is before halloween too soon to turn on christmas lights?
our 3 year old neighbor asked in july “sir, why do you still have your christmas lights up?”
me: “because I can.” ( of course we don’t leave them on all year round. and normally we do take them down but, well…procrastination. )
living in driftless region with no wisconsin nhl team presents a few tough choices for our default favorite hockey team. it could theoretically be the minnesota wild but we’re in wisconsin the odin plays against a lot of minnesota teams to that’s not really going to happen.
we lived in chicago for a number of years and always enjoyed the blackhawks and they could reasonably be the default choice since they are the closest major market team. but i don’t think odin’s michigan relatives are ever going to let that happen 🙂
this year got more red wings gear to cement the deal.
mine is even a lefty! and yes, going up and down the stairs while dueling princess bride style is exactly as awesome as you might imagine.
via mlkshk
one of the many endearing things about odin is that he’s remarkably simple in his christmas list. there are no requests for this trendy toy or that video game console. rather, on his short wish list for santa was a set of winter tires for his bicycle. since he went through the effort to earn it all by himself, he suuuure wished santa would bring him some tires so he could keep riding all winter long. he saw some pretty cool blue and red tires at bluedog and thought they’d look mighty sharp and would be much more fun than regular ol’ black tires. and perhaps with a patriotic inspired bit of color coordination, he thought the red and blue would go well with the white color on the bike frame.
of course, on christmas morning odin sure was happy to see santa had brought him ones just like he was looking for! i don’t know it for a certainty, but i think santa’s keen on gifts that encourage odin to get outside and play.
i had some trouble performing the tire switcharoo ( isn’t santa supposed to perform some magic and already have put the tires on the bike by the time odin arose from his slumber? ), so odin launched into an impromptu cheer to help over the hurdle by sing songily chanting, “you can do it! i know you can! my poppi can do anything!”
odin also asked santa for a balaclava for winter riding which is an excellent request since the multifunctional headgear allows you to keep your face warm while allowing you breath freely through your nose and, most importantly, you can still put on a bicycle helmut over it.
odin didn’t ask for it, but santa threw in a new, stylish matching winter coat because, well, santa just does that sort of thing sometimes.
odin’s ready to roll!
now kris and i just need to get get ourselves some snow tires and we’ll be ready to hit the snowy streets family style!
apparently, santa loved the eggnog cupcake he left odin a note and a silver sleigh bell that looks and sounds like it could be right out of the polar express!
santa said he was running a little late and missed our sauna, but that’s alright, since we understand he’s quite busy on christmas eve and certainly can’t visit every year. mighty nice of him to take even a moment to leave a note and a sleigh bell. odin of course, has heard the final paragraph in the polar express many, many times:
“At one time, most of my friends could hear the bell, but as years passed, it fell silent for all of them. Even Sarah found one Christmas that she could no longer hear its sweet sound. Though I’ve grown old, the bell still rings for me, as it does for all who truly believe.”
merry christmas!
looking over the family christmas tree, i noticed this ornament presumably placed by odin in an out-of-the way branch on the tree.
while perhaps an unusual choice for an ornament, we’re quite used to odin tucking away his cars in various curious locations around the house. dozens of cars or trucks are tucked under this or that nook or cranny that might seem random to the untrained eye, but odin has complete mental map of where every single vehicle is placed.
odin never seems particularly interested in discussing why, say, he doesn’t line them all up in a neat rows in his playroom which would be the most efficient way to go about storing his toy cars.
as best as i can surmise, odin considers this is a game of intention – this thing goes there and not there – and recollection – the scratching of the chin attempting to remember just exactly where a particular car was placed.
it makes me wonder how this game will manifest itself when odin is a teenager.