Another Christmas is in the books. Thanks to Covid, it was another one which had only a small piece of the crazy we normally love to surround ourselves with. We certainly made the most of it. We kept our circles small and had a great Christmas. I just pray this is the last one we ever have that keeps us from seeing our extended family. Those who know us, know who close we are to our aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. It just doesn’t feel as festive without them all around.
One of the gifts I received for Christmas was a Google Home screen from my parents. What was meant to be me testing the waters to see if I liked the home automation stuff has very quickly progressed. Within the last 6 weeks we now have screens in most rooms, some smart switches controlling many of the lights as well as a few smart bulbs to go where switches didn’t make sense. The ability to play music on any/all speakers, turn lights on and off with a simple command or click on the phone has been very fun. Even Shannon, who went from a passive “ok, hubs, you have fun” has quickly turned into “I hate using light switches and not being able to control lights from other rooms”. The entire process has also taken me down the home electrical rabbit hole. Still taking baby steps and exercising extreme caution, but my trouble shooting and ability to do simple tasks like change light switches and plugs has come a long way in a month.
Speaking of electrical stuff, it all started in December when we were getting ready for our hot tub. We moved the secondary panel in my garage to a better location, upgrade the power feed lines going to it, and wire in a spa panel outside to run the new tub. The new piece of heaven was delivered just before Christmas. By the 27th of December it was wired end to end and the tub was filled, warmed and ready to go!
And finally, after 20+ years of dreaming, planning, designing and prepping — the garage build is under way! The rain finally stopped for a while, things froze up and the builder got me on the schedule. Demolition of the old garage happened in mid January and the excavator was brought in the week after. Annnnnd then the snow came. All the snow. So the damn things not moved in nearly 2 weeks. Hoping to get a few snow free days that arent minus 200 degrees so we can finally get the footings dug and poured. It’s happening. But unless the weather cooperates, its gonna be a little while before we get things really moving along. I’ve waited this long, another few weeks/months isnt gonna kill me.