January in Ohio is usually a slog and this year was no exception; we came very close to breaking the all-time records for both snowfall and low temperatures! But there were two days of heavy ice that were absolutely wonderful: The U. S. Figure Skating Association held their national competitions at the "Q" — the Quicken Loans Arena in downtown Cleveland, and Bob got Penney two tickets for each of the final competitions as a birthday gift (Credit Where Due: it was Paul's suggestion!)

We made a weekend of it. Emily went with Penney to the Saturday morning half of the ice dance and pairs competitions, then turned the seat over to Bob for the afternoon half. We splurged for dinner at a local steakhouse (discovering after walking eight or so blocks in bitter cold weather to get there that there was an underground tunnel from the "Q" to the restaurant) and then watched the women's finals before heading home on the RTA's "rapid" (Cleveland's light-rail transportation system). Bob got us off one stop too early, but thank goodness there was another train coming along!

On Sunday, Paul joined Mom for the men's finals and has promised a picture to go with this month's entry.

We also missed getting a picture of Penney's outfit (which she actually wore to school) on Inauguration Day: the skirt was made (by her, of course) out of two Obama-Biden yard signs leftover from the campaign and "sewed" together with blue duct-tape. Accessorized with an assortment of red-white-and-blue stuff (earrings and such) and worn with one of several Obama tee shirts she owns, it was (as you can imagine) the talk of the school!

The other big news is that we finally finished off one of the three rooms involved in the Renovation project! It'll be the guest bedroom, and Andrew (with Bob's help) installed the baseboard and shoe-rail moldings on the last day of the month! (Now we can move the stuff in the studies in here while we put the moldings into those rooms!)