Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Monday, November 28, 2005
Monday after the Holiday and...it's raining
That is just adding insult to injury. I anticipated the rain and hadn't washed my car so there is some good that comes from a murky, dark and cold Monday. The light from the sun has yet to do much in lighting up the sky as the dark rain clouds cover the horizon and a light rain is falling. I made it to work before the rains came and had just a mist on my windshield by the time I got off the freeway. The roads are slick and wet and the morning commute just got a little more treacherous.
We had a very nice Thanksgiving with a visit to Paradise and Darla's parents. We brought the boys and stayed over Thursday night and came home on Friday. Darla's brother, Steve, and sister, Alicia, joined the fray and even Darla's 86 year old grandfather, Andy, and his wife Liz, showed up and stayed over with all of us. The granite countertop and tile backsplash look great in Francis' kitchen. They used the same granite guy that we used and he did a fantastic job and even made a few custom touches for them. Now, Alicia is having her kitchen redone as well and using Vasile.
Darla and I slept in the fifth wheel on Thursday night and the rains came and beat on that tin roof all night long. It woke me up several times and, although we woke up at 7:30, we decided to sleep in and finally emerged at about 8:45 a.m. Unfortunately, Andy and Liz were up early and had a bad night sleeping and just wanted to get home. They'd been waiting for us to get up since about 7:30 a.m. and were on the road just as soon as I could move my car that was blocking him in. It was great seeing them, but they are getting a little old for overnight visits as they get quite confused in the middle of the night. Steve brought his dog, who growled every time Andy got up to use the rest room, which was often.
I played golf on Saturday with Mel, Bob Hand and Greg Wanee. The weather cleared over Friday night and it was crisp, clear and cold. It never got over 50 degrees and we teed off at 8:20 AM. I won $3 on a game of Wolf and we had lunch together afterward. I invited the group and their wives out to dinner, but Mel and Bob couldn't make it. Greg was in. I asked him if he needed to check with his wife and he said, "No. I'm in charge of dinner and we're going out with you." I thought that wouldn't fly in my house, but thought nothing of it. I told Greg that we'd meet at the restaurant at 7:00 PM. I worked outside when I got home raking leaves and doing some trimming. Darla was working on painting inside. She is redoing all of the interior doors and door jams in white. The original color was off white and it has turned that dingy yellow-white that looks so bad next to fresh paint..or new carpet. We finally got around to calling Greg and Carla about six as we were going to get showers and get ready to leave. Carla answered and said, "No. I'm just serving dinner. Greg got home about a half hour ago and just told me about the dinner invite. I had dinner already started." It seemed odd that they didn't call us, but I let it go. Greg called me last night and apologized. He went out Christmas shopping after golf and hadn't checked in with Carla. He said he thought Darla was going to call and set it up. Real man of the house there. At least I can see that communication is their strong suit. Darla and I ended up going out to dinner at Chevy's and our leftovers were dinner last night.
Darla and I went to see "Walk the Line" last week, the Johnny Cash movie. Excellent. Put it on your to do list.
I had planned to strip the cabinets in the kitchen this weekend and then sand and refinish them. It was a bandaid as we eventually want to have them professionally refinished and Darla wants them stained in a winter white color. We also want the hinges changed to interior hinges and then we want to install hardware. The cost for that job is almost $5000, so it is off the radar right now. When I went in to the hardware store to get the supplies, the helpful Ace hardware man suggested that I try "Howard Restore-A-Finish", a product that is applied right over the existing varnish and stain. It fills in the worn areas, the places where the oils of our hands have worn off the finish and the stain and the areas that have heat stress from the stovetop and the coffee pot. This stuff is amazing and gives the wood a clean, refinished look, all for $8.99. The kitchen looks great and the cabinets are shiny and new. Try it, if you have cabinets that are looking a little worn.
Jennifer will be over for dinner Tuesday night and the boys will say "Hi" and "Bye" to her as she jets off to Korea on Thursday. She has been home for three weeks this week and I gave her heck as she has not been over to see the boys since getting home. David was a little p.o.ed at her and Daniel is miffed as well. Sometimes the girl looks a little too inward and doesn't see what is going on around her. I've seen her the night I picked her up at the airport and the day we went to lunch and that's it. I know she's busy, but she has seen her friends and her Mom and Mom's new boyfriend and his family and hasn't made a point to see the boys or visit us. She promised to spend some time with us at Christmas. She knows I'm a little upset and Darla is unhappy with the fact that she didn't make the boys and me a priority on her return home. Don't upset the mother hen. Anyhow, I'll get some pictures tomorrow night and get them on the blog.
