Eating cash

So sometime yesterday I got lost in the maze of Macleans.ca. I think it started with a funny "how to keep your job" article... and somehow I ended up on this bit about how to cook "good" meals for about 50 dollars a week.

Heh. 50 dollars a week. I remember when I used to live on that. Granted I was living with three other people in Ottawa and we all probably contributed that much a week. We ate like kings. It was great.

Now I live alone, in Nunavut, and probably spend three times what I did back then. I'm cooking for one most of the time, which means more waste and fewer options. And it gets complicated when disaster strikes (like it did this week) and food mail is delayed by 2 or 3 days because the planes have gone mechanical. You end up with dregs in the fridge and no staples (I've been without margarine for days, but I have it coming on food mail... and I know the moment I buy margarine the flight will land in Rankin and I'll have doubles of all the things I spent way too much on at the Northern. Frustrating.

Then I came across this blog. Premise: three friends (Tracey, Jeff, Jennifer) started a challenge called "The Working Poor Diet." If you've heard of this idea before, I'm not surprised. I understand it's been done for fund raising purposes in other places. Basically, each of them had 80 dollars for the entire month of February for groceries/food.

The rules: No free food (that means office snacks and free samples are out). No skipping meals. You must start from scratch - - no cupboard stocks. And the meals should match daily recommendations by Canada's Food Guide.

Holy crow. Not easy.

Honestly, if I lived down south, I really think I could get by on 50 dollars a week no problem. I never really ate out much when I was a kid... and to date prefer to cook my own meals. If it were just me, I'd probably eat out maybe three times a month. And that includes fast food meals.

But 80 bucks for a month... without pantry buffer? I don't know if I could do it! Well, that's a lie, I could do it, but I probably never would because I would prefer to have more variety and I like to dazzle my tastebuds from time to time.

Anyways, while I don't think I'll be giving that one a try in the near future... especially when I live in the north (though it would be interesting to see how long 80 bucks would last up here. I'm thinking a week and half), but it would be interesting to try a food budget. We say that the costs are basically twice what you pay in the south... but that really varies according to item. Some things, like milk and bread (I know, I know, how many times am I going to whine about the price of milk?) are about three times the price of what you'd pay in the rest of Canada. And I tell you, I certainly don't get paid twice what I did in Quebec.

But maybe it's time to figure out exactly how much it costs me to eat up here. I'm thinking it's a pretty gross amount.

Escape to the land of coral

Haha, as I wrote the title for this blog post, I was thinking "hmmm... wonder if Mr. Meandering Michael thinks I'm swiping his Queensland idea" ... but I'm not. I'm talking about a veeeryyy different type of coral.

I'm speaking of Coral Harbour, of course!

For those who aren't really all that familiar with Coral Harbour, it's located on Southampton Island, which juts out into the middle of Hudson Bay. I think it's probably the farthest "into" Hudson's Bay I'll ever get... being as most of the other little islands are uninhabited... or Sanikiluaq.

And being as it took me about a year and a half to get to Coral... and very little news-worthy takes place in Sani.... I think it's safe to say that I'll never be further out again.

So yes, I'm here for work. We happen to have a crazy shortage of reporters in Iqaluit right now (training, babies popping out, deaths in the family... broken legs... um... other natural disasters) and so we are in desperate need of stories... and the best place to send this reporter for tons of stories with quick turn-arounds is a meeting. And lo and behold, the Kivalliq Mayor's meeting is being held this week in Coral Harbour.

Yah, I know. Everyone hates meetings. But I heart them. They may be a bit tedious... but arm me with a mug full o' coffee... and a backup can of sugarfree Redbull (yes, disgusting, but necessary when you are still writing stories after 12 hours of work...) and I'm good to go. It's one-stop-shopping at its finest.

So I've been boarding with this sweet older couple in town. He's a justice of the peace, and she's cute as a button. They make me breakkie in the morning (eggs, toast, bacon/sausage... you sure you don't want cereal too??) and dinner at night... which is why I've been eating so much caribou meat! But that's okay with me, I actually really like caribou (as long as it's cooked). And it's also how I ended up eating igunak.

So for those of you who don't know, igunak is "raw walrus meat which has been wrapped and buried and left to decompose for at least a year." Sounds tasty eh? Well, as the story goes I actually didn't KNOW it was igunak until AFTER I tried it, they told me it was just regular muktah.

