Christmas

It's a new tradition for us to make Nash and Linc cookies.

Yesterday was the Christmas gathering with my brother's family at my parents' house.

Nash would come running when Sarah told him it was time for "candy". (If he knew he was getting medicine...)

Linc, like usual, was very smiley.



Nash, like usual, was very curious.



He did a great job unwrapping presents, and he even did his "chores" by putting the paper in the trash bag afterwards.




Nash was pretty tired by this point, and didn't want to have his picture taken with Santa.
Linc, on the other hand, was very happy to do anything with Santa.




Linc's eyes are even bluer than mine.






The deacon's bench served as a baby gate. If Nash were free to roam, he would dash to the fridge to push the lever for the water dispenser.






Nash was amazingly well-behaved around the "pretty". And he liked looking out the window at the snow.


Merry Christmas, everyone!

Men in trees

A tree trimming service came through today. They chopped off the top of these weed trees. I wish they had cut them down entirely.

They also removed some major limbs from my locust tree. This guy had a cool chainsaw on a stick.


He'd basically just touch a branch, and it would fall off.

Unfortunately they left a big mess in my backyard. I hope someone comes to pick this stuff up.

I also took a picture of the new antenna on top of the electrical tower. (It's the triangular thing.) There's also a new concrete slab below. I presume they'll put a little shed on it like they did for other towers with antennas.

Windows - day #2, #3, and #4

Oh no! One of the installers left the wet bottom of a garbage can on the bedroom floor. Now there's a water spot in the hardwood. I wonder how Gilkey will fix this.

The living room before. Notice the awful assymetry (mix of picture window, transom, and casement).

The living room windows turned out best of all. The old assymetry is now corrected.

The kitchen before.

This window was tough because the soffit outside was so low. Plus, you had to sit in the sink to get at it.

The kitchen turned out quite well. They did a very nice job coping the trim around the tile.

The dining room before. (Will the carpet look this good when the guys are done?)

The dining room after.

The pink goo is insulating foam. They had to keep the cans in the bathroom by the radiator else they froze up.

The exterior capping looks fantastic.

New Windows!

What would you do with $17,000? Well, I could have bought a new car, but instead I bought new windows. Time will tell whether I made the right decision.

Three guys showed up, and to my surprise they were right on time. The first thing I said to them was, "I have white carpet." To which they replied: "Don't worry, ma'am. We're very clean."

Wow, they sure had a ton of stuff. The windows themselves filled up my den. My garage was full of wood. My living room was full of tools.

They started by laying "runners" which are basically strips of canvas barely wide enough to walk across. And unfortunately, my bathroom is on the second floor, accessed via the white carpet in the living room. So most of the abuse would be taken here and up the stairs.

Here's what the windows used to look like. They were metal pans with metal frames. They were casements and picture windows. Notice the abundance of glass.

The metal frames were tough to remove. I heard the guys complain about how many Sawzall blades they broke trying to get them out. The guy who measured for the windows didn't leave much wiggle room either. They had to get the buck frames perfectly sized.

Here's what the new window looks like. I hate the reduced glass size and the wood trim is beyond ugly, but they're supposedly ultra efficient. According to the manufacturer (Gilkey), they are triple-paned (not just double) and they are filled with argon gas. They don't really feel that much warmer, but I'm told I'll notice it in my energy bills.

Here's the rigging on the exterior. Not sure yet what the final trim is going to look like on the outside. Man, I wish I had this when I clean my gutters.

This was my favorite window in the house. It looks out over my garden. Compare the before and after. Is it just me or does the ceiling feel lower?

Maybe it won't look so obvious after I paint the trim...?