Christmas Eve Eve,

Well, this is the first year Amber has not gone home to Renfrew for Christmas. She and Alex came to spend Christmas with us! This is also the first Christmas Alex and Amber have not been apart for Christmas. The other years, they both chose to go home to their families.

So this is an extra special Christmas. Plus on Saturday we had the Tucker family here for our first Tucker family Christmas dinner. It was a great! There won't be photos because family members don't want to be on the net. And we respect their wishes.

I must say though, that the dinner was a smash hit! And it was great seeing my three week old grand-nephew for the first time. He is Edward William McGee. He is so good and so cute! He reminds me of Alex when he was a new born.

So Sunday was Christmas Eve Eve. How does the Tucker family spend it? In the ultimate geekiness. Playing Guitar Hero and building super computers!
What else?.......

This is a little balancing feat Cam accomplished in his office!

We got a new tree this year. We don't get a real tree, as I am allergic to trees. This tree actually looks real! And it is pre-lit! Folds out like an umbrella, and you plug it in and voila! Tree!

Here is a little video of the room all decked out!

The family room is all decked out and ready for Christmas Eve!
Family, Food, Friends and Yuletide Cheer!

Candy found some great places to hang ouot in the basement!

Amber playing Guitar Hero 3 in Hard Mode

Al is playing a video game on the super computer he built, Cam is watching Amber kick butt in Guitar Hero.

Ahhh Geekdom! That computer is the fastest you can get. Alex ordered parts from all over on sale here and there, and he asked if we could contribute to parts for his Christmas present.
So between our online orders and Alex's ones, being delivered.....The Purolator guy arrived every day for two weeks with the parts. There is a plexiglass wall in the tower so you can see through it and the components light up. Oh in the name of modding!
We are so NERD!

The computer has two high end hard-lined video cards in it for gaming and three fans and a coiled cooling system. The cooling system in this baby is almost the same size as the plenum on my house central air conditioning unit.

The suction power of the fans is so powerful it is suspending a "Magic" card on the grill.

Cam playing Expert Mode Guitar Hero3
See the home-made beer on the table! Carl's passion is his home-brew!
He is famous for it in our crowd!
This batch was bottled on Wednesday.

This video is of Cam playing Expert Mode of Guitar Hero


Carl playing Guitar Hero in Medium mode. I play in easy mode.
I do well in easy, but I don't play enough to do well in medium.


Cam Drumming to the Guitar Hero Tunes when others are playing.


Oh yes, we have a collection of Guitar Hero Guitars!
If you are between 40 and 70, and you have never played a video game, guitar hero is the one to try. It is really fun for everyone and you can compete with each other. The sessions are only as long as a song, so it isn't too draining, and the easy mode is easy to do after one or two tries.
We have the Wii version and Alex has the PC version. The Wii version is really cool because the Wiimote vibrates in the guitar, and it senses power thrusts.

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https://motivated-motion.blogspot.com/2007/12/christmas-eve-eve-well-this-is-first.html

The Winter Of Our Discontent 2007

So, last night was amazing! The snow fell all day and through the whole evening.

Just after dinner I went outside when the guys were shoveling, (I was baking cookies: How So-June Cleaver of me) While I was outside I got some great photos and video for you to see.

The snow was fine and coming down hard. That is how it was all day.
There was lots of wind and it was very very cold: -17C
I can't believe it could even snow at that temperature!

In the post before this, I show an example of what the yard looked like before the snow.
And this is what it was like last night.


The bush by are steps is below the height of the hand rails on the steps. The rest is snow pile that has fallen on the bush. You can also see my iron trellises (I didn't even get a chance to get them in before the snow bonded them to the ground in early November.) And in the pic in the last post, you can see so much more of the trellis.



Carl and Cam Shoveling:

These pics are without the flash so I don't pick up the glare from the flakes, and you get to see more snow!:

There are also some very pretty lights on our street:











This is the greatest impromptu video ever!
This is Cam and Carl shoveling at 7PM last night. It took them hours to shovel and it was so cold! Our neighbour had a better idea! They decided to pile into the nice warm van and polish their driveway instead! Stay warm, listen to tunes, and spin your tires! What more fun could anyone want?:(TURN UP YOUR VOLUME!)

I have to tell you that what I missed (cuz I was freezing and went in) was that they actually went around the block and tried to take a running start at the driveway, and got no farther.

If you kept saying, " I can't see the video cuz its too dark!"
Then click the video below and see the brightened and lightened version.:

Come back later and I will have pics of the Monday Dec 17th Snow Day!
The day after the storm of our discontent.

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https://motivated-motion.blogspot.com/2007/12/winter-of-our-discontent-2007-so-last.html

The East Coast Of North America Is In A Huge Storm Surge.

