So Matt seems to be a popular guy around my circles.  When he’s up in the fall for our annual “walk-a-bout”, we generally get a visit in with Pa over on the farm.  I guess he had a task that Matt volunteered for and promised to be back before winter to chop some steel.

So Matt and Sarah popped up for an afternoon and Matt cut about eight feet of steel of various thicknesses.  Pa’s happy, and Matt was able to get some more cutting practice.  I really wanted to jump in there and cut a swath myself, but I was told my “plastic” clothes I was wearing wasn’t the best outfit for torch work.  Next time.

My what BIG eyes you have!

I’ve needed to replace an o2 sensor in the Jeep since February.  It’s not for the lack of trying that it hasn’t been replaced.  But I knew if I could get it to Matt where he’d have access to his tools, it would get done.

Over the months other things have cropped up that needed some repair so I tacked those onto the work ticket and drove the distance to get the work done.   Matt threw some heat on the oxygen sensor and that let go of its death grip.  He replaced a front axle in no time flat also.  Even with new wiper blades I was able to get out of there with both my arm and my leg.

After resetting the Engine Light for the o2 sensor it came back on within the first 100 yards out of the garage.. so I guess I’ll be back Matt to have a Speed Sensor replaced… Thanks Man.

Matt throwing some heat around

On the way to Milbridge, Maine to visit my Grandmother… we saw a Mexican restaurant tucked into a small section of a large log lodge.  I believe its in Hancock, but don’t take my word for it.

We made it to Milbridge and visited with my Grandmother, who now lives in a nursing home.  She was doing well and we were glad to see her so much better than we left her on our last visit.  We left Milbridge and headed west and landed back in Hancock? at around lunch time.  We stepped into the little eatery and felt like we stepped out of Washington County AND Maine all in one step.  It was about as authentic as they come, and certainly the most authentic in Washington County if I had to guess.

Nathan and I enjoyed our dishes, Jess wasn’t so sure about her’s but is willing to go try another entree if the opportunity presents itself.

So, if you find yourself in Washington County on Route 1 and its close to meal time.. stop in and give it a go.

Mexican restaurant run by Mexicans from Mexico.

We switched gears this year and stayed in Charleston for Thanksgiving.  We’ve been going to Wesley for the past couple of years and celebrating it with my side of the family.  There was quite a crowd there in person, if not in spirit and we all left with full stomachs.

Deb and Al renovated the garage to have room for the expected 40 plus people and the 37 or so that came fit comfortably in the new space without issue.

Another year to be Thankful.

Mmmm, bread.

We stopped at a craft/hobby store in Ellsworth on the way back from hiking Cadillac and somehow Nathan ended up with a model and supplies to build it.  And this close to Christmas… man, that kid seems to make out like a bandit.  The purchase may have had some help from Dad.  I love the smell of model glue.  I never did a ton of painting models myself as a kid, so I thought I could stand some more practice.

Nathan picked out a P-38J Lightning. It’s quite small so it’ll be a challenge to paint.  But we’ve started it and expect to finish it in about the same amount of time it would take us to build a real one! Eeks.

Nathan adding some paint

Me and my number tick.  I get all bummed when I miss an opportunity to see some rare numbers.  I knew the car was getting ready to roll over the 123,456 mark.. but still didn’t catch it.  Naturally I blame Jess, she actually used the car and put on 20 miles I hadn’t considered.  I was expecting to roll over on the way back from work today, but it happened on the way TO work. Doh.  Oh well.. I probably won’t have the car when it rolls 234, 567!  I’ll have to settle for 200,000.

A photoshopped version will have to do.

A friend at work was kind enough to help me change a brake caliper on my Jeep while I watched.  I had been having this horrible wobble in the front end, but only intermittently, so it was a trick to troubleshoot it.  Dad ended up figuring it out for me, from there I bought the part and Peter repaired it.

We only had the parking garage at work as the common meeting place that required the least time investment; something we all have trouble finding.  It went off without a hitch if you exclude the parking garage security stopping by and asking us a few questions.  We were still unable to get the Oxygen Sensor off, so that will be a project for another day/person.

Peter doing most of the dirty work.

Back in the day… my father cut my brothers and my hair.  We lived.  We have some funky school pictures, but I still managed to get kissed by a girl.  Nathan has been getting a close “military” cut, and it grows back fast.  He could stand to have it cut every two weeks.  I’ve been threatening to get a pair of shears and work him over.  That’s mostly been empty threats.  But tonight, our hair dresser offered to walk me through his cut.

Woohoo!  Nathan didn’t take to the idea at first… uhhh.. at all!  Mama wasn’t terribly supportive either, so I’m not sure how many more opportunities I’ll get.  I had Jess snap this photo so I could at least have a “scrapbook” photo for the one time I cut his hair.

Like Father used to do...

Just when you thought you couldn’t rearrange one more time… it all seems necessary.  I’ve still been having shoulder problems related to my ergonomic station, or lack thereof.  Jess needed more room to work her 40 hours.  We spent over SEVEN hours shopping for the perfect desks yesterday.  We finally picked them out, bought them and discovered they wouldn’t fit in the car!  We called in brother Tony to rescue us.  We tossed the desks in the van and he delivered them to the house on the way to the Harris Rd.

Jess and I spent  three hours assembling the first one and then waited until today to finish the second, which was identical to the first so much easier to assemble.  We really didn’t do so well about measure our space.  It all worked out in the end, but let me just say that I mentioned “saw” and “drill” in the same sentence with the new desks!

Yes, it’s close quarters. Let’s just call it “a kissable distance” ..we live in a very small house and we’re trying to manage.

Desks #7 and #8 since we've been in the house