(And I don't actually really care for muktah, but I have a rule where if I'm offered something, especially as a guest, I try it.)

But then when the daughter was asking her mom if she wanted some, she called it igunak. And the man who offered it to me said it was probably a little "strong" for me haha. And then asked if I knew how they made it strong and I was right by answering that they wrapped and "aged it" or something along those lines.

So while I never really had any interest in trying igunak... I did, unintentionally, last night... and I will probably not partake again. I tried it. Then covertly hid what was left in the pouch of my hoodie, and disposed of it in the washroom. I don't think I fooled anyone though, haha.

But I have to say, I quite like it here. I don't know if I'd really want to live here... maybe a tad small (less than a thousand people here)... but the people are just so sweet... driving me to the hamlet office (even though it's only a five minute walk away...) loaning me a router (my Qiniq one of course managed to die as soon as I left Rankin. And that was the ONLY way I was going to be able to file items for news....man was I panic-ing about that one). Just really nice people being kind to a newcomer in town.

Much better that the "Coral Horror" stories I'd heard before I left.

Oh, and Jason from Igloolik... if you'd like to send me your mailing address, I'll send your prize... how did you know I was in Coral!??

Reflections on a Sealift order

So while I sit here and gulp down bottle two of FORTY of Cranberry COCKTAIL (Horray! Got the right one!)... I thought it might be fitting to evaluate the stack of no-name cream soda boxes that have set up camp in my kitchen.

I did my sealift through Sealift Express. That's the sealift set up by the Northern. I did this for three reasons:
- You could order online (and they had little pictures of the items - I'm a visual person)
- You didn't have to pay upfront.
- I (naievely thought) it seemed simpler

And the boy and I did ours together, which we THOUGHT would be easier, but in reality just turned out to be more difficult, and probably wasn't worth the measly $100 bucks we saved in crating fees.

The first problem was that while our order had to be in for the beginning of August, we only received it yesterday. That seemed like an AWFUL long time... but maybe that's typical.

The second problem is that MONTHS after making our order - and 3 days before the final sailing date for the ENTIRE YEAR leaving Churchill - they sent an email saying that we weren't going to get all of our Diet pop (aka, all MY pop) nor the kitty litter we ordered. I was NOT impressed. I did sealift for two reasons: Dog food and pop. Now I wasn't getting any pop. And it was too late to try and get any on any other sealifts. We were screwed.

So I had accepted that, and moved on... the sealift arrived at the end of October... * and they just got around to delivering mine this week - guess they had a lot of orders.

We waffle a bit on a delivery day, and finally pick Monday night. When the grocery guy calls he asks which batch they can deliver first: mine or Jeff's. I think how amazingly organized they must be to know which items from our combined order go to his place, and which goes to mine. Keep in mine the boy's still on vacation until next week.

Waaaait a minute. That's not possible. There is no way they know that HE ordered cream soda, and I ordered kleenex. That the bleach is his, but the toilet paper's mine.

Turns out when Jeff was figuring out what items he wanted, he created a "basket" on the site. Then, the Northern approved and shipped his shopping basket, even though he never fully "checked out".

So we have doubles of some things: like air freshener and grape juice... and they gave HIM diet pop - - MORE than I had ordered, but they couldn't send me because they "ran out."

But I have to say, the Northern took care of it, and told us we could have whatever we wanted from the accidental order, and that they'd absorb whatever we didn't want. So I'm going to buy the diet pop back, and I think Jeff's going to keep some garbage bags or something... and then they will keep the rest.

And another really great thing about the Nothern's sealift is they take it right into your house for you. Four poor sweaty teenage boys lugged all my cranberry juice (and MUCH MORE) into my place after work on Monday. I put most of it away, but a bunch still sits in my kitchen, blocking my way to the sink. That's okay thought, its not like I like doing dishes anyways.

So, would I do it again? I'm honestly not sure yet. What COULD have been a really big hassle turned out to be no big deal, so that was nice. But I'm not convinced that we're really saving all that much money. Shipping after all was .55 cents/lb . But we'll have to see. I definitely don't regret buying all that cranberry juice, and it's nice to have paper towel again... and the dog food is really nice to have too...

But I think I'll just have to reserve judgement until I find out how long these supplies will last me.


*PS, Thanks alot Megan, I've now become hyper aware of every time I do that little "tap tap tap" with my right ring finger.

Lactose sucks

Stuuuupid Jackie.

