America Rocks My Socks

This year we decided to celebrate Independence Day at my house with a barbecue/movie night/fireworks display. $70 doesn't go very far when it's fireworks we're talking about:



But we ended up getting a few hours out of them all, even doing more than one at once.

Mim's bithday was on July 1, and we decided to add a little bit of birthday cheer to the festivities. I went to the store to get a cake, and they had some really cute ones, but they were all chocolate, and Mim doesn't eat chocolate, so we settled for a blank one and decorated it ourselves:

Obviously Mim did not turn 24, but we have this joke that we're twins separated by time (we're like the same person, I swear), so I'm 24, so she's 24. I think it was funny. Maybe you had to be there. Please note the frosting tower I made. It tasted excellent.

Here's a picture of all of us, sitting around with food and watching Ratatouille (LOVE that movie) and then Sahara. Also notice that Em's hair is very very blue and she has amazing shoes on.

Everyone got Nyah-holding time, including Jorg, who is NOT a baby person, so he felt really awkward holding her. But I did manage to get a picture of him holding her, and Scott holding Buster (he was not happy about this)( sometimes I wish he were a snuggly lap dog):

Anyway, after the movies Kwiddens and Isaac and Nyah had to go to Isaac's family's party, and at that point it was starting to get dark so we went outside and started the fireworking.

Jorg with a giant sparkler:

We found these really cool fireworks that you nail onto something and they spin around, so we nailed one to Scott's sawhorse (and totally burned it):

Em and Jorg lighting things on fire:

Anyway, we went until about 11:00 and then they all slept over because Mim wasn't feeling well and we didn't want her driving all the way back home.

Awesome party!

A Blankie For Nyah

So I finally got a hold of some pictures of the blanket I crocheted for Nyah. I kept forgetting to ask Kwiddens, and then when I did, she kept forgetting to take the pictures for me, and it was just a months-long cycle of forgetfulness. Oh well.

Here is a picture of the blanket: In this shot you can see how the eyelets are shaped.

This shot is a little closer so you can see the stitch definition:

I made it 3'x5', to fit a crib. It took 15 balls of yarn, at $4.50 per ball (silk/bamboo blend), so you can do the math. A little expensive, but totally worth it because this is my little baby niece and she deserves the best. I'm going to spoil her terribly, you know. I won't be able to help myself.

Making this blanket was fun and easy, until I got to the very end and had to weave in all the ends and then it was NOT fun but still easy, and since it wasn't fun I kept putting it off until I finished just in the nick of time the morning of Kwiddens's baby shower.

I loved and hated the yarn. From ball to ball the texture of the yarn changed, sometimes being very silky and smooth (it being made of silk and all) and sometimes being rather catchy, and when you have rough chemist hands, that makes it a little more difficult and/or unpleasant to work with.

All in all, it took me less than a month to finish all the crocheting and then two months to weave in the ends after that, due to the procrastination, which is in turn due to the fact that I hate weaving in ends.

Did I mention I hate weaving in ends?

Anyway, this blanket is heirloom quality, so it's safely stowed away until Nyah becomes less...leaky. I'm excited for her to eventually have some portraits with it! I am very proud of my work on this one.

Tag, I'm It!

PCL tagged me for a meme, and I love me a good meme! (It's because sometimes I want to post something, but my mind is being stubbornly boring)

1. When was the last time you played air guitar?

That would be...the last time I watched "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" many, many years ago. That will (somehow) always be one of the best movies ever.

2. What's the oldest thing in your fridge?

That would be...a jar of sauerkraut I opened probably more than a year ago. But that stuff doesn't go bad...I don't think. Maybe I should throw it out just in case.

3. Vampires, zombies, or please make it stop?

Well, I must say that I love zombies. Zombie movies, zombie games (Plants vs. Zombies and Zombie Flux)...you name it, I'm there. It's pretty hard to make a bad zombie movie, because even if your zombie movie sucks, it still makes for awesome zombie movie marathon fodder.

4. If you had to change your current profession, and you could do anything, what would you do?

Sing. But the universe has made it quite clear that that isn't my fate. Maybe I'll tell you all about that some time.

5. Undergarment of choice?

Strange question. When you have a favorite pair of underpants on, you feel secretly awesome underneath it all and your day goes better. My favorite underpants are hot pink.

6. What is the tackiest thing you own?

If it's tacky, I don't get it. I don't like tacky.

7. Summer with no air conditioner or winter with no heat?

Winter with no heat. The theory is: you can always put more clothes on, but there comes a point where you can't take more off, either because there aren't any more clothes on your body or because you're in public and don't feel like getting arrested for indecent exposure.

8. There is a band that will play whenever you snap your fingers and it's your favorite. Who is it?

Tori Amos, although I don't think that counts as a "band". So if I have to choose a band, I must say Carbon Leaf has been a favorite lately.

Out With The Old...

This whole new deck thing came at just the right time. We were in the back yard the other day and we noticed that the old deck is basically crumbling away, so we have a nice new sturdy one and we win.


So since we have a new back door leading out onto this fabulous deck, Scott filled in the old back door. It was a smallish project-it only took about an hour. Here Scott is starting to rip up the old door:
He was very careful so he wouldn't damage the door. We want to reuse as much as possible while we're renovating, so whenever there is a piece of wood that is undamaged or the old window or this door, we save it for later. This door will later go between the garage and the concrete pad in the side yard (but that's a project far, far in the future).


Once he got the door out in one piece it was just a matter of framing:

And then filling it in with plywood:



So no hole!


We still need to put new siding over this spot, but this will be tricky, since we don't know if we can match the color of the siding exactly. We also still need to insulate, drywall, and paint, but just like the back door, we can't fill it all in until the inspector comes to take a look. As soon as we finish the railing on the deck we will be able to call and set up an appointment to meet with him.


