Househubby Diaries

It snowed. Well, It snowed alot! The snow has made me think about playing in the snow when I was a kid. When I was a young boy when it snowed, I remember my Dad would take out his Ford tractor and plow the driveway, and then drive around the neighborhood and plow out other peoples driveways. I can still see him in his greyish blue coveralls and grey knit hat (I don't think Carhartts were around back then). Meanwhile us kids would get bundled up in snow pants, insulated boots, and mittens hand knitted by my Mom, and play in the snow for hours. Most of the time we went sledding on this gigantic hill in our backyard. I dont ever remember getting too cold or tired of playing in the snow. I remember my toes getting cold and coming in to warm up with hot chocolate that mom made from scratch. But we always went back out and slid down that hill way past sundown and into the night.

Well, Santa brought C1 and C2 2 sleds for Christmas and it was time for C1 and his Dad to hit the slopes. We went to the Willard reservoir. It has some very large hills to slide down and convienient steps and handrail to climb up the hill. C2 stayed home with Mom because it was too cold for him to be out. I was expecting to have so much fun, that we would have to drag ourselves away from the hill. Well, don't get me wrong, we had fun, but it didn't last too long. Plowing the parking lot at the reservoir was not a top priority for the city so it remained almost impassable. The snow was so deep that C1 had trouble walking in it so I carried him almost everywhere. And, have those disc type sleds gotten smaller over the years? I felt like I was sledding on an inverted frisbee. Crossing my legs on that thing and trying to sled down the hill without my feet dragging was not as easy as I remember. We went down 2 times in about 30 minutes and called it a day. C1 was cold, I was tired and the sun was setting. Afterall, you cannot sled after sunset nowadays. To top it off, we got stuck in the unplowed parking lot and had to be pushed out by some high school kids. Sledding isn't what it used to be. But T did have some hot chocolate for us when we got home.... with marshmellows!

links to this post

We had a blizzard yesterday and last night. There was alot of blowing so it is hard to measure how much snow we got, but if I had to guess, I would say we got close to 2 feet. 3 days ago, my snowblower wouldn't start, but luckily due to fact that I am mechanically inclined, I disassembled and reassembled the whole engine and got it to start (Actually, I just changed the spark plug). I was so happy because I would be crying right now without my snowblower. I spent about 2 hours outside yesterday, and this morning, you couldn't even tell I had done anything. When I woke up this morning, I looked outside and there was snow up to the handle of the car. I spent another 1 1/2 hours out this morning just to get the car free so T could go to work.

Because it snowed, C1 thinks Christmas is coming. Last night he told T what he wanted for Christmas. Take these at face value, because T and I have no explanation for some of these things.

C1s Christmas list:

1. Trumpet
2. Nest
3. Snow Monster
4. Baby Truck (for C2)
5. Batman Sheets
6. Trashcan
7. Butterfly Net
8. 2 Cages for Dog and Cat (we have no pets)
9. My own Bathroom
10. My own tape (He loves scotch tape)
11. Gravedigger Monster Truck
12. My own Flowers
links to this post

Sometimes C1 doesn't want to take a bath. Instead of telling him it was bath time and getting him upset, I decided to try and trick him into taking a bath. So, I told him that he and C2 had to take a bath, and he had 2 options. So I asked him if he would like take a bath first, or would he like C2 to go second. He thought about it and decided he wanted C2 to go second. I said "ok, let's go get you in the tub, C2 will come in when you are done." He said, "I was just kidding, I want to go first." So I said, "ok, let's go get you in the tub, C2 will come in when you are done." And C1 ran of to the tub. T was cracking up at C1, or was she laughing at me due to the fact that I am smart enough to trick my son into the tub? I owe the idea of this trick to my father. He used it with me with the "heads I win, tails you lose" routine for a coin flip.
links to this post

Ok, on the way to town we drive by an amish community. There are several amish homes, a school with outhouses, and sometimes you see a horse and buggy or kids riding their bikes to school. It is like driving through Walnut Grove. Anyway, today I noticed one home had several lines of laundry hung out to dry. At first I didnt think too much of it until right at that moment, the announcer on the radio said it was 7 degrees outside. Is it me, or do I not understand why you would hang wet clothes outside in sub freezing temperatures? Wouldn't they just freeze stiff? How does anyone dry clothes without a dryer and freezing temps outside? By the fire? I would hate to be that amish guy who just spent 14 hours outside in 7 degree weather feeding the horses, cleaning the pigpens, and milking cows and then come inside to find out my union suit was frozen stiff as a board. Thank you Mom and Dad for not bringing me up amish. Although their gas bill probably wasn't $165 this month.
links to this post

T, C1 and I went 4 blocks away and saw the Globetrotters play at our local H.S. gymnasium. The show was spectacular. This sounds so cliche, but it truly was fun for all ages. C1 had a blast. I would encourage everyone to go if they have a chance. We have only resided in Willard for just over 1 year, but I would bet that that little gym has never seen so many dunks in one day. C1 got C2 a T-shirt and has been trying to spin a ball on his finger for 2 days now. In case you were wondering, The Globetrotters beat the N.Y. Nationals by 20.


links to this post

I recently saw the Al Gore film "A Convenient Truth". For those of you who are not aware of this film, it is his view of global warming. Now, without getting into the details or opinions of global warming, I must say that I thought the flick was incredibly boring. The reason for this post is that I saw a spoof of this movie on youtube, and wanted to share it with you. Regardless of your feelings on global warming, I think you will find this video amusing. I am just learning how to post video to my blog, so if the layout looks weird, I apologize. Enjoy... "A Very Convenient Truth". Oh, and as a side note... Willard, Ohio will be flirting with record LOW temperatures this weekend.


links to this post