There have been several things that made me pause in the last few days, so I thought I'd compile a list. 
- Thick ice on the INSIDE of the windows. It was whiter and frostier than the photo above a couple days ago.
- I picked up the water bottle in the car to take a sip of the little that was left, and heard a 'thug' as I pulled it up to my mouth. Large chunk of ice, with a bit of VERY refreshing water to quench my thirst. Refreshing wasn't really what I was after, but who am I to complain about such things?
- Otto asking if I brought the garbage cans into the garage from the back alley. Ha! YOU wanted to move to Canada, YOU bring in the garbage cans in the sub-freezing temperatures.
- When Andy and Sam are playing together and the furnace kicks on, they yell, "Heater's on!!!", run to the nearest floor vent and lay there until it turns off again.
- Today is cold, but a couple days ago when it was REALLY cold, whenever you would open an outside door, a mysterious fog of water vapor would float into the house. I half expected a magician with cape and top hat to wander in behind it.
- Cold beer. A nearby liquor store has this in huge neon letters on the building. Who in their right mind is drinking COLD BEER around here? I find a shot of brandy warms me up nicely.
- The snowflakes that fell on our heads this morning looked like the real snowflakes that you've seen blown up under a microscope. I guess I had only seen the drier snowflakes before, which look more like white dots, but these were huge, distinctly patterned, beautiful snowflakes that you could stare at and inspect.
- Snow that falls with the sun shining behind it looks like glitter falling from the sky.
Otto won't let me turn the heat on yet, so I've been using the oven more as a means to stay warm. A couple days ago I decided it was time for homemade pizza. Fun for the kids to make, and you heat the pizza stone in the oven for an hour at 500 degrees F - bonus! For some reason, I never made pizza in Lake Jackson. And in Victoria I only made it when it was cool outside, because the oven would heat the house up so much the a/c couldn't keep up.
Making the dough. 
Spreading the cornmeal on the pizza peel. Cornmeal granules act as ball bearings so that the pizza slides (relatively) easily off the peel, onto the stone in the oven. 
Patting the dough onto the peel, after I pulled and tugged on it draped over my hands for a while. I haven't attempted throwing it into the air yet. 
Sauce. 
Cheese. 
Is it ready yet? 
Oh yeah - that's what I'm talkin' about! 
Sooooooo goooooood..... 
Actually, the crust was thicker than I or Otto remembered. Maybe I used a rolling pin last time; I prefer a thinner crust. I guess we'll just have to make some more!
And here Andy and Sam are modeling their new snow boots that they are ever-so-ready to wear in actual snow.
P.S. A random culinary question: I picked up some broccoli rabe (aka broccoli rapini) at the store. Looks like a cross between dark flat leaf parsley and broccoli. But, my word, was this stuff bitter! I doctored it up with all sorts of stuff (chopped onion, garlic powder, salt, olive oil, Tony Chachere's, a dash of nutmeg, and finally a can of cream of mushroom soup!), but still didn't feel right making the boys finish it before they could have dessert. Otto and I figured out if we mixed it with the rice it made it more palatable. I did finish the rest of it - over two days. It tasted so awful (although it kind of grew on me) I figured it must be REALLY good for me. Any suggestions??
Today was the first day of school here in Red Deer. Andy was excited up until last night, when he told me he didn't want to go. I thought it might be a battle this morning, but he was fine. Not necessarily excited, but willing. Andy was so loaded down with school supplies that Sam helped out with the lunch box.
It was 1 degree C this morning - there was frost on the roof tops. That is just too cold for the second day of September!! But it's pretty warm this afternoon. Crazy weather!Andy's school is a French immersion school. There are also Francophone schools where the kids that attend come from French-speaking households. French immersion schools are for the kids whose parents don't necessarily have a clue about French. (Does 'laissez le bon temps roulet' count?) However, I am going to take a conversational class on Tuesday evenings so that I can maybe help him a little. I asked if the teachers (he has two) spoke in French first and then explained in English, and he said that they spoke a little English, but mostly French and used hand motions so you knew what you were supposed to do. That would be something to see during a history lesson!
