Whacky Hair

In our house... we don't really need excuses to be whacky, but when we're given a reason... it's like a festival!

So the girls had fun helping Big Dawg get ready for Whacky Hair Day at "school" today.

Still News

As the sun sets on the Twin Cities... temps were in the 30's and 40's. By Tuesday, temps dropped to nearly 20 below zero with wind chills chasing the mercury to negative 50 or so. It was more than a 50 degree swing in less than 24 hours. The shock of wind literally would steal a person's breath away.

In other news... Taylor's are considering a cross town relocation. It's a buyers market so it can't hurt to look. Conversely, any offer would be contingent on selling our house... a daunting process.

Caucus next Tuesday in the fair state of MN. Nothing like a little political participation to get the blood boiling. Will drag along Beaner for educational purposes. She'll be bored silly. It'll be great!

The End of the 2008 Cold Spell?

It's been a long, cold pull. We pretty much expect to have one or two of these cold spells every winter, but anything longer than two days gets very old... very fast. Thankfully, the weather man says the worst is over, the end is near, there will be more than zero degrees very soon. This negative 19 degrees was our weather at 7:45 a.m. today. By lunch we reached a balmy three degrees. After my five-and-a-half miles run (outside) and shower (inside), the temperature had climbed to seven beastly hot degrees.

The forecast calls for mid-upper twenties tomorrow and thirties by Sunday. We may break out the beach towels. That's a 50 degree swing in just three days for those of you keeping score. Wow!

Meanwhile my sister, her husband (and his family) and their delinquents are visiting the Mouse House in Florida soaking up the heat and rides and food and fun etc... Hey SIS! We're havin' fun up Nort. Wish you were here!!!!

Degrees of Separation are Relative

Yesterday, I got a call from a recruiter who wanted to know if I worked with a guy named Hervey Evans. When I responded "no", the recruiter thought that it was odd because we both had consulting experinece with Erasmus. As soon as I heard this, I knew that Hervey Evans was a distant relative.

After a web search, I found Erasmus Inc.. When asked about the name of the company he responds. "Erasmus is actually my first name. My full name, Erasmus Hervey Evans, is an old family name handed down since the 1820s. (No, really — it’s a Southern thing.)"
My Grandfather's name was Erasmus Hervey Evans TAYLOR. After some investigation, my grandfather and Hervey's grandfather were first cousins. That means Hervey and I are third cousins and share the same Great, Great Grandparents.

We've not met yet, but I suspect it will be a very enjoyable get together. It seems our lives have run many parallel paths to include our mutual love for the English language, our respective Erasmus Consulting firms and the fact that we are the only Taylor/Evans (that we know of) who claim the midwest as our home (not to be mistaken for our shared Carolina heritage).

It may be just a subtle thing, but knowing I have family (kin) within a few hours drive, makes me feel a bit more at home in the upper midwest, up here, up 'Nort'.

... 21 Days Late: The streak begins!

The annual running streak was regretfully put on hold for the past 21 days due to a broken baby toe. Today marks three weeks since that dreadfull event as well as the official beginning of the 2008 streak in five degree weather with -15 degree wind chills. It was great!

Allow me to wax ironic for a moment as I ponder this injury: Last July I ruptured a disc and within less than four weeks I succesfully completed a difficult 50 mile trail run. Conversely, on New Years day, I stub my toe and I can't run a stride for three weeks. The potentially catastrophic injury is thus trivial, while the simple act of stubbing a baby toe becomes debilitating.

Such is life.

Tournament Victory

Tournament champs! Against W.E.M. 48 - 4; Owatona 37 - 9; then Albert Lea 34 - 7. As a whole they played well. The scores indicate their successful defense. Additionally (in this tournament) they figured out the benefits of rebounding and corresponding "put back" points. Passing was good, and all around balance was excellent. Everyone contributed. But the coaches and kids won't sleep on their laurels as we all know that it won't be long before the competition catches up. So despite the work ahead... today there was time to enjoy the fruits of their labors. Congratulations ladies on a well played tournament!

[Chalupa - second from the right on the bottom row: about 9 points, many rebounds (more than 9), 4-5 assists, and 4 solidly blocked shots, two steals].

Somebody Please...

Remind me why we live here?That would be negative nineteen degrees. 7:00 a.m., Saturday morning on our way to the aformentioned basketball tournament. Last year... it was about tewnty below. I guess this is the global warming King George refuses to acknowledge. But as far as I'm concerned... Winter in Minnesota, global warming or not, will always have it's cold spells.

Eat Your Vegetables!

The age old battle has now been documented for your enjoyment.
Witness: THE PEAS!

THE LAST BITE!

PURE AND UNMITTIGATED ENJOYMENT!

AT LONG LAST...
THE CHALUPA JOINS THE "CLEAN PLATE CLUB"

From Humble Beginnings

Here we see our burgeoning foil ball inspired by Dr. Donald Duck Dorfman's grand creation pictured below. We have a ways to go... but we'll get there one strip of foil at a time.

You Can't Trust Anyone

Big Dawg fell asleep on the couch right after dinner.

Fast asleep... he unwittingly became a sitting duck.

It just goes to show. In this house, a person can't let their guard down. Nope. Not for one second!

The "Cavine"

Big Dawg has always called it "The Cavine". This is our familiar name for the ravine behind our house. Winter is the best time of year to explore the nooks and cranny's of this vast natural playground as there is no running water to get muddy and (most especially) no poison ivy. Here we see Chalupa, Big Dawg and Peanut enjoying a break from stomping around the woods.

Will 2008 Bring Winds of Change?

2008 begs for the wind of change to blow. So far it has brought cold, snow and a broken baby toe. The annual New Year's running streak lasted a record (short) one day. Maybe a few weeks rest will bring better luck for the balance of the year. Its a difficult pill to swallow that the health of a baby toe is all that stands in the way of a marathon at the end of February, a 100 miler scheduled for April and a host of other events that would normally occupy my running calendar. We shall see what "buddy taping" and rest will bring. Stay tuned.

In the HOLE

As New Year's traditions have it, Chalupa and Buzz jumped into the HOLE in Lake Minnetonka along with 650+ other people. There were zero degrees outside and the wind-chill was reportedly between 15 - 20 below zero. It was very cold this year. As an observation, I sincerely believe the State of Minnesota could raise it's overall intellegence level if it nuked the staging area for this event on the morning of January 1. Just about every idiot in the State must have been present... including yours truly.Less than one minute after this last photo, I can testify that the Chalupa was NOT all smiles. It was cold and she found out that just because she had one jump under her swim-suit, does not mean the water is any warmer for her second jump. Chalupa's a Walleye now and vows to return for her 3rd jump to become a "Northern" next year.