I had some very upsetting and sad news Monday. While checking in with my Facebook friends, I noticed postings of peace and prayers and love being sent to a dear family I know. I sent out an inquiry, along with my own prayers, as to what happened.
The dear wonderful mom had died of a massive stroke the week before. She was younger than me. Her children are of similar age as my children. They are a wonderful family. She had been very involved in the community with her children. My boys had hit it off with her son. I knew them. They had been to my house.
She had taken pictures where ever she went, at all the events her children participated in. I loved when we overlapped activities because she would tag my boys in her photos and send them to me through face book. I have pictures I would not otherwise have of my boys being involved in football and band thanks to her photo hobby.
I cried. She was such a good person. This morning I had a hard time pulling myself out of bed. The weather was decent. I should have been heading out to golf nine holes. Instead I lay in bed and thought about my friend's obituary.
Many people knew her because she taught the drivers ed class at the high school. she had a great sense of humor. I admired her commitment to her children. She went to all their events. She even did the 5:oo am band trip to the Thanksgiving Parade. I just dropped my child at the bus and said call me when you need to be picked up. Her children are delightful and knew they were loved.
It is so upsetting when bad things happen to good people. All I can do is send prayers and wish the family strength to endure this horrible time. We have our pictures and our memories.
I called one of my other dear friends, that I knew would be home. I told her I needed some positive girlfriend time, not a big group, just blow the morning blues away time. We had a lovely time just hanging out chatting over tea. That was what I needed.
She also had a table saw I wanted to borrow to finish the floors. Last night Tom told me I could go ahead and finish. I told him I couldn't until he moved the TV. I couldn't swing my hammer without risking hitting the screen. He called Trevor up and they moved The TV out of the way so I could continue working.
I am still feeling a little mopey, but with a project to keep me busy and distracted, time will heal the bruises. It is just a reminder of our mortality and to live each day as fully as we can. Don't take each day for granted, because one day it will all be over, and you don't know what day that is going to be. It could be sooner than you think. Peace be with you and hug your babies.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Monday, October 10, 2011
Lovely Weekend
I went to a Zumba class Saturday morning. I am not much of a coorrdinated dance step person. I got lots of advice on the steps. It was fun as I knew many of the people but I couldn't hang around. I had an 11 am tee time at the club. I had hoped to get home and change but ended up just going in my zumba outfit of stretch pants and tee shirt. Not quite club attire. Next time I will just bring my spare shirt in the car and change at the club. I did stop at the pro shop to see if they had some cute golf pants, but it is late in the season and the women's clothing was limited. There were some padded rain pants that reminded me of ski clothes. Nothing I wanted to spend money on that screamed buy me, so I just wore my work out attire.
The round was delightful. I had been worried as I had heard the women I was playing with were really good. Turns out they had only recently, in the last couple of years, started to golf. They were natural athletes so could really hit the ball, but we all had our holes that we blew up. We had a fun round. I will do it again. I just wish the day hadn't been so rushed with all these obligations falling on the same day. I had to run after our round and couldn't hang to enjoy the afterward, as one of my dearest friends had demanded I save the date for her BBQ weeks ago.
The boys and I went to the BBQ at our friend's house Saturday night. Tom was invited, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to watch the Tigers game so he passed on the good food and good company to sit at home and be able to yell at the TV in the comfort of his own home. He had been reprimanded at the club for his excessive exuberance while watching one of the other games this week. I gave him his hall pass on the party. He is also doing a two day tournament of golf this weekend. He is in his happy place.
The boys had a blast. The teens all played games in the living room. She has two delightful and beautiful daughters. A couple of the other guests had teen girls. You could hear Trevor's happy voice and Riley's laughter in the living room, while sitting out on the deck. The weather cooperated beautifully. There was a fire in the deck chimney. I sipped a really expensive Tequila my girlfriend had bought especially for me to try. Tequila is easy to make last a long time sipping. Just the touch of it to your lips results in a burning sensation. One small shot glass can last hours.
The boys ended up getting a ride home with some other friends that came so I could have a sleep over chick night with my girlfriend. Both her children were going out for overnights and she would have been home alone. I know how that feels, staying in an empty house after everyone leaves, so I arranged to spend the night.
We invited her next door neighbor girlfriend to join us for the after party party. She had had to work so could not join us for the dinner party. She arrived in her PJ's as by the time we had been able to touch base with her she was already dressed for bed. You can do that with a Chick party, show up in PJs. That is why I love them.
I didn't have a swim suit for the hot tub so I just wore my undies. The hot tub is a beautiful round one sunk into the deck. The house is set for complete privacy with a cedar forest surround. The heat was turned up to a perfect temperature. The fire was still going as I had been stoking it all during the evening with a conveniently stacked pile of wood just steps away. I haven't had a chick get away weekend in I can't think how long. The nice thing about it was I hadn't even left town, no long drive.
