House Stuff & Birthday

Wow... things have been hopping! Last Friday (July 23rd), I mentioned that we were going to go look at 4 homes. The last home was "it!" We fell in love with everything about the house (except the built-in microwave which looked like one of the first ones made...ha!). We went back Saturday morning (in the pouring rain) to take a more thorough lookover. Our realitor came over Saturday afternoon to start the paperwork to make an offer on the house. We heard back from him late Sunday night that they had made a counter-offer and we got the official paperwork on that Monday afternoon. We thought about it overnight, and accepted it on Tuesday (July 27th). So, our realitor was over at our house again last night doing more paperwork for the sale of our house which will officially go on the market on Monday, August 2nd.

Whew... It's been exhausting so far... So much to do to get ready... My wife is about to go insane (ha!)... She's getting overly stressed about the situation (cleaning, clearing out clutter, etc. etc.) and I'm trying to get the vinyl siding cleaned off, minor repairs done, etc. etc. etc. One big problem we have right now is .... can anybody guess? The dog.... again. I really don't want the dog barking wildly when people come to look at the house. Plus, she's made a "run" in the yard, so that the grass has been killed... Anybody want a dog? I think we're going to try to see if someone can care for the dog for awhile so that we can reseed the yard and get it looking okay again...

If you are of the praying type, please pray that a good buyer comes along soon to buy our house, and that the closing date works for them also. The people we're buying from, they are building a new house and can't move out until the end of October, so our closing date is Oct. 29th. Therefore, the buyers of our house can't move in until after that date as well... So we're hoping for finding someone that is a renter that can wait until then to move in (our house is just right for a first time home buyer).

Also, today is my maternal grandmother's birthday. I'm not exactly sure how old she is (I will find out tonight - I know she's in the low 90's), and we're throwing a little birthday party for her tonight.

Blessings!

House Hunters

Checked out that house last night, and it looks like it will be a really nice house, but the backyard just really bothers me since it's pretty close to a highway.

So, checked out the real estate guide last night and found 3 houses. I was checking out the real estate website and found one addtional house. We're working with a co-worker who does part-time real estate and he's got it setup to go do a quick 10-minute "look over" of each one tonight. Then if we see one we want to check out further, we'll just go back...

It's kinda funny though, the one I found on the website belongs to a friend of ours, and it's a pretty nice house. My wife got all excited as she knows the owner's wife is a great decorator and keeps a nice house! :-) Talking to my wife at lunch time and she was just about ready to sign the contract papers right then and there! :-) (And this house even has a kennel for the dog... BWAHHAHAHA!)

Heading to the church tomorrow morning to finish up the Missionettes Honor Star photo montage videos for Sunday night... I'll be glad to get those done for another year....

Blessings!

Honor Star stuff

The Missionettes Honor Star crowning is this Sunday night at church. I put together photo montages of each girl to show during the crowning. It's been somewhat of a challenge in just getting the pictures from the parents/Missionettes leaders to get them done. I still have one girl's montage to finish up which I'll get done this Saturday, but I hate "waiting until the last minute." It seems to happen every year, and every year the leaders promise to work harder next year in getting the pictures to me earlier... but never happens. Oh well.

Going to look at a new house tonight after work (well, actually I'm getting my hair cut after work...ha). We've already seen the layout, and the builder is great, but the location isn't the best. The back yard butts up to a 2 lane road, which isn't the best with having two young children, and it would probably hurt the resale value.

Saw the Spider-Man 2 movie last Monday night (19th)... Awesome... I'd recommend it... Of course, I'm a little slanted in my view since Spidey has been my favorite super-hero since childhood... :-)

Blessings!

