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.