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We got the pictures back Thursday from the wedding vow renewal of my uncle and aunt. Doug and I were amazed at how well many of them turned out. The lighting was hard to work with in the church, so we had been really worried. Doug shot a roll of black and white, so some of the things he shot turned out really well. There is one that would make a perfect greeting card picture.

On the ongoing construction project front, we have discovered that the old brown doors in their old frames are 7/8ths of an inch, not the full inch. So, if it is supposed to be 24 inches, it is 23 and 7/8ths and so is the frame. Which means that every new white door that is 24 inches going into an old brown door frame… well the frames will have to be re-shimmed 1/8th of an inch so the doors fit. Grrr. Just one more thing. But we are moving right along with base board trim, and there is a room of trim drying right now while I type.

The purple circle caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. I do try to keep a mental tally of what things we have left lying around and where. This was not in that collection and not a cat toy that we purchased, so I walked over and picked it up. Bite marks along the edges told me that it had become a cat toy. But where had it come from?

And then I put it all together- it was a lid from the small canister of kitty treats. Sadie had knocked them off the counter when she shredded the paper towel roll, and the sound caught both of their attention. One of them managed to get it open, and Sadie probably sniffed them and continued playing with the canister and lid, each ending up in separate rooms.

As for the contents of the mostly full canister- gone. There is not a morsel of evidence left. Sprite, not lacking for food, instantly consumes anything set before her, and then steals Sadie’s portion as well. Sprite gobbled them all up, picking up after Sadie’s mess, thankful that they fell on the floor in the first place, as Sadie chased the canister as it bounced downstairs.

Thump! Bang!

I was startled awake by sounds I believed to be not in my dreams. It was just after 5am on Sunday morning in the predawn gray light.

The back door was creaking in the wind. Did I forget to pull it closed all the way and now it was opening and closing, creaking and waking me up?

I went to investigate.

A few steps from the bed, I noticed out one of the windows that the tell-tale signs of wind in the branches was completely absent- it was a still morning.

Creak, creak, thump.

“Doug, Doug!” I whispered. “Wakeup- I heard a noise.” He was awake, and on high alert. I headed to the kitchen.

Thump thump thump, bang!

I scurried back to the bedroom.

“Doug!” I whispered. He had been sitting there on the edge of the bed, listening. “Get yourself in here- there is someone at the back door.” I was too chicken to open the door myself- perhaps another person in pj’s would be better.

He swiftly and silently swept out of the room as I tried to peek out the window but couldn’t see anything. I followed him to the kitchen.

“Can I help you?” Doug asked. He had cracked opened the wood door and peaked outside. I could see past him that there was a bedraggled looking guy standing there in an un-tucked t-shirt and dress shirt and pants with no shoes. He had taken his soaked socks off and they were on our deck.

“Wrong house bud.”

“Wrong house?” asked the confused guy. “Damn…!” He drawled. He began to shuffle off the deck and down the stairs. Doug closed the door and locked it. The nightly round to check the doors has paid off- otherwise lost drunk guy would have come inside.

”Drunk, right?” I asked.

“Yeah.” Doug shuffled back to bed, falling back asleep as he walked.

I laughed. “College kids are back.”

Wow! That was a lot of water! None of it got in the basement though, thank goodness. But we now have a new trenched canal system in our back yard to move water away from the foundation. And gosh if that campus didn’t flood again. Check out pictures at the Coloradoan’s website.

So a few weeks ago, Christy and I started talking about all that we had done to the house, and we started making a list of everything that we had used in our many projects. Well, the list grew and grew the more we tried to rack our brains. What we came up with is shown below, and where it was used.

