Bedford County, PA still looks pretty much the way I see it in old pictures and in my mind. At Shawnee State Park, the little swing still sits in its secluded picnic area at the top of the hill overlooking Shawnee's lake and beach. I have a 30-year-old picture of that same swing set, with me and my sister and my dad posing in front.

Last weekend, Jonathan took me to see flowers and butterflies and shop for shoes.

My Grandma Gaffron and my Aunt Sue had a prime piece of real estate. At least, they had use of it for 24 hours, time enough to watch of the State College Fireworks in 2003. A new hotel had been built on the edge of town, less than a year previously. Gram and Aunt Sue had rented a room on the side that would face the massive fireworks celebration that was to take place that night. Since the hotel was so new, we could not be assured of our vantage point for the show, but it looked promising.

I was about ten years old the first time that I celebrated the Fourth of July in Pittsburgh. Back then, my late maternal grandfather was still a city motorcycle patrolman. My sister Katie and I were staying with my grandparents that week, and I remember my grandfather dressed in his police uniform, returning in the late afternoon to the house in Carrick where my grandparents had raised six children.

So, this is it--the last blog entry of the year. At the moment, we're enjoying our tree, our cats, and some of the crazy NYE shows on TV. Our original plans were to go to First Night Pittsburgh tonight, as we have for the past several years. Jenny started to come down with a cold yesterday, though, and this morning woke up and was pretty ill. So we're at home today, staying warm. Read on for a recap of the past week or so, during which the blog has been quiet, but we've been busy!

I am completely geeked. Jenny and I had decided to volunteer to host Christmas Eve dinner for my family (we do a version of the Polish Wigilia). I was already really excited that they agreed, and we've been getting things ready for that. Then Jenny suggested that we invite her parents for Christmas Day. In the past, we have always celebrated Christmas Eve at my parents' house and Christmas Day at her parents' house.

Jenny and I are finally starting to get over the flu.  Jenny has it worse than I did--I'm finally feeling mostly better now, but she's still working on it.  Tonight makes 13 days for me.  Ugh.  I still haven't recovered all of my stamina yet, but I'm getting there. 

This weekend we hosted my sister-in-law Annie's bridal shower.  It was fun.  I smoked chicken in the new smoker, and Mom and Babcia helped with making the salads and baking cookies.  Dad helped me with grilling and general logistics.  It was a good time.  I think Annie had fun, too.  :) 

I built a clock as one of Annie's wedding presents.  Some readers here have known about this for a while, as I was keeping a build diary on here in a separate area.  I'll soon move those or link those here.  I need to complete the last entry, though, before I do that. 

I ordered bunting and a 45-star flag (historically accurate for the building of our house) last week, and it was supposed to arrive on Friday.  Then maybe it was supposed to arrive on Saturday.  Now it is Tuesday and it still isn't here.  I'm a little bummed.  Oh well.  I should have it in time for the Fourth of July, though. 

My June is shaping up to be pretty busy.  The first weekend in June is my birthday.  Yay!  Hopefully Jenny and I will get out to do something fun.  The following week, I am gone for three days to DC for work.  I'll be back for the weekend, then I'm off on Friday to help Jenny prepare for Annie's wedding on the 21st.  The morning after the wedding, I have a 6AM flight to Vancouver, BC, where I'll be for a week.  I'm taking the train home from there as a bit of a mini-vacation, which should get me home early in the morning on the 3rd of July.  Yikes.  Busy busy June. 

July and August should be a bit more calm, fortunately.  Jenny and I are taking our vacation in early August, so that should be fun.  In the meantime, I have a bunch of house projects that need my attention, including the front porch, getting the plumbing work coordinated, etc. 

The current project in the woodshop (after I spent most of this evening cleaning-up from the clock project) is a custom door threshold for my aunt and uncle's new house.  They have an odd doorway with a 1/2" height difference between two rooms, and it needs a threshold.  I have the initial piece cut for it and the router table set up to make the rabbet, but I was getting a little tired and didn't want to do anything stupid, so I shut down the shop and came upstairs again. 