He seemed to have a good day, and ready to go back tomorrow. Of course, that could all change in the morning. Last year his first week of kindergarten went great, then the two weeks after that it was quite painful to get him out the door. Seems reality had set in that he actually had to go EVERY DAY, but eventually things lined out. Also, I bought some Coronation grapes at the store today; I had never seen such a thing in my years of grocery shopping. They were the same price as the white and red seedless grapes, and they were grown in Ontario, so I thought I'd give them a try. I popped one in my mouth, and it was like the skies opened up and let the light of truth onto years of confusion and perplexity, much of which had been shoved into my subconscious at this point of my life. Finally, I know where the artificial grape flavor comes from! It was quite a moment. I think I heard choirs in the background. So if you see some in your store, give them a try!
Chinook (pronounced shinook in these parts): warm air that comes over the mountains from the more temperate British Columbia and warms the prairies during winter. I welcome any chinooks that choose to float this way!Ski Doo, pronouced sk'doo. I think I would have known this was a snowmobile had it been pronouced skee doo. And you wear your sk'doo suit when you're riding your sk'doo, out on frozen Lake Sylvan during the winter festival in the sk'doo races. I don't know about the sk'doo racing, but I'll give the ice fishing a shot. Towns:Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump. Really - that's the name of the town. It's in southern Alberta, and, according to the internet, is one of the best preserved buffalo jumps in North America.
** Correction: Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump is a historical site, not an actual town.**
Medicine Hat. Located in the badlands of Alberta. I thinks it's cool that we live an hour away from something called "the badlands". We don't live an hour away from Medicine Hat, but we live an hour away from Drumheller, which is also in the badlands. I hope to go to Drumheller soon, because they have a great dinosaur museum there, among other dinosaur-related stuff. Lots of dinosaur skeletons have been unearthed in the badlands!!
Andy and Sam had a jam session going a while ago.
They actually kept a good beat. I'm pretty sure our next door neighbor heard the ruckus too, because the window is open in that room, and when she's going down her stairs and I happen to be looking out the window, we can plainly see each other, and we wave!I also wanted to share this picture that I took last week. (Apparently Sam really likes this shirt, Auntie Claire, because it seems like he's wearing it in just about every picture I've posted on here!)
This is in a hotel parking lot, and you plug your car into it during the winter. Yes, it gets so cold here that you must have an engine block heater installed on your car, and the plug comes out of the front grill. Initially I thought these things were everywhere, but I haven't seen them in the grocery store or mall parking lots, so apparently it's only needed if your car will be parked for maybe 3+ hours. Certainly you plug your car in at home once you're in for the evening. Someone that's originally from Nova Scotia was trying to tell me that the cold and snow here wasn't that bad because it was a dry cold. Riiiiiiiiiight! South Texas and New Orleans being my only comparisons, I'm not sure I'll appreciate the wet vs. dry MINUS 40 temperatures (and I don't need to differentiate between F or C because they're EQUAL at this point), but we'll see! :o)
We're also getting ready for Nana (my mom) to come visit. I'll pick her up in Calgary tonight. I'm off to put some sheets on the guest bed!
Crested geckos don't have eyelids, so they use their tongues to clean off their eyes.
Their little feet are so cute.
Phoenix is pretty laid back.
I DID!! I WON!! Wow - my first Roll Up The Rim, and I won a free cup of coffee!
By the time I went to play last year, the contest was over; I missed it. I was sad. But I'm not anymore!
Actually, the crust was thicker than I or Otto remembered. Maybe I used a rolling pin last time; I prefer a thinner crust. I guess we'll just have to make some more! 
Andy and Sam had a jam session going a while ago.
This is in a hotel parking lot, and you plug your car into it during the winter. Yes, it gets so cold here that you must have an engine block heater installed on your car, and the plug comes out of the front grill. Initially I thought these things were everywhere, but I haven't seen them in the grocery store or mall parking lots, so apparently it's only needed if your car will be parked for maybe 3+ hours. Certainly you plug your car in at home once you're in for the evening. Someone that's originally from Nova Scotia was trying to tell me that the cold and snow here wasn't that bad because it was a dry cold. Riiiiiiiiiight! South Texas and New Orleans being my only comparisons, I'm not sure I'll appreciate the wet vs. dry MINUS 40 temperatures (and I don't need to differentiate between F or C because they're EQUAL at this point), but we'll see! :o)