Sewage and ice and shopping oh my!

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What a day… (Saturday) The sewer blocked up again. So, Dan and I headed off to La Veta Tru Value to rent the sewage snake yet again. Gaggggggg! I guess I aught to be grateful that Dan knows how to work the damn thing and actually does it. Two hours later, the laundry room was clean and the sewer was draining properly.

Then we had to drive back to La Veta. The wind was blowing the snow all across the highway and it was slick! Everywhere it looked like water on the road was in fact ice! We stopped and got Dan something to eat as he was exhausted from working the snake. It took forever to go and come back.

Once we got back, we took turns showering and then I headed to Pueblo with John and Daniel. It’s our usual payday shopping trip. Granted, it was a little crowded with Daniel in the back. We did part of the shopping and then went to dinner at Taco Bell. After that we did the last of the shopping at Walmart. Daniel got Logan some little slippers and two shirts. They are really cute. We got home around midnight. Unpacked everything and tried to get it all put away. Sort of hard as there were dishes everywhere. They had forgotten to put dish soap on the list, so of course…. no one could do dishes. sigh… I remedied that this morning with a quick trip to Safeway. What a combo. Trashbags, dish soap and cat food. Wheee….

Today, it is still cold here, but compared to the last few days it is a heat wave. A whole 35 degrees! Snow is melting, pipes thawing and lots of drippy mess that will all turn to ice about fifteen minutes after sundown. Ah well…

So far today, I’ve done laundry, gone shopping, “gone to work” at 520, cleaned up a kitchen, done some dishes and edited two articles for the Huerfano Journal. Oh, and proof-read the website for Dan. Now to wrap a few gifts and do up a Yule Letter. Oh, and write Yule cards. Wheee……

Flying lessons

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    Well, nearly. Today we had to go down to the Huerfano Journal and move the banner sign that we mounted to the wall. We were suppose to put it on the north side of the building, but it was way too cold and windy. We parked the bucket truck up against the curb as tight as we could and then we started to try and take the sign down. The wind buffeted Dan all over the place and when he started to hand down the banner, the wind caught it and whipped it all over the place. I caught it and held on for dear life as the wind picked it and me up! I could feel myself sliding back and forth on the ice. I grabbed the corner of the building and held tight.  Dan took out the last screw that was holding the banner and then I worked my way into the building. I felt like I was part of a mime performance! Brian Orr and I rolled up the banner and then I went back out and helped Dan bring down the banner frame. Once we got that in place, we decided that we would wait for a much less windy day to do that part of the job. Have to admit that I didn’t envy the canopy people who had to do their work later in the day. We did drive by and see the finished job. The canopy is beautiful.

After that job, we headed to Aguilar where we shoveled snow out of the NOC building that we will be putting the network services equipment in for Aguilar. There is no glass in the window, so the snow blew in. Then we went to see Carl. He is one of our older customers and although a sweet man, he loves to visit. Granted, when he and Dan get together, they talk for hours. We had a short visit today though as we had to go pick up the kids. With the wind, ice and snow blowing, Dan didn’t want me driving.

We grabbed lunch at A&W and then headed out to pick up the kids. The normal 17 minute trip took 35 minutes. A harried 35 minutes on icey roads with heavy winds. I was very glad that Dan was driving. It took about the same amount of time to drive home.  We took Little Morgan to the Family Dollar so that she could get her Yule gift for her secret pal at school. I got Matt a pair of polar fleece gloves for $2. He’s been borrowing L.Morgan’s extra pair.

Tonight I am reading through Acceptable Use Policies for RBT. Yawn….. Maybe I’ll just give up for the night. The office is a balmy 54 and it’s 9 outside with 20 mph winds. Brrrr!

8 Degrees…

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    Not of seperation, but of temperature~! It’s bloody cold today. We have a grand total of about 8 inches of snow and although it has stopped, nothing is melting because it is so cold! My car is parked at the moment because the snow is deeper than the bottom of my car. I was ‘plowing’ the snow just to park. My office is a balmy 52!

