There is no I in paint

If you are a viewer of Wendy's blog then you know that we have completed our project. We have worked in the baby's room and two bathrooms. The best part was that we were able to use most of the supplies we already had.

I admit I do not like to paint. I guess if you took out the i it would be pant. I do breathe more than normal while painting. It is not the fumes, fortunately.

I am glad the home improvements are done. At least we have a week or two before starting on something else.

Today Wendy and I taking turns passing out on the couch. I went first, now it is her turn.

Not a fan of the draft

Greetings you breathers of air.

I noticed last night our house has temperature issues. I have noticed this for awhile, but it because practiced last night. I was upstairs and Wendy was downstairs. The upstairs felt about 10 degrees warmer than downstairs. It almost got hot upstairs to me, while Wendy said she was freezing downstairs. I am convinced it is something to do with draft somewhere downstairs. It is like a breezeway in the house. I can sit in a part of the house and feel the cold air. So part of the house you feel warm and wonder why the heat is on. Then the other part you are ready for the heat.

If we could reach the yin and yang, instead of yanking our chain. To the wallet.

There is some kind of smell from the bathroom

Yep, it is paint or at least primer.

Yesterday after work I picked up my brother and we went to work in our upstairs bathroom. It needed some attention. We had to sand and spackle some parts that needed extra work. We were able to finish the trim and at least prime the walls.

I was hoping to do more, but the time ran out on us. I am sure my brother had better things to do than hang out here all night.

I think by today we will have it done. It is difficult because of some many narrow spaces. It seems that something is crammed on each wall. Plus the ceilings are much taller in the bathroom.

Wendy commented that the work looked good, so that is a relief.

March on

It is nearly the end of February. My question is how can the shortest month be so long? I know the month is not even over. I think it is the Olympics. Or at least the coverage. By the way that skier, he may be a skier, Shaun White freaks me out. I would post a picture. However, I do not want the IOC after me and I do not want to look at his picture.

The good news is that it is Friday and payday. I hope that March steps up the pace. Left, right.

Early to bed, early to rise

Greetings pillow pals,

Last night I was extremely exhausted so I car-ried myself to bed before nine. I admit I do often nap before nine, but last night I just went up to bed. I just have a normal day at work, but Wendy will have a long day with her job.

I do not mind going to bed early because I like getting up early. The only thing about getting up early is that it makes for a long day. I have to wait around for things to get started. I am often at the mercy of other peoples' schedules. At least I can get the things I want to do out of the way.

See you around now or then.

It pays well to be unnoticed

Or at least you break even.

I wonder how time and money factor with popularity. If a person is not popular then no one will bother him. Then he can save money and have lots of time. However, he will probably waste it looking for ways to entertain himself. On the other hand, if he is popular a lot of people bug the person for time and money. Yet the person gets noticed for things that can earn money and help with time. Hmm, a question to ponder when I get the time or money.

I hear a lot about the phishing attacks that people devise to get into your accounts. To my knowledge I have not been a victim of one. I wonder if I would know. Fortunately, I do not have much to offer that people would be interested. Just ask the survey e-mails I receive.

Identity theft can be a big problem. Or if you do it right you can have a career in Hollywood.

Put the pedal to the medal

Greetings to those who wear the Olympic rings.

I have not been watching the 2010 Winter Olympics. It is not really my thing. Wendy does have it during background noise as I fall asleep. Her complaint is that every time she tries to watch, it is skiing. I am surprised that the coverage is still on. I think it runs two weeks. I wonder how many athletes there are in the Winter Olympics? Because I keep hearing the same names. Maybe it is that way in the Summer Olympics. I do not really watch the Summer Olympics either.

I did hear that the speed skater Apollo Ono did win a medal. So he became the all time medal winner for the Winter Olympics. I think he won seven. I know this is a major accomplish and I could not do it. However, in a small part of my mind I think that most are bronze. Here he is squeaking by to take his place on the stand and make history. It is a sport that the difference between a medal or not can be a thousandth of a second. In the long range of things it is the number of medals that count in the history book.

By the way a special programming note. If you are easily disgusted, then do not watch the first five minutes of Saw VI while eating dinner.

