Last trip of 2010

We closed down 2010 with one final visit to Shangri La.  We headed north for the Christmas holiday, spending a few days down state with family, then headed up to the house.  I took the week between Christmas and New Year off, so we were able to stay at the house Sunday through Thursday.  We didn't have a whole lot on the agenda for this trip.  It was mostly about relaxing and spending some time together.  We know what's in store for us for 2011, and I'll admit it's a bit intimidating.  We decided to just take a week and regroup before it all starts.  Here's our to-do list for just the first half of the year:

• Start new job in Michigan
• Get Ohio house ready to sell
• List Ohio house
• Sell Ohio house
• Move into an apartment in Ohio if house sells before son graduates in May
• Go to Disney with son's high school band
• Get son graduated
• Host two graduation parties, one in Ohio and one in Michigan
• Go to Outer Banks, NC for son's graduation gift
• Move to Shangri La
• Begin renovation of Shangri La
• Get son settled in to college

I still targeted a few small jobs around the house.  I finally tracked down the parts I needed to get the oven working.  This is the oven we moved from the basement to the kitchen, displacing the old stove that we were afraid to use.  :)  We now have a working stove in the kitchen.  

The Old Stove

Stove from the basement

The other project I targeted for the week was the continued clean out of the small barn.  With sledge hammer and axe in hand I broke up any old wood "stuff" and fed a burn barrel.  Other than a few non-combustible items I was able to get it pretty well cleared out.

Before Cleanup Began

Current Condition

Other than these two projects we relaxed and just enjoyed being up north.  Kyle and I managed to go skiing on Wednesday at Nubs Nob.  This was our first time skiing there, and we'll DEFINITELY be going back.  

You know, it's strange.  All of the work we've been doing, because we had to squeeze a whole lot into whatever weekends we could get away, we always felt a sense of urgency.  Now that we're moving there we feel so much more relaxed.  We know that we'll have plenty of time to do not just what we need to do, but what we want to do to make it truly ours.

Until next time!