Yesterday morning I started my coordinated attack on the moss on the roof and gutter cleaning. As some of you know, I hate climbing ladders and stepping out on slippery roofs, valleys, and ridgelines. I pulled up a hose and proceeded to edge my way across the roof, by "the foot and butt drag" method and methodically squirted the moss away from the end of the shingles, row by row. After slipping several times I decided to go back down, eat a bite for a late lunch, and take two chlonanzepam tablets to quell my anxiety and make the roof work easier.
I mixed up a bucket of laundry soap and four canisters of moss-kill products in a rubbermaid container, carried it out back to the ladder on the deck leaning against the gutter and proceeded to slowly climb the ladder while pushing the heavy plastic container ahead of my head up the ladder until it reached the roofline. Then I gave a mighty shove and lifted it over the gutter and up onto the roof. Unfortunately, the bottom of the container did not "exhibit the required static friction coefficient" and so obviously enough, not enough sliding friction coefficient. The heavy container then acted as a horizontal unbalanced force on the ladder pushing the ladder (and me) away from the gutter and hence the house also. Time passes both slowly and quickly in "moments" like this. The ladder began to slide outwards in the vicinity of its "feet" and I was somewhat airborne before I, the ladder, and the herbicide/soap/container hit the deck. I knew I hit my right hand first because it hurt the worse, then my right temple, and left scratches down my left underarm. I rolled off the deck and grabbed my head and had that awful feeling you get when it just hurts too much to lie still. A construction worker from across the creek/plastic fence was asking me if I was alright and I heard my neighbor Claire calling out to me over his fence the same; and of course we always say we are "fine" when we really are not feeling very good at all. I think my "brave pills" nullified my smart parts.
Afterwards, I picked up the leg to one of our plastic chairs, a piece to the ladder, and scooped up all the soap on the deck and in the dented gutter. Then I put away the container, the ladder, recoiled the hose after turning it off when I felt I had washed the mess of the deck. Then I got mad that everything had happened so that I could not complete this job that I wanted to finish out of pride, .......... so I decided to mow the lawn to be able to at least finish one job Mom had put down on a list. It is very hard to mow with one arm and hand dangling down. Mom said that I would really hurt the next day and ........... she was right. Both of my wrists were sore, my right palm, my head and neck, both knees were bruised and when I tried to get a ball for Charlie out from under the couch my right knee swelled up in seconds with the skin hanging out from my knee like there was a small water balloon under the skin. I decided to stay pretty much off my feet today and took two Alieve to decrease anymore inflamation. My left side of my neck is starting to hurt again and so I will stop for now. Love, Dad
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
On with the mortgage saga
Well I was all finished with my mortgage shopping and told the Wells Fargo guy I would go with him. Then of course the one other company that I was considering finally got back to me this morning and had an equal offer but with about $400 less closing costs. But since I already gave the other guy the go ahead I am going to stick with him. But I did send him a guilt fax with the other guys quote for kind of a "here, look at this, it is better then your offer, but I want to be true to you, but maybe you could find somewhere to pinch a little fat like the other guy did." I decided in the end that saving $400 isn't worth compromising your word or worth working with a company that seems to busy with other clients to get back to you quickly. I have learned quite a bit in this whole adventure. Pick what rate you want ahead of time and then work for the lowest fees on that rate only. Enough money talk.
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Mortgage shopping
Well, I have had about 3 straight days of shopping for a mortgage company and have finally settled on one. After dealing with people that wouldn't call back, got annoyed when I wanted a lower rate/fees or I just didn't like, I finally am going with a guy who did whatever I asked as soon as I asked him. I asked for a lower rate at the same closing costs and he gave it to me, so he has my business. I finally went with a spreadsheet approach to analyzing all my loans. I could then calculate how long the loans with higher rates but lower fees/closing cost would be an advantage overall compared to the lower rate but higher fees/closing cost loans. I narrowed it down to 2 loans with the lower fee loan being financially better for the first 9 years of the loan, and the other being better after 9 years with the same loan. So for me lower fees=good and Wells Fargo got my business. If any of you ever think about refinance again I would definitely suggest looking at my spreadsheet approach to help with making the decision.
