The Day Before

Both yesterday and today were beautiful winter days - except for the wind which was howling yesterday. The forecast is calling for a few more sunny days and then maybe rain - just in time for New Years Eve.

Mom with the lutefisk

"Norwegian Christmas Eve" feast was at my parents last night. We had lutefisk and all the trimmings. I should say that some of us had lutefisk - most won't eat it (it is kind of gross - I like it though) but there was lots of other stuff for them to eat - meatballs, pork roast, salads, potatoes, cheese, cold cuts and the list goes on. It truly is a feast. My Aunt Kari, Uncle Trevor, their kids, as well as my 2 brothers and their families. It was a lively evening.

Carole & Tammy making lefse

The kids (all 4 of them) had grown electronic devices out of their hands! Even Erik at 6 had a DS Lite that he was glued to. The new electronic babysitter, replacing the old TV. And Kaitlin, my cousin, had a new phone so she was texting her friends - I can only imagine what she was saying about the boring old folks (that's us!). Kids are so much more connected to each other now - is it a good or a bad thing? A bit of both I guess.

Yesterday's word of the day was funambulism (fyoo-NAM-buh-liz-um noun - tightrope walking; a show especially of mental agility). Its a fun word that brings to mind circuses and high wire acts. Its a tough one to put into my own experience. I don't know anyone who tightrope walks but I do know someone who has a nephew who is training with Cirque as a juggler, he's probably also trained in funambulism. Most weeknights we watch Jeopardy, Carm always amazes me with his funambulism as he seems to know the answers to almost everything. Its slightly irritating sometimes (but good too). We used to make bets about final Jeopardy but since I lost most of the time I quit.

Today's word is galumph (guh-LUMF verb - to move with a clumsy heavy tread). We galumph through the drifted snow as we make our way around the hay field with the dogs.

A fun use of the word is from Louis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass. We watched the Tim Burton version of Alice in Wonderland the other night. It was a great movie done in the usual Tim Burton style.

Here's a snippet from Jabberwocky (see full poem here)

   One, two! One, two! And through and through
   The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
   He left it dead, and with its head
   He went galumphing back.

Today was a quiet day at home which is nice after so many days of running around. I'll mainly be tidying the house for my brother Olaf and his wife Tammy's visit tomorrow. We pick them up on our way home from work (our last day!!!) and bring them for an overnight visit. Tammy helped me pick out the paint and fabrics so I'm anxious for her to see how it turned out (minus the sewing). They head back to New Zealand on Friday - it will be sad to see them go.