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!

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.

Thursday's Tiles

Well, this morning I was awake by 0430 and could not get back to sleep, so I just got up. I think it was from the late nap that I took yesterday, now I am ready to crash again. Oh well, now for today’s tail.

Since I was up so early I read the paper when it got here and then made a pot of coffee and started my omelet. Kathleen came downstairs and made herself some English muffins. The mail came as I was clearing the breakfast dishes and putting them into the dishwasher. I went through the mail at the kitchen table but there really was not much there.

After recycling the paper and the mail, I put on my work jeans and went up into the attic to see if I could the light switch wiring in the north bedroom. I disconnected the wire to the light and then found where the switch came from. I noticed some very creative wiring, and was able to eliminate a junction box and abut ten or twelve feet of wire.

Once I had cleaned up that mess, I connected the wires up the way they should have been and then looked down at the switch, which was on but the lights were still not on. I had to climb down and take the switch plate off and then remove the switch from the box to see what color the wires were and to which side of the switch they were connected to.

After seeing how they were connected, I went back upstairs and rewired the junction box so that the switch would work...and surprise, surprise...it did. As I was going back to the entry hatch, the overhead light went out, so I had Kathleen check to see what else was out.

She told me, so I traced that wire to another junction box and noticed that one of the wire nuts was not tight. I tightened it and the overhead light came on and so did the light plugged into the outlet that was out before. I made my way down the hatch before anything else went out.

The wiring is so messed up, that every time I have had to fix one thing, it not only takes me five times as long as it should, but I have to fix two or three other things in the process. I am not sure what is in worse shape, the wiring or the plumbing! Both are in really sad shape. I have fixed several things, but I almost need to replace both the plumbing and the wiring in most of the house.

It only took me from 1030 until 1130 to fix the wiring this morning, much quicker than yesterday. After cleaning up I went downstairs to sit down and relax, but that only lasted a short time. I thought I had better ask Kathleen when she was planning on sealing the grout. We could have gotten the toilet and the sink put in today, but we needed to have had the grouting done already.

When I got upstairs she was in the bathroom contemplating doing the grout. So I got a bucket of warm water and she cut up a couple sponges. We finished about 1630. I went downstairs and promptly fell asleep in my easy chair, I probably still would be sleeping except Toni called and wanted to know if we had left yet for Giuseppe's, a nice Italian restaurant.

We had not, so I made it upstairs and changed into my good jean shorts and off we went. Toni, Andrea and Brandon were already there, so we joined them. Chucky was coming from work and would join us after a while. Dinner was good, but I was really tired from being up so early.

We finally got home about 1730 and I am ready to crash, as soon as I finish this, I think I will call it a day. I think I probably wrote enough for one day, so I am just going to say good night.

Wednesdday's Wirings

Well, where do I begin? After breakfast and emptying the dishwasher, I read the paper and made myself a pot of coffee. After the paper I started to clean off the counter and the stove top. I had noticed some ants, and thought that I would make it less attractive for them by scrubbing everything and getting rid of anything that might attract them.

I heard the mail come, so I got it and opened it, not much there except a couple sales fliers. I took something upstairs, and Kathleen was up so I told her about the ants and she came down stairs to look.

While she was there she made herself some breakfast, so I told her that when she got done I would need her to shut off the circuit breaker so that I could work on the wiring in the attic. When I went up there, I thought that it would probably be about a half hour job.

I finally tracked down the wire, but it seemed to be hot at one end and nothing at the other, so I used my tester to determine where the current stopped. I had hoped that it was in a connection somewhere, but it was the wire.

So I went back down and got my box of wire and replace the wire that was bad. Well that fixed the wire and the lights that were not working before. So I gathered everything up and climbed back down the ladder. Then when I went to turn off the light in the bedroom where the hatch to the attic was it would not go off...so back up to the attic again.

I traced where the wire was, and it was loose, so I reconnected it and asked Kathleen to turn it off, again it did not go off. I wiggled the wire at the light and I could see the light go off and on downstairs, so I went back down and took the light fixture apart and there was a loose wire, so I rerouted it and reconnected it. That still did not fix it, so I took the switch out and replaced it, but again it still stays on all the time.

I had been up in the attic for about three and a half hours and my body was really aching, so I decided that I would just leave it on for now and go back up into the attic tomorrow. The attic is so full of wires that either go nowhere or are inter connected. I have wanted to redo it all for a long time and it looks like I am getting my chance to do at least a few of them.

While I was up in the attic earlier, I had rewired a wire and eliminated a connection box and a couple wires that went no where. There must be yards of wire that just wind around, I eliminated about twenty feet of wire earlier and there is two or three times that much more that I could eliminate when I get the energy.

