I'm Done...

I've been trying to finish the entertainment center this weekend, and I keep thinking it's not done because I'm anal when it comes to stuff like that... Carolyn finally said, "It's beautiful, take it upstairs, stop working on it!" So upstairs it goes tomorrow... :) I guess no one will see the flaws but me... :)



It's funny, but when you make something, or at least when I do, I see every little flaw, yet no one else does... I agreed with Carolyn though, and even though I still think it needs work, I've got way too many other projects going on to argue... :)

I Think I'm Going To Write A Book...

Choices...

You know, can we not have more choices??

Hillary Clinton

I think her comments today should scare most Americans.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070529/clinton_economy.html?.v=1

Yeah, okay. I know the Democrats HATE individualism, but steal from the rich and give to the poor? It's called welfare. I wonder if Hillary would be willing to 'share' her homes and wealth with others? Oh yeah, that only applies to everyone else... It's called socialism people!

John McCain

Not sure I even need to comment about this hothead. This guy is so desparate to be President, he will do/say ANYTHING to get elected. Him and Teddy ganging up on the illegal criminal alien bill should be enough to wake most people up. Then him getting all pissed off and using the F word clearly shows how desperate he is. Wow!

Barack Obama

Umm... I know people seem to love him, but hello! What does he stand for? What are his plans? He hasn't actually said. Great! Yeah, let's make him President...

John Edwards

This idiot is so vain, is that who we want for President? He doesn't have much in the way of plans either, except to bash the current administration, which is fine I might add, but what are you going to do differently? I think the statement on his web page says a lot: "The president has vetoed funding for the troops, and he's the only one responsible for blocking the resources they need." Umm, no. Congress put SO much pork into that bill, along with demands for timetables, does he think Americans are that stupid? Oh yeah, they are, never mind...

Rudy Giuliani

Not much to say here, what does he have going for him? He was the mayor of NY on 9/11? Does he have any other credentials? A lot of baggage if you ask me...

Mitt Romney

I don't think most will be able to get past his so-called religion... Seems like a nice guy though. Just not sure how many will buy into the whole "I found the golden tablets, interpreted them, and no one else can see them, but everyone must believe what they said" religion thing...

Wow! There are others, I just don't think many of them have a chance. It will be interesting to watch, and I just wonder which one of these people will harm America worse?

Speaking of the President... Did I hear him correctly today?? Saying the immigration bill isn't amnesty?? Then what do you call it? They are criminals, they broke the law, and we are to forgive them all and let them get on the track to being here legally and then become citizens? Secure the border!! If your house is flooding, what do you do? Stop the flow of water, then deal with the clean up! That's exactly what we should do with immigration! Just the thought of becoming legal residents likely sends tons more flooding across the border. Can't we just secure the borders, then deal with the ones who are here??

Happy Memorial Day!!!

To all who have served and are serving!!

Brutal Day...

So we started loading all that debris in the trailer, wow!!

Tanner was like, "Um Dad, can't we hire someone to do this?"... :)

That's all we got loaded today...

Still a LOT to go...

Whew!!

Here it is not even noon yet, and I'm almost exhausted...

The kids wanted to use it, but they couldn't even lift it up... Sucked for me though...

I can't believe that there are people who use those things all day on their jobs...

Luckily the stairs are now down though! Now we just have to haul all that brick and concrete to the dump. LUCKILY my neighbor is having a party that starts at 4:00 today, I'm not sure I would last much longer than that doing this manual labor... :)

Wow!!

Knocking those stairs down has turned out to be quite the chore. It reached the point where the sledge hammers were of little use. Off to Home Depot to rent a tool...

Tanner having a go at it...

Chance doing the same...

Chance again..

The tool didn't quite cut it though. So I guess I'll have to go trade it in for a jackhammer in the morning... The kids are quite excited about that though... :)

Back Stairs...

As SOON as the kids got home from school, they went to work again with the sledgehammers...

Chance didn't quite seem to get the whole, "Be careful son, that thing could fall at ANY time" warnings I kept giving him...

So I just knocked the top down myself...

Once Chance saw how easily it came down, he was like, "Oh, that's what you were warning me about Dad?" "Yeah son!"

So now Chance has gone to round up the neighborhood kids so they can all have a little fun! :)

Plus, it saves me from having to do all that manual labor! :)

Then Tanner and I decided that it would be pretty easy to just rip the deck down with the truck...

So we did! Tanner thought he was so cool! He helped me hook up the chains and thought it was just the BEST! :)

Taylor's Graduation...