We sat in that hot tub for hours before moving the conversation inside. Wrapped in towels, we talked for more hours. Or at least it felt that way. I am told it really wasn't past midnight when we finally crawled into bed. But to give me some credit, the party had started at 4pm. I had played eighteen holes of golf and gone to a Zumba class in the morning.
In the morning, Sunday, we were up at eight. Funny how our internal time clocks wont let us sleep late anymore. We spent the day watching a marathon of Gray's Anatomy on Netflix. That show is so addictive. I had already seen all the episodes we watched, and knew what was going to happen, and I still laughed and got teary eyed and yelled at Meredith for being an idiot for letting McDreamy Shepard get away.
We ate left overs for lunch. Eventually I had to go home. My girlfriend's children would be returning and I knew I still had the week's laundry to sort and put away. Our new chore is for the boys to give me the time on the weekend, and carry upstairs all the accumulated laundry from the week. It has to be hung up properly and put away. I inspect the job and it is done correctly before we quit. Everyone should have enough pants and underwear and socks to get through the next school week prepared. The pile downstairs is gone and all the dirty laundry should be finished washing.
In a day, I will have a new pile of dirty laundry to do, but the huge mess is contained for a day. This process is working well. I do it when Tom is home, though he hides out during the process. Just having him in the house is threat enough for the boys to finish the job well. Riley heaves sighs and moans that putting laundry away causes him stress, my tone of voice is unpleasant and bothers him being ordered about, but he keeps working until we are done. If Tom weren't home this chore turns into a disastrous yelling match for me, as the boys crawl slow step up the stairs and take forever returning for the next haul. With Tom in the house, the job gets done with reasonable speed. Trevor has even figured out that there is an end to the pile and then the job is done.
Trevor had a real job this weekend. Those neighbors called, the ones with family at the club. He wanted Trevor to come over and hang dry wall. Another young man, who was a relative, was also helping. The other boy was getting $10 an hour, so they payed Trevor the same rate. They worked from 10am to 4pm on Saturday. I had to steal him away for the BBq. Trevor worked another half hour on Sunday just to finish up. They ran out of Dry wall so they said they would call when they got ready to do some more next time. They have two small children. Probably work during the week. Finding time and scheduling around the child care, it took three weeks for them to call this time. Trevor can really only work weekends because of school.
He did have the opportunity to show his baby sitting skills. The dad ran out on an errand. The wife and smallest child were gone all day. Trevor was left with the toddler. He had to change a really poopy diaper. He did it without complaint and with professionalism. Not using up the whole box of wipes like some might do in the same circumstances.
Trevor was quite pleased with himself and the $65 he made. I asked him if he wanted to put any of it in the bank for his Band Disney trip. He will need $1500 to $2000 including spending money. He gave me $40 to deposit. I was very proud of him. He said the neighbors were disappointed he wasn't 16 so he could run errands for them. I mentioned Riley, but Trevor said he didn't want to share the job. Riley will just have to find his own gig.
A good weekend was had by all.
The round was delightful. I had been worried as I had heard the women I was playing with were really good. Turns out they had only recently, in the last couple of years, started to golf. They were natural athletes so could really hit the ball, but we all had our holes that we blew up. We had a fun round. I will do it again. I just wish the day hadn't been so rushed with all these obligations falling on the same day. I had to run after our round and couldn't hang to enjoy the afterward, as one of my dearest friends had demanded I save the date for her BBQ weeks ago.
The boys and I went to the BBQ at our friend's house Saturday night. Tom was invited, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to watch the Tigers game so he passed on the good food and good company to sit at home and be able to yell at the TV in the comfort of his own home. He had been reprimanded at the club for his excessive exuberance while watching one of the other games this week. I gave him his hall pass on the party. He is also doing a two day tournament of golf this weekend. He is in his happy place.
The boys had a blast. The teens all played games in the living room. She has two delightful and beautiful daughters. A couple of the other guests had teen girls. You could hear Trevor's happy voice and Riley's laughter in the living room, while sitting out on the deck. The weather cooperated beautifully. There was a fire in the deck chimney. I sipped a really expensive Tequila my girlfriend had bought especially for me to try. Tequila is easy to make last a long time sipping. Just the touch of it to your lips results in a burning sensation. One small shot glass can last hours.
The boys ended up getting a ride home with some other friends that came so I could have a sleep over chick night with my girlfriend. Both her children were going out for overnights and she would have been home alone. I know how that feels, staying in an empty house after everyone leaves, so I arranged to spend the night.
We invited her next door neighbor girlfriend to join us for the after party party. She had had to work so could not join us for the dinner party. She arrived in her PJ's as by the time we had been able to touch base with her she was already dressed for bed. You can do that with a Chick party, show up in PJs. That is why I love them.
I didn't have a swim suit for the hot tub so I just wore my undies. The hot tub is a beautiful round one sunk into the deck. The house is set for complete privacy with a cedar forest surround. The heat was turned up to a perfect temperature. The fire was still going as I had been stoking it all during the evening with a conveniently stacked pile of wood just steps away. I haven't had a chick get away weekend in I can't think how long. The nice thing about it was I hadn't even left town, no long drive.
