more of the same.

I think I'm going to bake tonight. I didn't get to do so during the holidays, and I'm really needing this. I usually bake a new goodie every single day during December, but I didn't have any of my stuff to do so. (The movers packed us on Nov. 30th, and then our stuff didn't arrive until the 23rd. Then it wasn't all unpacked, giving me room to do anything, until the 30th or so.)

But who makes tons of goodies in January? Where will I send/gift all this stuff? I'm not exactly sure. I'm thinking it might be a good way to meet some of our new neighbors, and maybe I'll mail a care package or two...

Speaking of neighbors, Jack was so excited that two of the boys' friends from Nebraska live right on their bus route. Before arriving here, we already knew that four of their friends were headed to this base at the exact same time. Three of them attend the boys' school, but one little girl actually lives in the town of Minot. We'll have to find a way to get Leah around for a playdate sometime, though.

I've got everything backed up now, and I'm ready to take the plunge. I've opted for the "clean install" of Windows 7 instead of the "upgrade," so I pray that I've got everything I'm going to need! I'll do that tonight while baking, I think.

Jack's typically reading longer, more difficult books now, so I've lowered his his numbers a bit since last year. This year, for every 15 books that Jack reads on his own, he will earn an extra $5 in his allowance.

I'll keep updating this post for our records. Feel free to skip, or to keep coming back to check on his progress - your choice. :-)

( The list. )

I'm keeping A.J.'s goals the same as last year - since his books are much longer and require heavier reading, he only has to read 10 books to earn his rewards.

I'll keep updating this post for our records. Feel free to skip, or to keep coming back to check on his progress - your choice. :-)

( The list. )

It's funny how very quickly the body begins to acclimate. I'm amazed by this every time we've moved - from West Virginia to Alaska to Nebraska, and now to North Dakota.

And, it's kinda fun to look back and say - very affectionately, of course! - that Nebraskans are being real wimps right now. :-)

We only left there a month ago tomorrow, but the differences in what is expected here versus the expectations there are incredible.

Examples:

---

- it's been snowing for three solid days here now, but nothing has been closed, cancelled, or shut down
versus...
- they cancelled school ahead of time last night due to forecasted snow of 4-6" (it wasn't snowing yet)

---

- the forecasted high temperature today here was 0°
versus...
- the forecasted high temp for Bellevue for today was 18°

---

- our current temperature is -5°, with a windchill of -26°
versus...
- their current temperature is 13°, with a windchill of -5°

---

- the forecasted high temperature for us tomorrow is -10° (not counting a windchill), and the kids will still be headed to school with no problems
versus...
- they have already cancelled school for tomorrow, with a projected high of 5°

---

We've had more snow, more blowing snow, and much, much colder temps. We've not had a 'snow day' here in Minot AFB yet, and I imagine it will be much like when we lived in Anchorage, Alaska - they probably won't. If they do cancel school, you can bet it will be actually necessary. As is, the kids here are still expected to have outdoor recess in school unless the temp is below -5° - they just go to school prepared with their serious winter gear ready. For my own two boys, they are loving it!

I'm waiting on the moving company to come today and pick up all our boxes and packing material. I can't wait to have all the space back in the garage!

It's lightly snowing now - large, beautifully crystalline flakes that are so, so fluffy - but I think I'm going to head out there anyway. There's less than a 1/4" of new accumulation on the driveway and sidewalks, but I'm going to try to move the huge mounds of snow along the side of the house to... somewhere else? (I'm not sure where, but it just feels ominous where they are at right now. I mean, it's packed up as tall as me, and we've only just begun the winter season. If it's not moved, where will we put the new snow?)

It's 5° right now, but the wind is blowing less than 5mph at the moment. I don't think we've had winds that low since we arrived in North Dakota. Add in that we should stay in the above 0° today, and it's all the better to take advantage of it!

Edited to add: Whee! Philip just came home for the day (already, and it's not even 10am!), so now we're going out together. We should be able to knock out a lot of this! :-)

*chuckles*

Whatever Philip is doing in his game on the XBox 360, he's really getting frustrated. He keeps exclaiming out loud, and it's kinda funny here in the office. I know he's playing online with a few of his NE peeps, so it sounds like they're getting their tails kicked!