Most of the pictures were blurry for some reason... :( I did take video though!

Waiting to get their awards.

Taylor with her teacher.

Deck Preparation...

So in order to start the deck, the stairs in the back had to come down, the kids were THRILLED with the prospect...

I only had one sledge hammer, but all of the neighborhood kids ran home and came back with one. They were so excited to be able to knock down the stairs...

They couldn't quite get started, so I knocked a hole in the side for them, then they went to town...

The kids were VERY excited to have broken through the side...

They finally broke through both sides, and they couldn't wait to take down the top. It was getting dark though, and it was time to stop. I'm sure they will all be back tomorrow though to finish it...

I started knocking the stairs down while Carolyn was at school... :) She came home and was like, "Didn't you need those stairs to get the entertainment center upstairs?". LOL! I HATE painting!!! No, it's still not entirely painted, although it will only take a day to finish painting it... We'll see which gets done first, the deck or the entertainment center... :)

Campaign Ads...

I'm sure we are about to be overwhelmed with them, particularly with the Internet! I'm sure everyone has seen countless from previous elections. Ever think to yourself, "I could make such a better ad than that."? Well, now you can:

Campaignads.org

"a political, "multipartisan" user-generated site in which the 30- and 60-second spots that get the most votes and donations will air on TV

Should be interesting, I might make one myself, I've already got several ideas, we'll see... :)

The Amnesty Bill...

That's what it is, of that there is no question. My issue with it is that they tried to slam it through the Senate without debate and BEFORE anyone could actually read it! Wow! I guess they got a lot of feedback on it:

Senate puts off immigration action...

I guess they all want to be reelected... If they do pass it, which they probably will in some form or another, it gives the Democrats about 20 million new votes. Which is why they want to pass it, but no one gives much thought to the strain it will cause on the welfare system, because most of them will be eligible for food stamps, child care, health care (where offered), etc... Wait till they start tapping Social Security... The problem with the people in power is they really don't give a damn, they only care about power. Bush is for it because he is desperate for something else to end his Presidency on rather than having it end with only the Iraq war... We'll see what happens, I almost hope they do cram it through, because if there is one thing the Americans care about, it's this. No, wait a second, I forgot, Americans don't give a damn about much of anything because they don't even realize what is going on. Wait, they care who will win American Idol...

Carbon Credits...

Carbon credits, heard of them? What a scam! A post for a different time though, I have to go paint. I thought the cartoon was rather comical, and it wouldn't surprise me if someone could actually make a living selling their "carbon credits"...

Comical...

From the Drudge Report...

I'm sure you've heard that Carter has once again slammed Bush, this time as being the worst President in history. Umm... The last time I checked, isn't Carter pretty much the sole reason we are really even in Afghanistan and Iraq today? Does no one recall Carter's foreign policies? I am glad the White House actually spoke back this time, for the first time ever I believe...

It's Not For Lack Of Trying...

I've been working on this thing for a WHILE now... I thought I would have it upstairs by now, but that is not the case... I've been priming and painting all day, still lots to go. I do have a pneumatic paint sprayer, I'm thinking of trying that out. I've never used it though. I might break it out tomorrow, I want this to be in my living room this week!! We'll see... :)

Little Entrepreneurs...

Taylor and Sarah decided to setup a lemonade stand today:

They each made about eight dollars... :)

Yeah, I'm finishing that entertainment center, I'm almost done now actually, just taking a break to eat. About to go paint it... :)

Spiderman 3...

The kids have been begging to go see the new Spiderman movie, so I loaded Chance and Tanner along with 3 of their friends up and off we went. My neighbor wanted to see it as well, so his wife was going to take the girls to see Shrek 3. We all met up at Joe's Crab Shack for lunch, then off to the movies we went. Carolyn didn't want to go, so Cory and Carolyn went off by themselves to eat and go shopping. The movie was okay, but way too long between the scenes that everyone actually wanted to see. It was more like some sort of a romance novel. I wish I had waited to just watch it when it came out on DVD, oh well, live and learn... :)

Field Day...

It was Field Day at the kids school yesterday and today, I wasn't able to go yesterday, but Carolyn and I were able to go for a bit today... I didn't take too many pictures for some reason either...

Family...

