Boxes and Wrapping paper

As I have grown older, Christmas has taken on a different meaning for me. When I was a child, I could not sleep for weeks before Christmas. I would spend hours staring at the presents under the tree imaging what each one holds and pretending that I knew the contents of each package. When Christmas Eve would final come, I would beg my Mom to let me open just one present. Just one please! She would allow it. I would tear into one present under the tree to reveal - pajamas! Or worse - Chones! (Chones is slang for Underware). I would change into my "new" pajamas and go off to bed hoping-praying for a better Christmas haul the next morning. I would toss and turn all night thinking about the presents under the tree. Then 6am would roll around and I would jump out of bed and make as much noise as I could to wake the family because it was Christmas! I would open my gifts from family and friends and the cool gifts from Santa. Being satisfied with my bounty, I would head off to my room and spend countless hours playing with my new toys.

But now as a father of three, Christmas means two things - boxes and wrapping paper. It is my job in our Christmas dynamic to collect the boxes and wrapping paper that the presents came in. I dutifully man my post with a black trash bag at my side ready to collect the paper and boxes that come flying my way from three overzealous children as they rip, cut, and chew their way through their Christmas bounty.

And you know what? I have the best seat in the house!

Not a creature was stirring....

Except for my three kids at 1 o'clock in the morning...

I could hear Cayla get up and shuffle her feet off into to the living room. We had left the tree lights on and Santa had come and delivered the kids' gifts and eaten the cookies. When Cayla saw the tree I could hear her startled breath. She quickly ran to get Genesis. Genesis, being the ring leader of the crew, quickly ran into the room and let out a shreek. Her and Cayla quickly ran into Jacob's room to wake the boy. He joined the parade that ran into the living room. I could hear the shuffling of feet and the whispering of little voices as they surveyed the presents that Santa had brought.

From my bed, I called out to the kids and said, "If you don't go back to bed, it all goes away." Startled, the curious three trampled over each other to make it back to their rooms letting out giggles and whisphers the whole way.

And that ladies and gentlemen is how our Christmas began....

And the Winner is......

Not us. I opened up the paper this morning and read that the United Way had announced the winners of the Holiday Light Contest. Unfortunately, we were not picked. I am okay with that, however, my daughter Genesis was a little mad. She is now thinking (plotting) of ways in which we can win the contest next year. She already has expressed her ideas to me and I think we are going to be a little more competitive next year. It is so great to see how much she has gotten into the holiday decorating. I have never forced any of my children to like the same things that I like and I have let them form their own opinions about things. It is nice to see that Genesis is now infected with the holiday light bug. Now if I can just get Jacob and Cayla to be as focused and committed as Genesis, then I will unleash my holiday light decorating army on the world! Muuuuuuhuuuuuuuhaaaaahaaaaaaa!!!!

Health, Love, Happiness, and Wealth

To all my family and friends, I wish you a year full of pleasant days and restful nights. Merry Christmas everyone....

Wow Check out this cool display: Penguins Parade around Pond

For Christmas displays, I love the home-built look. I think that setting up a display for christmas has become more a "I-can-put-up-a-bunch-of-blowups" contest. I am as guilty as the next (I have one blowup), but I do not plan on getting any more. I prefer to make my lifesize images (i.e. cutouts). Check out Alan's site. He really knows how to be creative with the cutouts. I totally dig on the penguins. Random thoughts of an Iowa boy: Penguins Parade around Pond

More...

I just couldn't help myself. Last night, I added more lights to my display. In fact, I added 9 multi-colored light strings. I used the light strings to create "Christmas Tunnel" out of the arches that I had placed over my driveway. Look pretty cool. But of course, I didn't take a picture of it....Bad Daniel...

Better Picture of My Display

Daniels House 1
Originally uploaded by danilope28.

My neighbor Dave took a picture of my display. Let's just say that he really knows how to take a photo. Thanks Dave....You da man!

Finally Finished?

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Originally uploaded by danilope28.

Attached is a link to the final (I hope) version of our Christmas 2005 display. I took the pictures tonight. The display looks great and the pictures I took don't really do it justice. I think the display need to be seen first hand to really appreciate its beauty. My neighbor, Dave, also took some pictures and I will upload them here when they are ready.

