The job continues

Each day here we set a goal and generally achieve it. We hoped this week to be working downstairs and after painting the stairway did so. We went to work on the living room and dining room, and they are now finished as well. The counter top arrived for the upstairs bathroom and may get installed today. We have to cut holes for the two sinks and remove the old counter top and sinks. It could turn into quite a job, but we will not know until we get into it. Send good vibes please. Happy travels.

Where there is smoke.......

Recently after a good day of painting we decided to have a fire in the fireplace and enjoy a quiet evening here. We got the fire going and then realized that the damper had been closed. You guessed it, smoke every where. Several cups of water later, the fire was out but the smoke......So with the temperature about zero, we opened all of the doors and windows throughout the house in the vain hope of getting the smoke to dissipate. It worked to some degree but the smell lingered. When the kids got home, they seemed to notice the smell. By yesterday the smell was finally gone, but we still have a bit of cleanup here and there.

On the painting front we are currently downstairs, and the living room is now done. Today we are planning to take it easy and not put in an 8 -11 hour days. We were quite tired last night, but the living room does look good. Happy travels.

Concerting we go

Yesterday during the day we got more paint touched up and finished the upstairs hall. In the evening we accompanied Kim to Eastern Michigan University to a concert. Eastern was selected to present choral and symphonic band works at the Michigan Music Educators conference in Grand Rapids this week and last night was a dress rehersal, so we went and particularly enjoyed Kim's playing. She had been selected as the faculty guest artist for one of the symphonic band numbers. It was great fun watching and listening, especially since we have been hearing parts of the piece as she practiced for the last several weeks at home. She did an excellent job and received an ovation at the end of the piece. I could not help but be the proud papa and grin throughout. We have also met the conductor Mary, who did a superb job as well. Eastern will represent their university music department very well at the conference. Happy travels.

Sunday - A work day

It was a work day here yesterday. We finished replacing fixtures in one bathroom and rearranged several bedrooms. The central computer is now downstairs in the basement, and one bunk bed and lots of other stuff has been taken to storage. Gradually things are getting sorted and boxed and moved. This is progress. This week we expect to touch up paint upstairs and then get to doing the same thing downstairs.

Today is a holiday and the boys are home from school, so we will not get much done here. We do plan to take them to the movies about mid-day. Maybe we will see Tangled or some other age appropriate film. We watched Toy Story III last night, and it was funny in spots. The kids loved it. Happy travels.

Cold and snowing

It has been a cold and snowy Michigan day here. The snow has a very fine flake but blowing and slowly accumulating. The other day this same type of snow managed to drop about six inches here in Ann Arbor. Today is is blowing one minute and just drifting the next. We went out mid morning to do some errands and had to drive carefully as it was really slippery in places. The house is set at 68 degrees and feels much colder as it is in the low twenties outside. Foxy decided to get a fire going, and that may well warm things up a bit.

Tonight for dinner we are having meatloaf, mashed potatoes and green beans. Foxy calls this comfort food. I think we will all be comforted as we sit down for a good repast. Happy travels.

The King's Speech

We did get to go to a movie and lunch out. We had lunch at Macaroni Grill and enjoyed it thoroughly. Then we headed next door to the movie. We had decided to see The King's Speech. If you are a history buff then you know that Queen Elizabeth II's father stuttered, and consequently it was difficult for him to give a speech. This really did not matter except that his brother David, who succeeded their father, was carrying on with Wallace Simpson, a twice- divorced American, and she was not acceptable to the British government as a wife for the new king. David was forced to abdicate in favor of his brother, who thus became King George VI around 1937. His stuttering problem had caused him to seek help from many sources but with little success. How he finally overcame this stuttering is the focus of this wonderful movie. We think it will get some honors like The Golden Globe or an Academy Award. If you have not seen this movie, I recommend you do so. Happy travels.

Contemplating a day off

We have decided to take tomorrow off. We have been working hard, and two bathrooms are finished as far as scutt work is considered. There are a few things left to be done, and they will get there in time, but not tomorrow. We think we may go to see a movie and maybe lunch out. This seems like good things to do for our good and welfare.

