The kids take turns opening their gifts, and actually have the presence of mind to comment on each other's bounty. Here Kyle is commenting on Casey's new mini-bratz doll, and Casey seems to be getting a bit worn out from the activities.

Kyle loves his cars - and Hot Wheels has started making a custom collection of both classic cars and super pimped out high-end cars. Note Casey's exceedingly relaxed position on the subject....

Finally, one little girl was just too exhausted from all of the Christmas activity and had to conk out!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!!

Well, I have not updated much as I don't have internet connectivity outside of work for the time being. I won't have exotic location shots to post for a time to come yet, but stay tuned for things like chaos~~~~order at home as I settle in, and wacky photos of some of the crazy stunts I will get up to between now and the new year, such as:

• replacing the water heater….dangerous and fun!
• scraping ice away from the driveway annoyingly necessary!!
• Changing the locks (since the keys I got when I bought the house are 3rd generation wal-mart copies) scary!
• Pulling trash from out of the crawl space …just plain wrong!
• And finding an appropriate disposal for the automotive gas tank and muffler left in the garage by the former owners!!!

WOW!!!!

At any rate - to all of my Family, Friends, Colleagues, and web voyeurs -- Wherever you Are in the World -- have a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year, or Whatever Floats your Boat.

No pun intended to the Alvheimers!!

On Sunday the dish network guy never showed up but I got deep into some cleaning. It started snowing again. I am going to have to go out and discover where the walkway is to the garage. Bonus to cleaning in the kitchen: found the garage door opener! 

This is what a normal blaze should look like.  

This is the raging blaze. I added one too many logs and thought, oh great, I am going to burn the house down before I move in.  

Kitchen 

From 'office' to sun room 

From the 'office' into the living room 

Well, I closed on the house on Friday, and Saturday morning my truckload of furniture arrived. I remembered it being so much, but it really is a couch, a bed, and a lot of books. Got all the unpacking done, and a healthy start on my to-do list. 

We had a little snow earlier this week. It took me a bit to de-ice the windshield. I don't think Tessa, my Truck, has ever experienced cold like this before. But she is running like a top, and just passed the 100,000 mile mark!! 

So, I have been house hunting. This is the one I fell in love with. Closing is scheduled for Friday.  

Recently, I have grown weary of the Marriott TowneSuites Hotel here in Findlay, Ohio. The customer service is almost non-existant...you should keep a list of items sent out for dry cleaning because they come back one or two at a time, spread over a week (despite the same day service and charge). Mail addressed to you at this address does not always arrive. Visitors staying for long periods of time get billed once a week, and so far, none of those I have received has been correct on the firstt (or sometimes second) try. But the biggest no-no in hotel management is failing to repair a reported leak. I noticed the bathroom wall bulging out last week, and pushed on it. Turned out to be water trapped between the wall and the wall paper. A service call was made, and the repair consisted of a tech slicing open the bulging wallpaper and soaking up the residue. I must have asked 4 times if this was repaired as opposed to just drained from the wall - that there is a leak upstairs from me and it needed attention or this seepage would continue. Almost a week later, my bathroom ceiling started raining in the night. Wallpaper bulges appeared and multiplied, and there were actual drips from various spots in the ceiling. I talked to the front desk, again, about this problem. They assured me it would be addressed. When I returned after work, this is the 'repair'. Apparently the maintenance worker stuck his thumb or finger through the ceiling (it was soggy) to drain it. In several spots along the bathroom. Wallpaper was peeled off where the leaks had occurred. I went back downstairs to explain to the young desk clerk why this was unacceptable. Then, she explained that the upstairs tenant apparently was embarrassed to call for help - when his TOILET OVERFLOWED - repeatedly. I could not stop the gag reflex. I then told her again how unacceptable this was. But now I was in a situation. I have everything I own strewn throughout a hotel room - have been living out of a suitcase for a few months now. They were bulging when I got here, and I have since bought an outfit or two, so moving to another hotel would be a huge hassle. Plus, it was 8 degrees outside. And, I get frequent flier miles for the money sent here, and then I get frequent flier miles from my credit card. Those are very valuable to me. So, I explained how this was a safety and health hazard, and how amazed I am at this facility's apparent lack of concern for their structure or their guest's satisfaction - especialy when they are from one of the two big companies keeping this town economically alive. So, I got a new, bigger room. Maybe this week, the billing will be right, too. 

Great Fall sunset....heavy, full clouds....