Getting back in the swing...

Well we've had an eventful start to 2009. We headed out to Moncton on NYE for our now annual trip to Crystal Palace (an amusement park in the mall), Ponderosa (Steve's choice) and the hotel for a swim, movies and drinks. We meet up with four other couples, and this year my folks tagged along. In total there were 9 kids ranging in age from AnnaWen to Cameron who is 11. It was so much fun!

As you know if you're local, we were hit over night and all NY's Day with a blizzard. We contemplated staying in Moncton another night, and in hindsight that would have been a good choice. We thought if we went slow and carefully we'd be fine. The driving was trecherous, with several white-outs, one of which found us in the snowbank on the shoulder of the road. Luckily a guy in a big truck stopped to help push us out and we were on our way. Not for long as moments later our battery light came on, telling us that the altenator (which we knew was faulty and had scheduled for replacement on Friday the 2nd) was not charging the battery. Consultation with Steve's dad confirmed that the car would die if we kept driving. We held our breath until we reached the Truro exit and got off there to find the first hotel we could find. Luckily they accepted pets (our Rook was with us) but unfortunately that's the only plus they had - no restaurant, no pool, no real entertainment for four small kids. The upside of being stranded in a hotel with no entertainment, poor tv schedule, no computer, no book was that I fell asleep at 830 and slept through to 8am.

The next morning Steve called around to see who was open and who could fit the car in for servicing. He convinced the dealership that our situation was dire enough to see us that morning. Miraculously, the van started. Even more miraculously, the battery light did not come on the whole time he drove to the mechanic. The mechanic there and our mechanic by phone both figured snow must have been blown into the engine and interfered with its functioning. We got back on the road for home and arrived without incident. I dropped the kids, dog and man off and took the car to the mechanic, walked to Walmart and met up with my girlfriend to kill time while the car was fixed. This is the second year in a row we've had a maintenance bill over $1000 the week after Christmas. FAAACK.

Things are settling back into normal... I'm ignoring five loads of laundry that need folding while I post and eat M&Ms. Jack is at a friends', Elliot is playing with Pokemon figures and the girls are fighting over Potato Head pieces. I'd like to take Rook for a walk in the snow and later we're meeting up with some of the families from church for a social and fellowship discussion.

N