a bit ago we had a 4 day weekend and bryan went to the basement for a workout on his new smith machine (that he put together...it's huge). a few minutes later he came up flustered saying our basement flooded...what? apparently, the expansion tanks became water logged and began to seep onto the floors. we are not talking inches, but enough to warrant reorganizing things, emptying boxes and assessing water damage with pictures (of course photo albums got wet). the service dude came out that afternoon (an accomplishment in the post storm craziness) and made the proper adjustments. luckily, our basement is dry and bryan is a smart man so things were dried up that night. time to get more plastic bins...
heating with oil. man o man. are you kidding me with this? we must have a hole in our home somewhere or a door or window is always open. i admit it is rather cool inside and i knew it would be more to heat this place, but jees. i'm ready to see how much it would cost to overhaul our heating system altogether. ok, at least have an expert evaluate our energy inefficiencies, especially during these winter months. there are two humongous oil tanks in the basement. they have been filled twice. and need to be filled again soon. get out your sweaters and socks everyone, it may get a little cooler in the house.
damn ice dams. lots of snow, sunshine, it's the perfect storm. luckily the pitch of our roof makes the snow slide right off, but our gutters are jam packed with ice. besides needing a new roof and gutters (and probably a reinsulated attic), someone (ok, not me) is worried about water pouring into the house. i have a feeling these are isolated incidents because of the excessive amounts of snow, but who knows what will happen. just supporting all preventative efforts.
if i think about all this, it can be overwhelming. so i don't.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
deep in it
snow. everywhere. the first storm came just after christmas and it was really pretty. we made it an event, watching it from the upstairs windows while the kids played games and we had movies on all day. in the background, we had to prepare like a hurricane was coming: batteries, flashlights, canned goods, bottled water, dug out all our blankets, tried to find our candles. that storm brought about 14 inches (maybe 17?). the next day, our vacation day turned into a snow day. bryan and i spent the morning shoveling a path for the car and to the entrances to the house (the kids were watching "beauty and the beast").
the second storm came while we were in chicago. we received notice of our cancelled flight and and snow days the day before the storm, we knew it was going to be bad. i had this icky feeling in my stomach that we should have let our neighbors know that we were going out of town, but i thought they may have noticed...anyway, we came back and a fresh thick blanket of snow was covering everything (the temps immediately warmed after the first storm, melting the snow!). our driveway was not as undrivable as it should have been so we gathered our great neighbors must have helped us. awesome. in the next few days, we noticed some of our trees had split and fallen as well, this was a doosey.
there have been other weather "events" that have warranted some effort. one night in particular, bryan had to shovel the driveway once we came home. the sun was setting rapidly and the snow was turning into rain. he was soaked to the bone. it was ridiculous. he bought a snowblower ("snowthrower" as they say in these parts) before the next storm.
the third storm was hefty but really pretty...10 inches of fluffy white stuff. it came down in a matter of hours. the range of snowfall within a region was crazytown: 4-20 inches, what? so bryan was able to use his new toy and we watched him from the 2nd floor bathroom window. pretty cool. he saw a neighbor use it and felt good about his purchase.
the second storm came while we were in chicago. we received notice of our cancelled flight and and snow days the day before the storm, we knew it was going to be bad. i had this icky feeling in my stomach that we should have let our neighbors know that we were going out of town, but i thought they may have noticed...anyway, we came back and a fresh thick blanket of snow was covering everything (the temps immediately warmed after the first storm, melting the snow!). our driveway was not as undrivable as it should have been so we gathered our great neighbors must have helped us. awesome. in the next few days, we noticed some of our trees had split and fallen as well, this was a doosey.
there have been other weather "events" that have warranted some effort. one night in particular, bryan had to shovel the driveway once we came home. the sun was setting rapidly and the snow was turning into rain. he was soaked to the bone. it was ridiculous. he bought a snowblower ("snowthrower" as they say in these parts) before the next storm.
the third storm was hefty but really pretty...10 inches of fluffy white stuff. it came down in a matter of hours. the range of snowfall within a region was crazytown: 4-20 inches, what? so bryan was able to use his new toy and we watched him from the 2nd floor bathroom window. pretty cool. he saw a neighbor use it and felt good about his purchase.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
it's all new to you (me, all of us)
the lag in entries is evidence in our continued adjustment to life in the bobbie house. ok, fine. we get caught up in our routines trying to incorporate some regularity in our new lives...trying to do this during the holidays is challenging.
