Snovember

We had everything set to go for the first snowfall of the year today, so it wasn't too much of a hassle. I left for work 10 minutes early, and arrived 10 minutes early, so I guess that worked out pretty well. Cal is outside this morning as we speak trying to figure out what all the wet, white, fluffily stuff is. Angie is off work today and tomorrow, so I lucked out by not having to pick him up from daycare until the snow is done falling on Wednesday. 

Had a pretty decent weekend considering I had to work 4 hours of OT on Saturday morning. I made a trip to Home Depot yesterday and traded in our old Xmas lights for new LED ones. They give you a coupon for each old string you trade-in, pretty cool, actually. With all this snow on the ground I feel like I should be listening to Xmas music already, even though I just took the Halloween decorations down yesterday.

We discovered a plumbing leak under my bathroom sink, and it appears to be behind the wall. Normally this wouldn't be too hard to get to, but my Dad put a nice finishing board under the sink which will have to be destroyed in order to gain access to the leak. So I guess I learned my lesson, practical trumps pretty when it comes to plumbing.

Only 12 more working weekdays until Thanksgiving, I'm really looking forward to having a day off and getting together with family. Yes, I do have work the next day but what can you do. It's the same story again in December, since I have Xmas Eve and Xmas Day off but have to work that Friday. Yet again for the New Year's Day scenario, Ah! By that time, work will have completely slowed down and I probably won't care too much.

Halloween Eve

Tomorrow is Halloween and we've had a wonderful fall this year. The Wild have been pretty exciting to watch so far, they are getting a ton of shots each game, solid goaltending and the younger players are the leading scorers. You'd think once the vets get going we'll be hard to beat.

Looking forward to hosting the halloween-themed murder mystery party on Sunday. It's kind of the last hurrah of fall ( and don't forget to set your clocks back an hour this weekend). The last time we did a murder mystery, it was all new it was a bit confusing and hard to follow at times. This time it should be much more enjoyable because we know not to take it very seriously.

I think most of the yard work is done for the year. I mowed and bagged up all the leaves last weekend, just have a few odds and ends to bring in before it snows. This should be the last winter I need to park outside, since the plan (at this point) is to have the new garage built in the spring. We're still waiting to hear back from the garage company regarding the estimate, but hopefully that happens soon.

It seems the theme of my Amazon Xmas list this year is home improvement. Among other things, It's got a Jigsaw, hammer, utility knife and wireless doorbell. Speaking of home improvement, congrats to Amanda on purchasing her first home! Hopefully I can use a few of my new tools towards your projects as well.

My mom is flying in for a visit and arrives on Tuesday, leaving the following Tuesday. I'm sure it will be fun for her to see how much Cal has grown and changed since the last visit. He is adding new words all the time, his favorites are "Ball, Bye-Bye, Shoes, More, Wa-Wa (water), and Mama." He also likes to animal sounds and point up at the sky when he hears an airplane.

Fall Is Here

It's been awhile since I've had any downtime to post a blog, things really get busy at work between the months of October - December. Either way, I was due. Besides work ramping up and doing the occasional overtime, things have been falling into a nice routine. Cal has fully adjusted to being in the next room at daycare, taking a one nap a day and trusting his new teachers will take care of him. I think he loves being outside in the crisp fall weather just as much as I do. His favorite toys at moment are the simplest ones - his plastic rake and any kind of ball. He doesn't much care for the toys with noises and buttons, he would rather climb, push, drag and run! Aunt Kathy got him some great slipper socks with grippy bottoms, so he can run around the house without slipping on the hardwood floor. Everyone finds the best little presents for him, he definitely feels the love. Thanks to Amanda, we are trying to get a few good photos family photos, but it's not easy for him to stay still and smile at the same time.

It's hard to believe Halloween is only 2 weeks from today! We plan to stay home with Cal and hand out candy again this year, I'm sure he'll enjoy seeing the trick-or-treaters at the door. We're also hosting a Halloween-themed murder mystery game that following Sunday, because you really can't have too much Halloween.

After all the Halloween hoopla, it's time to start Christmas shopping. I try to get it all done before black friday, sometimes I succeed, sometimes I don't. Hopefully everyone is updating their Amazon wish list as we speak? I'm not sure what to get for Cal this year, I was thinking a knee hockey set would be pretty sweet… not sure If that's actually a gift for him or for me.

I've been on a bit of mission to conserve energy, gas and money lately. I cancelled my Netflix, Flickr, Xbox Live and MPR accounts due to inactivity. I put a water-saving shower head in my bathroom, as well as LED light bulbs in most frequently used fixtures in the house. The water heater is insulated and the max-temp has been reduced. Finally, thanks to Don, we have our new boiler installed and running. We also went the extra mile and put in underfloor heating for the living room. I'm hoping to finish the last of the insulating work this weekend. Once you start seeing the savings show up on the utility bill you get addicted.

I have a couple of other small projects I'd like to finish, including reattaching the trim that blew off the on the front of the house and building a couple basic pedestals for the washer and dryer to sit on. Long term, we are putting money away for a new two-car garage, hopefully to be built in the spring. Our current one-car garage is in disrepair and needs to be put out of it's misery sooner than later.

For the weekend, looking forward to meeting Jeremy, Kelly and Samantha tomorrow at the pumpkin patch near Stillwater. They also have some fun outdoor activities for kids which Cal should enjoy. Sunday I'm hoping to catch the Wild game on TV at 2pm.