Tinsley The Elf

Tinsley in his nightly resting place before bed

Tinsley emptied the kitchen cabinets last night

Adam and Derek pose with Tinsley after they found his hiding place

I think it was a couple years ago when Derek first mentioned how other kids in his class had an "elf" that visited their house from time to time. Each kid's elf did unique things, but the common theme seemed to be that the elf was mischievous and would do things like re-arrange the furniture during the night.

This year an elf showed up at our house. His name is Tinsley and he's an "ornament maker". The first night he left ornaments for the kids and left a note saying that he was still busy helping Santa get ready for Christmas, but would be available to "play" soon.

When Tinsley was finished with his elf duties he started showing up each night to "play". Each night the kids leave out crackers and water and sprinkle Tinsley with "magic snow flakes". Tinsley has organized all the other stuffed animals around the Christmas tree, built a tent in the family room, played board games, and emptied the kitchen cupboards.

The kids can't wait to come down and see what Tinsley has done each morning. Then they have to find Tinsley because he hides each night. Derek has been even more excited about Tinsley than Adam.

The New Column

Before

The new column is in. It was one those situations where the contractor didn't really help out much. They left it to us to decide what it should look like. We knew we wanted it to be fairly simple and more substantial than the previous column, but didn't know how big to make it. I went with 1 foot for the width, which is the width of the stucco keys. When it was done I wasn't so sure. Helen was sure - it was too big. She thought the steps were too big and was sure the column was too big. We decided that we would paint it and if we didn't like it then we would just have to pay someone to redo it. The column was supposed to be done before the house was painted, but it didn't get done, so I was not happy when the contractor informed us that painting was not included (?!). I ended up painting it myself. We weren't sure if it should be painted the shutter color or the trim color. Since it was so big already we decided to paint it the trim color. I think the color ended up picking up the trim line of the gable above the column and I thought the width matched the trim line as well. So I was happy with the column. It took other people telling Helen that the column needed to be that big to match everything else before Helen was OK with it.

We thought we would be done by now, but the contractor messed up when they applied the sealant to the paver walkways. They didn't fully clean the polymeric joint sand before applying the sealant. I printed off the joint sand installation instructions from the manufacturer's website and told the contractor that they were applying the sand improperly when they were putting it in. They insisted they knew what they were doing and it would look good. I trusted them - they're the pro's right? Wrong! I pointed out how they didn't even bother to push back the mulch where it extended over the edge of the walkway and how the sand had adhered to the paver surface and was now sealed in. Instead of admitting their mistake, the contractor told me in an offhanded way that there were different ways to do things and that I should go into the paver business if I knew so much about it. I didn't back down and showed the owner the installation instructions again and where they didn't follow them. Tempers settled down and they agreed to power wash and reseal, but I'm not too confident. It doesn't look terrible - just more rustic and rough than what it should be. It will all wear off from weathering over time.

When a shower is your most ambitious goal

We weren't quite that bad off this weekend, but pretty close. We were all exhausted and in bed by 8:00 on Friday night. I had committed to play tennis on Saturday morning and Helen was not happy about it. I wasn't feeling great, but was looking forward to doing something after being sick for so long. Helen felt my head and said that I was warm. I agreed that I wouldn't play if I had a fever. She got the thermometer and, sure enough, I had a fever. I called around to find someone to replace me, but it ended up being a hassle and after a few calls I quit trying and decided that I would just play.

Adam had his first basketball game of the season at 9 on Saturday, so we all had to get up and moving early. Adam's team is the Celtics. Last year was his first year of basketball and we don't think he scored a basket. He made a basket in this game and he was so excited.

Helen was worried about me playing tennis and came to watch my match after the basketball game. I was taking the antibiotic Levaquin, which comes with an FDA warning label about tendon ruptures being a known side-effect. All she could think about was me lying there writhing in pain with a ruptured achilles. Thankfully, nothing bad happened and we even won the match. One of the guys I played against said that he had just gotten over a sinus infection - after 28 days. He said a guy in his office had the same thing and took about a month as well to kick it. It's bad stuff.

Derek had a basketball game at 1:00. He's on the Grizzlies this year. Derek was a little under the weather, but he did good and even made a basket.

After the game we knew that we needed to get something to eat on the way home because we were all too tired to go back out once we got home. We decided to try the new Flying Biscuit restaurant that opened nearby. We've tried to go a couple times, but it was always too crowded. We've never been to the original so we can't compare, but we weren't impressed. Our biscuits were all rock-hard. They were actually better the next day when we heated them up in the microwave. Maybe it was the fact that we were eating at 3:30 in the afternoon instead of normal breakfast hours.

The rest of the weekend was spent laying around and napping off and on and trying to muster enough energy for that elusive shower. I think I've turned the corner, but Helen is a little behind me and is still very fatigued.

I had gotten the Christmas stuff down from the attic the day before Thanksgiving when I had a little more energy and the boys have been decorating a little a time.

We're All Sick

We're in the midst of the longest period ever of continuous sickness in our house. I had strep throat and a sinus infection a few weeks ago. I finished a round of antibiotics and was feeling better for few days and then got knocked down again. I started another round, but don't think it's bacterial because I haven't been feeling better on the antibiotics. Adam also has a sinus infection and is finishing up his antibiotics. He missed some school and still has a cough, but is feeling better. Derek felt bad for a few days and still has a cough, but he seems to have kicked it. Helen nursed us all through and then came down with what I have - achy, sinus pain, earache, and terrible soar throat. It seems to be going around her school as well. She says it is the worst she's ever seen it in terms of the number of kids and teachers being sick. We're all ready to be better. Derek said that he hoped that he felt better in time for Christmas. Here's to hoping.