the picturesque family trip in search of the perfect tree turned out to be a 3 minute car ride to the lot across the main street. but the evergreen smells were delicious...the kids were awed by rows and rows of trees and pointed out five different ones before deciding on the right one. (apparently, our timing was great and we had arrived just after a huge rush so there were plenty of people available to help us...we were really thankful!!). after our 3 minute ride home, tree in the house and up, boxes up from the basement - i was in search of proper libations for the trimming...of which we had none. good thing the liquor store is even closer than the tree lot! kids had snacks, mommy and daddy had drinkies, daddy tended a fire, mommy balanced the ornaments (initially bottom loaded) throughout the tree. our lovely specimen proved to be rather thirsty...lots and lots of water (note: an empty wine bottle works well as a watering vessel).
the day finally arrived after all the prep and tree looked far more bountiful than i ever thought it would this first chirstmas on our own, overwhelmed by the love from our family and friends. shocked we had to REMIND them it was THE day, we went downstairs and proceeded with the opening...they couldn't even get past the first gift (hot wheels trax and a dollhouse). after a few gentle reminders, they moved on to the rest...baxter ripping through them rather quickly, beatrix taking her time. we were getting through a nice strong pot of coffee so we were good...baxter requested "popups" (popovers) so i got to cook...loving it.
blizzard. snow storm. east coast style. no hype (ok, not really as compared to chicago), just take it seriously. made sure we had the basics on hand in case of power outage and braced ourselves. it was beautiful as it fell all sunday. no thunder snow storms and the final count was about 18 inches...all resulting in a snow day for us. alas, not another day in pjs as we had to shovel a path in our driveway and sidewalk within three hours of the end of the snow (it's the law). our lovely neighbors snowplowed our walks on their way to our other neighbor...it was a great help! unlike the great midwest snows, the temperature slowly crept up each day following and by the new year, it smelled like spring.
my parents came to visit during new year and it was also a quiet one. asleep by 10:30, party animals that we are. i made a big container of sangria, per request of my mom. so yummy. they offer to help with stuff around the house and i do not even know where to begin...
i bought a player for my iphone...it's been too long - so important to be surrounded by the music.
the picturesque family trip in search of the perfect tree turned out to be a 3 minute car ride to the lot across the main street. but the evergreen smells were delicious...the kids were awed by rows and rows of trees and pointed out five different ones before deciding on the right one. (apparently, our timing was great and we had arrived just after a huge rush so there were plenty of people available to help us...we were really thankful!!). after our 3 minute ride home, tree in the house and up, boxes up from the basement - i was in search of proper libations for the trimming...of which we had none. good thing the liquor store is even closer than the tree lot! kids had snacks, mommy and daddy had drinkies, daddy tended a fire, mommy balanced the ornaments (initially bottom loaded) throughout the tree. our lovely specimen proved to be rather thirsty...lots and lots of water (note: an empty wine bottle works well as a watering vessel).
the day finally arrived after all the prep and tree looked far more bountiful than i ever thought it would this first chirstmas on our own, overwhelmed by the love from our family and friends. shocked we had to REMIND them it was THE day, we went downstairs and proceeded with the opening...they couldn't even get past the first gift (hot wheels trax and a dollhouse). after a few gentle reminders, they moved on to the rest...baxter ripping through them rather quickly, beatrix taking her time. we were getting through a nice strong pot of coffee so we were good...baxter requested "popups" (popovers) so i got to cook...loving it.
blizzard. snow storm. east coast style. no hype (ok, not really as compared to chicago), just take it seriously. made sure we had the basics on hand in case of power outage and braced ourselves. it was beautiful as it fell all sunday. no thunder snow storms and the final count was about 18 inches...all resulting in a snow day for us. alas, not another day in pjs as we had to shovel a path in our driveway and sidewalk within three hours of the end of the snow (it's the law). our lovely neighbors snowplowed our walks on their way to our other neighbor...it was a great help! unlike the great midwest snows, the temperature slowly crept up each day following and by the new year, it smelled like spring.
my parents came to visit during new year and it was also a quiet one. asleep by 10:30, party animals that we are. i made a big container of sangria, per request of my mom. so yummy. they offer to help with stuff around the house and i do not even know where to begin...
i bought a player for my iphone...it's been too long - so important to be surrounded by the music.
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