As I am getting ready for school today, I am wondering where the summer went. It flew by. I guess part of it is because we start so early this year. It's been a fun packed summer with lots of memories. As Pat said in her blog, the cousins have all had such a great time! I cherish every single moment we get to spend together. Soon the grandkids may choose to spend their summers elsewhere. Our house is always so quiet after they leave. But getting to have so many of Pat's grandkids around as well has made it such a special summer. I love how the cousins may not see each other very often but when they get together, it is like they have never been apart. I am so glad to have at least Ella, Hannah, Robert, Alisa, Josh and Anthony near by.
Pat and I got to visit with Mom and Dad this weekend for the quarterly meeting at the home. I'm glad they have those because Mom and Dad love to take us around and introduce us to everyone. (Kind of like when we go to something for Eastern Star or Lodge). It's comforting to know that they live in such a nice place and are so well taken care of and have so many activites to take part in.
Soccer will be starting in just under two weeks. I look forward to going to Ella's games. I'm going to miss seeing Robert playing on the same field. But now we can just add some football to the weekends! I love watching my son coach those little girls! He reminds me so much of Chuck (sorry Angie!) and he has so much patience with those little girls. I wish I could go watch Randi with her gymnastics class, too!
As I write this, Chuck is still busy working on the kitchen. He has all the wiring done for the light switches and outlets. It's so nice to have accessible outlets! I know he thinks it's slow going (and it is) but I see progress every day. It's fun to see everything transformed! The timing was good. I don't have to be here to see all the mess. He's been great about keeping it cleaned up when he finishes each day. It gives him something to do while he's not working. (Well, something besides golf!) I love him dearly for undertaking this project. And I overheard him talking to our brother-in-law the other day about the bathroom so I guess that may be next. I have been trying to document everything with pictures and if I ever learn how to post my pictures, I will share them on my blog.
I jsut want all of you to know how much I love you and how important you are in my life whether I see you often or not. We are so blessed to have such a strong, loving family who always support each other.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
It started with...
My dryer had been taking at least 3 hours to dry a load of clothes and it wouldn't turn off on it's own. If I put a load in at night and forgot to turn it off when I went to bed, it would still be going the next morning. So, without my knowledge, Chuck went out and bought me a new washer and dryer. And he really does listen to me because they were exactly what I had been talking about (steam). Also, I wanted stackables. His idea was to buy them and just put them in but I convinced him to do them as stackables from the beginning. That meant going under the house to replumb and rewire for the back porch. He also had to pull out a cabinet that was aabove the old dryer. He did most of this while I was gone on my trip.
Well, when he finished painting and pulled off the painter's tape, some of the paint came off the wall, even though he and Jordan had sanded and primed first. So I decided I wanted the other cabinet pulled out as well. Now we are going to put a closet maid type shelving system in there. That also led to a new floor. Well, if yu're going to do that, you may as well do the kitchen floor. Oh, and then you may as well paint the kitchen and dining room. And he also pulled out the half wlall between the kitchen and dining room. When we pulled up a corner of the dining room carpet, the hardwood floors are in very good condition so we will pull up that carpept. I also want to paint the kitchen cabinets and Chuck is balking at that. But I think when he sees how nice everything but the cabinets look he'll end up doing those, too. So my house is a total mess, but I'm going back to school anyway, so who cares? (Let's see if I'm still saying that in a couple weeks). I'll bet he wishes he had a job!
Oh, the rewiring was a good thing for Chuck, too. This house is so old that anytime we turned on more than a couple of things and he was out working in the garage, we would blow a fuse. For some strange reason, one side of my kitchen, the bathroom and the garage were all on the same fuse. So now the laundry room is on it's own fuse.
One other note. Jordan and Josh have both been over here helping with the project. So it's made with love by all my guys. Thanks guys! (And thanks wives/girlfriends for letting them do this and taking time away from your families).
Well, when he finished painting and pulled off the painter's tape, some of the paint came off the wall, even though he and Jordan had sanded and primed first. So I decided I wanted the other cabinet pulled out as well. Now we are going to put a closet maid type shelving system in there. That also led to a new floor. Well, if yu're going to do that, you may as well do the kitchen floor. Oh, and then you may as well paint the kitchen and dining room. And he also pulled out the half wlall between the kitchen and dining room. When we pulled up a corner of the dining room carpet, the hardwood floors are in very good condition so we will pull up that carpept. I also want to paint the kitchen cabinets and Chuck is balking at that. But I think when he sees how nice everything but the cabinets look he'll end up doing those, too. So my house is a total mess, but I'm going back to school anyway, so who cares? (Let's see if I'm still saying that in a couple weeks). I'll bet he wishes he had a job!
Oh, the rewiring was a good thing for Chuck, too. This house is so old that anytime we turned on more than a couple of things and he was out working in the garage, we would blow a fuse. For some strange reason, one side of my kitchen, the bathroom and the garage were all on the same fuse. So now the laundry room is on it's own fuse.
One other note. Jordan and Josh have both been over here helping with the project. So it's made with love by all my guys. Thanks guys! (And thanks wives/girlfriends for letting them do this and taking time away from your families).
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Our great adventure
My plan was to blog each night about our trip. Obviously I didn't do that. We had a great time! We spent the evening of the 30th and the 31st in Washington, DC. We used the train to get there the second day rather than trying to drive around DC. We hopped on the double decker tour bus and visited all the monuments. It was actually raining when we got to DC so we spent the first hour in the train station, eating lunch and looking through all the little shops.