I did talk to Jennifer and she clarified her job. She will not get paid tax free. That perk is for American citizens who are working abroad on military civilian positions and are overseas for the entire year. As she will be going back and forth, her tax base will be the same as anyone working in the US. She still has a great job.
Well that's it for this installment. Stay well. We brought a neighbor friend to church yesterday. She is a divorcee and she was so thrilled with the service. Darla and Carol dropped me off and went to lunch together. What a blessing it is for us to see how God touches the lives of others through us. Stay well. Ciao.
We had a very nice Thanksgiving with a visit to Paradise and Darla's parents. We brought the boys and stayed over Thursday night and came home on Friday. Darla's brother, Steve, and sister, Alicia, joined the fray and even Darla's 86 year old grandfather, Andy, and his wife Liz, showed up and stayed over with all of us. The granite countertop and tile backsplash look great in Francis' kitchen. They used the same granite guy that we used and he did a fantastic job and even made a few custom touches for them. Now, Alicia is having her kitchen redone as well and using Vasile.
Darla and I slept in the fifth wheel on Thursday night and the rains came and beat on that tin roof all night long. It woke me up several times and, although we woke up at 7:30, we decided to sleep in and finally emerged at about 8:45 a.m. Unfortunately, Andy and Liz were up early and had a bad night sleeping and just wanted to get home. They'd been waiting for us to get up since about 7:30 a.m. and were on the road just as soon as I could move my car that was blocking him in. It was great seeing them, but they are getting a little old for overnight visits as they get quite confused in the middle of the night. Steve brought his dog, who growled every time Andy got up to use the rest room, which was often.
I played golf on Saturday with Mel, Bob Hand and Greg Wanee. The weather cleared over Friday night and it was crisp, clear and cold. It never got over 50 degrees and we teed off at 8:20 AM. I won $3 on a game of Wolf and we had lunch together afterward. I invited the group and their wives out to dinner, but Mel and Bob couldn't make it. Greg was in. I asked him if he needed to check with his wife and he said, "No. I'm in charge of dinner and we're going out with you." I thought that wouldn't fly in my house, but thought nothing of it. I told Greg that we'd meet at the restaurant at 7:00 PM. I worked outside when I got home raking leaves and doing some trimming. Darla was working on painting inside. She is redoing all of the interior doors and door jams in white. The original color was off white and it has turned that dingy yellow-white that looks so bad next to fresh paint..or new carpet. We finally got around to calling Greg and Carla about six as we were going to get showers and get ready to leave. Carla answered and said, "No. I'm just serving dinner. Greg got home about a half hour ago and just told me about the dinner invite. I had dinner already started." It seemed odd that they didn't call us, but I let it go. Greg called me last night and apologized. He went out Christmas shopping after golf and hadn't checked in with Carla. He said he thought Darla was going to call and set it up. Real man of the house there. At least I can see that communication is their strong suit. Darla and I ended up going out to dinner at Chevy's and our leftovers were dinner last night.
Darla and I went to see "Walk the Line" last week, the Johnny Cash movie. Excellent. Put it on your to do list.
I had planned to strip the cabinets in the kitchen this weekend and then sand and refinish them. It was a bandaid as we eventually want to have them professionally refinished and Darla wants them stained in a winter white color. We also want the hinges changed to interior hinges and then we want to install hardware. The cost for that job is almost $5000, so it is off the radar right now. When I went in to the hardware store to get the supplies, the helpful Ace hardware man suggested that I try "Howard Restore-A-Finish", a product that is applied right over the existing varnish and stain. It fills in the worn areas, the places where the oils of our hands have worn off the finish and the stain and the areas that have heat stress from the stovetop and the coffee pot. This stuff is amazing and gives the wood a clean, refinished look, all for $8.99. The kitchen looks great and the cabinets are shiny and new. Try it, if you have cabinets that are looking a little worn.
Jennifer will be over for dinner Tuesday night and the boys will say "Hi" and "Bye" to her as she jets off to Korea on Thursday. She has been home for three weeks this week and I gave her heck as she has not been over to see the boys since getting home. David was a little p.o.ed at her and Daniel is miffed as well. Sometimes the girl looks a little too inward and doesn't see what is going on around her. I've seen her the night I picked her up at the airport and the day we went to lunch and that's it. I know she's busy, but she has seen her friends and her Mom and Mom's new boyfriend and his family and hasn't made a point to see the boys or visit us. She promised to spend some time with us at Christmas. She knows I'm a little upset and Darla is unhappy with the fact that she didn't make the boys and me a priority on her return home. Don't upset the mother hen. Anyhow, I'll get some pictures tomorrow night and get them on the blog.