We sat in that hot tub for hours before moving the conversation inside. Wrapped in towels, we talked for more hours. Or at least it felt that way. I am told it really wasn't past midnight when we finally crawled into bed. But to give me some credit, the party had started at 4pm. I had played eighteen holes of golf and gone to a Zumba class in the morning.
In the morning, Sunday, we were up at eight. Funny how our internal time clocks wont let us sleep late anymore. We spent the day watching a marathon of Gray's Anatomy on Netflix. That show is so addictive. I had already seen all the episodes we watched, and knew what was going to happen, and I still laughed and got teary eyed and yelled at Meredith for being an idiot for letting McDreamy Shepard get away.
We ate left overs for lunch. Eventually I had to go home. My girlfriend's children would be returning and I knew I still had the week's laundry to sort and put away. Our new chore is for the boys to give me the time on the weekend, and carry upstairs all the accumulated laundry from the week. It has to be hung up properly and put away. I inspect the job and it is done correctly before we quit. Everyone should have enough pants and underwear and socks to get through the next school week prepared. The pile downstairs is gone and all the dirty laundry should be finished washing.
In a day, I will have a new pile of dirty laundry to do, but the huge mess is contained for a day. This process is working well. I do it when Tom is home, though he hides out during the process. Just having him in the house is threat enough for the boys to finish the job well. Riley heaves sighs and moans that putting laundry away causes him stress, my tone of voice is unpleasant and bothers him being ordered about, but he keeps working until we are done. If Tom weren't home this chore turns into a disastrous yelling match for me, as the boys crawl slow step up the stairs and take forever returning for the next haul. With Tom in the house, the job gets done with reasonable speed. Trevor has even figured out that there is an end to the pile and then the job is done.
Trevor had a real job this weekend. Those neighbors called, the ones with family at the club. He wanted Trevor to come over and hang dry wall. Another young man, who was a relative, was also helping. The other boy was getting $10 an hour, so they payed Trevor the same rate. They worked from 10am to 4pm on Saturday. I had to steal him away for the BBq. Trevor worked another half hour on Sunday just to finish up. They ran out of Dry wall so they said they would call when they got ready to do some more next time. They have two small children. Probably work during the week. Finding time and scheduling around the child care, it took three weeks for them to call this time. Trevor can really only work weekends because of school.
He did have the opportunity to show his baby sitting skills. The dad ran out on an errand. The wife and smallest child were gone all day. Trevor was left with the toddler. He had to change a really poopy diaper. He did it without complaint and with professionalism. Not using up the whole box of wipes like some might do in the same circumstances.
Trevor was quite pleased with himself and the $65 he made. I asked him if he wanted to put any of it in the bank for his Band Disney trip. He will need $1500 to $2000 including spending money. He gave me $40 to deposit. I was very proud of him. He said the neighbors were disappointed he wasn't 16 so he could run errands for them. I mentioned Riley, but Trevor said he didn't want to share the job. Riley will just have to find his own gig.
A good weekend was had by all.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Teeth cleaning
I finally made the appointment to get me teeth cleaned. Went in this morning. Just a cleaning $90. No pictures or Doctor visit as I am trying to be frugal and we don't have dental coverage. I just can't stand not having my teeth cleaned regularly. I had to sign a waver stating if my teeth fall out due to no x-rays the office is not at fault. It just feels so good to have clean shiny teeth again. The boys go in next week.
I also opened a new bank account. I miss my old bank and its user friendly on line access. I couldn't stand Bank America anymore. Making me wait ten days when adding a merchant to Bill payer, or wanting to know where my friends bank in order to mail them a check. I would put in my request to add a person to send a check to, and the information would not take. I would wait the ten days and still my new person would not be added. I had to hand write a check.
I know that seems petty, but with bill payer there is a record easy to find if I ever need to go back and look. I can break the payments up for tax purposes in neat little printouts showing my expenses in categories. If I hand write a check all I get is a coded number on my account. No record of category of expense whether it was for insurance or food or cars, unless I open up the check each time and physically look at the picture of the check on line. With bill payer I can click on my utility company and see the history of as far back as I want to go. See if my utility costs have gone up or down or my grocery bill week to week has changed, how often I am filling up on gas. There is just so much information available if the system would work.
I used my old bank's bill payer for everything. Bank America is just not as user friendly. I am going to try somewhere else. Unlimited merchants, easy access, good record keeping capacity. We'll see how it goes.
Meanwhile, the floors still wait for completion. I am close to the far wall now. Tom and I are dwelling on how to install the last three or four rows. The nail gun doesn't fit that close to the wall. You can't swing the hammer to hit the ball. The handle of the gun hits the wall. I suggested gluing the last boards in the tongues. I will let you know what we figure out. We are so close to being done.