My plans for later tonight are knitting and curling up with a good book under lots of blankets.  I laugh too at all the layers I’m wearing. We are so getting a better heating system in the office as soon as possible!

Meanwhile, I’m getting the urge to climb back into my writing. I have so much other stuff to do, but I want to finish my stories. Awwwgh! I also have all these projects to finish! I need a clone!

Brrr! ~~~Phewwwww~~~ Brrr!!!

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    It is 55 degrees in my office. Bloody cold! We got about 8 inches of snow the other day and it has yet to warm up. Granted, it is suppose to snow more tonight. Brrr!!! I know we need the moisture, but oh my for better heating.

We also dealt with a skunk yesterday. Yeah, the one under the house at 520 Penn. I was only suppose to be over there briefly to grab a few things when Dan realized that the trap had been sprung and we had a skunk. So, we started trying to deal with it and it of course sprayed. Luckily, we had put a black trashbag around the trap and most of the spray hit the bag. Dan got a bit of it, and the rest went into the air. We loaded the skunk up in the truck and headed out of town to let it go. We didn’t want to kill it. Well, it sprayed again while in the truck. Phewwww!!! We let it go and then headed home to the house on Walsen. Dan and I both had to shower as we stank. I washed all the clothes and coats as well as gloves and hats. Ugghh….. We bombed the truck with air freshener and left the hatch open. Hopefully, it will de-skunk soon.

Meanwhile, I made an awesome pot of lentil soup and homemade drop biscuits. Ate way too much! I got some knitting done and even some sewing done over the weekend. Sleep pants for some at Yule. :> Hopefully a new hot water bottle cover too.

This morning, Dan and I took the kids to school. He was worried about the road. I was rather relieved to let him drive. Then we spent the day trying to sort out a huge delivery from UPS.  When it was time to pick up the kids, Dan decided to drive again. I was so happy he did as we had car problems. One of the spark plugs came loose and was causing the car to run really rough. We pulled over and Dan checked things out while I called John to go pick up the kids. He did while we took the car slowly back to Burg. We got to NAPA  in time and bought a new spark plug and a tool to put it in. Brrrroooomm! Started up just fine.  We took it for a bit of a test drive and then came home. Dan will tighten the spark plug down in a bit and then I will head home for the night. Brrrrr!!!

Tempset Fugit!

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    Must be the wind or something, because every time I think I have five minutes to sit down and write, ***POOF*** it’s gone.  We’ve been trying to gear up for the T-1 coming into Aguilar for the WISP. Lots of antennas, computer bits and the like all arriving on the doorstep.  Trying to keep up with the paperwork is a bit daunting too. I have one big pile of receipts to deal with and I keep avoiding it. (sigh)

It’s also heading into the holiday season, and I am just not with it this year. Most things I think of that people want, they need now. Not it two-three weeks. Like Little Morgan. We took her to the drs. yesterday and then to the Mall in Pueblo. She needed a couple of pairs of jeans. Now, I could have gotten them without her knowing and not given them to her until Yule, but… she needs them now! Same way with the pair of sleep pants I made Dan. I have to re-hem them, but… I didn’t see the logic in making him wait.

I have stuff for Big Morgan, Erin, Logan, Little Morgan and that is about it. Stymied on the rest of the clan.  sigh…. Guess I’ll go looking on Friday when Dan and I head to the Springs. My mom’s fabric is in and we need to pick it up.

It snowed on the peaks and it looke beautiful this morning. Smelled nice too. Living in a desert, you notice the smell of moisture so acutely. We also had deer in the yard the other morning. Dan got pictures.

Deer next door!

We have also been dealing with a skunk under the house. Dan went under to do some wiring and came up so fast you’d have thought he was shot from a cannon.  He came almost nose to nose with a big skunk. We called Animal control and checked out a trap. So far the skunk is smart enough to leave it alone. sigh..

I’ve been working on knitting too when I have a chance. One sock to go before Yule. Hope I make it. Been reading some good books too. A Lick of Frost by L. K. Hamilton, and am working on Hood by Lawless. Very good. I have two more on hold at the library and am trying to find time to read. In fact, that’s what I really want to do today instead of working. Oh well…

Windy Saturday!

