Another day in the vortex

The polar vortex still had its grip on the Midwest today. The house seemed a lot colder today than yesterday. L was home from school but went to the mall with friends. And Andy could have stayed home from work, but he drove in. We're expected to get into the 20s tomorrow and even warmer as the days go on.

August liked sitting in the sun, watching the birds play in the bushes.

Hands down this was the best meme I saw this week. Seriously, we are colder at the moment than Antarctica.

Polar Vortex

This is what we woke up to this morning - the Polar Vortex has arrived.

The first number is the air temperature; the second is the wind chill. Andy worked from home and L had the day (and tomorrow) off of school.

Muffles barely left my side all day. I think we were appreciating each other's body heat.

I baked brownies earlier in the day to heat up the kitchen, and made lasagne for dinner.

L went out in the back yard to get some snow and try to make snow ice cream. She made it, but it was too grainy for her to eat. It didn't look good.

Not appropriate

I bought this Valentine's card for E at the recent Paper Source sale. I thought it was blank inside, like most of their cards are.

Then I opened it. Oops. I won't be sending this to her.

Snowy day craft

I'm helping a friend with a party she's planning (it's a surprise!) so today I stayed in and wrapped Hershey nuggets with scrapbook paper. I wrapped two bags of candy.

Ready for the snow

Annual meeting

Andy and I braved the cold today and went to the church's annual meeting. It was about three and a half hours. Ugh. Then we went to a friend's house to hear about his upcoming run for the local school board.

Meanwhile, L was venturing out for her first time alone in the car! She drove herself to a house where the Japanese students were coming for their welcome party. Then she went to Burger King and grabbed lunch. Later, she went to GameStop, then to a friend's house, then to the local ice rink and home. And it was snowing. She got home safely but said she doesn't like driving in snow.

Keeping warm

Temperatures are around zero today so Muffles is doing all he can to keep warm.

A sign?

I was cooking dinner the other night and noticed this grease spot in the shape of a heart. It's either a sign that I'm loved or a sign that no one else cleans the stove but me. Hmmm.

Disney surprise

I almost didn't open this ad from Disney when it came in the mail. When I did, I found this magnet inside and a booklet telling us about Vacation Club benefits. We're actually planning to be in Disney during one of the upcoming Moonlight Magic times at Animal Kingdom. Should be fun.

Not so exotic

Andy used this hot sauce when we were in Jamaica so we bought a bottle at the airport before we left Montego Bay. He says it tastes like a spicy A-1 Sauce. Imagine his surprise when he went to the local grocery store and found it on the shelf. At least we can get more without flying back to Jamaica.

So expired

I was cleaning out the medicine chest and found this canker sore medicine that expired in 2013. Guess it's safe to toss it.

Free carwash

The most exciting thing that happened today was passing by a free carwash for a new business. Couldn't pass that by.

Warehouse sale

We woke up to snow this morning, but about 4 inches - not the 8 or so that was predicted.

It didn't stop us from going to the Paper Source Warehouse sale this afternoon with Allison. I went yesterday morning because I thought we'd be snowed in today, and I took L over after school. L and I also went in July. Today was my third trip there. Yikes. I did find some cute things though - lots of cards, some bows, napkins, pens, etc.

L and Allison each bought a $10 grab bag (valued at least $20, they said) and we came home and they took turns pulling items out of their bags.

Then they traded a few items.

Muffles wasn't too happy with this cap L had in her bag. Allison had one in her bag too!

Jamaican animals

The resorts has a couple of cats running around and we found this one sleeping on our patio chair one morning.

And then we found him under our beach chair.

He and Andy became quick friends.

This kitten was adorable. I had sent L a picture and she said I should bring it home.

Some kind of creepy crab that we saw on the beach.

One of the resort's many birds.

And we saw this peahen as we were waiting for our ride back to the airport.

Look who's 52

Andy celebrated his birthday with the usual family (well at least L was here) dinner out to Margarita's for some Mexican food. We celebrated early on Tuesday.

Tonight, we stayed in and ate bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin. Andy did crack open a bottle of nice wine he received from a client at Chrismtmas.

The kids pitched in and bought Andy a weighted blanket.

He even celebrated at work! He was pleasantly surprised they remembered.

How cute is that cake!

Random Jamaican pictures

The resort gave us a bottle of champagne and a fruit tray to celebrate Andy's birthday a little early.

View from a hammock. The weather was beautiful the entire week - sunny and in the 80s. We had one brief sprinkle the entire time.

View of the beach.

Andy floating around the pool. We were surprised by how few people seemed to be at the resort. It was nice, though, not to have to race to get a lounger every morning.

When in Jamaica, you have to do a Bob Marley shot.

On the beach.

A rainbow.

Jamaican prizes

Andy and I spent our mornings on the beach then moved to the pool during the afternoons. We played in the pool, read books and joined in some of the games that the resort's entertainment team had planned. We won this wood carving for a trivia game we played as a team.

A day or so later, I won a small bottle of rum cream for a game called ABC 123. It was a word game so it was pretty easy.

And one afternoon we sat in on a rum tasting at the pool bar. Straight rum is too strong for me.

Jamaica: Day One

Looking down on Montego Bay as we were coming in for a landing. Andy and I left O'Hare early Saturday morning, Jan. 5, for a week in Ocho Rios, Jamaica.

Andy couldn't wait to get started on vacation. Our transport to the resort stopped for a bathroom break and he came back with a Red Stripe in each hand - one for him, one for me.

Our room at Couples Sans Souci was in the B Block, ground level with beach views.

We stayed in a similar room our first time to Jamaica but they've since been remodeled.

This was the view of the beach from our patio.

Time to hit the pool!

Love the hummingbird drink.