Yes, another beautiful day in southwest Florida. The day started with a jog for Cyndie and I. We went out at around 7:30a. I was expecting it to be cool and nice, but it was already pretty warm and very humid. I'm very glad there was a nice breeze or it would have been much worse for me! I was surprised to see, as I jogged around a golf course near Fred and Cathy's house, that so many lots were vacant. I assumed that this meant that the developer had hit a rough spot of some kind when building the golf course/development, but Cathy told me that that was the result of hurricane Charlie (which was 5 or so years ago). Apparently lots of homes were damaged so much, that they could not be repaired, and insurance, in many cases, didn't cover rebuilding. Crazy. She said that much of the damage was not just from the hurricane itself, but from mold and moisture damage after the fact. There was no power for 3 or 4 weeks, and those homeowners who were not physically present could often not get to their homes to clean up water, etc. leading to the mold and water damage.
Yesterday we headed back from a wonderful couple of days on Sanibel back up to Punta Gorda. We stopped along the way at Grandma Weaver's for dinner. She lives in a retirement community and has a very nice 2 bedroom (plus study), 2 bath apartment. We had dinner at a private dining room off the main restaurant there. It was very nice, and nice to be able to hang out a bit with Grandma Weaver. She's such a pleasant lady, very fun to be with.
This morning the kids are practicing trick or treating. They have on their Halloween costumes, supplemented by some jewelery and accessories that Grandma Cathy supplied, and are going from frog to frog (Cathy has 2 or 3 decorative frog "statues" that have little trays on which she has individually wrapped candies) trick or treating. Hilarious. Grandpa Fred is working this morning, as am I ... Grandma Cathy, Cyndie, and the kids are headed out soon for some activity or another.
Another beautiful day in Florida!
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
86 degrees with a nice breeze!
Yep, that title is redundant, but it's REALLY nice again today.
The day started (for me) with a jog on the beach ... nice. Cyndie and the kids ran over to the beach with Grandma Cathy for some low tide shelling. They found some fun stuff, but Cyndie found some even better stuff when she went for a jog at the beach.
We've been staying at the house of some friends of Fred and Cathy these first several nights (dog sitting) out on Sanibel Island (where Fred and Cathy had lived for 6 or 8 years). This afternoon we're cleaning up some and then heading back to their house up the coast in Punta Gorda. On the way, we'll stop to visit Grandma Weaver (and have dinner at a dress up only ... no shorts) restaurant in her complex ... very fancy!
While we've been here, the kids have had an absolutely great time in the pool at the house. They've spent a lot of time in there. Obviously, they enjoy the beach greatly too, but when we've been at the house with a spare moment, they've been in the pool. Good times.
In the midst of all the comings and goings, I've been working. Since I've used up almost all of my vacation time for this year, I'm trying to work a full schedule this week. It's actually worked great so far today.
So, vacation is ongoing and great!
The day started (for me) with a jog on the beach ... nice. Cyndie and the kids ran over to the beach with Grandma Cathy for some low tide shelling. They found some fun stuff, but Cyndie found some even better stuff when she went for a jog at the beach.
We've been staying at the house of some friends of Fred and Cathy these first several nights (dog sitting) out on Sanibel Island (where Fred and Cathy had lived for 6 or 8 years). This afternoon we're cleaning up some and then heading back to their house up the coast in Punta Gorda. On the way, we'll stop to visit Grandma Weaver (and have dinner at a dress up only ... no shorts) restaurant in her complex ... very fancy!
While we've been here, the kids have had an absolutely great time in the pool at the house. They've spent a lot of time in there. Obviously, they enjoy the beach greatly too, but when we've been at the house with a spare moment, they've been in the pool. Good times.
In the midst of all the comings and goings, I've been working. Since I've used up almost all of my vacation time for this year, I'm trying to work a full schedule this week. It's actually worked great so far today.
So, vacation is ongoing and great!
Sunday, October 24, 2010
86 degrees with a nice breeze!
Yes, we spent much of the morning through early afternoon sitting on the beach. As the title of the blog states, it was 86 degrees with a beautiful breeze! We're currently relaxing at a really nice home where Grandpa Fred and Grandma Cathy are dog sitting (complete with awesome swimming pool and large, friendly golden retriever). We'll head back to the beach later this afternoon.
The flight out was uneventful. It was smack dab in the middle of the day, so we didn't have to get up early, and we got back to the house early enough that the kids could hit the pool (in addition to stopping to see Cyndie's Grandma Weaver).
Vacation ... good times!
The flight out was uneventful. It was smack dab in the middle of the day, so we didn't have to get up early, and we got back to the house early enough that the kids could hit the pool (in addition to stopping to see Cyndie's Grandma Weaver).
Vacation ... good times!
Friday, October 22, 2010
T-minus one day ...
Yes, there is only one day left until vacation. Today is filled with packing, cleaning, straightening and haircuts (me, maybe Tim, and definitely the dog). Oh, and some errands. Cyndie is taking the boat to be cleaned while we're gone (we're handling all the interior cleaning, but the hull really needs a scrubbing after having been in the lake all summer*). She's also dropping the dog off for a grooming and doing some clothing exchange related errands as well. We should be well occupied today!
*An interesting development on the boat front. A friend of ours is going to be the new volunteer coordinator (amongst other duties) at the camp. He asked us if we'd be interested in letting the camp use the boat for a couple of hours a morning for up to four weeks. In exchange, the camp would give us a lift on which to put our boat. The funny thing is that this is something we had proposed to camp last year! Anyway, we're going to do that. So, since next summer the boat won't be sitting in the water all summer growing algae, we decided to really get the hull cleaned up nicely so that it looks good as new! We're excited to save the money AND have a really great location for the boat.
The tree house continues to progress. The latest progress is starting to put siding on. The kids were playing out there yesterday. That was their "house" and they went to the guest room as their hotel/vacation house.
