This day has not quite gone as I had planned.

First, there was the fact that our internet was out from the storm last night. Being as Mondays are traditionally a rather busy day for me, business-wise, I just kept hoping it would come back, so I wouldn't have to hijack someone's internet signal in town just to do my work. I tried to phone the internet company, but (not surprisingly) their phone kept ringing busy.

That wasn't so bad, actually, once I got the perspective gained by our power going out around 10 a.m. at outdoor temperatures of merely -30C. Fortunately, the sun was streaming in the windows, so I decided to wait before I allowed panic to set in--although I did get a little nervous when Jason called to tell me that the power was also out in town, and all the way up to Manning (about 100 km north of here)! Fortunately, it did come on within about an hour and a half, so there was not too much cause for alarm.

Cold snaps always present challenges that are not normally present. That's when you discover the problems that you didn't realize were imminent in the vehicle maintenance, among other things. For instance, we discovered last week that when the temperatures plunge below -20C, our doorknob freezes once the sun has warmed it ever-so-slightly in the afternoon and then goes behind the trees. (Last winter, our actual door froze shut due to frost built up through the afternoon on our poorly-sealing door. Jason and our friend Brian spent an afternoon fixing that this fall, so now the door isn't frozen--I just can't turn the door handle knob. Last year, I guess there was enough ventilation around the door that the knob didn't feel the need to freeze! Ha!) That means that we were unable to go to Swim Club on Friday, because I couldn't get the door open. Also, today. Apparently, I need to start opening the door every ten minutes starting from three o'clock in the afternoon. That oughta be good for the utility bills.

Also thanks to the extreme cold, and innocent little-boy-carelessness, we have one little kitten in the house today with frostbite on three paws--two are pretty bad, and I'm wondering what's going to end up happening with them. Jabin spilled water on top of the cathouse, right next to the metal chop saw, while watering the kittens this morning. Also, he left the water bowl up there, so of course the kittens had to climb up to get their drink--the first to try it got wet paws, and stuck two of them rather badly to the saw, one more to a block of ice. It was about ten minutes before we found him and got him inside. He is all warmed up now, but those two paws are pretty swollen, purple, and useless. Here he is, warming up in the sun this morning. (This is the one Jude called "Harry".)

Pray for our kitty's paws if you think of it, okay?

Do you remember a few years ago, when I did insane things like staying up until 4 a.m. finishing costumes to give my kids a great birthday party?

Those days are over, baby. Partly due to lack of room, partly due to lack of time, I have become the Queen of the Last-Minute, Low-Budget birthday party. Two weeks ago, we had Jude's friends over for a no-gifts-please playday. Thankfully, due to our mild fall, they were able to play outside for most of the day. (That was BEFORE the cold snap!) Then, this past Saturday, we had a small party at the pool to celebrate this guy turning 5. (The photo was taken on Saturday, November 13--when it was 9 above, as compared to the 30 below a week later. Gotta love Alberta.)

We are definitely past the baby-and-toddler stage now. It has it's advantages, but I don't think I am quite resigned to the fact, yet. Sigh.

All my boys are growing up.

P.S. Thank goodness that my internet came back, since I will NOT be going to town today! And, the extra time I have because I didn't go to town allowed me to upload photos and blog! Every cloud has some kind of silver lining, right?