Audrey Lyn Gottfried

Everyone, please welcome Ms. Audrey Lyn Gottfried! Audrey was born on Friday, December 1st at 10:36pm. She was 8 pounds 9.2 ounces. Here are some of the first pictures of our little daughter - still less than 1 day old!

Cheesecake Factory coming to Rochestser!

Woo-hoo! According to WHAM-TV 13 last night, The Cheesecake Factory is coming to Rochester! Here's the story: WHAM TV 13. Well, we had heard rumors a few months ago that they might be coming here - albeit I heard it would be at another, crappy location. This is the PERFECT location (other than downtown). I don't quite get the "this will be one of their smaller markets," piece... considering the metro is 49th largest in the USA.

Maybe now some smart folks at the other big chains will recognize the Rochester Metro as an important place to be *cough* IKEA *cough* Ruth's Chris Steak House *cough* Nordstroms. (And others, I'm sure... like easy ones! Like SONIC. I mean, how many Sonic commercials do I need to see on TV and not be able to give them my money?)

Thoughts on other national chains to come in here would be appreciated!

The Weather's Fine!

For all those people out there who think Rochester weather is doom and gloom most of the year, here's the forecast for the next five days, following yesterday's beautiful, sunny, 63-degree day:

Toady: 62, sunny
Tomorrow: 59, mix of sun and clouds
Tuesday: 56, partly sunny
Wednesday: 58, sunny, chance of showers
Thursday: 57, rain likely

OK - so, rain's due for Thursday, and the weather will get colder on December 1st, but that's DECEMBER! It's SUPPOSED to be cold. It's been so nice, we even had our front door replaced. In fact, here is a picture of the new front door:



The old door was leaky, didn't shut right, and didn't have a deadbolt. The new door is fibreglass and airtight. And the new screendoor Julie's dad put in for us is a Pella and absolutely AMAZING (as screen doors go). It's got a pull down screen that rolls up into the door when not in use, thus creating no visual barriers. The next couple weeks will be busy with new electrical outlets being added to several rooms and in the front and backyard (as we currently have NO exterior outlets), followed by the entire house getting insulation blown in. They'll have to take off a few rows of siding to gain access to the walls, but everything will looks good as new once it's down. And hopefully the house will retain heat in the winter much better, and stay cooler in the summer. While Julie's dad does all this fantastic stuff, I still REALLY want to replace the basement windows with glass block. It's safer, lets in more light, and is far better insulated.

I sure hope our little baby daughter appreciated all these goodies! She'll be snug as a bug in a rug in her lovely nursery which is all insulated from the cold outdoors. Next BIG project to make it even better - new windows throughout the house. There are 24 of them (not including the basement, and two decorative windows in the dining room and entryway, or two windows that go between the living room and mudroom) which will be a BIG job, probably done in steps. Other projects include getting the chimney paint scraped off, and a crack sealed before it gets worse; re-seal the driveway next spring; finish the backyard landscaping; replaced the main water shut-off valve in the basement; and that's about it. We may also replace the fixtures in the powderroom downstairs, as the current ones are really, uh, BLUE, and don't fit with the style of the house. Damn This Old House Magazine!!! Why do you tempt me with so many home improvement projects?!