kip_w | some more days

.
Big snows before Christmas, and cold temperatures. We struggled to get the cars up our short driveway and to get Cathy's into the garage. Resolved to buy more sidewalk salt.

Christmas Eve saw warmer temperatures and wind-driven moisture reduce the snow accumulation. By that time, I'd put our fake tree up in the living room, on a timer, and Sarah had decorated it. I ordered a tuning hammer, and it arrived in time for me to start messing with the studio piano in the living room. Fixed some of the worst notes, but it has an over-ripe sound that could curdle water.

On Christmas, Sarah opened 70 or 80 presents and started on the work of distributing them evenly over the floor. I received the "art of Watchmen" book, Watching the Watchmen (and I bought the Ultimate Watchmen edition for myself the day before, using a coupon), and a vibrating/heating pad for my office chair, which I still enjoy turning on for a quarter of an hour and vibrating away. It says to only use it for 15 minutes at a time, but doesn't say why or how long to not use it between times.

Looks like I have another job incoming, a brochure for a book I just did a cover for. No doubt I'll use some of the same artwork. Not knowing how much to charge for a brochure, I figure on asking about the same as I did on the cover. After this, I'll have a better idea of how long such a job takes me and will adjust my rates accordingly.

I've been playing Christmas carols (and commercial Christmas songs, by request) on the electronic piano. There's yer holiday spirit. Some nice Czech and Polish tunes this time around.

Frances continues to adjust to life in our home. Sarah wants to pester her, and regards it as persecution when I intercede. She (Sarah) has also been having sad feelings about her birth parents, and wants to travel this summer -- to see my dad (we see Cathy's family more often, due to physical proximity), and to visit China. Hm. In a conversation with my sister, one or both of us had a swell idea that we could get together in Chicago some time, and take in the Art Institute, the Aquarium, and the Museum of Science and Industry. Maybe the Field Museum too. The idea has much to recommend it, and I could also take possession of the accordion my sister in Colorado brought out to Michigan for me. (I don't know how things went with

armoire_man's old accordion. When I told my sister about it, she said she had an accordion she'd bring out.)

Cathy went to the dentist today to get her crown finalized. tomorrow she goes into the hospital to lose the gall bladder. It will be an interesting week, with aspects of the weeks when she's away, but with her being around the house. She'll probably come home in the afternoon some time. No food after midnight.

Oh, and Friday we finally went out for my birthday dinner, with a plate of dee-licious sushi from Shiki that just couldn't be beat. Only slightly less than two weeks late. On Saturday, I took Sarah out to Taco Bell for lunch, and yesterday we got back to our usual bowling run in the morning*, followed by lunch out. We went to Wild Noodles, which seems worth going back to. Then we stopped off at Big Lots and the guitar store in the Henrietta shopping center whose name I never remember. The guitar store has a $100 USB turntable that comes complete with stylus, and which plays 78s. I'll see if I can start saving for that, and get back to transferring my old vinyls and shellacs.

* First real bowling since Sarah got her Wii. I wondered if Wii bowling ruined me for the real thing, since our first game was about the worst I've done. Things went better in the second, including two honest strikes in the eleventh frame.
.