The next post will likely be from Florida, land of 80+ degree weather (as opposed to the frost on the roof and breath you can see while waiting for the bus to come)!
*An interesting development on the boat front. A friend of ours is going to be the new volunteer coordinator (amongst other duties) at the camp. He asked us if we'd be interested in letting the camp use the boat for a couple of hours a morning for up to four weeks. In exchange, the camp would give us a lift on which to put our boat. The funny thing is that this is something we had proposed to camp last year! Anyway, we're going to do that. So, since next summer the boat won't be sitting in the water all summer growing algae, we decided to really get the hull cleaned up nicely so that it looks good as new! We're excited to save the money AND have a really great location for the boat.
The tree house continues to progress. The latest progress is starting to put siding on. The kids were playing out there yesterday. That was their "house" and they went to the guest room as their hotel/vacation house.
The next post will likely be from Florida, land of 80+ degree weather (as opposed to the frost on the roof and breath you can see while waiting for the bus to come)!
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Getting there ...
Yes, it's almost vacation time. We're progressing in that direction at least. The house is starting to empty out after all the clothes, toys, shoes, etc of the clothing exchange. This morning Cyndie and I helped a neighbor load a good portion of the clothes in to his truck to take to a local homeless shelter. Cyndie is returning 10 borrowed folding tables this morning. The house is getting a little less overwhelmed! Laundry is being done (so we'll have clean clothes to take with us on vacation). Arrangements for pets are being made. We're almost there! We're looking forward to some warm weather ... it was very cool this morning here!
Tuesday night Cyndie picked the Woods girls up from girl scouts and returned them home. Then She and Emma met Timmy, Sally, Daisy, and I at Culvers for dollar butter burger night ... $12 for the six of us to eat (including a family size order of french fries). Grandpa and Grandma D joined us. Yesterday was a field trip for Tim that Cyndie chaperoned ... they went to a local hospital. I had art class (Cyndie is going this morning instead due to the field trip) and finished my painting of Emma in a beanie ... it turned out fairly well. I forgot to take a picture though!.
So now we're left with cleaning up the house, packing, and generally getting ready. I can tell you that I'm already ready!
Tuesday night Cyndie picked the Woods girls up from girl scouts and returned them home. Then She and Emma met Timmy, Sally, Daisy, and I at Culvers for dollar butter burger night ... $12 for the six of us to eat (including a family size order of french fries). Grandpa and Grandma D joined us. Yesterday was a field trip for Tim that Cyndie chaperoned ... they went to a local hospital. I had art class (Cyndie is going this morning instead due to the field trip) and finished my painting of Emma in a beanie ... it turned out fairly well. I forgot to take a picture though!.
So now we're left with cleaning up the house, packing, and generally getting ready. I can tell you that I'm already ready!
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
More Tree House Pix
Okay, so here are some more pictures of the tree house ... trying to give some folks who don't live here an idea of where on the property the tree house actually is.
From inside the tree house back toward the house. You can see some smoke going from the pile of brush we burned on Sunday.
Standing on the deck of the tree house back toward the house ... you can see the new deck on the house!
In other news, Cyndie's clothing exchange went really well. She had over 40 ladies here with tons more clothes left over to donate to various charities around the community. She hasn't counted up the money yet, but I'm sure they made at least $300 - $500 dollars ... a lot considering the clothes were going for 25 cents a piece.
From the top of the mound with the house behind me and the dragon's lair to my right ... the roof is on (plywood part). After I took this (on Sunday), my dad put up some of the railing, so there's been more progress made.
From inside the tree house back toward the house. You can see some smoke going from the pile of brush we burned on Sunday.
Standing on the deck of the tree house back toward the house ... you can see the new deck on the house!
In other news, Cyndie's clothing exchange went really well. She had over 40 ladies here with tons more clothes left over to donate to various charities around the community. She hasn't counted up the money yet, but I'm sure they made at least $300 - $500 dollars ... a lot considering the clothes were going for 25 cents a piece.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Guys Night
I guess I neglected to mention that on Friday night we had a surprise birthday party for Gow. The pretense was that Laura, Gow, and girls were coming over to have some dinner prior to a group of friends having a "Guys Night". Instead, we got a bunch of friends over, they parked around the corner so no cars were visible, and we surprised the heck out of Uncle Gow*. I think this is one of the first surprise parties I've been involved with where the surprisee was actually surprised.
*Mostly surprised. Emma got a little excited and yelled out "surprise" prior to our group cue. Oh well ;)
So the families all left at about 7p, and then the guys did our thing including watching a movie ... The Book of Eli.
*Mostly surprised. Emma got a little excited and yelled out "surprise" prior to our group cue. Oh well ;)
So the families all left at about 7p, and then the guys did our thing including watching a movie ... The Book of Eli.
The Book of Eli (4.0/5)
So the setting is watching this flick with four other guys ... this is definitely a guy kind of movie. It had quite a bit of violence (though it wasn't totally over the top), was very bleak in its worldview, and was not a happy movie.
Denzel Washington played the title character, a road hardened traveler on a mission. Mila Kunis was the foil. Gary Oldman played the delightfully vile antagonist. All of these parts of the movie were satisfying and well acted/cast, but were not what set this movie apart. What made this movie work for me were the not so subtle spiritual tones which the movie had and the nice little twists that finished the movie.
The overall summary: A well made post-apocalyptic movie with several satisfying turns at the end.
