Sunny Sunday

After getting up this morning and making myself a bowl of cereal, I got dressed for church. Kathleen was still asleep so I just left without her. When I left our house the sun was shining, but by the time I got up the hill a little I could hardly see for all the fog.

The closer I got to church the foggier it got until I could barely see twenty feet in front of the car. I had turned the headlights on before I left the house and there were some cars that did not have their lights on and I could not see them until they were really close to me.

Kathleen was up when I got home, at least she was on her computer, I am not sure that she had made it downstairs as I had not seen any signs of her being downstairs...like the lights on or breakfast dishes in the sink.

After I went upstairs and changed my clothes I went back downstairs and read the comics and the paper. Then I made myself a sun dried tomato, basil & mozzarella Panini and the rest of the green beans from last night for lunch. Kathleen got dressed and took off to exchange some of the towels and bathroom rugs that Toni and Chucky had given her for Christmas.

I was going to go outside and work in the yard as it had turned out to be a rather nice day today, but yesterday I sliced the middle finger on my left hand and it was really stinging today. So since I could not really use my left hand and since my right thumb has been bothering me a lot lately, I decided that I would be better served in the long run to just stay indoors.

Kathleen came back and had not been able to exchange the towels as Toni did not have the receipt with her so she will have to go back another day. After she got back I sorted laundry and washed, dried, folded and put away the three loads of laundry that I had done. I also vacuumed the downstairs carpeting and washed the dishes from today’s use.

For dinner tonight Kathleen made some spicy chicken soup, it was really good. I added a little Caribbean Tabasco Sauce to mine, more to give it some color than anything else, but it was really spicy.

Well, that is about it for today, we are suppose to have a little rain tomorrow evening but the rest of the week is suppose to be clear and sunny. I think tonight will be an early to bed night, so I will just say good night.

Stable Saturday

When I got up this morning I poured myself a cup of coffee and read the paper. Then I made some hash brown potatoes and added some onion, mushroom and ham. When that got sufficiently browned I added some egg beaters and mad myself a nice omelet. While I was waiting for everything to cook, I made some toast, washed the dishes that were in the sink and emptied the dishwasher.

After cleaning up my breakfast dishes I took the kitchen vegetable scraps out to the composter and since it was reasonably nice outside I decided to cut up some butterfly bush that I had cut down last fall.

By the time I got done doing that it was 1230 so I went back inside and decided to install the double towel rack for the upstairs bathroom. Once I had that installed, Kathleen put some of our new towels on it and it really looks nice.

Then I went back downstairs and made myself a veggie burger with onion and melted cheddar on a couple slices of dark rye toast. I had not had these for a while and it really tasted good. I had been having them two or three times a week, but I have either not been having lunch or having some left-overs.

Since we were going to some friends for dinner tonight, I did not want to get into anything that would take too long or get me too dirty so I settled down and watched the Packer/Seahawk game although it was not much of a game even with the Packer's spotting the Seahawks 14 points in the first quarter.

Kathleen took off for Winco to pick up some fresh green beans as she was suppose to bring a vegetable to the dinner tonight. When she got back I shaved, showered and got dressed as we wanted to leave around 1700 to be there at 1730.

We had a really good time and of course the food was great as well. We finally left around 2045 and got home a little after 2100 that is why this is so late getting done tonight. Well that in a nut shell was my day; I think that I will turn in now, so good night!

Friday'sFussings

I slept in this morning until almost 0800, it felt kind of good and since it was raining outside I knew that I would not be able to do anything outside. Kathleen and I had planned on going to Contract Furnishings Mart to look at flooring and I had hoped that we could also make it to Lumber Liquidator's as well...more on that later.

Anyway, when I finally made it downstairs, I got the paper and heated up the rest of yesterday’s coffee in the micro-wave. Then I made another pot of coffee and mixed my oatmeal and flax seeds in a bowl and then read the paper. When I finished the paper I put the oatmeal into the micro-wave and poured myself a fresh cup of coffee.

The phone rang for Kathleen around 0900 so I went upstairs to see if she was awake yet, but she looked to still be asleep. When I was telling South Tabor Physicians office that she was still asleep she signaled that she was awake, so I gave her the phone.

After she finished she came downstairs and I reminded her about going to look at flooring and she said that she was still planning on it, so I went upstairs and changed my clothes and then went back downstairs.

