Sayonara, Futon!

Yesterday, Austin called me at work to get my permission to swap our futon for a pair of Solomon X-Wing Tornado skis. After I got over my amazement at Austin's uncanny ability to acquire great sports equipment without spending any money, and after I got over my relief that we weren't going to have to go through the whole process of listing the futon on craigslist . . . I was a little sad. I'll admit it.

I bought this futon as a bed when I first moved to Philly in 1996. I had just met Austin, and talked him into buying one too, so we could get a two-fer discount. Austin donated his futon to Rob Price's bachelor pad years ago, but we kept mine. We bought it a nice cover from LLBean so we could pretend it was a couch when we were first married and dirt poor. It lived in the storage unit when we went to Germany, then moved with us from house to house in Upper Darby, then up to Vermont. It's been our guest bed for years and lots of people we love have come and slept on it and not complained (very much). I'll miss it a little -- this last vestige of my single, college-student life -- but I'm looking forward to getting something a little more fashionable, and hopefully a lot more comfortable. Since Austin saved so much money on those skis, he can hardly complain when I introduce him to the sleeper-sofa of my dreams . . .

Grandma

I just dropped my Mom off at the airport -- sigh -- she's been here for a week while the kids have been off school and it has been so wonderful. She played with them in the mornings while I taught my classes, which was enormously helpful, then I came home in the afternoon to be with them all, which was enormously fun. It has snowed most of the week and we spent a few of our days socked in by storms (watching the miniseries Flambards on DVD, which Mom thoughtfully brought with her.) But we also got out and had some fun too.

We took Mom to Montreal to put a few more miles on her passport. The highlight was our trip to the Biodome. It has four ecosystems with plants and animals, installed in a domed building that was the old cycling venue from the Montreal Olympics. The kids loved all the fish in the aquatic exhibits. They learned to say "Bonjour, Poisson!"(Gotta start somewhere with the French.)

We also did lots of shopping, of course, in Montreal's underground city . . . and on Church Street in Burlington . . . and in Montpelier and Barre . . . just about anywhere we could find. The kids were very patient. Gavin even got into the fun and tried on some shoes himself.

In fact, the kids tried on all sorts of stuff . . .

But the best part was just having Grandma around to hang out and play games. Thanks for coming, Mom -- we love you!

Mystery Meat

So -- we bought a pig from the farmers and collected it in pieces from the butcher late last month. It currently resides in our chest freezer in the basement, in little paper-wrapped packages. The 20 lbs of bacon and 26 lbs of sausage are easy to identify and we've been gradually working our way through it, with the help of a couple of vintage pork recipe books from my Mom and Austin's. Sausage and Rice . . . Sausage and Sauerkraut Casserole . . .you can tell the age of the books by the fact that they recommend jello salads to go with each recipe.

The remaining several hundred pounds of pork is a little harder to figure out what to do with. It doesn't help that the stamped identification on the outside of every package is usually smudged, but even when it isn't we frequently don't know what it means. So we've been firing up the crock pot and dumping in a package of mystery meat about once a week, and it's always a surprise what we find! Last night it was a smoked pork roast that tasted a little like corned beef -- delicious -- it will make great sandwiches this week. If I did it again I'd make a glaze of brown sugar and pineapple but I'm not convinced I'll be able to identify another of these particular roasts!

If you have a good pork recipe PLEASE share! Especially if it involves sausage or ribs or ham. You are also invited to come eat pork any time -- though beware, we may not know exactly what we're serving. Fortunately we canned a lot of applesauce last fall and that's always good no matter what kind of pork comes out of the crock pot.

Two-Hour Delay

Fourteen inches of snow fell yesterday, so Lucy's school decided to delay opening for two hours. I told her the good news when she came to climb in bed with us at 7:00am. All four of us spent most of the next hour playing and talking and snuggling in bed until Austin had to leave. Then we got up, I took a long and lovely hot shower and so did Lucy, I made the kids a great breakfast, we sat around watching Arthur and Sid the Science Kid, read a few stories, then bundled up and went outside to play in the snow (and clean off the car) in time for school.

I think there should be a two-hour delay every day.

Montreal Thaw

Montreal was officially very cold last weekend but for some reason it didn't feel that way. Maybe it's because those Canadians all move underground for the winter -- the network of tunnels and subterranean shopping malls through the city is incredible! Or maybe it's just because they don't acknowledge the cold. Our hotel had an OUTDOOR swimming pool, open in the 30-below temps. So naturally we had to try it. My ears got a little frostbitten but it was fun. While Austin was in his law meetings, the kids and I went to the Insectarium and the Botanical Gardens. Nothing like stepping out of the biting cold into a tropical paradise!

The kids had a wonderful time -- Gavin's favorite part was splashing through the puddles created by the waterfalls.

On another note . . . Lucy's class drew pictures of their parents and this is what Lucy came up with. I guess I'm just glad she knows her parents love each other!

Deep Freeze

Yes, that thermometer does read 32 degrees below zero. It's so cold there's steam coming off the parts of the river that haven't frozen up yet. It looks like the river is on fire, which is probably not too far off the mark -- the water is about 60 degrees warmer than the surrounding air! The Hyundai reluctantly started and I got Lucy off to school, but the Corolla is dead. I'm on my way to help Austin try to jump it. Once we get the car going we're going to Montreal for the weekend -- where it's EVEN COLDER. . .

And the #1 team is . . .

OK, so maybe I am a bit of a homer, but after last night's game the championship seemed pretty clear to me.

ESPN's Rick Reilly decided even before the game. http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3815656

I should be clear here, though, that the opinions expressed are solely those of the writer (Emily) and may not reflect those of her husband or family. But I think I have Rose and James on my side -- and they should know, since they witnessed Utah's drubbing of Alabama firsthand.