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    Woke up this morning to the wind blowing so hard that the windows were rattling. It was still o-dark-thirty in the morning, so I tried to rollover and go back to sleep. Nope! It wasn’t going to happen. I swear that ten seconds after I closed my eyes again, the USB starting beeping because we had lost power. It went off about fifteen minutes later when the power came back on and then went off again very quickly. This time it seemed like forever before the power came back on. So, I’ve been awake ever since.

I also realized that I’m not sure where this week went. Yes, I took the kids to school, did laundry, cleaned house, worked at the office, etc,.. but where did the time go? About the only thing I really have to show for progress is that my office is a bit tidier and I finished the latest Laurel K. Hamilton book. Very good and as always, leaves me hungry for the next one. OH well…..

I still have to decide whether to head to Pueblo today to shop. hmmm…..

Mondays, elk legs and organization

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    Here it is Monday afternoon and while in one way I don’t think I’ve gotten much done, when I look at my list of things to do, I’ve managed plenty.

Saturday, after sleeping in late, I got to work on stuff over at the office. In the end, Dan and I realized that we needed to head to Pueblo. So, off we went. Six hours later, we had a desk for Karen, three new chairs, two book cases, and some other bits and bobs.

Sunday morning, I was up and moving by 8:30am… yawn! We had furniture to build for the office. My cabinet for my office was first. Not to difficult, but we think that directions were getting scrambled in translation. Engrish! sigh….. Then the desk. Not too difficult, but still time consuming. After that we stopped for a bit of food and then tackled the bookshelves. First one was slow. Second one was fast, but Dan put two shelves in backwards. So, I colored the raw edges with sharpie. :> We also moved furniture around and put an old bookcase in his room when we moved one of the new ones into his office area. We got the big metal shelf into the back porch and now have the beginnings of organized tools, components, etc. Huzzah!!! We also got the glass into the window frames. It isn’t caulked yet, but there is quarter round in place to hold the glass. We will do the pretty bits later when it is just a tad warmer!

This  morning, I started the school run again. We have a month left before the holidays. I drove out to Badito with a glorious sunrise in the rear view mirror. Drove home and then picked up Daniel to take him to school. On the way there, there was something in the road. I wasn’t sure what it was. It looked like a very weird piece of wood. Drove by it slowly on the way home and realized it was the lower leg of an elk! Complete with hoof! Found out later that one of the high school guys went hunting and  as a joke stuck bits of the rotting left overs all over the high school campus. sigh!

Today of course since we built all of those lovely bits of furniture, I have to organize things. My desk looks like a tornado hit it. However, I have more shelf and cupboard space than I did last week! Now to get some stuff done before it is time to pick up the wee trolls.

Parade of Lights and more Snow!

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Oh gods! Woke up this morning at around 6am to discover it was snowing! Cold too! So, I crawled back into bed for a few hours. My shoulder was hurting too, so I relished a bit of a sleep in.

Snow! Brrrr!!!!

Once I did get up, there was a bunch of stuff to do. Lunch of course was left over pizza. :> I went off to do some shopping. One stop was at Edla’s Yarns. It’s our local yarn shop. Got some lovely wool and needles to make a hat. Yellow, orange and red wool. Yummm! Then I went off to the Family Dollar to buy wrapping paper, ribbons and a hat for the bucket truck. Reason being that tonight was the Parade of Lights, and we were dressing up the bucket truck to put in the parade. Little Morgan gave us a hand. I did the paper on the sides while Dan worked on the electrics. Granted, they were giving him fits. The inverter didn’t want to put out the power we needed. sigh…. So, we ran the penguin and not the lights. After we got the truck ready, we went to Carl’s for a bit of dinner and then went to line up for the parade.

