Thursday???

Is this really Thursday? I guess having Christmas in the middle of the week kind of confuses things, but then sometimes it does not take much to confuse me. Anyway now on with today’s activities:

I slept in until around 0700 this morning, I knew that Stan would not be here very early as his oldest son and his family are visiting. After breakfast I poured myself a fresh cup of coffee and read the paper and then cleaned up the kitchen. I went upstairs to get something and Kathleen was up and on her computer, so she came downstairs and made herself some cinnamon toast again.

I redid the switch that I could not get to work last night and still did not have any luck. Since it was I three way switch, I decided that I would go downstairs and check how the switch down there was hooked up. Once I got it all undone, I figured out what needed to be done, but Stan arrived before I could get back upstairs.

He took a look at it and wanted to change a few other things that we had done yesterday, so we did that and then re-hooked up the top switch. Then Stan went into the attic and hooked up some of the wires up there, but when we turned the circuit breaker back on our bedroom light and the porch light were not working.

Stan ran into the same problem that I had run into a couple weeks ago a broken wire up in the attic. So he replaced the wire and the bedroom light worked, but the porch light and the outside outlet still did not work, so we took off the cover plate and took out the switch for the porch light, and discovered another broken wire.

The wiring in the house leaves much to be desired to say the least. If we live here long enough I will probably have to had replaced all the wire in this place. We finally got the wiring for the switch patched so that the switch and outlet would work; so that Stan could cut a couple pieces of plywood to patch the hole in the ceiling were we took out one of the old can lights.

After Stan finished that he cut some drywall to fill in the hole and then he taped and mudded it and the other two that he patched last week. So now tomorrow we can cut the new holes in them and then add the new cans so that we can had more light upstairs.

Stan finally got out of here around 1800 and I swept the stairway and then the upstairs, so that we would not be tracking any more dirt and dust around the rest of the house. Although everything in the house is covered in dust right now. Tomorrow I will have to vacuum the downstairs, but I am too tired to do that right now.

Around 1900I finally convince Kathleen to make something for dinner. She heated up the rest of the lentil soup from last week, there was not quite enough for me, so after I finished mine, I made myself a salad.

Well, that is it for today; I am tired so I think a good night is in order.

Wednesday's Wirings

We had a good quiet Christmas yesterday; I called and talked to my Mother and sister in the morning and then I tried to call my brother, but I did not get any answer. Then the rest of the day I just kind of took it easy. I fixed myself a grill cheese sandwich with two kinds of cheese and then added some hot sauce and some Italian seasoning for lunch.

Then for dinner I opened a can of chili and added quite a lot of onion to it. Kathleen picked out the onion in hers, so I had lots of onion in my bowl. Then about 2200 I headed for bed after having a really quiet day...kind of nice for a change.

After getting a pretty decent night sleep, I got up, ground some coffee beans, and made some coffee and then some oatmeal. After breakfast, I emptied the dishwasher and then added my breakfast dishes to the clean dishwasher. Then I read the paper, lots of adds again, like they think people had any money left after Christmas shopping for the last couple months.

Kathleen came down after a while and made herself some toast with sugar and cinnamon on it...really nutritious! Stan had not gotten here yet and it was almost 1000 so I told Kathleen that if he does not get here soon we might load up the SUV with stuff for Goodwill and get it out of the house, but he called a couple minutes after that and said that he would be here in a few minutes.

We worked on wiring just about all day, first we pulled out about fifty feet of wire that was not needed. It was not just one piece, but about five or six short pieces. Then we added a double box to Kathleen's craft room and a single to the upstairs hallway.

We also replace two junction boxes and three switch boxes with one light box, and two three gang switch boxes. While Stan was in the attic I had him move the light up there and we ran a switch for it to one of the three gang boxes so now I can turn the light on from the second floor rather than pulling the string up in the attic.

Stan and his family were celebrating Christmas tonight as his oldest son and family were coming into town, so he left around 1600. I hooked up the outlet in the hall and the switch for the stair lights, but I must have hooked up one of the wires incorrectly, so I will need to redo it tomorrow morning when I am a little more wide awake.

By the time Stan left, I had all I could do to stand up as I had been on my feet since 0600 this morning. Kathleen made some homemade chicken soup for dinner tonight; she spiced it up a little for me and it helped clear up my stuffed up head.

Well that is about it for tonight, so good night.

Merry Christmas 2007

Merry Christmas! For a change I thought that I would do this first thing in the morning instead of in the evening. For one thing I did not do it last night, too much fun with the children and grandchildren last night.