Anyway, all this came about because house value in the area has supposedly gone up 70-80% in our area in just the last 6 months, so $177,000 X 70%= "a lot of money". So with the refi. We may be able to get a little extra dough out and pay for a brand new shiny bamboo floor throughout the downstairs of our house. It is just a thought, we will have to wait and see what the house really appraises out to be. We went and looked at the bamboo and love the look of it. The only drawback over some other hardwoods is that it does tend to fade more, so you have to be diligent about moving rugs and furniture around.
We ate our first peppers and two artichoke that we grew ourselves. The peppers were good, the artichoke was a little tough but I 'choked' it down. I bought a few more gallon perennials from Freddy's that were half off ($2.50). Next year my flowers should be quite nice. Greyson has gotten as far as getting the wood laid out on the yard. Ada is already using the piece of plywood to sleep on so apparently we don't actually need to put it together to form any sort of house for her to use it.
Work is fine. I am not doing much still. I do have about 2 weeks of work in early sept. that I will be gone for. After that who knows. I decided to sign up for guitar lessons when I get back. Hopefully I will be playing some real music by Christmas.
Anymore thoughts on my Lasagna making? I suppose that doesn't really save any money like the applesauce or jam making.
Oh, and we are going to the Black Crows/Tom Petty concert at the Gorge amphitheater on Sat. It should be a great concert but a long drive (but Greyson said he would do the drive if I went with him).
Ada got bit by neighbor dog. We had to go have a chat with them. She is fine, just a couple puncture wounds. Sorry this is so long, that is what happens when we don't write very frequently.
Anyway, all this came about because house value in the area has supposedly gone up 70-80% in our area in just the last 6 months, so $177,000 X 70%= "a lot of money". So with the refi. We may be able to get a little extra dough out and pay for a brand new shiny bamboo floor throughout the downstairs of our house. It is just a thought, we will have to wait and see what the house really appraises out to be. We went and looked at the bamboo and love the look of it. The only drawback over some other hardwoods is that it does tend to fade more, so you have to be diligent about moving rugs and furniture around.
We ate our first peppers and two artichoke that we grew ourselves. The peppers were good, the artichoke was a little tough but I 'choked' it down. I bought a few more gallon perennials from Freddy's that were half off ($2.50). Next year my flowers should be quite nice. Greyson has gotten as far as getting the wood laid out on the yard. Ada is already using the piece of plywood to sleep on so apparently we don't actually need to put it together to form any sort of house for her to use it.
Work is fine. I am not doing much still. I do have about 2 weeks of work in early sept. that I will be gone for. After that who knows. I decided to sign up for guitar lessons when I get back. Hopefully I will be playing some real music by Christmas.
Anymore thoughts on my Lasagna making? I suppose that doesn't really save any money like the applesauce or jam making.
Oh, and we are going to the Black Crows/Tom Petty concert at the Gorge amphitheater on Sat. It should be a great concert but a long drive (but Greyson said he would do the drive if I went with him).
Ada got bit by neighbor dog. We had to go have a chat with them. She is fine, just a couple puncture wounds. Sorry this is so long, that is what happens when we don't write very frequently.
cheapies but goodies
I just thought I'd try to get some feedback on possibilities for our next tourney. We thought an adults only one would be fun, but difficult to pull off. Here are some good games that would be a blast on the network:
Mechassault (I've seen this one for $7.00 used)-Giant machines battling-same game modes as in halo
Project Gotham Racing 2 (<$20)-racing
Splinter Cell:Chaos Theory ($30)-Spies vs mercenaries
Midnight Club 3-(<$30)-street racing
I could loan all but chaos theory out (just started that one). The prices on the games in general should be falling (with the nearing release of the xbox 360), so I'm especially looking for ones that are cheap and would be fun in a tourney. Let me know if anything here interests you I wouldn't call $30 cheap, but the two listed here are excellent. I higly recommend both for standalone and multiplay, and would probably put them on the must haves for xbox.
Mechassault (I've seen this one for $7.00 used)-Giant machines battling-same game modes as in halo
Project Gotham Racing 2 (<$20)-racing
Splinter Cell:Chaos Theory ($30)-Spies vs mercenaries
Midnight Club 3-(<$30)-street racing
I could loan all but chaos theory out (just started that one). The prices on the games in general should be falling (with the nearing release of the xbox 360), so I'm especially looking for ones that are cheap and would be fun in a tourney. Let me know if anything here interests you I wouldn't call $30 cheap, but the two listed here are excellent. I higly recommend both for standalone and multiplay, and would probably put them on the must haves for xbox.
