I made a mess of things.

Some people may have been wondering what I do with my time. I know Emma does... she wonders why we don't go to the park every day like we used to. Here is the answer.

I started working on the third floor guest room in preparation for anybody who comes to visit... especially when we have the baby.

Here are some photos:

Before.. just a messy room.


My Uncle once tried to remove the wallpaper.... it's kinda hard.


So I bought a wall scraper to speed up the process. Now it's just a mess.


After scraping the one wall... the plaster started to come off... so I helped it along knowing that the chimney ran behind it.




And currently I am at war with the mortar.. removing the old so I can repoint it and get it looking sharp. Here's a photo of the battle storm:


Right now there is about an inch of dust covering EVERYTHING in the room.... including myself


The battery is charged and I'm heading back to the front line. Wish me luck. It's a dirty job.

The Big News!

On the 15th of this month we found out the big news....

We're going to be having a boy! Looks like, even with such few votes, that the majority of the people who took the poll on the right were feeling the correct vibe! I bet some of them voted after they knew. My vote was for a boy. And I didn't really notice it until after we found out... but when we refered to the baby as a boy.. it felt so right. Then Hil decided she thought it was going to be a girl... but it sounded so off when she said "She's wigglin' around in there!" I dunno.

We're both really excited to finally know so we don't have to keep guessing. Now the name game will be a lot easier!

Here's the sonogram:

Moments to pay attention to:
1:10 - Hand Movement
2:30 to 2:45 - He's drinking the Amniotic Fluid!
3:00 - Good view of his little beating heart!
3:40 to 3:48 - Big Kicks!
4:18 to 4:24 - "The Goods!"

Yay! Privacy!

JC Penny was having a HUGE sale on blinds about a month or so ago... so Hil and I indulged. We got three blinds for the living room, and two for the soon-to-be baby's room. We had been living with the 60 year old blinds in the living room since we moved in, and since they weren't 100% operable, we had to keep some ugly yellow drapes up. I didn't realize how expensive blinds were. When they lady said $430 I thought she meant that was the total for the one room... but she was talking about the price of ONE (1) blind. My jaw dropped, and then she said the sale price.. $160. All in all we got $3,000 worth of blinds and shades for under $1,000. What a steal! We should have gotten some for each of our 22 windows.

We got some cellular shades for the baby's room.. and some (real wood) Cherry Wood blinds for the living room. Here are some pics of the living room:

Before. They didn't go the whole way down... hence the ugly yellow drape.


When I touched the blinds to take them down.. they pretty much disintegrated...


Here.. you can see why they did. But hey.. these blinds lasted for SIXTY years! My mom tells tales of taking them completely apart to clean them... each and every slat...


And here are the new ones...


We can finally have complete privacy... and that's a good feeling with the street we live on. And they look good from the outside, too!

"Better Late Than Never" Helloween Post

Hil and I finally managed to get out and away for a party at a friends house. Due to lack of costume motivation and time to pay attention to detail, we had some pretty sorry costumes:



Hil was a pregnant cat and I was a Bible Camp Counselor (with his own agenda... if you know what I mean...). Hil donned cat ears and whiskers and dressed in all black. I, on the other hand, wore a cheesy wig, creepy mustache, glasses, prayer pads, and a name tag from In Touch Ministries (yes.. a real organization. A pretty unfortunate name if you ask me considering all the "things" going on in some of the catholic churches nowadays. You can click HERE to visit their page....) Bible Camp for Young Boys (I made that part up... and used the name of a friend/coworker.). I also carried a 'Bible'. I didn't have a real bible so I used the only book we had that LOOKED like it could be a bible, which was... well.. Darwin's Origin of Species. Irony not totally intended.

We weren't able to stay too late because of our demanding schedules, but it was nice to get out and be social.

Here are some pictures of the 'Max-o-lantern' I carved for a co-worker. I am not as pleased with this one as I was with the first one I did... but it still came out pretty decent. I lost my pumpkin scraper, so I don't think I scraped it thin enough for the mid-tones to come through as much as they did on the Zach-o-lantern. See for yourself:

Original


Max-o-lantern


That's that. You can check out his blog (here) to see a photo sequence of it rotting, if you're into that kind of stuff.

Due to Hil being in school and myself being in Daytona for a very good friends' wedding, we were unable to pass out candy this year. We'll definately try to be around for it next year though.. baby included. Wow that is weird to imagine at this point.

Pumpkin Time!

Hil and I carved our annual pumpkins on.. hmmm... I can't remember what day. It was a couple of days ago.

Anywho... here are some pics:

In the light. Mine on the left.. Hil's on the right.


In the dark.


TJ and his pumpkin posing together.



I also carved another pumpkin for work. Each department had to carve one and I thought it would be cool to do a "Zach-o-lantern"... in honor of my boss, Zach. It was the first time I ever tried something like this.. and had always wanted to. So as I was carving it, the whole time I was kinda disappointed at how it was coming along... thinking it didn't look anything like him. Imagine my surprise when I lit it up... you be the judge.