Secondly, my head was all stuffed up and I was so tired by the time we got home last night that I just had time to put our presents away and take one final look at my potato Bonsai before putting it down for the night. I am planning on spending part of this morning training my new present from Dan and Alyssa.



Last night we had our "traditional" Christmas Eve celebration and this year Andrea and John gracious consented to having their new home invaded by a hoard of Roushes. It always amazes me at just how well everyone gets along, although we can usually tell when the grandchildren are getting a little tired.

This year we drew names to buy presents for, that way we have less presents to buy, wrap, open and then clean up the wrapping paper afterwards. Poor Andrea and John's great room looked like a paper factory exploded by the time we got done.

We organized the grandchildren to help pick up the paper, but that soon broke out in a paper wad throwing ordeal. Eventually we got it all, or at least most, of it picked up. I was selected as the official present wire tie undoer. Some of the toys came so well tied up that it took me and my knife twenty minutes or so to open.

Well that is it for last night, I may or may not add to my blog tonight, it all depends on whether or not I do anything today and right now that is in question. So with that said, Merry Christmas!

Sunday's Showers

After going to be about 2145 I slept until about 0645, so I finally got a decent nights sleep thanks to some NyQuil to help stop my congestion. I felt better than I had for about a week when I got up but after a while my head started to feel stuff up again. I had planned on going to church this morning so I showered and made myself a bowl of cereal, but by the time I finished my cereal I did not think that it was wise to go.

Kathleen did not feel too wide awake either so we wound up staying home again this morning. I pretty much rested most of the morning then this afternoon I moved some things around in my fly tying room and moved the desk that had been in the landing at the top of the stairs against the north wall. We are planning on moving the bookcases to where the desk was once we get the floor put in.

I dozed a little this afternoon and watched some football and a movie on TV. Overall I feel much better today than I have in several days; I still do not feel great, but at least a little human. I went out on the front porch a couple times and wish that I could do something outside, but it pretty much rained all day and the ground is so saturated that even if it were not raining it would be pretty difficult to do much.

Tonight Kathleen cubed some potatoes and fried them up and also made a couple eye of round steaks for dinner tonight. I could have gone for more, but I probably did not need it. Even with all that sleep last night I still feel tired, so I hope that I can get another nights sleep like I did last night.

With that being said, I am going to call it an early night and say good night now.

Sitting Saturday

I awoke around 0300 this morning and finally got up around 0400 as I could not breath lying down. So on my way downstairs I gathered up the towels from the upstairs bathroom and then the downstairs bathroom and Kitchen as I got down there. Then I washed, dried, folded and put away again all before 0630.

I would have done the rest of the laundry except Kathleen usually has several items that do not make it to the hamper until I gather it up to do, so I usually have to ask her to make sure that she has everything in the hamper before I try to do the laundry.

I spent the time the towels were being washed and dried in my chair dozing off and on. Finally around 0630 I made myself an omelet and some hash brown potatoes. I mixed in some onions, garlic, tomatoes, and peppers with my potatoes. I did not have any mushrooms, so I decided to make a three cheese omelet using Brandon Cheddar, Parmesan Reggiano (that we got at Trader Joe's) and Mozzarella.

I did not have my morning coffee this morning, instead I have been drinking hot lemon juice and honey to help sooth my throat. It has gotten sore from all the drainage and coughing that I have been doing all week long.

I have not been able to sleep for more than an hour and a half at the longest at a time all week because my sinuses have just been so messed up. I think it is from all the dust from remodeling, but it could be from something else just as easily.

This morning I was chilled, and I could not go upstairs and get my long pants or long sleeve shirt as I did not want to wake Kathleen up. So when she finally got up I went upstairs and changed into long pants, shirt and over the calf socks, that did help a little.

Kathleen left about 1400 for Andrea and John's to take our old dining room table over for them to use for a while and while she was gone I washed, dried, folded and put away the rest of the laundry.

Once I had all the laundry done and put away, I went back to my chair and dozed a while again. Kathleen called and said that she was going to stop at Burgerville and pick up a couple hamburgers and shakes for dinner. She got me an eggnog with nutmeg and she got a chocolate mint shake for herself. She had been out finishing up the Christmas shopping for the grandchildren after she left Andrea's.

She finally got home about1830 and we ate shortly after that. Now that I have written my blog for the day I can go back to sitting in my chair; which is about all I gotten done today.

Well, I am really, really tired, even though I have had lots of short naps, I have not gotten any period of long sleep and it has really started to wear me out. With that said, I am just going to say my good night now.

Friday's Floors

Well today Stan and I took up the plywood that we had put down the other day, it squeaked a little and Stan was not happy with it so we spent most of the morning pulling it up and then the afternoon redoing it. Stan had to leave by 1600, so we did not get much more done today.

We did patch one more of the holes left from taking out the old square cans and it was getting too late so he did not have time to do the last one. He had hoped to get them all patched so that he could tape and mud them up so that they would have a couple days to cure before he cut the new round holes.

After Stan left I fixed myself some lunch, I mixed the rest of the spaghetti and added a can of sardines to it and then heated it up in the micro-wave. Then I took some dark rye and added some Limburger cheese and herrings for a nice sandwich. I sure hope that Alyssa is not too jealous of my "Fabulous Food Friday" lunch.

Kathleen left this morning to run some errands and take our old cherry drop-leaf dining table over to Andrea and John's, but about 1545 Andrea called and asked if I had heard from her lately and I told her that I had tried to call but the call went directly to voice mail. Andrea said that the same thing happened to her when she tried to call.

Anyway, Andrea said that she needed to leave and would not be home when Kathleen got there. Kathleen Finally called me about an hour later so I told her what Andrea had said. So Kathleen finally got back home about 1745 and I helped her unload her SUV.

Kathleen reheated the lentil soup from last night for dinner. It was really good, but I still added some spicy pepper powder. Well I feel like I am coming down with something and feel really yucky so I think that I am going to just say good night.

Too Tired Thursday

This will have to be rather brief as I am really tired again tonight. While waiting for Stan to get here this morning, I took all the left over plywood outside and then I swept and mopped the kitchen floor, vacuumed the downstairs and out]r bedroom and swept the plywood upstairs.

When he got here we went to work installing the canned lights for the upstairs hallway. First we cut out where the cans would go and then Stan went up into the attic and and put the first four (of six total) cans in place and then we ran the wire. For this we needed to find a live wire up the attic that we could use for attaching the switch.

Next we had to cut a hole in the wall above the outlet in the hall that the new line would be attached to and then over to the other side of the hallway and then back down to a switch that we would install later.

Once we had everything attached we turned the breaker back on and we had four new lights. Then we turned off the breaker that the old canned lights were connected to and Stan again went back up into the attic and cut the wires to the old cans and then removed the cans from the ceiling.

Stan then patched the holes from the old cans because we needed to cut the new holes in an area that would overlap the old holes. Since the old cans were almost square and the new ones are round the old holes would not work, so tomorrow we will cut new holes in the patched drywall.

Where we had only three canned lights before we will now have six. We are also going to have them on two different set of switches; one light will still be on the old line and operated with two three-way switches so that it can be turned on either upstairs or downstairs. The other five will have their switch at the top of the stairs, that way we can leave only the one on at night when I am going to sleep. Then when we need more light up there we can turn the other five on as well separately.

It got too late and so we will finish, or at least try to finish, tomorrow. Stan ran into some problems with the wiring as well and it took a couple hours to straighten out. Now I do not feel quite as bad as I had problems up there as well a couple of weeks ago.

Kathleen was tired tonight as well, so she made some pancakes for dinner and also had a couple veggie patties that she got from Trader Joe's the other day. The were a little spice, so I liked them.

Well, this has gone on longer than I thought it would, but what else is new, so I think that I will just say good night and put an end to this.

Wednesday's Walkways

I awoke about the time Kathleen went to bed last night and did not get back to sleep for more than a half hour at a time until about 0500 and then slept until about 0630 and by that time I needed to get up so that I would be ready when Stan got here this morning.

I made myself some oatmeal for breakfast and after cleaning up my dishes I poured myself a cup of coffee and read the paper. I finished the paper before Stan got here, so I did a little straighten up and took out the trash can of sawdust.

When Stan got here we went upstairs and talked about what to do for stairs, whether to replace them or to paint over what we had. Then we went to work shimming the floor joists so that we could make the plywood as flat and level as possible. That is just about all we got done today, shim the joist and nail down the plywood, but at least now we have a solid surface to walk on.

It is not totally flat but it is pretty level north and south. Before we tore everything up there was hardly a flat or level place anywhere. Now that we have a flat surface it is really easy to see just how slopped the surface was.

