Monday, November 28, 2005

Let It Snow. . .Oh, Wait, No. . .

Well, the Thanksgiving weekend has come to a close. The predictions of snowfall were amazingly accurate, the two-to-four-inch estimate preceding a difference-splitting three, enough to have me slipping and sliding all over the road on my errands Thursday, though my commute on Friday was along well-plowed roads.

On Saturday, Karen and I went down to Concord to do some early-morning shopping, missing the "Black Friday" crowds by a day. In the afternoon, Karen volunteered at the Wolfeboro Area Children's Center to help children do holiday crafts. William and Danny went, too, William doing several craft projects, and Danny doing almost none, being too interested in the toys at the center. But he did them later at our dining room table with Karen.

Today I went back to work in fog and feezing rain. Winter is still nearly a month away, but we can't tell from here.

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Frozen Turkey Day

A happy Thanksgiving holiday to all from the Brooks Bunch. The title of this entry refers not to our turkey, which is by now thawed, but to the weather, which most assuredly is not. The current temperature outside is 19 degrees Fahrenheit, and we are expecting as much as four inches of snow by the morning. Fortunately, the rest of the weekend is expected to bring milder temperatures and no precipitation.

We will be having what I might call a half-traditional meal. Turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce as usual. But the pie will be Key Lime (though we will be having pumpkin custard, without crust). And among the treats will be turkeys made from cookies and candy pieces, by William. We'll take some pictures of those.

Speaking of pictures, I know I've been remiss in posting new ones, but I have had to struggle with my slow Internet connection, not to mention the moving of my computer because of the leak in our roof. But I will take advantage of this long weekend, perhaps transferring image files to a flash drive and taking them over to the local Internet Cafe for uploading (if they have the right kind of software). So, check in again at the end of the weekend.

For all of our friends and family on the Left Coast, we will be coming out for a visit during the last week of Decmeber and the first week of January. More information to follow.

Thursday, November 17, 2005

Rain, rain. . .GO AWAY!

We continue to be plagued by water. Not only by the most recent storm, but apparently by several storms before it. We have a leak in our roof, which leaked into the dormer, which is right next to our storage area, which is normally closed. So we didn't, for some time, notice that our wood floor was being destroyed from underneath.

Photos to come. Not much in the way of blogging or email from me for a few days, as we are going to move my computer system downstairs this weekend as part of preparing to have the floor rebuilt.

I'm really starting to hate rain.

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Can I Stand the Strain?

Karen and I have actually been able to get out and about and do a few things lately.

On Friday, when I had the day off for Veteran's Day, we went with Thomas to see the excellent movie "Good Night and Good Luck," the story of Edward R. Murrow's battle with Joe McCarthy. On Saturday we went to see the local theater group's production of "The Sound of Music." It was fun! This could start a trend. Might even get to be a habit!

Driving Force

Today was a day of driving, but then what's new for New Hampshire?

I only worked a half day, thanks to the generousity of our facility director, who let us each have four hours off to use at our discretion. I chose today because Thomas had an orthodontist appointment in Laconia. So after a nice lunch at Taco Bell (a rare treat), I went off towards home. Now, follow me if you dare. I drove the usual commute home, and then a bit more to Kingswood High to pick up Tom. That took about an hour. Then to Laconia, on the other side of the lake, for the appointment, a 45-minute drive. The appointment took about twnety minutes, after which we drove home to leave Tom off, stopping for a snack and gasoline on the way, making the trip about 55 minutes. I crossed paths with Karenm, who was on the way to class, for all of five minutes, and then I went off to a dental appointment of my own. That, at least, was only ten minutes away.

I picked up Danny and Will on the way home. Whew! And now, having fed the young ones and put them in pajamas (actually sweatsuits made to look like Superman's clothing, complete with cape), I need to brush teeth and read tonight's story. Hmm. Better find my reading glasses.

Saturday, November 05, 2005

Trying to Keep Up

I'm still not getting the hang of doing regular updates, although I have some pictures to put up and there is a lot going on. And therein lies the problem. This weekend, for example, we have someone coming to look at the house. Unexpectedly. And since we are just in the process of moving back in, after having moved almost everything out, we have to scramble to make the house look half decent. I hope it's all worth it!

Karen has just finished two more classes at Hesser College: Textiles and Architectural CAD. Grades aren't in yet, but I am comfident that she did very well. She's also midway through Materials, an architectural engineering course, which is something of a stretch for her, with no construction experience (although the experience of building one-and-a-half houses has helped).

I'm trying to get all of my gear together to make it easier to put together a reel, andperhaps find a job closer to my own field. Not that there is anything wrong with my redundant, boring, far-away job. . .well, you get the picture. But aside from that, having my gear together will also make it easier to work on the Web sites, so you and those I direct to GSBrooks.com will actually see changes on a regular basis. I hope.

Winter is on its way, although we've had a mild week. What we don't know yet is if we'll be spending the winter in a cozy little rented house with low heating bills and no long driveway to plow, or spending another winter here in this big drafty summer camp. I'll keep you up to date!