She was still not ready at 1330 so I went in and reheated up the Trader Joe's Chicken Serenada that Kathleen did not eat Wednesday night. The about 1345 Aaron called; I talked to him for awhile, but I was in the middle of eating so I hung up and let he and Kathleen talk.

I went back upstairs about 1430 and she was still on the phone, so I changed back into my shorts and decided that since the place closed at 1700 it would be too late to go when she finally got ready. So rather than not get anything done today I decided that I would dust off the shelves in the new cabinets in the upstairs bathroom and start putting things away.

I managed to get all the shelves filled with the plastic shoe boxes that we bought to sort things into to put on the shelves. The just fit sideways so we labeled them according to what went in them. We have one for cold medications, muscle pain, pain reliever (aspirin,Tylenol, etc.), my shaving stuff, tooth care (floss, tooth paste, extra toothbrushes, etc.).

Once we had that cabinet full we put our towels into the other one. This replace the existing cabinet we had but is totally new. With all the things I put into the cabinets, I can now get into my dresser without having to move a stack of plastic boxes and bins. I am down to just one stack where before there were four...progress!

For dinner tonight Kathleen stir fried some left-over ham, a chicken breast that she thawed last night and some potatoes. Pretty good tasting, I added some Lea & Perrins to mine and Kathleen just poured on the salt for hers.

Well, that just about covers it for today, I doubt that we will get to look at flooring tomorrow as we have a dinner for eight tomorrow night at 1730, so unless we get a real early start we will not have the time to do it. This is one reason I thought that it would be better for Stan not to plan on working here next week.

Time to call it a day...good night!

Texturizing Thursday

This morning Stan did not get here as early as I thought that he might, so I went out to my wood pile and pulled nails. I managed to get all the nails pulled out of the flooring and stacked it in neat piles. Note to children: if you want so nice dry fire wood/kindling let me know and you can pick some up.

Stan got here after I had gone back in the house and cleaned up so it must have been after 10000. I was just about ready to call him and let him know that I would be going with Kathleen to her sleep doctor's appointment that she had at 1100 across town, but it was a good thing that I stayed here and helped Stan.

When he got here Stan sanded the mud he put on yesterday and then I helped him put paper in the recessed lighting cans and tape up the outlets and switches but then when he was spraying on the texture I stayed downstairs. After a while I made myself a toasted ham and cheese sandwich for lunch.

Kathleen called around 1400 and said that she had been looking at flooring but was coming home. She got back her in less than a half hour because she left before the traffic started building up from rush hour, (more like three or four hours) which would have started if she had waited much longer.

Since Stan really could not do much until Kathleen decides what kind of flooring she wants I told Stan that if he had some other jobs that he needed to get going on now would be a good time. So probably for the next week or so Kathleen and I will need to pick out flooring and at least prime the ceiling and walls.

Kathleen's headache has gotten worse so she heated up a can of beef and barley soup but since we split it I also heated up some left over ham and yams and also made myself another toasted ham and cheese sandwich. If nothing else I am getting the refrigerator cleaned out.

Well, this is about it from me tonight. Before dinner I had fallen asleep in my easy chair, so I know that I have reached my limit as far as energy level goes. So with that said I say good night to all.

Wall Street Wednesday

I emptied the dishwasher the first thing when I got up this morning and then read the paper while I let my oatmeal soak in the water before I nuked it. After I finished my first cup of coffee I made a new pot and then put my oatmeal in the micro-wave.

Kathleen got up after I had finished eating and I reminded her that we had to be over in Tigard to meet with our financial advisors at 1300. While I was waiting for her to get ready I striped the bed and loaded up the washer. I wanted to leave early as I wanted to do some running around in Troutdale and Fairview before we left.

Last Friday I had paid for some knee pads and they were not in the bag when we got home and we had not had the opportunity to get back since. I also wanted to stop at Lowe's and pick up a new random orbital sander. The one Kathleen bought a few years ago is not made any longer and we needed a new one.

We finished up around noon so we just took off for Tigard. We got to our advisors about twenty minutes early so we just took a seat. But we only had to sit about five minutes and our adviser called us. We spent a couple hours going over our portfolio and agreed on making a couple changes to pick up a couple more aggressive holdings to try and increase our performance.