I've been having some trouble making timely updates here for the past week or so partially due to the fact that my main laptop battery is hosed.  It will no longer take a charge and the laptop acts as if there is no battery there.  I had work order me two batteries today, so hopefully I'll have them soon.  Not having the batteries means that I'm not having the laptop on as much, since it can't survive power outages and I can't keep it on while I move among different rooms. 

We still have some clean-up to do around the house after the party.  We've been back-burnering that, though, while we rest and recover a bit. 

There's someone around here who has decided to use one of those stupid motorized mini-bikes as transportation from their house to someone else's house.  This isn't a scooter or any real form of DOT-approved transportation.  This is one of those little two-cycle "mini sportbike" things.  They usually are riding it past our house and towards the lower end of Parnassus every weekday at around this time.  Someday I'll stand outside with the hose and accidentally spray them down when they go past.  Argh.  Come on, folks.  They are illegal to have on the streets, so don't buy them and then wonder why the entire neighborhood wants to see it accidentally crushed into a tiny ball of recyclable metal.

That's all for me.  :) 

jonathan

I need to apologize for the lack of entries here over the past week or so.  We've been busy with family events and getting ready for Annie's shower this coming weekend.  Insert into that time both of us getting sick with a flu like thing, followed up with what is probably a sinus infection or something.  Ugh.

We've been working to make the house fit for lots of family company, in preparation for Annie's shower.  We're excited about hosting it, but we want everything to be "right".  I also have the soooper seeeecret project that I've been working on that is just about finished.  Jenny and I have been putting a lot of work into things around the house.  It's paying-off in terms of a cleaner house and lots of organization, but wow--I've been putting away things that I had forgotten I had.  :)  In the midst of all of this, we've been looking at getting a dog (a Basset Hound, in fact, from a local rescue organization), and I've been doing a bunch of one-day shows for various organizations.  Oh yeah, and trying to get over these colds. 

High points are the new smoker (see last past), my wife being absolutely wonderful, our cats being really nice, a happy new screen door in the back of the house, and the sooooper seeeecret project being almost finished.  Oh, and maybe one of my favorite parts of the past week or so is my new watch.  Jenny told me last year that she wanted to get me a pocket watch for our first anniversary.  I had been telling her how I wanted to get a good pocket watch.  Then it took me a little over a year to find one that I liked.  I couldn't find any "new" pocket watches that I really liked, so I started looking at old watches.  I ended up doing a lot of research into pocket watches, and decided that I wanted a Railroad Grade (RG) watch, preferably 18 size, and something 70-100 years old.  I found one last week:  A 1909 Hamilton 926.  Here's a picture from the dealer that shows good views of all of the major features.  It arrived today, and it's ticking right now.  :) 

jonathan

For those of you who celebrate Easter, Jenny and I hope that you had a great one.  We had a great time with Jenny's family yesterday at their house.  We had a nice visit and a good dinner, and then we went to Easter Vigil Mass with her parents.  On the way home that night, we stopped at one of our favorite places on Route 30:  Sharky's in Latrobe.  It was a good time. 

Today, we spent the afternoon with my family, having the traditional blessed Easter food first thing when we arrived, and then dinner later.  We got to spend some good time with my family, too, and got to share a lot of stories.  It was a good time. 

Jenny and I are lucky people.  We have awesome families!  Now I'm watching some woodworking shows, and Jenny is playing on her laptop.  Sleep time soon. 

jonathan

Last Saturday I attended the Gaffron Girl Christmas tea party. My Aunt
Sue hosts this party every year at The Inn At Georgian Place. This
year's participants included: my Aunt Heidi, my mom, my adorable cousin
Benny, and my sisters: Katie, Annie, Elizabeth, and Olivia.  We
have tea, appetizers, and dessert. We also giggle a lot.

The Inn at Georgian Place was originally the Zimmerman Mansion when it
was built on top of a hill in Somerset, PA in 1915. I grew up about ten
miles away from it and I believe that I was in junior high when the
mansion was converted into a restaurant and bar, as well as a bed and
breakfast. The Inn has many beautiful rooms, and we enjoy posing for
pictures at the end of the party. Here they are: