You know it must be springtime when...

You know it must be springtime when
•It's 98 on Tuesday, and 50 degrees colder a few days later.
•There are wild ducks trying to nest in your backyard.
•There is a momma duck with 18 ducklings in the pond at GP's school.
•The wild ducks that tried to nest in your backyard chase a squirrel out of the neighbor's yard in order to get to their front yard water feature.
•You have to give the dog benedryl for her allergies.

Chicken Challenge

Busy weekend - Friday night we hit Menards and got all the can lights and the shower pan for the basement.

Saturday morning we installed all the lights and picked up the fireplace after GP's run downtown. In the afternoon, I swapped out my snow tires for the normal summer rubber. Nice to have my ride back - I have always been afraid of wearing out the soft snow tires.

Saturday night we went to our Chicken Challenge at the neighbors'. Each couple brought a chicken dish and we sampled each. Everyone ended up eating way too much. After dinner, we acted out a murder mystery.

Sunday we finished off the framing so that we can get it inspected this week, and then put up all the switch and outlet boxes. Next step will be to start stringing romex.

Mayor's Run

Once again it's time for the annual Mayor's Run downtown around the capital building. CP is too old this year, so it was just GP. As usual, it was colder than planned, and we wished we had brought warmer clothes and hats.

Finally, a new Mower!

Since I work for a mower company, one would think that I'd have the biggest, baddest mower on the block. Not so. The boys are old enough to cut the grass now, but our old mower with the monster engine I put on it is too difficult to push, so I broke down and got a sweet Toro 22" Recycler with Personal Pace. After cutting with it, I wish I had made the move five years ago.

Easter Brunch

This Easter, in addition to the standard Easter Bunny activities of the egg hunt and feast of candy, we held our first annual Easter Sunday Neighborhood Brunch with the neighborhood. A fun time was had by all. We finished the party with a rousing game of Cards Against Humanity.

Soffet & Fireplace

This weekend we framed in the fireplace and soffet. My hands are so sore, I can barely type. I got a sliver that went in one side of my finger, out the other side, and into the next finger. Looking forward to some down time at work tomorrow.

Piano Recital

The boys had their piano recital today out in Denton, where their piano teacher lives. CP played the theme from Lord of the Rings, and GP played "Don't Stop Believin'" from Journey. In all, I think there were 32 kids on the program. It's funny how much I used to loathe reciatals, but now they don't bother me so much.

This weekend we concentrated on the new bathroom in the basement. JP secured a building permit, so we are now officially finishing our basement. My new favorite toy (and the boys', too) is the Ramset powder nailer I'm borrowing from my neighbor. It shoots nails into concrete using .22 caliber blanks. Cool! We only have two more weekends of framing to do, and then it's on to the electrical & plumbing.

Out of the Closet

Today we finished up the new basement office by building the closet. Some day, it will be the equipment closet for my basement studio. Just picture two stackes of Marshall's where I'm standing... The office will have a 56" frosted glass double door, and the closet opening is 60" wide. The double doors make the room seem larger than it is, and they allow the light from the window to reach the rest of the area. Next task: the bathroom. This week, we'll draw up the details in CAD and scout out how to do plumbing.

Building Walls

Friday night, both boys went to friends' houses for sleep-overs. This was the first time EVER that we have been w/o kids in the house. We didn't know what to do! Where to go? Menard's, of course! We loaded the Odyssey up with another load of 2x4s for the basement.

Friday nite we put up the north wall of the new office (man cave), and Saturday we added the west and south walls. Sunday's task is to put in the closet.

Lucky Day

On St. Patrick's Day, I was playing ball w/GP. It was a beautiful day - warm, breezy, and Friday. I looked down and saw a 4-leaf clover. Well, it looks like a 4-leaf clover, and it was good enough for GP, especially on St. P's day, so we're sticking with our story - It's a four-leaf clover and we're lucky!