After finishing up there we went to Trader Joe's in Beaverton and picked up a few things that we needed. After we finished there we stopped at Scandia Imports to pick up a new cheese knife as the handle is coming off our old one.

We left there about 1730 and hit the rush hour traffic. We finally got home about 1830 and I took all of our purchases into the house. Then I went upstairs and changed clothes and came back downstairs and put the bed linens in the dryer.

Kathleen heated up some of Trader Joe's Chicken Serenada. It is a couple chicken breasts in a Coca Caribe Sauce with Poblano peppers. She also nuked a couple potatoes. I liked it although Kathleen did not in fact she only ate a few bits.

It looks like I will be having it for lunch one of these days. After putting my dishes into the dishwasher I took out the linens and made the bed.

Well I need to mask off the window and the attic fan tonight so that Stan will not have to tomorrow morning. So I guess that I will call it a day and go do that before I get too tired. Good night for now!

Tuesday's Tumbling

This morning I made myself a ham, mushroom and onion omelet, I would have done it a little differently if H had know that Stan would not get here until about 0945. I thought that he might get here as early as he did yesterday, so I just did something quickly.

Anyway once Stan got here he sanded and re-mudded the ceiling and walls so while he was doing that I gathered up, shook out, washed, dried and put down three loads of throw rugs from downstairs. While those things were in the washer and drier, I swept and mopped the kitchen, bathroom and laundry room floors. I also swept the stairs after he finished sanding and then vacuumed the downstairs.

He finished mudding around 1330 and Kathleen had an appointment with her Endocrinologist at 1400. I would have gone, but I needed to get cleaned up and that would take too much time, so Stan and I hooked up the flexible vent from the upstairs bathroom fan to the vent in the roof so that the moisture will be able to vent to the outside.

After we finished that Stan took off, so it was a short day for him as it was only about 1430. Tomorrow Kathleen and I have our quarterly meeting with our financial advisors so Stan will not be coming over.

Then Thursday he will texturize the ceiling and walls of the hall upstairs and the stairwell and then Kathleen and I will need to paint the ceiling and walls. After that is done we will have Stan come back to put down the flooring. I am also going to try and sand down the stairs and see if I can get most of the paint off them rather than replace them.

There is at least one that will need replacing and maybe up to three, but the stairs run from about $15.00 to $25.00 per step so if I can save replacing all but three of them that would be a $150.00 to $250.00 savings. So for that reason I though it might be worth a try and all I would loose would be a little time and right now my time is really cheap!

For dinner tonight Kathleen reheated the scalloped potatoes from last night and also heated up some peas. The scalloped potatoes tasted better tonight than last night, I think it was all the flavors having a chance to blend together and also the liquid was all absorbed into the potatoes.

Fortunately the only tumbling done today was done by the drier so that is a good thing. My wrist and thumb feels better today as I did not do anything that would cause them to hurt. I guess that is my day, a good night is now in order.

Monday's Miracle

This morning Stan got here about 0845 he started sanding on the mud that he had put up last week; while he was doing that I went outside and pulled nails from some of the flooring. I am getting the pile down so that now I have more boards without nails than boards with nails in them.

After a while I decided to stop because I could feel my back tighten up and my thumb had been bothering me the whole time. It feels like and electrical shock going the whole length of my right thumb. This is just something that has started since I fractured my wrist a couple months ago, and it is really starting to bother me.

I have been thinking that I need to go see my doctor about it but I keep hoping that it will stop but no such luck. Today Kathleen said that I need to go see the doctor about it so I guess that I will have to break down and see the doctor.

After going back inside I gathered up the throw rugs from upstairs and loaded them into the washer and then after a while into the drier. It was getting to be around 1230 so I heated up the ham and lentil soup and had that for lunch. After finishing lunch I loaded up the dishwasher and started it up.

By this time Stan had finished sanding and re-mudding the ceiling and walls, so we installed a plug next to Kathleen's side of the bed. Stan went up in the attic and fed the wire down to me and then I hooked up the outlet and put the cover on it. While I was doing that Stan connected the wire to a junction box in the attic.

There was still a little time left so Stan cut the holes for the two remaining recessed lights and installed them. So not we have plenty of light in the hallway. One of the recessed lights that we installed to day was over the stairwell and it is on a separate switch so that we can just turn on the stairwell light and not have the six other lights in the hallway on.