I did talk to Jennifer and she clarified her job. She will not get paid tax free. That perk is for American citizens who are working abroad on military civilian positions and are overseas for the entire year. As she will be going back and forth, her tax base will be the same as anyone working in the US. She still has a great job.
Well that's it for this installment. Stay well. We brought a neighbor friend to church yesterday. She is a divorcee and she was so thrilled with the service. Darla and Carol dropped me off and went to lunch together. What a blessing it is for us to see how God touches the lives of others through us. Stay well. Ciao.
Monday, November 21, 2005
Good Morning World
Our weather here in Northern California has been nothing short of spectacular for about the last two weeks. We have enjoyed cool nights in the mid 40's and daytime highs in the mid 70's. It doesn't get any better than this, eh? Today is one of those days with a high blue sky and crisp clear sunshine that early in the morning leaves a promise of good things to come. The grass is covered in dew and fallen leaves and the trees outside of my picture window are green and yellow and red, with one lone tree devoid of leaves, but strangely full of white buds as if it were Spring instead of late Autumn.
I was able to talk to Dad this weekend and they were coming home from a meal with Randy and his family. Randy left yesterday for a week in Banff, Canada and a ski holiday. Jenny flew in to Dallas and met the family and they all flew to Canada. Dad and Shirley left Euless yesterday for two days in San Antonio and some alone time on the River Walk. They will be back in Austin with Darryl and Cheryl for the Thanksgiving holiday.
We had a bit of a surprise in our neighborhood this last Friday. A CHP officer from Roseville was shot and killed during a routine traffic stop in Yolo County on Thursday and there was a manhunt on for his killers, two men in a light colored Toyota. When I got home Friday night there were news crews and police vehicles all over the cul-de-sac behind our house. It turns out that the neighborhood punk had shot and killed the officer. This kid is bad news and has caused all sorts of grief to neighbors in the neighborhood and was even caught vandalizing cars and stealing property. He is 20 years old and lived with his Mom and two brothers, both of whom are equal idiots. The story has now come out that this kid was the son of a disgraced officer in the Bay Area, who was fired after having a relationship with a victim's widow and then committing suicide when he was caught after a botched bank robbery in Fremont. The family is a piece of work with the Mom recently having been cited for driving under the influence and the son having a court date in December for violating the terms of his parole by using methamphetamines and being arrested under the influence of a controlled substance. The funeral for the officer is tomorrow at our church in Roseville. You can't pick your neighbors, but this group is serious white trash and live in the neighborhood simply because they sold their home in the Bay Area for a mint and left there in shame.
Jennifer did fly to New York on Thursday and was met by the Vice President of the company she was interviewing with. She met with the President and several of the officers for a day long interview on Friday and eventually accepted the position. The company is a military contractor and Jennifer will be a Tech Engineer Level One and will be installing network systems. Her salary is huge and she will make her money tax free while working on government installations overseas. The jobs that she is working on are all bid jobs with specific start and end dates and the teams that work on the jobs live at military installations and are on a per diem while working. The team is paid a bonus for completing the job on time, and an even bigger bonus for completing the job ahead of schedule. She will live in Georgia and will spend about 75% of her time overseas. She leaves for Korea on December 1st and will be home on December 22nd for Christmas. She will then fly to back to Korea on January 3rd to complete the work order and will be back in Sacramento by the first of March when she will make the move to Georgia. I'm proud of her although I had hoped that she would get to stay in Sacramento for awhile. This is a great chance for her to make some money and save up for a house. The company will also pay for her to go to school to get her degree which is nice, although she already has that money coming from her GI bill. She will be covered for Medical immediately and will be covered by a 401 K plan. It sounds like a great job for a young person and it will be using the skills that she has developed in the Army. This time she'll get paid very well to ply her trade, however. The company does NOT work in Kuwait or Iraq, Thank God. The website for her new firm is: www.dasnetcorp.com
I played golf this weekend in the Turkey shoot at Woodcreek golf course. It was a two man best ball. I had 14 strokes and shot a pedantic 41+44=85. Boyd shot even worse (for him) with a 40+41=81. Our best ball score was 68 which qualified us for absolutely nothing. I did win a bottle of wine for being the first person in our foursome to spot the stuffed turkey which was hiding in the branches of an oak tree on number 7. The weather was fantastic and the course is in pristine condition.
Yesterday, Darla, the boys and I made another dump run, this time with two trucks. We hauled all of the old baseboards, an old dresser, boxes, games, toys, and junk to the dump. The side yard was brimming with trash and we were able to haul it all away. As Darla said, she thinks we are actually done with our remodel. Next year we plan to have someone come in and install crown molding in the living room, family room and our master bedroom. We will also have the cabinets refaced and the master bathroom remodeled with a new shower and tile. It was the one room that we weren't able to afford right now. I will work on touching up the cabinets in the kitchen this weekend by putting a fresh coat of Honey Oak stain on the cabinets. It has a satin finish and should look good.