What Happens To Ontario In Winter, When That Happens?

Snow! Lots of Snow!

We Are In A Winter Wonderland. A Week Before Christmas and 5.5 days to the Winter Solstice.

It is very cold here in the countryside north of Toronto. We are under about a 40 hr storm watch. We are in a lull of the storm right now, so everyone is trying to clean up the snow before the next wave of snow, and possibly ice.

We are beyond our monthly average of snow now. Plus we have unusually unproductive winters for snow in the past 15 years so for some living here this is the first time they have ever seen snow like this! It fine powder because it is so dry in the air and cold. But the powder blows in the winds and drifts.

This was what it looked like here before we got the new snow:

This is a video Carl and Cam driving in the snowy driveway today:

We have garden doors out to the backyard. I opened the door and this is how high the snow was up the door. This is about 19inches from the patio plus about 3 inches above the edge. So 22 inches up the door. This is blown and drifted. But the patio was shoveled before the snow started:

Our cedar hedge is almost covered:

The chimina fire pot is on the patio, and the edge of the snow mound from shoveling yesterday is barely visible:

Our roofs are piled with snow, and the icicles are left over from last week's storm.
The snow on the roof makes the houses very warm.
Lots of fireplaces burning today:

This is a video of the Neighbourhood Shoveling before the next wave of snow:

Check in later and see more snow! Plus look at the post below. I have a fun game for you to play to shake the season stress!

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https://motivated-motion.blogspot.com/2007/12/east-coast-of-north-america-is-in-huge.html

Our Old Fashioned Winter

If we don't get more cool snow to show you, I will get back to posting about New England.

It is Dec 4th and we have had three storms already this month.
The last storm was about 5 inches of snow, then a night of pouring rain that didn't wash away the snow, and then a day of snow on top of that. Which is making the school kids very happy cuz they are having lots of snow days before Christmas break.

Our ski resorts are going to do well if the snow continues, which is really nice, because our winters have been low on ski condition weather for two years.

Last night we had another storm. So todays snow pictures are fresh morning snow. Our steps and walks were already shoveled today and there is accumulation on them.

You can hardly see the holiday lights on the bush because of the pile of snow on it.



Normally we have a little walking path from the mail man going to our neighbours' house. In the picture below their steps facing us are obliterated by a drift and the mailman is going to have trouble taking his short cut! The brick you see with lines of snow on it is a wall, not the steps. The steps are to the left of the wall.
They don't plow the side streets down to the pavement here. They leave about an inch of compacted snow, so it can hold the sand, giving the drivers a better grip for their tires.
This is our back garden patio. Carl shoveled it clean yesterday. The bunnies have been out playing in the new snow.


We live in the countryside just north of Toronto. Toronto only has a dusting of snow. About twenty minutes north of us is where Mother of Invention lives and they got at least twice as much snow then us since November.

This is an old fashioned winter. In the past years we would be lucky to get any accumulation of snow before Christmas. We usually get a dusting on Christmas eve, and January begins the big freeze and snow. February is actually our worst month of snow. We usually get a province stopping blizzard for Valentine's day week.

This year is like my childhood. Lots of snow days in which the brave families can hop in the truck and head to the slopes. Dad and I spent many snow days fish-tailing the van up to the ski hill for a day of fun. Dad and I reminisced on the phone this morning about dawning snow mobile suits to spend a day of shoveling snow up to his waist (and my shoulder) when the drifts were so bad we had to have two adults push on the front screen door to open it enough to be able squish out the crack of space we made to get out and shovel.

I am seeing we could easily get those days back this winter.

It is really good when we get a lot of snow. Our houses are well insulated, and a few feet of snow all around the house and on the roofs help insulate the house even more. In this situation we can keep the temperatures lower in the house and the house stays warmer longer. The big snow means cozy nights and lots of fire in the fireplaces. We have two fireplaces. One gas and one for wood. We could have converted both to gas, but our area gets lots of power outages in winter, and with no power, the gas fireplace fan won't blow, so then the wood burning fireplace can take on the job of heating the house.

https://motivated-motion.blogspot.com/2007/12/our-old-fashioned-winter-if-we-dont-get.html

Ok So Who's Bright Idea Was It To Move Canadian Thanksgiving To The First Weekend In October?


My whole life, Canadian Thanksgiving has been the second weekend in October. Now, for some unGodly reason it is the first one!

Darn thing has snuck up on us!

I don't even have a bird yet!
Next we will be having Christmas on the US Thanksgiving weekend.

