November 6, 2008
putting some touches on the house
So now that the dining room is painted we have rearranged some things to put them away.
First we bought a clock for the family room...since the only real one visible at all times is the VCR and the time it keeps is...terrible at best (it gained 10 minutes in 6 months). And the fact that I think it's been over a year since I've last used the VCR....
Second, we got two small bamboo trays to hold our personal effects (wallet, keys, etc), which allows us to organize a bit. Plus, we also got a bigger one to hold my unread magazines (mostly cooking plus a couple of others) and new mail. Also moved the small table that it's on to the back of the room, so that it'll be close to an outlet, so Shannon will be able to charge her phone easily. It also has the hand sewn...table runner I guess? that my Great-Grandmother (I believe) made.
Above it (kitchen wall) we put the Tudzarov that we bought at the last Des Moines Art Festival (why does it always take so long to get new art hung). On each side of that we put the big wooden spoon and fork that was above my grandparent's (father's side) table.
On the Stair side wall of the dining room, we put the book cases and alternated between my cookbooks and Shannon's nick-knacks and some photos, plus on top we put the Irish table runner that we got as a wedding present.
We rotated the table 90 degrees, since the dining room is basically square.
The living room got the cupboard that was in the dining room...but now it's less covered with all my crap, and now holds our wedding photo and some other wedding stuff.
So the dining room is more utilized, and the living room is opened up a bit. We also talked about, unless we need them, putting away the folding chairs out of the dining room...which I like generally...but I don't really know where we'd put them.
I like it and it feels like we'll be more organized and we'll have a place for every day things and I like that...
Posted by SammyD at 9:42 PM | Comments (0)
October 20, 2008
This weekend we put on two coats of a red paint (it's something bahama, but I can't remember). I remember the Boelmans painting their bathroom red, and to get the red they wanted they had to put on 4 or 5 coats or something like that...Well with two, you can still see a few flaws, so we're hoping that with the 3rd coat we can call it good.
I've been reading a bit more and have been enjoying reading most of the graphic novels listed (I've gone off of quite a few best graphic novel lists to go from there). I must say that it really has made me feel like a kid again and I've been staying up later and later reading a few of these. Some of them were not the best. I was reminded why I'm not a huge fan Superman (might over intelligence) or Justice League (problems have to be so ridiculous that they seem silly). The exception has been Kingdom Come, where the artwork was stunning and the story was really good.
I also have apparently forgotten that I've read High Fidelity, which I think I even own. Though in reading it I find myself more identifying with what I remember from the movie, then what I had read before.
I remember the book The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper from my childhood...considering how much I read as a youngster, to have a book stand out in my memory is pretty shocking. I finally watched the movie that was based on the book...The movie was terrible. I'm glad that Scott told me not to go to it in the theater.
Posted by SammyD at 9:46 AM | Comments (0)
October 7, 2008
After putting it off for a long long long time (trying to spend only cash we actually have and fit it into the budget and actually avoiding doing it when it's hot out), we have finally double coat primer painted the dining room. So now, instead of having to look at a mostly red wall, where the wall paper border used to be, and then the dingy white, it is now all a bright super clean white.
Now all we have to do is paint it red again.
We decided that we'd have someone else paint the ceilings, front hall, staircase and landing, because...well...painting ceilings sucks.
Monday I went to Cedar Rapids, on the invite of my youngest brother Isaac, to recreate, to some extent, the senior picture that I had taken. In that picture I was laying to my side and baby Isaac was sitting in front with lederhosen. While we weren't able to find lederhosen (well we didn't try too hard), we did take pictures. Shannon came along too, since she had the afternoon off. We were fed white chili, cornbread, melon and apple crisp and played some hearts before dinner.
On the way there, a magic bug went splat against my windshield and even though I used wiper fluid several times (4 or 5), it had little affect against the smear of it. However on the way back, it rained...quite a bit. While driving, we semi-hydroplaned a few times and had the wipers on high, to no noticeable results. After slowing down to well under the limit, it finally got viewable again.
Tomorrow we're going to go see Religulous. I'm looking forward to it.
Posted by SammyD at 5:51 PM | Comments (0)
July 28, 2008
Not something I expected to see...
Sunday evening, we're downstairs being lazy, watching some DVR'd things. And we both hear a loud thump against the basement window closest to the front of the house (near the northeast corner). I get up to investigate, and there is a tabby cat (stray I'm assuming) and in her mouth is a fairly large bunny rabbit (lots of clover in my yard, so we have lots of rabbits). She looked shocked to see me and quickly jumped out of the shallow window well and started to drag the kill away from our house. Shannon got up and went to the other window (near the southeast corner), to see it drag it further down the dead end.
Certainly not something I expected to see...
