Catching up

Happy Wednesday folks!


I have a few little things to share today, as I think that last post ended up being a tad too long, so here's just a run down of some of the things swimming around in my head right now.

Last weekend the Chuckani tribe finally finished celebrating Christmas 2007: yep, you read that right! Last year I was talking with Pat (my mom-in-law) and telling her how I thought a round dining room table would fit a lot better in the dining "area" in our house. She generously offered to make the gift of a new table our Christmas present for last year. I was thrilled!

So, we took some time last winter to shop around and find a table I liked... um... maybe I should say a table that Chuck and I liked! Unfortunately, round tables with available leaves to make them oval aren't really the trend right now. It's all about the "pub height" square tables. Sure made me feel like a square for wanting something so "old fashioned."

Anyway, after a few months we just sort of gave up. Or forgot. I'm not really sure which. In any case, it wasn't until a couple weeks ago, when Chuck, Pat and I were having our annual gift idea discussion, that Pat remembered the tabled gift idea from last year. (oh yeah- pun intended!!)

Last weekend we spent several hours going all around the huge AFW warehouse north of Denver looking for the right table. I was dissapointed to discover that I as still pretty out of touch with the latest dining room styles... pub height is really where it's at, I guess. We were headed back to our side of town, when we passed another big furniture store, and Chuck and Pat decided to give it a try. I went in with very low expectations. But we found a very nice round solid oak table with a butterfly leaf so it extends to seat 8 comfortably. yeha! Once the nice salesman told us it was in stock in a darker finish, I was convinced. And what's more, somehow it wasn't the most expensive item in the store this time (do you have that kind of luck too? I always seem to pick out the most expensive thing and then can't afford it- it's a knack I have!)

On the way home with the table and chairs in the back of the Avalanche, we convinced Chuck to listen to Christmas music for the rest of the day, since it was technically Christmas! Now- if you know Chuck, you'll know that he has a hard and fast rule... NO CHRISTMAS CAROLS until the last bite of the pumpkin pie after Thanksgiving dinner. So it was a pretty big deal that he gave in early. That's not to say that the Christmas music radio station is still on in his truck, but that's ok.

In other news...

Our puppy Keena went to visit the Vet this week to get spayed. Seems like it was just yesterday that she was a tiny little ball of fluff... but she's already 7 1/2 months old. She was a real trooper, and came home that afternoon still a bit woozy and wobbly. Once she slept it off overnight, she was back to being the same hyper 50lb ball of fluff!

My new job details! I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I started a new job- so here's the scoop. It's with our transportation department and I'm the office manager up there, and the office is just upstairs from where I was before. My new team is really fun to work with, and right now I'm training with them in the mornings, and then running downstairs to train my replacement for the Adult Day Program in the afternoons. Sometimes I freak out about having too much to do, but it all gets done eventually. If you want to learn more about the agency I work for, check us out online: http://www.srcaging.org/ We're celebrating 30 years in 2008!

And lastly- I was telling my coworker about some crazy cat escapade the other day, and she stopped me and said "Cats?! I thought you only had a dog." hmm... seems my blog has been a bit remiss in mentioning that before we ever had Keena, we had Cooper and Maybelle!! So without further ado- here are a few pics of our adorable cats.

Here's the cat I brought with me all the way from Portland, Oregon. I call him Cooper kitty, but his full name is Special Agent Dale Cooper.

Bonus points if you can tell me where that name is from! (googling it is cheating btw)

And this is sweet little Maybelle. Chuck and I adopted her back in 2004, just after we got engaged. She's the only cat I've ever owned that actually likes her belly rubbed and will flop down in front of you on her back asking for it, so we usually just call her "belly".

Have a good rest of your week everyone!

Well, well, well...

Okay Dear Reader, let's go back in time a bit, and I'll tell you a story. This past summer was not a good time to be a well on our property. Home or cabin in this case.

After several decades of hard work, the well in our back yard decided to call it quits. Now, we've been on city water for the 3 main uses of water in the house for a long time. (3 uses, you ask? why, drinking, cooking, and well... you know!) but the well water was very useful for keeping the plants, lawn and gardens alive in the long hot summer without increasing the water bill to astronomical levels. The well water was also very handy for things such as filling the wading pool, washing cars, power-washing the siding... you name it! We love our well.

So in the heat of the summer, we had a local well guy out to see what was going on. His name is Joe, we call him Joe the well guy. (No, not Joe the Plumber)

First he replaced the pump in the well...

Discussing the problem

But that didn't seem to fix the problem.

It was frustrating to say the least.

For a while, we just gave up on the well, and connected a hose to the spigot for the washing machine in the basement, ran that hose through the basement, up and out the window. Chuck split the water with a connecter so that some could be used in the back yard... and ran another hose all the way around to the front of the house so we could at least keep the front lawn alive.

