We have lived in Maine for almost 12 years now, and this morning I found myself looking at the coldest temperatures I have ever seen in my life. This photo was taken at about 630 this morning. Needless to say I did NOT ride my bicycle to work this morning...haha....

It was so cold that it actually hurt--like, it hurt your hands and your face. Not in a 'oh my gosh, it is cold' kind of way, but in a physical 'assaulting' kind of way. It is a different type of pain. And as someone who spends a lot of time outside in this cold--running, snowshoeing, or whatever--I can tell you that the cold just sucks the life right out of you--I am no chemistry expert, but it is almost like the air has less oxygen or something; I just can't get the energy on my runs that I usually can....

But this past Sunday, it hit 33 degrees! It is kind of sad to thin that this felt like an absolute HEAT WAVE. Neighbors we havent seen in months were literally out on the streets, emerging from their winter-dens, talking and laughing and raking roofs and chipping ice off their driveways. For the first time since the beginning of January, we saw what the asphalt on our driveway looks like. I did a short run and then raked some of the roof and most of the garage and breezeway. I tried to clear off the back deck--which has been hit not only by the deep snow, but also the legendary wind-drifts. The back deck gets a lot of sun, so my idea was that if I could clear it off, the sun would help melt some snow. But then we woke up less than 12 hours later to sub zero temps. So, like, yeah....

But I got to soak up some rays and enjoy the tropical heat....look at the snow in our backyard....six feet and counting....our whole back is mostly like this...I venture it will be the end of May before it is gone!

My buddy Brad turned 40 last Thursday, so, after Amanda got home from work, I went over to TheLastUnicorn in Waterville to meet him for a drink or five. We also had some fabulous dinner. You know in the intro to THE FLINTSTONES, where the waitress puts that huge slab of beef on Fred's car, and it topples the car over? Yeah, Brad had that. I, on the other hand, had the Thai-Sizzle Catfish, which was unreal. It was spicy and made me sweat. My mom used to hate when I would eat spicy food, because it used to make me sweat like crazy. If she ever read this blog, which she doesnt, she would probably laugh.

Our friends Fred and Amy own TheLastUnicorn, and Sasha, Amy's sister, sometimes waitresses there. Fred always has the greatest beers on tap, and the ambiance and just flat out 'space' of the restaurant is very cozy and warm and comfortable. You should go. Great soups too!

Below, Amy and I pretend to tend the bar. Actually, she really does tend the bar. I just pretend to tend. Too many 'tends' in that last sentence. I will suspend-the-tends....okay I'm done....

And CartoonBrad, the best looking forty year guy in the whole picture! We had a stellar time with some great conversation that centered around writing, art, ambition, beer, running, and just about anything else you can thin of...a great night! Oftentimes the last minute/hastily planned life events turn out to be the most memorable and profound. Good stuff.

Click on this picture below and blow it up...look behind the chair...see those little toys back there? This is Maira's new (I guess you would call) 'hiding place.' She, herself, recluses herself back there when she doesnt want anyone to see her; furthermore, she puts all the little cars, Paw Patrol pups, and whatever else she doesnt want 'Buddy' to find...it is hilarious on so many levels, the biggest level being that she actually thinks NO ONE is onto her little deception....

Since we didnt get to do any of the traveling we wanted to do over vacation (ya know, because of global warming and all....) like Seawall, etc, we decided to take a quick trip between snowstorms and head up to Bangor to Bugaboo Steak House and Books A Million (like a Borders or B&N but I think it is better!). This is what Maira decides to wear because it was 'so warm' today (it was 18 degrees). She is the most mysterious female I have ever known...

We unbunked the kids, and they seem to love it. Callum is a little afraid of having his bed right up against the door of the kneewall (who knows what kind of monsters lurk by the roof?) so he has built up a 'fortresss of animals' to protect him. The kids love reading in their beds and, this morning, I would count as probably the best part of my vacation: For about an hour, we sat, as you see us, (I sat in the rocker in the reading nook!) and just read. I drank coffee. The chimney running up through their room radiated heat from the stove. It was just marvelous. A wonderfully simplistic moment of time.