We are into week two of the project, so buying the nail gun was a good call. I would have had to rent for two to three weeks and been at the price of buying one.
I also opened a new bank account. I miss my old bank and its user friendly on line access. I couldn't stand Bank America anymore. Making me wait ten days when adding a merchant to Bill payer, or wanting to know where my friends bank in order to mail them a check. I would put in my request to add a person to send a check to, and the information would not take. I would wait the ten days and still my new person would not be added. I had to hand write a check.
I know that seems petty, but with bill payer there is a record easy to find if I ever need to go back and look. I can break the payments up for tax purposes in neat little printouts showing my expenses in categories. If I hand write a check all I get is a coded number on my account. No record of category of expense whether it was for insurance or food or cars, unless I open up the check each time and physically look at the picture of the check on line. With bill payer I can click on my utility company and see the history of as far back as I want to go. See if my utility costs have gone up or down or my grocery bill week to week has changed, how often I am filling up on gas. There is just so much information available if the system would work.
I used my old bank's bill payer for everything. Bank America is just not as user friendly. I am going to try somewhere else. Unlimited merchants, easy access, good record keeping capacity. We'll see how it goes.
Meanwhile, the floors still wait for completion. I am close to the far wall now. Tom and I are dwelling on how to install the last three or four rows. The nail gun doesn't fit that close to the wall. You can't swing the hammer to hit the ball. The handle of the gun hits the wall. I suggested gluing the last boards in the tongues. I will let you know what we figure out. We are so close to being done.
We are into week two of the project, so buying the nail gun was a good call. I would have had to rent for two to three weeks and been at the price of buying one.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Tigers Game
Monday night and Tuesday night sports were on the TVs. For the past few days for that matter. It has slowed down the floor laying project. Last night Tom just said no. He wanted uninterrupted TV viewing, no nail gun. I laid the underlayment and prepped quietly. Pulled the carpet now that the slates have been moved out of the way. We still have the TV area, but Tom is waiting until the absolute last minute to do that area.
Trevor got a job at school. He saw an add for kitchen help at lunch. Free lunch with the volunteerism. He was the first to apply. He might have been bumped for an upper class mate but only one other, a girl, applied. He is the first Freshman to be so motivated. He is a good kid with a great work ethic. Free lunch is a great motivator, but I was just proud of him for taking the initiative. I told him if he was getting free lunch, I would put his lunch money into his bank account. He is saving for the band trip next year, Disney land.
Riley is crankily making up his missed assignments. Test today in math. Still has to approach Science. Has some make up quizzes in other classes also. Plugging right along but cranky.
Trevor got a job at school. He saw an add for kitchen help at lunch. Free lunch with the volunteerism. He was the first to apply. He might have been bumped for an upper class mate but only one other, a girl, applied. He is the first Freshman to be so motivated. He is a good kid with a great work ethic. Free lunch is a great motivator, but I was just proud of him for taking the initiative. I told him if he was getting free lunch, I would put his lunch money into his bank account. He is saving for the band trip next year, Disney land.
Riley is crankily making up his missed assignments. Test today in math. Still has to approach Science. Has some make up quizzes in other classes also. Plugging right along but cranky.
Monday, October 3, 2011
sore muscles
We are about half way through the flooring install. It takes a lot longer and much more care than the laminate to install, but the end result is real and beautiful. We are loving it. Tom just spelled me from my turn working in the room. It is very physical work, crawling across the floor setting boards in place with the hammer and hit block.
You don't hit the wood directly, you use a blocking piece about six inches long that disperses the hammer strength along more of the board, prevents the board from being noticeably dented or bruised. You then come back over the same line of boards with the staple gun, using a special rubber weighted hammer to hit the end of the gun, a big black ball is located there. Hit the end just right to release the air and set the staple just so, in the tongue of the board, every six to 10 inches. Be sure to put a staple near both ends of the board to prevent the board from warping or lifting later. If you don't hit the button hard, you can end up with an only partially set staple which then has to be dealt with and is time consuming. The staple has to be hammered in or cut off. They don't pull out easily. It is easier just to snap a bad staple off or hammer it down. Set a new staple nearby. A badly set staple is a pain to deal with, so don't misfire the staple gun if you can help it.
Our boards are over three inches wide. They sell boards thinner. I can't imagine the patience it takes to set thinner boards. This project is already long enough. Laminate comes in six inch widths. It can be installed in much less than half the time. Snap and click the boards in place. The only cuts are at the ends. No staples to misfire. The boards are set in place and snapped together at the same time virtually. No going back over to set and then back over again to nail. But there is no comparison to the look. Real wood is real wood.
Wood is a natural material so you have to get used to seeing small flaws. The first day Tom and I were pointing out little spaces until we realized that is nature of the beast. I was so impressed when Tom finally got the bull nose installed. You can't tell where the cut points are at all. Once the bull nose was set we could continue with the rest of the room.