Posted by SammyD at 7:24 AM | Comments (0)
June 6, 2008
A plethora of entries combined for your convenience
Jimmy's 30th Birthday Party
Last Saturday, we headed up to Boone, to help celebrate Jimmy's 30th. On the drive up we passed through lakes...well...they looked like lakes, but really it was flooded out farm fields and what not. One of the gas stations near the I35 - Highway 30 exchange almost had the floodwaters up to their back door. It was quite crazy. We got to Boone, I handed Jimmy the dozen and a half or so oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, which he proceeded to go hide. It was a nice meet up with many salt of the earth people, kids, parents, grand parents, friends, neighbors. Quite the gathering.
A few things I noticed, quite a few smokers...but I rarely saw any name brands...or at least not that I recognize. Lotta love (even though there was a lot of jokes thrown around). Worry and tension about the economy and jobs.
A few interesting things. Both Bob and Jackie (who were dating when I was in college) got married on the same day (to different people). Their receptions...were well...right across the parking lot from each other. It sounds as if Bob had checked on where Jackie's was, but it was already booked. It was a strange to hear the stories. Jackie's got a beautiful child.
As night grew on, many got quite a bit on the drunker side of life. Eventually we headed home.
Just a s a side note, we did drive Shannon's car to save a few bucks...though driving with no cruise control...kinda sucks....my car is more comfortable anyways...at least for me.
Ahnaka's 2nd Birthday Party
Last Sunday we went to Backyard Adventures to celebrate 2 years of life in Jerry and Nay's oldest, Ahnaka's. It was actually quite fun, because the equipment is apparently built well enough that even my fat self can play. Shannon slid down a few slides, I did some swinging and even made a silly attempt to shoot some baskets (I suck).
It was fun, got lots of pictures of silliness. They put out some cupcakes, ice cream treats and we fun...
There was a like a old peoples swings and I gotta say i'd like that by it's self...put it in the back yard, and just sit out there and ready while swinging.
Ground Chicken?
So we used a coupon to buy some ground chicken on our last shopping trip. I combined it with some leftover ground pork and made mini burgers for movie night. Spiced it a little (I didn't think enough), used some of the Gateway market dinner rolls, some arugula, some Bubbies pickles, a sliced up tomato, several types of mustard, catsup and mayo. Quite good. That with some over baked fries...mmm...pretty good...and simple too.
Cleaning!
We both had the day off today, so I spent the day doing some outside work, while Shannon got some parts done on the inside. I mowed the lawn, and after a bit got to cleaning the garage. I threw a way a bunch of stuff (some left behind by the previous owner...yeah yeah I know I've lived here for over four years). And then decided to leave more for next week (since the garbage can was filling up quick). I also filled up the divot in the side yard with a bag of dirt that Brandon gave me. Then covered it in grass seed, fertilizer and some water. Shannon got quite a bit of the walls in the dining room cleaned off, from the remaining paste and what not left from peeling off the wall paper.
Medical
My foot is feeling better, walking is no longer a challenge. Though rotating it to the left and the right, still feels wierd and a little painful. I went for a blood draw today, to find out how my liver is doing after being on the Tricor for 3 months. I'm gonna try to restart exercising on Monday, and see how it goes.
Posted by SammyD at 8:04 PM | Comments (0)
May 10, 2008
Thursday, Alan's Seamless Gutters, came out and put the gutters on. I had called Beaverdale Gutter too, to get a quote, and I never got one. It was kind of annoying. The three of them were quick, efficient and had the new gutters on there in short order. The three of them actually reminded me of a friend of a friend, which just struck me a s a bit funny.
Posted by SammyD at 11:08 AM | Comments (0)
I was trapped...a least for part of the day. They used large pieces of plywood to cover the windows and doors (to prevent damage to them I suspect). Which prevented me from getting out.. I was able to get out from time to time, limp around and see the house a bit more naked then normal. The workers were very efficient.
Over all, I was fairly pleased with Deever Roofing. I called them with three Issues. First and least importantly, there was a dent in the side of the yard, where the roof material supplier put down some feet to use the crane to put the roofing materials on my naked roof. Second, there was a bit of damage to the wood work below the roof...apparently this is a bit rotted...though I don't know what that means. Third, they knocked over my chimney (metal) for my water heater and furnace. They guy came out on Thursday, to do the inspection and came out today to work on the chimney. The new roof looks good. I'm glad it's done.
Posted by SammyD at 11:05 AM | Comments (0)
April 12, 2008
So Shannon got home, hung out a bit and then went up to take a nap, flushed the toilet and I heard some loud bubbles. I go over to the floor drain in the basement, and it bubbles up a bit more. So instead of messing around, I quickly call the Mr Rooter people and they eventually head over.
A rooter on the main drain, and a snake on the floor drain, and finally we're free flowing again. They're coming back on Monday to do a water high-pressure flush of the kitchen and then the main line out. Hopefully this'll clear up the grease that apparently has bee building up for years and years (before I even moved in...).
*sigh* Oh well...so goes life. I think maybe I stole the gremlin from the Hettinger's, but as far as I'm concerned, they can have it back...
Posted by SammyD at 7:47 PM | Comments (1)
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