Christmas 07

We had a great Christmas Day with all the family here. We loved having the family here together, eating lots of food, playing games and Wii, taking the grandchildren to see Uncle Ben (Heather's husband for those not in the family) and all the firetrucks since he couldn't be with us to open gifts, and generally just having a good time hanging out together. We ended the day with most of us watching a movie together and eating some more.

December Rush

My family know most of what I am posting, but this is for the benefit of friends this Christmas season. I am so late getting my Christmas cards out, but I will give this link to old friends I haven't seen in a while.

Another December has almost flown by in a blur. We sang the Messiah again and were very occupied with rehearsals since late October. I sang one of the alto solos. Andrew, Kara and Shannon sang Messiah with me this year. We had fun going to rehearsals and performances together.

The week after the Messiah was our ward Christmas program. Shannon was directing the choir this year and it was a pretty good program. I played flute on two of the songs and had a little vocal solo. It went pretty well but made me realize how rusty I am. I've been singing much more than playing flute in recent years.Now that all the "command performances" are over we are enjoying the rest of the Christmas season. It is so good to have most of the family here near me. I enjoy being with them so much.

Puppy Love

I watched Caitlin for a few hours Friday while Rusty and Ben went to do a service project. I was trying to do something in the office so she came in. Before I knew it she was in Snowball's bed and he was in her lap. I put some of her shows on the TV and she stayed there over an hour. The surprising thing is that Snowball seemed to love it, too.

Last Craft Show

Anybody need a fountain? :)

This weekend I did what will probably be the last craft show. With a three day investment of time (not to mention booth fee, gas to get there, set-up and tear-down cost, etc.) I sold two fountains. The good thing about it is that they were both ones we made really early, so I have been carrying them around for about 5 years. I may try some other method of selling them, or in fact the whole lot of supplies that I have. It would be an ideal start for someone wanting to start making fountains. Whatever I decide, it will have to wait a while for now. I guess I'll just store all that stuff a little bit longer.

Wish List

For those of you who may need it, I have added a wish list to the blog. I know sometimes it is hard to decide what to give for Christmas or birthdays, so this is a list of things I would use. However, please feel free to do something different. I may add some other items later as I think of more.

"Fat Man in a Little Coat"

Last week I had a garage sale to sell some of what I have been cleaning out of my house. There were still a few of Rick's jackets here, so they were part of the sale. Ben saw this vest that Rick loved to wear and had to model it for us. I was laughing so hard I couldn't breathe.

I made a little money on the garage sale and donated the leftovers to Goodwill. They best thing is to have all the stuff gone! I am excited with every bit of clutter that leaves. It was really nice to have the garage to do this in. It is so much easier to be able to set it up ahead of time and not worry about weather.

Another thing I have had Jerry working on is cleaning out the semi trailer. There are a lot of things in it that are obvious throw-aways, so those are going to the dump. I think it will clear out about half of what is in there. Also, last week he finished moving all the tools and fountains to empty out the band trailer. Now Heather can use it to move and not have to rent a trailer and after that Ben can use it to store his things that are in storage. It is a very liberating feeling to clean out. We have been such pack rats here!

Day at the Zoo

Saturday I went to the Zoo with Shannon, Caitlin and Natalie. We had such a good time. It was an absolutely beautiful day to be outside. It was just beginning to get a little warm when we were ready to leave.

I loved the meercats. They are the most interesting little creatures. There was quite a large exhibit of them. The picture of Shannon and Caitlin in the plastic bubble is in that exhibit.

We had a good time. Thanks to Natalie pushing me around in a wheelchair, we got to see every everything and I didn't have to walk.

Remodeling is Finished!

I am so happy with my office. It looks great - or it will once I get a home for all the stuff in boxes throughout the house. Yesterday after moving all Ben's stuff into a storage unit, Ben Rusty and Jerry moved my desk in. This morning Ben ran all my cords and cables for me and cut a hole so I could have access to the light switch. Now all I have to do is move in my boxes and put things away. This functions so well.

We are all so happy to have Ben and Natalie here. It is hard to believe it isn't just a visit.

Almost Finished

I look forward to the end of this project!!!

