Happy Holidays

Brian, Moe and I would like to wish all our readers (we're hoping in 2012 we will hit double digits!) a very Happy Holiday Season.  Whether it be Christmas, Hanuka, Yule or Servitude to the Shopping Gods, we wish you all the best for the Holiday Season.

Our Christmas present this year was obviously Moe.  The 6 pound 7 ounce bundle of fun and attitude that we added to our little family in November.  Having a dog in the house again has been the best gift we could have given ourselves.

This is turning out to be a bit of an odd Christmas for us.  We both decided that Moe was enough of a Christmas present for both of us, so we did very little shopping.  As much as I HATE snow, the weather has not really been very Christmasy.  Since we are leaving for Florida the Wednesday after Christmas we didn't put up a tree or a lot of decorations.  A few here and there just to avoid complete Scroogedom.

All of this is leaving me and Brian with sort of a feeling that we are not "doing Christmas".  But if I may get a bit sentimental for a moment, all the things the Holidays represent; family, friends, gatherings, gift giving, that warm and fuzzy feeling the Holidays conjure up......   we are lucky enough to have all year long.  Not just on Christmas.  And I know, a big part of Christmas is to remind us of all we have and a great excuse to get together with loved ones, but please remember - if your Christmas is not a reenactment of "White Christmas" or "It's A Wonderful Life", happiness doesn't happen just one time a year.  It happens all year long.  Sometimes we just don't stop long enough to realize it.

So, once again, from our house to yours HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

Settling In

It has been less than a week and Moe has settled in quite well with us.  The first few days he was very quiet, but more and more of his personality has been coming out.  And yeah, we think that is a good thing.  Mostly a good thing.  :-)

We have been taking him to work with us which, so far, has worked out really well.  Everyone there seems to love him and so he gets lots of attention but most of the day, he curls up under my desk and sleeps.

Aside from the fun of having him at work, we have to be honest and admit that part of the reason is that Moe does not like to be alone!  Even when he is chewing on a rawhide, like in the picture, he stops every so often and looks around to make sure either me or Brian are still within view, then back to the chewing.  If not, the rawhide is forgotten and he's off to find one of us.

He is starting to play more, has conquered steps and pretty much is living the charmed puppy life.  Well, almost.....

As I said before, he does not like to be alone, but life is tough even for puppies and so there are times he has to be left alone.  Like when Brian went to take his Realtor's License test (which he passed with flying colors - way to go Brian!) or today when we went out to lunch.

On Brian's test day, I guess we didn't have the zipper on the kennel closed tightly enough and when I got home to check on him, he met me at the door!  Nothing seemed to be peed or pooped on, nothing chewed so we counted ourselves lucky.  Laughed about it actually. 

Then to prove we have the superior brain power here, when we left him in the kennel to go to lunch today we made sure to latch the end of the zipper to the catch at the top of the kennel.  We came home to find him almost out of the kennel again!  I say almost because we caught him with his head and one paw sticking out of the hole he CHEWED in the kennel! 

We bought this fabric type of kennel because we thought, how much damage can a 6 pound puppy do?  Guess he taught us a lesson!  This thing is made of heavyweight nylon.  Stuff they use to make backpacks and luggage.  Not tough enough to hold back Moe though!  As I said before, Buzz Saw - I mean Moe - doesn't like to be left alone!

Gotta admit that it sort of tickles me though.  We were hoping that even though Moe is on the small side, he would have a little spunk.  Maybe not this much, but ya gotta laugh.....

Meet Moe!

Moe will be flying in from Kansas on Friday.  It is a bit of a long story as to how we decided to add him to our family and it starts with the local "Welcome Wagon" here in Florida.

Last Wednesday, we were here at the house catching up on work from the bus company, and our doorbell rang.  At the door was our next door neighbor and the neighbor a few doors down.  They told us they were the neighborhood "Welcome Wagon".  I think they were just being nosey in a real friendly way.  We've had the place here in Florida for 2 years now.  Louise is our next door neighbor and we had met her before.  Polli is another story!  Quite the spunky lady and would have no problem making a truck driver blush! About 90 pounds of spunk and attitude!

Anyway, along with Louise and Polli came Nyx - a 1 year old Silky Terrier.  Polli asked if she could let her run around the house and we said of course.  We love dogs.  Well, while we were talking Nyx ( I know, strange name) ran around the house checking everything out.  After a bit I couldn't help but get down on the floor and play with her.  She was so fun.  She might be small but didn't act it.  She wrestled and played with me in between tearing around the house jumping from the couch to the love seat, behind the table and round and round.