We will spend Thanksgiving up in Paradise at Darla's folks. We have the boys this year and will actually stay over at the old homestead and play games and watch football and eat turkey. It should be fun. Jennifer was invited, but will instead head to Palm Springs with her Mom.
Well, Happy Thanksgiving to all and take this time to thank God for all of the blessings that he has bestowed on your life. Ciao.
I was able to talk to Dad this weekend and they were coming home from a meal with Randy and his family. Randy left yesterday for a week in Banff, Canada and a ski holiday. Jenny flew in to Dallas and met the family and they all flew to Canada. Dad and Shirley left Euless yesterday for two days in San Antonio and some alone time on the River Walk. They will be back in Austin with Darryl and Cheryl for the Thanksgiving holiday.
We had a bit of a surprise in our neighborhood this last Friday. A CHP officer from Roseville was shot and killed during a routine traffic stop in Yolo County on Thursday and there was a manhunt on for his killers, two men in a light colored Toyota. When I got home Friday night there were news crews and police vehicles all over the cul-de-sac behind our house. It turns out that the neighborhood punk had shot and killed the officer. This kid is bad news and has caused all sorts of grief to neighbors in the neighborhood and was even caught vandalizing cars and stealing property. He is 20 years old and lived with his Mom and two brothers, both of whom are equal idiots. The story has now come out that this kid was the son of a disgraced officer in the Bay Area, who was fired after having a relationship with a victim's widow and then committing suicide when he was caught after a botched bank robbery in Fremont. The family is a piece of work with the Mom recently having been cited for driving under the influence and the son having a court date in December for violating the terms of his parole by using methamphetamines and being arrested under the influence of a controlled substance. The funeral for the officer is tomorrow at our church in Roseville. You can't pick your neighbors, but this group is serious white trash and live in the neighborhood simply because they sold their home in the Bay Area for a mint and left there in shame.
Jennifer did fly to New York on Thursday and was met by the Vice President of the company she was interviewing with. She met with the President and several of the officers for a day long interview on Friday and eventually accepted the position. The company is a military contractor and Jennifer will be a Tech Engineer Level One and will be installing network systems. Her salary is huge and she will make her money tax free while working on government installations overseas. The jobs that she is working on are all bid jobs with specific start and end dates and the teams that work on the jobs live at military installations and are on a per diem while working. The team is paid a bonus for completing the job on time, and an even bigger bonus for completing the job ahead of schedule. She will live in Georgia and will spend about 75% of her time overseas. She leaves for Korea on December 1st and will be home on December 22nd for Christmas. She will then fly to back to Korea on January 3rd to complete the work order and will be back in Sacramento by the first of March when she will make the move to Georgia. I'm proud of her although I had hoped that she would get to stay in Sacramento for awhile. This is a great chance for her to make some money and save up for a house. The company will also pay for her to go to school to get her degree which is nice, although she already has that money coming from her GI bill. She will be covered for Medical immediately and will be covered by a 401 K plan. It sounds like a great job for a young person and it will be using the skills that she has developed in the Army. This time she'll get paid very well to ply her trade, however. The company does NOT work in Kuwait or Iraq, Thank God. The website for her new firm is: www.dasnetcorp.com
I played golf this weekend in the Turkey shoot at Woodcreek golf course. It was a two man best ball. I had 14 strokes and shot a pedantic 41+44=85. Boyd shot even worse (for him) with a 40+41=81. Our best ball score was 68 which qualified us for absolutely nothing. I did win a bottle of wine for being the first person in our foursome to spot the stuffed turkey which was hiding in the branches of an oak tree on number 7. The weather was fantastic and the course is in pristine condition.
Yesterday, Darla, the boys and I made another dump run, this time with two trucks. We hauled all of the old baseboards, an old dresser, boxes, games, toys, and junk to the dump. The side yard was brimming with trash and we were able to haul it all away. As Darla said, she thinks we are actually done with our remodel. Next year we plan to have someone come in and install crown molding in the living room, family room and our master bedroom. We will also have the cabinets refaced and the master bathroom remodeled with a new shower and tile. It was the one room that we weren't able to afford right now. I will work on touching up the cabinets in the kitchen this weekend by putting a fresh coat of Honey Oak stain on the cabinets. It has a satin finish and should look good.
We will spend Thanksgiving up in Paradise at Darla's folks. We have the boys this year and will actually stay over at the old homestead and play games and watch football and eat turkey. It should be fun. Jennifer was invited, but will instead head to Palm Springs with her Mom.
