Lueders Haus Blog

The snow around our house is finally melting off. No more lowland snow is in the forecast. I no longer have to 4×4 down my street. We even managed to make it out Saturday on a ski trip. We skied the MTTA trails near Mt. Rainier. It was quite the adventure getting to the trail head. We appeared to be the first ones up the road that morning. I made it halfway up the road in four wheel drive before getting stuck in some slush. We all hopped out and put on the chains while three cars waited behind us. There was no turn around spots before the trail head so once we arrived we put on our skies and headed up the trail. The trail was un-groomed and we had to break trail most of the way (we later learned the groomer was broken). We skied in mostly rain to the Copper Creek Hut where the overnighters were playing scrabble. After warming up we headed back down the to the trail head. The snow plow passed us at the trail head while we were taking off our skies. Hopefully next week’s ski trip to the Methow will be easier going.

It has been cold and snowy all week. The biggest snow fall was last night. We must have got nearly six inches. We actually had to shovel the sidewalk for the first time. Looks like it is not going to melt anytime soon either. I haven’t been to work since Wednesday. We had to cancel our dinner reservations on Thursday for Sherry’s birthday but we made it to the office Christmas party downtown at the Arctic Club (well named for the cold night) on Friday. Luckily we don’t need to travel anywhere, so it has been pretty low key.

We did have a bit of excitement last night when the cold water supply line to our kitchen faucet froze up. We managed to get a plumber to come out fairly quickly and no burst pipe. We learned a few things, like Seattle is completely sold out of pipe warmers (you need to buy those before it gets cold) and how to access the crawl space under the kitchen (not sure I can fit down the hole yet).

Braved the icy Seattle roads to pick up a Christmas tree today. This is the first year either of us have been in Seattle for Christmas so Sherry demanded we decorate. We did not get to putting up the lights outside yet.

We got a few inches of snow last night in our backyard. Lots more in the mountains. Hopefully we will be cross country skiing next weekend.

On Saturday night we crossed the lake to have dinner at Cafe Juanita. We used the gift certificate that Craig and Meera gave to us as a wedding present. We had known about this place for years but never bothered to venture over to Kirkland to give it a try. Everything (homemade crackers, wine, smoked trout, lamb, braised pork, chocolate tort) was fantastic. But the most eventful part of the evening came towards the end of the meal, as we were finishing our desert. The party in the private room downstairs started singing the “Twelve Days of Christmas”. The Cafe is in a small converted split level house and their singing filled the whole restaurant. Our waiter told us this group comes every year. Originally they were twenty people, but this year they are down to just eleven. After dinner they always launch into a round of Christmas carols. What a party!

Made it! After living in a construction site for three weeks we finally have our bathroom back. I learned a lot during the whole process. I now know that every inch counts, especially in a small bathroom. Even at three bucks a square foot, tile cost a hell of a lot. Most bathroom fixtures are really ugly. Also you can find some good deals for bathroom fixtures on Google. Here is the before and after in all its glory.