AND THERE WAS LIGHT!! AND THERE WAS POWER!!

This was a day of accomplishment and great victory!! Duane got the electricity hooked up to the attic by about mid-morning! This changed everything. Our weather had turned to a vicious cold northwest wind which caused the temp in the attic to plunge (as well as the guest bedroom where Duane is sleeping). He was able to plug in a heater and take the chill off, so work in the attic was possible.

Our weather was basically a blizzard today with poor visibility even in town here.
Justin had planned to work only a half-day, getting off at 10:00 a.m., so he was home before noon. Then two of our young friends from town (who didn't have school due to the blizzard conditions) came to the house. (They knocked and knocked--I thought it was the pounding in the attic.) I invited Jasmine and Kayla to join us for dinner since I had made plenty of meat loaf, baked potatoes and fresh green beans. We had fresh strawberries and ice cream for dessert, so it was a feast.

So Justin worked with Duane and Carrie all afternoon in the attic. They're almost done with the furring strips on the rafters and did more stud work also. Duane has almost finished all of the wiring. I will have outlets and switches everywhere. (You have to understand what that will mean to someone who had to be careful where I plugged in the hair dryer. Throwing a breaker was not a strange occurence at our house.) The wiring in the attic will be first-rate, and I am EXTREMELY excited about that!!

The girls stayed for much of the afternoon. While Kayla took a nap on the couch, Jasmine helped me in the kitchen. She made a double batch of cupcakes while I washed dishes. Jasmine is 13, and she loves to learn to do things in the kitchen. She likes all of my gadgets and got to use my mixer and Carrie's hand mixer. She also did the frosting. By then Kayla was awake and the two of them had quite a time decorating the cupcakes with sprinkles, etc. You can probably picture the cleanup I had to do on the table and floor when they were done. But they had fun!! (Their baking was heartily appreciated by the attic crew when they came downstairs for an afternoon treat of hot cocoa and fresh cupcakes!)

Duane, Justin & I made a trip to Menards in Watertown yesterday afternoon to get more supplies. I'm so thankful we did, because we would not have wanted to do it this afternoon. Justin was VERY HAPPY to get home in the late morning. Visibility was more than interesting close to Astoria. Justin has also taken the next two days off, so there should be a lot of progress to report.

We anticipate another great day of accomplishment tomorrow.