We started to ask Polli more questions about Nyx and she told us most people think she is a Yorkie since Silky Terriers are not real common.  That they have been breed for their personality first and looks second.  They rarely bark and don't shed and even though they are small, they are not fragile.  About 9 to 10 inches at the shoulder and top out at 10 to 12 pounds.

Then we asked about flying with her and she said she does it all the time.  Has an airline approved carrier for her and she just goes to sleep during the flights.  After our visit Polli and Louise left and it was only minutes before Polli and Nyx were back with her carrier to show us.  The one she has looks sort of like a large purse (we will probably look for a more masculine looking one).  She set it on the floor, opened the top and Nyx jumped in, turned around and laid down, with a look on her face like, "Where are we going?"

Well, this really got me and Brian thinking.  We both miss Max so much and had been thinking of getting another dog but didn't know how to handle flying back and forth to Florida.  The driving back and forth is something we just don't want to do anymore.

A little research on the net told us a lot more about the breed and then Brian did a breeder search on the AKC site.  Silky Terriers are a bit rare and there were not a lot of breeders listed.  But we found one in Kansas who had some puppies available.  His name is Joe and he has been breeding Silky Terriers for over 20 years.  He only breeds his females once and so has a litter only every few years.  Moe was born, along with three sisters, on July 19th of this year.

Brian wrote to him and we got a very nice email back from him with these pictures attached.  You know what they say about a pic being worth a thousand words.....

So again, Brian and I spent some time talking about this, getting more and more excited about having another dog and so we called Joe on Thursday.  Brian had a nice conversation with him and got some details and then we said we would think about it and get back to him.  Off to Denny's we go!  Over eggs and a Philly steak we decided we would love to have Moe come and live with us.  I talked to Joe twice today - he is quite the gabber - and we worked out the details and Moe will be leaving on a jet plane on Friday!  We can't wait!

Now, you might be wondering about the name Moe.....  I'm sure everyone knows that when people register dogs with the AKC - especially show dogs - they choose some rather long and goofy names.  Since Moe's parents are both champion show dogs they have the silly names and so does Moe.

His mother's registered name is:  Champion Tagalong Tessier In-House Design (Izzie for short).  His father's registered name is:  Grand Champion Anjo Blu's Go-Getter (GoGo for short).  Moe's registered name is:  Anjo Blu's Lucky Mojo and wait for it........   Moe for short!  He is four months old and Joe and his family have been calling him Moe.  We think it's cute and since everyone who knows me knows that making a decision can be a painful process for me, we are going to stick with Moe!

Also, anyone who knows us knows that we were absolutely crazy about Max.  He will always have a special spot in our hearts but we think there will be room for Moe too.

As I have said before, we are really excited to get our hands on Moe.  If you follow this blog I'm sure you will seeing a lot more of him!


Where's Brian?

Brian asked me to read over his last few posts and check for errors and while I was doing that, I noticed that Brian was conspicuously missing from the old blog.  What has not been missing are a lot of pictures of me and I gotta hand it to Brian - he can really catch me at my best!  Love the one of my big ole ass sticking out from under the new vanity or that lovely one of me in the Halloween costume.  What sort of sad cry for help is that!  Lord, I need to loose 30 pounds, burn all my clothes and find a plastic surgeon who enjoys a challenge!


I also know that I have not been contributing to it much either, but I digress, as Sophia always said.


So, here's to Brian!  

Here is as "The Candy Man"!  The costume I made for him for the CPA's Halloween Auction.  Sadly, we didn't get to attend, but  I'm sure he would have been the hit of the evening!  Interesting side note: you can't imagine how much candy we ate in the process of making this getup.  :-)

Even though we were not able to attend the big shindig due to my brother's funeral, Brian did manage to snag a prize.  He put Kathy (from work) on bidding detail and she was able to win this during the auction.  A poster signed by all of the Lettermen when they were here last year to perform for the CPA, along with a nice basket of wine - from Tony Butala's own vineyard - and other wine goodies.  


And I am going to make an effort to not only contribute to this little old blog more often, but be sure that we get more pictures of Brian too!  After all, fair is fair!!


Steve

My Brother, Chip

I'm not sure what to say about this.  Or how to say it.  I'm sure that everyone who reads this blog (all three or four of you) have heard by now that my brother Chip passed away on the 25th of October.  I didn't see how I could continue with this blog without mentioning him.  Hard to go on talking about the silly things in our lives and not acknowledge his passing.