Monday, August 29, 2005
Katrina and the Waves
Writing without the hum of power, hiding the ringing in my ears. About a half hour ago, I heard a significant bang after the power and sound left me, preparing to surf the internet. Now, my battery drains and instead of sending a blip on the blog, I thought I’d catch you up. Better stop reading now.
There is little else to do on one of my many days off. I’m sharing with my blood relatives the loss of electricity, but not the rising sea levels. Mom and dad fortunately (is it fortunate?) have a generator, and are huddled with some other meteorological refugees bearing the same names in a house in Baton Rouge. My brother I’m sure is thrilled to be the host of Rudd Red Stick Red Cross. Glad to hear, however, that everyone is safe, and the angry falling oaks have spared their house thus far. Not so for some neighbors.
No one has any idea of what Slidell is looking like yet. Slidell would be where my parents live on the water, maybe literally. The fleet of news choppers can enter New Orleans airspace soon now, and already we have seen the media troops pound the ground in spite of all seemingly insurmountable winds and rain. The Columbia sportswear and microphone ziplocks will keep them safe. They are in my prayers. We can at least evaluate the integrity of their do’s in high winds, and I for one can confirm that they look great out there with dripping ski slope noses and horizontal hair. This is no place for a necktie to fly and whip out an eye.
Anyways, the doghouse is pending Such a nice euphemism. We have most of the wood, but the plywood will not fit in the car. I tied one to the roof of the protégé, and drove home in gorge gusts hanging on to the board for dear life. That was a scary undertaking. That is not to say that things go unaccomplished. We put up some outdoor shades for the high windows, worked on the creaky floors (that would be my most loathed project, because of the subterranean intimacy with arachnids and whatever other creatures enjoy the crawlspace), looked into refinancing (house has possibly gone up 70%-80% in value, but Mel can certainly deny or fill you in more) and looking into bamboo flooring, which is gorgeous AND far less environmentally destructive. The price from what I saw was comparable to hardwood. Bamboo is actually harder. I’ve been running other errands too. Doing oil changes, and oh yeah. Had a good first workout in a while today. It would be the umpteenth leaf turned over. I think that’s it. I’m now down to 58% on my laptop, and will be going to crude graphite tools soon. I have some tshirts to design.
There is little else to do on one of my many days off. I’m sharing with my blood relatives the loss of electricity, but not the rising sea levels. Mom and dad fortunately (is it fortunate?) have a generator, and are huddled with some other meteorological refugees bearing the same names in a house in Baton Rouge. My brother I’m sure is thrilled to be the host of Rudd Red Stick Red Cross. Glad to hear, however, that everyone is safe, and the angry falling oaks have spared their house thus far. Not so for some neighbors.
No one has any idea of what Slidell is looking like yet. Slidell would be where my parents live on the water, maybe literally. The fleet of news choppers can enter New Orleans airspace soon now, and already we have seen the media troops pound the ground in spite of all seemingly insurmountable winds and rain. The Columbia sportswear and microphone ziplocks will keep them safe. They are in my prayers. We can at least evaluate the integrity of their do’s in high winds, and I for one can confirm that they look great out there with dripping ski slope noses and horizontal hair. This is no place for a necktie to fly and whip out an eye.
Anyways, the doghouse is pending Such a nice euphemism. We have most of the wood, but the plywood will not fit in the car. I tied one to the roof of the protégé, and drove home in gorge gusts hanging on to the board for dear life. That was a scary undertaking. That is not to say that things go unaccomplished. We put up some outdoor shades for the high windows, worked on the creaky floors (that would be my most loathed project, because of the subterranean intimacy with arachnids and whatever other creatures enjoy the crawlspace), looked into refinancing (house has possibly gone up 70%-80% in value, but Mel can certainly deny or fill you in more) and looking into bamboo flooring, which is gorgeous AND far less environmentally destructive. The price from what I saw was comparable to hardwood. Bamboo is actually harder. I’ve been running other errands too. Doing oil changes, and oh yeah. Had a good first workout in a while today. It would be the umpteenth leaf turned over. I think that’s it. I’m now down to 58% on my laptop, and will be going to crude graphite tools soon. I have some tshirts to design.
