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?

Bigfoot?

Does Sasquatch live near here?No, just another winter's snowshoe trek out at Oxbow. This is where I was going......and then this is where I'd been.

I stopped on the way up to catch the Byron Express going through town.

Back With My Buddy Again!

I got to go play with Claire again today while her mom and Cate went to town.

Turned out to be kind of a wet day. Claire helped me in the kitchen sink after snack time...

...during which we dropped the hand towel into the water and got a sleeve so wet that we had to change shirts. Later on we were blowing bubbles...

...and knocked over the bubble bottle for a nice wet blob on the carpet.

Claire was hiding her purple and pink beads and trying to make me believe she didn't know where they were!

(Beads? What beads?!)

Does this look like a little trickster to you?

What Once Was, Is No More

We started a little remodeling process the other day. (I think Jill's been watching too much HGTV!) Jon is our consultant and laborer so on Sunday we hammered...

...and sawed...

...pushed...

...and pulled.

We even had a little fireworks show!

Natalie thought it was a bit too noisy...

...but I think even as hard as her dad worked he might have been enjoying himself!

So, what once was there... ...is there no more! After working with Jon I've determined that the difference between my and an engineer's brain is that I'll do something and have to figure out how to fix it if it doesn't work whereas, an engineer will figure it out so it works the first time!

Happy Birthday, Tony!

The man of the day is Mr. T.

Twenty-four years young, Happy Birthday!!!

Good Sports

Mom and Dad never say no when we call them up and say "how about company for supper?" So we rounded up the troops and the pizza and all headed out to PI.And as if pizza and three desserts weren't enough, we even had after dinner entertainment. You may have seen Mindy's blog earlier this week where Natalie was Wigglin' to the Wiggles. We were really egging her on tonight. Be sure to listen all the way to the end. She'll tell you just what she's doing!

Another Surprise

I was poking around the computer last night and thought I'd see how much space was left on the hard drive. Surprise!! There's still 41 GB but that doesn't seem like very much out of 160. I knew what was taking up the space but I didn't think there were 73 GB of pictures on here!!! Getting them off of here is supposed to be one of my 2009 projects because none of them are backed up. Yowser!

Surprise!

Mom and Dad were ready for the transition from analog to digital TV signals on February 17th. All Mom was worried about was somebody hooking up the converter box. But Alan and Cher decided to bypass that issue and just get them a new TV for their anniversary. Of course they'd insist they didn't need one so Cher and Alan just set it all up while Mom and Dad were in church on Sunday. They and everyone that could had come over for a little party that day and when they left we said to call when they got home. We knew all about the TV because Cher and Alan had stopped here to pick up the stand on Friday. Mom called twice and talked about their car lights and the football game and the Domino game and everything under the sun except the TV so we figured they hadn't been into the living room yet because how could you miss a display like this?!Finally around 9 PM she called back all giggly and said they'd discovered something new in their living room. We stopped by today to check it out and it's a pretty big difference from the little 19" one they had before. With their antenna and the digital TV they get a lot more channels and very good reception. Some even appear to be in HD.

Just Step Back Please

We have a new president. Now if we could just get the senator thing straightened out. Does anyone remember back in November when Norm Coleman was ahead in the initial count, yet close enough to demand a recount, he said "if it was me I would just step back." Just goes to show he talks out of both sides of his mouth because now that Al Franken leads he refuses to do what he said he'd do in the same situation and instead leaves Minnesota with just one representative in the Senate. Who's he looking out for...Minnesota? Or Norm Coleman? What a dork.

Where In The World?!

I spent most of the day watching history on TV. I want to know...how did President Obama give his speech with no notes? How did Michelle walk all that way in those heels? And where in the world were Kate and Brian in that mass of people?! It'll be interesting to learn what their vantage point was. A pretty amazing day and it's not over yet. Last I checked, seven more Inaugural Balls to go!

A Momentous Occasion

January 20th, 2009...today we get to welcome a new President to our United States...

...and I think his first official act will be to wish Miss Mindy a happy 30th birthday!

Happy birthday, Mindy! It's a big day in more ways than one. We hope you enjoy it!

What Goes Around Comes Around

I checked back at the beginning of my blog and I've been at it now for five days over one year. I think it's only fair that I warn you, my life is pretty predictable from year to year so I hope the blog posts don't get so repetitive you stop reading!

Checkup

I had my annual mammogram this morning. They're really not so bad...until that final crank. It feels like your boob is going to pop but I guess as long as you know it won't it's tolerable for those few seconds.

My appointment was at 7AM. I'd recommend that to anyone. Parking is easy and free and by 7:10 I was on my way out the door.

On the way there I walked through the plaza between University Square and the Gonda Building. They still have it set up as it was for the winter's farmer market that ran in December. Remind me to go down to that next year. It felt like I was walking through the North Pole. Really cute, and if all the lights were on I bet it'd be very festive!