Ever since he left us, memories of him have been on my mind.  Along with a little guilt for not making more of those memories when I had the chance.  We should all take a lesson from that one.  But what really has been on my mind is that I wish I would have told him how much I admire(d) the way he handled everything life threw at him.  Rarely a complaint, always asking about me and Brian, not talking about himself.  It has made me take a harder look at myself and how I handle things - too quick to bitch and complain.  I will miss him, but I will never forget him.

HAND IN THE BOX

Each year as people enter the auction we have boxes, bags, or some container that holds a gift.  The gifts are donated and are always worth the $20 they paid for them and they get the box or container that were often very nice.  This year we have put the Halloween twist on the same thing.  When the person comes in and wants to buy a trick-or-trick bag they have to reach into the box "Steve made" and select a ball with the bag number on it.  They have there holes to select from and they will get a huge surprise no matter what hole they select.  It is going to be a hoot.  I can hear people screaming already.  This is such a popular part of our auction that the bags usually sell out withing an hour. 

This year we have taken everything to extremes.  People will be greeted by a hearse parked in front of the door and one as they enter the parking lot of the hotel.  There will be fog machines and tons of spooky stuff after they check in. 

Our new director has outdone herself.  We have Trek bikes, motor scotters, a painting that usually sells for $1600, all sorts of wonderful stuff.  The entire office is filled with stuff and boy there is a lot of stuff. 

You will notice that Steve got assigned to building the box that will house the trick in order to get their prize.   We have so much stuff planned that we had to actually stay on a schedule this year.  I suspect our auctioneer will be carried into the room in a casket.  I'm not sure but I have a feeling.  Everyone wants to dance and then we will have a costume contest.  Everyone gets a bag and has to go around the room trying to collect money for the best costume.  At the end the person who raises the most money gets to keep half of it. 

CAN'T TAKE THE RELIGION OUT OF THE BOY

I am not as easily embarrassed by things as Steve is.  I am more than willing to go out onto the floor at our auction and do whatever it takes to make a buck, and that's what I plan to do.  Thank God one of us is a little more dignified and knows where to draw the line, kind of.  Here is the costume Steve selected.  Knowing that Steve attended a Catholic school for many years everyone who knows him will find this more than amusing.  He will wear all black under it and there was make up that came with it but I think it may take a bit of work to get him to go that far but we'll see.   Everyone is so excited about this as it is so very different from the elegant formal affairs the CPA has done in the past.  Tonight Steve and I attended a dinner at the local high school and I heard again how excited people are for the event.  Two tables are doing Togas, however the Toga must coincide with their occupation.   I guess I'd need red flashing lights on my toga so who knows how much money I'd pull in doing that.   Below you will see Steve "pre auction".

SEWING WIHT STEVIE

When I lived in Milwaukee, for whatever reason I used to watch "Sewing with Nancy" and often wondered why anyone would go through all of that work to make a dress or coat when they could go to Sears and get a Craftsman or Gur-animals.  It just made no sense to me but, there you have it

I've always admired Steve's ability to get behind the machine and whip up a table cloth or curtains for a room.  I'd sew my
---- fingers together if in fact I could make the strings go the right direction.  He has tried so many times to tell me how it works but I insist that if the needle goes thrugh a hole on the top and out the same hole you've accomplished nothing. 

Well, Jefferson's version of "Sewing with Nancy" is "Sewing With Stevie".  A very highly rated show I might add.  One week he sews two table clothes together to make one and the next he's running electrical wires to a bathroom or plunging a toilet.  Go figure. 

All teasing aside, Steve has been commissioned by Brian Wang to create a Candy Man costume for the CPA costume party and auction on October 29th.  I'll tell you, there is nothing more manly than picking out yard goods. 

We went to Joann's and got our yard goods and then he came home to create the Brian Wang costume.  As I sat in my recliner he would come to me and measure across my chest and from my neck to my hips. I found it amazing how many feet of tape is on a sewing tape.  Then he'd come back and measure over my shouders.  Keep in mind, I never had to get out of my chair.  Then the cutting began and the machine kicked into gear.  Five hours later I went for my first fitting and he did well. 

Here's the concept.  I will glue candy bars onto this Brian Wang costume and sell them for $5 each to people who want to win a chance to win an iPad that Steve and I purchased for the auction.   It is well known that I can work an audience and sell ice to Eskimos so we shall see how close to $1500 I can get. 

