Always Remember...

Before And After...

Yeah, I stopped working on the "sidewalk" and moved to the stairs because they were getting on my LAST nerve!! :)

If that mess isn't enough to get on anyone's LAST nerve, I'm not sure what is... :)

Finally finished around 8PM, and nearly stopped quite a few times actually, I was glad this AM that I didn't... :)

Now to get myself inside and start cooking before all the company arrives...

Let The Games Begin...

So yeah, the poll... the slate won. Now I just have to actually lay it. Wow. It's complicated, why did I have to make that walkway so curvy???? Oh well, getting started...

Laying out the slate and cutting it, I HATE doing this I might add. No one else is going to do it though, so do it I must...

Yeah, it's a chore. It will look nice though, and I think it will complement the flagstone. I'll put pics up tomorrow of the finished product.. I HOPE!

Chance, Tanner and TJ contemplating what to do... :)

Poll Time...

So... I'm thinking of putting slate down around that flagstone instead of finishing with the flagstone. I'll cut a straight line on the flagstone, then make the slate level with the flagstone. What do you think? Why you might ask? Because I'm a cheap bastard, and I rather like the thought of slate at $.99 a sq. ft. as opposed to flagstone at $6 a sq. ft. :)

Lightly Matt, Lightly...

So I decided to "lightly" sand that bar today and give it another coat of stain... Sigh. I ended up sanding, sanding and sanding some more... Oh well, I'm always of the opinion, do it right... :)

So let the three day process begin... Tomorrow I will give it another coat of stain, and then Tuesday will put the spar urethane coats on it to protect it from the weather. Looks pretty good if I do say so myself, it will look like a piece of furniture in three days... :)

Yesterday I went over to my neighbor's house for a BBQ (Jimmy's), but dinner wasn't ready yet. One of Jimmy's friends has a kid who has MD and he was dying to get in the water, so I took him over to swim while they finished cooking. Anytime you think you have 'issues', just go visit a family who has a child with a disease like that, it will make all of your 'issues' seem quite small... Great kid btw!

Chance with his snake yesterday, yes, he still has quite a LOT of pets... Yes, I AM aware that he needs a haircut... :)

This picture is for you Brittany! It is our sunflowers. Our neighbor gave us some when they were about 3 inches tall, it hasn't flowered yet, but I'll post another pic when it does... ;)

This IS The Life My Friends... :)

Yeah, even though I have toiled on this thing for three+ years, I LOVE it!! It's exactly how I envisioned it when I planned it and started building it... I'm sure everyone is tiring of the pool house blogs, but I'm SO stoked to almost be done with this thing, it's about the only thing on my mind these days... :)

My "workspace"... :) Once I have completed everything, I will sand that bar down again and put another coat of stain on it and about four coats of spar urethane on it... I did that before, but obviously I didn't put enough coats of the urethane on it... ;)

My neighbor Zac's kid. Zac has helped me over the past three years do a lot of the building of the pool house. I'm pretty sure he is also glad it is almost done! :) Carolyn was watching Cylee today, and she LOVES the water!!

I'm Always Glad When The Weekends Are Over...

Most people live for the weekends, I actually prefer the weekdays... :) Don't get me wrong, I DO like the weekends, it's just that my job requires zero physical exertion, only mental, and on the weekends I wear myself out...

I FINALLY got the gas run to the hot water heater in the pool house!! That thing has been sitting there unused for about three years... :) Another milestone down!

Carolyn saw these chairs on Craigslist for free! I was skeptical at first, but went and got them this AM. We put this one in Tanner's room so he can recline and watch TV if he is so inclined... That chair is SUPER comfortable! Nothing was wrong with it either except the piece on the bottom needed a screw put back in it... Gotta love Craigslist!

We also got two of these leather chairs! Super comfortable and they recline! Nothing wrong with them except one needs to have the piece on the bottom reattached. No holes in the leather, nice leather too! Not sure why the guy was giving them away, but give them away he did, so we took them... We'll put the other one like this in Taylor's room...

So after I got the gas run to the hot water heater yesterday, and after I made the 'chair run', I decided to build a little deck to get back to the hose because Carolyn did not like tripping over all that crap on the way to get the hose. I basically had all this wood just laying around from building the deck. I had to buy three boards I think...

The finished product! Worked out quite nice if I do say so myself... LUCKILY my neighbor Jimmy had an extra deck board laying in his basement, because otherwise I would have had to go to Home Depot for the sixth time this weekend! Whew! Thanks Jimmy!

That pretty much sums up my weekend, and I'm GLAD tomorrow is Monday! Many people hate their jobs, I love mine! Hopefully everyone else had a great weekend as well! Is it nearly September ALREADY?!?!?!?! Sigh. The cold is coming...

I Can Taste It...

Yes, I can!!! As most of the viewers know, I have been working on this damn thing for over three years now... I am SO close to being done I can taste it! Literally! ;) Still a lot left to do, but the major things are nearly almost done... I LOVE it too I might add, the pool house that is! :)

(Although, if I DID have it to do over, there would be a swing set there, without question! :)

So I do have wireless out at the pool house, but I MUST have hard wired ethernet!! I have run this cable out there now three times!! Third time is a charm, so they say... Of course the problem now is I got so fed up with it not working that I just ran an ethernet wire out here outside of the conduit! Whatever, it works, I'll duct tape the wire to the conduit and bury it anyway... :) It's FINALLY working now, don't mess with a good thing!

The switch I installed at the pool house, so essentially I have seven hard wired connections up there... :) The more the merrier I ALWAYS say when it comes to ethernet connections... :)

Works GREAT I might add!!!