The first thing I checked for lactose was my favourite snack food in the world...

Lays.

Salt and Vinegar.

Chips.

#@$^%$@$$%!!!

Other things in my fridge/freezer that contain dairy/lactose:

• The GIANT brick of old cheddar I bought this week
• The quesidillas in my freezer
• The bag of cheezy-broccoli in my freezer

The list goes on, but I'm too sad to list them all. Basically everything I own and love to eat involves some kind of dairy. You could put grated cheese on a rock and I'd eat it. I'm starting to think I may have to take back my "it won't be so bad" statement.

At least the 40 1.89L bottles of Cranberry Juice I ordered are lactose-free. Can a person live on cranberry juice alone?

One week

That's how long I have to go without dairy.

Not because I really want to, or because it's some sort of bizarre challenge... but my stomach has been bothering me for the past month or so, and the nurses at the Health Centre have decided that based on my family history, this was the best place to start.

Oh wait. I don't HAVE any family history of lactose intolerance.

But apparently that doesn't matter.

So I'm on a dairy-free diet right now. And it kind of sucks. Granted, I only started it at about 2pm... so it's been 5 hours, and I've not eaten anything since then... but just the IDEA of no milk, no ice cream, NO CHEESE (?!?!) is causing some deep dispair.

But honestly, with the exception of the cheese part... (and if it were long term, the ice cream part too - - I do love me some Scotsburn Peanut Butter Fudge Crunch) I don't think it will be TOO hard. But then I've never really had to exclude a food group before.

And if it saves me the pain, anguish and sick days... then bring it on.

Broccoli and Cauliflower heaven

Ever since I moved up here, I've had this craving.

Not an all-consuming-if-I-don't-get-some-right-now kind of craving. But a man-I-miss-such-and-such-it-is-so-tasty kind of craving.

A craving for the broccoli/cauliflower/cheese concoction that I used to get every now and then from The Commensal in Quebec City.

Back in the days when I worked at the CBC in QC (hey! that rhymes if you say it in your head! The letters, not the whole sentence, I mean.) I rarely went home for lunch. For a couple reasons.

First: very few people there actually TOOK a lunch break, so I felt like a slacker. (I've now learned the error of my ways).

Second: I lived at the top of a VERY STEEP HILL and was too lazy to go up it more than once a day (I had to get home SOMETIME)

Third: Within 30 seconds walking distance from work was a: Subway, Intermarche (grocery store), The Commensal, and many other tasty places to buy lunch.

I was introduced to The Commensal by a co-worker who is a reformed vegetarian. I wouldn't go there all the time... it was too expensive. While they made some amazing desserts, and rice dishes, and amazing salads... they charged by the weight of the meal. And that can get pricey.

AAAAAANYWAYS. My point is that probably my favourite dish at The Commensal was this broccoli/cauliflower/cheese concoction. I've been meaning to make it for quite some time now, but of all the things I can easily get in the north... cauliflower is not one of them.

But Cantor's has cauliflower on sale this week. Sounds like it's time to make a food mail order....

There are days...

When you wake up, and feel like the world is just so lonely...
When you talk to people and they brush you off...
When you wish you could be back in that three-bedroom apartment, studying for exams and stressing over fake deadlines
When you miss your family.
When you miss your friends.
When you miss your boy.

When the only remedy is an hour-long phone call with a friend more than 3000 kms away...
Some out-of-tune song-writing (...and the phoooone is clooooggeddd up with teeeaaaars)...
A MASSIVE plate of home-made mac-n-cheese...
A big glass of milk...
And The Terminal on DVD.

I don't know why I love this movie so much, but I do. Probably because I've spent so many hours in airport terminals over the past couple years... and get a HUGE kick out of Tom Hanks' lost in translation.

"Keep the change"

Contest time!

O-kay.
It's time to play everyone's favourite game...

"How much did that cost at the Northern?"

Please examine the photo below.




















You estute shoppers will note I have placed on my useless push-y cart, the following items

• a green pepper
• a cucumber
• a head of iceberg lettuce
• a mango
• a bewildered puppy (because my collection of fruits/veggies looked kind of boring, and I thought bewildered puppy would spice it up a bit)

Now, dear readers, tell me.

How much do you think they cost?

This is the way the game will work. You tell me the cheapest item, and the most expensive item, and how much you think they cost.