The stairwell light will also turn on the light directly over the stairs, but we have not installed the light fixture yet. We have it but we want to add texture the walls and ceiling before putting it up. Stan finished around 1730 and I helped him load up his truck.

Kathleen made some scalloped potatoes for dinner using some of the left-over ham from last week. There is still enough left-over for another meal although we finished more than half of it tonight.
Tami sent an e-mail to us saying that Becca asked Jesus into her heart today, so that was their miracle for day. So that made today a great day for us. Well on that note I think that I will just say good night!

Sleepy and Sick Sunday

I got up and got ready for church this morning but when I got ready to leave Kathleen was still asleep so I left with out her. I felt pretty good and Dr Laney spoke this morning in church and then Dr Allen spoke in Sunday School. About halfway though Sunday School I started to develop a nasty headache so I left when there was a break in the action.

It was one of those headaches that just keep getting worse the longer they go on, so I took some meds for my sinuses and it got to feeling a little better. My eyes got to watering and I started to get really tired. Andrea came over for a while with Brandon, but I felt so bad that I did not really enjoy their visit.

Andrea wanted Kathleen to trim a little off her hair, just enough to make it a little more even. Kathleen had gotten up by the time I got home from church but she had not gotten dressed until when Andrea and Brandon got here.

After they left, I sat down in my chair and fell asleep until around 1900 when Kathleen woke me up to eat dinner. We had ham and lentil soup that we had frozen from one night last week. We froze several quart freezer bags of it so we still will have plenty for some other meals.

When we froze it, it was pretty concentrated, so when we unfreeze it we have to add more liquid to it, so that makes it go even further. Hot soup is always something that tastes good on a cold day or evening. We still had about another bowl left-over from tonight, so maybe I will have it for lunch in the next day to two.

Well, I did not get much of anything done today, I do feel better now, so hopefully tomorrow I will be back to "normal" or at least my lately normal. Good night for now!

Spouses Sleepy Saturday

I got up around 0630 this morning and made myself an egg beater omelet, a slice of ham, some hash browns and a couple slices of cranberry walnut toast. Then I read the paper, emptied the dishwasher and washed the pots and pans from last night.

I talked to Mom and Sue for about an hour this morning; it was afternoon back there and they were surprised that Kathleen was still sleeping, but I told them that she is usually either still asleep or just getting up around this time.

We bought a new mailbox yesterday so I put it up; it is much larger and easier to open than our old one. We had had it since we moved in here and while it was pretty good size the way it worked magazines and things would usually get caught up and torn, so I have wanted to get a different one for a long time. The new one also has the capability to be locked, so that if we are going to be gone for a while we can just leave the mail in it.

Then I loaded up the SUV with all the things that we needed to take back to Home Depot; it pretty much filled up the back end. With this load of things we will have pretty much cleaned out the house of all the extra things from the remodel. Now we even have some room to move around in the living room.

Andrea called and wanted Kathleen to trim her hair for her, and she was a little surprise that Kathleen was still asleep. So since Kathleen was still not up so I went back outside and picked up fir cones and small branches that had come down in the wind last night.

After getting back into the house, I went upstairs to check to see if Kathleen was up yet but she was still asleep. Since it was about 1230 I finished the other half of the hamburger and fries from last night and added some water to the lentil soup for my lunch.

I did not want to do anything that would make any noise because I did not want to wake Kathleen up before she was ready to get up so I decided that I would watch one of the bowl games, I do not even know which one it was.

Andrea called again and was surprised that Kathleen was still not up and it was 1330. Finally around 1340 she came down stairs so I told her that Andrea wanted her to call when she got up, so she did.

After getting something to eat and getting dressed she was ready to go around 1530. We returned all of our stuff and then did some shopping. I saw Stan and his wife doing some shopping as well; and finally got out of there around 1750. We needed to get to Fred Meyer as Kathleen needed to drop off and pick up some prescriptions; in all there were four prescriptions. Since Kathleen was not feeling well, she wanted to pick up
some frozen food for dinner.

Well, that is about it for today; I think I will just say good night and call it a day!

Friday Fun

Since Stan was not coming over today, I took my time with breakfast. I read the paper and emptied the dishwasher. Kathleen had a nurse practitioner appointment today at 1015 so she was up a little early. After she left, I went outside and did some pruning on the arborvitaes I filled two cans. This week I get to use two cans as they did not pick up today due to the New Years holiday.