Room with a nice view

Wendy and I have been busy this weekend. Of course we had a lot of help from friends. We have finished Joy's future room. Well, we do have to finishing getting the paint out and moving the furniture in. The painting is done. Wendy finished the touch ups yesterday. I was working in the bathroom. All that is left in that room is the trim and a few touch ups. It looks way better than the bare walls we have had for the past year. We only have left the upstairs bathroom and eventfully the guest bedroom. Someday we will get to the kitchen and then we will have worked with every room in the house. I guess until we decide to change it again.

We squeezed in a grocery run after church. We had nothing in the house. It was time for our weekly shopping trip. Then once home we worked for a few hours on the house projects.

We worked pretty much all day Saturday and most of Sunday. I think it was a pretty good weekend, even if I did have to work hard. It will almost seem like a vacation going back to work. Wendy enjoys the home improvement bug. I am relieved that it is nearing the end. However, one of the drawbacks of ownership is that once you fix something you realize another thing is not working.

Someday when the house is ready we might have people over. For now you will have to settle for descriptions or fuzzy photos.

Brush with greatness

For those that like to watch paint dry (especially after applying it to the wall) come over to our house.

Last night Wendy and I did a little bit of renovating in Joy's room. We cleaned out the room. Of course that means the other spare room is now a junk room. I guess when we finish one room we will move to another room. My brother and his girlfriend came over to help us. I picked up some BBQ plates from a fundraiser for dinner.

My brother and his girlfriend were a big help last night. After I arrived home and before Wendy arrived, I took the leftover painting supplies we had. I did an inventory. We had enough to get started. We for some reason had a bunch of primer left over. Wendy and I cannot figure out why. On the bright side, it is something we do not have to buy. We had a few brushes, one rollers, and a few used liners. I then moved most of the boxes Wendy had packed out of the room. See previous paragraphs for details. Then my bro and his girlfriend arrived. They helped remove outlet covers and tape the walls.

After this Wendy arrived and we at the BBQ plates. Then it was time to go to work. We had enough primer, even though it was old, to finish the room. At least the first stage. It did not take us anytime at all. The room is pretty small, but they were fast. My bro's girlfriend had the roller and made quick work of the walls. My bro was on one side getting the spots near the ceiling. I was on the other struggling to say in the lines. You can tell the nice coverage of the roller and then my weak brush strokes.

I think today Wendy and I will purchase the paint. We might try and tackle the painting today. My brother and his girlfriend have other plans so they will not be able to help. Fortunately, Wendy is pretty good with a roller. I hope we have the success that we had last night.

I'm a survivor therefore I whine

Greetings people on the island.

I know that I do not really watch Survivor much. I have only watched to support Wendy in her viewing habits. So the in new Survivor Redemption I have no idea who most of the contestants are. They have divided the people into Heroes and Villains, at least for the time being.

The thing is they are all annoying. These are people who have been on the show before. Granted it may have been many years, but they act like they have no idea what to do. Everyone of them is pretty much getting injured.

Also the so called "Heroes" get on my nerves. They are the ones who seem to be not getting along and backstabbing one another. I think they were miscast. However, to their defense they are the ones losing the challenges so they have to vote people off.

So far it is a dull season. I guess that is why they have 40 days. Or it gives you something to do during Lent.

Paint me into a corner

Prepare for your brush with greatness.

I think Wendy and I have narrowed down the paint colors to put in the nursery. Wendy yesterday found the tan that she wanted. One color down. We know we want one pink wall. It is amazing how light the pink is. I am sure it will take at least two coats. It is probably good it is light so it does not look like Pepto Bismol or extremely bright.

We did put some samples on the wall, so we can get a good idea of what it will look like.

I guess know we can rock and roll. Well at least roll the paint.

No voice of reason

Hello audio people reading this.

Since Friday my voice has been strained. It sounds like I am very hoarse. I do not necessarily feel that bad. I have the occasional drip from the nose. Most of the time my nose is very crusty. Ponder that as you are eating your breakfast cereal. Yesterday I had that weak cough. At one point it felt like something was in my throat, but it must have passed. It is one of those things that I almost wish I felt worse. At least then I would know what it was.

I told a few people that my almost lack of voice was Wendy's valentine present. Maybe I cannot say "I love you." I guess now I have to show it.

