baby!

Many congrats to Andrea and Tom!! :-)

From Blatherchat:

"Hello Everyone, Tom and I are very happy and proud to announce the arrival of our son, Nicholas Ryan Dale Algeo! Here are the stats: Date: January 28th, 2001 Time: 7:26 am Weight: 20.5 inches Weight: 6 lb 6.7 oz Hair: Reddish brown Eyes: Deep blue Health: Excellent Tom and I are doing quite well . . . Yes we're tired <grin> but _definitely_ very well. Feel free to forward/post this information to whomever and wherever you please <big grin>. Pictures will follow in a few days . . . . (which will be posted on my web site . . .)"

For more info, check out Andrea's Zen Cappuccino Corner.

survivor

Ok, so I admit I watched the premiere of Survivor II last night. It was on after the Superbowl, an event in which I had zero interest, so I kept switching from the Superbowl channel to the Japan Skating Championship to Die Hard 2 to the Superbowl channel, waiting for the show to start. I never watched the first Survivor (except part of the last episode, while waiting for my flight in the Philadelphia Airport). I'll likely not watch any more Survivor II episodes (which will be airing on Urban Tapestry practice nights anyway). The Survivor participants in this sequel seem to be more buff and tough than the ones in the first show. Plus is it my imagination, or do some of them hate each other already?

Speaking of Survivor, check out Dot Com Survivor, a free online game.

I woke up a bit sore from the weekend...mainly my upper arms, probably from leaning on ski poles while sludge-wading. Better get back to the gym!

Today's Blatherpic:
Cottage photo. An airhole on the lake; we were careful to avoid these on the way over to the cottage.

cottage weekend

Just got home from the cottage. Alison George, Jeff Latto, my Jeff, and I went up on Friday. I was a bit worried because I had heard that the ice wasn't entirely stable, and was thinner than was usual this time of year. We got across okay, however. I found it a bit tough going, slugging through ankle-high slush in my Sorels, but found it easier once I was able to switch to snowshoes.

Once we arrived at the cottage, we had to open up some sleeping cabins, light a fire, chop a hole through the ice for water, and shovel some pathways through the hip-deep snow. By the time we were finished, it was dark. The stars were amazing; much clearer than in the city. Jeff L. made an ice candle holder by pouring water into a pail, letting it freeze almost completely, and then carving a hole in the middle. Alison and Jeff R. made several more the next day.

Caramel muffins, bananas, coffee and juice for breakfast the next morning, then we set off on our cross-country skis to explore the frozen lake. The sky was a brilliant blue, with the sun turned the broad expanse of snow and ice into white fire; it was nearly painful to try looking around without the protection of sunglasses. Slush kept freezing onto the bottom of our skis, making it necessary to stop several times during the trip to scrape off the ice. We had a picnic lunch on a sun-warmed rock on the other side of the lake.

Much napping, reading, and snacking. A marten came to visit several times, attracted by the birdseed that Jeff R. had sprinkled on the deck.

One of my personal highlights of the weekend was sitting on a deck chair that Jeff L. had dragged onto the frozen lake for me, closing my eyes and letting the setting sun warm my face. Layered in fleece and Gore-Tex, I wasn't cold at all...it was incredibly relaxing, sitting there on the ice. The best part was the silence; it's so rare to experience that kind of silence in the city...no traffic, no planes, no crowds. Just the occasional hissing of snow drifting across the ice and the call of a winter bird from the forest. I dozed off, but woke when the sun went down and it suddenly got colder.

Dinner that night was courtesy Jeff L. and Alison; steak, mushrooms, and red peppers, cooked on the barbecue, with slices of blue cheese to go with the steak. The homemade candle holders were beautiful in the darkness, candlelight flickering through the ice.

The next morning, Jeff R. shovelled out an ice rink in front of the cottage, in preparation for my nieces' visit (Sara and Annie are coming to visit the cottage with their parents next weekend). We took bucketfuls of water and spread it onto the ice to make a smoother skating surface.

Going back across the lake this morning was easier since most of the slush had frozen over. A wonderful weekend, but it seemed way too short. :-)

alien jellyfish

Had a good practice with Allison and Jodi last night. We did some more prep for our concerts at Ad Astra and Consonance, as well as going over "I Am Stardust". What a gorgeous song! Lloyd was an incredibly talented songwriter. I'm going to nominate this song for a Pegasus Award. We also practised "The Alien Jellyfish Song", a song by Chris Conway...we're going to have SO much fun performing this. :-) Right now we're thinking of adding in some bluesy flute and 2- and 3-part harmonies.

How do you all learn new pieces for performance? Our standard process is to get a basic version of the song on tape, with just the melody and guitar accompaniment. Then we all take copies of the recording home and play around with it to see what we can add. At the next practice, we figure out what works and what doesn't, then we put another version on tape with the extra stuff, take it home so we can listen to it carefully to see what we like and don't like. The next week is generally a "polish up and finalize" practice.

Jeff and I are going up to the cottage this weekend with our friends Alison and Jeff. I'm bringing lots of long underwear and fleece. :-) I'm going to leave my computer on home, so no Blatherings until next week, sorry.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Today's Blatherpic: my niece Annie.

ten dollars

Yay, my Philly real estate agency has found a new tenant for my Philadelphia apartment; he takes over the lease next Tuesday.

Had dinner with Jeff, my dad-in-law, and some friends at Golden Thai last night. Gord Gibson gave us a Solitudes cap and some CDs. The CDs all look like great "de-stressing" music; I'll be showcasing some of them over the next few weeks. Gord and his wife Lorraine just had a baby girl on the weekend.

Today's Blatherpics are of the new ten-dollar bill in Canada (front and back). Scott Murray had one at the party on the weekend. I forgot to mention that one of the things that I won't miss about living in the States is the money...it all looks the same! Makes it way confusing, fumbling through my wallet, trying to find the right denomination. How do you Americans do it? On the other hand, your money's worth a lot more than ours. :-)