Who ever wins get some kind of trinket prize from Ivalu here in town. Seriously, a trinket. It will cost less than 5 bucks. But it's fun!

So tell me, how much did they cost!?


UPDATE: BEWILDERED PUPPY IS NOT INCLUDED IN THE CONTEST!

UPDATE TO THE UPDATE: UPDATE:

Contestants have until Thursday, October 23rd at 5pm Central to enter.

Aka when I get home from work tomorrow.

There's no clear winner just yet!

mmmm mussels...

Well it's mussel-picking time in Rankin Inlet. What a glorious time of year.

A bunch of us went out at low tide yesterday to pick our haul of mussels (quite likely 20lbs worth...) and then ate them at the cabin shortly thereafter.

Deeeelish.

Of course, there were TONS to spare... and so the boy and I are going to try to re-create a dish we had in Greece.... which we dubbed "curry-saffron mussels."


Here's hoping it works out.......

All you need is char!

I have char coming out my ears.

And I love it.

I have been eating it just about every meal and snack for the past couple days.

I finally defrosted what was left of the char I bought for 20 dollars back in the fall... and have been eating it for supper/lunch ever since. And I've been spending the week at the Nunavut Association of Municipalities AGM and they SOMEHOW GOT THEIR HANDS ON ENDLESS SUPPLIES OF SMOKED CHAR.

As I mentioned, I haven't been able to get my hands on any smoked char for over a month now. So I've been scarfing it down at every opportunity... and yesterday... I'm not proud of this... but I took a styrofoam cup and filled it up with char, and kidnapped it for a snack later in the evening.

Hi, my name is Jackie, and I am a char-aholic.

The epic mozza battle

I don't know what it is lately, but I think I've reverted to my five-year-old self.

You know, where you want one food, and only one food, and it doesn't matter what you have in the rest of your fridge/cupboad... all you want is to take a mustard sandwich to school, point finale. (For the record, I never ate mustard sandwiches, but a kid in my sister's class did, and has become famous for it).

Now there's a bit of a flaw in that paragraph... my parents say I wasn't a picky eater... and that's lasted into adulthood...

But here I am, with the eating habits of someone else's five-year-old self.

Last week it was toast. Toast and raspberry jam.

The week before it was potatoes. With all the toppings.

I think before then it was fish-burgers... and long before that was pepperoni pizza (thank god that one's over, it was getting expensive!)

Now it's mozza sticks.

It all started a week or so ago, when I went out to dinner with two friends of mine, and one ordered the mozza sticks as an appetizer. I nearly died. They were the most delicious mozza sticks of my very short life. I somehow managed to only devour two. They weren't mine after all. Then I had a brainstorm.

Frozen mozza sticks. From the Northern. Yummie, right?

NO. NOT YUMMIE. They were squishy, bland, and the colour was all wrong*. The "batter" was yellow, not crispy golden brown. It was beyond disappointing.

So Friday, after working a bit later than usual ... I decided to treat myself. Go to the Wolf and get take-out mozza sticks. You know, return to my roots, yo.

Cost for 6 mozza sticks? 17 bucks. That's right. 17 bucks.

I sincerely hope there was some kind of mixup. That I was charged for the ENTREE of mozza sticks rather than the APPETIZER... but I didn't say anything. I had tunnel vision. Inside that little rhombus Styrofoam temple was my dream-mozza sticks. And a piddly thing like cash wasn't going to stop me from chowing down.

Since then, I've come to my senses. There is no way I'm going to let some fried cheese put me in the poor house. So I've decided instead to make my own. I will be the "mozza-stick woman" in Rankin Inlet. I'll give them out as Halloween candy. They will make their way into Christmas stockings. Into plastic Easter eggs.

It will be divine.

To be continued (quite possibly later tonite after the first batch is made...)

*PS, to Tina, these sad, wilty mozza sticks were actually made by those same eegits who make the jalapeño poppers. Why did I even bother?

Paradoxi (yes, I made that up)

Things I don't like but forget I don't like until it is too late and I'm eating it or have already bought it.

1. Jello (the inspiration for this post. I'm sitting at my desk, spoon in a little Jello snack pack thingie, and I'm having some serious troubles making the slithery, wiggly stuff go down my throat. It looks so much fun! Why don't I like it?)
2. Gum (Robyn? Andrea?) The number of times I stand at the checkout and eye what PROMISES to be a really fun flavour of gum... only to pay for it, unwrap the little sucker, and realize that I don't like it. This applies to gum in general. Not just weird flavours. I just don't do gum.
3. Pogos (not the bouncy toy, but the meat on a stick). As a rule, I'm not the world's biggest fan of hot dogs. But that just goes right out the window when I see them impaled on a stick with a golden batter outside... and (as it shows on the box) a snaky line of mustard or ketchup just for kicks.

