It has been a great Xmas so far. I got a bunch of really neat stuff... 2 ice cream makers (1 doesn't need electricity.. Pennsic ice cream!!), Myth Busters season 1, lever covers forr the bike, and mapping software for the computer.

 

Katya had a blast. She got a bunch of Princess dolls, Chutes & Ladders and Candy Land among other things.

 

All is going well on this end. Life moves on.

4 days till Christmas.. Wow, this year has really flown by. At least we have all our shopping done and stuff wrapped up. Next week we're off to WV for New Years Eve - that should be fun. Work has been nuts lately, I can't wait to have some time off.

Can we say BRRRR?? 16 degrees this morning, and I rode the bike to work. That's -30 on the wind-chill scale...

My little girl is growing up so fast now.. She has grown 3" in the last 2 months.

The other day we went to see santa and she was such a good girl. She gave santa a big hug and sat in his lap and even smiled for the picture. Last year she screamed and refused to go anywhere near him.

We baked chocolate chip cookes tonight. Katya does not seem to be interested in cookies much.

BANG!

 

BANG! <FLASH>

 

POP!

 

That's how my day started this morning at 5am.... I jumped out of bed and ran out into the hall to see what the [h e double hockey sticks] was going on. I found the heater to the fish tank in the hall hanging out of the tank and on fire. I unplugged it and ran for the fire extinguisher to put it out. Once I had it put out, I had to open windows to dissipate the cloud of white smoke form the extinguisher and then clean up the mess. What a mess it made too...

 

It seems that the top seal on the heater leaked, allowing water into the heater. When the heater turned on, the little bulb in the heater exploded, throwing the core of the heater into the air (the glass tube is still fully intact, BTW). This was the first bang.. the second was the heater falling back into the water and the flash was 110v hitting the water. The third was apparently the third time it hit the water. I found the label  from inside the heater on the floor in the hall, it was thrown completely clear and was clearly scorched from the bulb exploding. Needless to say I'm replacing the heaters in both tanks and installing a GFCI on the fish tank circuit (the other tank has one already).

 

What a way to start the day. I can still taste the fire extinguisher.

Last night we went to a xmas get together with the Southern Cruisers. We had fun and are starting to make friends.

I got ambitious and put a lighted wreath on the jeep. I used the power inverter to run it. It works real well.