Out of Place

Nick and I just returned form McDonald's. We went to take a Redbox movie back. When we went inside, I instantly noticed a group of three women as being out of place. It was like running into my mom and two others like her. At a McDonald's in Bountiful, there would be nothing interesting about them. At the McDonald's on Jefferson Ave at 9:00 PM, they definitely don't belong.

Nick noticed a car in the parking lot with a flat tire and Oklahoma license plates as we started to pull out. This McDonald's happens to be the closest place to pull over from the freeway off-ramp. Putting two and two together, we offered to help them change their tire.

Fortunately, AAA was on their way so they were all taken care of. I feel we get the blessings of being willing to serve without having to do any of the hard work. That work would be particularly unpleasant right now as it is 16 degrees, with windchill it's 4.

And for our Fifth Anniversary

For our fifth anniversary, we going to do something exciting. It's something we've always wanted to do. We're going to live on a ground floor. We've lived in a basement (it will probably be another decade before we live somewhere so nice again), a third story, and we're currently in a second story unit. At the end of the month we're moving, but not too far away. In fact, we're staying on the same block.

With the expected arrival of Baby Johnson in March, we decided we needed a little more room. We do have a small closet-like room in our current apartment that is big enough for a crib (barely), but with babies come Grandmas, and where would we put those? Also, our stairs are steeper than is currently standard. Kate calls our stairs "the ladder." I would be a little afraid of carrying a baby up and down them. And then there's the whole issue of trying to keep crawling babies from falling down those too steep stairs.

So, we're moving to the end of the same block, same side of the street. I'm sure it will still be a painful process. Our new place looks much like the current one. It was just finished being remodeled by the same company, so it has the same wall colors, wood floor, tile, and kitchen appliances. It just happens to be closer to the ground and with an additional bedroom.

And Nick, the traditional Fifth Anniversary gift is wood, but they don't make wood jewelry, so know that I can be flexible.

The Ice Storms Cometh

We had our first ice storm of the year last night. Actually, there was one we missed while we were in Utah for Thanksgiving. When we got back, three of our four car doors were frozen shut.

Last night's storm was not as bad as it had been predicted to be, but any ice is troublesome. Nick intentionally left later than usual for his clinic so that the roads would be clear and salted. The freeway I watch from my window seems to be moving along just fine, but there were lots of reports of accidents this morning. We may be getting more ice later this week, but only time will tell.

Update: Again, the car doors were frozen shut on the Taurus. I had to climb over to the driver's seat from the passenger side. Nick said he gloried in the garage as he drove the unfrozen, clear of ice Honda past everyone digging their cars out and using hot wet towels to thaw their door open.

Christmas Card Pictures

Yesterday, Nick had a surprise day off. The doctor's office he's doing his clinic work in right now canceled all their appointments and closed for the day. One doctor was on vacation and the other was with her husband after surgery, and needed an additional day out of the office. We had asked Janette to take our picture for Christmas cards, but hadn't found a good time to actually take the pictures.

Nick's surprise day off created the perfect opportunity. The weather was nice, (a high of fifty for December doesn't come along every day), Janette was willing and available, and Nick was home during daylight hours (which end about 5:00 these days.) We had a lovely walk through the Botanical Gardens, and Janette took some great pictures. I don't want to spoil the surprise (in case I actually follow through with sending cards) so I've posted a picture I like, but not the picture we'll use.

Thanks Janette!

Brave, Brave People

Brigham and Janette have been working on redoing their bathroom this last week. They knew the window in their shower had created a water problem, so they expected some difficulty with the project. Even so, they've experienced more setbacks than they anticipated. This picture is Brigham installing glass brick in the window. It looks beautiful.

Their experience has taught me I really don't want to be involved in heavy-duty home improvement projects. Sure, I'm willing to paint a room, but when it comes to something structural, I'm calling a professional who will have it done in a fraction of the time.

Brigham and Janette are the rare home-improvers who actually take the time to have the quality of their work rival a professional. The people they bought their home from were not, which has caused quite a few problems. For example, their ceiling started to reveal leaks in the roof. Further investigation revealed a whole in the roof had been patched with silicone. Not Cool!

Tree Update

We went to the Festival of Trees auction last night, but we didn't stick around until bidding closed. We know that our tree and the Wheadon's tree both sold, but we don't know for how much. We should be able to find out who bought them, but I don't have that information yet.

Festival of Trees

I extended my stay in Utah to be a part of the Festival of Trees, paying tribute to our friend Rebekah who passed away suddenly in March. The trees are decorated, viewed by thousands of people, and then auctioned off with the proceeds benefiting the Children's hospital.

We started with a pre-lit tree, and hundreds of bulbs. It took more work than you would think, and the festival has a lot of requirements that you have to meet, designed so that the tree can be moved in one piece and survive. We were there for nearly seven hours.

Great Aunt Norma helped entertain a couple of her great-grandchildren. It was a party with Wheadons- they set up their tree in the stall next to us. They've participated for several years and helped us learn the ropes.

Jewel came and her artistic touch added to the tree- she arranged the embellishments and star at the top to cap the tree off with just the right flourish. There were moments of tears as we thought of Rebekah, but we really had a lot of fun too. This tree also comes with a beautiful canvas print of Bouguereau's "Song of the Angels."