Utah contingent checking in

It's so nice to read about what's been going on with the Illinois Woods. Since our lives revolve around Gavin, his blog pretty much covers what's going on with the Chards. Still I suppose it's time for a few words over here in Wood-land.

How about that Super Bowl? What a great ending to a great game. Those Mannings must be a pretty proud family these days, what with Peyton winning the big game last year and little brother Eli following suit this year. But then, who really gives a bleep. At least it provided motivation to get your house clean, eh Mom?

We just keep getting more and more snow. Normally I'd be ecstatic about it since it makes for great snowboarding conditions, but getting out on our boards is proving to be difficult these days. Not impossible (we did make it up to Beaver yesterday for a few hours), but difficult. And its been so cold that its tough to even get outside for a walk around the neighborhood. Being cooped up in the house, coupled with the fact that shoveling has taken its toll on Brandon's back, really makes me yearn for springtime.

Brandon has a couple of neat projects going on at work these days. He's working on getting a million-dollar materials recycling facility (MRF) set up at Hill Air Force Base and has also been working on an alternative energy project for one of the administrative buildings on the base. He's been researching solar technologies and is going to Las Vegas the week Feb 18 for an alternative energy conference. With all his new-found knowledge maybe one of these days the Chards will be living off the grid! With an eye toward that we're continuing to look in earnest for our "dream property" in southern Utah. The only places we can afford don't exactly have developed utilities, so if we ultimately want to live on our little slice of paradise we're going to have to get creative.

I've been going in to work for a few hours at a time, one or two days a week. I plan to ramp that up to 3/4 time (30 hours/week), but for now I'll just keep using my vast reserve of sick leave to make up the hours I don't work. Brandon is home on Fridays, so he can take care of Gavin while I go to work. On the other days I'll take Gavin to work with me. Not sure how productive I'll be able to be with that arrangement, but my boss is ok with it so it's worth a try.

And speaking of the little one... I gotta go! Love to all of you!