Round 1 - Winner: Dog

Ugh... As reported last time, I had finished putting up some landscaping timbers around part of the fenced in backyard to help keep the dog in. So, last Friday we let her run around the yard, enjoying her freedom from the leash. Friday evening we ordered pizza and while waiting for it's delivery, the doorbell rang, and it was one of our neighbors bringing our dog back.... What??? Well, she had dug a little spot in another area and was able to squeeze under the fence. So... back on the leash for now until we can figure out what do to next. Putting timbers all around the fence will get a little expensive. We might try some of that garden fencing to attach to the bottom of our regular fence. Ugh.

Mom and Dad called Sunday night and they were on their way home from their Alaskan cruise. They said they had a good time except for Mom experiencing a little sea sickness. Guess we'll have to make a visit to their house when they finally get home to see pictures and hear all about it. :-)

Going with my friend Joe to finally go see the Spider-Man 2 movie tonight... can't wait!

Blessings!

Me VS The Dog

Wow... I must be getting lazy... I haven't updated the blog since Monday... I've been busy. :-)

Monday evening I went to Lowe's Home Improvement store and picked up some landscaping timbers. I put them along the bottom of our backyard fence to prevent the dog from sneaking out of the yard under the fence. I drilled holes in them, and secured them with rebar rods hammered down into the ground. Got it all finished up Thursday night. Now we can let the dog run around the backyard without being tied up all the time. I just put the timbers along one part of the fence where the dog was always getting out since that side faces the road and where all the activity is. The other sides are pretty secure along the bottom of the fence, so I dont' think it'll be a problem... I hope!

My sister informed me yesterday that she and her husband are pregnant again. What?!? Are they crazy?!? This will be child number 7!!! Is it really cheaper by the dozen? Congrats to them...

My mom and dad are on an Alaskan cruise this week (getting back in to shore today). I look forward to hearing how it was and seeing the pictures.

Well, it's Friday once again! Kinda slow today here at work, so I updated one of my family genealogy websites with some pictures someone sent me awhile back.

Blessings!

Back to the grind, the weekend, and more dog problems...

Wow... It's Monday already... Where did the weekend go? Well, listen up and I'll tell you... :-)

Saturday morning I had to take my truck in to get it inspected (passed!) and get the oil changed. Besides taking longer than I thought it should, that all went pretty smoothly. After that, I headed directly over to the church as they were having a Men's Breakfast, and I just caught the tail end of it. They still had plenty of good food left, so that made it all worth it!

After I got home, my wife headed to the grocery store while I watched the kids. We played outside with the dog for awhile, but the heat and humidity drove us back inside. My wife made it home and we all "helped" put away the groceries. Didn't do that much else until the evening when we put some new sheets on the bed after getting them washed up.

Sunday was the basic church day routine. I helped out in the TV ministry booth to record the service. We had a guest missionary speaker who used to be on the church staff a few years ago. It is always a joy to have come back to speak. Went home to a nice roast dinner, read the paper, played with the kids, and then went back for evening service.

Sunday evening after putting our daughter to bed and trying to get our son in bed about 9 PM, the power went out. A sudden storm sprung up and apparently tripped a circuit somewhere in the neighborhood. Saw a firetruck go down our street along with an electric company truck. They finally got it fixed about 10:20PM. Exciting evening... Just lit some candles and opened the windows... Nice and quiet. :-)

Just saw on the CNN website that actress Isabel Sanford, best known as "Weezie," Louise Jefferson on the television sitcom "The Jeffersons," died of natural causes, her publicist said Monday. She was 86. Thanks for the laughs, Isabel!!

My wife called me today at noon that our dog "escaped" again. The cable that goes around a tree that is then attached to another leash attched to the dog's collar came unscrewed. It works it's way undone via the dog running around the tree I guess. I usually try to check it and tighten it fairly often, but forgot to do it this weekend and it came undone. With the leash part still attached, she got under the fence again and headed up the street. A neighbor lady that happened to come home for lunch caught her and called. Since it had been rainy today, the dog had gotten her nice work pants a little dirty from jumping up on her... ugh. Anyone want a really nice dog and a great price??? My wife was pretty upset when she called me and now I gotta do something about the fence so the dog can't get under it... which means I gotta spend more money on this stupid dog... Ah, such is life. It is a good day! :-)

Blessings!!

