TED

About 6 months ago, we welcomed TED(The Energy Detective) into our lives. Bob was so excited it was like getting that shiny red bike on Christmas morning. At first, I didn't think much about it. Bob has been known to get gadgets like this. I mean we have a Watts Up meter, so how bad can it be? And, the principal behind it all--saving energy, is something I was all over, so I thought--let him have his toy. At first, it started slow. He turned it on(and hooked it up and all that jazz) and went around turning off and unplugging everything he could in order to bring down the total. Okay...I can live with that. I mean unplug my coffee maker when I'm not using it. What do I care? I don't use the clock on it or anything, it just makes coffee for me. Then every time I used the vacuum cleaner or the microwave or--god forbid--the toaster he pointed out to me how much energy that item used. I sighed, I shrugged, and, I'll admit it, I cursed, but I thought to myself--don't worry, it will pass.

It didn't.

Now, when he comes home from work he looks at the running total for the day. If I've been home all day working, he'll gasp in shock "What did you do all day that required that much electricity?" and while he is saying that he will run around the house turning off lights, unplugging items, and constantly checking in on TED(mind you, the stereo...it doesn't go off...it is after all THE STEREO).

It is, of course, December now. We have two lovely children who waited patiently this year for their busy parents to find the time to put up their Christmas tree. The day after we put it up we had the lights on all day. Yes, you read right--all day. I would unplug them, but the kids would complain...and whining wears me down. When Bob came home he was livid! What on EARTH could I have been doing all day? I wasn't sure what he meant...and partially, I have come to kind of ignore his goings on about TED. Then he turned off the lights. He checked TED. Then he turned them on again. He checked TED. He gasped! 200 watts! We cannot turn on the Christmas tree he exclaims...what?! No Christmas tree lights? How to explain this to the kids...oh, I know....no lights when Dad is home ;) Now we only plug them in when we listen to Christmas music and feel like dancing!

Merry Christmas. Why not put a TED under your Christmas tree?

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

I am Canadian. I mean it. I REALLY am Canadian. My mother is the daughter of a man who left Scotland on a boat when he was a teenager searching for a better life in the new world. My father is an 8th generation French Canadian. We can trace his family all the way back to France. Wow...how Canadian is that? I remember when I was in University there was a lot of talk about Canadian identity. I mean--who are we? For the most part, we define ourselves in relation to others...primarily the Brits or the Americans. I mean we most definitely are NOT American. We're too apologetic. But what things are we that let us stand on our own. For me...I think of it in relation to snow. Most of us grew up digging forts into snow drifts...listening to the sound of our snow pants rub together as we ran to school...wearing toques, riding toboggans and knowing not to lick cold metallic surfaces. Our varied seasons defined us. And, recently, I have begun to wonder what it would mean to lose those seasons. On November 18th, my family loaded up into the car with the plan to drive until we found snow so that we could take the photo for our Christmas greetings(I'd say card, but I'm more of a digital girl). We had to drive all the way to Banff...and, then...there wasn't much. Just a skiff. And, it got me thinking--for goodness sake(really I used much harsher language, but I'll refrain here) it's the middle of November and there is hardly any snow in Banff!

Of course, the snow situation has changed quite drastically now. There is lots of snow, but it was a very long autumn. And, now people that you meet, curse it. What happened to our warm weather? Where did the lovely fall go? I get this weird feeling in my gut everytime somebody says something like that to me. As far as I'm concerned--Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!!!! The warm weather in the winter only gets me down. That is why I haven't written in awhile. Well, that and the fact that I am working more now. But, sometimes I get down. I get down about this whole global warming thing and I think that we have gone too far to come back. And, that worries me. Not for me, but for my kids. And, I choose not to share that with all of you who look to me for optimistic answers. Sometimes I just don't feel all that optimistic.

So, do me a favor...love the snow and the bite in the air that comes with it. It, too, is so very Canadian.