Watched Walter Isaacson on Charley Rose last night. (thanks Tivo!) His piece in Time magazine has created lots of discussion. I still enjoy paging through my copy of the Times every morning. But I do wonder how much longer they will continue to deliver. I’m still willing to pay for my news and getting it on a device like the Kindle would be nice.
We hadn’t been to a show there in years when it went out of business last year. I saw last night they are reopening under new managment. Looks like it has something to do with Via Tribunali. Am I going to be able to get a slice of wood fired pizza during a show now?
While Seattle finished melting out we headed over to Winthrop on New Year’s Eve for a little ski trip. The drive over Stevens Pass was a bit too exciting. Both passes have been closed on and off for the last few weeks for rain or snow causing dangerous avalanche conditions. We got to Winthrop right before another major storm on New Year’s Day. We arrived safe but the truck’s bumper has a new scar.
The first day of skiing was a bit slow with about a foot of snow falling around us that day. But the next two days of skiing mostly clear if a bit cold. This trip gave us a chance to try out our new skate skies. After some quick lessons we were able to get around pretty good. I will need a season on them before I feel truly comfortable but Sherry is a natural.
We arrived back in Seattle on Sunday afternoon right when the flurries of a second snow storm were starting up. By 10pm were had nearly another four inches of heavy wet snow on the ground. The snow sent a few branches of our pine tree down onto our shed’s roof during the evening. By morning it was raining again. A few days later the floods closed down I-5,I-90, and Highway 2. What prefect timing! Luckily, this year we will be going back again in a few weeks to work on our skating. See all the picture here.
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.
Almost done! The plumbers have been working late the last few days putting in the fixtures. Who knew these European fixtures were such a pain to install? Even the light fixture took an unusual bulb. I had to drive down to SODO on Friday to pick it up from the warehouse. Hopefully everything will be done on Monday once the plumber tracks down a metric threaded supply line for the toilet.
The bathroom is starting to come together. They painted the walls and tiled the floor and shower. The tile looks pretty darn sweet. Especially when compared with what was there before. It would be nice if they were done next week but that does not look likely.