We're Not Dead, Yet

Well, good news: we aren't dead. For those of you who aren't on Facebook or don't have any other way of contacting us, you can stop fretting now.

According to our log on page the last date we posted was Nov. 20th. November. Ha. That's last year... A lot has happened since then: Rachel's passed many tests at school, we've received snow storms, rain storms, ice storms, and have had a skating rink for a driveway for a number of weeks now, I've started a new job, left, and was just hired for something else, I've ironed more times in the past eight weeks than I have my entire life, etc. You get the drift. We've lived, life's gone on, the world still turns.

Some highlights: 85% (approx.) of the gifts we received (or gave) for Christmas are kitchen-related. This includes a Le Creuset enameled cast iron skillet (which, oddly, I'm scared to use), a set of Wustof knives (chef's, utility, paring, bread), a KitchenAid immersion blender, a Wustof herb mincing thing, a Wustof wine and cheese set (are you noticing a trend?), some spice racks, Fletcher Mills salt and pepper grinder (made in Maine), and some cloth napkins. Nearly all of these have been put to use many times.

Yes, it looks pink. It was cooked to temperature and was very tasty.

These have made an appearance many times.

Valentine's dinner. The center piece is baked brie. The leftovers were eaten as breakfast the next morning.

So, that's the food front. We've made some pretty good meals and are trying to branch out more. We've had broiled haddock (with a paprika/cayenne/garlic/onion powder/pepper rub), pork roasts (fennel and rosemary), lamb, steak with mushroom sauce, a blueberry cake thing (currently on the chopping block), found a good DIY taco mix, slow cooked chicken, chicken with olives and grapes (we've - or I've - drooled over this recipe for ages. We finally made it when a friend from Chile stopped by for dinner), rice, wine, beer, etc. It's all been pretty good. We also refinished my big cast iron skillet last weekend. It was super simple: attach wire brush to drill, go at the pan like none other, wash it all out, place in 350* oven for fifteen minutes, remove and coat with oil (we used Crisco because we didn't have oil available), place back in oven for at least an hour. Bam. Done. We haven't used it yet, but the rust is all gone (and so is the mold...) and it's all nice and shiny. We'll have to put it to use soon.

Food. Done.

Life. I've spent a fair bit of time outside. Not a whole lot. With these "Polar Vorti" (what's the plural of vortex? There isn't a red line under "vortexes" but that just sounds LAME) it's been, um, cold. We had a few good snow storms in February and I went out skiing a few times. Just last weekend we warmed up into the mid-forties and got rain. BLEAH! So now all that's left is super crusty and a deathtrap. My skiing is done for now. On the plus side, the skiing which I was able to do was un-believable. I'm talking about feet of powder (for the NE). It's too bad my Bolton Valley friend isn't here any more :( I'm sure she could have shown me how to shred the VT backcountry. Anyway. I tried my best.

NH - Mt. Cardigan. Awesome.

This ended up being a pretty tiring day. But worth it, of course.

This was a good storm. I think this was the morning of the 14th.

First trip to Camel's Hump. Went too far North on the way down and had a bit of an adventure.

I have spent many, many hours driving on roads like this. I appreciate my limited slip differential more and more.
I also LOVE driving on roads like this.

This is the only picture from this day. I had too much fun on the way down to take any more.
20+" of powder. Thank you, VT.

Other than skiing I've spent some quality time with my car. She needed her glow plugs replaced. Of course two of the three I replaced had the threads in the cylinder head messed up. That meant I had to chase them with a tap. At least I have a small set of metric taps now. Craftsman, of course, didn't sell the right size in the big metric tap and die set so I had to buy a little tiny set. Oh well. I didn't change the fourth because it was too cold to try to get at it - maybe in the summer.

After that was all fixed I had the lucky opportunity to have my fuel gel up. I usually put additives into the fuel when I fill up (especially in the winter) but this time I didn't, for some unknown reason (perhaps it was too cold to stand outside for any longer than necessary?). Regardless, I put in some Diesel 911, cracked the injector lines, and we got her all back to normal. Now, of course, I'm paranoid.

Stella also had her control arms replaced, which allowed her to have the front swaybar re-connected. This hasn't been attached since before our trip. Let's just say that corners are way more fun now. I also replaced her low tone horn, which now fully functions for the first time since I've owned her. Parents: the horn worked before, it was just pathetic.

I'm now a VT resident.

Rachel went to Haiti for a week in the beginning of January. She had a great time, but came back looking a little worse for the wear. Example: her right eye was nearly swollen shut. Apparently there were some biting insects she had a reaction to.

We've been ice skating a few times. The LaRoccas got me skates for Christmas (and a ski helmet, which I've also used) and we've found a lake with a 4.5 mile loop that is maintained. The last time we went Rachel bought the farm and ended up with a pretty disgusting bruise on her left hip and knee. Everything's back to normal now.

I've managed to sell some car parts I've been hauling around for a while: an old set of snow tires, a turn signal/windshield wiper stalk I've had since 2009, a set of cupholders, and a pair of ski boots I've had since 2010 that I've only used three times.

And the big news: I start a new job on Monday. I'll be working for a company that builds lights and lighting systems for airplanes. I sort of view this as a tribute to Dad and Gramps: Dad because it's all electrical, and Gramps because he used to work for Grumman. I'm excited because I'll learn tons of new things, like reading blueprints, fancy soldering skills, electro-mechanical assembly, general electrical knowledge. I think it will be cool. There's also an on-site machine shop...

By now you're probably super bored, so I'll just leave you be.