Our first "snow storm" is upon us, and cries of terror and dread abound. Some have even called the snow "horrible".
What I propose is that perhaps we can look at our Winter through a different lens, and perhaps some of these points can be helpful for others to get more out of the winter; and perhaps, maybe, just possibly, ENJOY the winter too.
Often we dread things because we are not prepared; either mentally or physically. Here are some ideas on how to prepare for, enjoy, and LIVE through a Winter, not just survive it:
Adjust your Grey Matter. Plan to have fun in the Winter, and see the good in it. If you live in Canada, you cannot stop Winter from coming. So either embrace its arrival, or indeed, plan to move somewhere warmer. There's a reason millions of Canadians love and cherish this nation, despite the cold. There is amazing greatness in this nation; and, there is good and enjoyment to be found in the Winter season. See my other blog post on "Reasons to love the Fall and Winter" for some ideas on things that you and your family can do. You can also acquire a sense of humour; or loosen a cranial screw. I find having a screw loose sometimes helps.
Protect your Grey Matter. I still am baffled when I see teenagers, and often adults too, out in the Winter without a toque (a hat for those not familiar with this Canuckism). There are ways to fix/adjust your "doo" after getting ToqueHead; carry a brush, comb, mirror and hair product to adjust your coif upon de-toquification at your end destination indoors (easy to say, coming from a BaldE, who's chrome dome is always exposed to the elements). Acquire an array of toques / headwear, have fun with it. Also, ensure that your neck / collar area is covered as well; scarves or neck warmers pay off high dividends.
Research has shown.. Arctic researchers stated "You can be comfortable in any weather, as long as you dress for it.". Here are a few more "dressing" points, along that vein.
Protect your Core. Having or not having a good Base Layer can make or break your spirit when you're outdoors. You can choose tops and bottoms that whisk away sweat, are breathable, even when you're indoors, but also protect when you're stuck outside. There's no shame in wearing "long johns" at all. Protect your "junk", don't freeze it off. See an example from MEC.
Protect your Digits. Mitts or gloves with a separate liner. Good combo to have a lightweight liner glove, with rubber on palm/fingers for dexterity tasks, and have a separate mitten impermeable shell on top. Invest, don't cheap out. See an expensive example here.
Protect your Stompers. High-boots that go beyond your ankles. Wet feet will make you miserable. One good brand is Sorel; Hanukkah Harry just bought a nice pair for my wife. Invest, don't cheap out. You don't buy boots every year, make it worthwhile.
Protect your Chesticles. Get a good jacket. Choose one with layers; one benefit from a layered jacket is that you can zip out the liner and re-use the shell as a Fall / Spring jacket (as an option). Here's an expensive example, but you can find cheaper. Invest, don't cheap out. You don't buy jackets every year, make it worthwhile.
Protect your Leggings. For intense outdoor activities, or prolonged periods outdoors, it is worthwhile to get snow pants. Good ones will protect against wind and moisture.
Getting Around. Think about what frustrates you about winter commuting. Parking. Traffic. Try taking public transport (depending where you live / where you're going). If it is an option, plan it, take it. If you have to drive, plan your time wisely. Plan for winter / storm commuting to take 1 to 1.5 times longer (ex. for a 30 minute normal commute, in storm will take 1 hr to 1 hr 15 minutes - according to RCMP recommendations). See more details on preparing your vehicle, next.
Winterification of your Ride. Get good Winter Tires, and steel rims. Buy it once, along with your summer tires, it spreads the wear and tear between the two sets, and it is a NOTICEABLE difference in driving as compared to "all seasons". Get a good snow brush. Have good wipers. Invest, don't cheap out. This is not a comfort issue, it's your safety, and those of others. If you can plan / are planning for a new vehicle acquisition, consider a vehicle that is better suited to winter, that is high off of the ground, with AWD / 4WD as an option. A Pontiac Fiero doesn't fare well on top of a foot of snow.
Winterification of your Home. Do it. Worthwhile having windows weather-proofed with extra plastic layer, and space heaters in the cold areas (like my dungeonous basement office). I'll update this article later with a good reference article.
Warming Up. Things will get wet, accept it. You can plan to have spare clothing / accessories, or plan to dry them when you get where you're going, or back home. We use a great gloves drying rack. Once you're at work, at home, plan to have something to look forward to: a warm drink treat. Hot Cocoa and marshmallows. Hot Cider. Warm, spiked, coffee. Mmmm I am thirsty now. They can help fight that occasional bone-chilling freeze.