Speaking of XBox, our unit began with the "red ring of death" last week sometime. Now, this is the second unit to do this, but I love Microsoft's way of fixing it: they send us a brand-new one! The first unit lasted a year, and then they sent us a new one. This second one lasted a little over two years, and we're sending it back tomorrow. They'll be sending us another new one, and I am grateful that Microsoft recognizes this "ring" as a glitch (not user-manipulated), and that they take care of it.

In the meantime, however, Philip had wanted to get a second XBox 360 for the boys to use in the basement playroom. He went ahead and bought a new XBox 360 Elite, and then the new replacement one will go downstairs when it arrives. I'm just happy I won't have to keep hearing the ditzy theme music for "The Bee Movie" game - heehee!

As for me, I'm playing with my new toy: Windows 7. I've got the software to upgrade our Vista now, but I've not yet installed it. I'm trying to decide whether to do an "Upgrade" or a "Custom Install." Do I want the newness of a 'fresh start' and the hassle of moving all my files and junk over to our external drives in the process (which is bound to make things even faster, as all the bogged down/unused registry files will be gone)... or do I want to just 'upgrade,' leaving all my files and stuff intact? I really can't decide, so for now, I research a bit more and look longingly at the green box.

For now, I'm off to enter some more Coke codes. :-)

There's only one day left of the boys' holiday vacation, and I know they're sad for it to be over. However, they're very excited to go back to school and begin riding the bus for the first time! All of their snowgear arrived on the 22nd, but their last day before the break was the very next day. That didn't give me enough time to 1) unpack the items (the movers didn't leave that night until 6:30pm), and 2) go to the school to let them know to add them to the bus schedule (which meant I would've gone in on Tuesday morning, and they would've had only the ride home that day... which seemed kinda silly). So, I'll take them to school again on Monday, and while I'm there, I'll head into the office to fill out the bus paperwork. They'll begin riding the bus on Tuesday...

... and I'll begin the jammied, goodbye-kisses-at-the-door! Wheee! (Yeah, I may be even more excited than THEY are! *wink*)

We need to find a larger size 'plate holder' for one of my Coca-Cola® trays in the dining room. We've hung the other ones on the wall, but the largest size we could find was adjustable from 11"-18". My tray is about 20" in length, so no dice. I had the idea of extending the stretchy brackets with zip-ties, but that didn't fully work either. (Philip tried for a good while, too.) We'll find or figure something out, I'm sure.

Speaking of Coca-Cola, we took two of my large puzzles to Hobby Lobby today to be framed. I put these puzzles together about 15 years ago, back in my freshman year of high school. In fact, Philip helped me to make one of them while we were dating. I've carried them from home to home for years, and they've never been on display. I am über-excited to get them back in a couple weeks and put them up in my dining room. Depending on how much I love them (and I'm sure I will!), then I'll take my largest puzzle in to be framed as well. It's about the size of Jack, so it'll be a pretty penny, I know. Still, Hobby Lobby was having a 50% off sale on custom framing, so I figured it was a great time to get them done.

Poor Baby kitty is so frightened of the main level of the house. The living room and the large office both have high ceiling fans, and she is just scared to death of them. Honestly, to see her expression, you'd think there was a giant monster with 200 teeth coming after her. It's been three weeks now, and she's just not warming up to them. The kitties have had their food, water, and litterbox down in the basement, but today, we moved the food up to the office. She has stood in the hallway and mewed at us in the most pitiful voice, and we keep inviting her to join us in one of these rooms. Philip and I have both brought her in here several times to show her the location of the food, calmly petting her and trying to reassure her. The last time Philip did so, she ate about four little kibbles. She'll get there, I know she will, but it's pretty pitiful to see right now.

Kiki, on the other hand, is perfectly happy anywhere now. She was cautious near the fans for the first week or so, but now she's very content. She's currently sleeping on my Coca-Cola bin near the windows while I'm here in the office.

I found a neat, wrought-iron plaque on clearance at Hobby Lobby yesterday with a cut-out design on it, as well as the text, "HOPE." I really waffled on buying it though, as I could see a small scratch in the finish. Philip and I tried to rub it out in the store, and it was almost gone... but I could still see where it was. Even though I thought we might be able to do a better job of it with a cleaner or a special pad at home, I walked away from it. I figured it just wasn't meant to be. I will be keeping an eye out for the perfect "HOPE" decoration this year, as I wanna celebrate and commemorate my word!