They also are changing so that our yard debris is now picked up on Tuesday along with the recycling and garbage, so I only have one day to remember to bring the cans and bins to the front.

Kathleen got back a little after noon and I loaded up the SUV with the returns for Lowe's and Bed Bath and Beyond and then waited for her to be ready to leave. Well I fell asleep in my chair waiting and woke up about 1445 when she decided that she was ready.

Our first stop was Lowe's; after we took care of the returns; we shopped around a little until almost 1700. Then we stopped by Harbor Freight to get a couple items that were on sail. Since it had gotten so late we stopped by Burgerville and got a couple hamburgers, Yukon fries and shakes.

Once we had satisfied our hunger we were on our way to Bed Bath and Beyond. There again we did some shopping and what we bought was less than what we brought back so we wound up getting a credit on my American Express card.

We finally made it back home about 2000 and after I unloaded the SUV I changed my clothes and put some of the things away. Well, that was my day; it was really nice not to have been working on the house today. The sun came out for a while, so I was able to go out and do a little yard work, not much because the ground was just like a sponge but a little just enough to satisfy my need to do yard work for a while.

Since I cannot think of anything else to say, I am just going to close with a good night.

Taking Time Thursday

I had a real brown egg for the first time in a couple months this morning. Usually I have egg beaters or Kathleen's egg whites for breakfast, but this morning I did not have enough egg beaters thawed out and Kathleen did not have any egg whites in the refrigerator so I finished the last egg in the older dozen egg cartons.

Stan got here a little after 0900 and left around noon; he finished taping and mudding the upstairs, so now everything is taped and mudded and we will let it set until Tuesday when Stan will sand and reapply more mud.

While Stan was working upstairs I went outside and pulled nails from the scrap lumber that we took out of the upstairs. I only stayed out there a little over an hour as it was cold and the cabinet that I was using was really low and my back was starting to hurt. Once I got inside and moved around a little my back started to feel better.

Then after Stan left I sanded the old patch work from twenty years ago. It is so much brighter up there now that one can really see how uneven it was. I did not do that much more than an hour as my wrists were still not what I would like as far as strength goes.

Most of the rest of the afternoon I spent reading magazines and looking through catalogs that have come in the last few days. One day I got nine catalogs or magazines. I was hoping that we could return some of the things that need to go back to Home Depot and Lowe's, but Kathleen was too tired. Maybe tomorrow!

For dinner Kathleen made some potatoes, ham and yams, really good stuff. Kathleen even finished all of hers so I did not get any extra tonight. There was some ham and yams left over, but I thought that it would make a lunch some day, so I just left it.

Well, I am starting to cough pretty good from the dust from the sanding that I did this afternoon. I cannot think of anything else to say so I am just going to say good night!

What Day is this Wednesday

All day today I have felt like this was a Monday, I knew that it was not, but since we met with out Sunday School class for five or so hours yesterday it seemed like Sunday. This morning, I read the paper, emptied the dishwasher and then made myself breakfast.

Stan got here about 0900 and we started moving the things off the front porch so that we could get to the dry wall. Once we were able to get to the dry wall we move it upstairs so that we could work in a dry environment.

To make a really long day a little shorter, we now have dry wall on the whole hall, landing area and stairways. This is the first time since we have lived here that that has been the case. Up until now there haw been a mix-match of drywall, plywood and paneling.

After getting the drywall all put up Stan started taping and mudding it, but it got pretty late, so he decided that he would come back in the morning to finish taping and mudding it. He was going to work at his parents place, but he wanted to get this done so that the mud could dry and then next week he could sand and re-mud it.

Kathleen made some bean soup with ham hocks for dinner tonight. I started smelling it while upstairs working and could hardly wait until we stopped so that I could enjoy it. I really like soups and stews in the winter time, they kink of warm ones innards.

Aaron and the girls came over after dinner while Tami was at a meeting at church and they stayed for about an hour and a half. The girls wanted to see our new bathroom and hallway. After looking at it they came downstairs and colored and drew for a while until Tami called and said that she was home.

Well that is about it for today, it has been a long day and I am rather tired, so good night!

Happy New Year - 2008

Well I did not make it to welcome in the new year, I fell asleep in my chair about 2045 and when I woke up I brushed my teeth and went to bed and slept until a little after 0700. After reading the paper and eating breakfast, I emptied the dishwasher and then added the breakfast dishes and what did not fit in last night when I washed them.