Slouching About Cozily. Depending on the relative warmth of your house, you should likely get a good robe. Cozy Slippers. Great PJs. Make it fashionably fun and cozy.. we look forward to donning our cozy slippers and flannel PJs as a family.
Snow Management System. If you have a large-ish driveway, invest in a decent snowblower. Otherwise, do a little homework and get a sturdy shovel or two. We procured smaller ones for the kids and they LOVE helping out, just as they did this morning. Except the help is often not really helpful, but at least they have a blast.
Pack your Pockets. When spending time outdoors, it helps to have Pocket Kleenex. Hand warmers can be good too.
Plan for Fun. Skiing. Tobogganing (with helmets, eyewear / protection for the cautious - we have a story in there). Skating. See my other post for the fun things that you can do, with or without kids. On an adult note, fornication is a good alternative too (for consenting adults only!). Ha. Hee hee.
Please feel free to comment and add your own suggestions on how to get the most out of winter. SNOWBALL FIGHT!
-Bald E
============
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bald E has no official degree in meteorology nor in fashion / design, but has happily enjoyed a few decades of Canadian winters, including working outdoors in many "harsh" winter conditions (a military qualification in Winter Warfare could be considered helpful). He, his wife, and their spawn have solid plans to snowboard, ski, build snow forts (and anatomically correct snow people) in the coming days.
He actually started writing this article, in his head, after realizing the hilarity of him whistling "Let it snow" in the middle of a recent blizzard.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Health - H1N1 Vaccination Clinics - Tweeting City of Ottawa
BRAVO! To the City of Ottawa for their organization, and embracing of technology to get the word out on H1N1 Vaccination / clinics.
Here are some links / facts on H1N1 vaccination here in Ottawa:
-You can follow clinic wait times / details as minute-to-minute updates on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ottawahealth (Twitter rocks!)
-from Twitter: "For all H1N1 clinics (except Constellation): Wristbands will be distributed beginning at 9am. Clinics begin at 2:30pm. http://bit.ly/1UjVe5"
-Sample Tweet from Twitter: "Centrum (Orléans) cannot accept any more clients today (tentatively - more spots may open up later)." updated around 11:20am, Nov 3rd, 2009.
-City of Ottawa Clinics info: http://ottawa.ca/residents/health/conditions/swine_influenza/h1n1_clinics_en.html
Here are some links / facts on H1N1 vaccination here in Ottawa:
-You can follow clinic wait times / details as minute-to-minute updates on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ottawahealth (Twitter rocks!)
-from Twitter: "For all H1N1 clinics (except Constellation): Wristbands will be distributed beginning at 9am. Clinics begin at 2:30pm. http://bit.ly/1UjVe5"
-Sample Tweet from Twitter: "Centrum (Orléans) cannot accept any more clients today (tentatively - more spots may open up later)." updated around 11:20am, Nov 3rd, 2009.
-City of Ottawa Clinics info: http://ottawa.ca/residents/health/conditions/swine_influenza/h1n1_clinics_en.html
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Tech Tidbits - Safer Emailing - Some "Best" Practices, incl. use "Bcc" and delete header email addresses
I received this some time ago from a family member. It was actually an email intended on keeping us safer and not unwittingly sharing others' email addresses, or spewing misinformation (ie. email hoaxes). I believe something WORTH forwarding in an email rather than the average B.S. offer to win a "free" laptop.
Please read through the points below and feel free to share this Blog info, or comment / correct it if you have other information. Sadly, I have no firm attributions / references for these recommendations yet, other than verbal approval from several Network Administrator colleagues of mine. Please share any other sources if you have them.
-Bald E
============
SAFER EMAILING PRACTICES
This is advice from a Network Administrator responsible for all of the computers at a very large corporation. It is an excellent message that ABSOLUTELY applies to ALL of us who send emails. Please read the short letter below, even if you're sure you already follow proper procedures.
Do you really know how to forward emails?
50% of us do; 50% DO NOT.
Do you wonder why you get viruses or junk mail? Do you hate it?
Every time you forward an email there is information left over from the people who received the message before you did, namely their email addresses and names. As the messages get forwarded along, the list of addresses builds, and all it takes is for one person to get a virus, and his computer can send that virus to every email address that has come across his computer.
Or, someone can take all of those addresses and sell them or send junk mail to them in the hopes that you will go to the site and he will make five cents for each hit. That's right, all of that inconvenience over a nickel!
How do you stop it? Well, there are several easy steps.