I'm sure everyone has heard the saying, "You can choose your friends, but you can't choose your family.". I'm a VERY family oriented person, as are many of my siblings... The events that have happened over the past year or so though have sickened me. I'm glad they happened though, because you can see people's TRUE colors when things such as this happen. I had a conversation with one of my siblings this evening, and it is QUITE refreshing actually to be getting a new start without all the drama. So we'll be kind of starting anew I guess. We'll start the whole "family" thing at this level, forgetting about all the horse shit from the past. I'm SO glad my children will NEVER have to go through what me and my siblings did. I used to have hope that 'things would work out', I no longer do. We'll just start fresh. Forget the past, move on, and have fun with our families. I'm looking forward to it actually...

Marriage Quotes...

I was going to post these in the comments in that earlier post, but I think no one goes down more than one or two posts Jackie... :)

"Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction."
-- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

"Anyone can be passionate, but it takes real lovers to be silly."
-- Rose Franken

"We love because it's the only true adventure."
-- Nikki Giovanni

"Two souls with but a single thought,
Two hearts that beat as one."
-- Fredrich Halm

"To love someone deeply gives you strength. Being loved by someone deeply gives you courage."
-- Lao Tzu

"There is no more lovely, friendly and charming relationship, communion or company than a good marriage."
-- Martin Luther

"Marriages are made in heaven and consummated on Earth."
-- John Lyly

"The best way to get husbands to do something is to suggest that perhaps they are too old to do it. "
-- Shirley MacLaine

"Love is an emotion experienced by the many and enjoyed by the few."
-- George Jean Nathan

I'll post some more in the comments later... :)

Visual DNA...

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

Marriage...

Post coming up... Don't wait up kids, it might be late...

Front Lawn Update...

I know everyone is just dying to know how my front lawn is coming along! (yeah right Matt! :) Pics anyway, whether you want to see them or not...

It's coming in quite nicely... I put bushes along the driveway going up (obviously)... :)

What are those bags you might ask? Rock. Putting a gravel walkway going down to the bench and out to the yard, just have to finish it! :)

Still working on that other side, well, need to be working on the other side! I moved back inside to finish the trim, wainscoating and entertainment center so Carolyn can get her house back in order! :) Almost done too!

The top part is still coming in, but in a few weeks I should have a nice front lawn for a change!

School Pictures...

Chance

Tanner

Taylor

Happy Mother's Day Carolyn!!

We didn't do much really... Working on the house... :) We didn't take a 'break' for Mother's Day, we toil on! We got Carolyn a new video iPod though and a cell phone. I don't like not being able to get ahold of her when I want to, and of course she has always replied, "Well, get me a cell phone then." So we finally got one. I'm probably the only person in the free world who has just now bought a cell phone, of course I've always had a company cell phone, so never really needed a personal one... When we got Carolyn's cell phone, Chance asked me if he could get one as well. I was like, "Yeah, once you save up your money." He whipped out his wallet and had the money saved already, so now Chance also has a cell phone! :)

Back to work...

Prom Night...

Always exciting for those going I guess! Cory and Jessica stopped by on their way to the Prom...

Cory and Jessica...

Again...

Of course I'm STILL painting trim! I talked Joe into coming over and putting it up though... :) Well, didn't really 'talk' him into it, I asked him if he would, and he said he would. So Joe came over earlier and I showed him what I wanted done, and thankfully, he said he'd do it Tuesday and Wednesday!

I'm SO over working on this house you can't make it up! Almost done though! So I'll toil on until it's done, but I'm not opposed at this point to paying other people to hurry the process along! :)

OMG!!

How did I survive for 40 years without this device?!? I bought an iPod off of Ebay and I can't believe how I have managed to live without this thing for the past 40 years! I was outside cutting up all those trees I cut down, happily sawing away listening to my iPod. When it arrived, Chance brought it to me. He was quite exited, he told me, "Dad, I'm so glad you got that because now we won't have to listen to your music blaring". I don't think anyone in my family likes the music I listen to. I play it anyway... :) Now they don't have to hear it!

It started storming today, so I decided to finish the entertainment center... While listening to my new iPod!

A Few Thoughts...

Actually, the only reason I'm sitting here is because I couldn't get my chainsaw to start back up, so said screw it, and came in... :)

How about Obama? Saying: "In case you missed it, this week, there was a tragedy in Kansas. Ten thousand people died..." Then he went on to say that he was tired... Ummm... The last time I checked, running the only Superpower is a tiring job... You are going to blame being tired for making that mistake... Hmmm... Might want to rethink your strategist...

Article here...

Know someone that you think might be here after the Rapture? Want to send them a letter? Well now you can:

The Post-Rapture Post...

Started by atheists obviously... I'm sure they'll make money, but WOW!!