Then I took a couple of things upstairs that Kathleen had left in the kitchen last night and saw that she was up and on her computer, so I gathered the trash from upstairs and added it to the bag in the kitchen and took it outside and brought the can up toward the front.

Then I went back upstairs and finished cleaning off the surfaces that we are going to put the drywall on tomorrow and then swept up the mess. After getting the bigger pieces I ran the shop vac over the plywood to try to get as much of the drywall dust and sawdust up as possible. Once I had the upstairs swept, I ran the shop vac on the stairs as far as I could reach from the top of the stairs.

Then I went downstairs and got my vacuum and swept the stairs from where I had left off all the way down to the first floor. After the stairs were reasonably clean I vacuumed the downstairs. It is amazing how much construction dust there is around the house. I think that I have been vacuuming once or twice a day for the last month or so.

After I finished cleaning, I went back upstairs and put the door knob on the bathroom door. I was going to do that several weeks ago but Kathleen said not to as she was going to paint the door. The yesterday she asked me to put it on. I was too tired last night to do it so this morning after she was up and I had cleaned what I could I did it.

Then I went back down and went through all the receipts for Home Depot that I had sorted through last night and separated the items into 9ndividual bags or boxes so that when we took them back it would be easier to go through the returns desk.

By the time I finished I was time to go upstairs and change my clothes and get ready to go to our classes New Years Day gathering. We got there about fifteen minutes late and once we got there they prayed and then we ate. So much food and so little time...I tried watching what I ate, but every once in a while I put some in my mouth as I was watching the game on TV.

There were around fifty or so people there or a good portion of our class. I probably spent more time talking to people today than I had in a long time. It was good getting to know some of the folks that I had not known so well. Even our former pastor and his wife came. They were in town visiting so they stopped in for a couple hours and it was nice to see them again.

We got there about 1215 and left about 1715 and by the time we got home I was glad to be able to change into my shorts and tee shirt their house was a little warm for me. Kathleen's headache was really bothering her so she was anxious to get home as well; usually I am ready to leave and she wants to stay, but this time we both were ready to leave.

Well, other than eating I did not get a lot done, but I did get a few small items accomplished and checked off my list. Well, that was my day; I hope that you all were able to enjoy yourselves and the new year. It was a little chilly here today but clear, so it was nice. Tomorrow it is suppose to turn wet again, so it was nice while it lasted.

Good night and I hope that you have a great New Year!

New Years Eve 2007

Stan needed to stop by Home Depot this morning so I knew that he would not be here too early, so I poured myself a cup of coffee and read the paper before I made my oatmeal because I thought that by eating later I would not be quite as hungry by the time I got dinner. Usually when Stan is working I do not get to eat lunch so I try to eat a little later and a little more.

While eating breakfast I notice about forty or fifty robins eating the berries in the hedge along the east side of the house. They kind of took turns eating berries and then flying to one of the walnut trees in the front yard. There were also about fifty starlings sitting on the power lines across the street.

While waiting for Stan I shook out the kitchen rugs, swept, mopped the floor and then vacuumed the downstairs. I still had a lot of time so I went upstairs and swept the floor to pick up the dry wall dust so that it would not be tracked throughout the house.

Then I gathered up the trash from all the trash baskets, took out the trash and moved the garbage can toward the front of the house. Then I took the vegetable scraps out to the compost tumbler and turned in to stir up the compost.

Then I put all of the items for returning to the different stores by the front door so that when we got ready it would be easier to take out to Kathleen's SUV.

The mail came, so I gathered it up and opened it up; there was not much of anything important there. I did get my Orvis fly fishing catalog, so I browsed through it.

Stan called around 1045 and said that he could not find one of the things that he needed; a spindle post for the end of the half wall at the top of the stairs. But he did not get here until about 1300

When he got here we set up his portable table saw and cut a couple of the boards for the patch job that we were doing around the vent pipe. We also raised the height of the half wall by adding another 2x4 on top of the existing one and shimming it to make the top level. Then we took out the old end post and put in a new 4x4 one that Kathleen ran and got for us at Home Depot.

It is a good thing that it is only a couple miles away, it is even closer as the crow flies, but unfortunately we cannot travel that way.