I've received a ton more Christmas cards, but I've been remiss this last week in thanking so many of you. Thank you to donnazita, hermioneluna, m1x3d3m0t10n5, and scarletharlot52. A special thank-you also goes out to tabbyfoo!

I'm not sure what the day holds tomorrow after church. Maybe I can get all my guys to sit around the table on our new chairs in our gorgeous dining room and play the new game I picked up - Milles Bornes! I loved that card game when I was growing up, and I hope they like it, too. :-)

Let me be the millionth person to wish you happiness as we sashay into this new decade!

I was VERY excited for the New Year's Eve blue moon last night, but alas... the clouds were much too thick, and we couldn't really make it out. You could see where it was, to be sure, but there was definitely no photographing the bugger. Shucks.

I spent NYE with my family. If you'd asked me before I left Nebraska, I would have told you I'd loved to have a big party with oodles and oodles of friends (and I'd have flown Heather and her family in for the occasion). But I have a small frame that hangs in my bedroom, and it reads: "I have learned that being with those I love is enough."

And it is so true.

We spent the evening eating together, and then we saw our "reward movie" for unpacking the house - Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel. We came home and spent the last half-hour or so waiting on that big ol' ball to drop, and then we headed to bed. We kissed, and Jack noticed that everyone was kissing on TV. "Why are y'all kissing?"

"Because it's what you do on New Year's Eve. It's fun!" Philip said.

And now it's 2010. Or 'Twenty-Ten.' Or just '10. Whatever you want to call it, it's the beginning of a brand-new year, a brand-new decade, and a chance at a clean slate. For us, it's still the beginning of a brand-new life in a brand-new place...

My friend 1grl_revolution likes to adopt a word for the year, and I think it's a neat-o idea. I'm taking a cue from my angel-friend Isaac and his family, and I'm going to keep "HOPE" as my word this year.

But I'm happy to share HOPE, too. *wink*

Like I'm really going to answer a number on my phone that's labeled: "Professional Telemarketing."

Riiiiiiiiiiight.

*rolls eyes*

Well, the local news last night said that we received right at 30 inches in that Christmas blizzard - wow! I guess now we understand our drifts a little bit more. *wink*

Here's some pics from after all the shoveling was finished. Well, another 1/2" or so had drifted over on the driveway, but you get the idea.

( The aftermath. )

We got the garage and storage room squared away yesterday. As it turns out, the storage room inside the garage is even much bigger than we'd thought it looked. We were able to put the pieces of the shed into the back, and then all of our regular shed items in front of them - and there's still room to spare! It looks soooo nice in there now. Also, today was Trash Day - yay! All we have left is to wait for the box/material pick-up from the moving company, and then we'll be golden.

Philip went back to work this morning. He's still finishing up training for this base, and then he's home in the evenings. I'm making a mental list of things to pick up tomorrow while we're out (gonna be seeing our 'reward' movie!), and I also want to find a quilt shop somewhere. Philip's looking for a small engines repair shop, as the starter is out on our snowblower, too.

Alrightee, I'm having some lunch and then getting back to work. Toodles!

So. Much. Unpacking.

It feels like it will never end! Realistically, however, it will be done late tomorrow or Tuesday - I can't tell just yet. I am so very much looking forward to calling the moving company and asking them to come back and pick up all their boxes and packing material! (I'll have space in my garage again - whee!)

My dining room is just gorgeous and huge. I still cannot get over all the space in there. That, to me, is the most drastic difference between our old house and this one. I love the fact that it's not situated off the main garage entrance into the house, and it's not near a television of any sorts. It's awesome, truly.

The plan tomorrow is for Philip and I to move/unpack all the stuff in the garage. See, the movers unloaded all our shed and garage items directly into the garage, so we've got to unpack everything and get it moved into its proper place in the storage room in the back. Philip already took apart our shed, and we'll put the pieces in our "renovation space." (When they renovated this house, they built on an extra room along the basement wall, and they entered through there, bringing all their equipment with them. Once they finished, they closed off the room and left a large access flap. We can easily open it via the flap, and it's an 8x10' space, at least.) While we're doing that, the boys will be playing hard in the snow. Once we're done, we'll have all our space back in the garage, and we'll move all the boxes and packing material to the breezeway until pick-up. Trash Day is also on Tuesday, and it'll be great to have all that gone, too. (Gosh, but moving creates a lot of excess trash!)

