Old Style Ski Race

Check out these fine folks participating in the Sons of Norway annual race at Russian Jack! (I couldn't find my ski boots - but Megan is riding Mom's wedding skis, and Jim is on Dad's!)

Winter Wonderland

We went up to Glen Alps today to play in the new snow that's been falling! Also, we bought cross-country touring boots last spring for a song, and wanted to try them out. Jim's are great; mine pinch my feet (why did I buy women's instead of men's??), so we didn't get all that far. Still, it was fun to get up there and see the mountains covered in snow, although they were a bit windswept. Then we came home, Jim changed the oil (thanks!), and went to see the new James Bond movie. O, Daniel Craig...

Reneging

I just reviewed the extensive list of post topics, and I am just going to let that be as a list of things that have happened. By now, I've talked to you all and you know how it all turned out.

We did have a trip to Montana in September, complete with a fantastic trip to Wapiti, Wyoming, which I love to say. Wapiti. WOPitti. I rode a horse, which was fun and completely freaky! I definitely have no desire to explore that further, which I suppose is good, as horsing around (har har) is pricey up here. Britt is my hero for falling off a horse and, literally, getting right back on. I would not have been able to do that.

I have decided that we need to be done with obligation trips, though. Montana is fun, but it's not much of a vacation any more - it's a series of visits that we "need" to do, that we don't really need to do. We talked of driving the motorcycles down next time; making the journey the destination. How fantastic would that be? With the in-laws traveling up here to see their granddaughter, we'll see them regularly. We shall see.

It has become my latest and most nerdy goal to erg one million meters. I think you must say it like Doctor Evil - one MILLION meters! I log them on the Concept2 website, and I'm about 450,000 meters in - it's a lifetime accumulation, and I guess I started charting it last winter or the winter before. But with World Masters Games in Australia next October, the desire for a dedicated effort this winter is very strong. Plus, at the end of the year party (which I missed), I won the award for the best 2K time (woman). Yeah! A nerd and a buff nerd at that!

Snap, Crackle, Pop

..goes the fire. Little did I know that spruce pops as it burns, and likes to freak The Loon and I out by throwing small bombs of flaming embers onto the hearth. My duty is to sit on the couch and make sure the fire doesn't set the living room on fire. Not a bad job, even if it does make me jump out of my skin every few minutes.

I was sick, sick, sick over Halloween weekend, but this past week I recovered. Amazing what a lot of sleep, vitamin C, and tea will do. Yesterday, Jim and I took the clap skates out to Potter Marsh and skated around in the cold and the wind. Very Nordic, I was laughing as I was tripping over the frozen cattails and falling on the lip of ice near a hole where someone had fallen in the weekend before.

New job..new responsibilities..not enough time in the day. I really like the new responsibility of the job, but the part I haven't gotten used to yet is how I'm not getting any billable work done. No doubt, I need to spend some after hours time on miscellania or on billable work, because the days are filled with the "urgent unimportant" interruption.

This post, if you haven't figured it out yet, is a random assimilation of topics. C'est la vie.

ERVA made me a most wonderful CD and I cannot get enough of it, especially a particular song called "coin operated boy." Very fun. I've been trying to take note of fun songs to add to a yet-to-be-made erging compilation. So far I have "toot toot beep beep" and "I need a lover who won't drive me crazy," which was pretty funny to explain to Jim why that was written on my calendar. Honestly, it's a song.

So, I promised a long list of blogging topics, didn't I? I should tackle them individually so the entire chore is not so daunting. I do love checking things off my list.

She's Bonafide!

It's official - I'm a nerd.

This was supposed to be a costume, but doesn't it look like me in 9th grade? Even though I never had braces, it still looks an awful lot like my 14-year-old self. They're Jim's glasses, not mine.

And, of course, just like 9th grade: check out my stylish pals (SpockGirl, Carmen, Skeleton). And the Jellyfish!

