weekend visits from NY and the upper atmosphere

we had a visit on sunday from steve, jodie, and savi! they were here all the way from NY to spend some time with beatrix (and us)! it was great to just hang out, and would have been even better if we had heat. we woke up sunday morning to heat that would not come on (again). we finally got someone over to look at it around four. as it turns out, the clay liner from the chimney had broken loose and crashed down onto the exhaust pipe for our boiler. when it crushed the pipe, the carbon monoxide safety on the boiler kicked in and shut off our heat.

unfortunately, because there was no way for the National Grid guy to inspect the chimney and sign off on how safe it was or not, he not only had to not give us our heat back, but also shut off heat to the other two apartments in our building. sorry, neighbors. we didn't get our heat back until monday, so mommy and bebe went to stay overnight at a friend's house while daddy braved the cold so he could get to work easier in the morning.

it snowed all day long, and then again overnight, but it actually wasn't too cold, and there was no wind so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. it also reminded us (me) to keep fresh batteries on hand for the cO2 monitors in the house. asphyxiation is no fun!

bebe doesn't usually have a hard time finding someone to get down on the floor and play with her. she had stevie in the palm of her hand.

later, they switched places.

do you guys remember that awesome sci-fi tv series from the eighties called "V?" it was the one where aliens land on earth and- surprise! they look just like us and they want to be our friends! only it's revealed that they're actually lizard people wearing human disguises here to enslave us and take over the planet? well, one of the big reveals is when this one foxy human-looking lizard chick pulls a guinea pig or other good sized rodent out of a tank and holds it over her mouth, as her jaws open and open and open and the animal gets stuffed in. whoa, right? my little kid mind was freaked! i was like, is she still foxy? i mean, her whole jaw unhinged and she ate that guinea pig. but she has cool hair. what to do, what to do? anyway, this is a picture of steve feeding bebe to jodie. yum!

stevie and the beebs... reflecting.

then it was time for some football! although she likes basketball best so far, bebe seems to like sports of any kind. she finds the raw display of the human condition to be compelling and engaging while also entertaining and revealing, all at the same time. she's deeper than she looks.

she's pulling for the steelers this year, btw.

and so, yeah, we got some snow.

and then some more snow...

and this little fella was waiting for me when i stepped out the front door- he broke into song as soon as he saw me, setting into motion an elaborate dance routine involving a perfectly placed snow shovel and overturned garbage can! dick van dyke would 'ave been proud. then it was off to another day at the poison tasting factory for me.

the biggest problem with snow in the city is not having any place to put it all after a while. they just pile it up and pile it up...

i don't like the idea of interjecting politics or my political viewpoints into a blog focused on my on-going fatherhood/my daughter, but i felt that today was such a special occasion that it warranted some kind of declaration. so i posted this at my photo blog, and you can take from it what you will:

http://whateverwelose.blogspot.com/2009_01_01_archive.html#4339184224741077010

just sayin'.