Yesterday we moved the furniture from one side of the room to the now finished side of the room in order to do the floors on the not finished side. The pallet in the garage has shrunk to less than half the boxes. I just hope now that I have enough. If we run out, we'll just tile the kitchen area in the room.
You don't hit the wood directly, you use a blocking piece about six inches long that disperses the hammer strength along more of the board, prevents the board from being noticeably dented or bruised. You then come back over the same line of boards with the staple gun, using a special rubber weighted hammer to hit the end of the gun, a big black ball is located there. Hit the end just right to release the air and set the staple just so, in the tongue of the board, every six to 10 inches. Be sure to put a staple near both ends of the board to prevent the board from warping or lifting later. If you don't hit the button hard, you can end up with an only partially set staple which then has to be dealt with and is time consuming. The staple has to be hammered in or cut off. They don't pull out easily. It is easier just to snap a bad staple off or hammer it down. Set a new staple nearby. A badly set staple is a pain to deal with, so don't misfire the staple gun if you can help it.
Our boards are over three inches wide. They sell boards thinner. I can't imagine the patience it takes to set thinner boards. This project is already long enough. Laminate comes in six inch widths. It can be installed in much less than half the time. Snap and click the boards in place. The only cuts are at the ends. No staples to misfire. The boards are set in place and snapped together at the same time virtually. No going back over to set and then back over again to nail. But there is no comparison to the look. Real wood is real wood.
Wood is a natural material so you have to get used to seeing small flaws. The first day Tom and I were pointing out little spaces until we realized that is nature of the beast. I was so impressed when Tom finally got the bull nose installed. You can't tell where the cut points are at all. Once the bull nose was set we could continue with the rest of the room.
Yesterday we moved the furniture from one side of the room to the now finished side of the room in order to do the floors on the not finished side. The pallet in the garage has shrunk to less than half the boxes. I just hope now that I have enough. If we run out, we'll just tile the kitchen area in the room.
This house will be here, with us in it, thirty years from now, with luck. Our hard wood floors will still look lovely. Laminate, well, it is laminate. It is like vinyl, practical and inexpensive. I will probably put it in Riley's room upstairs, like the old house.
Riley's floor now that the carpeting is removed, is fiber board with a paper finish to make it look like hardwood panels. These panels are laid out like plywood sub floor, with surface nails and rough cut seams. I am trying to figure out how to seal the rough seams. We can live with it for a while if I can seal these deep one inch seams. I just can't figure out what the previous owners were planning to do with this floor.
Under the fiber board flooring is one inch thick cedar planks. I would expose the planks except for the fact they are grooved just like they are in the ceiling below. Quarter inch deep grooves every four inches look beautiful on the ceiling, but not so good under your feet. That is one reason the sub floor was laid on top of the cedar. It could have been a cheap way to finish the upstairs if the first owner ran out of money while under construction.
I can hear the staple gun going as Tom continues to plug away at his man cave. My hands are sore from swinging the weighted hammer and from tapping the boards into place. My wrists hurt from swinging the tools. My back hurts from being stooped over. My shoulders hurt from muscles that are doing things they haven't done for a long time. Tom told me yesterday that he could tell I was five years younger, as he lay in bed recouperating from his own exertions with the floor installion.
Riley went to school today. He was still coughing. I told him to call if he needed a ride after school, if he was going to stay after and start making up classes. Five days, six classes a day, that is 30 make up hours. It will take the rest of the semester. I can only hope he doesn't miss any more days. I know he will be exhausted.
Math should be easy to do at home if the teacher would just send it. Tom can help Riley with math, or even I can. But Tom can explain things better than me, I have found. The boys argue less with their father than with me.
English was wonderful. She sent work home so Riley doesn't have that much to make up. The rest, we will just have to wait and see. I told Riley I would pick him up if he had to stay after school. That way he might start scheduling his make up stuff right away knowing he was getting a ride. I also figured he was going to be so tired he wouldn't want to walk home, save his energy.
Tom is not feeling well himself. He is blaming Riley for giving him a cold. I just say drink fluids and wash your hands and don't share utensils or cups. I may have to get back to the floor install sooner as a result. My break may be short lived.
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Volcabulary
Girls don't have phone numbers any more, they have digits. Trevor got in the car with me when I picked him up after homecoming. He had performed in the band in full uniform, a big drum, the biggest on the field, so big he couldn't see over it. The band had marched out on the field. Trevor's drum had kept tipping sideways so he could see where his feet were going.
I had seen a young band member girl tying Trevor's shoes, as I watch from the stadium bleachers, just prior to marching out on the field, since he couldn't bend over himself with the giant drum strapped to his front. He did a great job. He had to, as the drum could be heard above all other instruments and helps keep the beat. he screws up, and everyone knows it even the un musical.