Keep in mind, I planned on sitting in my chair the other night and stitching candy to my outfit (my costume) but the string would pull right through the wrapper so that didn't work.  Then I tried to go through a Snicker bar and again, the string just went right through it.  So I will resort to Velcro.  I will have a hat on with candy bars attached to it.  I am hoping to enter the room with the Candy man music going.  No doubt I will make the front page of the paper.  Last time I made the front page at our auction I was kissing a horse and feeding him chips and salsa off a plate.  He wouldn't take it out of my hand.  I had to improvise.  See below.  It is far from done.

STUCK UP

We are not good with a hammer, and you may quote me.  After hanging doors and some touch up, we decided we would not nail through our new wood trim but rather we'd glue it on so we didn't have hammer marks or nail holes to fill.  As you can see, Steve is putting glue on the first piece of door trim.  As I stood in the hallway hanging onto the trim so it didn't move a bit, I could hear the clicking of the caulking gun and a person saying, "I don't know what I'm doing wrong, the glue won't come out".  Being the eternal smart ass I suggested he read the directions.  After a cramped hand I heard him say "Oh, there we go, you can't keep pumping the thing".  DUH.   He got his glue on the trim and would ever so carefully bring it to it's final resting place for attachment.  And if you ever need to glue something that will never move again, we have the glue for you.  We are considering it as mandatory equipment in the buses.   We stuck on our trim, stood back and praised ourselves for a job well done.  So the doors won't open (kidding) but the trim looks nice.   Take a look.  Now we have about 400 feet of wood trim to paint as it didn't match the doors as we thought it would.  Take a look at the handy work below.  Move over Bob Vila, you're being replace by Starsky and NUT.

TAKE THOSE DOORS AND JAM THEM

As all or our followers recall, Steve once said, and I quote, "I never want to hang a suspended ceiling again".  Well he did.  He also said he'd never fly in a helicoptor, and he did and now, we can add this to his list of "won'ts"  He never wants to hang another door and I don't blame him.  Hanging a pre hung door is 100 times worse than putting up a suspended ceiling.  As usual, I was the helper so I usually ended up on the dark side of the door because we had no lights while we did this.  Perhaps that was the problem.  With every door it seemed to get worse.  Thank God for the wood shim.  I'd love to find Mr. Shim and give him a big old kiss.  We hung four and by the time we got to the last one it was getting better until I got my fingers pinched between the casing and the wall.  Leave it to me.  I was also stuck on the inside of the closet with no lights.  As Beaver used to say, "I was a-scared". 


We have one door that we both insist is defective.  If you believe that I have a bridge for you to buy.   We have four hung and have three more to go.  We should be able to polish those off in an hour or two and now that we have lights and electricity, it might make a difference. 


Hanging doors is just horrible.  I can speak for Steve and myeself by saying we will never hang another door unless we have to.  Maybe....

As you can see, Steve has completed one door and was ready to put on the lever handles that tmatch the rest of the house.  Well, this usually goes without trauma however, you remember the defective door?  He put the knob on that door and shut it to see how it was alligned and it was alligned just fine until we couldn't get the door open again.  We literally locked outselves out of a room with no lock on the door.  I invisioned Starsky and NUT trying to kick down this door.  That in itself would have been worth replacing the door and most likely a trip to the ER.  It's been a hoot. 

PUTTING THE LID ON IT

At long last we have the ceiling hung and all the panels in place hiding a multitude of sins.  Putting in almost 200 tiles was not without its issues.  As we got to the future bar area a couple tiles didn't fit very well so Steve gave it a little added pressure.  Needless to say, we had a slight tile slide. 

This brought back memories of my visit to a local chiropractor.  I prepared to go into the office as usual and pulled the door open.  I heard and felt a light sucking sound and all of a sudden the ceiling raised up just a bit and then fell out of the tracks.  The doctor stood there as the ceiling tiles hung over the receptionists desk.  I think there were a few heating pipes mixed in between the tiles and the grids. 

I sat in my chair as the doctor looked at his former ceiling and then at me.  My first thought was "he's going to hurt me".  I tried the best I could not to laugh but I just couldn't help it.  The look on his face was priceless.  I went in for my adjustment then came back out to be reminded of what I had just done to his office.  I asked if he wanted to ever see me again and he said yes.  I got to my car and burst into laughter. 

Anyway, below are a couple pictures of the room with its lid on.

