In California

After spending most of yesterday either sitting in an airport or  a plane, we landed in Sacramento around 7:30 last night.  It was about 40 degrees warmer than at home.  We were met by Mike, Jesse, and Isaac.  When we got to the house, we met Zach's bride to be.  We all sat around visiting until 11 pm west coast time.  John and I were pretty tired by then and headed off to bed.  One other big piece of news.  Early Monday morning the plumber called and came out to switch over our wood furnace and electric boiler.  We had been waiting for months to get this done.  Nothing like the last minute.  That's it for now.  Didn't bring the laptop so am doing this on my Kindle. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Bitter Cold Weather

The last several days have been bitterly cold and we have been pretty much housebound this weekend.  Late Friday afternoon we headed off to Grand Forks to watch Sam's basketball game and do a little shopping.  Unfortunately, the Bears lost by almost 20 points, but we had a good time watching the game.  When we came out of the gym the temp was 0.  It sure was a cold walk to the car and both of us appreciated the heated seats on the long ride home.

Since we are heading to California on Tuesday, we have both been busy getting things around for our trip.  Matt came over on Friday so John could give him a crash course on our home security system and JD stopped in on Saturday for the same reason.  We had planned to have our electric boiler hooked up before now, but the plumber just didn't get to us in time, so now someone has to come and keep wood on the fire.  Hopefully, we'll be able to get this taken care of right after we return home. 

Dusting of Snow

Even though our day was cold and windy with snow showers, Matt and John went off early this morning to finish up the job they were working on.  They worked all day and when they got to the final section, all the ridge cap they wanted to install was crimped.  It was unusable and more will have to be ordered before they can complete this job.

Since it was such a cold blustery day, it seemed like a good one to bake some chocolate chip  cookies.  There were also a few little messes from the alarm installation, so I got all of that cleared away.  My ebay auctions have ended and the last items were shipped yesterday, so I'm not selling anything else until we return from California.  Tomorrow night Sam plays his first basketball game of the season, so we'll be heading to Grand Forks to watch his game.  Since it doesn't start until 7:30 p.m. it will probably be a very late night.

Security System

Yesterday was a pretty quiet one.  John and I were up bright and early to head off to Bemidji so I could get a fasting blood test.  That took all of 10 minuets and then we went to Country kitchen for some breakfast.  Next, we made a short stop at Wal Mart for a few items before heading home.  The rest of the day John helped Matt cut down some trees while I did some cleaning upstairs and got things out of the way in preparation for today.

The security person arrived around 9:30 a.m. and was here most of the day installing our new system.  We now have one that detects motion, alerts us to any open door, and if the temperature in the house goes below 45 degrees.  If we don't respond to the alarm, a security company will notify us and, if that's not possible, contact the authorities.  We think this will give us some peace of mind about the house while we're in Texas.  Now we just need to remember to set it when we go out and how to disarm it when we return.  John was in and out of the shop this morning doing more arranging and then headed into town for his dental appointment to get a cracked filling replaced.  He's now done with the dentist.  The rest of our day was spent relaxing and watching some favorite TV shows.

 

Cold and Cloudy Day

The temps remained on the cold side today with cloudy skies--it just felt damp and raw all day.  John went out to his shop on and off and managed to get an air filtration system hung from the ceiling.  I did laundry and some straightening up around the house. Also got more ebay sales ready to ship.  Since we're leaving next Tuesday for Sacramento where we'll be spending the Thanksgiving holiday with Susie's family, I've been trying to keep caught up on laundry and household chores.  With the cold weather settled in, there's not much happening around here.  We're both looking forward to heading to Texas--only about five weeks until we can get out of this cold.

Lazy Weekend

Saturday morning John was up bright and early as he had to pick up Sam and get him to the school by 8 a.m.  He then stayed until the afternoon watching the basketball team scrimmage and then play a couple of 30 minute games.  I decided to stay home, get some bread baked, and take care of a few other chores.

Today was the usual Sunday routine--leisurely breakfast and then off to church.  The weather turned cold and rainy overnight, so this afternoon was spent inside keeping warm and watching the NFL.  John did make a quick trip up to Matt's to talk some basketball strategy with Sam.  We also a spent some time this evening  Skyping with Amy and the kids.  It was good to visit with them and catch up on what everyone has been doing.     

 

Nice Weather Again

The weather was nice and sunny today with temps in the 40's.  According to the long range forecast, this was probably the last warm day for a while.  We're suppose to get rain/snow showers over the next couple of days.

John took advantage of the warmer weather to work out in his shop getting more machinery set up.  He also gave his new table saw a trial run, said it works just fine, and is very happy with his purchase. I gave the kitchen a good cleaning today, even going so far as to clean out the fridge.  It's amazing what you find shoved to the back on the shelves. The cabinets also got wiped down and the floor mopped.  That was pretty much how our day went--things are pretty quiet around here.