Andrew & Carrie & Lily & Nora & Charlotte & stuff: Happenings

An eighth of a century ago, a wonderful young lady got married to some dude. Around the same time, I married a wonderful young lady. Happy 12.5! (That's totally a thing, okay?)

Carrie left us a couple of weeks ago... for Switzerland. She had a training course in Bern, so I got to be Dad for a whole week. It made me better appreciate when Carrie's here and I can hand Lily over for the evening. Carrie came back with plenty of chocolate, so she was quickly forgiven.

It's been a fairly cold winter, with quite a bit of snow sneaking up on us lately. I splurged and bought a $5 sled for Lily, but we've used it very rarely, since it's not too fun to head outside when it's -20 and windy outside.

We went skating on the canal once and, as usual, we picked a pretty cold day to do so. (There weren't any warm days to choose from, so there's that.) I pushed Lily in the stroller, and that worked very well, after she was appropriately bundled up.

I even went snowboarding this past weekend, something I rarely get around to. I think I went once last year, and maybe not at all the year before. We'll be going next weekend to Mont Tremblant ski resort with some friends. Kid-free! So if you want to entertain a two-year-old for two days/nights, get in line and let us know. (Sorry, but you have to live near Ottawa.)

We went to an 80s-themed birthday party a couple weeks ago. It was probably the first dress-up party I've ever attended (or dressed up for anyway), since I used to be too cool for such frivolities. We dug out the Walkman and shopped for neon, uncool denim and fancy hairdos (hairdon'ts?). Even Lily showed up with a velvet tracksuit, sneakers and a side ponytail. Our hosts threw a totally rad party!

Stoked for the party.

We gave my wig a haircut; literally mangled it.

Way cool hosts.

The gals.

The guys.

Their youngest son fascinates Lily, but she's not entirely sure about him. (I think the boy wants to marry Carrie but he sees me as an obstacle/threat.) My first boys-related heart-to-heart with my daughter:

Lily: And I saw Nayfan.
Papa: Do you like Nathan?
Lily: Not really.
Papa: Why not?
Lily: Well, he talks to me.

Well. I'm going to have to talk with that lad. And methinks she's gonna grow up to be a wonderfully choosy young lady.

We'd bought a KitchenAid mixer from Costco five years ago, and recently it decided to act up. I opened it up and found a stripped gear (and lots of shavings). Some Youtubing and Googling later, found the right part to order. New gear $7, shipping $9. Costco members might think returning it is easier, but since we're not members (we just use our member friends) it's not convenient; besides, repairs can feel so rewarding!

Speaking of repairs... the other day, our car that won't die sounded and felt like it was about to die. It was running very rough, and pretty much stalled if I slowed to a halt. Got my handy little code reader out, which rewarded me with a "cylinder misfire" error. I needed an oil change anyway so I called the garage to see if they could take my car the next day. Fortunately for me, nobody answered. The next day I grabbed some tools and limped the jalopy to the parts store for some DIY fun. I bought some spark plugs at $4 apiece and replaced a couple in the parking lot while Lily ransacked the store. The friendly guys at Napa even lent me a magnet off the shelf when my spark plug played hard-to-get. And wouldn't you know it, that fixed the problem! Yay for cheap maintenance.

The car did decide to rear-end another vehicle last week. I was driving along, minding my own business, when the person in front of me decided to brake hard. My non-ABS wheels locked up too soon and... THUD! I waited for the driver to pull over, but that didn't happen. Followed a ways, still nothing, so whatever. Turns out my license plate was just as tough as his hitch, so no damage. Still, who doesn't stop when run into, unless you have something to hide? Weird.

I've been teaching Lily how to drive, which may have been a misstep on my part. Come within half a mile of a red light and she'll yell "DAD YOU HAVE TO STAWWWWWWP!" Sigh. In our next vehicle, she'll be at least twice as far away from my ear, so that should mitigate the hearing damage--if it's not too late.

While shopping for 80s junk, we happened to acquire a princess dress for Lily. She likes nothing better than to be a princess, whether with just a blanket over the shoulders or with a bonafide tattered second-hand dress!