Still Looking for Water

Our little room is really shaping up nicely.  You can see that Steven Edison put in the light, (like the water, there is no electiricty to it)  READ ON.  We got our new vanity with a top that I thought looked like something out of a rest area but I guess it's fine now.  I'm waiting to install the hand blowers and the urinal. 


As you can see, we have a toilet but that was not without controversy.  We went to the Depot and looked at toilets and decided on a "comfort height" due to our advancing ages.  Steve suggested that we do the rest of our shopping and then come back to get the toilet so we didn't have to carry it around on the cart.  I agreed.  We bought the vanity and a few other things and went back for the toilet.  We grabbed it off the shelf and checked out. 


Well, the plumber did his thing and as soon as Steve got home from work he had to go down to see his new toilet.  He came upsatirs and said, "we have a little problem".  I thought, oh crap, there is no water to the toilet or some such thing.  As it turns out, his idea to come back for the toilet did not pay off as we took the wrong one.  Not only is it not "senior height", it's round instead of enlongated.   I've been teasing him about it ever since. 

At left you can see the plumber in action.  From what I can tell of this picture, I think he's still looking for water.  


I do have another question though.  On the box for the toilet is said it can flush a bucket of golf balls down in one flush.  Here's the question, wouldn't it depend on what size bucket the golf balls have come from?

So Smug

Smug !  That's what we were.  Steve is a pretty handy guy indeed but this was kind of funny.  We went to Home Depot and got all the things we needed to cut off the supply ends and to install the shut off valves for the hot, cold, etc.  The first thing he did was cut off what appeared to me to be where the drain goes.   He hack sawed that off and then put this stuff on the actually melted the PVC pipes together.  That went quit well and I might add, without my help. 


The next thing we did was cutt off the extra length of pipes they gave us when they built the bathroom.  We took our pretty new pipe cutter and after a couople of revolutions the pipe was cut to legnth.  Even though we shut the water off to the entire house we were nervous about water flowing into the basement.  He cut off the piece, then the next putting shut of valves on each.  Steve then picked up a pice of the pipe he'd cut off and said, "Don't you think there should be water in there because there was water going to it even though it was capped off"?  I said, I think so.  We both suspected something was wrong.  We just expected the inside to be wet.  When he cut off the pipes, not a drip of water went anywhere.  Not a single drop.  Steve went into the other room and said, "Oh my God, come here".  I went to the other room to have Steve show me that the pipes we had just cut off never had water going to them at all.  They went through the wall, up to the rafters and ended. 


Being eager to get this done, it stopped the project in its tracks.   On Tuesday I called the plumber who came to hook up the lines to "real water".   He then gave me some pointer about putting in the toilet which Steve has done a hundred times.  He told me that as we tighen up the hook things, the ring will pull up from the floor so we needed to put screws into the ring.  I looked at Alan with my typical puzzled look and he said, "You want me to bring down the toilet from the garage for you to install?"  We went up and got the toilet and put it in.   Let me rephrase, he put it in.   He then explained to me why there were two drain holes for the bar area.  I actually understood this, a little.  I called Steve at work to tell him before I didn't understand anymore. 

You can see  our little plumber doing his thing to a pipe that was hooked to "air".  Remember, not a drip of water.  He really cranked the shut off valve tight so we didn't have any water leaking.  There was a better chance of the Pope becoming Lutheran than water coming out of that pipe.  As you can see below, all the valves are in place and we are ready for water.  What a hoot. 

Our New Outhouse

As you can see, our, "indoor, outhouse" is progressing well.  We paused for a few minutes as we tried to figure out how to go around the toilet hole.  I'm not sure what the exact term is but I'll use that one.  The next run across the floor we had to find a way to get around the hole and make is look nice and even though the toilet would cover any flaws.  Steve laid the floor next to the hole and started to pencil in an outline when a "brilliant" man suggested that we use the papers that seperated each pieceof flooring and trace the hole onto the paper and transfer it onto the next piece of flooring.  We actaully had to do it twice as the floor pieces went down in two different pieces.  We just had to do the same thing twice.  What a wonderful fit.  The "brilliant" man struck again. 

OUR JIMMY = WALLY

As any dear friends would do, Freddie and Jimm (AKA Wally) take care of our house in The Villages while we're gone.  They come over each Monday, get the mail, flush the toilets and just check things over.  Sometimes they even call to tell me the pool is green. 

Well, this day our Jimmy took Water Lilly out for a ride so she is ready for me when I get back to the house.  It appears that Water Lilly had a mind of her own this day.  Our Jimmy  (AKA Wally) was preparing to take the old girl for a spin and it appeared he had it in reverse but perhaps not, as he went through our kitchen wall.  Through might be a slight exaggeration but let's just say we now can have our own drive through window. 