Sunday, August 28, 2005
Mom again
Okay - I started this and it disappeared so if there is a blank something you know what happened.
So, I want to hear the back-to-school news. Is everyone excited? Do they have their first day of school clothes picked out? Or do boys do that?
Dad and I cleaned out the raspberry patch this morning with hopes of actually having some raspberries next year. I also climbed on the stepladder and washed the up-high living room windows. Much better.
Our bikes have new innertubes and Dad has gone on two practice rides. It takes him a few times to get his nerve back so that we can go together. I wish we had some better places near here to ride. The regular roads are pretty scary.
Wish I has some real news, but I don't. We start in-service week on Monday--4 days this year instead of 3 so maybe everyone will feel less rushed.
Melanie, did you get the dog house built. Dad is dying to know about it. Send pics.
Speaking of, I can't seem to be the pictures to save anywhere that I can find them to attach here. The only solace I have regarding my ignorance is that many people are worse.
Mom
XOXOXOXOXO
So, I want to hear the back-to-school news. Is everyone excited? Do they have their first day of school clothes picked out? Or do boys do that?
Dad and I cleaned out the raspberry patch this morning with hopes of actually having some raspberries next year. I also climbed on the stepladder and washed the up-high living room windows. Much better.
Our bikes have new innertubes and Dad has gone on two practice rides. It takes him a few times to get his nerve back so that we can go together. I wish we had some better places near here to ride. The regular roads are pretty scary.
Wish I has some real news, but I don't. We start in-service week on Monday--4 days this year instead of 3 so maybe everyone will feel less rushed.
Melanie, did you get the dog house built. Dad is dying to know about it. Send pics.
Speaking of, I can't seem to be the pictures to save anywhere that I can find them to attach here. The only solace I have regarding my ignorance is that many people are worse.
Mom
XOXOXOXOXO
Monday, August 22, 2005
Mom chimes in
Nice to hear a little something from everyone -- well, most everyone. Where are Tim and Brian and Greyson. Is there a pattern here, something akin to male-pattern baldness. Like, male pattern noncommunication?
The aunties are both gone home. Dad and Grandma took Nancy to the airport today. She and Grandma went to Sisters yesterday for a little shopping. They missed the turn coming home and ended up taking the scenic route past Detroit Lake.
I am not really liking being back to work. They actually expect me to work, all day. I have a neck heating thing on right now from all the strain. And my head hurts, probably from too much thinking (or too much wine last night).
We have harvested 4 tomatoes but now one big stalk of the plant is all wilty and dying. I don't know if it was Charlie or some hidden earth weevil.
I returned to the gym in earnest this morning. Hopefully I'll get into my routine again where I don't have to talk myself into going every morning. Right now its more like talk myself out of not going.
Dad seemed to really enjoy his class reunion & visit with the Rudd's. I had warned him away from dog house building because I thought he would get too directive in his help. Sorry, Ada.
Ed Capizza sent a CD with reunion pictures on it already. Need to remember to take it in for prints. Melanie said I could easily attach pictures here, and I tried but the CD just sat and spinned and never actually loaded anything.
The aunties are both gone home. Dad and Grandma took Nancy to the airport today. She and Grandma went to Sisters yesterday for a little shopping. They missed the turn coming home and ended up taking the scenic route past Detroit Lake.
I am not really liking being back to work. They actually expect me to work, all day. I have a neck heating thing on right now from all the strain. And my head hurts, probably from too much thinking (or too much wine last night).
We have harvested 4 tomatoes but now one big stalk of the plant is all wilty and dying. I don't know if it was Charlie or some hidden earth weevil.
I returned to the gym in earnest this morning. Hopefully I'll get into my routine again where I don't have to talk myself into going every morning. Right now its more like talk myself out of not going.
Dad seemed to really enjoy his class reunion & visit with the Rudd's. I had warned him away from dog house building because I thought he would get too directive in his help. Sorry, Ada.
Ed Capizza sent a CD with reunion pictures on it already. Need to remember to take it in for prints. Melanie said I could easily attach pictures here, and I tried but the CD just sat and spinned and never actually loaded anything.
