Our Claussen Consolation Prize

So, it's been 2 whole weeks since the Claussen Pickles "Conquer the Cold" contest voting ended.

And we haven't gotten a single phone call, email--nothing.  Nada. Zip. They haven't told us if we've won or even if we've lost.  But I suspect we're not the winners.  I think Lee would have been contacted by now--I'm afraid it's not looking good for our superheroes.

I think it's a real bummer when you put forth so much effort and you ask a bazillion people to put forth so much effort...and all for naught!

We do want to say thanks to all y'alls for voting for us though. We would have brought home a whole bunch of souvenirs from Iceland for all you lovely people if we had won.  Wait--I don't even know what a good Icelandic souvenir would be.  Maybe we'll never know...{sniffle}...

Bummer. We really wanted to go to Iceland.


BUT...

Because both Lee and I were top-ten finalists, we did win a couple of prizes!  (All is not lost!)

First, we each received a Stormtech Performance down jacket in a color of our choice. I chose Sky Blue.  Isn't it pretty?

Winter, just trying to stay warm

And Lee chose Citrus...of course.

Lee, the explorer

Don't you love the colors? We were given the option of other colors--darker colors (black, navy, and plum), but these colors make for easy finding of Lee in a big crowd--he sticks out like a sore thumb!

These jackets are lightweight, but oh-so-warm.  The first night, we put them on and just sat around watching TV--Lee lasted about 10 minutes. It was perfect for me--our apartment is freezing!  Living with a hairy guy makes for a frozen Asian girl all the time!

Anyway, did we mention that Stormtech is a Canadian company? Gotta loves those Canucks!  They know how to dress warmly!

Stormtech Down Jacket Label

We also discovered that you can condense these big fluffy coats into something much smaller.  Lee will demonstrate:

It took a lot of convincing to get Lee to sit on the floor--he is not very flexible.


He is pointing out the inner pocket that turns into a pouch.

The pouch

Here's Lee stuffing away (sorry for the blur--he was a flurry of action!).

Lee is stuffing away!

And there you go!  Nice and compact...and citrus-colored.

The jacket pod

We also got these sweet shearling hats (aka the furry Russian looking hats) with the Claussen logo on it.   I love my hat.  This last weekend, I wore it a lot at home because 1) it had snowed, and 2) we hadn't turned on the heat yet and I could see my breath indoors.

Lee posing with one of our Claussen shearling hats

Fun prizes, huh?  We think so.

Thanks, Claussen Pickles! We are disappointed that we didn't win the Iceland trip, but we sure like the sweet gear!

P.S. If anyone wants to send us to Iceland or knows how we can get to Iceland for cheap, let us know!

I love getting mail!

This is my nephew.  We'll call him n x 1.6 km (for n>1) and I've written about him before.  He's seven years old and I think he's the bee's knees. 

As you can see, he dressed up as an airline pilot for Halloween this year. His mom must have convinced him to dress up as something other than a train engineer, which he has asked to be almost every year of his life thus far.

The boy loves trains.

And that's why I love n x 1.6 km (for n>1).  His level of committment to trains means that he knows all sorts of stuff about engines, train cars, and cabooses--the kid even knows all the types of bridges that trains may cross!  He also loves Mini Coopers, airplanes (specifically Southwest Airlines planes because of my sisters), and other forms of transportation. 

Anyway, I got something from him in the mail this week and it just made me happy.  First of all, I love getting mail that's not a bill or junk mail.  Second of all, these pictures.  These are all drawn on one piece of paper in 4 panels.

This panel with the Big and Little Dippers was not surprising.  He and his little brother (whom I love a great deal also), CED, love the stars and the moon.  The little smarty pants drew the entire constellation, not only the Big Dipper or Little Dipper!

He also knows a great deal about new train trends.  As you can see there are double decker steam trains now.  He also calls me Aunt Cuckoo, because my sister and brother-in-law dubbed me that long ago. They tried to get n x 1.6 km (for n>1) to call Lee "Uncle Crazy", but that didn't stick, so now Lee is just Lee. And I'm still Aunt Cuckoo.

This panel makes me happy on so many levels:

• The color swirl and rainbow
• A train that carries plane things--combining two of his favorite things!
• The row of coin money
• The series of numbers and colors which may happen to be a complicated cipher that solves world hunger

And the last panel:

I love the fact that he's learned the difference between warm and cool colors.  Ah!  It just warms the cockles of my heart.  Yes, I just used that phrase.  So there.

Anyway, I thought I'd share one last thing that cracked us up.  This is the back of the paper that he drew his pictures on.  He made a note for us.

Don't you love getting mail, especially when it's coming from someone you like a lot? 

I sure do.

I feel like writing some notes to people this weekend--the first one is getting mailed to my cute nephew.

Do you want a handwritten note mailed to you?  If so, leave a comment, email me your address if I don't have it, and watch your mailbox!

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One last thing:  Here's CED dressed up like an airline pilot too! Ah! Look at that dimple!

Have a great weekend, friends!

A few things on my "List"

Good day!

It's 11/1/11.  Gotta love it when the date is a palindrome.

11/1/11 just seems like a great day to write a list, set some goals, and get stuff done, doesn't it?

So today, I reviewed my notebook that contains my things-I-want-to-do-in-my-life list and I thought I'd share a few of them here and see if anyone has any insight on how I can accomplish some of these things:

1. Write a novel.   In fact, Lee and I just signed up to start on this goal.  We are doing NaNoWriMo (aka National Novel Writing Month)!  Basically, for the whole month of November, our goal is to write a total of 50,000 words--a novel!   
2. Go to Iceland. As you know, we've been trying to get there as you can see here and here.  Still trying and will till we get there!
3. Live abroad for an extended period of time (at least 3 months) with my family.  France, China, Italy--anywhere!
4. Take a glass blowing class.  There's got to be a studio somewhere in the valley, but I sure haven't found one yet.
5. Take a picture of lightning and have it turn out!  Does anyone know the logistics on how to do this correctly?
6. Take a ballroom dance class with Lee.  This may never work out since Lee refuses to go dancing--a girl can always dream!
7. Create a scholarship fund in the sciences or music.  I have been given so much and would like to return the generosity.
8. Attend a Presidential Inaugural Ball.  I just want to go. Don't ask why.
9. Drive a zamboni.  Does anyone know a zamboni driver that would be willing to lend me their wheels for a spin around the rink?
10. Become a master chef of Asian cuisine. I gotta get more Asian points somehow!
11. Watch a Civil War reenactment. I had no idea they did these things till I saw Sweet Home Alabama--I'm fascinated now!
12. Be an extra in a movie. If anyone has connections and needs "Asian woman #1" in the crowd, I am SO there!
13. Learn how to sew. Not the I-sewed-a-pair-of-pajama-pants-in-junior-high kind of sew.  More like the project-runway-and-crafty-lady-bloggers kind of sew.  
14. Read War and Peace in English.  Yikes!  I need to get a copy.
15. Read War and Peace in Russian. Double yikes!  Lee brought home a copy from his mission (I only brought home Pushkin and other poets)--I will be reading the English and Russian side by side.

I better get cracking--there's no time like the present! And if you have any lovely thoughts on how to do a few of these things, I'd love to hear your suggestions!


This is my entry in the Just Ask Bucket List Getaway Giveaway. Just Ask offers a breast and ovarian cancer screening and is encouraging people to share 15 things that I want to enjoy in my lifetime as a reminder to be aware of my health. Want to enter? Head over to TodaysMama.com to get the details.