Freddie called to tell me what happened and after I stopped laughing I thought, "Only to Jimmy could this happen".  I told Freddie that as long as no gators can get in we can fix it when we return.  I suggested to Steve that he repair this at the same time he repairs the two holes in our closet wall where he installed electrical outlets.  Perhaps Steve can just improvise here as well and put in a huge electrical outlet. 

Upon repair, we will put a large flashing stop sign and those cement poles you see protecting the bank tube machines.   We are just glad that the Lilly was not hurt.  Unlike Water Lilly on television, she has had no cosmetic surgery thus far.   Needless to say, we have not asked Jim to test drive our car. 

And to be sure, Wally will not live this down anytime soon. 

We love our Jimmy in spite of his driving abilities, or lack thereof. 

HOW DID JIMMY DO IT !!

How did poor Jimmy put up with Frank (Fred) for all these years?   I think Pope John Paul should be pushed aside and Jimmy should be made a saint.  (Other than our wall which Is coming up)


Peter and Ed, as usual put on quite the spread for the guys who have been together for 25 years.  The food was great, the company was wonderful and it was so nice to see Fred and Jimmy on their special day.   You will see Fred above in the blue designed shirt and our Jimmy in the white shirt behind the cake cutter.  I guess Jimmy was not much of a cake cutter so someone had to step in. 


All in all, it was a wonderful day for them and for us.  We really wanted to be with the guys on their special day.  I'm still not sure how Jimmy did this without a partial lobotomy or without being heavily medicated.  


Congratulations to our very dear friends of more than 14 years.  May Jimm have the courage and patience to handle another 25 years. 

UP, UP & Away !!


On August 19th, Steve and I were performing what would have normally been an uneventful day at JBS getting ready for school to start.  I was instant messaging our friends in Florida when Jimm said "I wish you guys could be here for our 25th anniversary".  I hollered to Steve in the other room and said, "How would  you like to fly to Orlando this afternoon?"  He thought I was kidding but I was really serious.  I looked up flight times and prices while he thought about it and still thought I was kidding  He said, "Fine, if you want to go let's go!"  I made the reservations, told Steve to shut his computers down and off to Orlando we went that same day.  We came home, packed our computer equipment and headed to Mitchell Field to catch a 6:55 PM flight  with arrival in Orlando at 10:34.  So off we went, stopping at the Cone on the way.  We still got to the airport too early and had a lot of time to kill.   


I had my first experience with the x-ray scanners at the airport.  I just know my physique is going to end up on You Tube under the heading, "Don't let this happen to you".  


It was an uneventful flight as Frank came to the airport to pick us up.  We were both exhausted but glad we were able to be there for the special day and too meet many new faces who we will hook up with again when we return SOON.

We Have Wood

The hallway and office are starting to shape up.  Steve and I bought Teak wood flooring for the hallway, bath and office.  We love how it's turning out so we might just take it into the family room and then get carpet squares and make a huge area rug to put under the furniture.  This crap was so heavy we had to bring it in on a dolly and slide it down the steps.  After working on the hallway and office for six hours, every bone in our OLD bodies hurt.  I don't think we'll be the same anytime soon.  I have to work bingo tomorrow night and it's going to be slow pickings from Brian.   Age is so cruel.  The floor is very dirty so we can't wait until we can mop it and get the stuff to shine a bit.  We have a long way to go including a closet with angled walls and another closet that is just going to be a pain.  Cutting the stuff is just something we don't like to do but I guess it's part of the job.  Looking gorgeous to me. 

Anal Annie

When Steve and I lived on Teddy Street, of course we had a dining room table but Steve wanted to make sure the rug under the table was exactly centered under the light fixture.  Well, Steve decides to whip out his plumb bob.  I'd heard of this but I had never seen him use one.  I hope to never have to see it again.  He hung the plumb bob on the light fixture and left it hang.  It finally stopped swinging by the time we sold the house three years later, but I digress.  He centered the rug onto the floor and then centered the table under the light.  It was never to be moved again.

One might ask where this is going.  Well, Anal Annie has done it again, but this time with my help.  We wanted to see just how large our pool table was as we could not recall and needed to know which way to put it into the room so we could get the bar configuration the way we wanted it.  I suggested he get some of our roll paper from downstairs and paste together the size of the table top. 