So by the time we finished all that it was 1800 so we rapped everything up and I helped Stan load up his pickup. Tomorrow we will not work, but attend or Sunday School class gathering. Stan will then do the drywall Wednesday and maybe even do some taping and mudding.

He needs to take Thursday and Friday off to do some work around his parents place so we will not be doing anything else until the seventh of January. Is it really January 2008 already, I have no idea where 2007 got to but sure has gone.

Tonight Kathleen made some sour cream biscuits and reheated up the chicken noodle soup that she made the other night. There is still a little left, not enough for a regular meal, but maybe enough for me to have it with something else one of these days.

Well, I am tired and I am not sure if I will stay up to welcome in the new year, not that I usually do, but Kathleen usually would like me to. With that said, I am going to put a close to this years blogging and say have a health and Happy New Year!

Such a Strange Sunday

I did not get up until 0730 this morning so I had to hurry up so that I could bet ready for church and Sunday School this morning. Kathleen was still asleep when I left so I did not try to wake her up as I knew that she needed to get some extra sleep.

I got there a little early so it was nice to be there before the service actually started. This was only the second time this month that I have been well enough to make it, I have either been really tired or my sinuses had been over active. Anyway it was good to be out of the house and seeing some of the people that I usually see at least weekly.

Kathleen was up when I got home, although she was still in her night clothes. I had taken her SUV as it was blocking the driveway and I did not want to take the time to jockey the vehicles around. When I got home I was glad that I had as my garage door is not working well and it was pouring down rain when I got home.

Later this afternoon it would snow/sleet for a while, just enough to get the ground and street coated white, we even had a thunder and lightning store to go along with it, and then right after that the sun came out and shone as brightly as it has in a while.

After changing my clothes I went downstairs and fixed myself a veggie burger and a "hot link" on a bun and then I went into the living room and read the comics and paper. After recycling them I went through our receipts to try and find the items that we are going to take back to Home Depot and Lowe's that we did not use when we remodeled the upstairs bathroom.

Before I could finish doing that, (we have a lot of things and receipts) Kathleen called me for dinner. She had fixed a ham, boiled potatoes and lima beans. There is a lot of ham left over for several more meals and enough potatoes for another meal.

Well it was good to get out today, I did not get anything done today except go through the receipts, I had hoped to take those things back today, but I guess that will have to wait until I am able to sort out all the stuff and receipts. So I guess that this is the time I say good night.

Saturdays' Shopping

Since I was not going to be working on the house today I thought that I could sleep in...nice thought. My body clock told me it was time to get up at a little after 0600. I guess I have had too many years of getting up early to be able to sleep in now.

Anyway, I poured myself a cup of coffee and read the paper, and after I finished reading I made myself an egg beater omelet and some toast. After eating I loaded up the dishwasher and started it up, and then I poured myself another cup of coffee and washed the pots, pans and other things that I like to hand wash.

Then I went into the living room and listed all the items that we were donating to Goodwill. We had over one hundred and fifty books, of course that included a set of World Book Encyclopedia with fifteen years worth of yearly updates and another fifteen of science year in review. There were also about one hundred paperbacks, many from the children that they no longer wanted.

Then I went upstairs to get Kathleen's SUV keys so that I could load them all into the back of it. She was up and came downstairs with me and took a warm plate out of the dishwasher and commented on how nice and warm it was...they had just finished drying.

The mail came after I had gone back in and washed my hands so I went out and got it. I was surprised to see that the battery that I had ordered Christmas Eve for my Palm T5 had arrived already. So I got my PDA, (Personal Data Assistant) out and took the back off, unsoldered the old and replaced it with the new battery. The battery was a little expensive, but it was a whole lot cheaper than buying a new PDA.

After I finished putting it back together I checked it out and the PDA now works better than it has in several years. I guess that the battery had been going bad for about two years and it finally would not hold a charge at all, hence the need for a new battery.

They make the PDA's so that one is not suppose to be able to work on it, but after doing some research online, I found some information on people doing it and then did a Google search to see if I could find someplace that actually sold the battery for mine.

After looking at several after market ones, I chose the one that had the largest MAh(holds a charge longer), and while it was not the cheapest it was the one that was suppose to have the longest battery life and it had a warrantee for a year.


