The Hampton Times

Angie and I started decorating for Christmas this weekend.  I pulled all the boxes out of storage (basement, garage, etc.) and she attacked the inside of the house while I tackled the outside.  She helped me outside by steadying the ladder while I was stringing up the icicle lights on the second floor.  I had to use an extension ladder to do the lights on the left side, and then I climbed onto the roof to finish up the right side.  It was a little scary for me since I'm not a big fan of heights, shaky ladders, or walking on roofs... After the second floor was done, it was all cake after that.  We haven't put up the tree yet because the kids weren't home today (they like helping out with decorating and building the tree; yes, it's a fake one).  So maybe next weekend we'll do that.  I believe we're putting the tree in the living room this year, so it will be positioned in the center of the front window.  I'll have to take another pic once it's up....

Dillon and Adrian enjoy some Dunkin' Donuts hot chocolate at the parade...

Here's me and Adrian @Thanksgiving Day Parade '09 in Philadelphia.

Here's Jason and I at the Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day Parade '09 (Dave Roberts' last parade!).

Here's Dillon and I in Philadelphia at the Thanksgiving Day Parade (2009). I think you can kind of see the Art Museum in the background. Angie took this pic (nice job, Angie!).

Thanksgiving Day Parade in Philadelphia.

The clothes washer in our Maple Shade house is on the fritz, and according to the MayTag repair man it's not worth paying to fix.  The "transmission" is shot and needs to be replaced, and he estimated that this part alone is about $495.  He also said there's a bad pump which is causing the machine to leak.  A quick glance at Sears.com and HomeDepot.com shows me that we can buy a new washer for about $300.  The only problem is getting through the little doorway into the "laundry room" in that house.  The opening is only about 24" wide, and the existing (faulty) washer is about 27" wide.  So we'll have to take apart the door jamb to accommodate the delivery and removal of these machines. In the meantime our fearless renter, Don Ocava, will be washerless.  But he's a trooper!  We'll try to get a new one in there STAT.

Check out the recent photos I uploaded to my Picasa Web Albums . http://picasaweb.google.com/hampton.mark/November2009#slideshow/5404492546525518242 Hopefully, the slideshow will work when you click the link.

Made "Island Heat Chili" from the Killer Chili book tonight.  Turned out well.  Angie said she liked it, and I think she was serious.  :-) Took some persuading to get Jason to finally eat some (he ate it with Tortilla chips instead of out of a bowl with a spoon).  Adrian and Dillon both used a soft tortilla shell to eat their chili like a soft taco.  Hey, whatever works. Actually, Adrian tends to not even finish his entire dinner, so tonight was a milestone.  Usually, he'll pick at his meat, but will absolutely NOT eat any vegetables.  Because of this, we usually deny him dessert (though you wouldn't know it to look at him).  But tonight he got to pick a dessert and was very happy.  I just hope he remembers this tomorrow night! Today was a murky dreary day, but since we didn't actually have rain (after about 9am, anyway) I went outside and took care of some leaves.  I bought a gas-powered Troy-Bilt leaf blower a couple of weekends...

Angie and Jason at tonight's Sixers game. I got the score wrong in my previous post. Current score is: 76ers 59, Nets 62. 3rd quarter.

Angie, Jason and (sleepy) Dillon at tonight's Sixers game (vs. NJ Nets). Current score: 76ers 24, Nets 19.