That being said, one night I go down there and he has this huge paper thing laying on the floor all taped together with painters tape.  I asked what it was although I knew and he was so proud of his paper pool table.  We moved it this way and that way, back and forth and actually still don't know which was it's going to go as we have a fireplace planned for the room as well.  Below is Anal Annie with his paper pool table. 

You have no idea how many times we moved this around but soon we will figure out which way it's going.  Maybe. 

I'll Take Paul Lynde, The Center Square

When we hung a suspended ceiling over at Teddy Street we vowed we'd never do it again.  As you can see, we did it again.  This time we purchased plastic eight foot sections mainly so it was easier to cut but this time we had to worry about the pieces twisting. 

I told Steve that if he recalls correctly, the worst part of hanging the ceiling was getting started and start we did.  Over the course of three weeks we finally got the grid up. 

We actually taped the main beams to the L brackets so the thing didn't swing while we were hanging it.  That worked out very well.  As we got further along it started to snug up a bit and was falling into place pretty well.   The task we knew was coming was to go back downstairs one night and level everything.  We took a level and made sure every one of the 180 tees were level.  I would push up with my broom stick while Steve tightened the wires.  I have to admit that every one is very level.  When we got over to the beam that supports our kitchen we just made it under the beam.  We had even measured to make sure where the lowest point was so we made sure to go under it.   We were worried but the tiles slid right in and covered the beam nicely.  Now we have to wait for the electrician to come back and hook up our outlets, lights and switches.   We opted for base board heating as having it installed by the electrician was half the price of having the HVAC man come back.   As you can see below, we made good progress and put some tiles in to keep it square.  As tight as the tees are, it's not going anywhere.

Below is typical Steve, pencil in the mouth and ready to go.  This is him putting in the last of 180 tees.  We were very happy to  say the least. 

Looks Brown to Me But.........

Although Steve tells me the color is green, I will continue to insist it's brown.   I absolutely hate to paint ! Arter managing an aparpartment building in Fort Atkinsonm, every time a person moved our we painted the entire unit white.  I've learned to dislike painting as much as I dislike working.  

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Keep in mind that I did prime two walls of a closet in Steve's new offuce bus he wouldn't give me the ladder so I quit becuas emy feet hurt.  The wall that Steve is painting will house a wet bar from the left side almost to the door.  It will have undercounter wine and beverage coolers The area to the right of the door is where we will have them put our pool table which we really miss. 

 







We Have Color

Most of us come home from work and relax, for the last week Steve has been coming home and painting.  I must say, things are shaping up well and it's actually looking like livable space downstairs.  Shown at left is Steve's new office, or what will be his new office.  The redish color really is pretty and we both like it a lot.  The bathoom which is next to this room has three walls in the red and one wall in what Steve tells me is tan.  It looks green to me.  I guess I"ll take his word for it. 

To the right is Steve painting the familyroom wall.  To the left of Steve is a hallway that leads to the bathroom and then goes on the other side of the steps and leads to Steve's office.  It's a nice floorplan if I do say so myself.   As I type this, I guess maybe it's not as green as I think. 

Here is the other side of the family room.  Steve ended his artwork before he gets to a 33 foot wall.  I suspect we'll have it all finished before we go to Florida on Sunday but we are going to change colors somewhere in the room to break things up.  A room this large in one color is not our thing. 

After that we will lay the wood floor in the office, hallway and bathroom.  After that we will hang the suspended ceiling and have the electrician come back to finish his work.  Then we will install a scaled down version of the bar we originally wanted but it will be nice.  I'm excited about that kind of stuff but I am not a fan of painting.  As I said earlier, I painted half a closet and my feet hurt so I sat down.  Go figure. 

We have all the ceiling pieces ordered and will begin the process once the stuff gets here.  Getting a suspended ceiling started is the worst part.  Once you get going it's not so bad.  We opted for a plastic grid system this time so we won't have to use saws and tin snips but rather a scissors.  My how technology sneaks up on us. 