After his pre game performance I snuck out. I didn't know any of the kids and didn't see any parents I knew to hang with. I texted an old friend who used to hang with me at our old school during the games, just to tell her I missed her company. I went home to help tom install more flooring. We dwell some more on the bull nose piece and prep for tackling the floors the next day. Trevor calls just as I am beginning to get worried for his ride home. It is just after 10:00pm. I had purposefully left Trevor with no money so he would have to check in. He had not done quite as well in math this week. He forgot to turn over the paper and do the back side. As a result I told him no extra cash for the game. I am glad he was on restriction of funds because as he got in the car he told me if he had money he would have gone to the homecoming dance. As it was I had just become nervous that he hadn't called yet when he did call for a pick up.
In my day you had a date and dressed formal for the dance. Now it is a show up in whatever kind of affair. The court was dressed up in ball gowns, but the rest of the people attending the dance were coming from the game. Well, I assume in my day people dressed up, I never went to the homecoming dance.
Trevor is impressed by one of his band members. This guy already has the digits of a girl. "Excuse me?" I ask. What is a digit, "The phone number" . The new phrase for getting a girl's number is getting her digits. The girl writes her number on your hand. Trevor says young men can have sweaty hands so you have to be careful not to sweat the number away before you save it in your phone.
I am ready for bed by the time we get home.
I am up early, comparatively early from the rest of the family, the next day. The interior decorator is coming at 9:30. We walk through the house. she agrees that the island is awful in the kitchen. She thinks the laundry needs to be moved and ont into the basement as Tom would like. We move some furniture around. I have to laugh as I thought I had a lot of furniture, but this house has room for more. Once she finds new locations for things, I am amazed at how much room we have for more. I may even have room for the pieces Tom wants out of the basement.
I learned a lesson on lighting. I need to go buy halogen light bulbs. All those light bulbs I bought are all wrong. They keep the light in the can in the ceiling. you put a halogen light where it is supposed to go and you will be amazed at the light being down with you where you need it and not just a bright light in your ceiling. I can see that was an expensive lesson, but it is a difference so dramatic even I see it. I don't know what I am going to do with all these wrong bulbs. They do work in lamps.
We also hung some art work. I wish I could have afforded more than just the two hours of the decorator's time. She was worth every penny. She was a lovely mediator for Tom's and my ideas. she had some great suggestions to make our finances work with our grandious plans.
she suggested just doing the upper cabinets in the kitchen to save money. Check in the can lighting to see if we can remove the dropped ceiling and put in track lighting in the kitchen to make it feel taller and roomier.
A lot of ideas to mull over and pick from. It was a great morning.
I had seen a young band member girl tying Trevor's shoes, as I watch from the stadium bleachers, just prior to marching out on the field, since he couldn't bend over himself with the giant drum strapped to his front. He did a great job. He had to, as the drum could be heard above all other instruments and helps keep the beat. he screws up, and everyone knows it even the un musical.
After his pre game performance I snuck out. I didn't know any of the kids and didn't see any parents I knew to hang with. I texted an old friend who used to hang with me at our old school during the games, just to tell her I missed her company. I went home to help tom install more flooring. We dwell some more on the bull nose piece and prep for tackling the floors the next day. Trevor calls just as I am beginning to get worried for his ride home. It is just after 10:00pm. I had purposefully left Trevor with no money so he would have to check in. He had not done quite as well in math this week. He forgot to turn over the paper and do the back side. As a result I told him no extra cash for the game. I am glad he was on restriction of funds because as he got in the car he told me if he had money he would have gone to the homecoming dance. As it was I had just become nervous that he hadn't called yet when he did call for a pick up.
In my day you had a date and dressed formal for the dance. Now it is a show up in whatever kind of affair. The court was dressed up in ball gowns, but the rest of the people attending the dance were coming from the game. Well, I assume in my day people dressed up, I never went to the homecoming dance.
Trevor is impressed by one of his band members. This guy already has the digits of a girl. "Excuse me?" I ask. What is a digit, "The phone number" . The new phrase for getting a girl's number is getting her digits. The girl writes her number on your hand. Trevor says young men can have sweaty hands so you have to be careful not to sweat the number away before you save it in your phone.
I am ready for bed by the time we get home.
I am up early, comparatively early from the rest of the family, the next day. The interior decorator is coming at 9:30. We walk through the house. she agrees that the island is awful in the kitchen. She thinks the laundry needs to be moved and ont into the basement as Tom would like. We move some furniture around. I have to laugh as I thought I had a lot of furniture, but this house has room for more. Once she finds new locations for things, I am amazed at how much room we have for more. I may even have room for the pieces Tom wants out of the basement.
I learned a lesson on lighting. I need to go buy halogen light bulbs. All those light bulbs I bought are all wrong. They keep the light in the can in the ceiling. you put a halogen light where it is supposed to go and you will be amazed at the light being down with you where you need it and not just a bright light in your ceiling. I can see that was an expensive lesson, but it is a difference so dramatic even I see it. I don't know what I am going to do with all these wrong bulbs. They do work in lamps.