Well, Happy Thanksgiving to all and take this time to thank God for all of the blessings that he has bestowed on your life. Ciao.
Monday, November 14, 2005
Monday and I'm dragging
Have you ever had one of those weekends where you get Back to work on Monday and you're sitting at your desk sipping a cup of coffee and contemplating the day ahead and you realize that it is the first time that you've been able to sit down and relax since you left work on Friday? I had one of those weekends.
The carpet installers arrived at 9 AM on Saturday as I was in the midst of pulling the last of the old baseboards out of the house. I'd worked Friday night taking down beds and packing up books and odds and ends and finally got around to pulling the baseboards about ten. I got the baseboards pulled in the study, the family room, the living room and Daniel's room and still had the master bedroom, master bath and David's room to go. I got up at seven, showered and went to work. I still had to take our bed apart and take down the stereo and television, vcr, DVD and TiVo. I did the beds and TV, etc and was finishing up David's room on the baseboards when the guys showed up. They were to be there between 9 and 11 and showed up at ten to nine. Darla showed them the work site and I frantically pulled baseboards in our room. I left one wall of David's room with the baseboard still installed as his desk and box spring and mattress were against the wall. I asked the guys if they could pull that baseboard after they moved the furniture (We paid $240 to have them move furniture). I then left for golf. Darla gave me a hug and asked why it was that I could skate during a major home improvement project. She said it with a smile, but I'm sure there was a meaning in there.
The opening for this job came on Tuesday and we jumped on it. Our carpet was delivered from the factory to the installer and they had a job fall out for Saturday just that day. I was already scheduled to play in the Tournament of Champions tournament on Saturday and we decided to go ahead. Really, there wasn't much that either of us could do while they installed the carpet, so golf was a good idea for me. Darla had to stay home and babysit the workers. They finished up about four o'clock and were good workers. They did punch a hole in our wall in the family room when the carpet stretcher slipped, but they patched it and all was forgiven. The carpet looks great and the baseboards are very modern looking compared to the narrow brown baseboards that were there before and looked so incredibly 1980's. I got to work on the baseboards as soon as I got home on Saturday and we worked until almost 11:00 that night. The mitre saw that I borrowed from Brian, our tile guy was a Godsend. Darla painted the baseboards and I installed them as soon as they were dry. Our garage was and is full of things from the boys room and the study. I still have the stereo to put back up as well as the computer in the study. The boys were with their Dad this weekend and he was irritated that Daniel spent part of Friday (Veteran's Day) at our house taking out all of the things from his closet and packing up odds and ends from his room. David came over Friday night and stripped his bed and packed up all of the loose impediments from his room before he went to Daniel's last football game.
I got all of the rooms completed with new baseboards, all except the study. I had thought I had all of the baseboards that I needed plus some leftover, but miscalculated the amount of baseboards needed for the four closets in the house. We had bought a contractors pack of baseboards, but can buy the 12 foot boards separately as well. I have about 60 feet of boards to install in the study.
My hands are swollen today, my knees are sore and even the back of my legs, behind the knee, are swollen from the knee pads that I wore most of the day yesterday. My knees were really sore after Friday and Saturday night and Darla gave me her volleyball kneepads to wear. I put them on over my sweats and they rubbed the back of my legs raw as I spent most of Sunday on my knees installing the baseboards and then caulking the whole works as well. I am really impressed with the final project. Darla picked a beautiful berber carpet for the house with a sculpted look and that combined with the already installed tile and baseboards gives the home a modern and clean look. Everything looks and smells new.
Golf was a blast this weekend. I was wildly inconsistent, shooting four birdies, three double-bogeys, a triple-bogey, five bogeys and five pars for a 42+40=82. The four birdies helped me win $29 from my playing partners in skins and bets and take second place in my flight with a net 69. I was hitting the ball great off the tee and hit some excellent approach shots, but then my game would implode on certain holes, where I'd fluff chips or shank approach shots. It was a roller coaster ride, but fun all the same.
Jennifer did make her triumphant return to Sacramento on Wednesday night. She arrived bright eyed and ready for her future. She is thrilled to be home and has several interviews set up this week and two job offers in the bank. Both as cable installers. She is holding her options open for now. I invited her to lunch today as I haven't seen her since I picked her up from the airport. She was sick on Friday with food poisoning and I was so busy over the weekend that I didn't see her at all. Jennifer was able to spend her first Veteran's Day as a vet back home, but was suffering from a sore stomach.
Daniel has finished his season of football. It was a tough season for him and for us, as he rode the bench all year behind two 260 pound linemen. He looks forward to his Senior season and a chance to start on the line. He is now looking for a job as he wants to save up some money for a car. He is sixteen, but won't get his license to drive until February.