I hope you enjoy....

United Way Holiday Light Contest

This is the second year that we will enter our house in the United Way Holiday Light Contest. Although we have never one anything, it is a good way for people to donate money to the United Way while being able to check out a bunch of really cool holiday light displays.

The way the contest works is that you register your home and pay a "fee" (we paid $20 - this is based on the size of your house). People can vote by donating $1 per vote for the home of their choice.

The contest is judged based on the popular vote and Critic's Choice. First place is $100 and a trophy. Second place is $100. Critic's Choice is also $100 and a trophy. If we win, I plan to donate the money back to the United Way because I really want the trophy. Just call me "Sparky!"

The deadline to vote is December 21st and the winners will be called on Christmas Eve.

Since we live out in the boonies, it will be hard for us to get that many votes. Therefore, I would like to call upon the net masses and have them vote for our display.

I will have pictures up this weekend for people to view the complete display.

Wish us luck!!!!

Busy Weekend

I made some real progress over the weekend in spite of battling a cold and cough. I was able to get the large blow-up Santa and Reindeer mounted on the roof and added even more lights to the front yard.

I would say that I am about 75 percent completed. I still need to decorate my porch area and I am going to mount the Gi-Normous star that I built onto the roof where my HD antenna rests.

So I will probably keep adding lights and tweaking all the way until December 24th.

However, I will be entering the United Way light contest so I will try to have at least 95 percent of my display completed well before then.

Now I just need to catch up on my Christmas shopping....

GT: Ginormous Tree

If you have been following along with my Christmas saga this year, then you know that my first attempt at the Gi-Normous Tree was a disaster. My buddy CC and his wife, Barb, were able to capture the fun and folly of my attempt at immortality. You can view pictures and highlights here: Ginormous difficulties for the Ginormous Tree.

Even though my first attempt was a failure, it did not stop me from reaching new heights. The Gi-Normous Tree lives and has withstood several bouts of 40mph winds that have blown through here over the last month.

Progress!

I spent the last few days trying to be more proactive in my approach to my decorations. To recap:

On Tuesday, Paul the Electrician came by and installed two new 20 amp circuits to my electrical box. He also installed two 4-outlet boxes below the electrical box with weather proof covers. This setup will allow me to run all my Christmas lights to these outlets and turn them off at the panel. No more worries about tripping a circuit if my wife decides to blow dry her hair! LOL!

On Wednesday and Thursday night, I set up my three animated reighndeers and sleigh. I placed them along the North side of the house in a configuration that makes it look like Santa has just parked his sleigh to deliver some toys. The reighndeer are attached together with two 18-foot lengths of blue rope light. The blue rope light represents the reigns for the sleigh. I also setup my SnowMan plywood cut-out. The SnowMan is wrapped with a blue ropelight and I also put an accent light in front of him so you can see the details. I put my animated drummer boy and one of my rope light Christmas trees on the North side of the yard as well. Oh, I also hung my Gi-Normous star that I built (you member? the star was soo big that it caused the Gi-Normous Tree v1.0 to buckle) on our Yucca tree. It looks pretty cool.

The yard is looking great! Now I need to start on the outdoor house decorations. I think I will go ahead and put the icicle lights like I had them last year. I also need to decorate the front patio area.

So all in all there is still a lot of work to do this weekend, but I am confident that I can have it all done by Saturday evening!

I will post more pictures on Saturday!

Way too much to do this weekend...

I was just looking in my garage where I have all my lights and decorations and I realized that I am not anywhere near close to completion. We were out of town over the long holiday weekend and we will probably have to go out of town this weekend again. I just don't know how I am going to get any of it done.

Bah humbug.....

More Power!

The Dad of one of my soccer players is coming over on Tuesday to upgrade my electrical system at my house. We are going to up the house to a 125amp circuit (it currently is 100) and he is going to add two new 20 amp circuits just for my christmas lights. The circuits will feed 8 outlet boxes that will installed below the main circuit box.

More power....whoo....hoo!!!

Dueling Snowman

SantaPaws has created a really cool animated Snowman Snowball fight display. Check it out!

