Soap Making

(Paul makes fun of me for all the product placements on our blog.)I made laundry soap today! (Of course when I told my mom, she assumed I had learned how to use beef lard and lye to make soap...Not quite.) We had an enrichment project a while ago where they showed us how. It's quite easy and very economical. You just use Fels Naptha, shred it, boil it in water to melt it, add Borax, Washing Soda and water and there you have it.

Thanksgiving

Since moving to the states, Thanksgiving has risen exponentially on my list of favorite holidays. It was always kind of a non-holiday in my family, so I never feel like I am missing anything by being away from them. So whatever happens always feels like that Thanksgiving is the Best Thanksgiving Ever. This year was no exception. It finally snowed a ton the day before while Paul and I were enjoying our annual jaunt to the Carrs Safeway Great Alaska Shootout college preseason basketball tournament. It's a longstanding Rigg Family tradition and we like to carry it on. For Thanksgiving we were invited to eat with the Walthers, an older couple from church. They invited all the young couples over, so we got to hang out with a bunch of our friends. It was really really fun. Great conversation, easy warm people to be around, delicious food, LOTS of delicious food. Good times.





All this snow is from while we were at the game.



This is the fabulous rabbit pot pie Paul made for our contribution to the feast.



This is what happens when Paul gets tired. He'll fall asleep wherever is, even if he's upside down on the couch. Poor poor tired Paul.

I just realized that this is a picture of me on the night that our heater was broken. There was a plumber under our house with our landlady for hours. Lots of freezing hours. So Paul bundled me up to my neck the multitude of blankets we have. The white one was a wedding gift, beautifully made by my Grandma and the green plaid looking one was a wedding gift lovingly quilted by my mom and the ladies in the Weyburn branch that I grew up in.

Chinook

I don't know if you know this...but weather forecasts lie. I know, I know...most of you have that figured out by now. But still, I feel gypped. There has been zero snow since my last posting. Zero. I'm aching for it. It did warm up though, with a fierceness. With a chinook, actually. The online dictionary I just looked at defines it as "A warm dry wind blowing down the eastern face of the rockies." Well, there are chinooks other places too, like Anchorage. It rained last night and this morning it's still above freezing.

Weather

It's been consistently around or below 0 for the last while here. I looked at the 10 day forecast this morning, wondering where the snow is. Don't worry. For 8 out of the next 10 days there are snow showers predicted. Thank goodness. And the temps go from 0 to 28. Yes!