Too new to be annoying yet

The weather has just turned cool enough to light the first fire of the year. This early in the season I still have enough firewood to be both warm and comfortable with the fact that I'm not running out yet. Just for the sake of something different, I lit the wood range in the kitchen and cooked my dinner on it. For whatever reason, I never bothered to light the kitchen stove for heat last year. Due to the fact that there is another stove closer to my couch in the living room, the kitchen stove stayed cold. It really is a very good design. It heats the house quite a bit better than the caboose stove by the couch. It is more central, and considering that it was designed to get hot enough to cook food quickly, as well as circulate smoke around the oven box to heat it as well, it is far more efficient. It radiates far more heat into the room due to its oven draft design, rather than just sending it up the stovepipe, like the caboose stove. This thing is cool (hot), and it cooks food.

Train of Lights

Its time again for the Train of Lights in Niles Canyon. Last year was a good party, but this year promises to be better. There should be more elbow room, plus we are taking a 4:30 train. The train leaves early enough to see the canyon scenery before the sun goes down, then to see the lights on the train on the return trip. After all the fun of riding a nicely restored antique train wrapped in enough Christmas lights to be seen from low orbit, we will head off to get dinner at whichever fine restaurant seems best. Last year I had access to eleven tickets. This year I worked enough hours to earn the maximum of six free and the option for as many discounted. Now I need to start figuring out everyone's schedules to see who can join me. So far I am going, my mother has been invited, as have my dad, step mother, and little sister. Rich and Jeremy are also likely. Michelle has set the date aside already. Terran? I sent him an email. Manny? I'll start working on him directly in order to get him to commit before December has come and gone. There are one or two other invitations floating around out there as well. I've got a few spaces open still. Maybe Jen will join Manny this year. Everyone start thinking of what they want for dinner in two months.