Well, after all the snow we had the last few days, it's actually melting somewhat. We did get another 2 inches of wet snow last night. I hatw shoveling wet snow. The dry stuff that we were gettign was so much nicer to shovel. Looks like i get to replace the alternator in the car.. It died on me last night.

I rewired the basement lights over the weekend in one half of the basement. wow what a difference that made. It is much brighter in there now, and the sections can be turned on or off as needed.

Looks like our russia trip is coming together. We should have our airline reservations in the next day or 2 and Hotels, etc. soon after.

WE'RE GOING TO RUSSIA!!!!!

We finally got our travel dates! we leave the end of Feb. (Leap day) and come home a week later!

Looks like i get to send my train engine in for repair.. one of the driveshafts broke.... GRR... at least it has a lifetime warranty.

Can we say BRRR F*$&ing cold??? it was 2 degrees out when i got up this morning, and its up to a whole 12 degrees now.

Looks like we should be traveling to Russia any time now. We're expecting the invite to arrive in the next couple of weeks, then its off to Siberia for our first trip to see our daughter. Should prove interesting, not only will we get to see another country (at least 2 of them actually) but probably 2 other continents as well. I can't wait to make the trip and see what things are like over in Russia. I'm actually getting excited about making the trip.

Looks like the railroad is back under construction. I've started back up on the plastering on the mountain that I started last year. Once it is finished, I will be working on a second mountain on that end of the layout. Once that is in place, I need to work on finishing the landscaping between it all and the right end of the layout will be ready for painting. Then its off to the other end to build a bridge and the inner loop on that end.

We decided to make a rec room in the basement. It seems to be a good thing. We can now sit down there and watch a movie with the surround sound and not have it be too bad upstairs. Still working on getting the heating balanced but so far I think the basement is stable at around 68 degrees. Considering its about 20 outside, that is not too bad. I'm gonna insulate the windows I think to try and cut some of the heat loss a bit.

The living room is so much more roomy now that we have the TV and entertainment center out of there. I think I may have found a cabinet to hold the jukebox too. We'll have to see how that turns out.