Almost Perfect

Our troupe's goal was to make yesterday a perfect day.

And we were almost successful.

Keyword: almost.

The first item on our list was to pay a visit to Santa Claus.  As I mentioned on Facebook earlier, Santa and Mrs. Claus stopped at the Shante (a cozy little coffee shop) in Pillager as a part of their 2013 pre-Christmas World Tour (St. Nick must love to travel).

It is amazing what a difference a year can make.  Last year Santa scared the hell out of the Boy.  Not that I really blamed him for being horrified.  He was asked to sit on the lap of this strange, white-bearded, brilliant red suit-wearing fat man.

It kinda reeks of creepiness when you really think about it.

But this year, the Boy couldn't wait to see Santa.  When we got to the Shante he immediately began his quest to find the man with the bag.  Once in his crosshairs, the Boy made a beeline for the jolly ol' elf, budging in front of all the other good little girls and boys, and climbed on his lap.

Then the Boy commenced to talking Kris Kringle's ear off.

Indeed, what a difference a year makes.

The Girl, now nearly eight, played it cool.  She knows what she wants for Christmas and she knows how to ask for it.  She's even written a letter two letters to Santa ("in case one gets lost") along with a well-organized wish request demand list.

Christmas is serious business in her world.

Budging in line to visit Santa and Mrs. Claus at the Shante, 7 December 2013

After an intense interrogation with Mr. Claus, coffee was enjoyed by the adults and candy canes were consumed by the kids.  Then it was off to Rafferty's for the best cheeseburger pizza in the Brainerd Lakes Area.

The highlight of the day was a family outing to a matinée.  We saw the Disney film  Frozen, and I must say if you have an opportunity to see the movie, do it.  It is an animated musical and it is terrific. It features outstanding original music and has an interesting, fairly complex plot (not your average kids movie!).

I usually don't yack on about movies because most are pretty awful, but this one was special.

The evening was going to conclude with some relaxation at home, perhaps a Bloody Mary and some good college football on the tube.  A perfect ending.

Then I heard the furnace kick on, hum for a minute, fart and shut off.

Uh-oh.

I started to investigate (as if that would help), messed with the thermostat, and again listened to the furnace: click, hum, fart, shut off.

I looked at the trusty Springfield PreciseTemp.  It read -10ºF.

Of course.

Then I glanced at the clock: 6:00 PM on Saturday night.

Of course.

So much for a perfect ending.

I blamed myself for this unfortunate turn of events because just the night before, when it was something like -629ºF, I thought to myself, "Self, I really hope the furnace doesn't crap its pants on a cold night like this."

Well, it didn't crap.  It only farted.  And there we sat broken hearted.

And chilly.

Luckily, I have a protocol in place for just such an emergency.  It's called "Home Service Plus."

After a quick phone call, good news!  A technician was on his way.

The bad news was we could be waiting a while.  Apparently, our furnace wasn't the only one with flatulence last night.  So we arranged electric heaters in strategic places and barricaded ourselves in place.

Four hours later a technician knocked on our door and the problem was fixed in about 25 minutes.  (The thingymebob needed tweaking.  And a doo-hickey was replaced.  Ba-da-bing!  Problem solved.)

~

This morning the Wife and I watched the Girl and the Boy decorate our Christmas tree in a warm house.

8 December 2013

And you know what?  That's perfect enough for me.