Let the Sun Shine

Saturday, 24 November 2007

Although the day started off cloudy and rainy, we waited for the sun to shine, and by the end of the day, it did. Today, we spent all day at home waiting for, watching, and guiding the guys who installed our new solar water heater and panels on our house. Although I don't think they quite were prepared for "all the stairs" today, they brought that 80 gallon tank down without incident, climbed in the attic, stood on the side of the roof installing 2 foot by 8 foot panels, while looking over a steep hill, and they carried all the trash up in the end (although they almost tried to leave the old water tank down here..but I kindly reminded them that they should just go ahead and take it upstairs). They did a very thorough job, and Chris had fun helping and learning along with them (as some prep work was necessary to tear down the old shed that was too short for the new heater along with guiding the guys down the stairs with all of their equipment). I was glad they came on a weekend because I would have never been able to help them on a weekday with Chase. (Even today, I had to send Chris out to get diapers and wipes because we ran out, and Chase had two hefty explosions that needed tending to.) The guys definitely earned their money today. Plus, we'll save on our electric bill, and because our house is unobstructed, we'll always have plenty of hot water!

We got cleaned up, fed Chase, and left just in time to pick up Vince at the airport this evening. We grabbed some dinner at Zippy's, then dropped him off at home, and he gave us some omiyage (gifts from his trip): Burt's Bees lotions for me, a cute onesie and booties for Chase, and Trader Joe's trail mix for Chris. We were going to go to the big holiday craft fair at the Blaisdell tonight to visit the Halsalls, but it was too late, so we just had to call it a night.