Hey, SantaPaws - how about uploading some video of the fight!

Light Design Research...Yeah...that's what I will call it....research...

Hi Ho!
Me and the wife just got back from Las Vegas. Where I was conducting light design research....yeah...that's what I will call it....research....

We spent 3 nights in Sin City taking in the sights and playing Black Jack. We had a ton of fun. We had been trying to get away just by ourselves for the past year, but between her MBA, work, soccer games, and other kid activities we just couldn't swing it. Also, we hosted Thanksgiving at our house for both of our families last year and it was quite the event. I told me wife that if we were able to pull it off that I would take her to Vegas for Thanksgiving next year. Hey....a promise is a promise. So off we went.

More notable highlights of our Vegas trip:
1. The upgrade to the Jacuzzi Suite is well worth the cost!
2. Never hit a 15, when the dealer is showing a 3.
3. Riding on the "The Duece" bus in Vegas is slower than walking.
4. The Vegas Monorail system is pretty cool and fast.
5. Every casino/hotel has at least 4 Starbucks in it.
6. Do not play Black Jack until 4am the day you are leaving.
7. AmericaWest Airlines' employees are not as happy nor as friendly as SouthWest Airlines' employees.
8. The view from the top of the Stratosphere is amazing - there is a Starbucks up at the top too.
9. I wonder how much the street vendors that hand out the pornographic literature get paid.
10. What ever happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas....hopefully...

Lord Gi-Normous......Riiiiiiiiiissssseeeee!!!!!!

After some tweaking and a trip to Lowes, the Gi-Normous Tree has once again risen from the ashes!

I went to Lowes and found a 50" pre-built star to put on the top of the GT. I added some more lights to it and with the help of my Father-in-Law, we raised the GT up. No more buckling and the pole didn't bend at all.





I just want to thank all those who helped out with this effort:

• CC, Barb, and Alex
• Brad, Tiffany, and Scott
• Paul the Electrician
• my daughters - Genesis and Cayla
• my son Jacob
• Brianna from down the street

1. And of course Desiree - my beautiful wonderful wife without whom none of this would have been possible. It is she that allows me to express my creative/destructive genius on projects of this magnitude and I am the luckiest man on the planet to have such a partner in life who supports me like no other....She is the best!

Gravity 1 : Gi-Normous Tree 0

As the title of this post suggests, gravity was the victor today. This morning with the help of CC, my neighbor Brad, and my electrician buddy Paul, we attempted to erect the Gi-Normous Tree with the Gi-Normous Star attached to the top. We were able to attache the star very securely, but the GT just could not handle the weight from the top. The pipe bent/buckled at the bottom and I decided that the Star was just too big to put at the top. So down came the GT. I had to replace the bent pipe so I used 3/4" galvanized pipe. I didn't bring the tree up again, because I need to buy or build a smaller version of the star. I saw one at walmart the I may go and buy. It is about 18" tall, but should be okay.

Alas, my dreams of seeing my 6 foot star perched above 20 feet of christmas tree from the interstate or camino real have been dashed. But never fear, the Gi-Normous Tree will live again (albeit in a small version).

Stay tuned for pics of our folley today - CC's wife Barb was on hand to photograph our attempt at immortality. ....

Christmas 2004 Display

In order to get my Christmas Spirit really flowing, I thought I would take a look at my Christmas 2004 display. Christmas 2004 was our first year in our new house and I wasn't sure how or what I was going to do for my display. I also didn't know how many lights I could cram into my yard and house without tripping the circuit. Well, as you can see at the right, I was able to put up quite a few lights.

Star Connection

Well, after much debate and deliberation I finally figured out how to attach the star to the tree without too much fear of failure. I am going to use 2 pipe flanges and bolt them together. (See drawing)

I test fitted this last night with an extra flange and 6-foot 3/4" threaded pole to see if it would buckle or bend. I attached the star to the pole flange and it held perfectly! I was thrashing the pole and trying to get it to break, but it was solid.

The next step is to bring down the GT pole and attach the star mechanism. This will prove to be a challenge, since it took me and my neighbor Brad to stand the pole up after I put all the lights on it! I may need to enlist the help of CC and his Halloween Minions to complete this task!