Kathleen went to lunch with Aaron and family today to celebrate his birthday, by the time I would have gotten cleaned up and gone it would have cut down on what we were able to get done today so I stayed home. I did take about fifteen minutes out to reheat the spaghetti and salmon and wine sauce for lunch.

By the time we finished our last cut of the plywood it was already dark outside, but the piece fit just like it should. Now we just need to decide what we want for floor covering as that will determine what to do for the stairs and also whether or not we need to put down some press board on top of the sub floor.

Well, it had been another long day for me, or perhaps it was just a short night, but whatever I am tired so I think that I will just say good night.

Too Tired Tuesday

This has been a long day for me, I am not sure what happened but I awoke at 0400 and could not get back to sleep, so I finally got up about 0500. It was still dark out when I made my omelet and the sun finally started to come up while I was eating breakfast. I made a veggie sausage, onion and cheddar omelet, I had thought about doing that Saturday, but forgot while I was making it.

After eating I washed the dishes from last night; I was just too tired last night. Then I poured myself a fresh cup of coffee and read the paper. Kathleen came downstairs after a while so I went upstairs and picked up the scrap wood and nails and then took them outside. It took about three trips to get them all down; I put them into a small garbage can so that I could get as much picked up at a time as possible.

After I got as much picked up as possible I took my shop vac and vacuumed between the floor joists. After I got as much vacuumed as I could reach, I went downstairs and vacuumed the downstairs floors as they had gotten pretty dirty from dragging the carpeting and the padding outside yesterday.

I forgot to mention that when we took off the flooring I noticed an area that had been severely charred, so at some point in time there was a fire. It is kind of funny, in a peculiar way, but this is the third house that we have lived in that has had a fire that we discovered several years after we had lived there.

Stan got here shortly afterwards so I helped him unload his truck and then he went upstairs and looked at what needed to be done. He had stopped by Home Depot to pick up some plywood and 2 X 4’s and also an electric hand planner to try to shave the joists so that they would be level or at least as close as possible.

Since there was not much for me to do while he was doing that I decided that I would take the carpeting and padding off the stairs. That turned out to be a much more involved job than I thought when I started out. The padding and carpet came up really easily, but under the padding was all kind of "stuff" that I spent the rest of the afternoon and finally stopped around 1830 for dinner.

It took quite a while for me to pull up the carpet tack strips partially because as I was removing it I was also bagging it so that it would go into the garbage can easier. They also used a lot of staples and carpet tacks to hold down the padding and that is what took so long. They also must have spilled some glue or something on a couple of the steps and so I had to try to scrap that off as well.

Andrea and Brandon Came over this morning and then around 1500 they went to Trader Joe's with Kathleen. So when Kathleen came home she heated up a couple Shepard's pies that she got today at Trader Joe's.

Well, I am going to call it a day, I am surprised that I am still awake, because when I first sat down and logged on I just about fell asleep. Well, good night!

Monday's Mayhem

I slept in until about 0700 this morning as I had gotten to bed a little late last night. After brushing my teeth and going upstairs, I decided to take the rest of the "stuff" out of the upstairs hallway, so with Kathleen's help I took the two shelves and tilted them forward and then was able to move them into Kathleen's upstairs craft room.

Then I decided to vacuum the floors a coupe times to get as much of the dirt and dust out of the carpet as possible as we were going to take it up in the morning. One vacuum was clogged up, I had noticed that it had not been picking up very well the last time that I used it, but was too tired to check why.

Even after I had taken the clog out, it still was not picking up as I thought it should, so I got the small one and re-vacuumed the carpet. I could tell by the sound that I was picking up a lot of dust and dirt and I knew that I could not get it all up so I just called it good.

After eating I emptied the dishwasher and poured myself a cup of coffee and read the paper. Stan still was not here by 0900, so I went upstairs and started ripping up the carpeting myself. Once I had it loose from the wall I cut it up into smaller more manageable sections and then took it out to the front porch. I left it there as they would get soaked if I left it out in the rain.

Stan got here as I was ripping up the carpet tack strips, so he helped me finish that and then we started ripping up the flooring, it was really a patchwork of plywood, boards, paneling and various other things. Once we had that up we took off two more layers of tongue and groove. The floors are still really not very level, and we spent most of the rest of the afternoon trying to figure out how to correct it.

I vacuumed out the area between the floor joists and picked up the scraps of wood. I had made about two dozen trips up and down the stairs today and am having a really hard time staying awake. It was getting late so Stan and I laid down some 3/4 inch plywood and screwed it down so that we could walk over it tonight.