Item	Where Used
3/8″ drill	All
countless dump runs	All
destructobar	All
drop light w/ 2nd bulb used when you break the first one	All
ladder	All
levels and squares	All
mop	All
mop bucket	All
sander	All
sandpaper	All
shop broom	All
shop vac	All
usefull hand tools	All
1/2″ drill	Construction
boat anchors	Construction
chalk line	Construction
chop saw	Construction
circular saw	Construction
miter saw to replace the now too-small box	Construction
concrete anchors	Construction
concrete bits	Construction
door boreing kit	Construction
door handles(12)	Construction
door jams	Construction
hinge kits (12)	Construction
lumber (lots of 2×4’s)	Construction
misc fasteners	Construction
nails	Construction
pocket door	Construction
pocket door frame	Construction
Room and closet doors(12)	Construction
sawblades	Construction
sawsall	Construction
screws	Construction
wood anchors	Construction
wood glue	Construction
bamboo plant	Deco
coat hook bars w/ coat hooks	Deco
new lamp	Deco
new pillows	Deco
tiki bar deco	Deco
weather station w/ remote	Deco
window blinds	Deco
drywall	Drywall
drywall finishing tools	Drywall
mud and tape	Drywall
texture	Drywall
texture gun	Drywall
ceiling fan	Electrical
coax	Electrical
data and video faceplates	Electrical
electrical switches, plugs, and face plates	Electrical
electrical wire	Electrical
ethernet cable	Electrical
fish tape	Electrical
light bulbs	Electrical
light fixtures (6)	Electrical
low voltage rings	Electrical
6 rolls of 2″ blue tape	Finishing
can’t forget the primer	Finishing
drop cloths	Finishing
miter box and saw	Finishing
oh, and more paint	Finishing
paint	Finishing
paint	Finishing
paint	Finishing
paint brushes	Finishing
paint gun air compressor w/ toys	Finishing
paint rollers	Finishing
porcelain paint	Finishing
squirrel mixer (great for paint!)	Finishing
baby pool	Misc
mop & broom holder	Misc
new screens (6)	Misc
shelf paper	Misc
shower head	Misc
bush trimmer	Outdoor Projects
fertalizer	Outdoor Projects
flower seeds	Outdoor Projects
flowers for Frank	Outdoor Projects
grass seed	Outdoor Projects
motion sensor	Outdoor Projects
mower	Outdoor Projects
rose trimmer	Outdoor Projects
sprinkler heads, pipe, and glue	Outdoor Projects
tree trimer	Outdoor Projects
weed spray	Outdoor Projects
window flower box w/ b-e-a-u-tiful flowers	Outdoor Projects
another bottle of gas for torch when original runs out	Plumbing
copper elbows, tees and connectors	Plumbing
copper pipe	Plumbing
dishwasher repair kit	Plumbing
drain pipe for sink	Plumbing
misc copper and brass fittings	Plumbing
‘P’ trap	Plumbing
plumbing tools	Plumbing
soldering torch	Plumbing
soldier and goup (flux)	Plumbing
toilet repair kit	Plumbing
washer repair valve	Plumbing

The length of the list (and the fact that we either had or now have all of that schtuff) is pretty amazing, so we decided to emblazon it permanently onto the interweb.

The surprise vow renewal for my aunt and uncle went really well- he had people help him plan it, and she was completely surprised. It was great! I am glad that Doug and I got to see them and their three kids again. I don’t know them as well as I would like, and I need to do better at changing that. We have invited them to stop at our house on their way back from Montana- I hope they come. Of all the family that we have invited to come up to visit, only my granny has come.

Doug and I saw parts of Santa Fe and I took him to Taos also. Looking through an adult’s eye makes a world of difference- the last time I saw any of this I was about 7 or 8 years old. The stories my dad told me about children my age in the pueblos a thousand years ago created an overlay of color and activity that was absent this time.

