Waiting On The Fireworks

Alex likes to watch traffic, so here he is with Icon while we wait for the fireworks to get going in Kanata.

New Containers

Alex using his new containers for ever more intricate bead sorting exercises.

Daniel Alfredsson Number Retirement

Tier 4, The Ledge, row C. I don't think it is possible to be further away from the ice. But I was still in the house when it happened.

We even got a souvenir mini-jersey banner to raise in our own rec rooms. Not sure what I'll do with that -- it will probably end up on the wall at either the office at home or the office at the office.

So the view of the game from The Ledge is different -- it is much easier to follow just an individual player on his shift to see how he moves when he's off the puck. And the Montreal smoked meat sandwich is pretty good. Unfortunately you have to buy your own drinks.

I stayed for the game afterwards -- obviously -- but because I had been in the office early, and because I'd been in the arena since about 5:30, I was dead tired at 10:30 when it was about five to go in the third. So I missed overtime, but I also missed the parking lot -- I was across the highway on Terry Fox when the OT goal was scored. Normally I would't be That Guy, but it was a long day and I was just done.

Tree Decoration

Hamming for the camera at Ave and Meme's tree decorating.

Cat.

Cat.

Snowfall

Morning snow on the tree out front after the snowfall.

Frozen Art

I love the patterns that the wind makes on fresh powdered snow. Sure, it has to be pretty cold and windy for this to happen, but it is great when it does.

New On The Bench

First E-class FortiGate I've seen. The 60E gives performance on the order of a 200D for a fraction of the cost -- I sure hope that there is an E-class boost coming to the 100D/200D series...

Single-Monkey Victory

Clearing a map -- admittedly on "easy" -- but with only a single monkey type in use.

Amazing

This Skyline model is amazing, especially considering that it is part of a 5-Pack -- in recent years, Mattel has been putting less complicated, less-detailed models in 5-Packs, presumably as some sort of cost-conservation measure. But this one has amazing detail on its rear and is a really well executed car.

BOS at OTT

Warmup from Section 105, Row J

Man, its been a long time since I watched hockey in an arena. It's like visual overload -- all the things you never see on TV are right there and distracting, such that I found I was rarely following the actual "action" per se.

Being there was a curious experience. There seemed to be as many -- if not more -- Boston shirts and jerseys than Ottawa ones. And even though this is supposed to be the big 25th Anniversary season, things didn't feel like anyone was making a big deal over... well... anything. File me under those who think not bringing back Lyndon Slewedge was a big mistake. It somehow feels like things were more involved back in the early days of the Corel Center.

As to the game, I thought that Boston was getting better chances than Ottawa was, even if Ottawa got more of them; also the wheels seemed to come off of the Boston game somewhat in the third, as the game was pretty tight up until then.

Somebody Turned On The Winter

Alex waiting for his transportation on the first winter morning of the year.

Product Placement

Nathan and I went to Bayshore after his Little Rocks to look for some Christmas presents for Mommy, and for some reason he insisted on having his picture taken with the Mercedes cars on display.

Hockey Day In Kanata

Lots of kids from the school board got to go to see the Ottawa '67s play the Peterboro Petes today at the Canadian Tire Center.  I went along with Alex's class as a parental assistant. Alex really seemed to like being out with Daddy for a day instead of in class. I had fun, too.

OMG Spectraflame

Hot Bird
2006 Cool Classics Series 2

I love Spectraflame. Spectraflame is a wonderful, wonderful finish and I appreciate Mattel using it sparingly because while we all know I'd buy a brick if it was painted Spectraflame, using it all the time would make the other finishes look shabby by comparison. Keeping it for occasional, premium line use is just good marketing.

Post-Curling

Nathan had his first Little Rocks session today. He did very well for his first time on the ice -- although it is tricky keeping the slider leg under you when you are first getting used to it. Since I needed to come to Bayshore to get my glasses lenses installed anyways, we came to Moxie's for lunch while we waited.

Progress

After a long pause for reasons we don't understand, Alex is back on a bit of a roll with the ice cream, starting off again on his road to Montreal.

Halloween

So this year for Halloween, Alex went as Super Grover:

Nathan was Matt Smith's Doctor Who:

I gave out candy as Cookie Monster:

Jenn created a pumpkin Dalek for the front of the house:

...as well as the usual pepper-o-lanterns, this one a cyber-man pepper-o-lantern:

...and I added the popular disco lights over the garage (they spin, and are very popular with the kids when they come up) and a black light at the front porch. Jenn did the front door up as a Tardis, which was neat too.

Preparations

Nathan takes charge of decorating the front window for Halloween.

OMG

What is this with this white crap on my car!