Why do foods I don't really care for always look so fun?

Also:

I just made/ate the world's tastiest omelette.

Onion and mushroom in the food processor. Mix with eggmar. Cover with pot lid in frying pan. Sprinkle some old cheddar. Re-cover with pot lid until cooked. Flip ontop of self.

Enjoy.

Remind me again why I don't always have mushrooms in the house????

PS I would have taken a picture, but I ate it too fast, that's how yummie it was!

Pleasantly surprised

Ok, so on today's edition of "found at the Northern"... we have a special segment.

It's called "things I thought would be gross but really aren't"


Seriously. I remember once seeing this in Quebec and was like GROSS. Why would anyone do that!??!! (Much the same opinion I have of Clamato juice... don't get me started)

Many moons later... and millions of kilometres away from a good smoked salmon... my opinion has changed.

There is no smoked char left in town.

And so I bought this.

And you know what. It is delish. Absolutely wonderful. And just think... I save so much money eating Philly's smoked salmon cream cheese...

Because otherwise I'd be buying the cream cheese, the salmon/char AND the cracker paraphernalia...

I'm a genius. Oh and I'll give some of the credit to Kraft too.

Yummie

These are the most decadent "granola bars" of all time. I scarfed one down today (the Moccacino one)... and instantly regretted it. I should have savoured it. It deserved a latte or a cup of espresso.

So divine.

Rankin ramblings

I'm torn.

I can't decide which is better/worse:

To be sick and stay at home and get no work done all day (leaving others to pick up your slack... at least in my profession)

Or to be sick and come to work, functioning maybe at half-capacity (if that) but also possibly infecting fellow co-workers.

There's a not-so-fun cold bug going around Rankin these days. Coworker 1 was out most of last week... Coworker 2 had it this weekend... and Coworker 3 (who never ever takes time off due to illness) just left to go home for the rest of the day.

I have no desire to come down with this thing. Granted I'm always a fan of a little extra sleep... but not if it comes with a razor-blade throat and achy body.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but it actually feels like it is getting a bit warmer. I don't think we had a -50 (or lower) day at all last week... which is a VAST improvement. And I've been doing more walking than usual (for me) the past week as well.

Our poor decrepit work vehicle (which, mind you, is just 2 years old) is still DOA. He's been frozen stiff for over a week now. It makes things a lot harder from a reporting point of view. It's times like these I wish we had a backup snowmobile or something. At least then it would be easier to get around and talk to people.

I just got a kind of funny phone call, from this gourmet shop in the states. I was watching Martha Stewart (lol, I know, shocker) on Friday and there was this fellow from Sardinia sharing recipes etc. Anyways, they mentioned you could get a couple of the ingredients on their website (www.gourmetsardinia.com) ... things that would otherwise be impossible (for me anyways) to get my hands on. So I sauntered over to the site, and picked a couple things to buy (Bottarga and Fregula) but it didn't work, so I didn't give it a second thought. Just shrugged and thought "no biggie." My life wasn't going to be worthless without Fregula.

Anyways, they just called me, apologizing for it not going through, and they were swamped with orders... and it just struck me as quaint, sweet and funny all at the same time. Some dude's who appeared on Martha Stewart... his store called me to apologize for not being able to immediately process my order.

FINALLY: (I've been working on this blog post intermittently all day) I just got asked by Newsworld to do a story tomorrow morning. 6:25 EST with Madam Hiscox re: the power outages. I should have done this at the end of last week... but with the lack of power and general insanity, it just wasn't going to happen.

Anyways, as someone's said to me in the past... I've officially become CBC's "bad shit is happening in the north" correspondent. But really (*knock on wood*) what ELSE can happen?

Sandwich-savy

I was perfectly happy being a sandwich-hater.

It worked just fine for me all through grade school, jr. high and high school.

I brought leftovers from the night before, and was the first kid I knew to eat Michelina's at lunch.
My sandwich ban was basically without no exception. I say basically... because there was one sandwich I would die for. One sandwich I held above the rest... even denying it belonged to the hated sandwich-family.