All the painting is done except just a few spots of touch-up. The additional hardwood floor is all done. It looks so nice. The old file cabinets have a nice new coat of shiny black paint. It is amazing how much better they look. I am sitting in my office to write this and it is so clean and bright with the new wall paint. It isn't the dark dusty hole it used to be. I may actually be able to work here now.

There is still a lot to sort through and find places for, but I won't be able to do some of that until I get the new desk. Temporarily I am using the bottom half of one of the old ones. I bought the new bookcase for the office, but it was scratched. So I took it back and haven't been able to get another one yet - probably tomorrow. A lot of dust was stirred up when the old carpet was pulled out, so I have gone through all the bookcases, dusting and straightening books. I still need to dust some other places, but it just takes time to get to it all.

Within a few days things should be in a lot better order. I can't wait for all of you to see it.

Ben and Natalie's Latest News

Some of you have heard directly from Ben, but for those who haven't - The sale of their house is complete. There were some surprises and somewhat less profit than originally expected, but it is sold. They will leave Idaho early on Friday Sept. 7 and hope to be here late on the 8th.

Progress

The bathroom is all finished. The halls and living room are painted. The paint is so strange. I picked a color that goes with the sofas. It is a beige with some green in it. The trim color is the lightest shade on the same paint card. It looks cream but obviously has some green in it too. Now that it is on the walls and trim, it changes color depending on what time of day it is and what kind of light is on it. It goes from sage green to khaki to cream. It is so interesting to see what the light does to it. I think I like it, but after I live with it a while I will know better. This week we will finish cleaning out the office and paint it.

Yesterday Andrew came over and did what he has wanted to do for at least 4 years. He wiped the old computer clean - after transferring everything I need to my laptop. It was getting so that I was afraid it was going to lock up one day and not allow me back in, so for now I will use my laptop. I was mostly doing that already and just using the old computer as a storage place. I can hardly wait for my new NEAT, CLEAN office. Andrew has plans for parts of the old computer, and I have the keyboard and monitor if I ever want to use them with the laptop.

I am in the middle of cleaning out the office. A lot of it is in boxes all over the house, so there is still a lot of clutter to deal with. I am cleaning out file cabinets so I can get rid of at least one of them. I want a neat uncluttered office. I don't know how long I will be able to keep it neat, but I am looking forward to finding out.

Translation Appreciated

Thanks to Heather for the translation of "Woot". You remember in the Book of Mormon they had to take the scriptures with them so their language wouldn't be corrupted. I wonder what the English language will be like in 100 years or so after the accumulated effects of text messaging and chat shortcuts. I wonder if we would recognize it.

To change the subject, the painting is moving along. Jerry has started painting the hall, living room and office. It will take a while because the wood is 30 years old and very dry. It really sucks up the paint. The hall is much brighter already with only one coat of paint.

One Project Done

The bathroom remodel is all finished. I tried to make pictures to post, but the room defies being photographed. You can't get far enough away to get more than a small picture of anything. I did get one of the new cabinet. I finally found a nice one at K Mart and I am very happy with it. You will all just have to come see the rest.

The painting of the hallways and the living room has started. The walls are so dried out that it is soaking up a lot of paint. It took a gallon to do the 2 little halls and bedroom doors with only a first coat. This may take a few days...

XM Success

I finally have the XM working again. I found an audio place in Murfreesboro to sort out the problem and solve it. It took the installation of an fm booster module. Evidently about 6 months ago the FCC told XM and Sirius that they were sending too strong a signal, so they were forced to reduce it on all the new radios built after that time. My new radio was one of those. So to get the signal strong enough now to get to the speakers it requires a booster. It sounds like a ridiculous story, but it did solve the problem. I am just happy to have it working again, and my new radio has a little remote. Isn't that cool? I think Bryan has a remote for his Sirius. I am so spoiled, but I really like being able to listen to what I want.

