Calling a Day on 2008

Lily Kai's first Christmas.

So it’s done. The crap year 2008 is coming to a close. If you listen to Weather Station 3, you know I don’t make resolutions. But I can look back at the last 12 months and give you some highs and lows, if you want.

Lows:

• The current seasons of Heroes and Prison Break. I give up. I cannot take the crapity.
• The whole job-loss thing. Layoffs at Christmas are like coal in a stocking.
• The weather. The wettest summer on record, no autumn, four feet of snow in one week, then rain on Christmas Eve? Really?
• Those people.
• The Happening.

Highs:

• Three beautiful, smart, funny kids, and all the new babies in my orbit: my niece Lily Kai, my new little cousins Arlo and Kholbie, my little pal Hadley, future global dominator Caitlyn and many others. Babies are the future, and they are dear to me.
• My perfect woman, the lady of the house, who keeps me planted on this planet.
• My mother, the centre of the universe, and her supernova of a wife, my other mother.
• Reconnecting with my brother, who has a tattoo of a Chinese dragon on his head.
• Branching out online: Launching Weather Station 1 and podcasting.

Hmm. Seems the highs outweigh the lows, which is a good sign. I’m ready for 2009. I’m ready to try new things and move forward. I hope you are, too.

Happy New Year.

I Think I Need a Marshmallow Gun

We were browsing this funky little toy store downtown this morning. Yes, we just got through Christmas, and the kids were spoiled rotten, but hey, I like looking at toys for me, too. Anyway, we found this amazing, incredible device:

Now, I try to limit the weapons use in my home. There are no toy guns here (unless you count the ones the G.I. Joe guys are holding), and the recent addition of a set of Nerf pistols has caused more problems than I can describe.

A marshmallow gun, though, is extremely, extremely cool. As I write this, I know there is a bag of multi-coloured mini-marshmallows in the pantry upstairs. We use them in cocoa, but that’s so 2008. No, in 2009, I will fire them from a gun.

The one I saw, the one pictured above, was $29.99. That’s a bit steep, in my opinion. So I went online and discovered that I can make my own. I can make my own! You can, too, if you click here.

You may not hear from me for a while. I will be in the garage, cutting and gluing plastic while sitting in a big pile of marshmallows. Hey, you know what? Your envy looks good on you.