"People imagine that missing a loved one works kind of like missing cigarettes," he said. "The first day is really hard but the next day is less hard and so forth, easier and easier the longer you go on. But instead it's like missing water. Every day, you notice the person's absence more."

               -- Back When We Were Grownups

I get to go to Denver next week, wahoo! I am going to be doing some product testing in a Cisco lab. I only wish I had enough time to stay a couple of extra days and get some skiing in, oh well.

We've had the heating guys here this past week working on installing a new heating system. The bad news is we had to go with base-board hot water (a.k.a hydronic heating system), which is costing 50% more than we had budgeted for. The good news is that it is a much superior system for this climate (as opposed to the forced hot air system). Also, there are a couple of benefits to it -- 1. We will get zones for the first and second floor, and two the water heater is part of the system, and this baby can put out 175 gallons/hr @ 140 degrees.

There are some downsides too, it is more expensive, and it covers the base board on many walls. We are also going to be left with inactive registers in the floor where the forced hot air ducts used to be. However, I think those can be dressed up and left alone.

I have been experiecing a lot of firsts lately.

• snow blower
• mandolin
• coveralls (Carhart)
• snow boots
• cord of wood
• hydronic heating system
• re-wiring first floor electrical and adding outlets

It has been snowing off and on today -- Wahoo! We got some minor flurries on Friday, and Harry and Anita got a light dusting. Winter is here. It is just a matter of time before we are back on the slopes -- I can't wait.

In other news I'm heading to Evasnville tomorrow and will be there through Friday.

Here are some pictures from Halloween. Ali and I went down to Jen and Rob's and went trick or treating with Caitlyn and her cousin Ashley. I am the paisley ghost (an idea I stole from David as he was once a paisley ghost back in our college days).

We bought our first snow blower the other day. Ah, the joys of home ownership in artic climates.