2008

With 2009 approaching this would be a good time to reflect on 2008..........

Where has the year gone????

2008 has been a good year>>>
1) Started off by ringing in the New Year with friends and family
2) announced we were taking my mother-in-law to Maui with us in April (b-day present)
3) planned our trip.
4) went to Maui in April.
5) in Maui, got to see the Whales for the first time
6) celebrated birthdays and holidays.
7) got to go to a few Blackhawks games
8) started planning for our next trip to Maui ( in Feb)
9) got to go to Door County for the first time.
10) got to spend Thanksgiving with Family
11) got to go to Door C0unty a second time in many months.
12) spend Christmas with family.

and if there is anything I forgot I apologize.

It has been a good year.
Wishing everyone a Happy Healthy New Year!!!!!

From Cindy


Updates from Kris
Aloha,

I thought I'd expand on Cindy's list with a few items of my own:

• By my estimation (and help from my GPS recorder), we spent close to 200 miles on the bike trails this summer
• Both of our computers got a lot smaller
• Cindy added almost an entire shelf worth of Swarovski in her curio cabinet
• I lost a few pounds, at least enough to go from a 42" waist down to a 32", and a shirt size of XXL to M
• Cindy and I both signed up for Facebook
• Cindy started blogging (16 posts so far)
  
• We also celebrated 5 years of marriage together
• I made it back onto the ice this month (and have video to prove it)
  

Cindy already mentioned our 2 weeks in Maui this year, and I posted our favorite '08 moments in Maui over at our Maui blog.

Yup, it's been a pretty good year, and while there were some challenges, we all made it through in one piece.

Where'd the snow go?

As if the Chicago weather in this month of December hasn't been unbearable already, it just got a little weirder.  It seems like after weeks of the same weather pattern of frigid temps, then tons of snow, and again followed by more cold, mother nature decided to make it a little more interesting.

With a mild warm-up yesterday to about 44°F, today we're now looking at a high approaching 60°F, and boatloads of rain to help wash away all that snow cover we've gotten used to. And when I say boatloads of rain, I'm mean they're predicting up to 3" in some areas. When you take about 10" of snow cover from the last few weeks and throw in those types of temps and 3" of rain, you're in for some pretty nasty flooding.

We already saw some of the streets getting water last night when we were coming home, and now at 9am this morning, almost all of the snow on the ground outside of our balcony is gone. Just like that, gone!

Looking at the radar, it appears that the rain should let up in about an hour or two, but coming back after a short break.  And then for tomorrow? Back down below freezing with high winds. Go figure.

christmas 2008

It was a very Merry Christmas!!!!



Christmas is about spending time with family and friends, and that's what we did.

On Christmas Eve, my Aunt, Uncle and Grandfather usually go by his brother, or sisters house etc. We were invited to Linda and Tims house. It was nice I to visit with family, I haven't seen in along time.

Christmas Day,
During the day we went to Kris's Aunt and Uncles house and spend Christmas with his: mom, Rose, Glenn, and baby Zach. Michelle, Steve and Alexis, came over. It was nice to spend
Christmas with them.

After spending Christmas with Kris's family, it was on to my family. We went to my Grandfathers house, and spent Christmas with my Aunt, Uncle, and Grandfather. We had a nice dinner followed by opening presents. After we spend Christmas by Grandpa's house we went by his mom's house and gave her her christmas present.

It was a very Merry Christmas. We got to spend the holidays with friends and family, and that is what the holidays are all about

Happy Holidays From Cindy

Guess What? More Snow

Yes, as if you thought the frustrating pattern of...

Large snowfall, frigid temps, large snowfall, frigid temps, ...

Need another chapter, we'll it's here. It started snowing again waaaaaay early this morning, and for pretty much the entire day now it's been coming down with various amounts on intensity. Just around 3pm or so, while it was still light enough out, it looked rather nice with those giant snowflakes like we say Saturday night. Wishing I had taken a photo earlier, but now that it's darker, however, it's lost most of its charm.

The current predictions have this weather pattern going until at least tomorrow afternoon, and just for fun, switching from snow over to sleet and maybe rain depending on how warm it gets. All this, and no snow in the forecast for Xmas day.  What gives?  I guess that extra day this leap year is throwing off the schedule.

Anyway, talk of temps in the 40's this weekend is still a possibility, although, it will probably make the snow and ice even worse than it is now.  We'll see if they're right about December being the worst of the winter weather this year.

12/22 highlights

I love this time of the year...... Christmas is around the corner, then New Years, 2009 begins, and then we go to Maui in February. During the time between Christmas and New Years, I get to have a few more days off of work, which is the case this weekend, my three day weekend. In addition to Saturday, Sunday, I have Monday off. Kris is off all this week, so it is nice to be off with him.



