If you are going to try cross-country skiing, start with a small country. ~ Author Unknown

So, I woke up this morning to the expected winter wonderland.  

 Looking towards the factory

 School building

 My front yard

 Shed next to cold shop

And, this is my view out of the hot shop all day!  Look at those icicles!  What is that word that means death by falling icicle?  Oh well, not important, these aren't that big!

And, here I am in my nice new super warm scarf! Just in case you forgot what I look like ;)

I got to work in the hot shop all day which was really nice.  In the morning I worked with Maja and we practiced making bottles with long necks.  But instead of letting it hang from the blow pipe like before and making the whole thing look kind of like a drop we would take the bottle off the pipe onto a punty and then literally pullllllllllllllllll the neck out from the body.  It was pretty cool and really hard.  At first it was really hard and then all of a sudden the heat is just right and you get a 10 foot long neck!  Ok, that was an exaggeration but you know what I mean I hope.  I continued working on the same thing in the afternoon with Rosanne but on much bigger bottles! I have a few that I think turned out.  We will see tomorrow!! I did them in all clear but some with bubbles which is quite fun! I think I am going to bring some baking soda into school one day and try to make bubbles with that, everyone talks about it but no one does it.  Accidents today at the school for me where at an all time weird.  First, I was cleaning a pipe and a hot piece of glass flew up and got stuck in my hair.  It of course, instantly starts burning my hair, I try to grab it out... cut my finger and manage to only roll it around more in my hair.  So, after that I stink of burnt hair and my finger wont stop bleeding (it has now though).  Then in the afternoon I was working with the newspaper, this causes lots of ashes to fly up in the air and sometimes they are still burning, but too small to cause any damage.  UNLESS one lands on your BAND-AID!!! I had the band-aid on to cover a pretty bad previous burn and look down to see the ash/ember on it and my hand starting to burn... I blow... in an attempt to blow it away and that makes the whole thing BURST INTO FLAMES! Now, my band-aid was literally on fire.  I ended up dropping the piece and ripping the band-aid off and stuffing my hand in cold water.  All in all, I have burnt hair, cut finger, a second bad burn right next to an already existing one.  Nicely done me.

Here are some pictures of the things I made yesterday while working with a spout:

 "I'm a little teapot, 

shot and stout...

 here is my handle,  

here is my spout,

 when I get all steamed up here me shout!

 Just tip me over and pour me out!"

(this is the best one I think)

Also, I made this monster! It was huge and super thin and a complete accident but no one will let me throw it away. It is fun to look at but rather pointless I think.

After school today I decided it was time to break out the cross country skis... there is more then enough snow on the ground I think.  I have never done this, have no poles and as you know am pretty clumsy.  So, here is the picture proof my adventure:

 The shoes! As you may notice, I was so excited I accidentally put the shoes on before my pants...

 I like to point out that I match!

 Did you guys know they were going to be this narrow?!?! It was tricky... very tricky!

 After a while Jonaten wanted to try also.  He got some walking sticks from Yenni upstairs and had a little more success then I did.

 What is the point of cross country skiing?? To see the sights... it was kind of dark but here is a pretty tree!  Who needs Christmas decorations when you can have this?!

So, I skied all around, the front yard in the powdery snow, the road on the packed snow and the sidewalks on the shoveled snow.  The sidewalks was the best, but I have to admit I didn't get any further from home then 3 houses... I was a little worried about falling and dying and no one being able to hear me and being eaten by wild dogs... or something like that.  I did start to feel confident and decided to take on some hills! First I did the small hill towards school with great success, then the hill down from the factory and didn't fall until the bottom and finally the little driveway hill across the street:

 The best part of this hill was that you start going fast right away then there is big pile of snow from the road being plowed which you fly over, land in the road (icy) and keep going and then hit another pile on the other side of the road and finally stop and fall down! Great!!!  Nick decided he should try it too at that point.  I think we are going to need to make some sleds soon!  

I was out there for about 2 hours and got pretty tired.  My ass and ankles are the most sore I think.  I finally went in when I fell over sideways and made my knee hurt... I think I will wait until I can borrow some poles from Kirsten and then won't fall so much hopefully!  Or, maybe I will try again tomorrow! My goal is to be able to ski to Rosanne's the long way, through the woods! I have to to be able to do that by the end of the snow... I have like 6 more months to practice! hahahahaha = maniac snow bunny laugh.

PS: I am still feeling like a real idiot for catching my band-aid on fire!