From Studs to Mud

We actually started the finish work in the basement by tearing out the original work the builder did in 2008.  The picture at left shows the original hallway leading into the bathroom and a closet on the left.  It was a horrible waste of space and all sorts of doors would meet in the one corner.  We brought out the hammers and actually went to get a pry bar.  I only know one type of bar and that wasn't it.  We tore out the pocket door on the right, built a wall in the bathroom and turned the closet around so it is now in Steve's "soon to be" new office.  I love building stuff and have often said that if I wasn't so lazy I would have been a builder.  We had a great time building the new wall but tearing out the old was kind of a pain.  You will see shortly how beautifully our new wall turned out.  The scary part was when Steve got out the nailer to attach the bottom board to the cement floor.  We'd done this before and I didn't like it then.  Steve found the nailer but could not find the bullets.  Finally he found the bullets and loaded up the nailer and got ready to fire the nail through the board and into the cement.  His first attempt didn't seem to want to work so he lifted up the gun and said, "I don't think I have the bullet in right."  After he said that I took refuge under the steps until it was over.  It makes a horrible pop and then you smell the gun powder.  Seeing how well our luck has gone over the last few months I could see the headline in the paper, "bus owner takes cement nail to the forehead".  What a headline.  Sad part is, people would expect something like this from the Lavern and Shirley of home construction.

The builders framed in the rooms when the house was built in 2008 and being ever so patient, I wanted to get the rooms done sooner than now but we're getting there.  We started by insulating which was an itchy job.  Everyone knows you're supposed to wear gloves and other gear when you install insulation but Steve and I didn't seem to see that instruction on the packages we bought.  Must have been a defect.  We cut, stuffed and scratched.  It wasn't really a difficult job but a very slow one and I have a very limited amount of patience for stuff like this.  I just wanted it to be done.  It was actually a work in progress as we started it before we went to Florida for the winter and finished it several weeks ago. 

On the way home from Florida Steve and I thought for sure we could do the drywall work ourselves as long as the sheets were delivered to the house so we didn't have to carry it downstairs.  Considering the slight side trip we took to Rockford, we came to the conclusion that if we wanted to do this work we'd have to get someone to hang the drywall.  Being ever so cheap, we got the quote and decided not to have them prime the walls when they were sprayed with the texture.  Bad, bad thing.  It took forever to prime all those walls.  I did part of a closet and my feel hurt so I quit.  Short attention span.  One day I went downstairs to check on Steve's progress and he was tackling the family room priming.  I knew that chances of getting this all done before returning to our slow agonizing march toward death, I picked up a roller and did the lower parts while he did the top. It went very well and we actually made very good time.  You can see above what it looked like before and after.  A job I wouldn't want to do again anytime soon. 

Shown to the right is our pride and joy, our new closet.  It used to be a hallway and as you can see, our expert construction skills turned that into a usable space where Steve can store papers, toners, and all sorts of office stuff.  He does have another closet in the room but it is a very odd shape and you really can't do much with it.  We just thought we'd throw this in for kicks so Steve could use his nail gun in the closet that I primed until my feet got sore and I just had to stop.  Go figure.

Steve finally got to add some color to his future office.  The tan color went well with only two coats, the burnt orange we used on the back wall took three coats and then a fourth with the same color with primer in it.  It looks very orange when you put it on the wall but as it dries it's much darker and less orange.  It's very odd.  The wall and ceiling to Steve's right will be orange and the rest tan.  It really does look nice.  In the bathroom next door we changed the colors around and painted the orange in the bathroom and the tan on the wall behind the mirror and toilet.   I am very excited about putting in the toilet and vanity. 

As you can see to the right, this is the orange color that he painted four coats.  He is quite the perfectionist so everything had to be just right.  The office is now completely painted and ready for the wood floors.  After that we will hang white doors and wide trim and get Steve settled in his new crib.  Once he's downstairs we will turn the room above the garage into a sitting room with a sofa sleeper sectional, desk and a great television with surround sound.  We will repaint that to match a picture we saw of a room done by Candice Olsen.   We're getting there.

Today we went and picked up the wood flooring and ordered the grids to hang the ceiling in the family room.  We need to get that up so we can have the electrician come back and finish his job.  With a $2700 quote from the HVAC guy, we are going to have the electric man put in baseboard heaters in the family room and bath.  It's not quite what we wanted but it's much more cost effective.  Unfortunately we have to get the ceiling up before the electric man will come back. 

We've also decided against a glass block bar because of the room it would take up not allowing us to use our pool table again.  We have another idea that will be straight forward and will contain a climate controlled wine refrigerator and a matching beverage frig.  It will look very nice.  We're making slow progress but we're getting there.  Steve will finish the bathroom tomorrow so we can start to work in the family room.  We want to get it all painted before we put the ceiling up in order to save on edging.  Laying the floor and hanging the ceiling are tasks I enjoy, watching paint dry is not my thing.  Stay tuned for better pictures when the rooms are dried and the colors are more true to the colors we selected.