We also hung some art work. I wish I could have afforded more than just the two hours of the decorator's time. She was worth every penny. She was a lovely mediator for Tom's and my ideas. she had some great suggestions to make our finances work with our grandious plans.
she suggested just doing the upper cabinets in the kitchen to save money. Check in the can lighting to see if we can remove the dropped ceiling and put in track lighting in the kitchen to make it feel taller and roomier.
A lot of ideas to mull over and pick from. It was a great morning.
Coughing
I can't believe the difference. I asked my girlfriend if they were using the air filter I gave them. They had said their son didn't like the noise initially. If they weren't using it, I wanted it back. Riley's fluid in his lungs with that awful deep cough, I wanted to filter the air in his room. this house has been empty for so long it smells musty at times.
I went into Riley's room while he was sleeping and started to cut out the carpet. I just cut around the furniture and shoved the clothes on the floor into a pile next to his bed. I removed a huge chunk of carpet. The dust and sand underneath the carpet and pad made me feel more confident on my choice. I removed all the staples that were securing the pad.
Riley finally woke from his codeine induced sleep and rolled over. He was amazed. "What the heck!!!". He hadn't even known I was working. He loved the carpet gone as much as I did. He said it looked better. I warned him not to role his office chair around the room as the noise could be heard in the office below and now there was no padding. I still have to move the furniture and get the carpet under the bed. It may just be psychological but I think his room smells better already. Even Tom who gave me the green light to rip it out said he figures the carpets contribute to the musty smell.
My girlfriend dropped by with the air filter. She said she had been talking to her husband about getting it back to me as soon as she read that Riley was sick. I plugged it back in and changed the filter. I could tell it needed a new filter with the dust trapped inside.
Last night, second day of antibiotics with a double dose the first day to get us started, Riley slept soundly. This morning I went into his room. He was so still that I reached down and felt his forehead to see if he was still warm and breathing. Between the air filter in his room again and the antibiotics, this bug has been knocked out of the park.
Baseball season playoffs are going and its pretty exciting. Tom has the TV on the game while we work on the floor. We are trying to get a rhythm going. We are both critical of each other's ideas and work as we both have differing ideas on how things should be done. But we are learning how to politely share ideas without offending or being negative about the other ones.
The problem is that bull nose right at the stair. How do we meld the floor with it. I wish we had waited to start at that point first. But we didn't, so now we have to deal with blending the floor in at that joint. Two thoughts are nail down right there at the joint having cut all the pieces coming into it, or randomly blend out in the floor area and face nail at random lengths each strip where we have to cut to make the tight fit in the run. It wont be covered by molding. Another way to do it is with a transition piece, but we like that smooth line we have created.
The floors look fantastic. We have about a quarter done. We lost two days of work dwelling on the bull nose. Today our goal is to get it permanently installed so we can continue. Each row builds on the last so you can only go six inches close to the end of the last row, until we cut for the very end. The bull nose has held up the whole room as a result.
We did establish our roles while Tom helps and does the hard cuts. He wants it done perfectly so the easiest way to achieve that is to have him do those hard cuts. I get the boards and lay them out in the random pattern hammering them in place, while he hammers them in place permanently with the air compressor nail gun.
Tom said he ran into someone at work. He was shared the install story. The guy said he had an nail gun we could use. Tom said too late we had already bought one and were committed. The guy had figured out the same issue, that the floors really take a couple of weeks doing it yourself. At the rental price, you might as well buy the tool rather than rent it. The convenience and time is worth the cost.
Once the bull nose is in, I can work on the floors while Tom is at work. Meanwhile I can work on removing the rest of the carpets in Riley's room as a distraction. I will have to move the furniture to get the rest of the carpet out. I was just amazed at the health difference the air filter and the carpets are making.
I did feel bad about asking for the filter back, but their son's numbers are better than ours now. They may go get a filter themselves. Since they have been using the filter their son has not had any serious complications, no more new infections to slow his progress. They can get a filter delivered in a couple of days.
We talked when they dropped off the filter. Riley coughs and coughs, I tell them about how the doctor and Riley got a good laugh at my expense about putting Riley in a bubble. I point out that by taking him out of his sanitary bubble this is what happens, he gets seriously sick. I am building the bubble in his room again.
The dad shared a story about some poisonous mushrooms found in a planter at work. One of the staff threw them away in the trash right next to where he works. He left the office went home and stripped at the door, leaving his shoes outside to be washed off. He showered and tossed everything into the laundry immediately. This is the extent we go to keep our immune suppressed children safe. They totally understood my paranoia. It is lovely to have friends that get it and understand.
My sister had also called earlier this week. she had given me the air filter initially. Her son has a compromised immune system. She told me to put the filter back in Riley's room when she heard he was sick. She now has a whole house water filter she wanted to tell me about. She said her son was doing even better with the filtered water. They live in a community that last year had a contaminated water warning go out city wide. Everyone was told to boil their drinking water for five minutes for a week.