The weekend before Christmas was snowy and bitterly cold one. It made it very unpleasant for those who were finishing there Christmas shopping. It didn't stop us from going out, in the bitter cold, and play in the snow. I'll explain more later.



Picture this it is 8:00pm on Sunday night, cappuccino in one hand, listening to your i-pod (on your new i-pod stereo system), and hearing the wind on this bitterly cold day. Then you have an idea of what I am doing.



You remember Thursday nights snow storm... anyway I woke up Friday morning, expecting all this snow on the ground, and my commute to work to be disastrous, but it wasn't the only part that was bad was trying to turn into my parking lot. It was a slow day at the pharmacy, but Fridays are short days for me anyway. I worked until three and then my weekend began. After work I did every one's favorite laundry, then when Kris came home from work, we went by his mom's for dinner and to watch the hockey game.



On Saturday I had my Zach fix.... Saturdays Marilynn along with Katie, Kasey, and Louise babysit Zach, this weekend Marilynn was babysitting him alone, and instead of babysitting Zach by her house, we babysat him by his house. This boy is a ball of energy.



It just started to snow lightly as we were leaving, Before we headed home we stopped to visit friend of mine I used to work with, It was nice to see her.



Saturday evening is when the snow started to come down harder, but that didn't stop us from driving in it. A couple weeks ago Kris Blogged about a hockey rink in Glenview he found called Flick Park. Before we ran our errands, Kris wanted to drive passed the outdoor rink and see if it was open . He didn't have to jump the fence this time. Even though I as Kris said, " I wasn't skating," I still had a good time. There is this awesome hill for sledding that I would like to go on. Even though I hate the cold weather, and not to fond of the snow, the snowflakes coming down was nice. Kris skated for a good hour. it was nice to see him on the ice again. you never know you might a read a post about my first ice skating experience.



We had a few errands to run before going to his moms house for dinner and watch the Blackhawks beat the Vancouver Canucks. Make it 7 games in a row. GO HAWKS!!!



This morning I woke up to frigid cold temps. makes you want to stay in the house and hibernate. Hibernating is what we did in the evening, but during the afternoon we braved the bitterly cold weather, and went out to lunch and ran a few errands. It is amazing how many people were out and about in this cold weather. The bitterly cold didn't stop people from shopping at the various stores in the village crossing shopping center. We had to stop at Michael's and it was packed. After we finished we went home and stayed home.

Monday...... Another bitterly cold day is upon us. at least the sun is shining.. It was nice to have a day off. I took the opportunity to wrap my Christmas gifts. Now I am ready for the holidays.
I really didn't do much just relaxed, but it was nice to have the day off. I work tomorrow, but have Wednesday, and Thursday off, and work Friday. Then I have another 3 day weekend.

Overall I had a nice weekend

thanks Cindy

Second Skating Session

Those following me on Twitter and my Facebook buddies found out last night that I was back out on the ice again, and given today's deep freeze, it was just in time. And unlike two weeks ago, the rink was actually open this time!!!

It was a rather gorgeous night, if you like winter that is. It had been snowing lightly for about an hour by the time we left for the rink, and I was smart enough to bring my own shovel. Being on the ice for about an hour, I probably spent a third of the time shovelling enough space on the ice to actually skate. Those girls from the Ice Crew at the Hawks game are never around when you need them. :)

Anyway, Cindy came with this time, and although she wasn't skaing (yet), she still had fun and even shot a few video clips of me on the ice. I figured some sort of visual reference might be a good idea for those that either (a) don't believe I was back on the ice, or (b) wanted to see how fun it really was and come out skating next time.

This first clip is showing off that I still have a few moves left, and was taken later in the session once I shovelled a large enough area to spread out.

You can sort of see some of the snow falling down, but this next clip that Cindy shot is just of the snow falling itself. Again, if you like winter and enjoy those big fluffy snowflakes, this one is for you. If that's not your thing, you might want to turn away.

Personally, I think that shot of the snow falling is pure beauty.  Very well done, dear!

Overall, there are 7 clips that I uploaded, and you can few them using the playlist below. There is one of me shovelling, which is not to be interpretted as my audition tape for next year's Ice Crew. There is also a few of me skating with the camera, including the last one which is a pan of the entire rink. Very peaceful.

Enjoy.

More Than Cold

Was checking out the weather here just north of Chicago and moments after sunrise.



Brrrrrrr. Doesn't seem like much of a choice between here and Hawaii, does it? Happy Winter Solstice.

Update

Hasn't gotten much warmer this afternoon!