Movies I've seen recently:
Juno - 4.8/5
Slumdog Millionaire - 4.6/5
Iron Man - 4.2/5
Lars and the Real Girl - 4.1/5
The Book of Eli - 4.0/5
Wall-E - 4.0/5
Traitor - 4.0/5
The Dark Knight - 3.9/5
Star Trek - 3.9/5
TransSiberian - 3.9/5
Iron Man 2 - 3.8/5
Wolverine - 3.8/5
Hurt Locker - 3.8/5
Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist - 3.7/5
Definitely, Maybe - 3.7/5
Up - 3.7/5
The Blind Side - 3.7/5
Kung Fu Panda - 3.5/5
How to Train a Dragon - 3.5/5
The Passion - 3.5/5
Valkyrie - 3.5/5
Appoloosa - 3.5/5
Sherlock Holmes - 3.5/5
The Incredible Hulk - 3.4/5
Stealth - 3.4/5
New in Town - 3.2/5
Alvin and the Chipmunks, the Squeakquel - 3.2/5
He's Just Not That Into You - 3.1/5
So the setting is watching this flick with four other guys ... this is definitely a guy kind of movie. It had quite a bit of violence (though it wasn't totally over the top), was very bleak in its worldview, and was not a happy movie.
Denzel Washington played the title character, a road hardened traveler on a mission. Mila Kunis was the foil. Gary Oldman played the delightfully vile antagonist. All of these parts of the movie were satisfying and well acted/cast, but were not what set this movie apart. What made this movie work for me were the not so subtle spiritual tones which the movie had and the nice little twists that finished the movie.
The overall summary: A well made post-apocalyptic movie with several satisfying turns at the end.
Movies I've seen recently:
Juno - 4.8/5
Slumdog Millionaire - 4.6/5
Iron Man - 4.2/5
Lars and the Real Girl - 4.1/5
The Book of Eli - 4.0/5
Wall-E - 4.0/5
Traitor - 4.0/5
The Dark Knight - 3.9/5
Star Trek - 3.9/5
TransSiberian - 3.9/5
Iron Man 2 - 3.8/5
Wolverine - 3.8/5
Hurt Locker - 3.8/5
Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist - 3.7/5
Definitely, Maybe - 3.7/5
Up - 3.7/5
The Blind Side - 3.7/5
Kung Fu Panda - 3.5/5
How to Train a Dragon - 3.5/5
The Passion - 3.5/5
Valkyrie - 3.5/5
Appoloosa - 3.5/5
Sherlock Holmes - 3.5/5
The Incredible Hulk - 3.4/5
Stealth - 3.4/5
New in Town - 3.2/5
Alvin and the Chipmunks, the Squeakquel - 3.2/5
He's Just Not That Into You - 3.1/5
The Backup Plan - 3.1/5
Horton Hears a Who - 3.0/5
Inglorious Bastards - 2.9/5
Push - 2.8/5
Jonah, a VeggieTales Movie - 2.4/5
Meet Bill - 2.1/5
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - 1.9/5
Burn After Reading - 1.5/5
Horton Hears a Who - 3.0/5
Inglorious Bastards - 2.9/5
Push - 2.8/5
Jonah, a VeggieTales Movie - 2.4/5
Meet Bill - 2.1/5
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - 1.9/5
Burn After Reading - 1.5/5
Pre-vacation week
Well, this week is what we'll call pre-vacation week. On Saturday we're headed to Florida to see Grandpa Fred and Grandma Cathy and spend some time soaking up our last bit of warmth before we take the plunge into winter. That means we're making arrangements to get to and from the airport, farming out the various pets (those seem to be increasing in number and in the amount of care required), packing, getting homework assignments, etc, etc. The extended forecast for Punta Gorda, where Fred and Cathy live, shows highs in the mid 80s and lows in the 60s ... yeah, that's right about ideal for me! It should be a great trip ... we're definitely looking forward to it!
In the mean time, we do have a few things happening this week as well. Cyndie has her big clothing exchange for charity tonight, so there will be 30+ ladies at the house tonight. It'll take a few days to get the house back into shape after that! Currently there are extra tables set up all over the basement, dining room, craft room, and on the deck. I'm sure by the time I get home from work today there will already be a large amount of clothes out and Emma (and Tim too, but Ems will be the ring leader) will be going over the toys table looking for promising items. I guess I need to figure out what I'm going to do with my evening. I mean beside hiding in the bedroom.
We had a nice weekend ... took one last boat ride with Grandma and Grandpa D and then pulled the boat out for the year. We may take another ride if the day is nice enough, but we needed to have the boat off the buoy before we left for vacation, and we also wanted to have some time to clean it, so there you go. Cyndie spent quite a bit of the weekend working on cleaning the boat, while I spent my time on the tree house. It's rounding into shape. The house is all framed up, the plywood is on the roof. The major remaining tasks are roofing, siding, and putting up railing on the exterior deck. We also spent a bit of time burning leaves, and even burned one pile of debris from when Papa Lee cleared out the space in the woods. The pile was nice and dry and easy to burn ... I think we only have 5 or 6 more of those piles left!
In the mean time, we do have a few things happening this week as well. Cyndie has her big clothing exchange for charity tonight, so there will be 30+ ladies at the house tonight. It'll take a few days to get the house back into shape after that! Currently there are extra tables set up all over the basement, dining room, craft room, and on the deck. I'm sure by the time I get home from work today there will already be a large amount of clothes out and Emma (and Tim too, but Ems will be the ring leader) will be going over the toys table looking for promising items. I guess I need to figure out what I'm going to do with my evening. I mean beside hiding in the bedroom.
We had a nice weekend ... took one last boat ride with Grandma and Grandpa D and then pulled the boat out for the year. We may take another ride if the day is nice enough, but we needed to have the boat off the buoy before we left for vacation, and we also wanted to have some time to clean it, so there you go. Cyndie spent quite a bit of the weekend working on cleaning the boat, while I spent my time on the tree house. It's rounding into shape. The house is all framed up, the plywood is on the roof. The major remaining tasks are roofing, siding, and putting up railing on the exterior deck. We also spent a bit of time burning leaves, and even burned one pile of debris from when Papa Lee cleared out the space in the woods. The pile was nice and dry and easy to burn ... I think we only have 5 or 6 more of those piles left!
Friday, October 15, 2010
Tree fort progress ... oh, and it's Friday!