What up
Well it has been awhile so I thought I would write a quick update. Things have been pretty mellow at my house. My father came and stayed Friday night after his class reunion. It was nice to have him and he mowed my lawn while he was here. I finished up Ghost Recon II and am playing the new summit strike with Greyson. I think the game has a bug however because we will complete all of the mission objectives but the game never quits or tells us that we won. We got another headset so he can play in the exercise room and talk to me in the house. That will be helpful for party situations also to help with the confusion. We are going to try to have an adult only xbox party (sorry kids) sometime in the next month or two. We like having the kids but sometimes you need an adult only crowd.
I still am not doing much at work yet, however I am supposed to be helping put together a big proposal for a 5 mill. dollar contract we are trying to get. There is only one other company, Battelle, that we are going against. But they are one of those incestuous government agencies that does the non-profit role when it suits them and the government label when that helps. But at least I will have some work I can do without travel involved.
Greyson is off until the last week in Sept. He is in charge of wood splitting and doghouse building. It is nice to have him at home to help clean up my messes more and spend time with me.
What are you all up to??
I still am not doing much at work yet, however I am supposed to be helping put together a big proposal for a 5 mill. dollar contract we are trying to get. There is only one other company, Battelle, that we are going against. But they are one of those incestuous government agencies that does the non-profit role when it suits them and the government label when that helps. But at least I will have some work I can do without travel involved.
Greyson is off until the last week in Sept. He is in charge of wood splitting and doghouse building. It is nice to have him at home to help clean up my messes more and spend time with me.
What are you all up to??
Friday, August 12, 2005
know when to hold 'em
Tim and I went to the casino and joined in some tournaments. Tim played Texas Hold 'Em or something like that, and I played in the Blackjack tourney. Tim got fourth out of a crapload of players...just shy of the 3rd. place money of course, but they did give his $22 buy in money back. I got third and made $60 something. It was a very entertaining evening and took about 2-3 hours to finish. Tim made another $140 on the regular poker tables... Yeah! He invited me to play and gave me a five minute explanation/pep talk since I've never played the Texas game. I lost about $100 in an hour. Boo. But all in all we had a great time., and I'm sure I made lots of those poker players happy with my ignorant contributions and bets. The tournaments brings out the competiveness and strings out our small buy in fee. Just perfect for us. I think we're going back for our Anniversary. Come join us if you want. It's the weekend of Aug 19-21. India wants me to win her the first prize trip to Hawaii in the BlackJack tourney. I told her I'd do my best. See you all soon.
Traci
Traci
Thursday, August 11, 2005
Xbox Party Plans
OK, the xbox day and family reunion are just a couple days away and I wanted to get some details out there. We are hosting a Xbox party on Saturday Aug. 13th. Play will start in the afternoon sometime. It seems like people start drifting in around afternoon with peak play around dinner time. I was hoping to get things started earlier in the afternoon this time since we have the reunion the next day but I can't control when Greyson's friends show up.
So here are my questions for you all:
The Porter's are staying with me and I would like to know when they will be arriving? Friday?? Saturday?? You are of course welcome to come when you want I would just like an arrival estimate for planning purposes.
It sounds like my mother and father are attending. Do they have a place to stay? Will Grandma be joining them? Any of the Aunts? Are you continuing up to Castle Rock or what? I will try to set up a shaded outdoor visiting area for people who just want to hang out and talk and don't want to be in the middle of gaming.
And for the Deans; you are pretty easy since you live here. You are welcome to come over whenever.
I will let Greyson supply any Xbox equipment specific requests that he may have. It doesn't look like that many non-family guests will be attending but you never know.
I am going to go to Costco tomorrow and see if there is something already prepared (like Lasagna) that I can buy for feeding the hungry masses. (I may also pick up my reunion dish there as I really don't like to cook for other people) I was also thinking about a slip n slide for our back lawn but I am not sure of that yet.
So I hope to see you all this weekend.
So here are my questions for you all:
The Porter's are staying with me and I would like to know when they will be arriving? Friday?? Saturday?? You are of course welcome to come when you want I would just like an arrival estimate for planning purposes.
It sounds like my mother and father are attending. Do they have a place to stay? Will Grandma be joining them? Any of the Aunts? Are you continuing up to Castle Rock or what? I will try to set up a shaded outdoor visiting area for people who just want to hang out and talk and don't want to be in the middle of gaming.