Who Needs a Break?

We Do!

Wow, with Xmas just six days away and most of the items on our list behind us, it's time for a well deserved break. For the second year in a row, I'm getting the entire week off for the holidays. And Cindy, taking advantage of her co-workers being off of school for winter break, will only be working 5 days over the next two weeks.

So what are we planning to do with all this time off? Absolutely nothing! All of our holiday shopping is done (thank goodness). The Hawks are on their Canada road trip, and our next home game isn't until Jan 14th. Yup, besides from the usual family festivities for Xmas and New Years, we're pretty much gonna take it easy.

If anything, I'd like to get back on the ice for a little bit next week, weather permitting. Tonight being Friday, Saturday is our normal day for running errands and they're forecasting 1-2" of snow starting in the late afternoon. Sunday, the high temp is supposed to be 4°F. Tuesday would probably be the earliest on temperature alone, so we'll have to see.

For now, it just feels good to not have to think about work until after Xmas. Ahhhhh.

No Time

Well, after the blast we had on Tuesday, the rest of the week so far has pretty much gotten away from me. So far, I've missed two different lunch time blogging sessions which still need to be made up, and we're looking for our second snow storm this week starting in a few hours. Add to that a little bit of extra chaos at work yesterday and today, and it's been nuts.

Aside from that, it's still one week from Xmas, and I'm really looking forward to having next week off. I don't have too much time right now, since we're leaving for another dinner out with family this week, but I'm going to do my best to get at least one of my scheduled blog posts done tonight before I get any farther behind.

Wish me luck!

Best Tuesday this Week

Given the fact that work Tuesday morning was a little more aggravating than usual (for multiple reasons), and since we had yet another snow storm that dumped close to 4" of snow on us, it didn't look like yesterday was going to be that memeroable. Well, yesterday was awesome!!!

Skipping all the bad stuff and going right for the gold, Tuesday night was our first trip to Buffalo Wild Wings for Bud Light's Hockey Night in Chicago. For about half of the Hawks' road games this season, they host an event at different area BWW locations, with giveways, a season long air hockey tournament, and a packed house with lots of hockey fans.  They've been doing this for a few years now, but this was our first one.

The Game

Last night's game was against the Edmonton Oilers, who despite being last in their division were on a bit of a roll winning 5 of their last 7 games. They even recently knocked off the league's best San Jose Sharks in OT, who the Hawks haven't been since 1812 or something like that.  Regardless, the Oilers are never a team to take lightly.

And the Hawks did anything but that. With a season record 5 goals in the second period, the Blackhawks provided all the firepower to keep a lot of wings fans (the buffalo kind) very happy despite horrible driving conditions and multi-hour travel times people had to endure to get there. The Hawks finished the night with a 9-2 win, which made everything else seem trivial.

As if a Hawks goal scoring spree and a few drinks wasn't good enough, the Hockey Night in Chicago event was a blast. They hold a season-long air hockey tournament, which my brother and I both signed up for. While my name wasn't picked to face-off in the tournament that night, Bobby's was. It was a short game in the first round, and he ended up getting bumped out by some 320 lb giant. The air hockey table itself didn't look that great, and I think my brother might have broken the other guy's finger with one of his shots. Hilarious.

Even though my name wasn't called for the tournament, it stayed in the box for some of the other giveaways they were having. Which turned out to be pretty sweet because about 30 minutes after Bobby was eliminated from the tournament, my name was called as a winner of 2 tickets to the Jan. 14th game against the Buffalo Sabres. Nice!

Needless to say, with a late 8:30pm start in Edmonton, the game lasted until about 11:30pm. The commute home was about 750% faster than the drive out there, which was great. Getting home around midnight, we mostly just crashed and, as a result, I'm getting a little later start than usual this morning. Well worth it.

Doing it all again

The Hawks website has the schedule for the other upcoming Hockey Nights. While most of them are out of decent driving distance for us, there are at least two more that we'll likely go to. We highly recommend going for anyone that has a chance and loves the Hawks.

No Skating Today

It was just two days ago when I was saying how bitter cold it was and that chances for skating Friday night were going to be slim. I also mentioned that reports were saying 40s on Saturday. Well, they were just about right.

We were up in Wisconsin on Saturday, but I'll let Cindy cover those details in her weekend post. Regardless, it was rainning for a good part of the day, and did make it up into the upper 30Fs to the point where skating would have been out of the question yesterday even if there was time.  And today?  Well, they're saying close to 50F! Oh, Chicago weather, how crazy you are.