Today's topic ... progress on the tree fort. I've been trying to put in an hour or or two between right after the kids leave (7:45), over lunch, and before dinner in addition to working some on the framing after the kids hit the sack. I'm hoping to have the framing up and maybe the roof done by the end of the weekend. The tree fort/house* is going to have an 8'x8' house part with walls that are 4 feet tall and a peak in the roof at around 7 feet. There will be a 3' wide deck on two sides and probably a ladder or two to climb up (complete with trap door)!
*What's the difference between a tree fort and a tree house? Is one open and one enclosed? If that's the case, I guess this is both a tree fort and a tree house since there will be both inside and outside spaces in this version!
Extra wood (Cyndie got all of this for free) ...
So this auction ... Cyndie went with our friend Alissa (the new pastor's wife and neighbor of mine during jr high/early high school). It was auctioning off the entire contents of a house about to be torn down (including many pieces of the actual house like carpet, siding, flooring, etc). Anyway, she got the door you saw, a nice basketball hoop (that'll take a little work to get out of the ground and to our house), and a bunch of glasses/pitchers. It was right down Cyndie's alley!
After that Cyndie did her first paid (I think) photo shoot ... a junior high football game. She was pretty happy with the pictures she got, and learned a lot too.
While Cyndie was at the football game, Emma went with her friend Amya to two different dance classes and had a really fun time. Timmy worked with Grandpa on the tree fort a bit, and then Grandpa and Grandma D joined us for dinner and pie (thanks Alissa). So it was a full day!
This morning as we were setting the table for breakfast, we were surprised by Auntie Laura, Daisy and Sally. They joined us for "Surprise Friday", donuts and fun creamer for the coffee. They hung out with us until Emma left on the bus (Timmy went earlier to go to before school Spanish). Sally really wanted to go on the bus, but she had to be satisfied with a ride on the "big white bus" (the Excursion). She was fine with that once she discovered it had a video screen in it! We drove around the Wildwood loop and then they hit the road and I hit the work thing!
*What's the difference between a tree fort and a tree house? Is one open and one enclosed? If that's the case, I guess this is both a tree fort and a tree house since there will be both inside and outside spaces in this version!
The platform is done ... down in the area Papa Lee cleared.
Framing for one end (where a window will be) ...
Framing for two sides ...
The door to the deck area ($2.50 at an auction Cyndie went to yesterday) ...
Extra wood (Cyndie got all of this for free) ...
So this auction ... Cyndie went with our friend Alissa (the new pastor's wife and neighbor of mine during jr high/early high school). It was auctioning off the entire contents of a house about to be torn down (including many pieces of the actual house like carpet, siding, flooring, etc). Anyway, she got the door you saw, a nice basketball hoop (that'll take a little work to get out of the ground and to our house), and a bunch of glasses/pitchers. It was right down Cyndie's alley!
After that Cyndie did her first paid (I think) photo shoot ... a junior high football game. She was pretty happy with the pictures she got, and learned a lot too.
While Cyndie was at the football game, Emma went with her friend Amya to two different dance classes and had a really fun time. Timmy worked with Grandpa on the tree fort a bit, and then Grandpa and Grandma D joined us for dinner and pie (thanks Alissa). So it was a full day!
This morning as we were setting the table for breakfast, we were surprised by Auntie Laura, Daisy and Sally. They joined us for "Surprise Friday", donuts and fun creamer for the coffee. They hung out with us until Emma left on the bus (Timmy went earlier to go to before school Spanish). Sally really wanted to go on the bus, but she had to be satisfied with a ride on the "big white bus" (the Excursion). She was fine with that once she discovered it had a video screen in it! We drove around the Wildwood loop and then they hit the road and I hit the work thing!
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Today's Recipe
I haven't given all of my adoring fans a new recipe for a while, so try this one this weekend ...
So there's you're recipe for the day.
On the family front, Emma's now well over 100 boxes of girl scout cookies sold (thanks to a big help from Auntie Karen at her apartment building). Timmy's been a big help with the tree fort lately. Emma had an eye doctor appointment. And we all watched the first part of Swiss Family Robinson last night ... good times!
Donut French Toast
This one takes a brain surgeon to figure out, so make sure you have your morning coffee before you attempt this ...
Ingredients:
powdered donuts - the bigger the better
eggs
vanilla
milk
nutmeg
cinnamon
Slice the donuts in half. Crack the eggs into a bowl, splash in milk and vanilla (I'd say to taste, but you probably shouldn't be tasting raw eggs, and they wouldn't taste that great anyway!). For the four of us, I usually do a 1/4 cup or so milk and a teaspoon of vanilla. Stir that up. Get your fry pan hot over medium heat. I like to use olive oil since it's healthier than some other oils/butter (you know, because this is such a healthy meal). Dip both sides of the sliced donuts into the egg mixture and put into the pan. Sprinkle cinnamon and nutmeg onto the cooking halves. I like to do the cinnamon and nutmeg after the dipping (many people add them to their egg mixture) to assure even coverage. If you're feeling really decadent, add some sugar and/or brown sugar to the mixture. Cook until browned, flip and repeat ... voila, Donut French Toast!
Ingredients:
powdered donuts - the bigger the better
eggs
vanilla
milk
nutmeg
cinnamon
Slice the donuts in half. Crack the eggs into a bowl, splash in milk and vanilla (I'd say to taste, but you probably shouldn't be tasting raw eggs, and they wouldn't taste that great anyway!). For the four of us, I usually do a 1/4 cup or so milk and a teaspoon of vanilla. Stir that up. Get your fry pan hot over medium heat. I like to use olive oil since it's healthier than some other oils/butter (you know, because this is such a healthy meal). Dip both sides of the sliced donuts into the egg mixture and put into the pan. Sprinkle cinnamon and nutmeg onto the cooking halves. I like to do the cinnamon and nutmeg after the dipping (many people add them to their egg mixture) to assure even coverage. If you're feeling really decadent, add some sugar and/or brown sugar to the mixture. Cook until browned, flip and repeat ... voila, Donut French Toast!
