Break over

So the Thanksgiving break ends and a return to normalcy is upon us. The girls are off to school and I am back to work.

I took off Wednesday because the girls were home. I forget what we did; I probably made them go for a hike or a bike ride. I think we rode to the park to play with their friends, then rode to DQ for dogs and mini-Blizzards. I had Missus come pick up the girls so that I didn’t have to take the on the main drive. I left them and booked it home with out them and beat them back.

Thanksgiving Missus decided to cook a nineteen-pound turkey and about five side dishes. I stayed out of the kitchen. DT smoked a turkey in the smoker, the kids played all day, and we actually decided to have a real dinner with Momo and her boyfriend. I took off for a couple hours in the AM to go put my new bike to use, and went to the Mill.

I did the three bike trails, figured out how to use my bike and managed to make it through each one without stopping for rest. Then I took off through a tunnel and headed off into the wilderness. I had spied the tunnel, a wildlife causeway under a two lane highway. I took off down the trail, heavily wooded, paths covered in pine needles. The occasional tire ruts from the large utility vehicles that used the area. I ran into a couple of horseback riders on their tall, magnificent steeds, then I hurried along to catch up with a couple bikers. Father and daughter.

I talked with them for a while, mainly because I was unfamiliar with the area and needed to know where the trails headed. We left the woods and came on to a disused train track that was followed by utility towers and a gravel road which we rode. The gent I had run into worked at a bike shop across town, so I had lots of questions for him. We rode a few miles to a gate near another public road and I left them, pedaling my ass off and not stopping until I was back to the car. I rode twelve miles, almost thirteen.

Friday Missus worked again, so I took the girls out of the house to visit their aunt, who was being visited by her son, his wife, and their seven month old daughter. I wanted the girls to have as much time with their family as possible. So we went there for an hour, then I took the girls to the rock gym for some climbing. Fun time.

Saturday I got out of the house, determined to buy a balance bike for DT’s youngest. I had already given him one over a year ago, which was lost, and the boy still hadn’t learned how to ride. Everywhere I went was closed. Two bike shops and the Goodwill. I ran by the hardware store and bought some privacy film for our bedroom windows, then back to the house to put them up.

As I was opening the first box, I sliced open my middle finger on my hand with a brand new razor blade. Blood fell to the carpets immediately, and I’ve been doctoring the injury — Misuss has been an excellent nurse. The wound is right on the side of the knuckle and is hard to close, so it’s resulted in a quite a bit of blood. I think it’s closed now, but no guarantees on climbing this week.

Anyways the windows are going well. They’re all in, and look great. The installer is cleaning up today. We’ve been doing a lot of cleaning as well, and have hung up two blinds so far, even with my gimped hand. Screwing the brackets into the drywall is super-fucking hard, usually when two rotations from the wall. I did some experimenting with the drill depth, trying to figure out how I can do the rest of the house without draining myself.

I don’t even know if I want to do the rest of them or hire someone. The hardware is expensive. We’ve got thirteen windows in the house. I did two in three hours. Granted, one was a 60-inch, but I got shit to do and don’t want to spend the next six weekends putting these damn things up. And we haven’t even started with the blinds.

Well I’ve got some work to do. This update ran a bit longer than normal but I had a lot to cover, apparently.