Much Ado About - Much!

There goes another couple weeks. I've gotten lots done and I think Rick is feeling more at home around here.

The shelves are done in the shop and sorting through the 18 years' accumulation is continuing. I'm putting kids' keepsakes in plastic bins to protect them from the mice. I was sorting with a view to adding to Rick's garage sale(s) to get a few bucks outta some sellable items but decided I'd rather just get rid of the stuff. I have put a few items on Craigslist though and made $40 so far, probably more than the whole pile I'd set aside would have gotten me if I had garage saled it instead. A little more work in some ways but a better payoff and the stuff moves faster. I'm finding now much more shelf room for Rick's stuff.

Last weekend we finally got to burn the big pile of stuff that Denny and I had chainsawed last fall. Then this weekend we got rid of more of the scrap lumber that had piled up in my shop. I thinned it out about 3 years ago and now am doing more thinning. When we finally had the huge fire in my backyard the kids got crazy with some loppers and also trimmed the trees lining the yard. It looks like a park now! (well, it already did look like one, now just moreso) The fire was so big and hot that the next morning about 11 I went out, threw some more stuff on it and it blazed right back up, there were some sticks lying around that they missed so I got all that as well as some bamboo that I thought I would be able to use from a pruning I did last summer. Bamboo picked green falls into segments when it dries. So into the fire it went and boy! does bamboo pop! Like gunfire!

Yesterday Rick and I solved a couple troubling problems. I had baked the wedding cakes a couple weeks ago and they turned out horrible. And Rick has been having problems getting any clear long lens shots, like of the eagles at LaCroix that hang out on the high power structures. I bought an oven thermometer at Walmart and watched the oven temperature closely while I baked more cakes yesterday. The temp was all over the map! WhenI set it to 350º, for example, it ended up at 400º for a while at least. And to get a fairly consistent 325º I had to set it at 330º. Maybe that's normal oven behavior, I never watched one before. All I know is the cakes were right this time after I had to throw the other ones out for the birds. One problem solved. Now on to Rick's problem. He had been trying to get some good shots of birdies in the back yard and they all came out blurry, just like all his eagle shots. So I suggested a scientific test to get tot he bottom of it. Let's take out both cameras and make them identical and take nearly identical shots. So we set them both to zoom at the max and set the ISO at the same and he removed the polarizer filter he's been using. The pictures were nearly identical. So, since he's been using his polarizer he replaced it and copied our previous session, same distance, zoom and ISO. The pictures were all blurry! It was the polarizer! So we threw that in the trash. Just goes to show - cheapies from ebay aren't always good, sometimes you just need to spend the big bucks on the more expensive brands.

Wedding chores move on too. You now know that the cakes are baked. Well, we went over the ceremonies emailed to us by the officiant and chose one, sent in the contract and payment for the service. Then I finally got Rick to go pants shopping. I made his shirt and waistcoat and he has shoes that can be worn. But he needed pants. We found some nice ones at Burlington coat factory, summery cotton/linen drawstring pants that will be dyed to match the rest of the costume. And now he'll have something comfortable to wear to family functions, vacations, etc other than blue jeans.

In my back yard I've created quite a nice park. But there was always a spot by the house, betweeen it and the hot tub, that was always an eyesore. It was too dark and damp, didn't grow grass well and was hard to mow. It needed something. I always intended to expand the deck by a few feet, to the end of the hot tub. And then the garden could just be brought over a few feet to meet it. Well, I finally got that done, it's such a huge improvement! (in my mind it is, at least) Oh yes, and the area below my bird feeder that becomes a mole-ridden grassless patch is now a concrete circle which will be engraved with a very appropriate design.

Rach's plans are moving on too. She and Tony have to swap vehicles and she needs to get things to him - movies, TV and DVD player - man things. So we've been going through the movies, divvying them up and copying what they both want. Rach will ship what she can and we'll take the TV in the back of the jeep. We also came up with a departure time - the week after my wedding! The wedding is Saturday. Then for the next few days I'll be giving a tour of the area to my brother Mark and his family (and maybe my sister if she comes). Then early Thursday morning Rach and I hit the road for South Dakota! I think the plan is to be back home Sunday, maybe Monday, I'm not sure. But I sure am looking forward to a little road trip! The drive out will be a drag - straight through - 1200 miles in 16 hours. But the drive back will be a little more leisurely. We'll probably sleep in the Tahoe on the way back. But we'll see Mt Rushmore, the Badlands and other sights that we've never seen yet that we've been looking forward to.

While we're gone Rick will have time to himself to work on his place, maybe have a garage sale or move stuff up to my place (the future "our place"). That Sunday is his daughter, Sarah's, graduation. As much as I hate to desert him right after we're finally an "us" I think the timing is ok.

Last weekend Dane finally moved out. A friend in the congregation who's been married for 10+ years is currently separated and going nuts in an empty house. So he made a proposal to Dane to live there for little rent plus yard work. Another one leaves the nest. I did actually shed some tears last weekend (and now). As much as they end up driving me nuts and I'm just ready for them to go, when it finally does happen it's alway hard. Just the thought that he won't be sleeping here any more. His stuff is somewhere else. I only get to see him if he visits. It hurts. But I'll get used to it, it's just the newness. Only one left now, and he's here so seldom that it won't make much of a difference when he goes. But his stuff will be gone, and I'll only see him when (if) he visits.

Shirley's finally getting some help with her problems stemming from her avoidance of grief for her dad's death 2 years ago. She's back with Kevin for the time being and being a lot more forward and honest about things. It's amazing to see the difference in the boys, especially Shayne. Rach came over for a while yesterday with all 3 grandsons and Shayne was talking, laughing and smiling! Shirl has been trying to teach him to smile but it seems apparent now that it was the family situation causing the lack of smiles and Joe's problems as well. I know children are very much affected by their parents' disfunctional marriages, personality problems, etc. But I never witnessed firsthand such a day-and-night transformation of kids when the parents start to work on the problems.

Whew! Lots going on! I gotta take the time to blog more often!