While Kathleen and Stan were talking I just about fell asleep sitting on the steps, so I have a feeling that it is going to be an early to bed night for me. After helping Stan load his tools into his pickup, I went inside and took a nice long shower; it not only felt good, I was filthy from carrying the carpet and all the wood downstairs.

For dinner Kathleen made some spaghetti and topped it off with a salmon and herb wine sauce, I liked it, but Kathleen did not have any on her spaghetti, she just had butter on them. Well, I am tired enough that I think that I am just going to call it a day and say good night.

Sore Sunday

I got up about 0530 this morning, I really was not ready to get up, but I also knew that I would not be going back to sleep either. I made myself a bowl of cereal with a cut up banana, I just did not feel like oatmeal this morning and we were running a little low on bread so I did not want to use any for toast. After eating, I put my dishes into the dishwasher and then poured myself a cup of coffee and read the paper.

Kathleen still was not downstairs, so I went upstairs to see if she was going to go to church, she was still sleeping so I went back downstairs. After a while I checked again and she was still asleep, so I went back downstairs. Finally about 1230 I went back upstairs and she had just gotten up, she said that she slept for over eleven hours. I was not sure what time she had gone to bed last night so I had not wanted to wake her up.

We needed to head to Alyssa and Dan's as is was Zander's birthday and Alyssa was have in party for him at 1400; well Kathleen was not ready to go until 1400 and then she could not find her keys so we did not get out of the house until about 1430.

By the time we got there they were opening presents, so we got there just in time to give him our present. Then it was time for cake and goodies; I am sure that Alyssa will have lots of pictures and descriptions of what she came up with, so I will not try to cover it here. We left about 1700 and it was dark and rainy out so that it was hard to see going home.

We stopped for gas on the way home; it looks like gas prices are coming down some more which is a good thing. Tonight for dinner Kathleen heated up a can of Progresso chicken gumbo soup for me and she had a cup of Lipton's cream of chicken soup.

Well, I am pretty tired so I think that I will just say good night and call it a day.

Saturday's Soreness

I slept in until 0700 this morning as we did not get back home last night until around midnight. Alexis got sick after dinner and fell asleep while we were watching "Ratatouille"; luckily she had gotten her pj's on already.

I made an omelet this morning even though I did not have any mushrooms to put in it, so I put it on our shopping list. After breakfast, I cleaned my dishes and loaded up the dishwasher and started it up. Then I poured myself a cup of coffee and read the paper.

Kathleen had not gotten up yet so I went out to the garage to get some boxes for clearing out the upstairs hall way. While I was bringing in the second batch of boxes, Kathleen was up and talking on the phone to Tami, I guess that Alexis was felling better this morning, so that is good.

After Kathleen had fixed herself something to eat and eaten it we went upstairs and started on the two book cases and took all the books off and either boxed them up, bagged them for Goodwill or in a pile for one of the children.

After the bookshelves were bare, we started on the old computer desk, we had two old pc's there, and at least one of them still works, but is an older operating system. Then we cleared off the four file cabinets. We put the file cabinets into Kathleen's upstairs craft room and the computer desk into my fly tying room. But by now I can just barely get into the room.

The hall way is virtually cleared out; the step ladder that we use to get into the attic is there as well as the shop vac to vacuum up the debris that we have been creating with all the remodeling.

I think we had four or five bags of "stuff" for good will along with two boxes of "The World Book Encyclopedia" and about fifteen years worth of the "yearbook" and the "year in science". Now all that stuff is all on the internet, so paper encyclopedias are pretty much obsolete.

For dinner tonight, Kathleen heated up the rest of the left-over chicken from the other night and the stuffed baked potatoes that Tami had made for their class dinner last night. They were really good, baked potatoes that had the potato taken out and mixed with ham and then put back into the potato skin.

Right now I am so tired that I can hardly stand up, I think a nice warm shower is what I need. So before I fall asleep at the keyboard, I am going to say good night.

Friday's Finishing Faucets

Well today I got up and made my oatmeal, actually I put the water, raisins, flax seed and oats into a bowl last night and put it into the micro-wave so that all I would have to do this morning is nuke it, add a banana and some soy milk. I did this because Stan was coming over this morning to finish up the bathroom.

He got here about 0930 as he had to finish up something at the other house. So we installed the drain and the supply lines to the faucet and then tried it. There was a slight leak in the drain line, so we re-tightened it. So now we have a completely functional bathroom.