The Subway veggie sub.

I went ... from grade four... until after high school never letting another sub cross my lips. The veggie sub carried me through the hard times. When the parents would rush DD and I to play rehearsal right after church. The noon-time dash from Green Gables to the boardwalk... praying we'd beat the lunch rush.

We go way back.

I even went through a stage where I'd make my own at home. With a store-bought sub roll, cutting the bread with the trademark subway oblong scoop (I told the family I was in training for my Subway career)... and stuffing it to the brim with lettuce/tomatoes/green peppers/onions/cheese....

Basically, the Subway veggie sub escaped the three things I hated most about the generic sandwich:

1. sliced bread
2. deli meats
3. tomato/mayo-induced sogginess... from it being made long in advance
   

And then. My mom came to visit me this summer in Quebec.

And we walked to a little deli on St. Jean.

And she bought sliced roast beef.

We ate it on a fresh baguette.

With cheddar cheese, mayo and mustard.

And it was glorious.

I hate to admit it. But it is true. I have fallen for the roast beef "sandwich". But I'm not a complete sellout.

I swear.

I still dislike soggy-ness. I will only eat a sandwich if I make it just before eating it.

And I don't eat it on sliced bread. I am currently in love with "squagels" (square bagels doncha know). OOoo. And its ultra yummie when toasty and warm.

As for my sliced meat kaibash... well. I like roast beef. I'll keep it at that.

Inuit Statistical Profile

I was browsing ITK's website today (Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami... aka the organization that represents Inuit across Canada)... and came across this "neat" staple foods comparison chart.

Keep in mind, this data is about 5 years old. And the prices in Clyde River may be different now... and I'm not sure EXACTLY how they compare to Rankin's. But that looks pretty close, if not a bit "cheap."

I gripe and complain about the cost of food... just as much as anyone. I am often "immune" to the sticker shock... but it is really hard to leave the Northern/Co-op without spending at least $30. It doesn't matter what I buy. It is always $30.

Today: bagles, sliced roast beef, small package of cheese, mayo, mustard: $30.

10lbs Potatoes, sour cream, butter: $30

Pepperoni pizza, 2 cans pepsi, 2L milk: $30

It doesn't matter the nutritional value, it doesn't matter the brand. It is ALWAYS thirty bucks.

Told ya'

Bread section, early this week, Rankin Inlet

The blizzard that never ends

... and the sleep that never comes....

It seems like every day I look at the detailed weather forecast on cbc.ca, the blizzard is predicted to go on. I remember when it was originally "scheduled" to be over by Friday morning.

And to be fair, it did die down Thursday night. Only to wind itself back up in a frenzy early Friday morning.

And I also remember when the forecast said the blizzard would be winding down Saturday night... with clear skies on Sunday...

And the forecast now reads:

Monday..Blizzard ending in the evening then a few clouds. Wind northwest 40 km/h gusting to 60. Temperature steady near minus 33. Wind chill minus 54.

It is almost surreal. It's like someone on the weather desk has forgotten to change the symbols on the map.

"Today: blowing snow, Tomorrow: blizzard"

I actually went out today. I threatened to go out on Friday, but my mom flipped out (via e-mail haha) saying it wasn't smart. So I listened to mother. And stayed indoors.

Today, I went to the Northern. I had no food. It was getting desperate. I hadn't left the house in 7 days, didn't do any REAL grocery shopping since I got back from vacation... and had made a food order. Yah. It was bad.

I dressed up in my finest:

• two pair of socks
• two pair of thermal pants
• a fleece sweater
• a thermal turtleneck with the neck pulled up over my mouth
• a thin scarf covering my nose and mouth
• neoprene face mask/balaclava
• wind-proof pants
• moon boots
• canada goose jacket
• knit scarf over TOP of the jacket, to secure the hood up over my ears
• lubsta claws (as they are affectionately known... they are mitts that happen to be cooked-lobster orange)

The walk over (it takes about 8-10 minutes) was a piece of cake. I actually remember thinking "seriously? This is why I didn't leave the house for the past 4 days?" .....

The walk back, now that was a different story. I actually felt like I was making one step forward, and half a step back every time I moved. Guess that walking with/against the wind really makes a difference eh?

I'm sure I'll look back on this week as the longest blizzard of all time... and smile ... but for now I will sit... and wait... and hope to eventually be able to look out my window and see a bit beyond the nearest lamp-post.