I just can't get over how quickly Riley improved with the filter in his room. He slept soundly all night. I still haven't heard him cough yet this morning. He is not up yet. No one is. But we are expecting a local interior decorator to come and talk kitchen ideas and other projects to us this morning. So I will have to wake everyone soon.
I need to tidy up. It is amazing how messy we are with just one day of everyone home.
I went into Riley's room while he was sleeping and started to cut out the carpet. I just cut around the furniture and shoved the clothes on the floor into a pile next to his bed. I removed a huge chunk of carpet. The dust and sand underneath the carpet and pad made me feel more confident on my choice. I removed all the staples that were securing the pad.
Riley finally woke from his codeine induced sleep and rolled over. He was amazed. "What the heck!!!". He hadn't even known I was working. He loved the carpet gone as much as I did. He said it looked better. I warned him not to role his office chair around the room as the noise could be heard in the office below and now there was no padding. I still have to move the furniture and get the carpet under the bed. It may just be psychological but I think his room smells better already. Even Tom who gave me the green light to rip it out said he figures the carpets contribute to the musty smell.
My girlfriend dropped by with the air filter. She said she had been talking to her husband about getting it back to me as soon as she read that Riley was sick. I plugged it back in and changed the filter. I could tell it needed a new filter with the dust trapped inside.
Last night, second day of antibiotics with a double dose the first day to get us started, Riley slept soundly. This morning I went into his room. He was so still that I reached down and felt his forehead to see if he was still warm and breathing. Between the air filter in his room again and the antibiotics, this bug has been knocked out of the park.
Baseball season playoffs are going and its pretty exciting. Tom has the TV on the game while we work on the floor. We are trying to get a rhythm going. We are both critical of each other's ideas and work as we both have differing ideas on how things should be done. But we are learning how to politely share ideas without offending or being negative about the other ones.
The problem is that bull nose right at the stair. How do we meld the floor with it. I wish we had waited to start at that point first. But we didn't, so now we have to deal with blending the floor in at that joint. Two thoughts are nail down right there at the joint having cut all the pieces coming into it, or randomly blend out in the floor area and face nail at random lengths each strip where we have to cut to make the tight fit in the run. It wont be covered by molding. Another way to do it is with a transition piece, but we like that smooth line we have created.
The floors look fantastic. We have about a quarter done. We lost two days of work dwelling on the bull nose. Today our goal is to get it permanently installed so we can continue. Each row builds on the last so you can only go six inches close to the end of the last row, until we cut for the very end. The bull nose has held up the whole room as a result.
We did establish our roles while Tom helps and does the hard cuts. He wants it done perfectly so the easiest way to achieve that is to have him do those hard cuts. I get the boards and lay them out in the random pattern hammering them in place, while he hammers them in place permanently with the air compressor nail gun.
Tom said he ran into someone at work. He was shared the install story. The guy said he had an nail gun we could use. Tom said too late we had already bought one and were committed. The guy had figured out the same issue, that the floors really take a couple of weeks doing it yourself. At the rental price, you might as well buy the tool rather than rent it. The convenience and time is worth the cost.
Once the bull nose is in, I can work on the floors while Tom is at work. Meanwhile I can work on removing the rest of the carpets in Riley's room as a distraction. I will have to move the furniture to get the rest of the carpet out. I was just amazed at the health difference the air filter and the carpets are making.
I did feel bad about asking for the filter back, but their son's numbers are better than ours now. They may go get a filter themselves. Since they have been using the filter their son has not had any serious complications, no more new infections to slow his progress. They can get a filter delivered in a couple of days.
We talked when they dropped off the filter. Riley coughs and coughs, I tell them about how the doctor and Riley got a good laugh at my expense about putting Riley in a bubble. I point out that by taking him out of his sanitary bubble this is what happens, he gets seriously sick. I am building the bubble in his room again.
The dad shared a story about some poisonous mushrooms found in a planter at work. One of the staff threw them away in the trash right next to where he works. He left the office went home and stripped at the door, leaving his shoes outside to be washed off. He showered and tossed everything into the laundry immediately. This is the extent we go to keep our immune suppressed children safe. They totally understood my paranoia. It is lovely to have friends that get it and understand.
My sister had also called earlier this week. she had given me the air filter initially. Her son has a compromised immune system. She told me to put the filter back in Riley's room when she heard he was sick. She now has a whole house water filter she wanted to tell me about. She said her son was doing even better with the filtered water. They live in a community that last year had a contaminated water warning go out city wide. Everyone was told to boil their drinking water for five minutes for a week.
I just can't get over how quickly Riley improved with the filter in his room. He slept soundly all night. I still haven't heard him cough yet this morning. He is not up yet. No one is. But we are expecting a local interior decorator to come and talk kitchen ideas and other projects to us this morning. So I will have to wake everyone soon.
I need to tidy up. It is amazing how messy we are with just one day of everyone home.
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