Mugged....by the weather!

Whew! Is it ever hot and humid outside... Unfortuneately, the whole weekend is suppose to be this way (temps over 90, heat index over 100)... UGH! My wife and kids along with some of her friends and their kids visited a nice pool today. I got to stay back and "suffer" here at work. At least it's nice and cool in the building.

Speaking of work... It's Friday!! Man, it's been pretty slow this week. Sometimes that's good, other times it just makes the week d r a g on and on...

Next week Congress will be debating and voting on the Federal Marriage Amendment. Guess we'll find out whose side our Senators are really on...

Sunday will be my father's 66th birthday. In celebration of that and my folks 45th wedding anniversary, they'll be leaving on Sunday evening on an Alaskan Cruise for a week.

Just saw on CNN website that a 68 year old lady who cleaned houses just won the $298 million dollar MegaMillions Lottery drawing. Wow... Personally, I don't think it's right to gamble, but sometimes you can't help but think of how you'd spend that kind of money. :-)

Blessings!

Beam Me Up One Last Time, Scotty!

It was announced today via his agent, that James Doohan, 84, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's within the last couple months. Just another added problem he doesn't need to go along with Parkinson's disease, diabetes and fibrosis that he is currently suffering from along with helping to take care of a 4-year old.

I attended the "Star Trek: One Weekend on Earth" convention in Huntsville, Alabama back in 1996. I got to "meet" Mr. Doohan and get my picture taken with him (for only $20!). He seemed like a really wonderful man from that "meeting" and from when he spoke on stage.

There is also going to be a "Farewell Celebration" convention in Hollywood at the end of August. All the surviving cast members will be there to say "farewell" to Scotty as it will be Mr. Doohan's last convention appearance. Then on August 31st, Mr. Doohan will receive a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame.

Being a long time Star Trek fan, it's sad to see some of your TV heroes in such bad health and struggle so much.

Live Long and Prosper, Mr. Scott...

Blessings!

Happy Independence Day!!

Well, okay, it's a few days late, but I've been off work for vacation and just got back today. :-)

Anyway, I took off last Friday (July 2nd) and we headed out of town to visit some old friends that used to live next to us. They have two little boys inwhich one of them is almost a year younger than ours, so they had gotten to be pretty close friends when they lived next door. We got there about noon, so we all went out for lunch, then the boys played all afternoon. (Oh, and I heard Marlon Brando passed away on Friday as well at the age of 80 from lung problems.)

Then we headed to stay the rest of the weekend with my wife's mother. On Saturday, we all got together with some of my wife's sisters and nieces' family for a cookout and fireworks.

Came back home on Sunday. We shot some of our own fireworks Sunday night instead of going to watch the city's fireworks display. We were pretty tired from travelling and didn't want to get back in the car... :-)

We took the dog with us on her first long trip. She travelled very well even though she had to ride in one of those dog carriers. I never could get her to go to the bathroom when we stopped at places, but she never had an accident in the car. Whew!

I had the day off on Monday in observance for the Fourth, so that morning we went to Target and then the grocery store for some shopping. That afternoon, my son and I went to KB Toy store and bought him one of those scooters. He rode one around when we were up at my wife's niece's house on Saturday and he wanted one for himself. After we picked it up, we headed for the park for him (and I) to try it out. He got to be pretty good with it. He's been having problems with trying to figure out riding a bicycle, so maybe this scooter will give him more confidence with figuring out the balance thing.

Came back to work today and got thru all the stacked up email and work stuff... and now it's almost time to go home. I realy hate coming back to work after being out for more than two days... I usually stay up late and get up late while on vacation, so getting back in to the regular routine is pretty hard...

Blessings!