It's been several weeks since I last made an entry in the BLOG. Since then I helped Gin with making frames and attaching them to her tree paintings she made for Susan, Kate and Jessica. I also finished making the sundial for Susan. The last two weeks before Christmas went by so fast that I really didn't have much time to write or complete any other side projects.
Gin and I enjoyed Christmas with our children and their partners on the Saturday before Christmas. We spent the day at Patrick's opening gifts and having lunch. After our get together Gin and I had the rest of the evening to pack for a 9 day outing with family.
Sunday morning we attended church in Albemarle with Caris and Thomas. We had a quick lunch together at Arby's and then we were off to Rocky Mount. We made it to Mom and Dad's around 4 and relaxed for a while with them. I went with Dad to a meeting where he spoke to a small group on Christmas Eve. I learned a lot of things about my father that I had never known. I also learned more about myself during the speech.
Christmas morning we attended church with Mom and Dad in downtown Rocky Mount. They have a new Irish priest who provides an uplifting presence in the church. After the service Dad treated us to his skills in the kitchen by whipping up a big breakfast. Gifts were exchanged after breakfast and we spent time together catching up on time past. Aunt Ginny made it there later in the day and we proceeded into a game of Aggravation Rummy. Ginny was the unfortunate recipient of a difficult card that she kept trying to play with no luck.
Tuesday morning we prepared for our travels further east to the Outer Banks of NC. We left Rocky Mount around 1 and were in Corolla by 4. The traffic was very light and the weather was perfect. Kate and her family had arrived a few hours before us and had already begun to settle in. Joe and his family made it there shortly after us.
We spent the next 5 days eating, touring places on the island, eating, walking on the beach, eating, jogging, eating, reading, eating, playing whiffle ball, eating, shopping, eating, exchanging gifts, eating, taking sunrise/sunset pictures, eating, hot-tubbing, eating, playing pool and did I mention eating. There was definitely plenty to dine and snack on during our stay at the beach house. David prepared a seafood pasta, Ingrid made several fresh apple pies, Gin baked her famous cookies, Ingrid and Mom made tacos, Richard baked a ham, Jessica made peanut butter balls dipped in chocolate and Laurie made her graham cracker candies. If I didn't mention someone and what the made, I do apologize, there was just so much to enjoy. I did manage to get two of my east coast favorites, first I had a meatball sub from Zeros and toward the end of the week I enjoyed a 7-11 Slurpee. We did have a slight scare on New Year's Eve when Patrick called informing us about a tornado being spotted near our home. After several calls and weather checks, we were relieved to find out from our local fire department that all was well.
We left the beach on New Year's Day and stopped in Rocky Mount for lunch with Mom, Dad, Chris and Alecia. We also played an abbreviated game of Aggravation Rummy. It was great to see my brother and parents once again. After leaving Rocky Mount we headed back to Albemarle to pick-up Caris' bird, Stetson. We made a quick in and out stop at Thomas' and were home by 9. Unpacking the truck took about an hour including putting things away.
I took off on Tuesday, knowing that an extra day to recover would definitely be necessary, and it was. I worked a short 3 day week in the office which ended up being like a full week with 53 emails and a page long to-do list at hand. I made it through without working overtime.
With intentions of relaxing this weekend, I had thoughts of catching up on mail and reading. I was wrong. Gin showed me the water bill which was double the normal amount. I spent part of Saturday morning under the house tracing out all piping for leaks. I found none, yet the meter was still running. I shut off several different sources and still no luck finding it. I finally narrowed the search down to the underground pipe from the meter to the house. After digging several holes in the front yard with the help of Gin, we found the leak. The copper pipe coming off the meter looped down then back up to a compression fitting. From there the pipe changed to a flexible gray plastic and then to white PVC plastic. It was the compression fitting that was leaking. I tried to tighten it which resulted in breaking the fitting. I made a list of materials needed, then Gin and I went to the home center for parts. I finished the repairs right at night fall while Gin started filling in the other holes we dug up earlier. After testing the line for leaks and a few adjustments, we were back in business. We partially covered the hole and monitored the meter until this morning. I checked the meter again this morning and all was still. I completed replacing the dirt and spread some grass seed over the bare spots.
The rest of the day was spent relaxing after our weekly trip to the grocery store.
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