Now She's 17

Yup, 17 and a day actually. The bottom picture is actually from the Newark High School Varsity Field Hockey web page and I was looking for an excuse to use it. We had a pretty low key birthday for her. Went to Olive Garden and then home for cake with just a couple of friends. She opened her presents last night. And returned some of them today. ha ha Lucie bought her some "place-holder" presents knowing they would exchange styles but she wanted her to have something to open on her birthday. Next weekend, if it doesn't rain like it has the past 2 weekends, Ashleigh will have her party at the fire pit in the backyard. Cooking 'smores and hot dogs.

All else is pretty quiet. Elliott's teeth are doing fine and he is adjusting to the expander. Lucie is still busy doing things. Work is going well for me. I had a friend's computer here for a few days to fix a problem but I must have fixed it as soon as I touched it because it hasn't caused a problem for me.

Ashleigh is out trick or treating with friends. She went as a peasant woman. Elliott was supposed to hand out candy here but the last time I saw him he was planted in front of the Xbox with Ashleigh's birthday Snuggie on...

Say Ah

Don't be frightened by the image to the right. That is a model of the palate expander Elliott recently had "installed." Quite a contraption. Looks like something out of the "Saw" movies. And uncomfortable too as you can imagine. But he is getting used to it and a friend of ours let us borrow a Water Pik to help keep things clean. He has to keep that thing in for about 6 months and then goes to regular braces. It will be worth it in the end.

All else is going pretty well. Ashleigh's field hockey team is struggling a bit but they are playing MUCH better than previous years. A&E are doing fine in school. Work is going well for me. Lucie is busy with work and hay rides and getting ready for the kids church Christmas play.

The other night I sat down to read my email and the monitor went black. No power. So I checked the usual suspects and finally felt the monitor power supply. VERY hot. In fact, it had scorched my oak desk! Good thing I didn't have it on the carpet. So I bought a new one on eBay for $25 and am back in business. Kind of scary but whatever fuse or safety built into it burned out (maybe a bit slowly) so I guess it did its job. And replacing the power supply is a heck of a lot cheaper than a whole new flat screen monitor. Had to dredge up an ancient CRT monitor - big huge heavy thing with a tiny screen. But it worked.

Above is some video Elliott took of a deer in the neighbor's yard. We have had as many as 3 or 4 at a time out there. Early mornings or mid-afternoon. I think they are becoming accustomed to the dogs so that is good. We hadn't seen any in 10 years but the past 2 years they have come poking around. A big county office building was built recently in a field not far from here and I think that pushed the deer our way.

As you can see from the lack of posts, I have been busy! I guess that happens when you work full time... Ashleigh is doing well in field hockey and they still have a winning record. That is a first for her. She thought she broke her finger recently in practice but it was just a bad bruise from a ball hit. Elliott is doing well in school and just signed up for the city basketball league. That is always good. His finger is healing nicely. I have Ashleigh's stats posted on the web page and will post Elliott's when he gets some. Early November I think.

Now that we have insurance, Lucie has been busy getting the kids and herself dental checkups and physicals. All good so far.

The weather has gotten chilly in the mornings but last night when we were at the high school football game, it was 80º! I closed the pool too early...

I am hoping the grill parts I ordered come in today. Last time I was cooking out there I noticed some parts were rusting so I ordered some new ones. One of the refrigerator door shelves broke but to get a replacement from Amana was $50! eBay is my friend and I got one for $20.

It is a bank holiday Monday but I am going in for a while because they are cutting the main power to the building to do their bi-annual electrical maintenance. I (and my boss) figured it would be a good time to see what effect it will have on the security systems. A backup generator will be running and there is a backup to the backup so all should be fine. But since the building will be mostly empty, I can do some other work too. The kids have school so I won't be missing out on anything. And I can't complain about working!