So CC, what do you think? Saturday morning at my house? I'll buy the popi-seed muffins and orange juice! :0)

GT and Star Update

Okay,

So I haven't been blogging lately....Bad Daniel! Bad Daniel! "Sit Ubu, sit! Good dog!" (Let's see if anybody can guess where that archaic TV reference came from)

Anyway, I have been super busy getting the 6-foot star ready to be mounted to the top of the Gi-Normous Tree. I spent yesterday running wrapping my lights around the PVC frame that I constructed.

The star is made out two 10-foot sections of 1-inch PVC. I shaped the PVC using a torch to melt the star into shape. Then I constructed a PVC cross-brace and for support and duct-tapped the corners just in case. I spray painted the whole think silver and it looks pretty good. I then wrapped the star with two 18-foot sections of multi-color rope light.

As for attaching it to the top of my GT, I consulted my boss (Doctorate in Engineering and Masters in Physics) and several scientists (and yes they are actual scientists) to see if the GT could support the 6-foot star at the top. After a little bit of discussion, they alleviated my fears that this thing would come crashing down and said that I shouldn't have any issues. We'll see.

So, how am I going to attach the star?

Day Shot of GT

gt_12Nov05 003
Originally uploaded by danilope28.

Here is an early morning shot of the GT. You can't really tell how big this thing is until you see at night!

GT (Gi-Normous Tree) Top

gt_12Nov05 004
Originally uploaded by danilope28.

The top is a plumbing flange that is connected to all the coated wire. The lights are then attached to the coated wire.

Success!

I haven't been blogging for the last couple of days because I have been spending ALL my time getting the Gi-Normous Tree up and ready. I am please to say that I have achieved Stage 1, Phase 1 success. The tree is so large that I can see it all the way down the street - way down the street and it doesn't even have the star on top yet. All my neighbors came out last night and were commenting how nice it looked. One of the girls on the soccer team that I coach lives down the street and she called light night telling us that she could see the tree from her house.

Details:
The pole is up and reinforced. The lights are installed and tethered from the top.I had to reinforce the 10' sections of 1" conduit with a 10' section of 2" PVC schedule 40. I did this because at the union of the two sections it did not look stable enough for my liking. I slid the PVC over the pole and duck tapped it in place. Worked like a charm.

I also went ahead and bought dog stakes for the ground. My front yard is pretty much sand under our landscaping so I needed something that would hold. The cork-screw action of the stakes worked perfectly.

I took some early morning pictures (because I am a dork and forgot to take some night time shots) and posted them.

I am also working on our christmas arches that will be over the driveway.

Cheers!

-daniel

Test/Dry Fit Gi-Normous Tree

Before soccer practice yesterday, I put together the two sections of 10' conduit with a conduit sleave. I think erected the pole and placed it in the base that I had setup for the tree. Man, this thing is going to be huge!

I still need to get the wire connectors and attach the LEDs to the wires. I am off on Thursday and Friday so I hope to get a lot of this work completed. I will try to post pictures over the weekend of my progress.

Gi-normous Tree Update

The concrete has cured and it looks pretty sturdy. I went to lowes today and purchased 100' of coated 3/32" wire. The wire will be tethered from the top of the of the pole to stakes in the ground. The led lights will be attacked to the wire.

I really need to start taking more pictures of my progress.

Ping Pong

Ever felt like a ping-pong ball being played over the net of life? That is kinda what I feel like today.

Gi-normous Tree Phase I Completed

The hole is dug, the concrete has been poured and the base pole has been set. I went over to home depot and purchsed the following:
(1) 80 lbs. bag of quickcrete
(1) 1 5/8" X 8' base pole
(1) 8" X 48" concrete quick tube
(2) 1" X 10' rigid conduit
(2) 1" conduit joining couplings

So far so good. I will wait for the concrete to cure and then cut the base pole down to size and install the conduit poles.

Halloween Prop for Next Year!

I just found these at Gemmy.com. They are 7 foot hight gargoyle inflatibles. Pretty cool!