Looking ahead to the upcoming week and possible skating opportunities, Monday is supposed to be back all the way down to 19F for a high (sheesh), and we already have plans for Tuesday and Thursday. Wednesday and Friday are looking to be the better chances this week, so I guess I'll just need to be a little patient.

Frigid Friday

Clear skies, bright sunshine, and a gentle breeze. If it were June, it would be gorgeous outside. But alas, here we are less than 2 weeks away from Xmas and that trio of weather conditions means cold, cold, cold. The dashboard thermometer was reading 11F when I was leaving for lunch just a few moments ago, and it's not lying. Wind chills this morning were being reported at -4F as well, and that's not even with a strong wind!

Is it February yet?

Now I'm just complaining for the heck of it. After all, I have lived here all my life. It's really just a little satire for the blog here, that's all. It has gotten to be about as cold as it was in Door County last weekend, even though there were reports it was supposed to be near 40F tomorrow.  We'll see.

Anyway, I'm just writing a little note while sitting here at Starbucks like I do every day around this time during lunch. From the drive out to the office this morning, it looked like it was going to warm up at least a little, and I had started thinking about finding a place to skate tonight while the Hawks beat up on Colorado. Seeing that it is really only picture perfect outside and not really temperature perfect, that will have to wait until at least Sunday. Bummer.

Back to the original plan of watching the game tonight. Go Hawks!

Dell Mini Screenshots

Just a quick follow up on the review of my Dell Mini from a month ago with a few screenshots and updates.

My Desktop Wallpaper

With a screen resolution of only 1024 x 600, I picked this inviting photo out of my favorites.

2GB RAM Upgrade

Not letting the Microsoft imposed 1GB limit at point-of-sale stopping me from upgrading to 2GB.

Disk Space and Drive Settings

Out of the box, the Dell Mini comes with disk files compressed and indexing enabled. Turning off both of these settings has the benefits of slightly better performance, while removing compression consumes more disk space.

Disk Space Distribution

With the drive uncompressed, here's the breakdown of what's using the most space. Windows comes in at about 2.6GB, and with the 2GB RAM mentioned earlier, my hibernation file is that size and located in the root drive folder.

Notes

So you can see with a 16GB drive, it leaves little room for anything else. I also have System Restore turned off, which might sound a little unsafe for a Windows machine. Not using my Mini in a primary document role, I'm story anything worth saving on an 8GB SDHC card which I use solely with my Mini. Should something happen to the OS that I can't repair myself, I can just re-install the OS with the recovery CD and the external DVD drive and back on track.

I have not yet setup a backup schedule for saving a working image of my Mini, which would be easier than doing a re-install. Something I'll setup at some point.

blackhawks fans!!!!

Are you a BLACKHAWKS FAN??? I KNOW I AM................





Kris and I have already been to 4 Black hawks games already, and being at the United Center for each game has been a thrilling experience. The atmosphere is incredible What a rush sitting in the stands, listening to everyone cheer, and clap when they show the Hawks come out of the Locker room before the game or in between periods, when the national anthem is being sung, or


when the Black hawks score a goal.





Win or lose every one of the games I have been to has been an awesome, but the most memorable was the game vs the Anaheim Ducks on December 3rd. Picture this.... It was a cold snowy Wednesday evening 21,000 fans packed the United Center. We were sitting in section 311? I think. row 2. It was up and down pretty much the whole game., Anaheim had a 2-1 lead going into the third period... at that point the 21,000 fans were starting to get restless, myself included, but one penalty by Anaheim, led to another which led to a momentum switch in the hawks favor. 2 minutes remain in the game and the hawks tie it. the Hawks would go on to win 4-2.

The fans our the best I love going to Blackhawks games. You get to really appreciate the game.

Door County - Dec '08 Photos Posted

What few photos I was able to take from Friday have now been posted.  You can check them out on Flickr at our Door County - Dec '08 photo set.

As we had anticipated, there was quite a bit of snow already on the ground when we arrived. Friday was a very nice day, although it was terribly cold with temps only in the teens. Clear skies and only a brisk wind at times on Friday made for some good shooting conditions.

Saturday, however, was a different story altogether. The winds really picked up, and by Friday evening, it was snowing again. And is snowed all night and much of Saturday morning. It tapered off a little bit in the afternoon, but then the winds picked up. 30+ mph winds with gusts going up to 50 mph!  Bruttle for me to try and stay outside long enough to take more photos.

Anyway, take a peek and let me know what you think.

Season's First Skate

While I came up empty over the weekend on our trip to Door County, I still managed to get the skates on last night.  It was short, only 20 minutes, but it was still very sweet. 