On Saturday, we headed to Williamsburg. There we met Cami, Gentry, Judy and Gerry Anderson and went to Colonial Williamsburg. Judy and Gerry were a wealth of knowledge. Most everything was closed, but we walked around and Judy gave us a lot of information about all the homes, taverns, shops, etc. The next day, Cami and Gentry met us again. We got to see a reenactment, tour the governor's palace, tour the capital building, and many other buildings. Bailey got to be the magistrate at the courthouse. It rained again, so we went into some of the shops while the rain was falling and tasted lots of goodies. Then we walked around until it closed. Cami, Bailey and I went to dinner and just enjoyed visiting. (Gentry had to go back home for work). It was a great time.
We had discovered that a brake light and turn light on the rental car were not working, so we got up Monday morning, met Judy at the Jamestown settlement for a short visit there, and then headed to Norfolk to exchange the car. By this time, I had decided I wanted to just turn the car in early and take the train to New York. But the train from Norfolk did not check luggage. We could have gone to Richmond, but it would have cost an extra $1000 to turn the car in there! So we turned it in, and headed on our way. We drove across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. It was amazing! We stopped at the little restaurant/store on the bridge to get a good look. We continued on our way, crossing over the Jersey Turnpike into New York City about 1 AM. Crossing over was another beautiful sight. There were so many lights!
When we got to our hotel (after being lost and having to drive awhile to find it) we couldn't find a parking garage. So we parked on the street in front of the hotel and I had to get up early to move the car. After driving around that morning and still not finding a garage with a parking place, we decided to take the car to the airport and turn it in. We took a bus and the subway back to the hotel. Our hotel ended up being in China Town, and since Bailey didn't really want Chinese food for dinner, we decided to take the subway and just find some place to eat. We ended up at Coney Island and it was a blast! We walked along the boardwalk, ate NY pizza and had ice cream. On the subway home, we met a family from the Bronx. They had been to the beach for the day and were very friendly, answering questions about NY and asking us about California. The next day, we took the double decker bus and saw many of the sights. We stopped at Ground Zero and spent longer than we had intended. It was still very emotional for me. They are in the process of building the memorial and it won't be completed until 2013. But there was a small museum and a memory walk. Then we headed on to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Going over there on the ferry helped us to imagine what it must have been like for the immigrants coming to the United States.
That night was our night to see Lion King on Broadway as well. We managed to find the subway back to the hotel, got ready, and headed out. The play was fantastic. Bailey was sitting right on the aisle which is the best place to be for this show. She loved it! We hadn't eaten dinner so we walked until we found someplace open and had dinner. Then we walked through Time Square and headed over to the Empire State Building. We had seen it earlier in the day, but Bailey wanted to go up to the top. The view at night was beautiful. You could see all the bridges with their lights and all the other lights of the city. We took a bike-drawn taxi back to the subway and headed home. We had to get up early the next morning to head to the airport to come home. There was so much more in each place we visited that we would have loved to see. But it was a great experience and one I am sure neither of us will ever forget!
On Saturday, we headed to Williamsburg. There we met Cami, Gentry, Judy and Gerry Anderson and went to Colonial Williamsburg. Judy and Gerry were a wealth of knowledge. Most everything was closed, but we walked around and Judy gave us a lot of information about all the homes, taverns, shops, etc. The next day, Cami and Gentry met us again. We got to see a reenactment, tour the governor's palace, tour the capital building, and many other buildings. Bailey got to be the magistrate at the courthouse. It rained again, so we went into some of the shops while the rain was falling and tasted lots of goodies. Then we walked around until it closed. Cami, Bailey and I went to dinner and just enjoyed visiting. (Gentry had to go back home for work). It was a great time.
We had discovered that a brake light and turn light on the rental car were not working, so we got up Monday morning, met Judy at the Jamestown settlement for a short visit there, and then headed to Norfolk to exchange the car. By this time, I had decided I wanted to just turn the car in early and take the train to New York. But the train from Norfolk did not check luggage. We could have gone to Richmond, but it would have cost an extra $1000 to turn the car in there! So we turned it in, and headed on our way. We drove across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. It was amazing! We stopped at the little restaurant/store on the bridge to get a good look. We continued on our way, crossing over the Jersey Turnpike into New York City about 1 AM. Crossing over was another beautiful sight. There were so many lights!
When we got to our hotel (after being lost and having to drive awhile to find it) we couldn't find a parking garage. So we parked on the street in front of the hotel and I had to get up early to move the car. After driving around that morning and still not finding a garage with a parking place, we decided to take the car to the airport and turn it in. We took a bus and the subway back to the hotel. Our hotel ended up being in China Town, and since Bailey didn't really want Chinese food for dinner, we decided to take the subway and just find some place to eat. We ended up at Coney Island and it was a blast! We walked along the boardwalk, ate NY pizza and had ice cream. On the subway home, we met a family from the Bronx. They had been to the beach for the day and were very friendly, answering questions about NY and asking us about California. The next day, we took the double decker bus and saw many of the sights. We stopped at Ground Zero and spent longer than we had intended. It was still very emotional for me. They are in the process of building the memorial and it won't be completed until 2013. But there was a small museum and a memory walk. Then we headed on to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Going over there on the ferry helped us to imagine what it must have been like for the immigrants coming to the United States.
That night was our night to see Lion King on Broadway as well. We managed to find the subway back to the hotel, got ready, and headed out. The play was fantastic. Bailey was sitting right on the aisle which is the best place to be for this show. She loved it! We hadn't eaten dinner so we walked until we found someplace open and had dinner. Then we walked through Time Square and headed over to the Empire State Building. We had seen it earlier in the day, but Bailey wanted to go up to the top. The view at night was beautiful. You could see all the bridges with their lights and all the other lights of the city. We took a bike-drawn taxi back to the subway and headed home. We had to get up early the next morning to head to the airport to come home. There was so much more in each place we visited that we would have loved to see. But it was a great experience and one I am sure neither of us will ever forget!
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