Happy New Year.

Well, another Christmas is mostly in the books. We’ve still got the second half to go, but the heavy lifting is done—presents are bought, tree is up, Santa has come and gone. I had a week off from work between the two holidays, and I swear to god I have no idea where the time went.

Christmas itself was lots of fun; we gathered at the Lockard compound to wait out the fat man and eat lots of food, and he was very generous to us all. I got some boots that needed to be returned—Dr. Martens in a size too big—and some pants that don’t double as catamaran sails, as well as a new beer kit. Finn made out really well, with musical instruments, a digital camera, and a toy piano among other things. Jen’s composter is on super-backorder but should arrive sometime in the next week or so.

We bought Jen’s dad a dishwasher to replace his ancient model, and I spent the better part of Monday pulling the old unit and installing the new one. After some confusion about hoses and connections, I got everything sorted out, leaks tightened up, and a test load running before we left.

The roof and gutters on the Estate are finally done, and I wrote a Very Big Check to pay for the whole thing on Tuesday. My apprehension at seeing my bank account dwindle was mitigated when it started raining 1/2 hour after the roofers left, and we could see actual water emptying out of the downspouts, as opposed to pouring out of the middle of the gutter on the back of the house. I added some extensions to the downspouts and adjusted a few things, and hopefully that will move more water away from the house quicker. Tuesday was also PJ day for the three of us, and we took great relish in sitting around and doing absolutely nothing for the whole day. Mama and I finally caught up with the final Harry Potter movie after Finn went to bed, and we enjoyed it, but we’re sad to see the series come to a close.

Wednesday I crawled back into the coal cellar and finished installing studs, then insulated the entire outside wall. It feels warmer at the edges of the room upstairs to a pair of stockinged feet (and Tuesday evening’s sub-artic temperature was the real test). I’m glad to have that done—and my back is, too.

Thursday and Friday were spent cleaning the house in preparation for the Unbirthday Party, which was a qualified success. Jen specified Afghan food for the meal, and everyone stepped up to the plate to provide very tasty food. After dinner, we sat in the living room around the fire, drank, laughed, and had a great time with everyone. Saturday was another day of rest after the party, and we stayed in our PJs as long as we could.

Sunday I went back to Chestertown to continue working on the Scout bumper, which is documented in detail here. I also tacked our flat-panel mount together and dropped it off for final welding while I was out there. It’s a 1.5″ length of box steel that stretches from floor to ceiling, and two feet at the top and bottom will provide mounting points. I’m going to cut a hole in the back and at the bottom to feed cabling inside so that it will be out of view.

Thanks Given.

Our holiday in New York was wonderful but brief. We enjoyed visiting with my family, and Finn is now at the age where we spend less time trying to physically stop her from getting into things she shouldn’t and more time telling her. But overall, she was really well-behaved and polite. Unfortunately, she also started out with a viral infection that worked its way down into her lungs, becoming bacterial bronchitis (or something like that). She spent a good portion of the ride home mercifully passed out in the carseat.

The weather was very mild and sunny up there, which was a real pleasure; usually there’s a howling frosty wind sweeping down from Canada to chill the bones. We took a couple of walks to work off our Thanksgiving dinner and enjoy the sun while it lasted.

Returning home, we scrapped a lot of our plans for Sunday to get Finn to the doctor, pick up medicine, and relax before the week caught up to us. I got the pumpkin ale bottled while the girls napped, and sorted out some early Christmas planning while watching football in bed. Finn was up and down a few times before going to sleep, and woke us at 1 with a bad dream. I slept in the guest bedroom after we installed her in the big bed to sleep next to Mama.

Birthday Cupcakes!

Thanks to the Redmans, who hosted a birthday party for Finn’s neighbor on the bench above. There was splashing in the pool, swinging on the swing, and a reluctant pinata that took some fatherly persuasion to give up the goods before it began raining.

This morning we took in the farmer’s market for the first time this year, scoring corn, tomatoes, eggplant and peaches. After Finn’s nap, she and I ran some errands to beautiful downtown Glen Burnie, which is sort of the bizarro Columbia—the stores are all the same, but the missing-tooth/tattoo/mullet frequency in the citizenry goes off the charts. Then it was back home to make dinner, read books, and sample some guacamole before bedtime.

Recap

After a long weekend of driving and family and friends and swimming and wrenching, we’re all safely back home. Mama and Finn spent the day home from life in their PJ’s catching up on naps and rest after a total of about three centuries in the car, and I expect they’ll need at least another month of recuperation before they’ve caught up on sleep. My trip across the bridge was awesome, documented elsewhere on the web. I’d have pulled in through syndication from the other weblog, but for some reason it’s throwing errors and I’m too tired to troubleshoot it right now.

Quiet Time.