Try the following if you haven't done it before:
1) When you forward an email, DELETE all of the other addresses that appear in the body of the message (at the top). Highlight them and delete them, backspace them, cut them, whatever it is you know how to do. It only takes a second. You MUST click the 'Forward' button first and then you will have full editing capabilities against the body and headers of the message. If you don't click on 'Forward' first, you won't be able to edit the message at all.
2) Whenever you send an email to more than one person, DO NOT use the TO: or CC: fields for adding email addresses. Always use the Bcc: (blind carbon copy) field for listing ALL the email addresses!!! If you don't see your Bcc: option click on where it says to: and your address list will appear. Highlight the address and choose Bcc: and that's it, it's that easy. When you send to Bcc: your message will sometimes say "Undisclosed Recipients" in the 'TO:' field of the people who receive it. If your email program won't let you send an email without anyone in the 'TO:' field, then it is a good habit to put your own email address in there - ie. send it to yourself in the "TO", and Bcc everyone else.
3) Remove any 'FW :' in the subject line. You can re-name the subject if you wish or even fix spelling.
4) ALWAYS hit your Forward button from the actual email you are reading. (You may have had to open numerous other pages before you got to the real forwarded message!) Ever get those emails that you have to open 10 pages to read the one page with the information on it? By Forwarding from the actual page you wish someone to view, you stop them from having to open many emails just to see what you sent.
5) Have you ever gotten an email that is a petition? It states a position and asks you to add your name and address and to forward it to 10 or 15 people or your entire address book. The email can be forwarded on and on and can collect thousands of names and email addresses.
A FACT: The completed petition is actually worth a couple of bucks to a professional spammer because of the wealth of valid names and email addresses contained therein.
DO NOT EVER put your email address on any petition. If you want to support the petition, send it as your own personal letter to the intended recipient. Your position may carry more weight as a personal letter than a laundry list of names and email addresses on a petition. (And don't believe the ones that say that the email is being traced; it just ain't so!)
ACTUAL FACT: Most e-mail petitions that are forwarded with just a list of names are worthless because they do not fully identify the signer by street address, etc. Nor does it prove that the signer really signed it.
DO NOT FORWARD THEM. Some of the other emails to delete and not forward are:
a) The one that says something like, 'Send this email to 10 people and you'll see something great happen.' Or sometimes they'll say 'something really cute will happen.' IT WON'T HAPPEN!!!!
b) ..and don't let the bad luck ones scare you either, they should get trashed.
c) Before you forward an 'Amber Alert, or a 'Virus Alert, or some of the other emails floating around nowadays, check them out before you forward them. Most of them are junk mail that's been circling the net for YEARS! Just about everything you receive in an email that is in question can be checked out at www.snopes.com or www.hoax-slayer.com. It's really easy to find out if it's real or not. If it's not true, please DON'T pass it on.
So please, in the future, let's stop the junk mail and the viruses. Also get rid of the advertisements at the bottom of your emails! You pay for your Internet why advertise free for them? If they want advertisement let them pay you to use your space!!!!
Please read through the points below and feel free to share this Blog info, or comment / correct it if you have other information. Sadly, I have no firm attributions / references for these recommendations yet, other than verbal approval from several Network Administrator colleagues of mine. Please share any other sources if you have them.
-Bald E
============
SAFER EMAILING PRACTICES
This is advice from a Network Administrator responsible for all of the computers at a very large corporation. It is an excellent message that ABSOLUTELY applies to ALL of us who send emails. Please read the short letter below, even if you're sure you already follow proper procedures.
Do you really know how to forward emails?
50% of us do; 50% DO NOT.
Do you wonder why you get viruses or junk mail? Do you hate it?
Every time you forward an email there is information left over from the people who received the message before you did, namely their email addresses and names. As the messages get forwarded along, the list of addresses builds, and all it takes is for one person to get a virus, and his computer can send that virus to every email address that has come across his computer.
Or, someone can take all of those addresses and sell them or send junk mail to them in the hopes that you will go to the site and he will make five cents for each hit. That's right, all of that inconvenience over a nickel!
How do you stop it? Well, there are several easy steps.
Try the following if you haven't done it before:
1) When you forward an email, DELETE all of the other addresses that appear in the body of the message (at the top). Highlight them and delete them, backspace them, cut them, whatever it is you know how to do. It only takes a second. You MUST click the 'Forward' button first and then you will have full editing capabilities against the body and headers of the message. If you don't click on 'Forward' first, you won't be able to edit the message at all.
