Christmas Eve ~ Dec 24, 2013

For a majority of the 32 years Rod and I have been together we've spent Christmas on the road: visiting my parents in Arizona or his family in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. We are orphans now, having lost the last of our parents when Rod's sweet pop passed away earlier this year.

We decided to stay home this year and all it did was get us in trouble.  Well, not really trouble, let's say we have a new understanding of an alternate description of adventure.

• Dec 9 ~ through Dec 21 the bathroom remodel runs amok.
• Dec 21 ~ remodel is completed on our wedding anniversary: oh boy we can shower and flush, the best gift ever before we head out for a great dinner at Underwood Bistro in Graton.
• Dec 22 ~ the new plumbing backs up.
• Dec 23 ~ septic tank pumped in case that was the problem (should do it every 5 years and it had been 7) ~ not the problem
• Dec 23 ~ Rod on his belly in the ice plant with a hose and plumber's snake trying to shake loose whatever is keeping the main line to the septic tank from draining.
• Dec 23 ~ an hour later success ~ splat something unmentionable drops into the empty tank ~ Houston we've fixed the problem, all systems go.
• Dec 23 ~ well as long as we're in here we might as well dump the black water tank on our Outhouse on Wheels. This puppy saved us during this little adventure in plumbing.

• Dec 23 ~ get the hall and living room carpets, couch and easy chairs cleaned by Coit due to dust bomb grit aftermath of removing a portion of two of the interior bathroom walls which turn out to be inch thick exterior stucco.

• Dec 23 ~ go to movies to escape the chaos on the kitchen counter and having most of the furniture parked in the kitchen or out on porch while the carpets dry.
• Dec 23 ~ get home from the movies in time to see the last heart pounding 5 minutes of the Forty-Niner game. A fitting end to the season and Candlestick Park.
• Dec 24 ~ I started deep cleaning of one of the bedrooms: as in everything from baseboards to ceiling. Why you ask? Three days ago the afternoon sun was shining in Rod's window when he took a shirt out of his closet and shook it. A cloud of dust rose up and danced about him like campfire smoke. Yikes, cosmic hint, Thor's hammer, Gibb's slap to the back of the head ~ got it.
• Dec 24 ~ Rod finishes installing wainscoting and trim.

After 8 hours of hard labor we took a break at 2:30 and headed out for a walk around the vineyard next door. Sunny and 66 degrees, hard to believe it's winter. Tomorrow we'll tackle Rod's bedroom, the kitchen floor and do windows before heading next door for dinner.  Pizza sounds good tonight!

Hope you're enjoying the holidays with friends and family. The kindness, humor, love and generosity of our neighbors got us through this little adventure, and I use the term adventure loosely.

Think we'll hit the road next Christmas ~ The cosmos and, by then, my new liver willing!