I was really exhausted and tire by the time I finally got out of my clothes and into my shorts and tee shirt. Kathleen made me a couple salmon, onion and lettuce sandwiches and when I finished them I went upstairs and took a nap from about 1600 until 1945. Kathleen is now heating up some beef stew for dinner, I am still so tired and sore that I did not make it to tonight’s gathering with the guys.

Well, my wrists are really hurting and every so often they freeze up on me, so I think that I am just going to say good night and call it a day.

Tuesday's Turnaround

"the water had receded from the earth". I think that this verse is appropriate for us today, as after three straight days of steady rain, over three inches, this morning when I got up it was not raining. Our back yard was beginning to look like a swamp and from the living room looking out toward the street; it looked like we had lake front property.

Kathleen got up before 0800 this morning, and made herself breakfast; I was still reading the paper, so I made myself an omelet when I got done. Afterwards, I emptied the dishwasher and then did the dishes in the sink.

As I was finishing up it started to downpour, but it only lasted for about twenty minutes or so. After it stopped I went outside and picked up some fir branches and cones, but for as stormy as it was suppose to be there was really very little that had fallen. Then I got out my hoe and re-trenched some of my water runoff ditches, in the summer time they are where the grass and garden meet and I call it edging.

While doing it I discovered that a root that I thought belonged to one of my rhododendrons really did not, so I got out my stubbing hoe and chopped it out. that will also make it easier for my trench to work better. I also pulled out a filbert tree that was starting to grow near my Japanese maple tree.

While I was out I decided that I would transfer the electric cord to the new reel, so I got the old one out and unwound the wire and then rewound it up onto the new one. It was really too muddy outside, so once I finished those couple things, I went back inside and cleaned up. I decided to go up into the attic and put up the string of lights that I put together yesterday. I stretched them out and hung them up in the peek of the attic.

I had planned to do some more, but my knee got to hurting so much that I had all I could do to make it back to the hatch and get out of the attic. I thought that after "babying it for the last month I would be alright to knee in the attic, but it is still really tender. I kind of think that it might be the nerves that are causing the pain rather than the knee itself, but what-ever it is sure sore.

Kathleen had gone out to Mount Hood Community College to see one of her friends, this morning, and she finally got back around 1800. It what then that I discovered that the outside light was not working, so I must have moved one of the wires and now I will need to get back up into the attic tomorrow.

It seems that our bedroom ceiling light is also out, so it must be a wire got disconnected somehow. Oh some of the joys of owning an older house! I sometimes feel like I take one step forward and three steps backwards.

While Kathleen was out she stopped by Fred Meyer to pick up one of her prescriptions, and while she was there she picked up a nice Chinook Salmon fillet, so that a couple baked potatoes and some mixed vegetables is what we had for dinner.

It looks like our rain is scheduled to return again tomorrow, it was nice not to have it today, but this time of year it is almost expected to be wet outside. I am just thankful that we did not get the strong winds that some places got and because we are high enough up we were not affected by any high water from rivers overflowing their banks.

I guess I will call it a day, I did get a few things done today, and maybe with the help of knee pads, I can make the trip into the attic with out too much pain. We still need to put the sealant on the grout, but we almost need two people to do that and Kathleen was gone most of the day.

As you can see, I am writing longer blogs again, I have not been wearing my splint very much lately, only if I am going something that might injure it or when I go out. Mainly to let people know that it is still injured or at least not at full strength. Well, it is time to say good night for today.

Mopping up Monday

Well it was still raining this morning when I got up...almost three inches worth over the last three days. The temperature was in the fifties this morning and got up to the sixties. Is this really December?

After making and eating my oatmeal I emptied the dishwasher, did some of the dishes in the sink and added my breakfast dishes to the dishwasher. Then I went into the living room and read the paper. The mail came before I had a chance to read the paper, so after I finished the paper I got the mail. I got a one hundred dollar check from a contest that I had entered and that was my winnings. Kind of a belated birthday present I suppose.

I was getting cabin fever from having to be inside for the better part of the last three days, so when the rain slowed to a drizzle, I went outside and redid a couple of my trenches to divert the water away from the house and driveway.

Before I knew it, it started raining really hard again, so I went inside. About a month ago I bought a sting of work light, that I put together, basically adding the plastic cage to the sockets and putting light bulbs in them. I plan to use them in the attic while I do some work up there, and then the garage when I do some rewiring.

Luckily I had gotten several catalogs in the mail today, so I looked through all of them and before I knew it, it was 1600, so I took a shower and got ready for going to Alyssa's for Natalie's birthday dinner and family party.

Alyssa is having a party for Natalie on Saturday with several of Natalie's friends, but decided to have a dinner and cake tonight for the family. I am sure that she will be posting about it tonight along with some pictures, so no need for me to do that here.

We got home about 2000 and both of us were really tired. I think that it has something to do with the anticipation of the wind storm that kind of put an emotional strain on us. Well that is it for tonight, so I guess that I will say good night and call it a day.