On Friday, Amanda drove down to Portland to meet her friend Andrea for lunch, and I took the kids sledding--they had been asking to go. It was FREEZING out (8) and the wind was whipping, but cabin fever had really set in, so I just took them. We are actually on the campus of Winslow High here, sledding on 'Dinosaur Hill.' It is aptly named because the hill, when looked at in a panoramic way, resembles the long, arching back of a Brontosaurus or one of those things. It is actually quite steep on the other side, and we often use it in cross country practice to do hill sprints. To give you some perspective, just beyond the fence is the track....and if you look beyond the orange 'shack' you can see the back of the high school. We stayed out there in the cold for about an hour or so and, I am kind of embarrassed to say, it was ME who said it was time to go, because IIIIIIIIIIIII was freezing!! Haha. The kids did not complain a bit (they were too numb to feel cold...haha). But we took some good runs and I was really pleasantly surprised at the bravery and aggressiveness of BOTH of these little freaks. They definitely dont get that from me; I am afraid of my own shadow.

Oh....hey guys....hey....is it time to eat??

The Board for Missions at church (of which Amanda is president) has been involved in a big church wide MEN's clothing drive for the central Maine homeless shelter. We work very closely with the shelter, and one thing that came to our attention is that many people donate clothing to the shelter...but 99% of the time it is women's clothing. So, we had a big 'drive' to collect clothing of the men's variety. And collect we did. All told, we had 127 banana boxes full of clothing that we brought over to the shelter. People donated clothing for about a month, and then, this past Saturday, we organized it be style, size, etc, and boxed it all up, so as to make it easier and more 'ready' for the folks of the shelter (one box was 'size 38-40 pants' and one box was 'medium sweaters,' etc etc)

Michelle and Amanda were organizing pants while Callymn and Mara made signs to put on each table....(the room they are in, by the way, is the nursery where kids and babies can play during parts of the service)

Callum actually had a very important job, and he was an integral part of the process....his job was to take empty banana boxes from the shed (outside that glass door) and stack them in an orderly fashion in the fellowship hall. Then, when the 'pants' or 'shirt' or 'jacket' rooms needed a fresh box, he was your guy! Below, he takes a quick break from his hard work, while Glenn gets bags ready....

A very busy Saturday morning for sure; many folks in the congregation turned out on Valentine's morning to show their 'loooooovvvve' for helping others...myeah.... Callum,the 'box boy,' does his thing, and carries a fresh box to a room

We had a few breakfast pizzas, tons of coffee, and outburst upon outburst of laughter....

Maira loves folding clothes and she had a blast helping out.

After we packed the boxes with clothes, I (along with my pals Seth, Glenn, and Brian) loaded the boxes into two vans and three pick-up trucks so we could 'caravan' over to the MidMaine Homeless Shelter in Waterville. I took Maira home at that point, but Callum and Amanda went over to the shelter to help unload. It was a fantastic morning, and I am glad we could help out

Finally, my 'zen-like' moment of the day: Amanda was out this morning doing errands and going to the chiropractor, and I found myself, for a full 12 minutes, sitting in my rocking chair in front of the wood stove, Cupcake perched on my shoulder, purring away,  the only other sounds being the steaming pot of water on the stove-top intermingled with the mutterings of Callum and Maira, down the hall, in their playroom, engaged in lego-land. It was probably the best 12 minutes of my week. Haha

This past Friday, Callum had his 100th day of school celebration. Well, I think he is well over 100 days by now, but with snow days and delays and weather being what it is, they just had it on the Friday before vacation (contrary to what many people know, we are getting pounded with snow just as much--if not more--than all the wimps in Mass....we just dont complain about night and day :/) Haha. 

The party coincided with my conference period at school, so I cruised across the bridge from Winslow to Fairfield so I could attend part of the celebration on a very cold, very windy Friday before Feb vacation. Lots going on, as there was a Valentine's day celebration for his class that day as well. We are just overjoyed and so proud of our son. We were filling out his valentines for his classes on Thursday afternoon, when, out of the blue, he just says to me "Hey Daddy, you were right by the way." Since I hardly ever hear that, I asked him what he was talking about. He says "well, back in August, you told me you just KNEW I was going to make tons of new friends...and guess what? You were right!"

Very nice. 

Here is the proud mommy and the student....

In the 'gym' of Callum's school. The primary school USED to be the high school, back in the early 20s (the 1920s). In the back, they had tables set up with goodies from Hillman's, homebaked cookies, and more. Callum's teacher is standing in the middle-ish of the picture...she is standing to the right of the lady wearing the pink sweater with her hand on her hips (the teacher's hands, not the sweater's hand...sorry....EnglishTeacherProblems...)

Callum and his buddies doing what they usually do for the camera....the boy in the stripes is his friend Tristan, and the boy with the bulldog shirt is his buddy Noah...

look at Callum's pants #........