It was a tiny little outdoor rink in Glenview, which technically was closed last night. It about 7:15pm and it was still snowing just a little bit. When I pulled up, there were already two kids out there shooting around. No nets, no boards, just a set of bleachers and an 8 ft fence around the snow and the ice. When I say it was technically closed, the gate was actually locked. I didn't realize that at first, and it wasn't until I made almost an entire lap around the small rink before asking the kids how they got one the ice.  There was only one way ... up and over.

Not having nets or boards to shoot against, it wasn't ideal. There was a dusting of snow still on the ice itself, which looked cooler than it was. The temp in the car said it was about 18°F with the air temp alone, probably a little cooler with the light wind. Skating wasn't that bad all bundled up, but my lungs filling up with that colder than usual air slowed me down sooner than I would have liked.

The verdict on the rink? It's still early in the season, so if they do manage to put up boards and have nets when the rink is officially open, it might be a nice backup if there aren't too many people out there. It was nice and quiet, so that helped with the atmosphere. Still going to look for a better option for more regular hockey sessions.

And no, I did not climb the fence with my skates on!

Door County - Dec 7th, 2008

It has been a nice weekend, even though it has been too cold for my taste. I love being up here, and definitely will come back, but I'm not sure if I will come back to Door County during the winter months. You could tell it is the off season in Door County. I did some Christmas shopping, in Fish Creek, and the shops on Jefferson St in Sturgeon Bay. Had pizza at our favorite pizzeria, did some driving. We drove up to Northport pier where you catch the ferry to Washington Island, and took some photos of the lake and snow covered trees. Drove up to Whitefish Dunes State Park, where Kris was able to take photos. We had brunch at Alexanders in Fish Creek, before going home.

It was nice to get away because looking at our calendar, it is going to be a busy one for the Nelson's until we leave for Maui on 2/15.

Our Travel Music this Trip

Looks like Cindy's got all the daily updates from our Door County trip pretty much covered, so I thought I'd write up a little something about the driving music that we've been listening to for the some 700+ miles in the car when the trip is all said and done.

This trip, I went with a collection of mixes from German DJ and producer Roger Shah, aka DJ Shah, aka Sunlounger. Here are the links to iTunes if you'd like to check any of them out for yourself.

• Magic Island, Music for Balearic People, Vol. 1 & 2 [ iTunes | Armada ]
• Songbook [ iTunes ]
• Sunlounger Sessions [ iTunes | Armada ]
• Sunny Tales [ iTunes | Armada ]
• Another Day on the Terrace [ iTunes | Armada ]

You can read more about Roger Shah on his artists page at Armada Music's website.

These mixes are perhaps the best examples of a sub-genre of dance music known as Balearic Trance that I have been able to find to date. Inspired by the Balearic Islands and the dance party island of Ibiza, this sound has more of an island flavor, even something of a latin scheme at times, which continuing with up-beat tempos that keep your toes tapping and relaxes your soul no matter where you are. All this without putting you to sleep, which is a big help when driving. ;)

As for tunes outside of the car? Well, that's Cindy's area. She gets control of the iPod speakers with her Nano, which covers everything from Lifehouse and Rob Thomas to Nickelback and Scott Stapp. There's also some Natasha Bedingfield, Pink, Jillian Huff, and countless others that I can't even name. She knows them all, though, and since she doesn't mind my driving music, her music at the lodge and at home is fine with me.

Door County - Dec 6th, 2008

Looks like Sister Bay got some snow overnight. I woke up to about an additional 1" of snow on the ground. I thought it was going to be a cold day, even though it is windy outside temp wise it isn't too bad, definitely warmer then it was yesterday. Before going to Sturgeon Bay, we stopped at a store in Fish Creek called Lower Deck, (store is famous for their fleece shirts, sweaters, etc,) and picked up couple more Christmas gifts. It took us about an hour to get to Sturgeon Bay. Once we were in town we walked around the shops on Jefferson St and 3rd Ave. I was able to find something for my uncle at this local winery store called Simon Creek and find a gift at the Door County Confectionery. It was a very successful trip.

After walking around we stopped at the Inn at Cedar Crossing for lunch. After lunch we drove back to the lodge and relaxed. Since I was able finish my Christmas shopping up here, it is a good feeling to say I am finished. Now I just have to address my Christmas cards.

We decided we were going to be in for the night, but before we are in we went to the Sister Bay Bowl and supper club for dinner. Then we came back to the lodge, relaxed and listened to the Hawks vs Red Wings game.

Tomorrow we are leaving, but before we leave we are going to brunch to Alexanders in Fish Creek.

Door County - Dec 5th, 2008

Good morning from the Scandinavian Lodge in Sister Bay, where the sun is shining, but don't let that fool you, the temps are cold.