It’s funny how the rhythms of our little family unit morph organically over time. Lately, Finn has been sleeping later in the mornings (thank GOD), usually stirring between 6:30 and 7:30. For the last couple of weeks, she’s been opening the door to our bedroom around 7 or so, clutching an armful of her stuffed animals. I usually scoot over to the center of the bed, lift the covers, and she climbs up to lay next to me. Mama touches my back and I nestle my nose into the tangle of her hair, and we doze like that for as long as possible before we have to get up to start the day. I try not to sleep, enjoying the nearness of my family, but usually it’s too peaceful to resist falling back asleep, knowing everything is right in the world with my girls.

Now, With a Little More Extract.

I cracked open the first bottle of hefeweizen this weekend and sampled the brew; the verdict is that it’s pretty heavy. The recipe I had didn’t come with the extract kit, so the taste comes off like the extract was in the pot and cooking for about 15 minutes too long. It’s heavy up front and finishes off pretty light but there’s a definite extract tang in the taste that’s going to take some getting used to. Tonight I’m going to pour some in a clear glass to look at the color, but I suspect it’s going to be dark and muddy.

Meanwhile, we hit the IKEA on Saturday to look for some furniture for Finn’s room. The bookshelf we wanted was out of stock. The bench we bought for the new bathroom was too wide and too long. But the lamp we bought for her room was just right… oh, well. Later in the day we met up with Jen’s family to get fitted for seersucker suits at Jos. A Bank in Columbia; All went swimmingly until we learned that their tan seersucker suits don’t come without pleated pants—no matter what size they are.

We chose some hardware for the new bathroom on Sunday and I spent some time installing a towel bar, TP holder, and toilet pull, which makes the room look better. We’re waiting on a special-order sink faucet which should arrive sometime this week.

Recapping the Weekend.

The Lockardugans had a busy, busy Memorial Day weekend. First up on our dance card was Aunt Christi’s graduation and celebration dinner. I could not make the ceremony but caught up with everyone later at Sascha’s for the celebration dinner. As we were eating, we recognized the girl in charge of our wedding, who came over to say hi right about the same time I was going to get up to say hello to her.

After the main course, I took the restless girl out for a walk to the Washington Monument, where we made friends with a kennel’s worth of dogs and ran around the empty fountains while couples strolled and chatted in the evening breeze.

Saturday we worked to clean the house up for more guests; my old college pal Chris and his family stopped over for a crab feast at the dining room table, and we shared parenting tips and home renovation stories. Who would have thought that twenty years ago, wandering back buzzed from the jazz clubs downtown at two in the morning, that we’d one day be comparing families and kids and jobs?

We had a bunch of crabs left over on Sunday, so Mama and I made short work of them after a long day in the den and chasing after the girl. Note to the Internets: To reheat crabs, throw them in a covered roasting pan and cook it at 350° for about 15 minutes. Delicious!

Meanwhile, the den is ever so much closer to being finished. All of the small molding is in place, the fireplace is surrounded with clean quarter-round, and the threshold over the bathroom door is in place. Mama rolled the first coat of wall paint over the primer, and I followed behind cutting in with a brush.

We also put a coat of yellow paint on the bathroom wall to see how it looks. At first we were a bit dubious, but I think it’s growing on us. We have some minor stuff to do in order to finish up:

• Putting a second coat of eggshell on the walls, and cutting it in
• Fixing the tape and spackle behind the radiator
• Cutting the toe molding around the back door threshold
• Fixing imperfections in the polyurethane on the floor
• Touch-up on the trim paint
• Replacing the switchplates and covers, and adding a timer to the porch light

Busy Girl, Tired Girl.

We’re back from our trek northward to pay respects to Uncle Neil and visit with family, and I’d say it whupped all three of our butts. The drive up was great, but long, and Finn did really well in the car. Friday morning we got up super-early, put on our church clothes, and drove another hour and a half northward to attend a warm, at times humorous, and solemn service. Afterwards there was a reception at a local restaurant and later still a party at a house I only recall from snapshots and dust-covered memories. It was great to catch up with relatives and friends, and Finn was so incredibly well-behaved, it made my heart hurt.

Saturday was filled with more family, starting with an invitation to meet cows and ride a tractor under a deep blue sky. Later my sister hosted a spaghetti dinner for a gaggle of aunts and uncles, and we toasted my uncle Neil once again. As always, Finn was the life of the party.

Speaking for myself, the trip was tiring but very, very good, even if the reason sucked.

Tractor Ride!

Farewell.

Digging through my limited archives, I found this photo among other posed shots around summer pools, crowded farmhouse tables, and outdoor picnics. There are other, more traditional photos of the man (He’s on the right), but this one is how I’ll remember him. Goodbye, Uncle Neil.