Another Christmas and New Years Over

 

Well, another year's come and gone. What a year it's been. A new house, a big reno, and a new child.

We wanted a great Christmas for the kids this year and boy did we get it. We put the tree up in the den this year, bought new lights for the house, and had decorations everywhere. It was great. Many thanks to everyone that came over to our place for Christmas eve -- a new family first -- and to the Collins' for coming over for new years. Another new record, we made it to 10:40pm this time. The latest we've made it since having kids.

Now I'm getting ready to go back to work in the morning. I'm not dreading it by any means, I'm actually looking forward to going back and getting a few things done. However I did get used to spending all day with the family. I could get used to doing that full-time.

I feel like in many ways 2008 will be pivotal year for our little tribe. Maya will probably start preschool and Gabe will continue it. Zack will turn 1 in 2008. I'm almost afraid to see how big he might get in that time. We have a few things we'd like to do yet to the house, and I have a new career direction to begin. Change, as they say, is inevitable.

Let's get to it.

Auchentoshan 10 Year

I had forgotten completely about the Auchentoshan 10 until Jason reminded me. What a great whiskey, especially for such a young one. It is agressive, but still full of fruity notes and a low finish. Great stuff, and a good deal too. 

Nose
Scenty. Definite linseed. Lemon grass. Vanilla.
Palate
Light, soft, oily, mashmallow-like. Good flavour development. From lemony to cedary.
Finish
Rounded. Soothing, long.
Comment
At 10 years, Auchentoshan makes an expressive, eloquent claim to being the classic Lowlander.

http://www.whiskymag.com/whisky/brand/auchentoshan/whisky1957.html

Montecristo Minis

Great little cigars. Clean, mellow, and full bodied. Almost buttery.
http://www.cubanbest.com/montecristo.html

iRobots: Roomba & Scooba

After much debate, Hiyat came home with two household cleaning robots last week: the Roomba and the Scooba. You can't help but anthropomorphise these guys (we decided that they are males) and they've really helped out around the house.

 

 

 

The Roomba is a vacuuming robot and is the epitome of automation. He comes with a charging base that he finds himself, a timer, and he avoids stairs, walls, and will concentrate on areas that are dirty. He even dusts the baseboards and railings that he can reach. He will wake up at a prescribed time, wander all around the upstairs cleaning and then go and find his charging station underneath the night table when he's tired. He makes it all the way into both kids' rooms and does the bathroom floors too. You won't believe the dust and hair that he's pulled out of the carpets -- it's disgusting. If you put him on area rugs on the main floor he will stay on them and do a good job cleaning them.

 

 

The Scooba took a lot more time getting used to. He's a lot less automated than Roomba, without a timer or a base station. This becomes obvious after using him, because unlike the Roomba that only needs electricity, the Scooba needs clean water, cleaning solution, and to have the dirty water dumped out. He does a pretty good job too -- even on the slate. He vacuums, washes, and squeegees up the dirty water all in one go. It's good too, because unlike mopping it actually picks up the dirty water instead of just pushing it around.

 

 

 

Overall, I'm pretty impressed with this pair. They really help keep the house clean, which we don't always have time to do now that we have 3 kids. I'll start Scooba on the main floor and Roomba up on either the basement or the area rugs on the main floor (he would have already done the upstairs that morning) when we put the kids in the tub and by the time we're done we have clean floors througout the house. Very good labour saving devices even though there a bit on the pricy side at $5 

http://www.irobot.com/