Let the chips fall they may

Hello you crunchy crowd.

Well taking those random surveys may have come in handy. The other day I received two bags of chips. They are barbecue and sour cream and onion. I took a survey on potato chips and it asked me would I like to receive some chips and then later take another survey. I thought, why not? I wish I could trade in the chips for cash. At least they were free.

Speaking of chips, Wendy and I last night went to Lowes to pick up paint samples. We were deciding between greens, pinks, light browns. Those are the colors in Joy's bedding. We did decide on colors. I will let Wendy tell you that. She knows the exact colors.

Now the work begins...after I finish this bag of chips.

You are the closet thing I have got

Well after a decent weekend Wendy and I made it back to the home in the ground. Apparently we did not miss much, except grief. Not five minutes after we get home my evening gets shot.

Wendy was putting some items away in a closet located in the hallway. She remarked that the door was hard to open. Then all of a sudden the door comes off the track. It is one of those bifold doors, I guess. That is what Wendy calls it. I call it other four letter words. We tried for an hour and a half to get that door back on track. We had no luck though. I can get one side in, but not the other.

Now I cannot even get the door slammed in my face. I cannot wait to get that door back up so I can kick it down.

Something tastes fishy

It is that day. I will let you figure out which one.

Last night Wendy and I went to a Valentine's Day dinner at her parents' church. It was senior citizens. We were allowed to go because Wendy's mom teaches the Sunday School class that was serving the food.

It was a pretty good meal. Trout, pork chops, baked potato, slaw, and hush puppies. Of course there was dessert. I had chocolate pudding with whipped topping. It was a pretty good time even if we were the youngest couple there.

They had a raffle and Wendy won a prize. She won a $5 gift card to Bojangles.

Spread the love, with or without the germs.

Eat yellow snow

I did something I have not done. At least not in my short memory.

With the powdered snow on the ground, I put some of it in my tummy. We made snow cream. It is pretty easy to do and surprisingly easy to make. It looks pretty weird, but does taste good.

At least there is one good excuse for snow.

You take the good, you get the bad

Well hello snow angels.

Go away!

I want my normal temperatures of 54, not 30. All the newscasters are saying the snow is beautiful. Most often there is the relationship between something beautiful now and annoying later. Snow is the perfect example.

Wendy and I did make it to her parents' house with seeing any snow. After we ate dinner, Wendy's dad looked out the window and the ground was covered. We had errands we wanted to run today. I am not sure that will happen.

This white stuff has me seeing red. I want green.

I'm loving it or at least a strong like

Greetings lovebirds or other animals.

I thought of a few random things. Of course you may have these before.

If you have nobody this Valentine's Day at least you are ahead in life.

Talk to me like lovers do. Not yell at me like my wife does.

I heartly knew her.

They say love makes the world go round. I say because it feels like you are running in circles.

They say a way to a man's heart is through his stomach. The way to a woman's heart is through her friend's ear.

Remember dates. Or you are doomed to repeat the bad ones.

Valentine's Day is one of the few times people do not mind getting carded.

These are just a few things that I thought of this morning. They are humorous in attempt. In no way are they meant to be taken as advice, unless you are desperate.

Happy Valentine's Day.

Strung along

Bling me back to you.

This Valentine's Day I got Wendy a charm for her Pandora bracelet. Yeah, I am not ruining the surprise. I gave her the charm last night. I do Valentine's Day is not until Sunday. If I have a gift for someone then I like to go ahead and give it to that person.

It was a dramatic moment when I received the charm, for me anyway. I ordered the charm off Ebay. I was not exactly sure when the charm would arrive. I knew I had ordered in plenty of time, but you never know. The shipper put the shipping information online so I could track it. It was in Maryland and then the next day I saw it was on the truck to be delivered.

I thought part of the surprise would be to go ahead and have the charm on Wendy's bracelet. So I unlatched the bracelet. No problem. Then I try to put on the charm. By the way it was Pandora Little Girl charm. Back to the story, I could not get the charm on the bracelet. I struggled for what felt like 30 minutes. Each minute getting more desperate. At one point I thought I broke the bracelet. I thought my inexpensive gift would cost me a lot more. I even called my sister-in-law to get advice on how to put the thing on.

