The State Of Affairs

The adage is that "no news is good news" but in our case, we have no news on our remodel project and that's bad news. It's total disarray around here and not much progress has actually been made. If you came in our front door and looked to the kitchen you'd see this...

...if you look to the living room you'd see this...

We do have the subflooring down in the living room and the ceiling painted but there the work stopped. However, tomorrow the grand plan is to start on the laminate and hope we don't get hung up on installing the tracks for the reducers between that and the ceramic tile in the bar.

On another note, progress was made in the sunroom in that Jill finally got her Christmas tree taken down! It was after Valentine's Day last year when mine came down and I thought that was bad. Jill's got me beat!

The Moon And The Stars

Where was everyone last night about 7:00 PM? Did you happen to look up into the southwestern sky and see the sliver of moon and probably Venus so close by? It was just gorgeous! This picture does no justice to it.

We were at a basketball game in Eden Prairie but I bet even folks down in Estherville may have had the same beautiful sight.

"A Winter Concert"

Yesterday we went to Tony's winter music show on a night when it must have been at least thirty degrees outside. At any rate it felt pretty balmy! Now today? Definitely winter!

When Tony plays percussion with the college band it can be any of several instruments. In fact, it seems like there's always a revolving door of players back there switching places.

But in the second half it was only him on the set to keep the rhythm for the jazz group he plays with. (They play for hire if anyone's interested!)It seemed like all the other musician's were featured at one point or another but this is as close as I could come to capturing a drum solo.

Different Day, Different Stuff

Today at Natalie's we did some of the same stuff but have different pictures to show for it. I've learned that Miss N can spend at least fifteen minutes brushing her teeth and that sometimes she likes to do it a second time before lunch.We spent a LOT of time on a little art easel where just water triggers the colors. She tried to trace around her fingers but mostly ended up with a rainbow sort of design. I think we may have gotten the board so wet it won't ever dry out quite right!

Natalie's getting pretty good with her counting too. And you'll be able to see the pretty picture she ended up with.

Downstairs we played with a lot of different things, mostly the slide, but ended up in the Elmo sleeping bag.

We had company for lunch and a picture of our guests to prove it!

It was a busy day and I don't know where the time went. But let me just say, Natalie wasn't the only one that closed her eyes for a little nap!

It's probably a good thing I don't have two families to babysit for on a regular basis. Monday I took 60 pictures with Natalie, today I took 80 and I have over 5500 of Claire and Cate still on our computer!!

Jill's Test

The day really didn't go too badly for Jill but it might have been someone's sick attempt at humour when they told her they were running "behind". She got in for her 9:45 appointment at 9:40 but only for the paperwork. They sent her back out and didn't call her again 'til 11:00 after which she waited a-NOTHER hour before her procedure finally started about noon. You can bet by a quarter to 2:00 she was ready to go have some lunch. Everything seemed to come out okay...but we were finding that out already the night before!

One thing I decided out in the waiting area....they need to go back to having phone booths...for those people who can't be discreet on their cellphones. If this one good 'ol boy only knew how stupid he sounded in his southern drawl talking about a "colonestomy" in a voice intended for the whole room! The same guy apparently never heard of a quiet or vibrate setting on his phone either because it could be heard all the way down the hall.

On The Run

Since Jill turned 50 last year she gets to experience the dubious pleasure of her first colonoscopy tomorrow morning. So she's on broth and lime Jello for today's diet. Her first dose of the "cleanser" was at 5:00 and in spite of the remodeling around here we've got an unobstructed path to the bathroom with a supply of vaseline and extra toilet paper on hand. Believe me, I know she'll need both!

Fun With The Girl

Today was the first of my two days with Natalie this week. Her daycare is on vacation so we'd arranged a swap of babysitting for construction assistance. I'm pretty sure we came out on the good end of that deal! We had some PlayDough fun...

...and baked some chocolate chip cookies. I think Natalie's triple decker cookie was a great idea!

Oliver was just waiting for any of the crumbs that would drop.

Of course, there was the obligatory pose with the babysitter.

She was a happy little girl except for when we'd already read three times the story about hunting for a bear and I pushed for a new one.

I'm going back again on Wednesday and I think we'll have a visit from Jill with a Burger King lunch to look forward to.

Fun With The Girls

I spent the morning with Claire and Cate and had a great time! My old supervisor warned me...double the kids, more than double the work. I don't think I'll go so far as to say that from a babysitting point of view but I do notice that there's not much down time. Now, Mom and Dad? I bet they would agree with my old boss! One of the perks of my job is some studio shots every now and then. Here's the latest of those sweet little girls..

This is Claire in her birthday party clothes...all dressed up so fancy. Such a little lady.

I even got a smile out of Cate for my own camera today.

85 Years Young

Mom has a birthday today. She'll say we already celebrated at Old Country Buffet on Sunday when we went with most of the K's and Mindy's folks. But we're taking KFC for supper tonight and doing it all over again. Happy Birthday Mom!!

Happy Anniversary Bob and Marty!

Jill's folks are celebrating their 61st anniversary today in southern Texas. Last we heard it was 90 degrees down there. We hope they have another great day!

Pirate By Day, Gentleman By Night

Yesterday Tony ran the gamut from swashbuckling to elegant. He participated in the Polar Plunge to benefit Special Olympics and came up with $330 for the cause. I've already asked if he'll do it again next year so I can try again to get it on video. Sadly, from this clip we'll never know if he actually made it into the water. Pretty good form though!

