Earlier this week Maya called into question the romantic integrity of “WBUR roses,” a Valentine’s day gift which Jeanine has received for several years now. For those outside the Boston area, WBUR is our local PBS affiliate. A portion of the price paid for the roses is used to support the radio station. To my way of thinking, the roses are a double gift since Jeanine and I both have our radios locked on WBUR and frequently discuss stories we have heard while driving. Not to let Maya’s accusation go unchallenged, I did not send roses this year but instead will be taking Jeanine to New Orleans for Mardis Gras next week. It is not clear whether this gesture will pass muster with Maya since I will also be attending a conference while there. To be sure, I also took Jeanine out for a romantic lunch and later we watched “When Harry Met Sally,” a movie we saw together during the early days of our courtship.

In the four years since his death, my father’s ashes have remained in the box in which they were received. I am very thankful to my sister Alissa who took it upon herself to transfer them to this beautiful raku ceramic urn, a befitting resting place for a man who so deeply appreciated the arts.

I spent the morning in Milford, NH visiting a contract manufacturer that iRobot is considering for future work. During the one-hour drive there, I paused in Townsend for a picture of this church. It is not immediately apparent from the photo but the pile of snow on the right is easily 15 feet high as was the mound on which I positioned myself for the shot.

A galette des rois (also known as a Kings cake) is a type of cake associated in a number of countries with the festival of Epiphany at the end of the Christmas season; in other places, it is associated with the pre-Lenten celebrations of Mardi Gras/Carnival. Pictured here is the upper layer during construction as Maya prepared the delicacy for a French class project (I remember no such treats when I was studying the language). French tradition holds that the cake is “to draw the kings” to the Epiphany. A figurine, la fève, which can represent anything from a car to a cartoon character, is hidden in the cake and the person who finds the trinket in his or her slice becomes king for the day and will have to offer the next cake.

At midnight I generally prefer to be asleep in my bed rather than napping on an indoor soccer field. My match this evening did not start until 10:40 pm and finished an hour later. We played with only one sub and ran out of gas by the end of the match losing 3-4 in the final few minutes. I scored our first goal but was relatively useless after that and even more so after knocking heads with an opponent. I was so tired after the game that I needed to rest before I could muster the energy to drive home. For reasons that now seem less than sound, I am playing in the over-40 age group this session rather than the over-50 age group that I qualified for 6 years ago.

A second record setting snowstorm has engulfed the Northeast in recent days and is still going strong. Snow depth on our deck (an area immune to drifts) now stands at 33 inches. School has been cancelled and most iRobot employees are working from home today. A FaceTime chat with Kyle this evening was the perfect antidote for our worsening cabin fever. He shared this photo he took of the meal he had just prepared for himself. He used the panini maker that Maya gave him for Christmas for the first time. He was in great spirits having completed some midterm exams and we were thrilled to see him eating so healthfully.

Surrounded, as I am, by magnificent cooks it is rare when my culinary exploits venture beyond the preparation of toast. Last night, when I proposed waffles for breakfast today, there was vigorous support but an absence of volunteers to prepare them. My offer to be the cook was met with laughter by Maya and Jeanine who view me as inept in the kitchen. Unswayed by this overt lack of confidence, I nonetheless prepared Belgian waffles for breakfast this morning. I used a formula which did not require yeast as this would have meant starting preparations last night. I measured ingredients with great precision unlike Jeanine who just eyeballs proportions. I separated eggs with only one post processing operation required to remove bits of shell. I beat the egg whites to within an inch of their life creating a wispy foam that I carefully folded into the rest of the batter. The first prototype is pictured here and full production was approved after initial customer sampling. I thawed frozen raspberries harvested from our garden to complete the offering. On a scale from “terrible” to “as good as mom’s” I received a very respectable “they are good” from Maya and her friend Fiona.

Maya knows that I am freaked out by her ability to spread her toes in cat like fashion. I believe that toes are meant to huddle cozily with their neighbors rather than spread out as if preparing to capture a small mammal in their grip. I do not recall how this topic came up in conversation but when it did, we learned that Maya’s friend Fiona, who is spending the weekend with us, also shares this ability. The picture tells the rest of the story and will no doubt impact my ability to sleep this evening.

The American Academy of Orthotists and Prosthetists will hold their annual national conference later this month in New Orleans and have generously granted the American Amputee Soccer Association a free exhibitor’s table. The AASA will use this opportunity to enlist the help of prosthetists in recruiting players for the US National Team. Today I worked on several versions of a 4×6 handout that we will distribute at the show. This one was the most impactful and will also be used for a large banner that will be displayed at the booth.

The CCHS Nordic Ski Team’s season came to an end today with an unusual race in which competitors were encouraged to wear costumes. Maya was easy to spot in her glittering disco jumpsuit. She has become remarkably proficient at cross country skiing over a very short period of time and I hope she will continue with the sport.

Some issues at work required me to stay late and I was the last electric vehicle in the charging lot.  Our parking lot keeps shrinking as all the recent snow must be piled somewhere.  More is forecasted for tomorrow.

Even as construction is underway to increase the height of this railroad bridge, another truck tried to squeeze under. Fortunately, this driver took a very cautious approach and backed out when it became clear he was too tall to fit under. It has been fascinating to watch the construction project over the last several months. It is an active two-track rail line and I am guessing that they will raise one track at a time, diverting all traffic to the other side.

Jeanine returned from her visit with Kyle this evening. I made it to my indoor soccer match with only minutes to spare after picking her up from the airport. Normally, I like to have a half hour to warm up but that did not stand in the way of a very sweet early goal that I volleyed in off a perfect cross.

Another 10 inches of snow fell today and I opted to work from home. Bitter cold temperatures meant that the snow was of the light fluffy variety but high winds still made the snow-blowing job a pain in the neck. Knowing that school would be cancelled, Maya spent the night at a friends house. When I retrieved her just before dinner time the secondary roads were still in very bad shape and I was really glad I had decided not to venture into the office. Snow on the deck now stands at 27.5 inches (20+10-settling/melting).

I spent the better part of 10 hours volunteering as a judge at a FIRST Robotics competition today. Seventeen teams competed for awards recognizing excellence in Design, Innovation, Teamwork, and Community Outreach with the most coveted Inspire award going to the overall most impressive team. Our jury of five judges interviewed teams and observed them in action before selecting the most deserving teams in each category. Pictured here are the Gear Ticks, winner of the Inspire Award. Their robot was as impressive as their team and I anticipate that a few of these kids will one day work for iRobot. I did make it home in time for the Super Bowl and for the first time ever, enjoyed the game as much as the commercials.