I think that it is the craft company Michaels that did it. By having Thanksgiving early they can suck every penny out of the crafters for fall stuff in August cuz it all has to be finished by the end of September. Then they can get an early jump on Halloween, and have us thinking Yuletide decorations for October 31st!

I haven't even finished my summer knitting, let alone get going on the fall! Oh and I cannot even think about Christmas............and the knitted Nativity scene I want to make and the Knitted Yule Calendar. Oh boy! I am behind again!

Speaking of behind. My butt is getting smaller and smaller still. I am crankin' past the 46lb mark and hoping to end October past the 50lb mark. I am dawning the Year 1999 wardrobe. Stuff that fit in June is HUGE.

https://motivated-motion.blogspot.com/2007/10/ok-so-whos-bright-idea-was-it-to-move.html

Summer Is For Celebration With International Flare!

The CNE: Canadian National Exhibition

Once again I can celebrate our vast Canadian culture.
The biggest way we do this is at our largest fair.

From the Wednesday closest to the 17th of August through until Labour Day, Toronto celebrates with the CNE.
We call it "The Ex" (short for exhibition)


The fair grounds is in the centre of the city of Toronto on the shores of Lake Ontario, next to our Harbour, and across from Center Island.
It is bound by Straughn Avenue in the East, and Dufferin in the West, and ends on the Lake.
The Gates with the angel on the top are The Princess Gates.
You can see our Province of Ontario Flag flying here.
The CNE is a true fair. There are animal show competitions for pets and farm animals. There is a huge horse show. Agricultural displays, horticultural displays, crafts and hobbies displays, international goods, and a whole building dedicated to Food! The eating of food, the making of food and the buying of food(like groceries). And of course, carnival rides and games. Plus gambling and Bingo! You can, pet a lamb, buy clothes and jewelry, get fat, wear off the fat sweatin on rides, work up another appetite watchin' the horse show, eat more, then go look at the flowers or take in a stage show, then drink and gamble till you are poor. All in one place!

In the International building I sampled the self shiatzu massager. It was that icky and great feeling all at once as the machine kneaded my spine.

Clothes, textiles, and jewelry are abundant from every country in this building.

Outside we get glimpses of the carnival rides in the Midway.
Carnie Callers encourage folks to part with their money for a chance at a prize.



Along the midway road towards the Princess gates you can spy the CN tower and the city skyscrapers.

The sights and sounds of the CNE:
click on the arrow and wait to see the video

The snowball express ride is a favorite of all. It is always the first ride you come to at the Midway.






This video ends with Cam in his seat on the ride:



The Giant Ferris Wheel
I spy a place to get great photos from!

Cam and I are in the car of the Ferris Wheel
Great views of the Midway rides and the Lake, and Center Island


In the distance is the Downtown of Toronto

On top of the water is Ontario Place. It was built in the '70s and is over the water for the most part. It has free admission with the CNE pass during these weeks.

This is our new BMO Field for the Toronto FA soccer team.
This is our first summer for this baby. It is huge, and takes up alot of the fair grounds.

Along-side the stadium stands Toronto's first wind turbine generator.



If you look closely at this Toronto photo you can see the tiny Angel which sits atop the Princess Gates. At least it looks tiny compared to the big buildings.

On the Lake Ontario shores there are many Yacht and Sailing Clubs


Below is my favorite photo. The Midway road lined on either side by street lamps gives an illusion of a tunnel toward the Princess Gates arch and out to the skyscrapers.



Jamaican Fire Dancers





The Lego tower




These videos show our fun on a ride. This was hard to capture as the centrifugal force was strong and I had to work hard to hold the camera, and not have it fly out of my hands.






Dont miss the video below. You will never believe it if you dont watch it!




The Canadian Military Reserves had a display. The Armouries for the Reserves is at Fort York which is a real working Armouries and a historical military fort. The Reservists show off their vehicles and sport banners that will be sent to Afghanistan for troop moral.



The Piper at sunset

The Rangers are the Trade that Alex and Carl are in. We met some of their colleagues at the display.







Cam writing his thank you greeting on a banner bound for Afghanistan.





This was a special Day for Cam and I. It represented the last excursion we will have together before he is off to College on Sept 4th

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And finally I cannot leave this day, which is Wed Aug 29th without remembering my friend Wendy. A year ago (Tuesday) Wendy passed away. She is( Alex's Girlfriend) Amber's mom, and my friend who lived two years after her double lung transplant. I miss her very much.

She became a big part of our life in 2004 when she came to live with us while awaiting her transplant. It gave us a great chance to really get to know her, and Amber better. Our lives were enriched when she came to be with us, and it is a huge loss not to have her here with us today. She was one awesome lady!

https://motivated-motion.blogspot.com/2007/09/summer-is-for-celebration-with.html