Hey CC how about we use a couple of these to adorn the walkway to the masoleum!

Lights on here!

Last night while we were eating dinner, a mysterious ring at my door bell did come. I opened the door and lo and behold - a box from Animated Lighting was beckoning me. I quickly grabbed the box and opened it up and what did await me, well twelve 23 foot LED light strings were twinkling right before me.

My wife asked, "What is this? What did you order now?" (I neglected to tell her about the $136 purchase I made for the lights. She is an accountant and gets a little stressed about all things pertaining to money!)

So quickly ripped open one of the packages and plugged a light set in. They are really bright. I was a little worried that they would not be bright enough, but they are very nice.

I am going to use 8 sets of the lights to adorn my gi-normous christmas tree!

Gi-normous Christmas Tree Update

My beautiful and extremely talented accountant wife helped me figure out the radius and lengths for the light strings that are going to hang down from the top of the pole. We are looking at a radius of 5' with an exposed pole height of 18'. The actual pole length is 20'3", but I am going to have 2'3" in the ground.

So after I get the air conditioner all closed up for winter, I will head over to Lowes and purchase the materials.

Not Carpel Tunnel Syndrome - Worse?

Went back to the doctor's today for a check up on my right hand. It still has been hurting but it is now isolated to just the thumb area. The last time I was there they had me do some blood work and he gave me the results. He said that I may have rheumatoid arthritis. This sucks...

Gigantic Christmas Tree Part Deux

I went over to Home Depot and spied around for some building materials. I think I am going to go with 1" conduit that comes in 10'lengths. I will have to connect the pipe together with a coupling to get a least 20' in height. I will also have to install a 1 1/2" X 24" pipe in the ground with concrete as a base. I will slide the 1" pipe into the base and this should keep it upright and steady. I am also going to buy this green wrapped wire and hook it to the top of the pole. I think this is going to look pretty cool...

Gigantic Christmas Tree Pole

I have this idea to create a giant christmas tree pole that would tower over our home. I figure I could set up a flag pole in our yard and then attach metal hooks to the top. The LED light strings would then drape down from the top and be anchored to the ground.

Here is my idea:

Christmas 2005 - Let the Madness Begin

So I have been racking my brain trying to come up with a plan for my christmas yard decorations. I found the site PlanetChristmas.com and they have a bunch of cool ideas and links to vendors.

I bought a few LED light sets last year, and I was intrigued by the miniscule amount of electricity that they draw. I decided to go ahead and try to incorporate more LED into my displays, therefore I purchased 12 units of C6 LED multi-color lights from AnimatedLighting.com yesterday. The lights are 70 count and span 23 feet each. I should receive them in a week and I plan on using them to construct my monster christmas tree.

Today, I ordered a Santa Inflatable from Wal-Mart.com. It will fit perfectly on the flat roof above my garage.

I am also looking at designing several wire frames to make stars and possibly and igloo. I would also like to incorporate some penguins and polar bears, but I do not know how much time I will have to complete all these tasks.

One idea I have is to create an army of toy soldiers (6 or so) to line my driveway. I made several chrismas cutouts out of plywood a couple of years ago and they work great. I will probably use this technique to create the toy soldiers.

The Joys of carpel Tunnel

Having a damaged carpal tunnel is not very fun!

About two weeks ago, while helping my buddy CC with his Halloween decorations, I felt a twinge in my right hand. At first, I paid no attention. But after a while, my hand began to cramp up and I lost the ability to use my pointing finger and thumb - plus the pain was tremendous.

I went home that night and woke up with the pain getting worse. I called my doctor and he told me that I need to be check out. So I went to a neurosurgeon. He hooked me up to this machine and basically shocked the crap out of my arm for about 30 minutes. Everytime he pushed the button my whole body would jump! After my electro-shock therapy, he tells me that I have damage to my carpal tunnel and prescribes me prednisone. Prednisone is a steroid used to reduce inflammation. The bad side of pred is that it makes you moody and hungry. I have been taking the pred for the past two weeks and I have been eating non-stop. I think I have gained at least 5-10 pounds. Thank God yesterday was my last day and I am not going to take this stuff every again. Pain be dammed!