Today's a day of driving and shopping for Christmas gifts. If you continue to read this you will see if shopping for Christmas gifts was accomplished. Here we go!!!!!

We started the day by driving south on Hwy 57. Now Hwy 57 south is along stretch of highway with some stores and that's about it. We passed Baileys Harbor and some other areas before we stopped at Whitesish Dunes State Park.

Whitefish Dunes State Park is an 863 acre day use. It is a park which offers hiking, and picnicking, in warmer months, and cross country skiing, snowshoeing, and snowmobiling in the winter months. You get beautiful views of Michigan , Clark Bay, and Whitefish Bay (when it is warm enough to hike).

Kris and I thought it would be cool and adventurous to hike along one of trails by the nature center, and shoreline until I said, "it is too cold and windy to do this." so I headed back to the car, but Kris was able to take some photos of the shoreline, and the snow covered trees. Along the state park, we also also stopped at the Cave Point County Park, where Kris was able to take some more photos of the lake and snow covered trees.

We continued to drive north on Hwy 57 toward Fish Creek and Sister Bay. Kris was able to take some more photos. We stopped in Fish Creek and went to the Fish Creek Market to pick up deli sandwiches. After lunch we walked around and looked in couple stores to get ideas on a couple of Christmas gifts. After walking around we stopped at the Blue Horse Cafe and enjoyed White Mocha, and a Hot chocolate, before doing some more driving.

We drove north on Hwy 42 and we stopped at the Ephraim Public Beach and took pictures of the shoreline. Even though it was cold and windy it was nice to take photos of the shoreline and lake when it is just starting to freeze over. Another few weeks there will actually be people swimming in that cold water in the annual polar bear plunge in Jacksonport. I Don't know why anyone would want to do that. I personally haven't seen it, only on the news, but my aunt and uncle come up here every year around New Years, and it is one of the things/events they go to while here.

We continued north on Hwy 42 until we couldn't drive anymore. The road ended at Northport Pier before you got on a ferry and went over to Washington Island. Kris took some more photos. From Sturgeon Bay to Northport it is about a 45 minute drive. We turned around and headed south on 42 through Ellison Bay and other neighboring communities. On the way back we stopped at the Tannenbaum Holiday Shop in Sister Bay and did some Christmas shopping.

We came back to the lodge and relaxed before we went to the Mission Grille in Sister Bay for dinner. Atmosphere outside was cold, windy and snowy but the atmosphere inside the restaurant was casual, but charming, warm and pleasing. It was a perfect end to a perfect day.

Yes I was able to find Christmas gifts for my grandfather and a friend of mine. Tomorrow when we go into Sturgeon Bay, and look in the shops on Jefferson St. I will find something for my uncle and be done with Christmas shopping for 2008.

Door County - Dec 4th, 2008

Before I get started and tell you how our trip is going, my aunt and uncle, and grandparents have been coming up here over 25 years now. They would tell me they are going up to Door County, and for the longest time, I thought it was Doora County, and not Door County. So yes I have been adding an A and saying, "Doora County," I thought that was interesting. Now this is our second trip up here I will make sure I pronounce it correctly.

Kris and I are staying at the "Scandinavian Lodge," located in Sister Bay. The Scandinavian Lodge welcomes you with a rustic, cabin, serene, Scandinavian, historical, romantic feel to the lodge.

Kris and I arrived at the Scandinavia Lodge (with sunny skies, but the cold air to greet us) around, 3:30pm. We stopped at, you ready for this, a Target before we checked in.

I'm going to rewind little bit. We left around 10:30am and the drive was a pleasant one. Sunny skies, cold, with some snow on the ground. It was about 12:15pm when we stopped in Sheboygan to eat lunch. Sheboygan had more snow cover on the ground. Maybe 2-4 inches. I was surprised to see that much snow on the ground. We got back on the road close to 1:00pm, and arrived in Door County about 2:30pm. Like I mentioned earlier we stopped at Target first.

Driving along Hwy 42 and through Egg Harbor, and the other towns was different. There weren't many cars driving along 42 when we were here in September, but the atmosphere was different.

You could tell it is off season, some of the shops and resorts are closed for the season. It's quiet people are not walking around (as much).

Arrived at the Scandinavian Lodge, around 3:30pm Kris and I relaxed, and got settled in before we went driving around town. It was nice to see some of the shops and houses decorated for Christmas. Nice to look at the water and some of the piers and beaches at night. After driving around, we went to this little pizzeria and gelato bar named Jo Joe's we found in Ephraim when we were here in September.