Yes, I did finally get all the towel holders, toilet paper holder, towel rings, robe hooks, etc, etc, etc all installed!!

So yeah, this is a great moment for me, particularly since I've been screwing with that hard wired ethernet connection for about three days now... :( Whatever, I am so motivated to get this done you can't make it up, I have many, many more things to concentrate on... So yeah, major milestone in this project from hell... :)

The Project From Hell...

I call it the 'project from hell', but it is something that I have done of my own choosing, so I guess I should really stop bitching about it... :) Anyway, it is actually nearing completion, even though I've been saying that for about two years... This time I mean it! :) A few pics of what it looked like as of this AM...

The shower/sink room... Kind of small, but it works quite nice!

Shower/sink room again... I only actually have some paint touch-up to do in that room believe it or not...

Toilet/sink room... All that's left in there is hanging the towel rod, toilet paper holder and a robe hook... (All of which I've had for about two years... :)

Kitchen... I think the only thing left in there is putting the end on the laminate countertop...

Kitchen, different angle...

Ditto...

My new hangout! Satellite, Internet, phone, fridge, microwave, shower and shitter; what more does a man need??

Front view...

All in perspective...

I've been working on this thing since June of 2007... At the time, I was under the impression that I could build it all in six months, yeah, three years later... :) Anyway, other than the items I mentioned, about all that is left outside is: finishing the flagstone on the walkways and stairs; finishing the fire pit area (which you can't see in this view, but it is going to be about where I'm standing to take the pic if you can picture it... :); finishing the slate on the back and sides and a little trim work on the outside, so all in all, not bad since I did it all myself... :) It is, however, time for Matthew to relax for a while!!

Yeah, I Have A Lot Going On...

Wow! I have way too much going on! I'm slowly, but surely narrowing the list of "things to do" down though, of course there are still MANY things left to do... :)

My neighbor (Kathy) took Chance, Tanner and TJ to Helen before school started, they had a blast! Does look like fun...

The three amigos... Tanner, Chance and TJ... They have a blast together!

Yes, I am about to FINALLY install the sinks and toilet in the pool house, man will I be glad when that effing thing is done!! It seems like I have been working on it forever!!

It's nearly done though, and it's actually a lot further along than these pictures suggest... :) I need to take more pictures though, because it seems like I hardly ever take any these days, I'm so over it, I just go work out there and never have the camera with me...

Today, Matthew and I rebuilt the front porch on Marci's house, yeah, the one she fell through and banged herself up. The wood was all rotten, so we just rebuilt it today, which is why I'm tired... :) Glad it's done though, and it turned out pretty good!

Other than that?? Yeah, just work, kids, life, etc, etc... :) It's all falling together though...

Happy 14th Anniversary Carolyn!!!

Happy Birthday Carolyn!!

Cory's New House...

Yeah, yeah... Whatever. It's hot and I have a LOT going on! As I'm sure most other people who read my blog do... :) Anyway, Cory bought a house a month or so ago, we've been over a few times to help get it squared away, here are some pictures...

This is the main load bearing wall, the plumbers however decided to cut out 2 of the 3 top plates, and before I fixed it, those 2 x 4's were seriously bowed, corrected now though... I've worked with many plumbers though when I used to do construction, so it doesn't surprise me...

Kitchen/dining area... He bought a table for the space, but hasn't put it in yet.

His bedroom set from our house, we went over today and set it up in his spare bedroom. I told him, now that you have a spare room, expect guests!! :)

Front of the house...

Side view...

So anyway, there is my post, I got tired of seeing that Happy Independence Day thing... :( Anyway, we are busy as usual, working, school starts in two weeks, so all sorts of things going on. I'd post more, and probably will, but I am also trying to get that pool house done prior to winter, trying to fix the kids dirt bikes, finish crap around the house, working and just living life in general, it's all good though... :) I will perhaps try to post more, but no promises... ;)

Happy Independence Day!

Summer Fun...

My neighbor took Taylor horse back riding for her birthday, she LOVED it!!

Taylor and Mae. Of course now Taylor wants a horse... I wouldn't mind having one myself if I had room for one, but boarding is too expensive... Who knows... :)

A frequent activity for the kids, although I've never been out on it, I have been invited, but it seems like I'm always to busy with chores... :( Taylor driving the pontoon boat...

Tanner, obviously. Chance doesn't go out on it as much as Tanner and Taylor, Chance is like me, prefers to just stay home... :)

Swimming in the lake.

So everyone is enjoying the summer thus far, when not at the lake or White Water, there is our own pool to enjoy. Today though, we are going over to Cory's new house to finish up some work Carolyn and I are doing for him on it. I'll try to actually take a picture of it today... :)

Happy Birthday Chance!!!

Wow! I can't believe that Chance is now a teenager?!? Where does the time go? Go it does though! Happy Birthday Chance!

First day of school, Chance was SO excited, he was up at the crack of dawn, dressed and ready to go. The excitement lasted for about 3 seconds once we actually got to the school and it was time for me to leave... :)

Yeah, Chance leaned against something I had just painted... He has had quite a few guitars in his 13 years, but has never learned how to play, perhaps I should finally spring for lessons?? :)

Easter a few years ago, handsome young man!

At Titus and Jackie's wedding, which seems like it was yesterday, but was three years ago... It's like I'm standing still and time is zooming by me...

With one of his MANY animals! He loves them though, so the more the merrier I suppose, as long as he tends to them that is... :)

Happy Birthday Chance, I love you!!