In the evening the Concert Band put on their Valentine's Day show. Tony's on the cymbals and bass drum.

You'd never know that just a few hours earlier he was swaggering down the plank and saying "Aaaargh!" to all that would listen!

Watching The Girls Play

We've been up Cities-way a couple times recently to watch Jill's niece's play their school sports. A week ago we were in Eden Prairie to see Taylor (#25) and her team take on Chaska. They came up a little short but dug themselves out of an even deeper hole in the process.

Yesterday we headed up to Hastings to watch Katie (#24) and her team in three volleyball matches at the high school. We watched them go out on a winning note and hope that continues today!

Better Late Than Never

I've got a lot of catching up to do....so please keep reading. First of all, a belated Happy Valentine's Day to all. We hope your day was full of hugs and kisses!

Is There A Sign?

Today the Electrolux guy came to give our machine it's annual checkup...something I didn't know came with it when we bought it several years ago but that was suddenly on someone's list when they called yesterday to offer an appointment. It was supposed to be a 10-15 minute visit but before he left at least a half hour later I'd learned he'd had two heart attacks and never knew it, he's diabetic, he used to work in Fargo and once drove back there 30 mph all the way in the middle of a blizzard. Do I have something stamped on my forehead that says "tell me your life's story"? This happens to me a fair bit. For example, the guy in the frozen food aisle at HyVee has told me he likes to go to garage sales in Stewartville. My favorite greeter at WalMart says he has a cabin near Brainerd. One of the checkout ladies at HyVee has told me all about her family in Eyota and Mankato. Maybe I ask too many questions but somehow I usually end up with TMI.

Oh, by the way...our vacuum sucks because it doesn't suck. No, really!! It's supposed to suck up four of these steel balls and it barely could hold up one. So the motor needs to be reconditioned to the tune of $130.

Officially Old

I sent off my check to AARP yesterday so I think that makes it official...I'm old!!

For Your Listening Pleasure

The 80's band, Air Supply, was at the Auditorium last night. We're really glad we went because they have a lot of songs we know and they sang them very similar to the original arrangement. For being almost 30 years later they sounded really good. See what you think.

(Sweet Dreams)

(Even The Nights Are Better)

(Lost In Love)

(Making Love Out Of Nothing At All)

And on the way out of the show we ran into Renee' and learned that congratulations are in order for her and Mike. Congratulations you two!

Party At Claire's!

It was quite the birthday party yesterday with Auntie E and Grandpa getting right into the spirit.

One of Claire's gifts was a pretty snazzy pair of sunglasses.

The kid's did a little cookie decorating...

...that was finger lickin' good!

I'm not sure Claire knew just what to do with her birthday candle. She thought about it for quite awhile before blowing it out with a little help from Mom.

Turning Two

Today, this very day, Claire turns two! She's grown up a lot in the last year.

(February 2008)

(February 2009)

Happy Birthday, Claire!

No Turning Back

I suppose, technically speaking, the "no turning back" stage started when Jon took out our wall. But yesterday when our living room looked like this it seemed a more harsh reality!

At the beginning of the day we started out like this...

...and this is how we ended it.

Small progress was made but not without a major headache in the middle of it. That plywood-like stuff we worked so hard to get home from Menards...remember, we had to pick it up off West Circle Drive...turned out to be too thick. Returning it wasn't such a big deal but finding a suitable replacement at the odd size thickness we needed was the issue. But we're back on track now and ready to lay it down. I think our project completion date will be in a state of constant revision......to later and later and later!

There Are Some Nice Folks Out There!

The next step we're going to pursue in our remodeling project is to rip up the carpet and put down the stuff that brings the floor all to one level. We weren't quite sure what product to get so we just picked up something on the street...

quite literally. We'd just gotten nine 4 X 8 sheets of plywood-like stuff at Menards and at one of the stoplights on West Circle Drive six of them slid out the back of the truck! So Jill was out there directing traffic while I pulled them off to the side. I'd just gotten one of them back in the truck when a Good Samaritan stopped by and helped us load them up in spite of the wind and the cold. Thank you Mr. Gift From God!

Muggles And Magic

One of my resolutions for 2009 was to read a Harry Potter book. Murder and mystery are more my style than Muggles and magic. But at Tony's recommendation I thought I'd give the series a whirl. I'm into chapter three of the first book and, so far, have found no reason to not continue. I wonder if J.K. Rowling knew how right she was when, in the first chapter, one of her characters said "He'll be famous - a legend ...every child in our world will know his name!" Even my 85 year old mother knows of Harry Potter, for Pete's sake!

The library had a soft cover edition of the first book but the rest of them are hard cover and just huge! If I continue the series that's worrisome to me because I always read before I go to sleep and sometimes the book falls in my face. It's not so bad with a magazine...then I just wake up with ink on my nose. But having a book that size drop on my face could have more dire consequences!

It Wasn't In The Cards

At Judy's traditional Super Bowl party the majority of folks were rooting for the Cardinals. But, alas, it was those Steeler fans that went home happy. Judy's got a great sunroom for this get-together that even features stadium seating.

Everybody brought such good stuff to eat all leading up to our hostesses homemade chili at halftime.

I couldn't hear a lot of the commercials over the din this crowd can produce. But the Anheuser-Busch ones are probably my favorite. Patti brought 3D glasses for the SoBe Lifewater one....

...and Jill had her own. I don't think TV 3D is as impressive as in the theatres.

Sure would have been nice if the underdog could have won! So close and yet, so far.

Hiccups But No Stinkeye

So guess who I had supper with last night?