Ice Fishing

I went ice fishing with Jason yesterday. Really. I did. There are no pictures to prove this because I found out the battery in our camera was dead when we were about....oh....smack dab in the middle of Schoodic. It was either the battery or it was so frickin' cold that even the camera wouldn't come out and play.

So here's the thing. I went ice fishing a lot more when Jason and I were dating/engaged. And I'm afraid that I may have lead him to believe that I like ice fishing much more than I do. But in MY defense, I thought I DID like ice fishing much more than I actually do.

Here's the rub. All of the ice fishing I did when we were dating/engaged went like this: We visited his parents (who live directly on the lake). Jason would wake up at the butt crack of dawn and go out to the ice shack (which was permanently placed on the ice for the winter, and had a wood stove in it!). He would set the traps and have the stove crankin' and ready to cook a yummy breakfast on. I would wake up out of my cozy bed whenever the heck I wanted, take my time and then radio out to Jason when I was ready to come out. He would then drive his parents snowmobile home to get me and we would ride out to the shack with my arms wrapped around him. We would eat and play games in the spacious shanty and run out with excitement any time we saw a flag. And we always saw flags and caught fish! Now THAT is some sweet ice fishing. And that is what I thought ice fishing was. I DO like that! Sign me up for that kind ANY day!

However, my friends, that is a stark contrast to the kind of ice fishing we do now. We don't have all of the luxuries that we had at his parents house and so this is what it looks like now: (First of all I want you to know that I went on this fishing trip because I was told I would catch lots of big togue just by jigging from the shack.) Just the other day I woke up super early and layered up. We drove a little over an hour and then hunted up and down camp roads until we found a road with camps that looked very unoccupied. We parked off the side of the road and loaded all of our gear up on our backs and onto the pop-up shack. We trudged through the snow on some strangers property (sketchy if you ask me) and accessed the lake. We then hauled our bums and gear all the stinkin' way out into the middle of the lake. My hot breath and running snot froze quickly on my neck-up and then adhered itself to my face. Awesome! My eyes watered in the face of the howling wind and then the water froze on my eyelashes and stuck my eyes shut. Super awesome! (Ripping eyelashes out of your skin everytime you blink rocks!)

We reached our destination and set up the shack. Don't get me wrong. I'm grateful for it. But it's pretty darn cramped in there. As we unpacked I discovered the camera battery was dead and Jason didn't pack the cribbage board and cards (a necessary staple for any ice fishing excursion). Just as Jason went to set up the tiny heater, the leg that props it up snapped right off. I literally thought I was going to cry when I thought my saving grace (the mini propane heater) was going to be rendered useless. Luckily Jason rigged it up to still work and I huddled around that bugger trying to get warm inside while Jason set traps. (which I thought we weren't doing because I thought we were just jigging.) Then he decided we weren't in the right spot. So we broke it all down and moved further out...just as I was getting warm. An hour and a half later Jason finally drilled a hole and set me up to jig. Guess how many fish I caught. Mmmm Hmmmm. You guessed it. NONE!!!! Guess how many times I'm going ice fishing again. Mmmm Hmmmm. You guessed it. NONE!!! I don't do THAT kind of ice fishing no more!

The Sparks Are a Flyin'

No, this is not a post about our relationship. (But rest assured the sparks are fine there too.) Perhaps you noticed that in the previous post I mentioned that Jason was trying to fix the stove. (The operative word there is trying.)

You see, about a month ago I pressed the 'bake' button on our oven and the entire electrical display screen fell into the inside of the stove. Jason finally got around to fixing it on Sunday. He examined the issue and found that it was attached by some plastic brackets. Jason concluded that the heat must have weakened the plastic brackets and caused them to break. "How dumb of the designer to use plastic!" he commented.

He decided to create his own new system to hold the display on. He got some metal strapping, shaped it into forms he needed and had it attached lickety split. Good as new.

Later, I had made a scrumptious new fish chowder recipe and decided I needed some toasted bread to accompany it. I sliced up a yummy wheat loaf and laid the pieces out on a cookie sheet with plans to bake them. I pressed a few buttons and popped the oven onto 375.

Loud screaming. Lots and lots of loud, blood curdling screaching soon followed as the angry oven display spit sparks out at me. "AHHHHH. Jason! JASON! THERE'S SPARKS FLYING OUT OF THE OVEN! WHAT DO I DO!? JASON! I'M AFRAID TO TOUCH IT, I CAN'T TURN IT OFF WHAT DO I DO!? AHHHHH!" That's pretty much how it went.