63 Years And Still Counting

Today Mom and Dad are celebrating 63 years together. I don't know how much partying will be going on unless they come into town for lunch with my uncle and aunt. But we did have a little gathering here yesterday for their special day and a couple of January birthdays coming up real soon. Stay tuned for more on those. In the meantime, happy anniversary to a really cute couple!

Back Home Again!

We trekked north for a few days but when we come back down south it's not any warmer here! The coldest we saw was 26 below zero so we tried the trick where you throw boiling water up into the air just to watch it vaporize.

In spite of the cold that day we skied for a couple hours at Gooseberry and it was absolutely beautiful.

The deer up there are hungry too but maybe a little tamer in the parks.

Apparently my ski buddies the one day were ignoring the signs because we were going the wrong way on a one way trail. But with no one else out it didn't even matter.

We saw some birds that we've yet to identify...

...and we stopped at Split Rock just to take a look.

The shipping season was scheduled to end yesterday so the one we saw on Sunday was one of the last to come into the port of Duluth.

Weather was a little bit of an issue for traveling. The roads weren't all that great going up and because of the salt Jill's pretty red truck is now two-toned...more white than red!

(Car wash on the agenda for today!)

Tony and Amanda couldn't come until Tuesday because of the snow down here.

On winter vacation's gone by the boys would always find unique ways to entertain themselves....like, throwing their socks up on the ceiling fan or instead of using the doors, climbing around a barricade to get from one deck to another. In spite of a handy staircase Tony was still choosing the unconventional route to the loft!

So the winter vacation is behind us. Better get started on the cold weather projects!

Husk Who Puck Odd Edge Geez

Have you ever played Mad Gab? We borrowed the game from Mindy and Jon for our trip up north and had some pretty funny phrases to figure out.

It seems to be funniest for the guy that knows the phrase and can't figure out why the other guys don't know what they're saying!

We'll Be Cool As A Cucumber

Now that it's winter it's time to head north, right? No? Most people go south? Well, we've been known to be a little odd!

We're meeting Cher today for lunch at Grandma's in Duluth and spending the next few days at "our" cabin on the North Shore. The skiing at Gooseberry is supposed to be excellent but I see the temperatures are predicted to be -8 on Tuesday....for a high!... and -4 on Wednesday. Tony and Amanda are coming up tomorrow so it'll be a good time...as long as we have the cozy cabin to come back to after being outside!

Hey Buddy! That's A BIRD Feeder!

We had a family of deer right down behind our deck yesterday afternoon. They didn't seem to be much too skittish at all...just hungry.

Wednesday Visits

I got to go stay with big sister, Claire, yesterday while little sister, Cate, went to town with her mom. Is this an angel or is there a devilish twinkle in those eyes?

In the evening we needed an engineering consult with Jon so we had a Chinese supper with the K2's. Mindy and Natalie were showing me a Facebook feature and now I'll have to see if I can make that work.

Slip Sliding Away

Is there any chance anyone remembers the dirty old man from Laugh-In back in the 60's and how he would shuffle along? That was us last night on the way to our neighborhood Christmas party. It was VERY slippery and downhill all the way. We took deviled eggs and if we'd have fallen they'd have been scrambled instead! Coming home uphill wasn't as bad but I think it was even icier. Thankfully, we made it both ways without incident.

Sugar And Spice

I'm not sure which one's Sugar and which one's Spice but yesterday we got to go visit Angela and the girls, Claire and Cate. One slept the whole time...

...and one was very busy with her toys. Claire had a lot of cool things to play with but I was happy just to play with her!

Just Like Her Uncle

Back in 1988 when we'd take a videocamera to vacation it was the size of a small suitcase. There'd be a red light shining when we were recording and we have a clip of Tony peering into the lens staring down that light not knowing all the while it was on tape. The other day up at Natalie's she did pretty much the same thing only instead of watching the red light she was watching herself in the LCD screen making all kinds of faces.

New Year, Same Resolution

Since last February we've been in a routine where we've tried to eat better and get more exercise. We actually had some pretty good results and while we haven't suffered a total setback, along came the holidays.

So now it's almost February again and except for a little trip to the North Shore next week we're ready to get back at it. At least this year's starting point on the scale is lower than last year!

Not Just A Coincidence

Last week while Claire's mom and dad were off having a baby we kept ourselves busy from 5:00 AM on. I wonder if she knew something was up because she usually sleeps 'til 6:30 or 7:00. She does pretty good on her colors, don't you think?

(It wouldn't all fit on one clip.)

Happy New Year 2009!

The new year came at midnight but I see it's still here this morning so I'm glad I didn't wait up for it!! This year I'm looking forward to new babies (but not mine!), more exercise, (less weight?), more reading. Some of you know I live by lists. They can get overwhelming at times. This year my motto is "you can't do it all in one day so do a little bit everyday." (I think it's a paraphrase about how Rome was or wasn't built! I hope it works for me.) So Happy New Year everyone! I hope 2009 is prosperous and healthy for all!