Exciting!

Vroom, Vroom, and Police!: A Guest Post By Scott

As you probably know, the Mustang is back together to where I can drive it to work. You've all seen pictures of the exterior, since the outside is pretty close to being finished. It turns heads as it is, but when it's done it'll turn more! The interior isn't completed, but the only part of the whole car that is completely done is the motor:

I was driving home from work and I pulled up to a stop light. An old '87 Buick with two teenagers pulled up next to me. The driver put it in neutral and revved his engine. I glanced over, glanced away and shook my head. One of them started yelling at me "You wanna race?" I simply ignored them. The light changed, and something in me said, "Smoke them anyway!" so I goosed the throttle and got up to the speed limit within 100 feet of the outside of the stop light. They hadn't even finished crossing the intersection yet. I stopped accelerating once I hit the speed limit and continued on my way home. As I approached the next light, I heard the teenagers screaming out the window "Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" as they zoomed past me at at least 60 mph (speed limit was 40, by the way).

As they passed me, they went through the next intersection and a police officer was sitting at the light, waiting to turn the same direction they were going. As I passed the policeman, he pulled in right behind me and immediately turned his lights on. I thought, "Oh, great, I got myself in trouble." But then I thought, "Well I wasn't speeding..." The policeman quickly whipped around me and chased the two teenagers! It took him a little while to catch up to them, because they didn't stop accelerating once they passed me. I caught up to where the officer had pulled over the kids, and as I passed, still going the speed limit, I giggled, a small smirk on my face, thinking, "Stupid teenagers!"

90!

Yesterday was Naomi's birthday party. Naomi is Scott's mom's cousin, so that makes her our first cousin once removed (or something like that...I never understood how that worked) but she's more like a grandmother to us. She's the spunkiest 90-year-old I've ever known, and we love her to death. The funny thing is, she HATES when people make a big deal over her, so when she walked in to the party (it was a surprise party) she was SO MAD. But we loved getting a chance to see her, so it was totally worth it.

There was tasty food, including some amazing meatballs, little baby sandwiches, and some kind of peachy slushy drink.

There was a "guest book", which was more like a little notebook in which we all wrote our names. One lady had written "I don't think your really 90!" and I saw it and corrected the grammar, and Scott saw me do it, and he just about had a seizure he was laughing so hard, and then he told me that I HAD to take a picture of it and put it on the blog, so here it is:

I couldn't help myself, I just did it without even thinking...

Anyway, we didn't stay very long, but we were able to have a picture taken of me, Scott, and Naomi. She's a total sweetheart, and we love her so much.

Back Door!

Having a new deck does you very little good if there isn't a door leading onto it. So, where the larger window in the kitchen was, we decided to put a new sliding door.

Here's the old window:

Scott is glaring at me...

At some point we decided that since we were going to rip that wall out anyway we should make Buster a doggy door:

He had a really hard time with the concept, but after lots of coaxing he finally understood and had a blast running in and out and in and out!

So here's the giant hole, before we managed to get the door in:

And after we put in the door, it looks so good from the outside, even though it's not finished until the siding is back on:

And we can't finish the wall until the inspector comes in to look at the deck and the framing around the door, so the inside still looks unfinished as well:

But I LOVE the door, and it makes the whole front room/kitchen look so much bigger and brighter, and this is just so exciting for me! I love getting things done and being able to see the progress and getting another step closer to having a beautiful house (that we will later sell for mucho moola)!

The Idiot Box

I have been feeling BLAH lately, so even though I have posting material (Buster pictures, Nyah pictures, and of course, July 4th stuff) I don't feel like it, so I will just show you something amusing.

This is the Idiot Box:

This box is on Mim's front porch. One day when they were coming home Em (I think) tripped over it and said "I hate that idiot box!" and forever after it was known as "The Idiot Box".

CORRECTION: Kwiddens has informed me that it was she who named it. Oops.

Deck Party Aside: Odds And Ends

I know you are just longing for more information about the deck. It's getting done, slowly but surely. Scott's working on the railing that goes down the stairs, which is proving to be quite difficult. Once it's done I'll put up some pictures, but for now here are some extra random pictures that didn't really fit into the other posts about the deck.


On the left you will note Mim's Monster, and on the right you will note my chocolate milk. This is an accurate reflection of what fuels us.

Throughout the day, however, we switched to Gatorades. We went through several cases of them, which is good, because dehydration in the hot sun SUCKS.

Cutting the risers for the stairs left some fun chunks:

Buster, lounging in the corner of the yard. At first he was terrified of the sounds of the power tools, but he figured out he was safe and just hung out for the rest of the time.

Our spread of small hand tools, and nails, and in the middle the garbage pile. So eco-friendly.

It will all get done. Eventually. We're not really in a hurry, so no sweat.

Mim!

So today I would like to wish a Happy Birthday to my Mim, who is turning XX years old today!

Mim is one of my favorite people in the entire world, because she is awesome, smart, strong, loyal, and hilariously witty.

We had our rough points but we both grew up a bit, got to know each other better, and took care of our brain chemicals so we could both move forward and be not just mother and daughter, but best friends as well.

She's been with me my whole life, cheering me on when I tried to accomplish something, cheering me up when things didn't work out, giving me all the tools I needed to become a succcessful adult, and always believing in me, even when I didn't believe in myself.

Plus she's pretty.

She is the best road-tripper, an awesome philosopher and mathematician, and she makes really good pancakes and biscuits from scratch (and almost nothing else)(sorry Mim, it's true).

She gave me many genetic traits for which I am grateful, but even more for which I am NOT grateful, namely, IBS and carpal tunnel, among others.

Basically, she's just awesome. And that's that.

Happy Birthday, Mim!