Donut French Toast ... in process
On the family front, Emma's now well over 100 boxes of girl scout cookies sold (thanks to a big help from Auntie Karen at her apartment building). Timmy's been a big help with the tree fort lately. Emma had an eye doctor appointment. And we all watched the first part of Swiss Family Robinson last night ... good times!
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Fall, yeah it's beautiful!
We've been driving around a bit on different errands, etc. Man, is it a great time of year to be driving the back roads of southern Wisconsin. It is beautiful. There are several roads that we travel quite a bit which have just wonderful displays of color these days. There's a stretch of McDonald Road (the bigger, back road we take toward town) which has a bunch of really bright orange maples on it. It's also really cool to drive by the lake and see the trees against the blue of the lake and then see all the small patches of color across the lake on the far shore. Really fun.
Cyndie and I had art class this morning ... we're working on portraits for this project. I'm doing one of Emma, and Cyndie is doing one of cousin Kristi. We both agreed today when we left that we wish we could have stayed and finished our paintings today, we were having such a good time with them. Oh well, I guess we'll just have to delay that gratification! Here are the paintings we just finished (taken with my cell phone camera, so my painting is really blurry) ...
Cyndie's painting of the barn at the fa
Cyndie and I had art class this morning ... we're working on portraits for this project. I'm doing one of Emma, and Cyndie is doing one of cousin Kristi. We both agreed today when we left that we wish we could have stayed and finished our paintings today, we were having such a good time with them. Oh well, I guess we'll just have to delay that gratification! Here are the paintings we just finished (taken with my cell phone camera, so my painting is really blurry) ...
My painting of a country schoolhouse ...
Cyndie's painting of the barn at the fa
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Routine is here
It looks like today will be a pretty routine day. The weather is nice, the kids are at school, Cyndie's helping a friend with some painting, I'm working. Normal all the way around. Today after school, Emma has Brownies. Cyndie has arranged some carpooling with other parents from Woods whose girls are participating, so that will lighten her driving load. After that we'll have date night! We're trying to save some extra money after the earlier than expected purchase of the new vehicle, so we'll probably eat some where cheaper and then maybe take a walk by the lake.
So there you have it. Normalcy, whatever that is!?
So there you have it. Normalcy, whatever that is!?
Monday, October 11, 2010
Monday Morning
It's Monday morning ... the week is starting ... life moves along.
The weekend was good. Cyndie did her scrapbooking thing. It was the biggest one her friend has ever hosted ... 32 ladies ... so Cyndie didn't get quite as much scrapbooking done as she sometimes does as she was pretty busy helping out. I think she enjoyed herself though. The kids and I worked on the treehouse some, did a little visiting, swam at the pool at Cyndie's hotel, ate at McDonalds, and drove around in the new truck (which the kids both love). At one point Timmy kept saying over and over "this is the most awesome truck ever". I think they just like the TV in it. It's nice that it has a step up into in (the Suburban didn't have that so it was quite a high step for the kids to get into).
This weekend should be a bit slower, though I think Cyndie will be pretty busy with several meetings in the evenings earlier in the week. The kids' soccer is done, so that makes the early evenings a bit less scheduled. I'm guessing there may be some girls scout cookie selling happening too. But that should be it. Overall we're just really enjoying the beautiful end to summer ... it's been in the 70s and 80s for the last 4 or 5 days, which make it a real delight to be outside ... perfect for working on the treefort!
The weekend was good. Cyndie did her scrapbooking thing. It was the biggest one her friend has ever hosted ... 32 ladies ... so Cyndie didn't get quite as much scrapbooking done as she sometimes does as she was pretty busy helping out. I think she enjoyed herself though. The kids and I worked on the treehouse some, did a little visiting, swam at the pool at Cyndie's hotel, ate at McDonalds, and drove around in the new truck (which the kids both love). At one point Timmy kept saying over and over "this is the most awesome truck ever". I think they just like the TV in it. It's nice that it has a step up into in (the Suburban didn't have that so it was quite a high step for the kids to get into).
This weekend should be a bit slower, though I think Cyndie will be pretty busy with several meetings in the evenings earlier in the week. The kids' soccer is done, so that makes the early evenings a bit less scheduled. I'm guessing there may be some girls scout cookie selling happening too. But that should be it. Overall we're just really enjoying the beautiful end to summer ... it's been in the 70s and 80s for the last 4 or 5 days, which make it a real delight to be outside ... perfect for working on the treefort!
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Gerbils
Here they are, the new additions to the family. As Timmy points out, now we all have pets (Tim's goldfish, Pepper for Cyndie and I*, and now the gerbils). Emma has named them Cookie, Sweettart, and Digger. Digger is (surprise) a big digger in the bedding. He also likes to nibble on whoever holds him. Cookie is the most docile one, and Sweettart is ... I don't know, the remaining one?
*I'm not sure why one dog for the both of us qualifies as all of us having a pet. I'm going to have to complain to whoever is in charge about that slight.
Here they are ... the three of them like to pile up in a corner to sleep. For the short term, the aquarium is located on top of Emma's dress up box.
They weren't very cooperative with the picture taking. They just wanted to sleep.
The gerbils woke Emma up during the night the first night, but I think that was as much excitement on her part as anything. No problems have happened the rest of the week. She's a pretty heavy sleeper anyway. They largely sleep at night and are awake during the day.
*I'm not sure why one dog for the both of us qualifies as all of us having a pet. I'm going to have to complain to whoever is in charge about that slight.
Here they are ... the three of them like to pile up in a corner to sleep. For the short term, the aquarium is located on top of Emma's dress up box.
They weren't very cooperative with the picture taking. They just wanted to sleep.