By the way it did work out. The charm is on the bracelet. Wendy is happy.

Almost there

Hello all you achoo-ievers! What do you nose?

This has felt like a long week, but we are almost there. Tuesday felt like it ought to have been next Friday. I know I am looking ahead. Maybe I am looking forward. What is to you? The question is what is it to me.

It appears I know just enough to get myself in trouble. Most of the things I do I know just enough to get myself stuck. I know a few steps, but still have to grip the banister of advice. Most of the time I get fortunate and it works out. After of course having a temper tantrum. It is my breaking point that leads to the breaking point of the problem. Please do not try this a home. I am a professional. Or is confessional? I can never remember.

Remember to bring to a boil and stir occasionally.

You are the wind beneath me

Well blow me down.

The wind is supposed to get pretty bad today. I did not see many trees out the window blowing at me while at work. However, I did met Wendy for lunch today and saw limbs in the street. Of course they were not large limbs. I did see a large trash can and mailbox down, but I am not sure if the wind played into that equation.

I do not want to see the wind knock down trees because then they will fall on power lines. I want the wind to produce power not to knock it out.

Until I breeze by next time.

Weather got you hot and bothered?

I wish.

I am ready for some warmer temperatures. Usually we are supposed to be in the 50s, but that has not been the case. I think we have more of a wet winter also. I am not used to all this cold and wet. I wonder how people who usually have to deal with those conditions do it.

Stop giving me the cold shoulder. Show me the hot stuff.

We interrupt your viewing schedule

Well hello people who are enjoying the view.

The past couple of nights, okay more than that, I have passed out watching television. I watched about 30 minutes of the Superbowl. Then I passed out and woke up near the end. It did not peak my interest. I usually at least like to see the commercials. I do not remember any of them. Since I watched so little of the game coverage I missed the commercials that everyone is talking about.

It is discouraging when there are programs that you watch that come on with a gap between them. For example, Wendy and I watch House at 8. I like to watch Castle at 10. There is usually nothing on at 9. so I end up falling asleep and missing Castle. Yes, I should set the DVR. I think about doing it and then figure I will do it later. However, most times I do not. The reason for this post is that I did not do it last night.

Game. Set. Match.

At least I can watch reruns.

A taxing weekend

I sure hope this makes cents.

Wendy and I did make it to see my parents this weekend. The weather did cooperate with us. One of the purposes for us to go visit was to see my parents of course, but also to get our taxes done. I admit that I do not understand the complex forms. Put this in line A if you are excluded from line B. Fortunately, my dad does understand taxes and enjoys doing them.

It was not that painful of a process. Plus we did get a little bit of money back.

Surviving the slush

Well wet ones.

Remember to wipe your feet. Now that the snow has melted and the rain has lifted. At least for a few days. Check your local listings. It is that time for the ground to be saturated. There are still a bunch of puddles all around. This morning the ground was frozen so all the leaves and grass made a crunchy noise. This afternoon the temps thawed out and the crunch became a squish. It does look like when are in for some dry weather. Finally.

I got tired of wetting my pants.

In the middle nowhere to live

Hello to all you homees.

Over the weekend Wendy and I were house and animal sitting. The house is located on a paved driveway with one way in and out. As I was walking the dog with not much around me, I was thinking I could live in a place like this. I probably could not afford the current place I was.

Sometimes I would not mind living in a secluded place. Not much around but a few neighbors. Perhaps a nice sized yard. First I would have to learn what to do with a yard. I can see being in the middle of nowhere. The only thing that would get to me is the drive to places you need to go. I am not much of a driver though. If there was a severe storm you would be stuck there.

I could see the aspects of living in a city. Sure it might be a little crowded and noisy. You have everything right there. All that you need, with a few exceptions, are right in the neighborhood. I would not mind public transportation, or at least I say that right now.

Currently, Wendy and I have somewhat of a compromised living. We are in the middle of nowhere, but close enough to a quick drive to so called civilization.

Deliver me to evil

Here I am to live another day. Barely.

It probably is not as bad as it looked yesterday, but I am still here. After work I was on my way to the library. I had to stop by the house to pick up the books I wanted to return. So I enter the house only to leave again.

