Maybe it’s just me, but did anyone else see a pair of leathery wings emanating from Dick Cheney’s back during last night’s debate? His hands kinda looked liked cloven hooves, too, come to think of it. You had to squint to see it…maybe my tv’s just on the fritz.
it’s beginning to look a lot like christmas
I just finished making the last of my Christmas cards this evening. Take that, all you people still getting ready for Halloween! If it’s any consolation, it’s not like I actually wrote out the cards and addressed the envelopes…yet.
This is the first year I made Christmas cards. Not knowing how long it was going to take, I wanted to get an early start. It took about three weeks so starting in October should be sufficiently early next year. It’s no fun making cards if things are down to the wire, so I want to be sure to do them well ahead of time. If only I had my Christmas shopping done, then I’d be happy. Some people, like Brian and Jake are always easy to shop for. Others, like some of the family members I’ve been shopping for year after year after year are a bit more difficult.
happy october
Brian’s at the Steeler game today with his parents and Shawn so Jake and I thought this might be a good opportunity to get ready for Halloween. First, we (or should I say I) made up the treat bags with what was left of the candy after Jake and I got done with it. Yum! At least Willy Wonka won’t have to worry about going out of business this year. Last year we ran out of candy, so I made up a bunch more bags this year. There seem to be a lot more kids in the neighborhood these days. I guess that’s a good thing.
Next I got all of the decorations out of the attic and we decorated the house. The clutter is maddening. I’m looking forward to November 1 already. Of course, November marks the first of two months of holidays. That is perhaps my least favorite time of the year, but that is another story for another day.
attic project, part 1
Today, Brian and I removed the plywood ceiling from our front porch and replaced it with vinyl soffit. Doing this provided us with two benefits:
1. ventilation for the attic
2. a maintenance-free porch ceiling (no more painting! paint is my nemesis. but, somehow I always find myself painting something…)
Hopefully this will sufficiently ventilate our attic. If not, we’ll need to put vents in the fascia boards next year and that would not be a fun project to say the least. Today’s project took about 5 hours and we didn’t run into any issues (which is unusual for us), so we’ll call it a winner. Eventually, I’d like to cover as much wood as possible outside with vinyl. Up next year: fascia boards.
I’ve come up with an aggressive 5-year plan that will significantly reduce our remodeling “to do” list. I like to keep Brian busy–it keeps him out of trouble. Also, by the time I’m 40, I don’t want to still be dealing with all of this crap. I know there will always be maintenance items to do around the house, but if we could just get everything the way we want it, maintaining it wouldn’t be a problem. We’ve been working on the house for 8 years now and I’m more than ready to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
anger management
Jake is staying at my parent’s this weekend, so Brian and I decided to do a “Margarita & a Movie” night. (Andy Lasky, take note!) Anger Management was on the tube so we watched that. Frankly I was a bit disappointed. It’s not like I’m a huge Adam Sandler fan, but his movies usually elicit a few laughs from me. This one just wasn’t that funny. I’ve always been a huge Jack Nicholson fan, but his character in the movie was just too weird–does he have to look insane in every movie?
The Flick Filosopher concurs: http://www.flickfilosopher.com/flickfilos/shortcuts/shortcuts17.shtml#anger