And for the Deans; you are pretty easy since you live here. You are welcome to come over whenever.
I will let Greyson supply any Xbox equipment specific requests that he may have. It doesn't look like that many non-family guests will be attending but you never know.
I am going to go to Costco tomorrow and see if there is something already prepared (like Lasagna) that I can buy for feeding the hungry masses. (I may also pick up my reunion dish there as I really don't like to cook for other people) I was also thinking about a slip n slide for our back lawn but I am not sure of that yet.
So I hope to see you all this weekend.
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
end drawing near
Dang. Nothing like a holding garage sale to convince you how little you really need. Funny stuff. So I scheduled the earliest time possible to present my portfolio-this evening only an hour and ten minutes from now. It's the end of an 8 week long class, an abbreviated one that is perhaps the most important class in the program. That may have been a mistake as I still have more classes with which to build my book. My work, style, and outlook has changed so much since I got my first job with America the Beautiful Dreamer. I went into that job the perfect snotty undergrad idealist with immovable know-it-all design sensibilities, stalwartly defending my principles and elements against the corporate used car starburst (futon) sales act now and you'll also receive monstrosity. The same could be said for Gould Packaging. I have mixed feelings about my book. I'm happy with most of the things I have in my portfolio, but I'm not sure it is presented in the best form possible. We'll see this evening I suppose. Yesterday, after scrambling to get things to the printer, I curled up with a nice story driven RPG game for most of the day. It was kind of the weekend that I didn't have.
There will be some residual aggressions that I will need to release in a blizzard of bullets, pellets, and laser blasts this saturday upon my loving family. I just have to say I love you all but...bring your game. I may have to offer some prizes (used games). It's my garage sale of sorts. Maybe the winner will receive a beautiful set of used beige/plaid musty smelling curtains from our living room.
So, bring your Ghost Recon 2's and your Halo 2s and whatever else you would like to play, and of course it'd be sweet if we could get a 4 box tourney going, but we need a couple of volunteers.
There will be some residual aggressions that I will need to release in a blizzard of bullets, pellets, and laser blasts this saturday upon my loving family. I just have to say I love you all but...bring your game. I may have to offer some prizes (used games). It's my garage sale of sorts. Maybe the winner will receive a beautiful set of used beige/plaid musty smelling curtains from our living room.
So, bring your Ghost Recon 2's and your Halo 2s and whatever else you would like to play, and of course it'd be sweet if we could get a 4 box tourney going, but we need a couple of volunteers.
Trip to Vet
Mom says: Charlie started having a squinty eye after our hiking expedition. Dad took her to ve on Monday. She had a seed way up under the eyelid which was handily retrieved by the vet. Now just have eye drops to treat the ulcerated area that had formed.
Dad has started painting the bedroom where the unfortunate first attempt left large blotches of the wrong color and the kitchen which he is so wonderfully painting because I don't like the shade of yellow it is.
Off to work . . .
Dad has started painting the bedroom where the unfortunate first attempt left large blotches of the wrong color and the kitchen which he is so wonderfully painting because I don't like the shade of yellow it is.
Off to work . . .
Monday, August 08, 2005
jonesing
Mom says: Okay, I give up. Just what is "jonesing"? I'm assuming it is some word I know spelled in a very creative way, but I can't figure it out. In context, after camping and family reunion, I won't be "jonesing" for another get together for awhile. Did anyone else figure it out.
Hi Brian - welcome aboard. Camping at the beach sounds good, especially if Larry & I do it from a motel room and spend the day at he camp.
It is still usually really nice weather at the beach later in Sept or even early October. The rafting sounds fun, too, but not as many kids could participate. I like kids.
Joanne, my sister, gets in on Wednesday for a visit. Other sister, Nancy, comes in a few days later.
Hi Brian - welcome aboard. Camping at the beach sounds good, especially if Larry & I do it from a motel room and spend the day at he camp.
It is still usually really nice weather at the beach later in Sept or even early October. The rafting sounds fun, too, but not as many kids could participate. I like kids.
Joanne, my sister, gets in on Wednesday for a visit. Other sister, Nancy, comes in a few days later.