It is not really all done yet as we have to paint and put up the towel rack add the door knob and the heat vent cover, but most of those things we want to do after we paint. So Stan and I started tearing off the old paneling and the banister. We are going to put new dry wall up and a better quality one.

We kind of reached a point where Kathleen needs to make some decisions so Stan decided to take off as he had a couple things to do. We needed to stop early tonight as we are going to watch the girls for Aaron and Tami.

Kathleen is over at Andreas, we need some of the boxes that we brought over to her when she moved as we need to box up our books that are in the upstairs hall way so that we can rip the old carpeting out. She also took over the granite sealer so that Andrea can seal their granite on their kitchen and bathroom counters.

Well, it is getting close to the time to head off to The younger Roushes so I am going to call it a day and say good night to all.

Thursday'ss Thornes

I slept pretty well last night although I was up about 0630 again; I guess that is my new get up time. I use to be up before then when I worked, so I guess that I should not be too surprised to be doing it now.

This was my egg beater omelet morning, so trying to come up with a new or at least different variety I looked in the refrigerator and saw the salmon in cream sauce. So I decided that I would slice up a couple dinner rolls and pour on some of the salmon sauce on top of them and then the omelet on top of that. So I made my regular mushroom and onion omelet and while that was cooking I prepared the rolls and the salmon sauce in the micro-wave.

It was good! After I finished eating, I emptied the dishwasher, cleaned up the frying pan and then the stove and counters next to the stove. Then I grabbed some biscotti and poured myself a cup of coffee and the sat down at the kitchen table and read the paper.

Kathleen came down after I had read the paper and made herself something to eat and then went upstairs. I was taking the kitchen vegetable/fruit scraps out to my compost tumbler when I notice that I could see several blackberry plants growing close to the chain link fence in the back of the rose garden, so I got out my shovel and went over to the empty lot and spent about an hour digging them out.

They did a little digging into my arms and legs, one of the problems with wearing shorts and a tee shirt when working around plants that have nasty thorns. I was also in my rubberized garden sandals, so my feet got pretty muddy as well. So when I went inside, I had to spend about fifteen minutes cleaning up my legs and feet.

I saw the mailman drive by while I was out back so I got the mail, all junk mail, so it went into the recycling bag with the newspaper. By this time it was a little after noon, so I went upstairs to see if Kathleen was still planning on going to Home Depot to get the paint for the bathroom (walls, ceilings and woodwork), some new cans for the recessed lighting that we are going to replace the existing ones with plus add a couple more, and also a couple other odds and ends.

We finally were ready to leave, but it was almost 1400, so we stopped and had some lunch and then took off. It was after 1700 by the time we got back and I put things away, or at least someplace were we could get at them.

I started to watch Bill O'Reilly and then Hannity & Colmes; finally about 1830 I asked Kathleen if she were planning on doing dinner soon, so she came down and made some spaghetti for dinner.

Well, Stan should be here tomorrow morning to finish putting the pluming into the sink and maybe get started putting the new canned lights in. So I think that I will just end this for tonight and say my good nights now.

Watercloset Wednesday

I got up a little earlier this morning than I would have liked to, but I was pretty wide awake and probably would not have gotten any more sleep. I made myself some oatmeal for breakfast and after eating I washed the frying pan from last night and the rest of the dishes in the sink. Then I poured myself a cup of coffee and read the paper.

Kathleen came downstairs and fried herself a banana and put it on a couple rolls. The mail came so I went and got it. Not much there and nothing really important.

Jack came over with the last door for our long cabinet in the bathroom. He put that up and then also put the door back on that I had taken off so that we could caulk between the two cabinets. Then he readjusted the doors so that they lined up better.

A little while after Jack left, Stan showed up. We installed the toilet and adjusted the water level in the tank. Then we put the faucets and the drain on the sink and then put the sink onto the vanity top. Stan caulked between the sink and the tile and then the toilet between the toilet and the floor.

We did not hook up the water to the sink or the drain as Stan wanted to let everything set before so that we would not take a chance in moving the sink. Stan will not be back until Friday as he has to finish up the job that he has been working on this week. So at least we have the toilet working even if we do not have the sink usable.

Kathleen made some chicken, cut up the potatoes from last night and cooked some mixed vegetables for dinner tonight. Well, it has been long day and I am feeling it, so I think that I am just going to say good night.

