I (officially) Hate Winter

This has been the winter from H-E-L-L. We have gotten quite a lot of snow and it just keeps piling on top of itself, the small accumulations have been easy but it seems it snows every other week or so. I've had to reschedule a doctor's appointment twice on the account of inclement weather. Here's a summary of the significant weather.

Our first snow storm hit right after Christmas, leaving us with about a foot of snow and my working from home at least one day.

We got another big storm late in January, again working from home. This time the snow was heavy and we (really Nick) had to shake the snow off our big tree in the front and our evergreens in the back.

Today (or rather since yesterday evening) we got an ice storm / freezing rain - whatever you want to call it. Our big tree is weighted down as are the evergreens but this time with a nice layer of ice. Here's a close-up of the big tree encapsulated in ice.

Along without our mailbox. Good luck opening it USPS.

Fabulous Find

Found two of this amazing lamp (the other one is on the floor because I only have one night stand right now) at Marshalls back in December for $29 a piece! They were on clearance and they work, the reason for the mark down? The missing finial to keep the shade on. (Just noticed that I should take the tags off, the plastic and straighten out the lampshade a bit).

Now I know why the lamps were on clearance cause lamp finials that match, are turning into a bit of a pain to locate. I think I found a pair on the internet, now just have to suck it up and buy them.

Here's a picture of how it looks next to the bed. I would've taken a better picture of the room but it's a bit messing since some of the room has become Nick's "staging area" for the attic work he's been doing.

Hard Disk Not Exist

In English that means the hard drive is not detected and therefore D-E-A-D. Dead on New Year's Day.

The useless laptop is sitting in my desk waiting for the box from HP so I can send it in for repair and an attempt to recover the data from the hard drive. The laptop was last backed up in May which isn't good enough but better than nothing. (so HP, if you read this blog and somehow I don't think you do, I am good if you can hook me up with my data for the last 7 months - thanks.)

By mid January I should be up and running again...

Nick's Pride and Joy

It seems like Nick has been working on the electric and insulation for an eternity. There is still the basement outlets and the lights to the EIK, dining room and foyer.

The hub for all the electricity is the breaker panel. He has done a meticulous job organizing the box and I even know which breaker to flip if needed.

The Freedom Tower

I pass the Freedom Tower at least twice a day going to and from my (still new) job downtown. Yesterday I passed by four times! The first time I noticed a tiny corner of shiny glass and was in awe of how it finally looks more like all the computer generated images of what will be in 2013 than the orange skeleton that's been rising into the sky.

Today even more glass has been installed and it is breathtaking to watch the progress and what the completion will symbolize for many people with a direct connection to the events of 9/11.