Needless to say, we skipped the wading pool last summer! And I got stronger arm muscles carrying a 5 gallong watering can around to all my vegetables in the garden. Heck, we even started collecting rain water, run-off from the water going to our swamp cooler... any water would do.

Then, a few weeks later, Joe came back. He and Chuck decided that Joe would install a pump saver (a contraption designed to sense the well overheating/working too hard, and stop it before it burned itself out.) This might have been the very thing that caused the problem in the first place. And maybe the pump saver would save the day.

Now, you might be thinking- hey Nicole, how'd you get that big truck into your BACK YARD?! oh- that's a mighty good question reader... glad you're paying attention.

Turns out- Chuck removed a large section of the fence in the back yard each time, and Joe drove his truck into the back field from beside a neighbor's yard around the corner. yep. Crazy times.

The building you see in the background of the pic below is the garage. I took this pic standing just outside the back door on our side of the house.

Now we're getting somewhere!

Unfortunately... installing the pump saver didn't seem to fix the problem. After a day or so, the water would work for a minute or two at full pressure, but then slow to a trickle and eventually stop. I think I tried to water my rose bushes about 17 times that night, and only got it half-way done.

grr.

parched roses

So, Joe the well guy came back yet again, with more solutions up his sleeve. Testing the pumpsaver proved it was working fine, and not the issue. However, in testing the new parts, he was able to determine that the old wiring from the house to the well pump had aged and probably cracked, and there was a short causing the problems. So- this time he brought over a crew and more big machines, and dug a nice deep ditch from the well-head to the basement and ran some purty new wiring.

Can we keep it?
And here's the well-head in the middle of our back yard... don't mind the tree roots they had to cut through to get down deep enough. We wanted to make sure the wiring was significantly below the frost line each winter, so it wouldnt get damaged by the cold weather.


After a couple months of "roughing it" in the garden... Yeah, success at last!

Water, AND a pot of gold!

We love Joe the Well Guy!!!

And every time we watered the lawn for the rest of the hot season we marveled at how much we'd taken it for granted for so long. The electricity bill to run the well is so much easier on our monthly budget than paying the water rates. phew!

Hmm... But lest you think my story is finished... there is still more to share.

The cabin well must have been jealous of all the attention we were paying to the well at the house. So it decided to act out too.

Now, well water at home may be a nice convenience, but well water at the cabin is all that stands between you and this situation:

Mm-hmm. It really happened.

Did you know you can rent a "honey - hut" for a weekend? They even deliver and pick up. It's just like being at your very own state fair, or concert... without the crowds!

All I can say is, thank heaven it happened in the summer and not winter. I would NOT have wanted to trudge through 6 feet of snow in the middle of the night, just to "powder my nose"!

I think Chuck must have paid a lot of attention in his times with Joe the well guy, because he chose to pretty much live in the well house at the cabin over several weekend (and weekday) visits.

The well house, a nice spot in the summer!

Turns out the heavy clay soil up there had really clogged everything so that nothing but a trickle was passing through. The pump couldn't get enough water to recover between uses, so the storage tank didn't fill, and the water pressure was lacking. The pump would then need to be re-primed anytime you needed to use water. And the situation was only getting worse.

So, Chuck-the-well-guy pulled all the piping out of the well by hand, replaced it, and installed a new pump.

And here's my favorite pic of all... Chuck was in the well house for an ENTIRE DAY over Labor Day Weekend. (Notice the sack lunch, he didnt take a break the whole day.)

My hero!

I know everyone in the cabin was THRILLED when we had running water again. It was the best part of the long holiday weekend for me, that's for sure.

Well, my story is nearly finished.

If there's anything else I would ask of you, dear reader, it would be this: When you next flush, remember this little tale of woe and hope, and be grateful that your flusher is there when you need it!

Frolic and play the Eskimo way...

Yea! It's snowy at the cabin!!

Since we'd heard the mountains got lots of snow recently, Chuck and I took Friday off from work last week and took ourselves and Keena up to the cabin. Her first real snow... and of course she loved it, as any Siberian Husky would.

Brr- it was just above 20 degrees when we arrived Friday midday, and lightly snowing. See the "jack frost fingers" hanging over the eaves:

We really enjoyed the quiet time together, and Keena was such a good pup. While eating a leisurely breakfast this morning, Chuck and I both agreed that this was the best behaved she's been so far at the cabin. Partly because she's more used to it there, knows the routine and what's expected of her... and I'm sure it's also partly because she gets so much of our attention up there. We're with her all the time except for when she's sleeping in her crate at night, and when she's outside on the lead. With all the snow to play in, she mostly wanted to be outside during the day, and when she did come inside, she was so tuckered out from frolicking in the snow she just crashed out on the carpet. Yesterday afternoon she even napped with me on the couch after our walk, the first time she's been mellow enough to do that. It was very relaxing.

Here's a picture of Rabbit Ears Pass, from our view walking along the upper road near the cabin. If you look closely at the top right side- you'll see the rock formation making the "rabbit ears" as the snowy clouds drift by.