Opening Season

This weekend we added another wall to the basement. This is the one under the laundry room. We rebuilt the silly header over window that the builder built. Three 2x4s laying flat is not the same as two 2x5s lying on edge. The original headers over both windows were sagging.

Today was the first day of spring. 74 degrees, a warm breeze (not wind), and sunshine. All the neighbors climbed out from under thier rocks and wandered over to the deck. We've been shuffling all the crap around in the basement as we move from area to area, so it was a relief to move the deck chairs outside. Much less stuff to shuffle. now.

Back in the Real World

Spending a week in paradise was too nice. When we arrived in Chicago, I turned on my phone for the first time in a week and saw a message from the neighbor: "If you get this in between flights - Call Me!" Called him and found out that the furnace had gone out the night before and Nana & the boys were living w/o heat. Good thing it wasn't zero...

We spent most of Friday troubleshooting the furnace, heat pump, and thermostat. Finally got it working and then it was on to Menards to get materials for another wall in the basement.

We were able to finish the wall that makes the new storage area.

Mexico!

We spent 6 days in Mexico on the Mayan Riviera at the Imperial Valentin resort. Wow - it was better than I expected. Next time we need to plan on staying longer. I forgot how nice it is to lounge around in the sunshine.

We went with our neighbors from across the street. No kids!

1st Day of Spring?

After we got the basement wall complete, we ran outside to enjoy the beautiful spring day. Needless to say, the entire neighborhood had a bit of spring fever.

Basement Wall No. 5

Today was absolutely gorgeous outside, so we worked on the basement as fast as we could in order to get outside and enjoy the windless sunny day.

Even the cat & dog helped do their parts.

So far we have four days labor and $260 for five walls. That's $52 per wall. Not bad. We only have 8 to go.
Plus electrical. Plus HVAC. Plus plumbing. Plus insulation & drywall. We have a long way to go...

Basement Wall No. 4

Saturday we framed up wall number 4 in the basement. The whole family got involved pushing it up into place.

The shape of things to come is becoming evident. Check out the duct tape TV screen. 120" of HD! The TV wall is next on the list.

Blue & Gold

This year JP volunteered to put on the Blue & Gold banquet for cub scouts. She put together displays for all of our activities throughout the year, and the scouts voted for their favorite. My single vote for rockets was not enough (despite the really cool display I made). Laser tag won by a landslide.

Next year at this time will be GP's last cub scout event. JP wanted to do this year's banquet in order to set a precedent for next year, when GP will be moving on.

In all, we had about 200 people and the whole shindig went off without a hitch, thanks to JP's planning and attention to detail.

Blizzard of 2011

The great blizzard of 2011 that pounded most of the US just missed Nebraska. We only received a few inches of snow, but with it came 40 mph continuous winds. Having no trees between us and the north pole, the snow blows and blows and blows around and all over. I had to get in on the passenger side of my car due to the snowdrift that piled up during the day. 10 deg and non-stop 40 mph wind - Yuk! It was total whiteout at times on my way home from work.

Old Friends

While in the SRQ area, I hooked up with some old highschool friends. Here are F & B.
Also saw MAL, who is now MAG. She has a 13-year old son with a brain tumor that has just started to undergo chemotherapy. Check out her blog: theNathanReport.blogspot.com.

Florida Trip

I hate business travel, and I really hate going to warm places in the middle of winter. I had to go to Florida for a few days to check on some of our test mowers. Flew into Ft. Lauderdale, then drove up to Tampa, spent the weekend in the SRQ area, and then on to Orlando. Rough.

My coworker and I started Sunday in Venice and worked our way up to the northern tip of Ana Maria Island. We found three sharks' teeth at Venice. I was surprised to see that the pier I used to love to fish from is alive and well after being away for 25 years.

The pier at Bradenton Beach is also alive and well and much cleaner. I couldn't believe how clean Sarasota Bay has become. It's beautiful now!

We stumbled across a Packers playoff party in Florida. Go figure.