Finally after it got to be after 1500 I went upstairs and persuaded Kathleen that she needed to get dressed so that we could drop the stuff off at Goodwill and then go to Winco for groceries. I would have gone to Goodwill myself, but they are in the same parking lot across from one another so it seemed a little ridiculous to make two trips.

While we were there we got some fruit to make a salad for our Sunday School annual New Years Day get-together. We also picked up some brots as I thought they would be a good thing to have for a quick lunch during the week.

So when we got home I brought the groceries into the house and then helped Kathleen put them away. Then I went upstairs and changed back into my comfortable shorts and tee shirt. Little did I know when I bought the brots that we would be having them for dinner tonight, or at least I did, Kathleen did not want any so she just micro-waved a couple for me.

Well, we finally got some of the mess out of the living room, now maybe tomorrow we can take some of the unused remodeling things back to Home Depot and Lowe's. I had gotten so that there was just a pathway from the front door through the living room, it is not much better yet, but at least there is about twice as much room to walk.

I think that is just about it for today, I did not get as much done as I would have liked to, but I did get two things done that needed doing. So I think I will bid everyone a good night!

Friday's Funnies

After getting up this morning I poured myself a cup of yesterday’s coffee and then made a fresh pot. While it was brewing I emptied the dishwasher and washed the pots and pans. The coffee finished about the same time that I did, so I poured myself a cup of fresh coffee mixed my oatmeal with raisins and flax seed and let it sit as I sat down and read the paper.

After finishing the paper I put the oatmeal into the micro-wave and swept the kitchen floor. Kathleen came downstairs just after I finished eating and then went back upstairs. I had spilled a couple flax seeds on the floor, so I swept it again and was surprised at the amount of "stuff" that I swept up.

Stan said that he would not be here until 09300 or 1000, so I went outside and tapped down some of the mud that Stan's truck makes in the side lawn where he parks while working on the house. Then I rearranged the lumber on the front porch so that we could get to the dry wall as that is what I thought we would be doing today.

Then I got back inside I vacuumed the downstairs and then read the mail. It had gotten to be about 1145, so I decided that I would call Stan to check on when he was coming. As the phone was ringing, he drove up. So I went out and helped him unload his tools from his pick-up.

We went upstairs to finish some of the wiring that we needed to do before we put up the dry wall, and it took until about 1530 to finish up. Then we took apart the half wall at the top of the stairs; it had been mostly taken apart before and about 90% of it was plywood, so we just took out the rest so that we could have a smoother look to it.

Then we were trying to decide what we wanted to do with it, we finally decided that we would first shim it up to make it level and then we are going to replace the rectangular post at the end with one that is square at the top and bottom and has a swirl in the middle. We are also going to build a box around the vent pipe that goes up at the bathroom wall.

By the time we finished that Stan had just enough time to add another coat of mud to the patches that he put in yesterday. As we were taking Stan's tools downstairs some friends of our from our Sunday School class dropped by, so Kathleen showed them around the upstairs so that they could see what we were doing.

The used both Stan and Jack to redo their kitchen, in fact the reason that neither of them could start any earlier is that they were both working at their house. So Monday Stan will stop by Home Depot and pick up the lumber that we will need to redo the half wall and box around the vent pipe. Then hopefully we will be able to start putting up the dry wall it finish the upstairs.

We are also going to replace all the doors with new ones, we already replace the bathroom door and so when we are all done we will have five new matching doors. Before we had a couple different style and different colored doors.

When we did the remodeling twenty years ago we put up new doors on two of the rooms, but the other doors we left as they were, so it never really looked like it was planned that way. We also will be putting up new molding, the molding was the same as the doors and a couple of them did not have molding, so it has never looked finished.

Also when we redid the roof line the patch job we did on the ceiling dry wall did not blend as well as it should, so Stan will try to blend it a little better. When we did it neither Kathleen nor I had any real experience with it and we did the best we knew how at the time, but now some twenty years later we know how it should look.

Kathleen made some steak and used the rest of the boiled red potatoes from Christmas eve dinner and also heated up some peas for dinner tonight. I think that we have just about used up all the left-overs from the refrigerator with the exception of the chicken soup.

Well, it has been a short week, I am feeling better than I did a week ago, at least my sinuses are not bothering me as much, my wrist has been hurting a little more, but I have been using it a lot this week.


I think that it is time for me to say my good nights and call it a day.

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!