The gerbils woke Emma up during the night the first night, but I think that was as much excitement on her part as anything. No problems have happened the rest of the week. She's a pretty heavy sleeper anyway. They largely sleep at night and are awake during the day.
This blog is turning ...
700
No, not years old, 700 posts. Yes, this is kind of a boring celebration of the fact, but I don't really have anything horribly interesting to say or commemorate, so this is what you're stuck with. Happy 700th blogday to the Life and Times of the Wildwood DeVries.
In other news, it's Friday. Yea! It seems like this was a long week. I'm not exactly sure why. Maybe the on again, off again nature of the truck thing. On that topic, I got it registered this morning, and just sent our insurance guy an email to get started with that portion of vehicle ownership. We also figured out (via a phone call to the previous owner) how to turn off the aftermarket, really sensitive security system which went off multiple times. Hurray! Marking the unofficial start to the weekend, Cyndie just left for her scrappin' *.
*Does scrapping mean that she and Sherri are going to get in a brawl with a rival gang of scrapbooking gals? I'm thinking this could be epic on the scale of the sharks and the jets. Whoohoo, look out. Which makes me wonder, are Sherri, Cyndie and their crew the sharks or the jets?
The kids had their last soccer last night. A friend whose kids also played asked if we were going to do wrestling next. Uh, no. We're both ready for a little break in the weekly commitments. I'm guessing that the next thing will probably be swimming. For now, I want the kids to be free to enjoy the beautiful weather we've been having ... it's supposed to be in the low 80s today, tomorrow, and Sunday ... awesome. Does anyone that lives near Lake Geneva want to go water skiing over the weekend. I'm thinking one more good run would be great!
So, happy birthday blog, you don't look a post over 300.
In other news, it's Friday. Yea! It seems like this was a long week. I'm not exactly sure why. Maybe the on again, off again nature of the truck thing. On that topic, I got it registered this morning, and just sent our insurance guy an email to get started with that portion of vehicle ownership. We also figured out (via a phone call to the previous owner) how to turn off the aftermarket, really sensitive security system which went off multiple times. Hurray! Marking the unofficial start to the weekend, Cyndie just left for her scrappin' *.
*Does scrapping mean that she and Sherri are going to get in a brawl with a rival gang of scrapbooking gals? I'm thinking this could be epic on the scale of the sharks and the jets. Whoohoo, look out. Which makes me wonder, are Sherri, Cyndie and their crew the sharks or the jets?
The kids had their last soccer last night. A friend whose kids also played asked if we were going to do wrestling next. Uh, no. We're both ready for a little break in the weekly commitments. I'm guessing that the next thing will probably be swimming. For now, I want the kids to be free to enjoy the beautiful weather we've been having ... it's supposed to be in the low 80s today, tomorrow, and Sunday ... awesome. Does anyone that lives near Lake Geneva want to go water skiing over the weekend. I'm thinking one more good run would be great!
So, happy birthday blog, you don't look a post over 300.
Excitement!
Well then, we just returned from buying a new vehicle ... introducing Big Whitey, our "new" 2003 Excursion.
It's not going to get great gas mileage, but we really felt like we needed a vehicle with a heavier frame (this is a 3/4 ton versus the 1/2 ton chassis of the Suburban) and a bigger engine (this has a 6.8L V10) in order to really be able to pull the boat and not put too much stress on the transmission. Here are a few more pictures from the Craigslist listing:
Here's a picture of Cyndie with her new ride.
It's not going to get great gas mileage, but we really felt like we needed a vehicle with a heavier frame (this is a 3/4 ton versus the 1/2 ton chassis of the Suburban) and a bigger engine (this has a 6.8L V10) in order to really be able to pull the boat and not put too much stress on the transmission. Here are a few more pictures from the Craigslist listing:
Beginning the Weekend
Cyndie has a scrapbooking retreat this weekend that she's helping her friend Sherri out with. She'll be gone from Friday morning through Sunday afternoon. So, she's getting ready for that ... baking some muffins, getting all her scrapbooking* stuff together, ordering photos, etc.
*I'm seriously considering starting to use the term scrapping rather than scrapbooking. After typing scrapbooking several times ... that's a long word. Man, but still, scrapping just sounds so dumb, and really isn't that much shorter.
My preparation is going to get some movies to watch. My sister is taking a Friday/Saturday trip, so Gow and I are going to get together to be single dads, and that means after the kids go to bed Friday night, we're queuing up a couple of guy movies. The theme for the evening is cops, so we're going to watch Brooklyn's Finest and Pride and Glory. My part is to go get the movies*
*How lame is this ... we have to head over to Delavan to get anything besides Redbox. The last movie rental store in Lake Geneva closed a couple of months ago!
Tonight is the last soccer practice/game of the year. The kids have done great and really enjoyed it (especially Timmy).
*I'm seriously considering starting to use the term scrapping rather than scrapbooking. After typing scrapbooking several times ... that's a long word. Man, but still, scrapping just sounds so dumb, and really isn't that much shorter.
My preparation is going to get some movies to watch. My sister is taking a Friday/Saturday trip, so Gow and I are going to get together to be single dads, and that means after the kids go to bed Friday night, we're queuing up a couple of guy movies. The theme for the evening is cops, so we're going to watch Brooklyn's Finest and Pride and Glory. My part is to go get the movies*
*How lame is this ... we have to head over to Delavan to get anything besides Redbox. The last movie rental store in Lake Geneva closed a couple of months ago!
Tonight is the last soccer practice/game of the year. The kids have done great and really enjoyed it (especially Timmy).
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Midweek Bullets ...
How about some midweek bullets (for lack of any "big" things to write about) ...
- Some sports stuff ... the Vikings have re-acquired star receiver (and sometime pain in the butt) Randy Moss. Exciting times for the Vikes who need to get their season rolling.
- Liverpool has been bought (pending approval from the league and some legal details). This is very good. Their current owners are, to put it succinctly, lame.