I'll be able to send pictures of the new and improved bathroom pretty soon. The shower is in, most of the painting is done, the flooring is down on the newly exposed part of the floor. Still have to paint the ceiling, put up the additional border, add some molding and paint it, and rehang a towel rack. I think I found the storage cabinet I want, but I have to go see if I can find one. It is at Target and I haven't had very good luck having furniture type stuff shipped from them. Too much damage. However, the website said this piece should be in the local stores, so we will see. I think Jerry should be done with the rest of the construction and painting tomorrow or Friday at the latest.

Hooray!!

I am so excited to hear that Ben and Natalie are coming home. I really would like to get my house finished before they get here, but we'll see. Today the rest of the bathroom is going in. It will be so nice to have floors that aren't falling in or letting ants in...not to mention it will be pretty. I have worked some on cleaning out the office, but it will take days! I think if I can fill a trashcan and a box a day maybe I'll get it done. Ben and Nat have a bigger challenge. They have to sort and pack their whole house.

Dealing with Something Ugly

I am happy to report that the ugly bathtub in the guest bathroom has left the building! It was not a second too soon. (Yes, Andrew, it's what I am doing next.) The whole floor under the tub was rotted out and serving as a nest for ants and who knows what else. We also got out some mold and mildew. Maybe that will help Lisa and Natalie breathe better when they are here.

The earlier bathroom remodel took care of
half of the room and this will do the other half. I don't even feel I'm being extravagant with this one. There was a big hole in the floor under the tub not to mention the mold issues. It was a project that needed to be done for health reasons. I don't know how soon it will all be finished because some plumbing will be rerouted, but Lowes has everything we need in stock. That will help. We have to replace part of the walls, too. I had suspected that tub was leaking around the edges but I couldn't convince Dad of it.

I have also started cleaning out the office. Ugh! What a job! Yesterday we finally got the big metal desk out. One desk down and two to go. I will need a really big trash can for this project. So now you can tell I will have a lot to keep me busy for a while. I am anxious to get the office cleaned out so we can finish painting. I still want to paint the hall, living room and office. Then I hope I can sit back and just enjoy for a while.

More XM problems

I found a new XM radio for a very reasonable price at Walmart. Jerry helped me install it. It is getting power and a signal from XM. The only problem is that it is not letting the sound come through the speakers. Anyone know a place that installs audio equipment you didn't buy from them?

LHS show for 2007

I was shopping at Kroger Saturday evening and saw a band parent wearing the t-shirt for this year's band show. It is the musical "Wicked". That is a show I want to see.

For those of you not familiar with that show, it is based on the Wizard of Oz, from the witch's perspective, I think. I haven't seen it, but I have heard some great music from it. Those of you in this area, let's plan on going to a game or a contest this year. Maybe October wouldn't be too hot or too cold.

I guess Lawson's preference for musicals is still around...

Speaking of musicals, I am not listening to the Broadway station on my XM radio right now. My radio died after a short life of only 1 year and 4 months. That is 4 months after the warranty expired. From what I have read it does no good to call customer service about it because you get those people in India or somewhere. So I am looking for a new radio. It's a bummer going back to regular radio.

More pictures . . .

Snowball's Photo Shoot

On Saturday Shannon did several new pictures of Snowball in her studio. He posed pretty well - for a little while. It seems he has grown a lot since I got him six weeks ago. One of the new pictures should be on the blog now, but I have not figured out how to add some more, yet.

After we made the pictures Shannon and I took Caitlin to "Old McDonald's" (her name for McDonald's) to play on the slides and eat supper. It was fun, and Snowball came along, too, in his little carry cage. He was pretty good as long as he could see me. When I went to get my food he was a little unsettled, but was fine when I came back. I even took him out for a few minutes so all the curious children could pet him.

New template

Shannon came over and helped me make some improvements to the blog. Andrew had told me it looked boring, so I hope this is better. I had done something wrong in creating the first one, so we had to delete it and start over. That is why all your comments from the first posting are gone. (It wouldn't let me edit.) We will put in a different picture of Snowball eventually, but this was what I had for now. There is a lot too much sofa in the picture, but we couldn't edit the picture right now. Shannon will help me fix it later.

Let me know what you think of the new look.

What am I doing with a Blog?

Well, here goes. I am going kicking and screaming into the 21st century with a blog. Who would have thought??? I don't know what I am doing, but I guess I will learn as I go.