Fifth Christmas in Valparaiso

We were in the midst of preparing veggies and things when everyone arrived. So much of the time, we all just hung out in the kitchen – cooking, drinking wine, and visiting a bit.
We were in the midst of preparing veggies and things when everyone arrived. So much of the time, we all just hung out in the kitchen – cooking, drinking wine, and visiting a bit.
Liz and I joked that this would be our fourth Christmas, since we had already celebrated in Detroit, then in Indianapolis, and then again with just the two of us.
This is a really great spot, and some place I would love to come back to with a book. I’d like to sit here again for an hour or two, sipping on coffee and just relaxing for a bit.
After a late breakfast, all of us wandered over to the Kohler showroom to check out the various new things on display.
Kohler is a favorite vacation spot for Julie/Bob, and the last time Liz and I accompanied them was nearly seven years ago (back in 2011).
A few days ago, when Liz was cleaning up the first floor, she took a large blue tarp that Bob had brought over and folded/stored it in a small trash bag.
Bob was over again for a full day working on the house. I had work work I needed to catch up on, and so I spent most of my time in the office, working on my computer. But luckily, Liz was around and worked alongside Bob to help put in some new support beams on the first floor.
Earlier in the week, Bob was over and put up a lot of drywall by himself. I’m still awed by this, as each sheet of drywall is pretty heavy (about 75 pounds per sheet).
This morning, everyone was up early in Valparaiso. Julie and Liz were up, prepping for a day of shopping and visiting with Katie. Bob and I were up and ready to head back to Hyde Park for work on the house. Bob and I left around 8:30 AM, and headed to Medici’s for breakfast. After that, we were back at the house and getting to work in the master bedroom.
Liz and I left the city on Wednesday, and headed out to Valparaiso to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with Julie and Bob. Today, we mostly just bummed around the house before the festivities (and Katie/Tim’s family came over).
Liz and I got talking earlier in the week, and we came to a decision about the weekend. We’ve been working pretty nonstop on the house – and with Bob, it’s just been house house house all the time. Our only context has been working on the house, lately.
So we decided to call it an early Saturday, and asked to spend the night in Valparaiso. Our goal would be to just hang out a bit more socially, outside of the housework. And just do something that didn’t involve tools or demo of any kind.
An old slide. I wonder if these things slipped down from upstairs, from behind the fireplace?
Today, while Liz and Bob were working on the master bedroom – I worked on cleaning and clearing up more space in the basement. We’ve got a lot of thing stacked up in the front office, and it’s getting near time to move all of that stuff down here (and out of the way).
When we broke for lunch, I suggested going out to someplace new (we usually just get Jimmy John’s delivered, and that gets old over a while). When I mentioned going back to the nearby Hyde Park Taco Station, Bob’s eyes lit up.
Aunt Kathy and Uncle Lanny were visiting Julie and Bob this weekend, and on Sunday they drove in to the city to hang out with us. We all met up at Lagunitas, a spot that we all enjoyed a few months back when we visited for Father’s Day.