2) Whenever you send an email to more than one person, DO NOT use the TO: or CC: fields for adding email addresses. Always use the Bcc: (blind carbon copy) field for listing ALL the email addresses!!! If you don't see your Bcc: option click on where it says to: and your address list will appear. Highlight the address and choose Bcc: and that's it, it's that easy. When you send to Bcc: your message will sometimes say "Undisclosed Recipients" in the 'TO:' field of the people who receive it. If your email program won't let you send an email without anyone in the 'TO:' field, then it is a good habit to put your own email address in there - ie. send it to yourself in the "TO", and Bcc everyone else.
3) Remove any 'FW :' in the subject line. You can re-name the subject if you wish or even fix spelling.
4) ALWAYS hit your Forward button from the actual email you are reading. (You may have had to open numerous other pages before you got to the real forwarded message!) Ever get those emails that you have to open 10 pages to read the one page with the information on it? By Forwarding from the actual page you wish someone to view, you stop them from having to open many emails just to see what you sent.
5) Have you ever gotten an email that is a petition? It states a position and asks you to add your name and address and to forward it to 10 or 15 people or your entire address book. The email can be forwarded on and on and can collect thousands of names and email addresses.
A FACT: The completed petition is actually worth a couple of bucks to a professional spammer because of the wealth of valid names and email addresses contained therein.
DO NOT EVER put your email address on any petition. If you want to support the petition, send it as your own personal letter to the intended recipient. Your position may carry more weight as a personal letter than a laundry list of names and email addresses on a petition. (And don't believe the ones that say that the email is being traced; it just ain't so!)
ACTUAL FACT: Most e-mail petitions that are forwarded with just a list of names are worthless because they do not fully identify the signer by street address, etc. Nor does it prove that the signer really signed it.
DO NOT FORWARD THEM. Some of the other emails to delete and not forward are:
a) The one that says something like, 'Send this email to 10 people and you'll see something great happen.' Or sometimes they'll say 'something really cute will happen.' IT WON'T HAPPEN!!!!
b) ..and don't let the bad luck ones scare you either, they should get trashed.
c) Before you forward an 'Amber Alert, or a 'Virus Alert, or some of the other emails floating around nowadays, check them out before you forward them. Most of them are junk mail that's been circling the net for YEARS! Just about everything you receive in an email that is in question can be checked out at www.snopes.com or www.hoax-slayer.com. It's really easy to find out if it's real or not. If it's not true, please DON'T pass it on.
So please, in the future, let's stop the junk mail and the viruses. Also get rid of the advertisements at the bottom of your emails! You pay for your Internet why advertise free for them? If they want advertisement let them pay you to use your space!!!!
Deep Thoughts by Bald E - Musical Moments
When a favourite song hits that favourite beat - you are reminded about why life is great. It just makes you smile and feel warm, despite the cold wind and rain.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Deep Thoughts by Bald E - Musical Ignorance
If you have music blaring blissfully on your portable player, you can pretend that your pant-ripping flatulence didn't make a sound, because you can't hear it.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
H1N1 Vaccination SUMMARY - Links
Since I am at high risk of being too verbose, I thought I'd try and provide a more succinct list of links for everyone to peruse. Here they are. I recommend you DO NOT make a decision one way or another without reading BOTH sides of the story, as we have been doing in the past days. Personally, I won't engage in a discussion on the subject with anyone who hasn't read them all like we have.
For each position on the debate, I've ordered them in order of relevance as well (my opinion only) - ie. read the top articles first, then proceed downwards. Enjoy.
-Bald E
--------------------
PRO-H1N1 VACCINE
1. Maclean's Article "Swine Flu Fiasco"
http://www2.macleans.ca/2009/10/19/swine-flu-fiasco/#more-87249
2. Globe and Mail Article - H1N1 Myth Busters http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health/h1n1-swine-flu/h1n1-myth-busters/article1340101/
3. An Epidemic of Fear: How Panicked Parents Skipping Shots Endangers Us All
http://www.wired.com/magazine/2009/10/ff_waronscience/ (make sure you also read their article "H1N1 Flu Shot: 3 Major Fears Debunked" within this series!)
4. Science-Based Medicine
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=2353
5. Public Health Agency of Canada
http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/alert-alerte/h1n1/index-eng.php
6. US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/qa.htm
7. World Health Organization (including information on threat of GBS)
http://www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/frequently_asked_questions/vaccine_preparedness/safety_approval/en/index.html
8.
