Monday, September 16, 2013

Weathering the Storms

Sorry I haven't posted a blog in a while, it's just not been in my "line of sight" to do so.  But gentle prodding by my #1 reader has gotten me to put out a new post.

We seem to have survived the Colorado flood storms relatively unscathed other than getting stir crazy.  But it will extend the timeline for moving the "travel missile" (our luggage holder) into the basement.  I had it in the back yard ready to move into the basement when the almost-tornado hit a month ago that destroyed part of the velodrome under development in Erie and had us sheltering in the basement for an hour or so.  It got blown into our "circle of doom" (where previous residents dug out a spot to put a trampoline and where we eventually hope to build a gazebo) that was filled with water at the time.  So, I waited to get it out rather than trek into the clay-mud to pull it out.  Then, out of sight, out of mind, I forgot about it until the other day and had planned to bring it in this past weekend.  Then the flood rains came mid-week and that didn't happen.  Now the circle of doom is a small pond, and I'll again be waiting for it to dry out enough to retrieve it (and likely rinse it out inside and out) and bring it inside.

Halloween season is upon us soon.  We didn't get the hearse built (again), but I hope to start making small bits of progress on it slowly over the next year.  It would be easier if there were a little more space for it and my car in the garage at the same time, but I have a few ideas about how to do work on it in the mean-time.  I'll probably put the cemetary fencing up about 2-3 weeks out, and the rest of it up the week of Halloween (which I'm taking off work).

We're starting the process of having our awful windows replaced.  We couldn't afford to do them all at once, so we chose the biggest needed ones first.  We're doing 8 windows.  3 are difficult to see through because of shoddy construction/installation, and the others are in our bedroom to hopefully keep the temperatures bearable in the summer months (it currently gets above 80 most days in our bedroom despite the A/C running non-stop).  The new windows are triple paned, and have technology built-in that is at an angle to reflect heat away when the sun is at a high angle (summer months) and allow it in when it is at a low angle (winter months and evenings), which should save tremendously on energy costs.  When the car is paid off, we'll get the rest of them done.  We are also waiting to finish painting Megi's room until they replace the big window in her room.

I haven't been doing very good about writing, and I think a big part of it is I'm not following the advice I give Candice all the time:  just make time everyday and do it.  So, I plan to try and write for a minimum of 30 minutes each day, even if it's crap.  Maybe she can take some of that same time to do some clay work, etc. and we can both be productive.  I've had plenty of ideas coming (many of which I've also not followed my own advice on and haven't written them down), but none of the "meat" of the ideas has been there yet.  Maybe if I start writing on the ideas, even if I know it's not what I intend, the "meat" will reveal itself to me and I can then write in earnest on each project.

I really need some ideas on how to make Gabe CARE about doing his schoolwork.  Even the promise of getting to go play, etc. doesn't entice him enough to want to do anything when he is at home towards doing a few minutes of homework (which as a result, turns into hours of homework).  So, if you have any ideas, I'd love to hear them.

I have done some work on a few of my woodwork projects.  I've cut out the kid's names for door plates.  I need to decide how thick a back to put them on and how I want to mount them to the doors.  I also made some box shelves, which we hung in an asymmetrical manner in Donna's room for books, etc.  I'll probably build some more for Megi's room, too, and maybe a couple for Gabe's room (though figring out where to put them in his room might prove the only obstacle there...
That's all I have for this post (I probably had more, but had to completely re-type it from scratch when my browser crapped out on me), thanks for reading.

Quill Writing

Quill Writing