It snowed yesterday about six inches of new snow. It whitened up things and made them pretty, but the roads were tricky to navigate. Christian stayed home from school with a cold, and so he stayed in bed for much of the day with a treat from McDonald's for lunch. He is doing much better tonight, and we hope that school is in the forecast for him tomorrow. He was a good patient. Happy travels.

Progress

A second bathroom is nearly completed. We have painted, spackled, and myriads of other details, and we have gotten thoroughly covered by paint and tired in the process. I even put up a curved shower curtain rod which the realtor thought was a dandy idea. I still have new light to install, and then the only remaining job is to put down a new counter top and two new sinks. It turned out to be quite a job, but the room does look better already, and the counter top will be the finishing touch.

After a morning working on hands and knees and lots of trips to the basement, we stopped for lunch and then had a field trip to a nearby hardware store and grocery store for dinner supplies. We needed the break and then back to more final touches in the bathroom.

The boys arrived home from school, and we quit for the day to get supper and sit a bit. I am not sure that this program is causing any weight loss or that I an getting more svelte, but we can see progress and that is a good thing. We may actually take pictures of the finished rooms and put them on this blog. Happy travels.

Ten and or seventeen

Last night about five o'clock we went with the boys to watch them play basketball at the "Y." Christian's team played first. He is in the five and six year old group, which started before he became seven years old. Consequently, he is the oldest in the group and the tallest by far. One of his team mates was at least a foot shorter. This whole group reminded me of a group of lemmings running about but with little clear purpose. Some just ran with the ball, and others tried bouncing, then running, and then bouncing the ball again. The term "double dribble" clearly had no meaning. Best of all were two boys, one with the number ten on his back and the other numbered seventeen. Neither of these boys was still for a moment. They were constantly moving, jumping, wandering about, not necessarily paying any attention to the game, but always in constant movement. When either got the ball, they always seemed quite surprised, and one would try to dribble the ball back and forth but making no progress toward the basket. Any shooting toward the basket seemed to be without thought, and so seldom did the shot arrive near the basket. The whole effect was hysterical, and we could not stop laughing.

Foxy wondered what their parents looked like since they had to put up with a boy in constant motion. She finally spotted one mom who was thin as a rail and had two other kids, both girls. The dad sported grey hair. He may have earned every white strand. I pitied the teacher who had the boy in school. It was an exhausting half hour, but the boys in question jumped and twisted their way out of the 'Y'.

On Jon's team one of his members also had the number ten on his back. You guessed it, he was also in constant motion. Is it the number ten or seventeen? I will never know. Happy travels.

We are busy

We were hoping that we would be busy, and that wish has come true. This has been our first full week of working while the kids/grands are either at work or school. Most days the kids get to school with either mom or dad, but today I took them. School is just a few blocks away, but it was snowing, and it seemed like a good idea to drive them to school.

When I returned we started in on today's jobs. Mostly we are finishing up one bathroom and starting in on another. The first has now been painted, spackled, cleaned, fixtures taken down, and the stuff generally done but not quite in the order written here. We still have a couple of touching up things to do, and then this job is declared finished except for any new hardware to be bought and installed.

In the meantime we keep up the house, do laundry, grocery shopping, buy stuff for renovation, cook dinner, make cookies for kids, see that their homework gets done, get them to practice for their music lessons and generally ride herd.

Most days we are ready for bed by eight or nine and tired. Then we have a few minutes for ourselves and read or plan the next day's activities. This is a going family and quite busy. Are we enjoying ourselves? Absolutely! Happy travels.

No resolutions

I thought about trying a resolution or two and then decided why???? We spent a quiet New Year's Eve at Kim's house while they and kids went to friends. We thoroughly enjoyed a quiet dinner, movie, and bed by eleven.

They are either back at work or in school, and we have started on the repairs and fixing that is needed to be done to get this house to be shown in the spring. Their realtor is coming this afternoon, and we may have other jobs to do in the near future. We started in by taking two trips to storage and several trips of donations. There is much more to do of all. We have stripped the wall paper off of one bathroom and cleaned the tile floor in another. Today it is spackling, and tomorrow begin the painting process. We are staying busy as well as getting dinner on the table each night. We hope all of this activity will help us lose all of the additional pounds gained throughout the holidays. We should be so svelt in a month that you may not recognize us and think that we are in our fifties instead of our actual ages. Ha ha. Happy travels.