February is a horrible month, I wouldn't recommend it. After a winter of record snowfall and record low temperatures I think we're about done with this. On the plus side we read lots of books and got stuff done around the house. Rose had her orientation at Wash and registered for classes. It's crazy to realize that she's kind of a real person now and is going into high school. She was just a little kid and then all of a sudden she's growing up. In the fall Emily will be going into middle school which is also difficult to comprehend. She's been the baby for so long, but now she is looking so grown up. Dang kids.
Emily decorated a pizza box for Marco's Pizza at school again this year:
I took this picture during a foggy walk downtown before another soul-crushing snowfall:
And the snow never stops...
And the shoveling...
We tried out an escape room with the Von Thuns and had a blast! We didn't completely solve the Underground Casino within the one-hour time slot, but we gathered up the clues, unlocked the vault, solved most of the puzzles and ended up with a respectable score. Not bad for our first escape room experience and I can't wait to do it again.
To stave off cabin fever and restlessness, I launched into a minor home improvement project. As usual, I didn't think to take a "before" picture, but the wooden ledge along the second floor stairs had forty bajillion coats of paint on it and was kinda jankity. It's been bugging me for a while, so I pulled it off and tossed it, then went to Menard's and bought an oak board to finish and install in its place. First of two coats of stain after cutting it out:
Four coats of semigloss polyurethane:
Before installation:
Finished!
Now if it will warm up a little I need to finish installing the new basement windows...
