Vacation: When I was a kid, we took vacations all the time - a big one every year (during the school year, so we could miss school for "educational reasons"), and lots of smaller ones, too. Somehow, though, somewhere around college, vacation became synonymous with heading home to Mom and Dad's house. Finally starting to break out of that mold in the last couple years, so I'm liking that.

OC: I'm headed to Ocean City on Friday for a long weekend at a condo on the beach with the family. I can't wait (especially to see Jake). My floors are being refinished while I'm gone.

Jon's card: If you know my brother, or know me well enough to have heard me talk about him, or have a younger brother of your own, you'll appreciate this - this is the card I'm giving Jon for his birthday (when I see him this weekend):

Magnet: The first magnet on my new refrigerator - these were included in the door hangers packets we passed out today.

New plan: No titles. Enough said.

Door hangers: Tomorrow morning the Bridge Church is using the kids here for the Beach Bash hosted by Portsmouth Alliance to place 5000 door hangers on doors around north Suffolk. Tonight, they stuffed the door hanger envelopes, which was a huge help, believe me, because Thursday night I and 7 others spent a little over an hour stuffing 1500 of them, and I was glad there were others to help with the work.

Airport security: I've heard and read a lot of opinions about the recent changes in airport security, particularly in light of the recently thwarted plan to blow up planes over the Atlantic. So, I figured I would throw mine in the mix. If I have to be a bit inconvenienced or lose some money in the form of items thrown away at the security checkpoint, it's a small price to pay. And if the TSA officials seem a bit grumpy, who can blame them? They have to deal with quite a lot of annoying people.

Weekends

I think I expect too much out of Saturday. I spend most of the days of the week planning to sleep in on Saturday, finish that big project on Saturday, get my house in order, relax with friends, do all my laundry, and so on.

I think I set myself up for failure.

Kitchen remodel

I'm right in the middle of my kitchen remodel, and I've been taking pictures throughout the process. I'll keep adding to this photo set as things change.

Hot

This heat is insane - are there other areas in the East getting this? It's like walking into a sauna when you step outside.

This past weekend

I guess, looking over my last few posts, that I spend a lot of time on home improvement. And I guess that's true - it might be some of more interesting things going on that I think to post about.

I've spent a lot of money so far, but I haven't done a ton of work myself - until this weekend. Dad and Uncle Bob are coming tomorrow to start ripping out the kitchen and installing the new cabinets. I started ripping off the cabinet doors and emptying the cupboards - partly because it needed to be done, and partly because I wanted to surprise Dad with it.

Also, on Saturday, Bernadette came over and helped me prime and paint one coat of the new color for the guest room/office. I didn't really like the color on the wall, even after leaving it for a day, so Sunday I bought a new gallon of paint and painted two more coats. I pulled the tape off and set the room back up this evening.

Saturday night, I hung out at a local bluegrass festival in a city park with some friends. It was a good time - talking with Heather & Jenni while the guys threw a football, Nathan running around like a crazy kid. The music was a nice backdrop, though I think we would have had just as much fun with a radio playing just about anything.

New purchases, light updates, rearranged furniture

I uploaded several more photos with house changes.

Heather came over last night, and we rearranged the furniture in the living room. I was mostly humoring her, because I just couldn't see what she was suggesting, but once we got it into place, I really liked it (and still do). The room looks more cozy, there's more space for side tables, on both sides of the sectional, and the back of the entertainment center and associated cables are now hidden behind the wall.

I'd really like to get started on painting this weekend, and because of the boxes of kitchen cabinets all over my living and dining rooms, I'm thinking that the office is my best bet. There's a lot of stuff that needs to be moved out of there first, though - so we'll see.

Mom and Dad's visit

Mom and Dad are visiting this weekend. I made dinner (boy, are there a lot of dishes when there's no diswasher to throw them into) and afterwards I finished up my laundry. Mom and Dad came in and set on the sofa, turned on the TV, and fell asleep. I'm trying to convince them to actually go to bed so they'll be more comfortable, but no luck so far.

I gave Mom the tour, and she said my house was a "gem in the rough" and that I had my father's visiion. Which I'm taking as a compliment. I can't wait to have them down again when the kitchen, floors, and painting is done - this place will look so different.

Slugs

I can handle bugs, they don't scare me. But slugs - I can't handle those.

I found two in the garage today, and I definitely screamed. It took me a while to get up the nerve just to go back in garage, and then only armed with salt. I couldn't find one of them, but I grabbed my laundry, dropped a healthy amount of salt on the one, and ran inside.

I checked a while later - completely gone, a just a little pile of salt left (I might have overdone that a bit). Now, I just have to figure out where the other one went...