- The kids had soccer last night and had a great time there.
- We babysat the local cousins last night while Laura and Gow had a date ... both girls were really interested in the gerbils, but didn't quite know what to do with them. Sally wanted to hold them, but everytime one touched here, she'd jump back and be pretty timid. Daisy was very excited by the gerbils, but lacked any finesse, so was restricted to just looking!
- The Excursion is still on hold while we get the DVD situation straightened out. The seller is getting it repaired, and then we'll (I think) go through with the sale.
- Cyndie and I had art class this morning and really enjoyed that. We were both very happy with the paintings that we came up with.
- Tonight is Cyndie's last sailing event of the year. She's really enjoyed that.
- We worked on our budget last night. We're going to try very hard over the winter to really curtail our expenses so that we can pay cash for the new truck (assuming that happens) and still do some of the projects around the house that we want to do.
- The jacuzzi has sprung another leak. We're really getting tired of that. We'll see where we decide to go with that little gem.
- It's a beautiful fall day ... I think the temperature readout in the car on the way home from art class said 73. Awesome!
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Monday ... completed
Monday ... finished. I guess the development to report is that we did NOT go to pick up the Excursion we're in talks over. I'm not sure if I mentioned that yesterday, but the plan was to go get it at 5p in Janesville. When I had seen it, the DVD player was not working. Cyndie and I discussed it and decided that we didn't want to deal with stuff not working. The guy said he'd knock $200 off the price. I called the local Ford dealer and they said that it would most likely cost $665 to fix/replace, with a small chance that it would be less if it was just a loose connection or something. So, we (me and the seller) decided that he'd take it into his shop and they'd get the DVD working. So I should hear from him today regarding that. If the DVD works, the deal is on. If not, then we'll have to see if he's willing to lower the price by $655. If so, the deals is on, if not, we'll probably walk away. More on this breaking story as it develops!
On the gerbil front ... they are here and installed in Emma's room. She's really excited to have them. The kids both played with them and held them. We made a little hut/play thing out of a used cottage cheese container and some wood. I don't think it will last, however, as by this morning the gerbils had chewed it up pretty good. I guess we'll have to go with wood toys and stuff bought from the store made out of harder plastic. Pepper is fascinated by the gerbils. The aquarium that they're in is right at his eye level (currently on top of Emma's dress up box). He just stands there staring at them. We'll see where that goes. This morning when I went in to wake up Emma for her shower, she was up already and rearranging the "furniture" in the aquarium. Funny!
Today Timmy's home from school with a bit of a sore throat. He and Cyndie ran some errands this morning and also got the Suburban back from the shop. Cyndie reports that it is running well, so that's a nice thing. It definitely gives us plenty of time to find the right replacement vehicle.
On the gerbil front ... they are here and installed in Emma's room. She's really excited to have them. The kids both played with them and held them. We made a little hut/play thing out of a used cottage cheese container and some wood. I don't think it will last, however, as by this morning the gerbils had chewed it up pretty good. I guess we'll have to go with wood toys and stuff bought from the store made out of harder plastic. Pepper is fascinated by the gerbils. The aquarium that they're in is right at his eye level (currently on top of Emma's dress up box). He just stands there staring at them. We'll see where that goes. This morning when I went in to wake up Emma for her shower, she was up already and rearranging the "furniture" in the aquarium. Funny!
Today Timmy's home from school with a bit of a sore throat. He and Cyndie ran some errands this morning and also got the Suburban back from the shop. Cyndie reports that it is running well, so that's a nice thing. It definitely gives us plenty of time to find the right replacement vehicle.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Crazy Week
Well now, that week didn't go exactly as anticipated. As you may recall, we started the week with a strange Monday where we spent much of the day getting us and the boat back from the weekend up at Green Lake. Well, we've been without the Suburban now for 10 days or so. The shop where we had the transmission warranty is fixing it, though they outsource that work to a different shop, a transmission specialist, down in Illinois. So the Suburban was supposed to be fixed that Friday and being brought back up to Lake Geneva, where we could pick it up on Saturday. That didn't happen. Cyndie talked to "our" (the LG shop) this morning and apparently the "other" shop started driving the truck back up here and something when wrong. I'm not sure what, I'm not sure if Cyndie was told any details, but we're still waiting on that front. A good thing is that we're going to get a loaner car in the interim. It's going to be a Ford Taurus with no power steering ... so Cyndie should get a good workout from that!
Aside from the car dealings, midway through the week my laptop crapped out, so I spent a good portion of Thursday working with the tech guy at work to try to get it moving again, then most of Friday getting my files transferred from the old, non-working machine to a new laptop. Then the rest of the day getting the new one configured and putting software on it, etc. So now I'm up and running again, with a spiffy new laptop. It's got a new operating system on it, Windows 7, so that's both fun, and challenging! So, that's the biggest reason behind not doing any blog posts, my apologies.
The rest of the week was normal ... soccer for the kids, Emma started Girl Scouts (Brownies) for the year. They're already selling girl scout cookies. If you want to buy any, please let me (or Emma) know. If you're at a distance and don't anticipate seeing us soon after the November 8 (I think) receive date for the cookies, you can also participate by buying boxes of cookies that will be donated to a local food pantry. Timmy is very much enjoying practicing soccer at home. We have a goal set up that we gave him for Christmas last year. He digs doing drills and shooting into the net. Lately he's been very into being a goalie. He loves to dive after the ball.
Over the weekend my Auntie Diane and Uncle John (whose cabin near Kansas City we've gone to multiple times) stopped through. It was fun to see them and head out on the lake with them for a late afternoon. Uncle John is a "car guy", so he went with us to look at a Ford Excursion we were interested in. Which leads us too ...