They had different stations and activities set up around the gym to do 'things' related to the number 100. For example, color 100 balloons or stack ten groups of ten cups as fast as you can, etc. I was helping out with the station that challenged kids to do 100 different exercises....ten jumping jacks, ten pushups, ten squat jumps, etc. At one point, I had about 15 different kindergarten kids obeying my every command, almost as if I were a drill sgt...haha.

My phone takes blurry pictures when there is motion, but you get the drift...I had them doing all sorts of things. And, as you can see, Maira just kind of dances to the beat of her own drum...instead of pushups she did squats. whatevs. No biggie.

Great time. Congrats Callum.

As I write this on Sunday morning, we are getting our umpteenth 'blizzard' of the season, by the way. Although, the snow totals have unfortunately been downgraded. We were supposed to get 20 inches and now I think just 6-9. Stupid. Apparently, the storm tracked 100 miles farther to the east than they predicted. Oh nice. No biggie. And, as usual, no accountability for the weathermen. I just wonder what would happen if students of mine just performed, oh, ya know, 100 points lower on a test than I predicted...hmm....that would cause a stir huh? Would there be any accountability there?  Hmm. Just sayin, just sayin.

Do you remember those "Cam Jenson" books from when you were a kid? She was that young girl who had the photographic memory and could help solve crime? Crime solving kids seemed to be pretty popular back when I was a young reader. We had Cam Jenson, Encyclopedia Brown, the Hardy Boys, and Nancy Drew, for example. Now all kids get are sorcerer-vampire-dragon-rider characters. At least protagonists DID something to help serve people back when I was a kid. No wonder no kids wanna work these days....haha. But, at any rate, I was reading some Cam Jenson to Callum today; we picked up the book at a library sale up in Lubec this past summer. What a great library. 

The book spawned all this conversation about the circus--I used to go with my mom or my dad all the time growing up! The Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus used to come to the Boston Garden and we would go see it! Callum and I were talking about what goes on at a circus, since he has never been. In fact, I dont even ever hear about them anymore! There were two things that I ALWAYS got at the circus. One was one of those flashlight things that had a button on it, and you pressed it and something spun around and flashed all the different colors. Anyone remember that?? The other thing I would always get was a 'program.' I used to freakin LOVE those things--they had pictures of all the performers, stories, etc etc. I used to collect them: Circus, Disney on Ice, etc. I used to read them all the time. It is no surprise that the apple doesnt fall far from the tree; Callum and Maira are obsessed with little programs, travel brochures, etc!

Oh, and this is Leonardo, Callum's latest acquisition:

We told Callum he could pick out a reward for having such an excellent report card! His card was truly magnificent, and it hilighted not only the success he is having with his own learning and math and reading, etc...but ALSO it emphasized how well he is helping OTHER kids in class, and how he is being such a good classmate, friend, and leader. In kindergarten, there are certain 'benchmarks' they want the kids to reach 'by the end of the year.' For reading, kindergarten students should be at a 'Level 3' reading level by June. Callum is already at an 8! He is well on his way to acceptance at the Naval Academy...haha...We are super proud of him for being such a good student and a good friend!!

And I've been taking advantage of the amazing cold snowy weather to get in some fantastic runs! Yesterday morning it was 2 degrees when I left, but unfortunately it warmed up to 7 degrees by the end of the run. Oh well. Heat waves DO happen I guess. But seriously though...haha...as much as I love the cold, it truly is VERY HARD on one's body, both physically and mentally. I find that I just cannot breathe as well, and thus cannot go as far. But hey...anything beats having to go to a gym and work out inside. In my opinion, anyway

But sometimes it is nice to stay in and exercise on those cold nights; yoga is a favorite of Amanda and Jared! It is great to stretch out and build strength using your own body. And, as you can see, Cupcake is a fantastic yoga coach!!

Finally today, Sally and I have been noticing lately how Callum and Maira--growing up in the age of the Internet--are completely 'spoiled' by the instant gratification and seemingly endless breadth of information out there....they are so enmeshed in it, that I think Amanda and I sometimes fail to realize this. This came to fruition today when Callum wanted us to see how much his gym teacher (Mr T) looks like his hero, Julian Edelman, this year's true Superbowl MVP. Anyway, I told him how I wished I could see Mr T and decide for myself. "Mommy," he says, go on the computer and get a picture of Mr T standing next to Julian Edelman so daddy can see how much they look alike." He couldnt even FATHOM that SOMETHING might NOT exist on the Internet. He was completely serious with his request. I think he thinks (and Maira does too) that EVERYTHING in ANY COMBINATION is on the web...hilarious...

