We heart Vermont!

We spent last weekend in Stowe, Vermont attending Seth and Erin's wedding and in Burlington, Vermont buying cheap consumer goods. We had never been to Vermont. Through it, we learned many things.

We ♥ the Green Mountains.

(K at Stowe Pinnacle)

S ♥ scaring bears ... and moose...

(you should have seen them run)

We ♥ Seth and Erin.

(wedding photos coming soon)

We ♥ chuppahs.

(this is where Seth and Erin got married)

We ♥ Ben and Jerry's.

(yes, we got to go there)

And, we ♥ that Vermont is just a few hours away.

Water Landing and Courtesy Ticket

The day after we started watching the first season of LOST, I flew into Chicago - the day Chicago (and K's parents' house) flooded. It was my third worst flight - a lot of turbulence and we arrived as the really hard rains came. The airport flooded and all planes were put in a holding pattern. So, we circled Chicago in crazy weather for an hour or more. The landing was exciting ... it was pretty choppy, it seemed like we were going really fast, and we couldn't see anything through the clouds. As we came out of the clouds, it appeared that we were landing in a lake. Fortunately, Mary's cousin Mel works for United Airlines and got a few shots.

The return trip was less eventful - but I was quickly reminded of how wacky Canadians are. Apparently, I forgot to lock the car doors when I parked at the airport. When I returned, there was a ticket on the dashboard (inside the car). I sort of panicked because I have become very good at parking in places that earn me tickets. I now consider tickets as part of owning a car. But to my surprise, this one was a courtesy ticket informing me that my doors had been unlocked. The nice Airport Patrol people must have locked the doors for me - because they were locked when I was there. So polite.

September snow pile

Yesterday was a warm, beautiful September day. Sam and I explored the neighborhood and discovered the dog park. And in the midst of our happiness, we were shocked - alarmed - to see this.

Walking toward it, I felt that some other explanation might be possible. Sand? The remnants of a laundry delivery accident?

But up close, the truth was clear - a giant snow mound in the middle of September. This raised several alarming possibilities. Sure - snow melted everywhere else in Montreal... but perhaps this one pile was so enormous that it NEVER MELTED... all summer long. Or - perhaps it had already snowed - we had missed this fact while working - and Quebec's superior snow removal service had erased all evidence... except for this lone pile.

Always an optimist, Sam recovered from the initial shock.

I interrogated fellow park goers. Their story? Dumped ice from a local hockey rink.

We may never know the truth.

Useful hobbies

Kyle (K's brother) and Nat (K's cousin) have been building a boat. In my (K's) parents garage. One car has had to stay out of the garage since the boat has taken up residence.

And then, to check if it floats, those two flooded the front of my parents house...

Except of course they didn't. It all got a little less funny once they told me that the freezer was floating in the garage and they put weights on it to hold it down. Still plugged in.

Anyway, that boat came in handy when they got the evacuation order. At last count, they were driving around trying to find someplace for the dogs to stay.

Birthday Llama Song

Either I am weird (and as a result, friends send me strange things) or my friends are weird (and as a result, send me strange things).  See the following which was sent as a surrogate birthday card...

The Llama Song

I'll give you one clue as to who sent it:  Think two headed llama mama (who makes a great cake) and baby llama.