The Goodrums

Um, what century were they living in?

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_12610567

On our second night in Denver, I went to "cook dinner" (a skillet sensation number since we were still living in a hotel). I realized I needed a little bit of oil for the pan. I was excited to remember that I had some cooking oil stashed away in our overly packed car. I went out to the car to rescue the cooking oil and found it frozen solid. Frozen cooking oil is similar in consistency to Crisco. It has to be pretty darn cold for cooking oil to freeze. It was -8 that night (without wind chill). I took some pictures of our frozen cooking oil since I got such a kick out of it (and, really, what are the chances of something like that happening again). There are pictures to compare - frozen and then after it thawed again.















Frozen Oil














Before and After...

While we were staying in the hotel, we also bought a frozen pizza and then realized that this hotel didn't have an oven. So we were stuck with a frozen pizza and no way to cook it. Our dilemma increased when we realized that we had to check out of the hotel on Wednesday morning and that our refrigerator wouldn't show up with the movers until Friday (we replaced our range - so couldn't cook the pizza at the house yet either). Michael kept suggesting that we bury the pizza in the snow until the refrigerator showed up. It probably would have worked if the weather had stayed as cold as it was those first few days. Unfortunately, the weather was "mild" for a few days (read upper 30s) and the pizza became acquainted with one of the nearby dumpsters.

Right now it is -1 degrees outside. It snowed all day. This morning when we went out the Saturn was covered in about 2 inches of snow. I would guesstimate that we got at least another 2 inches during the rest of the day.

Tonight: Bitterly cold. Mostly cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. Low -8F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.
- Courtesy of the Weather Channel

Keep in mind -8 is the flat temperature - not the feels like/wind chill. Brrr... No nice, mild weather to transition to our new climate.

"After bible study, our group normally goes over to Incontro - a pub around the corner. Some people get a beer, some people get water, and we all just hang out for a while. Wanna come?"

Cracking me up... Talk about the polar opposite extreme of from whence we came. After three years of living in the deep South, the invite caught us a tad bit off guard. Michael and I laughed pretty hard about the contrast in cultures later.

We've really enjoyed the people we've met in Massachusetts. We're going to be sad to leave in a week.

So I didn't do so much sleeping last night - kept awake by a wild thunderstorm that lasted from about 1am to 5am. 4 hours, so tired, no sleep. Ugh... That is the most frustrating feeling.

Our hotel room is right on the edge of the hotel - which is usually a great thing. Easy access to the car, lots of windows, etc. But last night we caught the brunt of the storm. Heavy rain pounding against the windows, 40 mph winds, constant thunder. I was so tired but couldn't sleep - not even with two pillows over my head. Since we're in a single room set up, I couldn't even go to another room and read a book or watch TV until the storm passed (since I would have disturbed Michael, who managed to sleep through it all!).

I keep learning more and more about our new "home." I wouldn't have thought that the northeast would get such strong thunderstorms - especially in November.

A friend of a friend took her cat to the groomers for a haircut. She asked for a LINE cut. The cat came back with a LION cut.

My friend was sharing the story with her coworkers. One of her coworkers piped in about how her elementary age daughter was having trouble with grammar lessons in school. She had been studying with her daughter and trying to help her. In the lion – line discussion, she helpfully chimed in that LION and LINE were one of “them there homonyms.”

Only in the deep south (LION and LINE really are pronounced the same by many down here)…

On Friday night, we went to a little get together with some people from the media team at our church. We each brought some sort of side dish to the gathering. One couple brought a party staple - "Rotel."

When we first moved to Mississippi, "Rotel" was quite the anomaly. The first time we were at a party and someone said, "You made Rotel!" the concept was lost on us. We thought that someone had dumped a can of Rotel in that crock pot and that everyone was excited about it. Alas, in Mississippi "Rotel" is what we formerly knew as "Queso."

Could you imagine going to a restaurant outside of the South and ordering "Rotel"??? They would probably look at you really funny and bring you an aluminum can of tomatoes and chiles.

We have finally adapted to the point that we aren't puzzled every time someone says that they are bringing "Rotel" to a party - but it still makes us giggle a little... and probably always will. :)