We started looking for a Suburban replacement. Before the transmission went out, we were thinking we'd have a year or two before we'd have to replace it. However, this event got us thinking that we should start looking around to at least see what's out there. We have, we think pending a final, successful return of the Suburban, some time to shop and get a good deal. We're looking for a truck that can easily pull the boat (we think the Suburban may be a bit underpowered to handle the boat) and something that we can, at least, fit our family into, but preferably a 7 or 8 seater. So we went to see this Excursion that was for sale by a private party near the kids' school. It was a good deal in theory, but the truck was not in good shape. It had been in an accident (replaced headlight and fenders, chassis welds, etc), had some rust that had been painted over, the transmission didn't feel right (lots of hesitation in shifting, really high revving), and the oil was REALLY dirty. So we didn't jump at that. Obviously. But yesterday I drove over to Janesville to look at another Excursion. As bad as that first one was, this one was great. The Excursion is built on a Ford F250 chassis, so it's got a good starting basis to tow the boat. This one has a 6.8 liter V10, plenty to pull the boat. It also has a Banks Power system which is an exhaust system add-on which increases the power of the engine. It rides really nice, has been well taken care of, has some nice add-ons (like a DVD player), and, most importantly, is a pretty nice deal. it's around $3000 less and blue book (for a private party seller). So we made an offer, and it was accepted. Now we're dealing with the bank and getting enough cash to make the deal. Right now, maybe because it's early in the week, the local bank doesn't have enough cash for us. I may need to end up getting a bank check or something like that to pay the guy (and asking him if he'll accept that). Fun times.
Oh, and another new toy is coming today. Emma has been saving her money and doing extra chores all summer in order to get a gerbil. I'm not sure what got that into her head, but she's been very persistent. She's managed to save $42.16. So starting around a month and a half ago, she and Cyndie started checking Craigslist and ebay and the newspapers, for cages/aquariums and accessories. Well, yesterday they found someone up in Milwaukee (not too far from my office) who is selling 3 gerbils and all the accessories. She was asking $80, but Emma emailed and told her about herself and that she'd been saving all summer and got a reply along the lines of "awwwww, of course I'll take that =)".* So needless to say, Emma is VERY excited for those gerbils to arrive and become a part of her room.
*Those extra w's and the smiley face where part of the e-mail, I didn't even have to add them for emphasis.
So, there you go, our week begins with some new excitement!
Aside from the car dealings, midway through the week my laptop crapped out, so I spent a good portion of Thursday working with the tech guy at work to try to get it moving again, then most of Friday getting my files transferred from the old, non-working machine to a new laptop. Then the rest of the day getting the new one configured and putting software on it, etc. So now I'm up and running again, with a spiffy new laptop. It's got a new operating system on it, Windows 7, so that's both fun, and challenging! So, that's the biggest reason behind not doing any blog posts, my apologies.
The rest of the week was normal ... soccer for the kids, Emma started Girl Scouts (Brownies) for the year. They're already selling girl scout cookies. If you want to buy any, please let me (or Emma) know. If you're at a distance and don't anticipate seeing us soon after the November 8 (I think) receive date for the cookies, you can also participate by buying boxes of cookies that will be donated to a local food pantry. Timmy is very much enjoying practicing soccer at home. We have a goal set up that we gave him for Christmas last year. He digs doing drills and shooting into the net. Lately he's been very into being a goalie. He loves to dive after the ball.
Over the weekend my Auntie Diane and Uncle John (whose cabin near Kansas City we've gone to multiple times) stopped through. It was fun to see them and head out on the lake with them for a late afternoon. Uncle John is a "car guy", so he went with us to look at a Ford Excursion we were interested in. Which leads us too ...
We started looking for a Suburban replacement. Before the transmission went out, we were thinking we'd have a year or two before we'd have to replace it. However, this event got us thinking that we should start looking around to at least see what's out there. We have, we think pending a final, successful return of the Suburban, some time to shop and get a good deal. We're looking for a truck that can easily pull the boat (we think the Suburban may be a bit underpowered to handle the boat) and something that we can, at least, fit our family into, but preferably a 7 or 8 seater. So we went to see this Excursion that was for sale by a private party near the kids' school. It was a good deal in theory, but the truck was not in good shape. It had been in an accident (replaced headlight and fenders, chassis welds, etc), had some rust that had been painted over, the transmission didn't feel right (lots of hesitation in shifting, really high revving), and the oil was REALLY dirty. So we didn't jump at that. Obviously. But yesterday I drove over to Janesville to look at another Excursion. As bad as that first one was, this one was great. The Excursion is built on a Ford F250 chassis, so it's got a good starting basis to tow the boat. This one has a 6.8 liter V10, plenty to pull the boat. It also has a Banks Power system which is an exhaust system add-on which increases the power of the engine. It rides really nice, has been well taken care of, has some nice add-ons (like a DVD player), and, most importantly, is a pretty nice deal. it's around $3000 less and blue book (for a private party seller). So we made an offer, and it was accepted. Now we're dealing with the bank and getting enough cash to make the deal. Right now, maybe because it's early in the week, the local bank doesn't have enough cash for us. I may need to end up getting a bank check or something like that to pay the guy (and asking him if he'll accept that). Fun times.
Oh, and another new toy is coming today. Emma has been saving her money and doing extra chores all summer in order to get a gerbil. I'm not sure what got that into her head, but she's been very persistent. She's managed to save $42.16. So starting around a month and a half ago, she and Cyndie started checking Craigslist and ebay and the newspapers, for cages/aquariums and accessories. Well, yesterday they found someone up in Milwaukee (not too far from my office) who is selling 3 gerbils and all the accessories. She was asking $80, but Emma emailed and told her about herself and that she'd been saving all summer and got a reply along the lines of "awwwww, of course I'll take that =)".* So needless to say, Emma is VERY excited for those gerbils to arrive and become a part of her room.
*Those extra w's and the smiley face where part of the e-mail, I didn't even have to add them for emphasis.
So, there you go, our week begins with some new excitement!
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