Ok, the for third time in as many years, we’ve changed the lights in the office again. Blah.  Originally we just had a sconce on the wall, no where near enough light for when Jess started working virtual.  We added ceiling lights, two fixtures with three lights each.  At 50 watts a piece, they gave off enough light, but the bulbs blew frequently and they were hard to find and expensive ($6/ea).  I finally changed them out to track lighting. [Remember?]  The track lighting bulbs were also 50w halogen bulbs, not as hard to find (GU10), but cost more ($8/ea).  Those started blowing.  I talked to the guy at Home Depot and he agreed.  “Oh yeah, people are always complaining how fast those bulbs blow”. Nice.

So, one more time.  Finally just opted for the office standard, florescent.  A bit dressier than the garage ones, but the bulbs were cheap and claim an eight-year life. Yay.

Two bulbs each, burning Natural Light bulbs.

We made a trip to the new place today.  The ‘rents wanted some help installing an HDTV.  So we drove down and saw the new place.  Very nice, very happy for them.  The TV install was just in the nick of time.  The cable guy arrived an hour later to install the cable TV box and internet router.  Enjoy it folks.

We bought a box of oranges (and grapefruit) from my CFI this December for his fund raiser.  I like an occasional orange, though clementines are my citrus fruit of choice.  We had plenty, even after we gave several away, so I decided not to waste a single one.  We hand squeezed some and made orange juice.  My, oh, my.  Talk about the sweet nectar of life.  Sure it takes a pile of the orange orbs to make a glass, but tasty was it ever.  I highly recommend it if you find yourself with an abundance of oranges and concerned that they’ll go to waste.

[we tried with the grapefruit also, that was a different kind of kick in the head taste ]

Teaming with Taste

I called our next door neighbor, who plows us out, and told him there was no need to get us plowed out anytime soon; we weren’t going anywhere.  And we didn’t.  We sat inside for two days.  Watched the 16″ of snow fall, and then watched the wind blow it around for days afterward.  Oil (barely), wood pellets and food.  And hey, the electricity didn’t go out!  I don’t even think it blinked!

Baby It's Cold outside.

After 43 years in the ministry, my Dad and Mum retired today.  My sister and I drove over to Washington County to help them pack up (my brother also in a separate vehicle), and then waved goodbye as they drove towards a snow storm to their new place in southern Maine.

Congratulations.. enjoy the new place and the “down” time.

Dad with the truck, loaded till the leaf springs were flat.

Another tree picking.  This one at Grammy Libby’s.  Another chance to be surrounded by family and eat too much food.

It’s morning… just barely by my standards.. Nathan was up at 5AM.  Tree picking began at 5:30AM, everything was unwrapped by 5:37AM.  Jess and I didn’t exchange gifts this year, we decided we’d spent enough money on ourselves all year long to make up for several Christmas’.

Looks like a PS3/Move box there.

Ugliest tree we've had in years... oh well, we were in a hurry.

We always did stockings on Christmas eve… I think I’ll try and continue that tradition.  It helps tide young lads over ’til the morning.

He gets more in his stocking than I got for Christmas!

I was going for the Navitity scene, but we didn’t think I’d do baby Jesus any justice… a tree it is!

Rough and tough..

Local Oysters on the shell are a seasonal “delicacy” around here.  I thought I’d pick up a few and introduce them to my ten year old.  He was fine with it until I told him it was Oyster sushi, “their sliding down”.  That took some extra coaxing to reverse.  But we got him there…. he claimed he swallowed half of it before the other half launched into the kitchen sink.

Oyster sushi...