I'll try to get some pictures up on the site sometime this week of the new carpet. Darla's parents, Earl and Frances, are having granite installed in their house this week. They have wanted to do it since they moved in and when Frances saw ours, she talked Earl in to getting it done now. It looks like they will also have the Blue Pearl installed in their home and are talking to our installer about coming up and doing the work in Paradise. I hope all are well and walking in the footsteps of the Lord. Ciao.
The carpet installers arrived at 9 AM on Saturday as I was in the midst of pulling the last of the old baseboards out of the house. I'd worked Friday night taking down beds and packing up books and odds and ends and finally got around to pulling the baseboards about ten. I got the baseboards pulled in the study, the family room, the living room and Daniel's room and still had the master bedroom, master bath and David's room to go. I got up at seven, showered and went to work. I still had to take our bed apart and take down the stereo and television, vcr, DVD and TiVo. I did the beds and TV, etc and was finishing up David's room on the baseboards when the guys showed up. They were to be there between 9 and 11 and showed up at ten to nine. Darla showed them the work site and I frantically pulled baseboards in our room. I left one wall of David's room with the baseboard still installed as his desk and box spring and mattress were against the wall. I asked the guys if they could pull that baseboard after they moved the furniture (We paid $240 to have them move furniture). I then left for golf. Darla gave me a hug and asked why it was that I could skate during a major home improvement project. She said it with a smile, but I'm sure there was a meaning in there.
The opening for this job came on Tuesday and we jumped on it. Our carpet was delivered from the factory to the installer and they had a job fall out for Saturday just that day. I was already scheduled to play in the Tournament of Champions tournament on Saturday and we decided to go ahead. Really, there wasn't much that either of us could do while they installed the carpet, so golf was a good idea for me. Darla had to stay home and babysit the workers. They finished up about four o'clock and were good workers. They did punch a hole in our wall in the family room when the carpet stretcher slipped, but they patched it and all was forgiven. The carpet looks great and the baseboards are very modern looking compared to the narrow brown baseboards that were there before and looked so incredibly 1980's. I got to work on the baseboards as soon as I got home on Saturday and we worked until almost 11:00 that night. The mitre saw that I borrowed from Brian, our tile guy was a Godsend. Darla painted the baseboards and I installed them as soon as they were dry. Our garage was and is full of things from the boys room and the study. I still have the stereo to put back up as well as the computer in the study. The boys were with their Dad this weekend and he was irritated that Daniel spent part of Friday (Veteran's Day) at our house taking out all of the things from his closet and packing up odds and ends from his room. David came over Friday night and stripped his bed and packed up all of the loose impediments from his room before he went to Daniel's last football game.
I got all of the rooms completed with new baseboards, all except the study. I had thought I had all of the baseboards that I needed plus some leftover, but miscalculated the amount of baseboards needed for the four closets in the house. We had bought a contractors pack of baseboards, but can buy the 12 foot boards separately as well. I have about 60 feet of boards to install in the study.
My hands are swollen today, my knees are sore and even the back of my legs, behind the knee, are swollen from the knee pads that I wore most of the day yesterday. My knees were really sore after Friday and Saturday night and Darla gave me her volleyball kneepads to wear. I put them on over my sweats and they rubbed the back of my legs raw as I spent most of Sunday on my knees installing the baseboards and then caulking the whole works as well. I am really impressed with the final project. Darla picked a beautiful berber carpet for the house with a sculpted look and that combined with the already installed tile and baseboards gives the home a modern and clean look. Everything looks and smells new.
Golf was a blast this weekend. I was wildly inconsistent, shooting four birdies, three double-bogeys, a triple-bogey, five bogeys and five pars for a 42+40=82. The four birdies helped me win $29 from my playing partners in skins and bets and take second place in my flight with a net 69. I was hitting the ball great off the tee and hit some excellent approach shots, but then my game would implode on certain holes, where I'd fluff chips or shank approach shots. It was a roller coaster ride, but fun all the same.
Jennifer did make her triumphant return to Sacramento on Wednesday night. She arrived bright eyed and ready for her future. She is thrilled to be home and has several interviews set up this week and two job offers in the bank. Both as cable installers. She is holding her options open for now. I invited her to lunch today as I haven't seen her since I picked her up from the airport. She was sick on Friday with food poisoning and I was so busy over the weekend that I didn't see her at all. Jennifer was able to spend her first Veteran's Day as a vet back home, but was suffering from a sore stomach.
Daniel has finished his season of football. It was a tough season for him and for us, as he rode the bench all year behind two 260 pound linemen. He looks forward to his Senior season and a chance to start on the line. He is now looking for a job as he wants to save up some money for a car. He is sixteen, but won't get his license to drive until February.
