Catch Up

First off, happy holidays to all. We wish serenity, happiness, and peace to all who read this and even those who don't.

I think I mentioned we went on a whirl wind adventure around Thanksgiving that involved more time in the car than I like these days, but worth it for the people we saw and spent time with.

I finally took some photos of the new house and downloaded them. Here is a shot from the eating area looking at the couch and wood stove area. The couch is a little bigger than we would like, but it folds out into a bed which may be advantageous if we need to keep the fire going on really cold nights. ( Or when we have the house filled with friends and family, it's an extra place to sleep peeps.) It's all still a work in progress anyway.




As you can see, the window seat is far from being done. We threw some lawn furniture cushions there for now. In fact, that is where I am sitting right now to write this. hee hee.

(Jeff, the plant in front of the window is my new olive plant.)

Here is a look at the kitchen. I mentioned the island and there it is. Not finished. I threw the old countertop from the old house on top to make it functional for now. Sorry I didn't clean up much before these photos were taken. Don't tell Better Homes and Gardens. Still needed are the wall cabinets and something around the microwave.



For the week of Christmas we went to Cleveland to see Kent's family. Kara, Ethan and the baby were visiting so we finally got to meet Salix! She is a great baby. Didn't wake me up, so you gotta like that. Seriously, she's super cute and has a killer smile.



We went on several hikes in Northeast Ohio and with the snow on the ground they were true winter hikes. I think we saw 3 waterfalls in all and had lunch next to a bonfire. Dyn-o-mite.

Here's our nephew Kyle. He just turned 3. The cool thing about both our nipoti is that their parents take the kids on hikes and spend a lot of time in nature. These kids are going to have a great sense of the outdoors. I totally respect that and appreciate the values Keith and Pam and Kara and Ethan are instilling in their child.



Now the count down to the new year is here. I just need to get my books for next quarter before the kids come back and I am all set.

PS. The cool thing about moving is that you find things that you haven't seen or used in awhile. My latest thing is cassette tapes. Especially mixed tapes. I made these things like mad in the early to mid nineties. Welcome back Violent Femmes, Depeche Mode, Dead Milkman et. al.

OMG INXS just came on...sometime you kick, sometimes you get kicked.