Energy Audit

Nothing like neglecting the old "to do" list and starting right with the fresh stuff. Yesterday afternoon I had my energy audit performed. I set up my laptop at the kitchen table and actually got some work done at the same time, which I was very proud of. The energy audit took about 3 hours, and involved the auditor walking around the outside of the house and looking at every single room, closet, and corner of the house, taking notes and drawing up a floor plan. He measured every window and noted the location of every light switch. He poked around in the attic, he visited the garage. Then he set up a blower/sucker contraption to the front door, which Luna thought was very intriguing. It's a vinyl piece of material stretched over adjustable frame that fits within the door frame so it's airtight, or mostly. Must be pretty darn close to airtight, since that's the whole point. The vinyl has a special hole for a large fan (about 2.5 feet in diameter) that is hooked up to a computer, and basically it takes readings on how much air loss the house has when the fan is sucking air out of the house. The auditor performed the test and then left the fan on as we walked around the house, feeling all the drafty places where we've been essentially throwing money away by heating the outdoors. The fireplace could have knocked you over, the draft was so severe (not even the main chamber itself, but these weird vents on the side of the chimney). The light switches blow air, as do the electrical outlets. The attic door is like a (cold) hair dryer. All the windows, even the vinyl window in the bedroom that I thought was new. The light in the upstairs bathroom, which the auditor said probably wasn't even insulated. (Which means we've potentially been pumping hot, humid shower air up into the space above the ceiling and below the roof...not good.) It was quite astonishing to me how drafty it all is.

The audit cost $400, $325 of which is reimbursed by the state program. We'll end up with a report that lists potential energy saving improvements we could do to the house, and supposedly it will be ranked in order of cost effectiveness. Re-insulating the attic? Probably pretty high on the list. Increasing the thickness of the outside walls by pulling off the house siding and adding extra insulation and wood? Probably not too high on the list. The state program will reimburse up to $10,000 of improvements, so long as they're on the list and help our house get from it's current energy star rating (auditor said we might rank a 2 star out of 5) to a higher rating. I don't think that's going to be a problem. I think the problem will be deciding where to stop. Is this when we decide to re-do the second story, push out the wall that is currently over the middle of the garage, and add a real pitch to the roof? And re-do all the siding? If we decided to do that, it would obviously be more than $10,000, but we'd likely get $10,000 toward that work, and we'd be in construction mode anyway...that kind of thinking. I need to relax until this report shows up and then let my mind wander on all the possibilities, but it is certainly an exciting prospect nonetheless.

Don't worry, I'll keep you posted (har, har).

Quite neglected

..you are. My apologies! For the love of lists and the lack of time I'm feeling now, I thought I'd present a list of topics I'd like to post about (and hopefully will in the near future):
- my utterly fantastic and gorgeous new clutch, whose name is Bess (I didn't even make that up, that's the model name!);
- the joy I got out of receiving great birthday presents from The Roommate, all within the 2008 Birthday Budget, and how good it feels to have a birthday budget in general;
- (potential) work excitement;
- birthday weekend at the fox farm;
- general excitement regarding what is to be soon regarded as My Year of Culture: a membership to the Anch. Museum and season tickets (you-pick) to the Anch. Concert Association;
- All Things Loon Related;
- I'm sorry, did I mention the purse yet?
- Reading a book that my newly-93-year-old grandmother has enjoyed so much that she read twice (and which I could hardly get to the end of);
- Halibut fishing girls weekend!
- Taiko drumming
- The visit by the in laws;
- the anniversary;
- Luna's third birthday;
- Rowing on Trail Lake;
- Biking up Hatcher Pass;
- Head of the Kenai;
- MS 150 bike ride;
- observing Grandpa Bob's passing;
- energy audits;
- Montana, Omaha, North Carolina, San Fransisco, Italy, Deadhorse by motorcycle, Australia! (a.k.a. trips planned in the next 13 months)

I suppose that is all for now. Good pictures coming soon, and a fulfillment of a birthday resolution to blog more (here's at'cha, Captain Colossal)!

Love,
B's Knees