Safety / Facts on Squalene Adjuvant / MF-59
http://www.who.int/vaccine_safety/topics/adjuvants/squalene/questions_and_answers/en/
CON-H1N1 VACCINE
1.
National Vaccine Information Centre (US non-profit org)
http://www.nvic.org/vaccines-and-diseases/h1n1-swine-flu.aspx
2. Dr. Frank Lipman - The Truth About The Flu Shot
http://drfranklipman.com/the-truth-about-the-flu-shot/
3.
Dr.Russell Blaylock: Vaccine May Be More Dangerous Than Swine Flu
http://socioecohistory.wordpress.com/2009/07/15/dr-russell-blaylock-vaccine-may-be-more-dangerous-than-swine-flu/
4. Dr. Joseph Mercola's Special Swine Flu Update
http://swineflu.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/10/21/Special-Swine-Flu-Update.aspx
5. Health Sciences Institute
http://hsibaltimore.com/2009/08/24/h1n1-prevention/
http://hsibaltimore.com/2009/10/12/jefferson/
6. Dr. Carol Robin's Websites
http://www.carolrobin.com/
http://www.guidedcds.com/index.html
(Dr. Robin is a strong advocate of Natural Healing. Although her website doesn't offer much, her newsletter does have a lot of condensed information. Or you can give her money and buy her Guided CDs / MP3s.)
7. GlobalResearch
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=14312
For each position on the debate, I've ordered them in order of relevance as well (my opinion only) - ie. read the top articles first, then proceed downwards. Enjoy.
-Bald E
--------------------
PRO-H1N1 VACCINE
1. Maclean's Article "Swine Flu Fiasco"
http://www2.macleans.ca/20
2. Globe and Mail Article - H1N1 Myth Busters http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health/h1n1-swine-flu/h1n1-myth-busters/article1340101/
3. An Epidemic of Fear: How Panicked Parents Skipping Shots Endangers Us All
http://www.wired.com/magaz
4. Science-Based Medicine
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=2353
5. Public Health Agency of Canada
http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca
6. US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu
7. World Health Organization (including information on threat of GBS)
http://www.who.int/csr/dis
8.
Safety / Facts on Squalene Adjuvant / MF-59
http://www.who.int/vaccine_safety/topics/adjuvants/squalene/questions_and_answers/en/
CON-H1N1 VACCINE
1.
National Vaccine Information Centre (US non-profit org)
http://www.nvic.org/vaccines-and-diseases/h1n1-swine-flu.aspx
2. Dr. Frank Lipman - The Truth About The Flu Shot
http://drfranklipman.com/t
3.
Dr.Russell Blaylock: Vaccine May Be More Dangerous Than Swine Flu
http://socioecohistory.wordpress.com/2009/07/15/dr-russell-blaylock-vaccine-may-be-more-dangerous-than-swine-flu/
4. Dr. Joseph Mercola's Special Swine Flu Update
http://swineflu.mercola.co
5. Health Sciences Institute
http://hsibaltimore.com/20
http://hsibaltimore.com/20
6. Dr. Carol Robin's Websites
http://www.carolrobin.com/
http://www.guidedcds.com/i
(Dr. Robin is a strong advocate of Natural Healing. Although her website doesn't offer much, her newsletter does have a lot of condensed information. Or you can give her money and buy her Guided CDs / MP3s.)
7. GlobalResearch
http://www.globalresearch.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Deep Thoughts by Bald E - Reasons to Love the Fall and Winter
As a tribute to my old favourite SNL short skits "Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy", here is a new series of my own Deep Thoughts, by Bald E.
This first installment is a re-post of my Facebook note of reasons to embrace rather than fight the inevitable arrival of the cold here in Canada.
-Bald E
===============
The weather (here in Canada, at least) is turning cold, and the Summer fun has come to a close. So while some of us must begin to winterize our homes, cars and selves, I think we must keep in mind some things to look forward to in the coming months.
Here’s a list of things that make me look forward to this Fall and upcoming Winter. Please feel free to comment and add your own...
