Last entry of the year!
So, this is it–the last blog entry of the year. At the moment, we’re enjoying our tree, our cats, and some of the crazy NYE shows on TV. Our original plans were to go to First Night Pittsburgh tonight, as we have for the past several years. Jenny started to come down with a cold yesterday, though, and this morning woke up and was pretty ill. So we’re at home today, staying warm. Read on for a recap of the past week or so, during which the blog has been quiet, but we’ve been busy!
Well, Christmas Eve was a lot of fun. My Mom and Babcia came down to help with cooking and preparation. Marissa helped with making cookies. Jenny cleaned like mad and made the house look nice. Dad came down and took the awesome pictures (one of which is in the header for this entry–click on it to review some of the others from the night). Then everyone came down and we all ate a lot and had a good time. It was a long day for me (and everyone else who helped), but it was a good time. Jenny and I really enjoyed having everyone here. Ciocia and Mom stayed late to help clean-up, which was great help for us.
Christmas Day we hosted Jenny’s family for the day, and had a great time then, too. We went to Mass at 11:30 Christmas Day. We normally like to do midnight on Christmas, but we were too tired and just couldn’t do it. So 11:30AM it was. Jenny’s family arrived at around 2PM, and we enjoyed an afternoon dinner and exchanging gifts.
Speaking of exchanging gifts, Jenny got me a really nice watch, with features specifically designed for sailing. Woo hoo! We both got a lot of nice things for Christmas this year. Our families are awesome.
Jenny and I both had off on Friday after Christmas, so we went into downtown Pittsburgh to see some of the Christmas sights and do a little bit of shopping at a few downtown businesses (Nicholas Coffee!), as well as REI and Joseph Beth in the South Side. It was a good day.
The weekend was pretty uneventful. We spent a bunch of time relaxing and enjoying the holiday food. Monday Jenny had to go to work, and I worked from home, so it was a busy day for both of us. We went to see my aunt and uncle after Jenny got home to see their house and install a threshold I made for one of their rooms.
Tuesday I took Jenny to work, then met up with my Dad to start working on a set of platforms for the Duquesne University TV studio to elevate the news set a bit. We were able to get most of the big platform framing completed, and got all of the plywood cut for the big platforms. We still have some work to do, including installing some support platforms for the casters that will enable the whole thing to roll, drilling some holes for dowels for alignment of the sections, and drilling for bolts to both the platforms together. Once in place at Duquesne, there is a small section of platform that we’ll have to construct on-site. There’s still a bunch of work to do there, but I’m happy with how far we got on Tuesday.
As I mentioned earlier, we had intended to go to First Night Pittsburgh tonight. With Jenny not feeling well, though, we opted to stay out of the cold and have a quiet night at home for New Year’s this year. So here we are, writing the last entry of the year, and covering ourselves with afghans and staying warm and toasty. I made some spinach and artichoke dip, which I think I’m going to heat up and we’ll enjoy.
It has been a good year. Busy, but good. Being married to my best friend certainly helped through the crappy times. We have a lot to look forward to this coming year, too. Here’s hoping it is good for everyone. Happy New Year!
jonathan