And here's a pic of a man and his dog:

It was about 40 degrees Saturday, and a bit warmer today before we left. The sun finally came out, and I bet the snow melts in the next day or two. But it was lovely to have a winter landscape for a bit! It's still Autumn here in Denver, we haven't had a metro snowfall yet, although I've heard we might get one soon enough.

I've really been enjoying the fall colors on the trees as I drive to and from work... and on our afternoon walks with Keena. It's good to stop once in a while and notice the changing seasons, time seems to travel so fast, and I tend to get to caught up in worrying about tomorrow and not just letting God be in charge and paying more attention to the "now." The snowfall this weekend made me realize just how close winter is, and how much I need to slow down and focus on today more so I don't miss out on all the amazing things around me right now.

Especially moments like this!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend as well. I've spent the last hour or so uploading a bunch of pictures from my camera (I had misplaced it for while, but it was under the couch cushion at the cabin!) so I have lots more to share from the last few months while I was "off the reservation"... so stay tuned!

Here's one last photo I just have to share... in contrast to all the snowy pics above. This is the flower bed in front of Pat's side of the duplex, I was so thrilled at how well it turned out this summer.

Enjoy!

Our First Voting Date

Chuck and I were both feeling the historic importance of yesterday's Presidential Election.

No matter what the outcome, history would be made- either the first African-American President, or the first Woman Vice-President. Important, exciting stuff!

Now, because Chuck and I differ on our political views somewhat, usually we don't discuss politics. No need to cause tension and strife in our otherwise happy little marriage! It's just always been a topic we sort of glossed over, but not because we don't have opinions about how our government is working.

This year, however... things were different. On our evening walks with the dog around the park, I actually broached the subject a few times, trying to gauge Chuck's views on the upcoming vote. We had several open and insightful conversations as the sun was setting on our neighborhood jaunts, and I think for the first time we both felt comfortable discussing our hopes for the next presidential era. I really enjoyed being able to share my enthusiasm as we talked about the significance of this particular first Tuesday in November.

Through the final days leading up to election day, Chuck and I discussed all the darn political ads on TV (we could barely wait for them to END!) and joked about all the recorded messages from candidates and supporters greeting us on our voicemail each evening when we came home from work. In church each Sunday we held hands as our pastor prayed for our nation, both Presidential Candidates, and everyone involved in the election. And then there was the frenzy of last minute research: voting guides and trying to figure out the pros & cons of all the amendments and referendums on our loooooong Colorado ballot.

We're lucky in that our polling place happens to be the small church about 4 houses up the street... it just doesn't get much more convenient than that. So, Monday night we decided that we'd both go to work Tuesday morning at our normal times and then meet back at the church at 10am to go vote together. Our first voting date!

And we did... we met in the parking lot at the church, and by then the early morning rush was over, and there was no line to get inside. In all of about 10 minutes, we had both cast our votes in this amazingly historic election, and shared the experience together, making it even more memorable for both of us.

Later that night I made a big pot of "elephant and donkey gumbo" to celebrate the day. (Really it was chicken & sausage gumbo, yum!) And as we ate dinner with Pat, we all talked about the news coverage of the election and how smoothly our trip to the polls had been. Btw- Pat was super smart and voted by mail-in ballot last week!
Cousin Mandy came over too and we all watched the news coverage and shared in excitement as Barack Obama became the President-elect of the United States. What a great night! I am truly proud to be an American today.

It was so special to be able to share this experience with Chuck. Maybe more so because it was the first time we'd really talked about political things. I was glad that we were able to talk about our views, and find the similarities and the differences... and it didn’t cause any strife or tension. No arguments or hurt feelings. As much I enjoy the ways we think alike and like the same things, Sometimes it's refreshing to explores our differences and find we can respect each others' opinions.

Maybe voting dates will become a tradition for us!

Vacation's OVER

Well howdy folks! Seems I took my summer vacation mindset a bit too literally! It's been over 3 months since I was last here... sorry 'bout that!!!

I have nothing but poor excuses and lame reasons for my absence, so I won't bore you with them. Suffice it to say I sincerely apologize for getting you all so excited about the new blog, only to leave you all guessing.

How was our summer vacation? wonderful- thanks for asking! I have more pictures to share, here's one more from our fun week in the woods:


Now it's fall already, and we're busy as ever.

Chuck is busy at work, we've finished harvesting the last veggies from our garden, Keena is getting so big it's amazing. And I just accepted another position at my work, I'll be changing departments this month.

More about all that later- I mostly just wanted to apologize for the blackout, and let you know we're alive and well!!

ok- it's nearly 8:30, so I need to get this posted and online! someone out there made me promise to update my blog more frequently- so I am hereby committing to a minimum of once a week, and hopefully more often! :)

Take care, and check back soon, I'll have more pictures and stories to share!