Sunday, August 07, 2005
Cutting bait
(Janice/Mom talking) Okay, I have given up on the everyone-at-the-beach idea for this year.
I will get reservations a LOT earlier next year. Sorry if I got anyone's hopes up in vain.
With all the fun things we did this summer, I still feel a little incomplete without a trip to the beach. When we were there on Friday it was cool and very windy. I got Dad out on the beach for about 20 seconds before his whining about the flying sand got too much.
We went for a hike on Saturday - picked a way too steep trail. Charlie kept looking back at us like, "what's keeping you folks?" We left Katia home so she wouldn't die on the trail, although she said that was how she preferred to go.
I will get reservations a LOT earlier next year. Sorry if I got anyone's hopes up in vain.
With all the fun things we did this summer, I still feel a little incomplete without a trip to the beach. When we were there on Friday it was cool and very windy. I got Dad out on the beach for about 20 seconds before his whining about the flying sand got too much.
We went for a hike on Saturday - picked a way too steep trail. Charlie kept looking back at us like, "what's keeping you folks?" We left Katia home so she wouldn't die on the trail, although she said that was how she preferred to go.
Saturday, August 06, 2005
clean garage
So Tim gets up the nerve to tackle the cleaning of the garage. I naively say I'll help thinking I'll launch the awful project then slip away. Six hours later we have so much crap hauled onto the driveway that we decide, hey let's have a garage sale. Now I don't know why we still had so much junk after 3 moves in like 5 years, but we did. Usually I'm in favor of making money and have had much success with garage sales, but I'm tired and hot and sweaty and did I mention 99 degree weather hot? I'm thinking the dump only charges $8 a ton. So $24 and three trips in the van should do it. Tim is still thinking the garage sale idea is best. Tim hides when I put on the garage sales of the past. He hates the pricing, the haggling, the setting up, the laying out your crap for all the town to see and say, why would they ever buy that? Snicker snicker. Tim knows it's a long time until that September paycheck and the fridge is looking bare. The freezer is stuffed with strawberry jam... yeah sell the jam.Ah, but there's probably some sanitation food-handling license I'd have to get. So we go with the garage sale.
$140 and change later and we have one sweet looking garage.
I'm still hot and tired, but a good hot and tired.
Traci/master and commander of the fair price of junk
$140 and change later and we have one sweet looking garage.
I'm still hot and tired, but a good hot and tired.
Traci/master and commander of the fair price of junk
Thursday, August 04, 2005
Another pet story
Just thought I would let you know about the last animal that Quark brought into the house: a cute little garter snake. It was alive and he let it go in the livingroom. Luckily it was fairly slow so I could grab it and return it to the great outdoors.
So in total we have had the following live animals brought into our house this summer by a cat:
-many mice/shrews
-squirrels
-snake
-bat (actually came in on its own accord, but I thought I would list it)
-insects
-birds
So in total we have had the following live animals brought into our house this summer by a cat:
-many mice/shrews
-squirrels
-snake
-bat (actually came in on its own accord, but I thought I would list it)
-insects
-birds
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Aerials for fun
Hey all,
take a look at this site for fun (click on the title above). You can type in your address and get an orthophoto of the area.
take a look at this site for fun (click on the title above). You can type in your address and get an orthophoto of the area.
Monday, August 01, 2005
Camping and X-Box
I am glad to report that the Porter's made it home without any significant casualties and are looking forward to the X-Box tournament in a couple of weeks. We had a great time camping and would like to congratulate Brian and Jen on an outstanding campsite and plenty of food.
I would also like to thank Janice and Larry for putting me up in their home for the last six weeks. I truly appreciate your hospitality and will officially repay Larry by not harassing him for at least one week.
On a final note, I really missed the "other" member of the family (Greyson) not partaking in the festivities and will expect an even better tournament because of it. I hope that he got all of his studying done and wish him the best on his finals.
Signing of for now,
Tim
I would also like to thank Janice and Larry for putting me up in their home for the last six weeks. I truly appreciate your hospitality and will officially repay Larry by not harassing him for at least one week.
On a final note, I really missed the "other" member of the family (Greyson) not partaking in the festivities and will expect an even better tournament because of it. I hope that he got all of his studying done and wish him the best on his finals.
Signing of for now,
Tim
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