I wonder if Arnold will pardon Paris Hilton? I hope she goes to jail myself... What about the petition?

Petition to pardon Paris...

"She provides hope for young people all over the U.S. and the world" WOW!!!! That would kind of be like saying that Satan provides hope for young and new Christians all over the world, wouldn't it?? She is a tramp, she is a worthless role model. She does think she is above the law because she has a few bucks. I wonder if Arnold will pardon her? We'll see...

The deck material arrived as well, the kids quickly took it over:

I wonder how long that will sit there? :)

Yeah, Haven't Had Much To Say...

I've been trying to do about a thousand things at once, and it hasn't left much time for blogging... :(

I cut down about 40 trees in the back, Tanner watching me cut them up...

The bad thing is, there is a statewide burning ban, so I'll have to haul all the branches to the dump... :(

I made the kids start loading the trailer, I'm sure it will take SEVERAL loads!!

So that's what I've been doing, have to get all those trees cleaned up and out of here tomorrow! So much more work to do tomorrow, but I'm sure we'll get it done! :)

Luckily though, I found some guy who came out this afternoon and ground up all the stumps for a LOT less than anyone else wanted! Most people wanted between $20 and $40 per stump! Huh?!? This guy did it for less than $10 each!

Craigslist.org...

I LOVE Craigslist... Does anyone else use it? You never know what you'll find!

I got ALL that Hickory hardwood flooring today for $25... Some guy moving to VA, didn't want to take it with him...

I cut a bunch of trees down too. Now it's time to relax for a minute... :)

Kentucky Derby 133...

I couldn't help it, I had to take a look at the numbers and stats... I still haven't made my picks, but if anyone else is interested...

Matthew's Handicapping... :)

I have a rather bizarre method of handicapping, but the Derby is probably one of the hardest races in the world to actually handicap... I'll tell you my picks later...

Still Not Much To Say...

Sorry people, but I've been SO busy trying to finish this house, I've not had much time for much else... I see the light at the end of the tunnel!! Carolyn and I have been in "remodel mode" almost our entire married lives, and we both see the light at the end of the tunnel, and we are SO excited to finally be able to just relax!! So we toil on! I DO know what I'll be doing around 6:00PM tomorrow night though!

The Run for the Roses!

I LOVE the Kentucky Derby!! Not just the Derby, but thoroughbred racing in general! I've been so busy this year though, I am not even sure what horses are even running in the Derby. Normally, I not only know what horses are running, but I know everything about the horse, the trainer, the jockey, etc... There is always next year I guess... :) I'll be watching the two minutes though when it starts, and will enjoy it nonetheless...

Well, back to figuring out what exactly I need for my deck, because I have a 10% off coupon at Home Depot that expires Monday, so I have to get the materials by then so I can save a few bucks... :)

The Interview...

So I really don't have much to post, so I'll answer the "interview" questions Petra sent me... :)

Here are my 5 questions:

1. What song epitomizes your High School years?

Well, I can't think of a single song, but I guess I would have to say anything by Def Leppard. In particular, anything from their Pyromania album...

2. If you could be someone famous for a day, who would it be and why?

Umm... I wouldn't want to be anyone but me, but if I HAD to choose... Still a hard question. Bill Clinton perhaps, he is the greatest salesman I've ever seen. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad perhaps, because he has taken on the most powerful country in the world and no one seems to be able to stop him. Perhaps Alexander the Great, I've always liked reading about him. So I'm not sure I can narrow it down to one, those are my choices...

3. What is something you said you would never do and then ended up doing?

Trying to think... I do recall Titus and I selling all our crap years ago and driving out to California saying we would never come back to the South, yet we did... :) Still thinking... Nothing else comes to mind. Usually if I say I'm not going to do something, I don't do it... :)

4. Ocean or mountains?

No debate here, OCEAN!!!

5. What's the most adventurous thing you've ever done?

Hmm... I'm not really the adventurous type, although I have done a lot of things. Rock climbing at Joshua Tree National Monument and surfing on the North Shore in Hawaii come to mind. Not sure if that is considered 'adventurous' or not. I guess I don't get out much, because I can't think of anything else that I would actually consider adventurous. :) I've done a ton of other things, but not sure I'd classify them as 'adventurous'...

Whew! That's over! :) (The rest is the 'canned speech' from the questions I was sent :)

Now, do YOU want to be interviewed?

Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me." I will respond by emailing you five questions, and I get to pick the questions. Then, you can update your blog with the answers to the questions. You can include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
When others comment asking to be interviewed, you ask them five questions.

Who's next? :)