Dan defended his dissertation on November 5th
and celebrated his
Hooding and Graduation on Friday, December 14th
Congrats Doctor Daniel Gene Carpenter
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Favorite Most Beautiful First Born ...
Today our "Boochie Dootz" is one year older ... if I state how old I will have to acknowledge my own age, since I have said I am "39" for many, many years. (Yes, I'm following in my mother's footsteps!)
She's such a beautiful, strong, self-assured and smart young "woman". I love her more today than yesterday.
Happy Birthday, Michelle ...
Happy Birthday, Michelle ...
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Saturday, November 10, 2012
S-l-o-w-l-y getting back to "normal"
Funny, when you hit the "60's" you also realize the good old days also included agile bodies! We have most certainly slowed down. What would have taken us a couple of nights to wrap up ~ takes a tad longer. It also would have included preparing meals and having three rambunctious girls assisting! Today it's two 64 year-olds creating a list of what needs to be done and in what order! A little perspiration, paint splattering, some cursing when stain won't come from under fingernails, "aha" moments when shelf pegs are offset giving shelving a comical appearance and deciding that the paint color chosen DOES work for space. Slowly but surely everything is coming together ... and patience is a virtue!
My vehicle is back in the garage. The door has been leveled and opener is operational. Still storing the front deck on Larry's side ... but that is slowly being remedied ...
... looks like an easy 'sit-down' job!
The "Dan-Mitch Walkway" has been replaced ... I guess it is just a plain old sidewalk now.
Much of the time has been spent in the "quilt/cutting" room downstairs. With multiple holes for the post-piers and alot of dirt on floor it took awhile to clean up before painting could begin. A good old wire brush on concrete brick walls then concrete paint to seal before the finish coat took a week-end. Wall color is "Oklahoma Wheat", kind of a creamy yellow ... makes the room bright and inviting. Re-staining window trim, touching up shelving and door trim took a couple more days ... I'm like my dad that way ... perfectionist (a good and bad trait). I found that my steam-vac worked wonders on the concrete floor. Was able to "extract" as much dirt residue as possible before re-installing carpet tiles.
One task I do not particularly enjoy this time of year is closing off the screened porch. We wrap it in plastic to keep the enclosure free of snow, which is a good thing ... no scooping! On sunny cold days the inside temps can be well above freezing too. What I don't like is the struggle of hanging the plastic and the inability to see out.
On the bright side our little Mum is still there. She will soon retire for the colder winter months, returning next spring to coax us on.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Dee-Dah ... Dee-Done!!!
Day Twelve - Tuesday - October 30th
Crew of four showed up today, Foreman Matt was home with a sick child. I was skeptical, not having a foreman present, how would work progress? I was pleasantly surprised ... all four stepped up to the plate, knowing exactly what needed to be done. Impressed was I!
Installation of the wall anchors continued to be a challenge. There was obviously something quite massive obstructing the progress. A second hole was drilled (first was patched) and threaded rod was inserted.
While work was continuing in the basement with rod installation, two were outside addressing the crumbling block problem. Everything was moving along quite smoothly. Again, impressed was I!
After lunch one continued filling the last remaining hole outside (concrete work had been completed). The three remaining were involved attaching outside plates to threaded rods, it was fun to observe. They worked so well together. At one point I had walked through dining room and noticed two feet sticking up. One of the crew was head down in a hole, while a second one was shoveling dirt into a hole ... fortunately not in the occupied hole!
By three o'clock they were in clean up mode. Two picked up all the gear in the basement and two filled holes in crawl space. Filling a hole takes less time than digging one and is a whole lot easier! As they cleaned gear out of the garage they even grabbed our push broom and swept it out! They were loaded up and done for the day by 5:30 p.m.
They were a fun crew to have around. The average age could have been 30 ... a most excellent crew, I was impressed.
It's difficult to see him ... but Dillon's feet are just visible above deck flooring. He was tightening bolts and removing "non-dirt" items from hole.
Crew of four showed up today, Foreman Matt was home with a sick child. I was skeptical, not having a foreman present, how would work progress? I was pleasantly surprised ... all four stepped up to the plate, knowing exactly what needed to be done. Impressed was I!
Installation of the wall anchors continued to be a challenge. There was obviously something quite massive obstructing the progress. A second hole was drilled (first was patched) and threaded rod was inserted.
While work was continuing in the basement with rod installation, two were outside addressing the crumbling block problem. Everything was moving along quite smoothly. Again, impressed was I!
After lunch one continued filling the last remaining hole outside (concrete work had been completed). The three remaining were involved attaching outside plates to threaded rods, it was fun to observe. They worked so well together. At one point I had walked through dining room and noticed two feet sticking up. One of the crew was head down in a hole, while a second one was shoveling dirt into a hole ... fortunately not in the occupied hole!
By three o'clock they were in clean up mode. Two picked up all the gear in the basement and two filled holes in crawl space. Filling a hole takes less time than digging one and is a whole lot easier! As they cleaned gear out of the garage they even grabbed our push broom and swept it out! They were loaded up and done for the day by 5:30 p.m.
They were a fun crew to have around. The average age could have been 30 ... a most excellent crew, I was impressed.
It was an interesting experience ... but one I don't want to do again. Alot of hard work done by the crew. Alot of noise, vibrations, holes and dirt. It's finished now. Time to make a "to do" list ... but for now I'll enjoy the quiet, getting to sleep late and hanging out in my jams until mid-morning!
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