Outdoor Light Fiasco & Seemingly Distant Memories

A lack of sleep teamed with a dollop of worry put me over the edge the other day when I broke the main power switch on the fuse box. It all started when I realized that our outdoor lights, which are supposed to be on a timer, and Christmas lights, on a separate timer, weren’t coming on at night. The best I could figure is that the outlet was not working. So someone suggested checking the circuit breakers first before calling an electrician. I tried the individual switches and nothing seemed to do the trick, so I decided to switch off the main power. Brilliant is not my middle name… The stiff switch slammed into the off position just fine, but when I tried to turn the power back on…nothing, still nothing, STILL nothing…I couldn’t get the thing to go back to the “ON” position. Ugh… Frustrated, and a bit nervous, I started to freak because this not only meant no lights, but no heat as well. With an infant in the house and snow coming down outside, I panicked. I called a few people and finally got my friend Kathy to come over and help me watch Ella while I focused on helping the electrician to get us out of this mess.

A miracle happened that day. I called several electricians and they all told me that we might need to replace the entire panel if the switch didn't reset. After doing some research, I found out that the fuse box we have is a Challenger—a company that is no longer in business. Finding a main switch of this brand is near to impossible. So if they couldn’t fix it we would have to pay close to $1200 to replace the entire pannel. Praise God they were able to reset the system without a replacement part or new unit.

The down side is that my outdoor lights continue to be a separate issue and still do not work. I guess that will have to be a problem for another day. As for now we have lights, heat and smiles on our faces.

CHRISTMAS PAST
Since we didn’t get to spend Christmas at our own home, I am just now getting around to taking down the tree and decorations around the house. It’s such a sad event seeing the glitter, sparkle and twinkle disappear with every ornament I put away. Yet I get a funny sense of satisfaction organizing the decorations—trying to pack them even better than the year before. Yes, you can say it: “OCD”.

All of this just makes our time in Cape Cod seem so long ago. We spent a lovely week on the snowy ocean while friends and family came to see us and stay a while to share in the spectacular view and meet Miss Carmella. Here are a few more photos of our time…

[Meeting cousin Bruno Anthony and Mark's sister, Laura and brother-in-law, Frank.] [The whole Vig family together.]

[Finally "Antie" Wendy and "Uncle" Jeff get to meet and love on Carmella. They even brought a twin for her to play with.]
[Enjoying a story with "Auntie" Wendy.]

[Hanging out with pals Tammy and AJ.]

[Our dear friends from Northampton St. came to see us. Little Ivy was so excited she couldn't stop petting the baby.]

[Snow, sun, the beach is so much fun...]

[Spending quality time with Dad.]

[First time in a pool.]

-Hope you enjoyed the picts. We are all caught up now...back to daily life as we know it. We all miss the ocean and the rolling hills of New England. We'll be back soon.

Snow Storms and Flight Windows

Boston and Chicago both got slammed with heavy snow and other nasty weather conditions a few days before Christmas. Our flight was scheduled to depart Chicago on Wednesday night (Christmas Eve). We expected a delay--but crossed our fingers and toes that a miracle would happen so we could get out that same night. Tuesday’s flights left hundreds of travelers stranded at O’Hare. With Christmas Eve flights booked as well, those folks were pretty much out of luck. I for one, did not want to join them in an airport Christmas celebration. Thankfully the Lord blew the storms away and cleared a path for our departure. We were about 3 hours delayed--but not canceled.

Ella travelled beautifully on her first plane experience. She cried a tiny bit while we waited to take off and then again on the landing, but was a perfect angel for most of the flight. We arrived at Grandma and Grandpa Vig’s house just in time to say Merry Christmas and fall asleep until the sun came up in the morning.

[Ella in her 1st Christmas sleeper on Christmas morning.]

After a simple gift exchange, Carmella got to meet her Great Grandmother Elsie. What a treat for both of them.

We had a relaxing afternoon and fun time visiting with Mark’s folks.
The next day we took off for Cape Cod where we spent the remainder of our vacation on the beach. But before we left, my dear friend Aimee from my college days came over to see us for a while. After a nice long chat, sadly, I had to say goodbye to my friend and get packed up for the next part of our journey…

Backtracking a Bit to Catch Up

Thanks for being so patient with us… After our trip to Boston for Christmas I have had little time to get on the computer. So I haven’t had time to update Facebook or the family blog. I thought since the trip was so packed full of fun and visitors, that I would blog a tiny bit every other day so no one gets too overwhelmed.

The week before we left, we spent quite a bit of time with friends—some long-time friends as well as new acquaintances. Tom, his wife Kathy and two of their kids came out from Pennsylvania for a graduation ceremony. They were able to find a break between snow storms to come over to our neighborhood for a wonderful visit over lunch. Ella was so tired she fell asleep in Kathy’s arms. Awe, such a sweet baby…

I love going to our home fellowship group on Thursday nights. We get to hang out with really great people and usually end up bring home some kind of baby gear. One of the families in our group has a nine month old baby girl, so as she grows out of things, we end up inheriting them. Please see exhibit A below. “Just hanging out.”Ella and her mommy love to read books together after a nice morning nap. This was the morning of our departure to Boston two Wednesdays ago.

…to be continued.