I'll try to get some pictures up on the site sometime this week of the new carpet. Darla's parents, Earl and Frances, are having granite installed in their house this week. They have wanted to do it since they moved in and when Frances saw ours, she talked Earl in to getting it done now. It looks like they will also have the Blue Pearl installed in their home and are talking to our installer about coming up and doing the work in Paradise. I hope all are well and walking in the footsteps of the Lord. Ciao.
Monday, November 07, 2005
OOPS. I did it again!
It has been over a year since I have felt even the slightest back problem. The Bowen Therapy was a HUGE success and I couldn't be happier. I get to play golf pain free. Well, that was until Saturday. We played the Allister Mackenzie course out at Haggin Oaks, Sacramento's oldest golf course and still one of the best. I took a swing from the fairway on number two and felt a twinge in my back and it was all over after that. I was able to play through the pain and even managed a 43+42=85, which wasn't bad considering that I was in pretty bad shape and couldn't take a full swing. I even managed to win some skin money at the end of the round by parring the number 12 handicap hole which was a net birdie in my flight. This particular injury seems to respond to heat and I feel pretty good after a stint in the hot tub or a hot shower or even after working which heats the muscle and relaxes it.
I woke up Sunday morning sore and stiff and even missed church which is heresy in our house. I limped around and had breakfast, but worked with the boys installing a light fixture from the kitchen in the laundry room and my back relaxed and I was even able to get up in the attic and help secure the light to the ceiling while the boys worked below me. I moved the light from the laundry room into the shed and it looks great, but we still have the same problem with a bad ballast. I may take a look at Home Depot and see what it costs to change out the ballast. I will hopefully be able to see Harry today and have him treat my back. I'm done with chiropractors, especially when the problem involves musculature and not bones.
The boys were able to help me install the new light fixture in the kichen. We had to anchor the fixture with wood and anchor bolts, so David had to climb up in the attic and attach the bolts to some 5/8 inch siding that we had left over from the shed job in 2000. The siding was strong enough yet thin enough to do the job. The new fixture looks really nice and fits the kitchen. The old fixture was a neon shop light in comparison. I don't know if Dad remembers me commenting on the light before we bought the house. I thought it was a cheap looking fixture in relation to the rest of the house. He had come out to visit us after Mom died and we were in the process of buying a house. He came with me when I met with the home inspector we hired to check out the house. Anyhow, the new fixture has a wood base with crown molding and matches the quality of the cabinets. As I mentioned, the old fixture was moved into the laundry room and looks like it fits in there. It provides more light than the old two light fixture and is better for Darla.
We took Daniel out (finally) for his birthday dinner. We ate at La Provence, an upscale French Restaurant in Roseville. I'd bought the restaurant certificate at the football banquet silent auction for $55. It included a $50 gift certificate and a bottle of French wine. Our dinner was $103 and the boys ate to their hearts content, both of them ordering a hanger steak and French fries that was listed on the menu as "Onglet sauce @ chalotes: Grilled marinated Hanger Steak, pommes frites & shallot red Côtesdu Rhine reduction." They had no idea what they were ordering, but Daniel substituted the pommes fries for garlic fries, so he scored. I also ordered the hanger steak and ate it for the second time. The portion of steak is huge and it is cooked in a wine sauce and shallots that is to die for. Darla had prawns and pasta and we all enjoyed the meal together.
Darla then took Daniel out yesterday and he finally got his birthday present, an Acer laptop computer that has enough speed and memory to handle the CAD program that is also on David's laptop which is a Dell Pentium 4 computer. Daniel has been shopping for the computer for a month and finally made his selection this weekend.
David continues to enjoy his job and drove past a building in Natomas that has a trellis that he designed installed on it. He is beginning to see some of his handiwork around town and it is pretty impressive to know that he has the talent and ability to design things from concept to reality. He spent last Monday at the pier in San Francisco eyeballing where one of his loading docks will be installed. He was there with the chief engineer of his firm and they were scoping out the jobsite for design purposes.
We have decided to host the office Christmas party this year. Dinda, who hosted the last three parties is no longer working with us, so it was probably taboo to ask her to host again. I'm not sure if I hope we get the carpet in before the party or after. Party season is upon us as we have three events to attend over the first two weekends of December with our office party, the Golf Club party and Darla's office party. We will also attend the matinee performance of the Trans Siberian Orchestra on December 3rd before heading to the RGC Christmas party that night.
We had a record month in October and brought in over $170,000 in income into the office. That improved our bottom line by over $60,000 YTD and we are getting kudos. I took the staff to lunch at the Elephant Bar last Wednesday to celebrate and we enjoyed a good "gnoshup" on the company dime.