Patriots are world champions once again!!!

In the interest of full disclosure, I am as giddy as a school girl at the idea that the New England Patriots are once again Superbowl champions--and I am not ashamed about it at all. Why do we, as fans, get so excited when our team wins? Why do we, somehow, feel like we have, as well, 'earned' this victory? Why do we form these parasocial relationships with members of team--a team in which not one of the players even knows we exist? The answer? Who cares!!!??

This is the fourth superbowl I have seen the Patriots win--I have watched each and every one of them. Yet, without doubt, this was the most amazing Superbowl for me--this one was the most important. This one was all I really needed. This one, finally, I could share with my children.

For the first time, my kids (especially Callum) were not only excited about football, the Patriots, and the Superbowl...but, rather, they were head over heels IN LOVE with the whole process. To me, this season was the most amazing football season to be a Patriots fan--there was so much struggle and adversity, and (I totally realize this is so laughable) I feel like we 'suffered' and persevered right there with them. From the devastating loss against the Chiefs when folks all over the world declared the Patriots 'dead' and 'not a good team' as people called for Brady's head, to the witch-hunt of the century known as 'Deflategate' where the whole world (but mostly people in New Jersey) declared the Patriots CHEATERS, although, still, three weeks out, not a single shred of evidence has been produced.....

But all that aside, this was the first Patriots superbowl I could 'truly' share with my kids, and, for that reason, it is a Superbowl I will always remember and always hold dear to my heart. Callum and Maira used their Christmas money to buy freakin Lego-Patriots people, for crying out loud. Every day, Callum asks me to watch him run through the house and 'study him' to see if he is running like Edelman. Maira wants to have "Gronk" over to ride her horsie Clarice with her. This is true love, folks. All throughout the season, into the beautiful days of fall, Callum and Maira and I would play football outside and Callum would always have to be Edelman, who is his favorite player because, in Callum's words, "no one can tackle him and he can run through anything." Yup. He can son. He can. And he did.

I will forever remember this Patriots post season. I will remember sitting in the basement, showing Callum youtube clip after youtube clip of Julian Edelman hilights and workout videos. I will remember the absolute knuckle biter-exhaustion inducer par excellence known as the Pats vs Ravens. Amanda and her girlfriends were away, and the kids and I went down to Andy's house to watch the game. Callum was transfixed. Then there was the Colts game, which I got to watch with my brotherfromanothermother Jay--Callum, Maira, JJ, and Ava (along with sweetsweet Janive and Sally Piles) sat in awe as the Pats dismantled the Colts like men among boys. And then finally, came the biggest game of them all. I will forever remember Superbowl night--we hung out over Tom and Katie's, as they had a huge Superbowl party. While all the kids played downstairs, Callum, decked out in his Patriots shirt, helmet, and sweatshirt, was incessantly coming up to watch the game--like, he actually sits and 'watches' football. It is awesome. I'll remember how we went home after halftime and put Maira to bed, and I'll remember Callum sitting on the couch with me, embarrassingly telling me that he *might* like the seahawks better than the Patriots because their uniforms are 'more exciting.' And I'll remember (and always be indebted to) Amanda FORCING me to watch that fateful play, when the Seahawks were on the one inch line, and I started to walk away, muttering 'hon, it is over...I am going to take a shower' and she refused to let me leave. And what happened next was nothing short of a miracle. One of the most amazing things I have ever seen on TV.

But perhaps the thing I will always remember most was exercising my right as a father to wake up my son and daughter the next morning and say to them"Callum and Maira, the Patriots won the Superbowl!!!"  and then just bask in the glow of their reaction.....

PS: This is, without doubt, Callum's favorite and most watched video on youtube. Very inspirational, if I do say so myself. It is only two minutes....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssEmQ1Ww3v0

Jenn and Amanda and Katie at the Superbowl party.....

Quite a spread!! So many wings!!! Lobster Dip!! Seahawks and Patriots cupcakes!! sausages wrapped in bacon!! I was in love!

Getting ready to head over to the game. Now, please dont call DHS on us, but Callum has refused to wear anything but that shirt for the past three days. Naturally, we have let him. And Maira? Well, she didnt want to wear anything related to the Patriots. Since "Megan's party" was at night, she started asking three days before if she could wear her 'cat footies' to the party...

 And this is what three blizzards/four and a half feet of snow looks like...just in case you were wondering. I took this this morning. We had a one hour delay due to yesterday's storm. It was -4 when I took this, too...