What’s been happening

Sam, Alex and his friend, Mike finished painting the house and shed last week. They look really good and I am so glad that it is finally finished!! They also cleaned the yard up some. The flower bed near the driveway still needs much work though. Sam poured cement and put up the flag pole that I’ve been wanting. We will have electricity run to it next year for a light for the flag. In the meantime, Jake has been raising and lowering the flag and has learned how to properly fold it.
Sam got his deer this year for the first time. See moblog. He used the new camper for the trip. It is now winterized and parked on the side of the house. We thought it would fit on the west side of the house but it didn’t. I suggested we (meaning Sam, Alex and Mike) knock down the ratty wood fence on the east side and park it there that way it doesn’t take up all of the driveway. It worked out real well and now we still have plenty of driveway space.
Sunrise opens on Dec. 5th. I was supposed to take a class at work that day, but I am going to un-enroll myself and go skiing instead!! I have been training hard all year for my ski legs to be ready!! My goal since last year has been to be able to ski all day from the top of the mountain. Last year I was able to ski all day but only from halfway up without my calves burning so bad that I would have to stop and rest. I have been fighting a cold since Tuesday morning so I didn’t go to the gym on Wednesday (my day off) because I was blowing my nose so much. I went Monday though and today. Sam even ventured to the gym with me for the first time today. He didn’t stay as long as I did but it’s a start!
My iPod died again. I thought it was the battery like last time. I couldn’t get it to do ANYTHING. It wouldn’t even reset. So I sent it back on the 5th to have the battery changed. It turned out to be a hardware problem that will cost at least $130 to fix. I decided that it wasn’t worth it to spend that much money and not even have a warranty. So I went to Walmart and bought a new one. I also bought their extended warranty that was only $20 for 2 yrs after the Apple warranty of 1 yr. I use my iPod so much that it really is a necessity for me to get through my workouts. I think I got the same one Jenny has, but I’m not sure. It is the Silver 120 GB iPod Classic. It is exactly the same size as my old iPod video so I won’t need to buy any new accessories. I had no problem getting all my stuff transferred from iTunes onto the new iPod. It has to charge for about 4 hours and then it will be ready to use.
Patrick will be home for a few weeks starting on Tuesday. We don’t know his exact plans yet or if he will stay in Phoenix for a few days or come up here right away. But he will be home for Thanksgiving until Dec 9th. Then he ships to Germany. We think he got a pretty sweet first tour!!
We are driving down to the Valley on Friday and staying for the weekend. I need to do some shopping for Christmas and stock up at Costco. I also need to buy ski pants and a jacket. If Patrick stays in the Valley after flying into Phoenix, then he will come home with us when we come home on Sunday.