Tired Time Tuesday

I got up this morning before I was ready, but I thought that Stan might be coming over this morning and I needed to be up, but he did not, so I kind of loafed around the house all day. He did call this afternoon and said that he would probably be over tomorrow afternoon to help put the toilet and sink in.

I made myself an omelet this morning and topped it with some left-over chili from last night. Then I loaded up the dishwasher and started it up. Then I poured myself a cup of coffee and read the paper. Kathleen came downstairs and made herself something to eat and I went and got the mail. Not a lot of anything there, I did get the credit union statement and so I got onto my computer and reconciled the accounts.

I made myself a salad and added some salmon on top of it, it was pretty good, but I was still hungry so I made a couple dinner rolls with Limburger cheese on them. I did not get much done the rest of the afternoon, in fact I dozed off a little bit.

For dinner tonight Kathleen boiled some red potatoes and made a cream sauce and added the rest of the salmon and some peas to put over the potatoes. I liked it, but Kathleen thought that the salmon was a little strong. I guess I will have it for the next couple of days for lunch.

Well, that about covers it for today, I think I will just say good night and try to get some sleep tonight.

Mild Monday

I must have been really tired last night as I slept in until almost 0800 this morning. After finishing my oatmeal, I made a pot of coffee, emptied the dishwasher and then poured a cup of coffee and read the paper. Kathleen made her way downstairs as I was reading the paper and made herself some breakfast.

I mentioned to her that we needed to go to Costco and pick up several items, so while I waited for her to get ready, I gathered up the laundry and washed a couple of loads and had another in the drier before she came downstairs ready to go. It was after noon before we got out the door, and here I had hoped that we could have gotten out of here about 1030 or 1100.

Before going to Costco, I needed to stop off at the credit union to deposit our kicker check from the state. I had planned on getting some cash out, as I had gone through most of what I had over the weekend, but the line was so long that I just made my deposit at the customer service desk and let it go at that. I think that 90% of the people were probably depositing their kicker checks as well.

Costco was really busy, it usually is this time of year, but we were able to get just about everything on my list. As usual, they stopped carrying a few of the items so I will have to get them else where. I am finding out that we are buying less at Costco now that we do not have anyone else living with up. We are better off buying less volume and smaller sizes because it takes up a lot less storage space.

We finally made it back home a little after 1600 and I put most of everything away and then went upstairs to change into my around the house shorts and tee shirt. I did not have lunch today as we grazed at Costco while we were there and I really did not need to eat much of anything else, although I did sample some of the goodies that we purchased at Costco.

After I had gotten down stairs, I turned on Fox news and settled down for a while. Then the buzzer went off on the drier so I took the clothes out of the drier, folded them and put them away. Then I did the same with the last load of clothes.

Kathleen heated up some chicken & cheese tamales and black bean & cheese taquitos that we had gotten at Trader Joe's a while back. Neither one of us felt that they were that great, which is unusual for things we have gotten at Trader Joe's.

I think that Stan will be back tomorrow so we should be getting close to installing the toilet and sink. We still need to paint the upstairs bathroom and then it should be pretty much done. Well, I am really tired, so I think that this will have to be it for tonight...good night.

Snow Showers Sunday

It was one of those mornings that just looked like it should be snowing, but it was not, at least not yet. We made it to church this morning and by the time we were ready to leave it had started snowing. Of course nothing was sticking and by the time we got home it had stopped.

After getting home I changed back into my shorts and tee shirt and took off the bandage that I had put on my knee so that it would not leak onto my pants. It did anyway, but at least I tried and it would have leaked more if I had not had the bandage on it.

Once I had the bandage off, I applied some more of the antibacterial ointment and after a few hours it started to look a little better, in fact it has not been oozing. I think having it exposed to the air has helped it dry up and form a new scab.

Finally about 1500 Kathleen decided that she was ready to apply the third coat of sealer to the grout. This time it only took about an hour, I guess that is due to the fact that it is not absorbing into the grout as much and also we are getting better at it.

After we cleaned up and I changed into my going out shorts and a clean tee shirt, we took off to see Andrea and John's new house. It had started to snow again, but this time it was even lighter and lasted less time than before. I use my new GPS to find it and it took us right up to their place. It took a little different route than I would have now that I know where it is, but it did a really good job of getting us there.

We helped watch Brandon and I put his crib back together again. I had taken it apart a couple days ago so it was still pretty fresh in my mind how everything fit together. John and one of his friends went out and got a couple pizzas from Flying Pie Pizzeria and they were really good.

