:: standing with [our] feet deep in the ground ::

the heart land. our stay has been relaxing. besides being stricken with the bug, our days have been nice. the outdoors adds to our tranquility. the scenes over the hills. the warmth of the winter breeze. the shift in winds. // the job hunt continues but in the meanwhile i keep myself busy. i replaced an old 'n broken bathroom fan which ended up being more than i asked for. i was just coming off my flu when i decided i would tackle the task as the ladies shopped down south. meanwhile, it seemed that most of the ceiling stuffing fell into my face. if it were cotton candy, i would not have fussed...but it wasn't. regardless, no more awfully lingering smells or stuffy after-shower bathrooms. // pc's seem to be cursed. i have repaired three. the out dated imb was easy- a simple erasing the admin password hack. the gateway- well...i took it completely a part, from the inside out and soldered in what was the broken "power supply." of course a good "os" cleaning was in order. then after spending hours tweaking my dell (as i like to do), it locked me out. and no simple (or complex) hack would fix it. only made it worse. so...luckily i had been there before and i had the tools to revamp the entire "os." and an ipod's storage abilities come in more than handy when something like this curses ya. we're up and running well again...and maybe better than before. the ibook is in its own world with no issues. good for it. christmas won't bring about the pc-to-apple switch for me this year, but perhaps a future one. // christmas shopping is completed. wrapped and packed in stockings and boxes. now the wait endures as christmas comes to. // today's the gill-church-ugland baking day and i deemed myself official taste-tester-- the best job a guy can have. chocolate pretzels. caramel crunch balls. cookies. cookies. caramel corn. it smells pretty dang good. and tastes just as well. // a few decorations adorn the house, so shannon and i made a small effort last night with a run to walmart and a pickup of some green garland and lights. the mantel looks much better, if i do say so. the outside of the house needs work now. so we'll see if we can locate the christmas lights. // in other words, we're looking forward to our holiday in florida and a two days visit with none other than the main mouse (for the nephews). It should be magical. // we hope everyone is enjoying their holiday season and best wishes to all of our friends. // til later...