SOL @ White Hall

Stripes on Lions, Lightless Daze, and Caleb played Saturday night for the Nebraska Music Academy at White Hall as part of UPCO Days 2019. It was an absolutely perfect evening in a beautiful setting.

White Hall

Last night, GP's band played at White Hall mansion on the north side of Lincoln. We were able to go inside before the show and learn about its history.

It was built in 1910 by a widow for $80k. She lived in it for 15 years and then sold it to the state when she fell ill. The state converted it to an orphanage with 120 kids.

The state still owns it and there's a group that is trying to restore/maintain it.

LSW Class of 2019

Congrats to GP!!! He graduated from LSW last weekend and is now enjoying his summer.

New Old Grill

We've been eyeing new Weber grills, but the $1,100 price tag says "No way!", so we found some new stainless grates and installed new burners and made our 20 year old grill new again.

Dogsitter

We babysat our friends' dog while they went on vacation. He got along well with S and L.

Laundry Room Expansion

JP has been wanting to continue to expand the laundry room, so we ripped out the utility sink and put in a nice 24" cabinet. Now we have some storage space for dog food, dog treats, dog chewies, laundry soap, and bird seed. 

Hired Guns

We bought a large rock to go on the berm in the back yard. How do you move a 640 lb rock from the street to the back yard? You call up your son's buddies and give them a few bucks.

Same goes for digging a trench from the deck to the berm.

End result: we now have a large rock with lights on it.

W is Gone

W passed away. He had a good life with us and his other two homes. We will miss his furriness and good nature.

Go Away, You're Bothering Me

UCO Class of 2019

Last weekend we went down to OK City for MK's graduation from the University of Central Oklahoma. It was really fun to see everyone. 

We will be back in a couple months to see these kids get hitched. Can't wait!

We'll see these two next weekend at GP's graduation party.

More photos here: UCO Graduation

Seafood Mower Repair

Last week was spent in northeast Florida working on mowers. There's nothing more exciting!

This is the best view of the beach that I had while there.

The upside was that we got to eat amazing seafood at every meal. 

Spring Storm Season

We had a beautiful day after Easter, and then a small storm popped up and gave us some hail and a small tornado. It touched down out by Pioneers Park and took out an ice cream stand. We didn't get large hail, but my friend west of town had significant damage to his house from hail. Tis the season!

Yardwork

Yesterday started off somewhat pleasant. At 9 AM I mowed the grass with my shirt off. Then the sun went in and the wind picked up and the temperature dropped 20°. By the afternoon, we were moving plants indoors and covering the ones that were too heavy to move. While fixing a leak on the irrigation box, I scared up a great big toad. He, too, was complaining about the cold.

We picked up some nice metal LED landscape lights from Lowes to replace the temporary plastic ones we got three years ago.

Senior Design Showcase 2019

I had a Dr. appointment in Lincoln last Friday, so I worked from home and then met CP on campus to check out the UNL engineering senior design project showcase. It was located in the club level of Memorial Stadium and featured projects from all of the engineering disciplines. 

This is an anti-shake pen for people with hand tremors. It has a servo that moves the pen opposite to the direction it's shaking so that you can write even if your hand is shaking. It's similar to the smart spoon that is now on the market. 

CP & I really enjoyed seeing all the cool projects. After the show, we hit the used bookstore and Honest Abe's for a $16 burger.

Safe Side of the Fence

Now that the fence is up, the neighborhood peanut gallery gathers in the dark to sit in the neighbor's yard and watch our dog bark at them. The fox came by at 11 PM. The fluffy cat came by at 5 AM.

Dog Day Easter Saturday Brunch

This year our friends hosted the Easter Saturday brunch at their place. We had a beautiful day of sunshine, warmth, and of course, wind. S played with his buddy all day and then they napped together in the shade.

The pool was only up to 60° (at the surface). I jumped in and it wasn't too bad. No one else joined me.

The day was filled with good news: K's boyfriend got a promotion to bank branch manager, and K bought a house! We are so excited for them.

Cat Scratch Tool

W likes to sit with me at the computer and purr. I found the ultimate tool for scratching his chin - the pins of a vacuum tube! Need to market this and sell it @ Petsmart.

Backyard Season

JP & S are ready for summer! It's finally warm enough to bring the plants out from indoors and let them breathe fresh air. The fern has become a monster. Last year our chairs started to collapse on themselves, so we had to get some new ones - what a difference!

The fence we were supposed to get before Thanksgiving was installed this week. Finally!! 

Spring Game

CG's possible future son in law got us tickets for the Red & White spring game. We had perfect weather for the crowd of 86,000 fans.

A Boy and Our Dog

This is B. He lives a few doors down from us and he LOVES dogs. He discovered S in our backyard and played with him for three hours last weekend. Most kids are skittish around dogs, but not this kid. He took control and was trying to teach him new tricks. I'm not sure who wore whom out - they were both beat by the end of the day. 

Windshield Time

Another trip up to Windom, MN. Lots of travel this year, but no Delta Skymiles.

House Hunting

We spent a day with CP and his friend looking at apartments for next year. One of the places had this nice comparison matrix. The prices shown are per person, not per apartment. CP has put a deposit down on a place next door to campus (and across the street from GP's dorm) so that he can walk to everything.

St. Patty's Day

This year we stayed home with friends for St. Patrick's Day. JP cooked up three pounds of corned beef that disappeared in about 15 minutes once we started into the Reubens. Mmmm.

Girl's Best Friend

Our friends gave us their old robot vacuum cleaner. JP is in love with it! The cats & dog don't really care about it; just one more thing to pick up their fur.