We finally got to the point were we were all a little too tired to do much of anything and Kathleen and I left and got home about 2130. Well, I think it is time for me to say good night.

Sunshine Saturday

I must have really been tired last night, I do not even remember my head hitting the pillow and I slept through the night until about 0530 this morning. Once I got up I put Aaron's guitar wraps into the dryer and then made my Saturday morning omelet. While it was cooking I cleaned out several things out of the refrigerator that had spoiled and emptied the dishwasher.


After breakfast, I took the wraps out of the drier and folded them. Then I poured myself a fresh cup of coffee and read the paper. Andrea called and wanted to know if we wanted to come over today to see their new place. Kathleen was not up yet so I told her that we needed to put another coat of sealant on the grout and after that we might be able to get over there.


Kathleen got up and came downstairs around 1100 and it was after noon before we got to working on sealing the grout. After we finished sealing the grout, I went outside and did a little more trimming on the birds nest spruce.

Shortly after I finished that Aaron came over to pick up the wraps for the guitars. He also brought the finished guitars over so we got to see them and I helped him wrap them up. He was going to try to get them to FedEx to send them off today.


Andrea called back and said that they were going to be going to church in about an hour or so and since we had our Sunday School Christmas dinner tonight at 1800 we decided that it would not be a good idea to try to go over there today...maybe tomorrow.


We just got back from the dinner, it was fixed up really nicely and the food was good as well. I think that everyone had a really good time. It seemed much more relaxed than some of the ones that we have had in the past.


Well, to day was a nice sunny day and tonight is nice and clear, so tomorrow morning there ought to be a lot of frost on the windows. My knee is really bothering me and it is oozing so I think that I will call it a day and say good night!

Fatigued Friday

I slept in until 0730 this morning; I think that I was making up a little from my lack of sleep a couple of days ago. Since today was yard debris pick-up day when I got downstairs, I went out side to add some more to the can, that I had put up front last night, but to my surprise it had already been picked up.

So I went ahead and trimmed the Birds Nest Spruce as it was growing into the sidewalk leading up to the front porch. I am planning on taking it out eventually, but I wanted to trim it back until I got the opportunity and the energy to actually cut it out and dig out the roots.

After putting my tools away, I went into the house and made myself a pot of coffee and some oatmeal for breakfast. After breakfast I emptied the dishwasher and put in my breakfast bowl and silverware. Then I took the kitchen vegetable scraps and coffee grounds out to the compost tumbler. This was the first time in about a month that I have been able to use my right hand to turn the tumbler and I could feel the loss of strength in my right wrist.

For the last few days I have been keeping my splint off unless I went out somewhere and that was more of a reminder that it was not at full strength and also so that those who did not know would realize that my wrist was injured. It has felt pretty good not having it on although my wrists have been hurting a lot more these last few days. Part of it may also be due to the cool damp weather and some of it due to my using it more without the splint.

Anyway, after coming back inside and cleaning up, I read the paper at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee. Aaron came over to drop off some cloth for Kathleen to make some protective covers for his guitars to protect them in shipping and also for use as protective covers afterwards.

While he was still here Kathleen took her sewing machine to Montivilla Sewing Center to correct a problem that she was having and also to get a new software updated for it. Aaron took off just before 1100 as he had a dentist appointment to go to.

Kathleen came back and a little after noon and set up her machine again. Andrea had called earlier this morning wanting us to come over and help her pack/watch Brandon so I told Kathleen that we probably ought to do that because if we waited too long we would not be doing her much good.

I made myself a turkey and dill pickle sandwich and then we took off to help her pack as she and John are hoping to move tonight and tomorrow. I took apart Brandon's crib and then watched Brandon while Andrea and Kathleen packed up some of the kitchen items.

We left about 1530, so that we could miss most of the traffic, although we did run into enough the way it was. Andrea had put Brandon down for a nap before we left so she could pack by herself and did not need someone else to watch him.

I felt bad that I would not be able to help with the actual move, but I did not think it would do my wrist any good to do that and I stood a good chance of re-injuring it. I still have not seen the house, I guess now I will see it once the get moved in.

For dinner tonight we reheated our left-over dinner from Giuseppe's last night as we were both too tired to do much of anything else. We did not get to give the grout a second coat of sealer today, there just seemed to be too many urgent things that got in the way.

Right now Kathleen is busy finishing up Aaron's guitar sacks and I am trying to stay awake at my computer. Well with that said, I think that I will just say good night.