After dinner we came back to the lodge relaxed by the fireplace, with a cappuccino, and listening to my iPod. You could relax at home in front of your own fireplace with a cappuccino, and some music, but I think it's more relaxing, maybe because I think the atmosphere is different.

Even though it is a lot colder, and I can not stand the cold, and their is a quieter atmosphere then when we were up here in September. I think it will be a nice weekend. By the end of the trip I will let you know if I would like to come up here during the winter months again.

Busy Morning

After an amazing Hawks game last night, it's time to finish packing, load the car, and hit the road. We leave in about 2 hours, and I still have a lot to finish up. We're heading up to Door County today for an extended weekend (as if the Thanksgiving weekend wasn't enough) of peace and quiet, and probably our last good chance to relax until all the holiday madness is over.

I hope to be hitting the ice sometime this weekend. Rumor has it there's an outdoor rink near our lodge up in Sister Bay, so that's one of my missions this weekend. Also, they have had just about the same amount of snow so far as we've had, if not a little more. It's about 10°F colder up there, but I'm still hoping to get some great photos of the snow covered landscapes.

I'll do my best to post daily updates and a few photos while we're away, so stay tuned if you'd like to follow along.

Gotta run...

Hawks over Ducks, 4-2

What a game for the Hawks to win at home for the first game after their circus trip. They took one away from the "road hot" Anaheim Ducks with 3 unanswered goals in the last 6 minutes of the game to finish with a 4-2 win. Huet gets his first win since Nov. 9th, and revenge on the Ducks for a heartbreaking 1-0 loss last Friday.

First Period
The Hawks really needed to solve Anaheim stand-in rookie goaltender Jonas Hiller early if they wanted a chance to win this game. And it looked promising after Hawks leading goal scorer Patrick Sharp put in a one-timer from Kane just 15 seconds into their second power play of the night. Yet after dominating in the first period with a shot advantage of 17-9 going into the second, they fell flat in the middle frame.

Second Period
The Hawks' momentum was pretty much already gone when Selanne put in yet another power play goal halfway through the 2nd period. So with the game tied at 1-1, the guys in red couldn't really get much going. They struggled with their breakout, and with Anaheim shutting down the neutral zone, there was way too much east-west movement between the blue lines and not enough penetration in the offensive zone. They pretty much conceded their large shot advantage giving up 15 in the second and only answering with 11 in the second.

Third Period
So you can imagine the Hawks needed a strong 3rd period if they wanted any chance to take one from the Ducks, ranked 3rd in the Western Conference. Well, Chris Pronger pretty much silenced the crowd with a blue line blast just one minute into the third period to give the lead to Anaheim. Come to think about it, the Sharks scored in the 1st minute of the 3rd when we saw them at the UC on Nov. 16th. Not a good habit to get into, boys.

Much of the next 15 minutes of the 3rd period was pretty hard to watch. It seemed like the Ducks had the Hawks right where they wanted them, with a 2-1 lead and solid pressure in the neutral zone preventing an offensive attack. It wasn't until Duck forward Ryan Getzlaf took a slashing penalty on an Anaheim power play that broke the game open. Playing 4-on-4 hockey, the ice opened up and the Hawks got back into the game. With less than 15 seconds left on the 4-on-4, Hawks rookie Kris Versteeg undressed the Anaheim blue-liner (Blackhawks TV) and made a great dish to Keith, who in turn fed Havlat and the back of the net. The crowd was back in it after that.

With about 4 minutes left in the third period, the Hawks gave up a quality scoring chance to Anaheim's Getzlaf, not doubt trying to redeem himself for the slashing penalty he took on the power play two shifts earlier. Huet stoned him dead-to-rights, to which Getzlaf unleashed his frustration and took a crosscheck right to the mask of the Hawks netminder. With the fans screaming at the non-call, Huet took exception and gave Getzlaf a face full of blocker in classic Khabibulin style. That seemed to appease the fans, and Huet for that matter.

Final Two Minutes
The home team recaptured much of the momentum in the 3rd after that tying goal. With Hall of Famer Bobby Hull in the house, and on the very next play after showing him on the jumbotron watching from his skybox, the Hawks reaped the benefits of their re-found momentum with a great play from Versteeg to Toews in the Anaheim goal mouth that turned out to be the game winner. The house on Madison went completely nuts after that. The Ducks had one last chance after pulling Hiller, but the Hawks shut 'em down and Bolland added the empty netter to seal the deal.

Next Game
What an amazing victory for the Hawks' return to the United Center. They really needed this one and hope to carry the momentum into Joe Louis Arena to face their Central Division rivals, the Detroit Red Wings. The Wings have been on their usual tear as of late, so we're going to have to strike early and often against the Wings if we want to repeat our domination of the team from the Motor City that we had last year. As always, it's going to be a great game.