Jason came tearing down the hall and bravely (okay, kind of girly, hesitantly as if he was unsure if he was going to be electrocuted or not) turned the oven off.

The sparks stopped and I stated the obvious, "Maybe there was a reason the designer used plastic."

A Rare Glimpse

I know I haven't posted in a while. Life's just been the same old same old. But I've recently had a burst in blog-worthy experiences and I'm dying to share. The following is a conversation that occurred in our home the other night that provides rare glimpse inside the brain of one Jason York.

The Setting: Sarah is watching an infomercial about an amazing food chopper. Jason is trying to fix the stove. He cannot see the TV but can hear the audio.

Jason: (Out of the absolute, frickin' blue) "Sometimes it's really fun when I can't see the TV but I can hear the sound. I like to make up my own stories in my head about what's going on according to the sounds I hear."

The TV: Wolf Gang Puck demonstrates how his food processor can chop ice in seconds flat. Some woman with way too much makeup on completely overreacts, "Wow!" as if he has just performed some kind miracle right in front of her eyes, "That was amazing!."

Jason: "Like that one. That right there was someone getting their arm sawed off and then some lady watching was like, 'Wow, that was incredible!'"

Sarah: Completely laughing her bum off.

Jason: "Did I just say all that out loud?"

A Little Piece of Heaven!

Oh the joy! It's snowing again and I have the day off. It's been leisurely. A little pre-storm shopping trip and work-out. Some cleaning and organizing of the basement and now just pure relaxation, nuzzled in the corner of the couch gazing out my window at the falling flakes.

You know what makes this even better? A little piece of heaven I like to call...the Coca-Mocha. I don't care what you say, my mom coined that term when I was a child and and also invented the drink. I had not had this blissful beverage in YEARS and this morning as I rolled my shopping cart down the coffee aisle in the grocery store I decided it was high time to make it a York family tradition as well. If you do not know what I'm talking about, let me introduce you to this warm mug of deliciousness!

You make a mug of your favorite hot chocolate. Then you add a spoonful of instant coffee. Top off with a touch of creamer, stir it up and you've got yourself a Coca-Mocha! (A little whip cream never hurt anyone either!) It couldn't be any simpler...and yet it couldn't be any yummier! It's bound to make any snow storm complete!

Odds and Ends

This week has been busy because I've been doing some training for work and I spent every day in a drab room trying not to fidget so much that I shake the whole table and then coming home and studying. But that's done and I passed everything with a 100%!

However I did get some quality (much needed) time in with friends. Krissy was in town so we went out to a lovely dinner and had fun catching up. Then I stopped by Tara's the next day and Steph and Jesse were there. We had some good girl talk and discovered some unknown inventions that really blew our minds (sorry that one was a bit of an inside joke). And the next day I played hair stylist and gave Steph a haircut and then Steph, Tara, Jesse and I went to Margaritas for a little going away celebration dinner to bid Steph fairwell as she heads to Vermont Saturday :(We're all in denial that she's actually leaving). But thanks to a great man named Ryan, she'll be coming back in half a year to be his wife anyway!

All in all a good week and I'm looking forward to getting back to my old work schedule where I don't have to work 5 days a week!

Productivity

Despite the fact that I did not emerge from under the covers until about 11am, today has been a very productive day! I took full advantage of sleeping in until 9am and then stayed nestled under my covers watching TV with the animals for another few hours. Don't think I got out of bed because I finally got motivated to do something with my day. It was purely because, by that time, every television show was either a children's animated cartoon or an infomercial and I could no longer justify my laziness by saying I was catching up on "current events" (read: the Britney breakdown and celebrity dish) by watching the "news" (read: The Sat. Morning Early Show).

But believe you me, once I hauled my bum out of bed I hopped to it! I made a list and went to town. I cleaned the entire house, watered and repotted plants, took down the Christmas decorations, organized, labeled and stored them and then went through all of my junk in the basement, sorting, tossing, donating and organizing. Soon our whole basement storage rooms will be a delight to my eyes with every item labeled and stored in nice neat rubbermaid tote towers! The extreme amount of joy that this brings me raises some concerns about my sanity, but what can I say, I love organization almost more than life itself!

I'm pretty exhausted, but it feels great. It's been a good and productive day! Now I shall eat my Olive Garden leftovers from the wonderful dinner date Jason and I had last night (thanks to a generous gift card from his brother for Christmas) and all will be well with the world!

Maine, the way winter SHOULD be!

ANOTHER SNOW STORM! Back to back snow storms! Yipee! Wahoo! Hurray! I can't get enough! This is the Maine winter I know and love (and has been in hibernation for the past several years!) Love it! Love it! Love it!