Here is the picture I used.


Ok.. now.... THIS is the pumpkin lit up in darkness.


Yeah?!?! Yeah?!?!

Just in case you don't believe that's a real pumpkin.. here it is in the light.


It only really looks completely amazing in complete darkness... it makes it 'pop'. This pumpkin took me about 2.5-3 hours to carve. Well worth it.

I've already been commissioned to do two more... which I am doing today... for my co-worker Max (click for his blog).

Pictures of that to follow, soon.

Also soon to follow are pictures of our costumes from a party we went to last night.

Unfortunately.. I'll be on my way to Daytona, FL for a friends wedding, and Hil will be in school on Halloween... so we won't be around to hand out candy to trick-or-treaters.

Anyways... Happy Helloween!

Happy Birthday, Emma!

On October, 8th our little baby turned one year old!
We celebrated at Oh Yeah! (click for article about the new dog and vegan-friendly ice cream shop on Highland Ave.) Yes.. they opened in September. Brrr!).

In attendance were:
-Lab/Mastiff Mix Maggie and owners Josh and Ashley
-Ivy... a white boxer owned by my friend Squeaks and his son Ian. She's Emma's best friend.
-Baby... a Pit Bull mix owned by the newly relocated (to S. Carolina..) Alex
-The Birthday Girl with Hil and myself.

Not too many pictures were had.. as you could imagine trying to get four dogs who haven't seen each other in a while, surrounded by ice cream, and wearing party hats, to stay in one place while trying to get a good picture.

Here are some pics:

Then


Now... at the party


Everyone had something to eat (Hil.. an Avocado), even the dogs! They make sugar-free dog ice-cream.... which was little more than peanut butter flavored ice milk. Anyways.. Emma and Ivy split a tub and then got into a little spat over the ice cream Ivy was still working on. "It's my party and I'll eat your ice cream if I want to...".

Here are some pictures of Emma and Ivy NOT fighting:

Sitting Pretty


Going to work on their kongs... synchronized treat eating. Even their back legs!


It was a good time... and one of the last times the dogs might get together before the cold weather comes.

Happy birthday, Emma!

New Front Door

So we replaced the old aluminum, early 80's storm door on the house. The new door was spakin'... but STILL didn't look inviting or say "Hey!! This is the front door to our home!!". After our doorbell broke... I pried back the green aluminum flashing to discover the original 1880's woodwork underneath. It took a whole summer (and a little of autumn) of sporadic, not so often work sessions to bring it up to speed. Also notice the mail slot my dad and I put in. It took a while to break through the three layers of brick that make up our outside wall... but it's worth it. Now we can leave the front door open, lock the storm door for security but still get our mail.

Here are some photos:

New Door!


The original woodwork as found... notice the layers of paint.


Close-up.



After chipping off the old paint I was left with this...


Then came the sanding... and that wasn't very fun. I'm a perfectionist for things like this... so I got very detailed...


Hi Emma!


A couple coats of primer...


We bought a 36"x20" insulated window for $40... spent $1.50 on contact paper... and $3 on a can of silver spray paint. We cut the numbers out of the contact paper by hand. Here's the finished product....




A very gratifying job complete. We hope to get the house pointed this coming spring and finish off the windows in the same style.. along with painting all the bluish grey black. Our house is going to be the freshest on the block.

I also scored this $350 iron chandelier for $130 at Construction Junction... the local home recycling/rebuilding center.

Summer Family Vacation

I'm going to try to do this chronologically...

We made a trip to Grand Teton National Park in August. We flew to Omaha to meet up with Hil's family, then drove out to the park in an old VW Vanagon. We loved it. Hil has done it many times, but for me... it was finally getting to a place I had always wanted to visit. It was a toss up between Jackson, WY and Portland, OR when I decided to move away.. luckily I made the decision tomove to the same city Hil was moving to. We met up with some old friends from Portland, went on a scenic float trip down the Snake River, went white water rafting, visited Yellowstone, swam in the most gorgeous lake in the world, and spent some quality time not only with family... but with each other.

Here are some photos:

TJ driving the Vanagon


Hil driving the Vanagon


We watched a tornado form just outsidde of Pine Bluffs, WY






I was sitting in the passenger seat on the drive in so I could take in the views




Home sweet home...


Grandpa and Georgia


Mom McClendon and Georgia


TJ swimming in Jackson Lake. Is this heaven?


Hil and TJ in front of the Tetons


Hil waiting for her food at the hippy joint we went to in Jackson


Hil and TJ under "The Arches"


Best view in the world


The Kids


TJ and the Vanagon... on our way home.


Hil and the Vanagon


TJ taming the Giant Jackalope in Dubois, WY


Long distances, hot pavement, and 80 mph cause blown tires. Just outside of Rawlins, WY


Did I mention we found out we were having a baby on this trip?