Go Hawks!!!

Welcome Home Hawks

As the days come and go, we keep crossing things off of our busy calendar. Today, we welcome back the Chicago Blackhawks to the United Center after spending the last 3 weeks on the road while the circus was in town. We were at their last home game all the way back on 11/20 as I mentioned here, so we're looking forward to seeing them again.

And, of course, all the talk about winter over the past few days is going to make it a little more challenging. It's around Noon right now, and although the skies are somewhat clear at the moment, there's a storm not that far West of us that's expected to hit within the next few hours. Starting as rain, turning into a rain/snow mix, and then probably all snow by the end of the evening.  Expected accumulation of 2-4 inches.

With us going to the Hawks game tonight, the timing couldn't be worse.  It's a 7:30pm start, and we like to get their early to find better parking, grab some overpriced food, and get comfy in our 300 level seats. Given normal traffic, we'd probably leave for the UC around 6:30pm, but today we're thinking it's going to be more like 5:30pm.  But first, I have to get home from work, which by leaving at 3pm and assuming the storm is well underway, should take 60-90 minutes.  Ouch.

But we're used to it, so we suck it up, bundle up, and make the best of it.  We're hockey fans, for crying out loud, and aside from those locos sitting shirtless at Soldiers Fields in the middle of December, hockey fans are pretty darn tough.

The Hawks have been doing pretty good this year, although there is always room for improvement. They're 2nd in their division behind Detroit (duh) and have a record of 10-6-6 about a quarter into the season. The Western Conference is pretty tough this year, too, and the Hawks are currently 7th in the West. The last home game we saw was in November where they gave up a heartbreaker to the league's best San Jose Sharks.  But tonight it's Anahiem we're up against, who beat us by a slim 1-0 margin last Friday in California. The Ducks are currently 3rd in the conference, so it should be a tough fight.

Tomorrow

Hopefully we'll be leaving the United Center with a win tonight, but we're also pretty sure the drive home will be a mess, even if the storm is done by then. We have to get up early tomorrow because we're leaving for Door County, WI around 9am. They've been getting more snow up north than I had originally read, so I'm hoping it's going to look pretty beautiful up there.  We can't wait.

Anyway, Go Hawks!

Full Winter Mode

Well, now that we have our tree up and there is snow on the ground (finally), I think it's safe to say we're officially in full winter mode now.  Here's a few other indications, just in case you're not convinced (or accepting it).

• The parking lot at the Post Office was packed today, people buying stamps and shipping gifts
• The shopping center parking lots are littered with rock salt, everywhere
• Every single store you go into is now playing the same 4 Christmas songs over and over again (I'm at Starbucks right now)
• Co-workers are comparing their horror stories about their otherwise simple commutes to work
• People have taken to walking in the streets because sidewalks aren't shovelled yet
• All the light poles on major roadways have snowflake or candy cane lit decorations on them, and some parking lots have holiday lights on their trees from about 2 weeks ago
• That neighbor down the street from you has way too many decorations on his front lawn, dreading his electric bill
• It looks surprisingly sunny and warm when looking out the window, but it's not even 25°F outside
• That new winter coat of yours is already getting that yucky, white dusty stuff on it

I thought that'd be a good start. And if you still haven't accepted that winter in Chicago has arrived, I challenge you to a snowball fight!!!

Putting up the Tree

As Cindy mentioned in her post yesterday, we put up our Christmas tree as we do every year. Well, sort of like we do every year. Usually, I just take it out of the box (yes, it's artificial, and pre-lit, bonus), plug it in and fluff it out.  Cindy takes over from there and trims it just the way she likes with the gazillion different ornaments that I have to lug up from the storage shed downstairs. Just kidding. :)

Also this year, I was feeling a little goofy and decided it would be neat to do a time lapse session of us putting the tree up together and seeing it from start to finish. So, I setup my Canon connected to my laptop, and after a false start (we forgot the tree stand downstairs), it went off without a hitch.  Here you go:

 

Cindy said it looks like something from Trading Spaces and that we needed to add the theme music to it. :)

Now that the tree is up, Let it Snow!

And snow it did. Yesterday was the first major snow event we've had here in Chicago this season, and while we're too close to the lake to get most of the snow that fell in the Western Suburbs, we woke up to about an inch on the ground this morning.  Here's a quick pic from my drive to work this morning.

I'm sure we'll be expecting more of the same when we make our way up to Sister Bay on Thursday in Door County, WI. Good thing I got my ice skates sharpened this weekend. Can't wait to use 'em.

That's all for now, from me at least.