1. Rosh Hashana (the Jewish New Year) celebrations with loved ones
2. The colours of autumn leaves..
3. Thanksgiving - including spending it as a long birthday celebration weekend in Montreal
4. Apple Picking on Thanksgiving weekend
5. Visiting the Pumpkin Patch
6. Pumpkin carving
7. Halloween Trick or Treating
8. Halloween Candy - that is, helping keep the boys healthy by reducing the pile of candy
9. Halloween Parties and Halloween drinking..
10. Using more power-toys: leaf blower, snow blower..
11. Hanukkah with family
12. Christmas with family
13. Boxing Day Open House party - and drinking/eating myself into a bloated heap
14. New Years’ Celebrations and baffoonery..
15. Tobogganing and no one getting injuries
16. Downhill skiing
17. Snowboarding and not getting any concussions this time..
18. Cross-country skiing
19. Nude skiing
20. Skating - on the longest skating rink in the world - The Rideau Canal Skateway - even though I can’t skate well at all
21. Snowball fights..
22. Snow angels - snow smurfs, snow sculptures
23. Building anatomically correct snow-people
24. Ottawa’s Winterlude
25. Not having to mow the lawn nor clean the pool
26. Icicles - and sword fights with them..
27. Apres-ski drinking - with or without the skiing!
28. Hockey Season (for those who follow it)
29. Cross-border shopping for gadgets and goodies on U.S. Black Friday..
30. Spacious Natural Beer Fridge: beer chilling in the snow
31. Hot cocoa with marshmallows in front of an open fire..
32. Hot tubbing, with a drink in hand, lightly snowing, with a toque on
33. Wearing my favourite sweaters, jackets, toques, slippers and cozy clothes to help lounge around the house..
34. Breaking out the flannel sheets and down comforter
35. Seeking warmth - in bed, with Kim. Giggity Giggity.
36. NO BUGS!
37. Cabane à sucre (sugar shack) - complete with horse-drawn wagon ride, and tubby-licious taffy/maple syrup on snow
38. Warming up by eating a delicious Beavertail (my fave garlic & cheddar)
39. Drifting (oversteer), handbraking while taking tight corners, doing donuts on the snowy road.
40. Superbowl - game, commercials, half-time show, beer, chili and all that goes with it. (contributed by proxy from my physiotherapist)
This first installment is a re-post of my Facebook note of reasons to embrace rather than fight the inevitable arrival of the cold here in Canada.
-Bald E
===============
The weather (here in Canada, at least) is turning cold, and the Summer fun has come to a close. So while some of us must begin to winterize our homes, cars and selves, I think we must keep in mind some things to look forward to in the coming months.
Here’s a list of things that make me look forward to this Fall and upcoming Winter. Please feel free to comment and add your own...
1. Rosh Hashana (the Jewish New Year) celebrations with loved ones
2. The colours of autumn leaves..
3. Thanksgiving - including spending it as a long birthday celebration weekend in Montreal
4. Apple Picking on Thanksgiving weekend
5. Visiting the Pumpkin Patch
6. Pumpkin carving
7. Halloween Trick or Treating
8. Halloween Candy - that is, helping keep the boys healthy by reducing the pile of candy
9. Halloween Parties and Halloween drinking..
10. Using more power-toys: leaf blower, snow blower..
11. Hanukkah with family
12. Christmas with family
13. Boxing Day Open House party - and drinking/eating myself into a bloated heap
14. New Years’ Celebrations and baffoonery..
15. Tobogganing and no one getting injuries
16. Downhill skiing
17. Snowboarding and not getting any concussions this time..
18. Cross-country skiing
19. Nude skiing
20. Skating - on the longest skating rink in the world - The Rideau Canal Skateway - even though I can’t skate well at all
21. Snowball fights..
22. Snow angels - snow smurfs, snow sculptures
23. Building anatomically correct snow-people
24. Ottawa’s Winterlude
25. Not having to mow the lawn nor clean the pool
26. Icicles - and sword fights with them..
27. Apres-ski drinking - with or without the skiing!
28. Hockey Season (for those who follow it)
29. Cross-border shopping for gadgets and goodies on U.S. Black Friday..
30. Spacious Natural Beer Fridge: beer chilling in the snow
31. Hot cocoa with marshmallows in front of an open fire..
32. Hot tubbing, with a drink in hand, lightly snowing, with a toque on
33. Wearing my favourite sweaters, jackets, toques, slippers and cozy clothes to help lounge around the house..
34. Breaking out the flannel sheets and down comforter
35. Seeking warmth - in bed, with Kim. Giggity Giggity.
36. NO BUGS!
37. Cabane à sucre (sugar shack) - complete with horse-drawn wagon ride, and tubby-licious taffy/maple syrup on snow
38. Warming up by eating a delicious Beavertail (my fave garlic & cheddar)
39. Drifting (oversteer), handbraking while taking tight corners, doing donuts on the snowy road.
40. Superbowl - game, commercials, half-time show, beer, chili and all that goes with it. (contributed by proxy from my physiotherapist)
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