Dan and the bucket truck

We must have sat in line for 90 minutes. It was cold! It snowed, and we waited while everyone got in line. Little Morgan and I sat in the back of the bucket truck on cushions and under a quilt with a huge box of candy next to us. The parade finally got underway, and we were tossing handfuls out to people standing by the road. One of the best shots we managed was a guy who complained that Dan was too cheap to buy candy, and we hit him with a double handful right after he shut his mouth! Oh, and we nailed the cops standing at the crossroads with candy too. teeheehee……

Linux the penguin

After the parade, we stopped by the Huerfano Journal for their open house. Chatted with Gretchen and her dad, Sig. I’m going to write a cooking article for the paper too. My great-grandma made this cake called a depression cake which was a chocolate cake made with mayonnaise instead of eggs and oil. That’s what I’m going to put in the paper. Plus, Dan is doing weekly Tech articles. I might even do one from the “ladies” point of view.

In a bit, we are going to watch a movie and then head to bed. I am looking forward to sleeping in!

Brrrr!!!!

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    Oh gods is it cold! It’s about 28 degrees and trying very hard to snow.  We tried to get some winterizing done yesterday at 520 Penn, but… Dan and I ended up running to Pueblo instead. Got some of the stuff, but not enough. Came home tired enough to want to head straight to bed, but I needed to do catch up on laundry. Yerch… At least I got some of my story edited. I’m working on Sheeple at the moment.

Today, we woke up with the cold front breathing down our necks. This means we didn’t get to put the window glass in the kitchen, but have to deal with the leaky windows. brrrr! We also took a look at the heater in the kitchen. Dan almost electrocuted himself trying to disconnect it, as it was a wonky wiring job on a 220 line. Aieee!!! It means that we will be totally re-wiring the house instead of just sections of it. sigh….. glum….. sigh… I really was hoping to not have to redo the entire kitchen that way.

We also went down and got our copies of the Huerfano Journal! Huzzah!!! Very happy! Brian and Gretchen were glad to have the first one under their belts.

Tomorrow is turkey day. We are having home made pizza. I really don’t like turkey, so I tend to find alternative dinners for Tday and Yule.

Hit the ground running!

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    On Saturday, we were up and off to see Brian and Gretchen before the teacups had cooled. We got more info on the website and talked about being the support they need. We did some running around and then came back to do some more coding on the website.

Around 7pm, we stopped long enough to watch a movie. We were just a little burned out.  We watched Next with Nicholas Cage. Very good! It promted a long discussion about premonitions and all of that sort of thing.

Sunday, I slept in! For a bit at least. No sooner got up and Dan hollered that we needed to run to Aguilar. We had this guy’s car part in my trunk, and needed to return it. So, we did. After that,  we grabbed a bite to eat and then I dropped Dan at the office. Then it was off to Pueblo with John. Shopping day!

We got the first bits done rather quickly. Vitamin Cottage, Target, PetsMart, Sam’s Club.  I got a few new shirts at Target and a couple for Beth as well. John even got a shirt that wasn’t black or gray! I got a Nickelback CD and the “A Christmas Story” DVD. Then we went to dinner at Chile’s. I have one of those rewards cards,  and ended up getting my dinner for free! Then we went to Walmart. I had only meant to grab a few things and then head home… Silly me.  This ended up being one of those oohhh pretty shiny! trips. We ended up with the original Transformers movie in DVD, the latest Annie Lennox CD, fabric, slippers and snow boots for me, slippers for Targ, and the usual pile of groceries.  We ended up getting home around 10:45pm. By the time we got all the bits put away and a semblance of order going, it was midnight. I fell asleep at 1am.

Today of course has been no different. I figured I’d have time for paperwork, maybe some playtime with a story or two and maybe a trip to the post office. As it is, I am just taking a break from ripping up the kitchen floor. What a mess! Grandpa  extended the kitchen by building over the old patio cement. He leveled the floor with mortar and sand and then put tar paper down before he tiled! Well, it has since rotted, mildewed and molded. We tore up most of that section and then Dan shoveled it out into the trash can. What a mess. It a bit, he will cut off the bottom section of the wall and we will make what repairs we need.

I think I’ll run away to Edla’s!