The desert is incredibly green this summer- I have never seen it so green. It even rained when we were in Taos. There were flowers everywhere- beautiful! Both of us enjoyed the drive down and back, and Doug read out loud HP7- I love being read aloud to. We both needed the break and spend time together, but it is good to be home again, especially for Doug who had been on a two week business trip immediately preceding the wedding. Ah, home…

There, at the other end of the straight away, is the yellow tape across the finish line. It has been a long race, and you have used your energy wisely, and now, just a bit more will get you down to that yellow ribbon, and then you can rest. So you dig deeper and run faster, no longer looking to see where the other runners are. Almost there… just a little bit more…

We got carpet the week after the 4th of July. We also had some laminate flooring installed in the study and the front door landing.

Doug has been on a two week business trip, and I have been working on some of the landscaping in the back yard including a bird feeder plant holder and an artistic bird bath. We bought trim- something that happens after carpet- and a miter saw to cut it with (also for future projects), and frames for some new pictures downstairs.

Oh yeah, and mix in a book that takes about ten hours to read.

We enjoyed having D&S up, as well as R&M, and seeing the 5th Potter movie, and we figured out what configuration we want to put in the master closet. Between bike rides, trips to the hardware store, seeing people that we haven’t seen in months, work, and working on the finishing touches, we have been busy. Very busy.

The end is in sight! We finished painting late last night, and all is well on its way to carpet install Thursday.

I thought I would post some visual updates, so here goes…

Sorry about the crappy phone video, but it gets the point across.

The video starts at the front door, moves down the stairs, and into the big living room (soon to be the beach bar area). Areas to note: anything that is white was dark brown crappy paneling; all of the doors are currently in the process of being replaced with the door at the end of the video, with satin nickel door handles; yes, that is a kiddie pool in the cats room (it keeps the ‘extra’ kitty litter under control); and again, sorry for the crappy phone video.

For more explanation of things, post your questions, and Christy and I will try and answer them in a timely manner.

Enjoy!

We ordered carpet over the weekend! Yeah! So now we have a deadline to get all the painting done. We had to move everything out of the main room for painting, and tape the stairs also. I am really looking forward to this part of this project being done. We want to take a break from dust and construction for a bit after we move downstairs.

My Granny Flo asked if she could come see us and our house for the 4th. I told her “Of course! All of our family and friends are welcome at our house!” So we are going to pick her up and bring her up, have dinner, and go see the fireworks, and take her home. It should be fun- I have never seen the fireworks there before, and it will be nice to have Granny over. I hope she makes a habit of it because I like it when people visit.

We heard recently that my sister got a new job teaching close to where she lives. I am glad for her- I know she likes teaching- and with it so close, her commute will be simple.

We attended a family wedding a few weeks ago. It was great to see people again that we rarely see. Doug’s Aunt came from back east and brought her little boy with her. He has grown so much since the last time we saw him.

I am looking forward to the wedding of a family friend this weekend. His parents have asked that I use their video camera to film it for relatives that won’t be at the wedding. I think it is so cool that he found someone he wants to be with for the rest of his life.

We have now been in the house for over three months and we have had several people come to our house, never mind the mess, just to see us. Of course, all of our friends and family are welcome at any time. I would usually say- if you are here to see us, come on in, if you are here to see the house, make an appointment… instead, if you want to see us, you might want to make sure we are even in town before you drop in and if you want to see the house, be forewarned- the projects continue.

Doug is reprogramming the radios in our home county so he doesn’t have to drive as far. He gets home early and has been painting after work. He is a very hard worker and has determination that I sometimes lack. The remodel of the basement is going well, although the project is a lot bigger than what it originally was going to be. There are still boxes everywhere as we have unpacked as little as possible, knowing that the move to the basement is in the near future, and then the projects move to the top level. Those boxes will have to be sorted through also, but not until things are a little more under control.

We are getting some of the screens from the basement windows fixed because I found both cats outside the other morning, crying and trying to get back through the screen they escaped from. They are indoor cats and do not know anything about the outdoors, and I want to keep it that way.

I got a new hair cut that fits more with the area and demographic of people I work with. I think the overhaul is pretty much complete, and I really like the effects.

Well, I think that is it for the recent news. Hope you all are doing well.