I drive toward the library. Traffic was not too bad until I get across from the library. The only bad part about going to the library is I have to cross a highway. There seemed to be a break in the traffic, but a FedEx van arrives. It is in the left turning lane and I am wanting to go forward. The problem is that I cannot see what is coming in the left lane. I probably pulled up to far because I thought I could before the van arrived. Of course there were several cars in that lane. From my point of view it looked pretty close to my hood. Of course there was a car behind me. I was able to put it in reverse, wait a few minutes, and the proceed to cross. I am sure I could have many things different, but I made it.

So in the grand scheme against me I survived. Now to look for other ways to express myself to the ground.

Girl power

Hello boys or girls.

Well one of the answers has finally been revealed. In about five months a new girl will be in our possession. Wendy had an ultrasound yesterday and she is far enough long that we could find out the gender. Joy Olivia Parker.

Joy seems to be doing quite well. You can look at Wendy's blog for all the specifics. Now we have five months to get everything ready. The first thing Wendy and I did leaving the doctor's office was to pick up some outfits.

Our next question is how to decorate Joy's room? I know we will think of something. Now we have the inspiration.

I also have to figure out how to save the amount of money I make in five months.

In case you missed it, here is the debut picture of Joy.

Wait for it.

Well folks it is almost here.

Nothing to report yet. Keep your fingers crossed, but not your legs.

See you in a couple of hours.

Working on it

Greetings for the meetings.

Yesterday I spent a few hours out of the house. I helped my supervisor clear some of the sidewalks at the building. A lot of places are still closed or delayed today. It looks like they should be. Most of the main roads are clear. The only problem is getting to them. Most of the neighborhood side streets still had ice on them.

Wendy and I did make to my station of work. Then my supervisor, another guy, and I spent the majority of the day cleaning of the sidewalks. It was pretty tough. The hard part was the layer of ice stuck to the sidewalk. You had to take a shovel and chip away before you can move the snow. We got the sidewalks clear. My supervisor had a crew come in and clear the parking lot. Wendy and I left at 3 and I guess they still worked until close to 5.

The building is under a two hour delay this morning. That is good because the temperatures are still cold. It is supposed to be rainy today, but over freezing. Then the warm up begins. Well until Friday where there is a chance for more wintry mix.

Something that surprised me was there was a few people at work yesterday. Granted they did not stay long, but they were still there. If I had not have to helped with cleaning the sidewalks, I would not have been there. I guess some people cannot stay away.

Wendy and I came back to the house and I tried to shovel my driveway. Our driveway is a slope. Mistake number one. All I have is a small digging shovel. Mistake number two. I will get a snow shovel. Hopefully I can wait until they are cheap and not overpriced. After a few attempts I was successful in getting Wendy's car out of the driveway.

To paraphrase an old song... "Take this snow and shove it."

Snow news

Well let's just plow ahead.

All weekend Wendy and I were in the house. I went outside a couple of times to take out trash and try to clean off the cars. Wendy's car was in the sun, so most of the snow had melted. I was parked in a shade so I had to work to clean off my car. I noticed most of neighbors driving around. I have no idea the state of the roads. I hear people say the main roads are drivable. The main issue seems to be neighborhood roads. Fortunately we had nowhere to go. It is getting a little boring sitting around the house.

Both Wendy and I are off work today. When the sun comes up, hopefully the snow will start melting. I think we are supposed to be above freezing, at least during the day. It will probably take most of the week, but we should be back to normal. My town did say they would scrape neighborhood streets, but according to the trash collection schedule. I am not sure if they can get down our road due to the road destruction in our neighborhood.

Later this morning I will probably have to venture out to help shovel the walks at work. I hope by then the sun will be up and doing its thing. I plan on taking Wendy with me. At least we can get out of the house.

I do not like driving on snow and ice. I do not really have the know how. So I am hoping the roads will not be as bad as they look. I know crews have been out and trying to get everything back to normal. I feel bad for people who had to get out in this weather for work. I guess that is the price of being important.

I did shovel some snow on our steps. It came up as blocks of ice. It looked to be about 2 inches thick. This was two days after the snow. I guess when the temperatures stay below freezing the ice has nowhere to go.

It does look like we are in for some warmer temperatures, but also some rain. At least we can go back to playing nice instead of in ice.