Written on December 31, 2005 at 8:41 AM by Ron.
There are 2 comments so far.
Our new windows were finally installed on Thursday. My original plan was to have someone let them in, and then they would call me when the job was done for me to sign off on their work. The idea of leaving contractors in my house all day without supervision did not thrill me. I am sure that the vast majority of contractors out there are decent enough, but there are so many horror stories that I was a bit apprehensive. My Dad noticed my apprehension, and since he and my Mom were on vacation, he volunteered to come out for the day. (I am not sure it visiting his grandsons was a fringe benefit or an ulterior motive, but they all seemed to have enjoyed the time together.)
That day, I came home to a wonderful dinner of Ham and Pea Soup; one of my favorite meals. By the time dinner was over and my parents left it was only a short while before the boys went to bed. With Beth working, that provided me the perfect opportunity to put everything back together from the window installation. At the obvious request of the installation contractors, all of the items near the windows had to be moved a safe distance away, along with removing the blinds and other window coverings.
Moving the furniture back into place was not too much of a chore, but replacing the blinds was quite a hassle. The new windows were nearly two inched deeper than the previous windows. In both of the boys rooms, they had replaced the trim, restoring the previous look but also completely unnecessary. This caused us to lose half an inch in width on each of those windows. The blinds that I had custom cut were just narrow enough to give me hope, and just wide enough not to fit. I tried to move them to the kitchen, but they were four inches too short! I have yet to make it to Lowe’s to buy replacements for these blinds.
All in all, the contractors did a very decent job. The windows look great and they performed a very thorough clean up. I noticed an almost immediate difference in the house. It just felt warmer even though the thermostat was set at the same temperature it always has been. I have spent the last day and a half, unsuccessfully, trying to feel a draft from the new windows.
All I need now is new weather stripping for the doors, and the house ill be officially winterized.
P.S. We got our Windows from Sears.
I am showing my Mom how to use Performancing for Firefox.
WordPress 2.0 is officially out. Go and get it, and make sure to back up before you upgrade. (I did not run into any problems, but better safe than sorry, right?)
There was a little conflict with the Enhanced Views and Version Check plugin, but they were very minor and did not break anything. There also seems to be a little issue with the window to add links when using the rich text editor, but I always use code view, so …
Happy Blogging!
(Did I spell that right? I tried “business” and that did not seem right.)
It is our first Christmas Eve as a family that we were not on leave. This may not mean anything to many people, but it means a lot to us. For all of our married life, we have been traveling on the Holidays. The only time we spent a holiday at home was when we had no choice. Last year we could not travel because Beth was pregnant with Tony for Thanksgiving, and she had just given birth three days before Christmas.
We standardly took three weeks of leave in December. This was just about the only time of year that we were afforded the opportunity, but it worked out well as we were able to spend the Christmas and New Year’s Eve/Day with friends and family. This was a break in our lives, and we were really able to enjoy the Holidays.
This year is a change. We are not traveling. We are not even on vacation being that we both started (relatively) new jobs, and are now the low people on the totem poles and therefore will miss out on all the prime vacation time. We are not able to “take a break” to enjoy the the Season. All of the special events will occur in the midst of our routine. We have been so busy that we have not even wrapped the boys presents, although I think that it would be an appropriate tradition for me and Beth to standardly wrap the presents on Christmas Eve.
Today begins with a visit from my Grandpa. He has never been to our new place, so I am excited to show him out first home (that we owned.) I am glad that he will be busy around the Holidays. There is something to be said about being busy for this reason. His visit will be followed with a visit to my step-father-in-law’s mother house. (Did you all get that?) This will quickly be followed by the first of two church services that Beth and I will be participating in this evening. We are looking to get home a little after midnight tonight, and I am sure that the boys will be up early tomorrow morning.
I am glad that we are so busy. We are involved because there are people that we care about and people that care about us.
Merry Christmas and may your Holiday Season be busy, and filled with joy!
Written on December 23, 2005 at 8:51 PM by Ron.
There are no comments so far.
The holidays can be a very busy time. My bloggin’ self is no different. The choice was not difficult to make, write or play with my boys (and my wife, when she is not too busy herself.)
Preparing for the holiday season is the largest time stealer. Between shopping, wrapping and special events, it is hard to figure out where all the time goes. It was a monumental moment watching RJ in his first Christmas Program at Church. I am sure that there will be many more programs, but no more first programs.
Beth has been working a second job for Christmas money. We had a little competition to see who could get a second job first, and she blew me away. She had a second job the day after the competition started, and I had only put in two applications. The extra money is nice, but does not come close to compensating me and the boys for her time away. Fortunately this is almost over.
I have also switched positions at work. By this I mean that I took a position that had just been created. On top of training my replacement for my old position, I am also outlining and helping to establish the duties of this position. I think that I have actually taken a lunch twice in the past two weeks.
I am glad that I can finally have a couple of days at home.