Jennifer is due home this week. I've only talked to her briefly, but we'll get caught up this week. I'll fill you all in next week.
As I mentioned we missed church yesterday and compensated by having Darla read the first three chapters of Exodus after dinner last night. Not that we felt compelled to make up for missing church, but we missed the sermon and the Bible teaching that is so prevalent in our church. Exodus is the story of Moses and how he grew up in Pharaohs family and went on to lead the Exodus of the children of Israel out of Egypt. In fact, it reminded me a lot of a Disney movie. Be well, consider your place in the world and why you are here. Be nice to someone today. It'll freak them out. Ciao.
I woke up Sunday morning sore and stiff and even missed church which is heresy in our house. I limped around and had breakfast, but worked with the boys installing a light fixture from the kitchen in the laundry room and my back relaxed and I was even able to get up in the attic and help secure the light to the ceiling while the boys worked below me. I moved the light from the laundry room into the shed and it looks great, but we still have the same problem with a bad ballast. I may take a look at Home Depot and see what it costs to change out the ballast. I will hopefully be able to see Harry today and have him treat my back. I'm done with chiropractors, especially when the problem involves musculature and not bones.
The boys were able to help me install the new light fixture in the kichen. We had to anchor the fixture with wood and anchor bolts, so David had to climb up in the attic and attach the bolts to some 5/8 inch siding that we had left over from the shed job in 2000. The siding was strong enough yet thin enough to do the job. The new fixture looks really nice and fits the kitchen. The old fixture was a neon shop light in comparison. I don't know if Dad remembers me commenting on the light before we bought the house. I thought it was a cheap looking fixture in relation to the rest of the house. He had come out to visit us after Mom died and we were in the process of buying a house. He came with me when I met with the home inspector we hired to check out the house. Anyhow, the new fixture has a wood base with crown molding and matches the quality of the cabinets. As I mentioned, the old fixture was moved into the laundry room and looks like it fits in there. It provides more light than the old two light fixture and is better for Darla.
We took Daniel out (finally) for his birthday dinner. We ate at La Provence, an upscale French Restaurant in Roseville. I'd bought the restaurant certificate at the football banquet silent auction for $55. It included a $50 gift certificate and a bottle of French wine. Our dinner was $103 and the boys ate to their hearts content, both of them ordering a hanger steak and French fries that was listed on the menu as "Onglet sauce @ chalotes: Grilled marinated Hanger Steak, pommes frites & shallot red Côtesdu Rhine reduction." They had no idea what they were ordering, but Daniel substituted the pommes fries for garlic fries, so he scored. I also ordered the hanger steak and ate it for the second time. The portion of steak is huge and it is cooked in a wine sauce and shallots that is to die for. Darla had prawns and pasta and we all enjoyed the meal together.
Darla then took Daniel out yesterday and he finally got his birthday present, an Acer laptop computer that has enough speed and memory to handle the CAD program that is also on David's laptop which is a Dell Pentium 4 computer. Daniel has been shopping for the computer for a month and finally made his selection this weekend.
David continues to enjoy his job and drove past a building in Natomas that has a trellis that he designed installed on it. He is beginning to see some of his handiwork around town and it is pretty impressive to know that he has the talent and ability to design things from concept to reality. He spent last Monday at the pier in San Francisco eyeballing where one of his loading docks will be installed. He was there with the chief engineer of his firm and they were scoping out the jobsite for design purposes.
We have decided to host the office Christmas party this year. Dinda, who hosted the last three parties is no longer working with us, so it was probably taboo to ask her to host again. I'm not sure if I hope we get the carpet in before the party or after. Party season is upon us as we have three events to attend over the first two weekends of December with our office party, the Golf Club party and Darla's office party. We will also attend the matinee performance of the Trans Siberian Orchestra on December 3rd before heading to the RGC Christmas party that night.
We had a record month in October and brought in over $170,000 in income into the office. That improved our bottom line by over $60,000 YTD and we are getting kudos. I took the staff to lunch at the Elephant Bar last Wednesday to celebrate and we enjoyed a good "gnoshup" on the company dime.
Jennifer is due home this week. I've only talked to her briefly, but we'll get caught up this week. I'll fill you all in next week.
As I mentioned we missed church yesterday and compensated by having Darla read the first three chapters of Exodus after dinner last night. Not that we felt compelled to make up for missing church, but we missed the sermon and the Bible teaching that is so prevalent in our church. Exodus is the story of Moses and how he grew up in Pharaohs family and went on to lead the Exodus of the children of Israel out of Egypt. In fact, it reminded me a lot of a Disney movie. Be well, consider your place in the world and why you are here. Be nice to someone today. It'll freak them out. Ciao.