Depending on how long we're out in the garage tomorrow, we'll work on the office afterwards. It's the only room left, and that's because I considered it the lowest priority of all the rooms. I mean, *I* love this room, and I practically live in it sometimes... but everything I really need (computer, bills, filing cabinet, etc.), I can already reach, and we brought with us ahead of time. What needs to be unpacked are the bookshelves and lots of Philip's military memorabilia and knick-knacks. He heads back to work on Tuesday, and I can finish this room by myself, if needed.

As a reward once ALL of the unpacking is done, we plan to go see Alvin & the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel. The boys are dying to see it, and I think it looks pretty cute, too. I thought the first one was good, and I'm sure this one will be about the same. The boys are also anxious to spend some of their Christmas cash at the mall, too. *wink*

Speaking of movies, we all went to see New Moon last Friday. It was the boys' first time seeing it, Philip' second time, and my seventh time. I probably won't see it again in the theatre, but it was just as good this time again. A quick rundown of the showings I've been to:

1st - with Marissa as my 'date' to Amy's midnight premiere party (11/20)
2nd - with Marissa again on Sunday afternoon (11/22)
3rd - with Liz on Sunday night (11/22)
4th - with Philip the following Tuesday (11/24)
5th - with Cheyenne on Thanksgiving night (11/26)
6th - with Aimée on the Saturday after Thanksgiving (11/28)
7th - with the family (12/21)

We also recently saw The Princess and the Frog (on opening day!), and we all loved it. I cried a little near the end, but it was wonderful to see the old-style animation again. And - I was so surprised when the first song began! I'd almost forgotten how the older Disney movies always had original songs - how sad is that?! I thought the characters were very charming, and I really hope the movie does well enough that Disney will do another one in this style again soon.

We saw Disney's A Christmas Carol in 3D, too. I found it to be much darker than I'd imagined, but the effects were amazing. Honestly, though, there were parts of it that unsettled even me, and I don't think I'd let younger children see it yet (though the Disney Channel promotes it constantly). We were late to the game on this one, having been planning on seeing it ever since we rode the official movie train back in August (what a neat experience, too!). After seeing the movie, we bought my favorite as a young girl: Mickey's Christmas Carol. I didn't have the movie growing up, but I had a record of it, and I played that over and over all year long. I still have most of it memorized. :-)

I'm hoping to have mail tomorrow, but I'm not terribly optimistic. There was, of course, no mail yesterday in the face of this major blizzard, and then today was Sunday. Philip and I did watch some lady trudge through all the snow with her key, falling down in the deep drifts and then crawling on her knees atop them to get to the box, only to open it and find it empty, of course. We learned long ago (in both Alaska and Nebraska, actually) that even though the post office's motto is, "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds," that isn't always the case. We've had numerous times with no mail delivery due to inclement weather, and on a day where no travel is advised, I'm surprised that anyone would think there would be mail.

Perhaps she didn't check her box on Christmas Eve, then? *nods* We'll go with that. :-)

Snowed in, for sure.

On Christmas Eve day, the snow started falling. And blowing. And falling and blowing some more. By 4:30pm, we knew that a Christmas Eve church service wasn't possible. By 11pm, travel warnings were issued everywhere.

Christmas Day the snow fell nonstop - from midnight to midnight. It didn't stop snowing until yesterday around noon, and thankfully, the winds let up a bit then too. The accumulation wasn't nearly as crazy as the DRIFTS. Philip shoveled twice during the snowstorm, but by the time we woke yesterday morning, you couldn't tell he'd done a thing!

The TV channels turned to static in the morning, along with a message alerting us that the road conditions were RED. No travel was allowed on base at all, and everything was closed. Fine by us, as we didn't need to be anywhere, either!

He shoveled for hours and hours yesterday. We had much higher drifts than our next-door neighbor, and when he was done with his own house, he helped Philip for another hour-and-a-half, at least. I still can't much see out of my windows, but I expect that's just how it's gonna be for a while. ;-)

( The pictures. )

Last night, Philip and I glanced out the dining room window just before I was going to start dinner. A beautiful dog was leaping through the snow, looking lost. Philip went to the front door and called, and the dog ran right to him. The dog had no collar, and Philip pulled him into the mud room for warmth. He had snow on his little nose, but he was just gorgeous. Philip and the boys sat in the mud room for over half an hour and loved on the dog. Finally, the police arrived to take him back to the squadron to read for a microchip, and they let him go.

( And pictures of the doggie. )