Can you also believe that we've been here two years already? So that's one more to go as it stands at the moment. Our "bucket list" has not had too much more crossed off it so we have to make more of a concerted effort this year as we kind of relaxed on it last year, having been pretty diligent in ticking things off in 2008.
So what's been going on in CT lately then? Well, Ian made the local TV news whilst fighting a fire in Glastonbury near the ferry crossing. A barn went up quite well and Company 2 were called as the nearest station. Ian was out in the car with Maddy, so by the time he reached the station, the engine was just pulling out so he decided to follow it straight to the scene. With the sirens going on the engine, Maddy decided to give Ian his own, living version of a siren :-D As they followed along behind, our hound howled her heart out in an attempt to not be out done and clear the route for them!
Once at the scene, Ian was manning one of the hoses when the TV crew turned up. On that evening's newscast, he was front and centre for all to see. He then got some added air time when one of his colleagues was being interviewed and Ian was in the background getting his kit off (wolf whistle!!). Although we are unable to share the TV footage of the incident, see if you can spot our hero in these pictures.
Speaking of Maddy, she's now graduated from obedience training :) We've come to realise that dog training is a lifelong exercise and she certainly needs it. When you are out with her and have food then she's a totally different dog to the one you take out without food! She's getting the hang of some things that are totally against her nature, like impulse control around food (there's a theme here!) and she's not jumping up as much. But she's still a beagle at heart.
This was demonstrated recently when she stayed with one of our friends while we were both away for a few days. Vicky has a fenced yard and the curious, scent-sniffing beagle managed to find the one weak point in the fence and escaped. She went on a solo excursion around East Glastonbury before a kind lady picked her up. She tried to call Annalie but she was in India with work so the phone didn't connect that well. By the time Annalie knew what was going on, she finally managed to get in touch with the lady concerned who told us she'd ultimately called the dog warden. So Maddy had a few hours in doggy jail until Ian got over there to pick her up. Not such the angel she makes out that she is!
Winter here in CT has been a strange affair. We've had nowhere near as much snow as last winter. And the snow that we have had has disappeared within the week as the temperatures have been incredibly mild, bringing more rain than white precipitation! We haven't been up on the slopes at all this winter, although we do have our little doggy to consider too, but she has plenty of fans who would look after her for the day if we asked nicely. Apparently the snow in Vermont has been OK, but then it's much further north.
Talking of the more Northern states, Ian took a few days out to go up to Maine with some of his fellow firefighters to go snowmobiling. Even the snow up there was patchy, forcing them to change the location of their trip at the last minute. Their original destination, Eagle Lake, didn't have enough snow for them to make the most of it, so they moved their trip to Kokadjo, which had better conditions. Here there was lots of fun to be had with boys toys, covering 200-300 miles a day.
The trips they took meant that Ian encountered many unusual sights. These included a pair of antique steam train engines, just sat in the middle of nowhere. They also rode across frozen lakes that were several miles wide and a few moose dotted here and there. But really, it was just like the rest of Maine. Miles and miles of nothing!
During the winter there is also a national ritual called the Superbowl. The whole country comes to a standstill as friends host parties for each other and the nation focuses on what the best adverts were. The ad slots in the Superbowl are probably THE most expensive slots in the world/year. A 30-second spot can cost millions of $. But it has to be said that this year's fayre was pretty poor compared to the normal standard. The biggest news was who wasn't advertising, after Pepsi pulled its usual ad spots and decided to spend £20 million on a social media campaign instead.
Anyway, Ian and Annalie had different offers for the night. Annalie headed over to Vicky's for a girlie Superbowl with Suzanne and Wendu, while Ian headed over to Mickey's. Having just got back from Singapore, Annalie was pretty jet-lagged, so part way through the third quarter she started to fade and was nodding off throughout the remainder of the game! We were all rooting for the Indianapolis Colts (for varying reasons!) but as Rolls-Royce has a big site there, we only thought it was fair. Unfortunately, despite being a close game, they lost out to the New Orleans Saints.
The 2010 season of Ian's favourite sport starts fairly soon, but we got to experience a treasured piece of baseball a bit early. The World Series trophy, won last season by Ian's beloved New York Yankees, was on show at Mohegan Sun one Saturday, so we duly headed down there to get a close up view of the famous silverware. The queue to take photos with it was tiny so we duly took a shot. Don't you think Ian looks like a security guard with the way he's standing?! Annalie is sure it is just pride though ;-)
And finally Annalie has been getting more involved in her football team (she refuses to call it soccer!). There have been socials arranged to try and bond the team. The first of which involved a night out in Hartford. Annalie played out until nearly 1am, and then got up at 6.30am to go to boot camp at the gym! Now that's dedication for you! Or is it just because she wanted to work off the Guinness she'd been drinking the night before? ;-)
