This is the year of the rennovations....

We have spent mega bucks on the house this year getting it the way we want it.. we're taking pictures of the house and all of the things we have installed or fixed up and are going to create a binder showing all that we have done.. in addition to being a great remembrance book it will be a way to document the improvements we have made to the place in case we were to sell it in the future (it better be waaaay in the future because I want to enjoy the place once it's completed)...

and in no particular order... Ron did/we had someone come in and do the following...
- Ron replaced the roof.. that was more than a little dangerous!
- Ron replaced the upstairs bedroom window
- our furnace went and we had to have it replaced
- we got a new water pressure tank for the well to increase the water flow
- we got a hole dug and a sump bucket installed for the new sump pump
- Ron redid over the whole interior of the house.. or at least 90% of it by..
- installed new laminate floors through most of the house
- painted or wallpapered the interiour
- the electrician installed a new breaker box to replace the old fuse box
- we bought a new electric hot water heater to be installed in the near future
- we have a new pellet stove
- Ron replaced the dining room, kitchen, downstairs bathroom and downstairs walk-in closet windows and has one for the den to replace
- Ron's in the process of putting new insulation and siding on the house
- We put blown in insulation in the lower attic
- since we moved in we replaced the washer, dryer and just got a new fridge
- we had the electrician install a new circuit upstairs so that we can run a heater in the winter if necessary
- Ron replaced the sink in the upstairs bathroom
- Ron built a little shed for the ride on lawnmower
- Ron did work on the old garage/workshop, insulated and replaced the roof as well as put in a wooden floor over the old clay floor

I think that's everything we've done so far..

what we want to do in the future is....
- replace the bathroom window and the upstairs other bedroom window
- put in a shower downstairs
- replace the stove
- replace the dishwasher
- redo the driveway
- install a water softener system
- do something about the basement
- fix the window by the back door **done**
- redo the floors in the main bedroom downstairs and do over the new bathroom
- replace the tub and toilet in the upstairs bathroom (that may not get done).

So our "to do" list is a lot shorter than our "done" list..

I'm too tired to try and arrange the wording over each picture.. lets just say that rain didn't dampen the spirits of this wedding.. there were lots of raincoats, umbrellas and DANCING!!! OH.. and kissing.. lol.

This is the view out our Motel window..

A little creepy but Aaron, always the optimist, said that they were probably lovely people buried there..

A Few Pics of the Wedding

First is Aaron and Richie saying their vows...























Then the two Janets lighting a candle for their sons (both mothers are called Janet!)
























This is Aaron and Richie.. they looks so happy... and CUTE!!















And these are the parets with the newlyweds.. my sister and her husband on the left and Richie's parents on the right...


*These photos are from Aaron's brother, Andy*

My Nephew's getting married next Saturday..

My Nephew's getting married next Saturday.. it's to be a momentous occasion for more than the usual reasons.. you see.. his fiance is Richie.. so it will be the first gay marriage in the history of our family..

It's to be my first same-sex wedding (that I'm attending, not participating in, not that I have participated in one either.. should I stop trying to explain myself.. because I'm even confusing me.. )..

Aaron has always been my favorite nephew *sorry to any of my other nephews that might also be reading my blog but life is hard so suck it up and deal with it* :/ I got to meet his fiance Richie who is just as sweet as Aaron. They seem to be made for each other because their personalities are so much alike.

Just a small observation, I was looking for a card for them the other day and I expected that it would be difficult to find one that didn't say "bride and groom" on it.. but I was pleasantly surprised.. the majority of them had the "happy couple" or words to that effect (happy couple - gay couple.. can you see the difference? I can't see the difference).

The only thing I'm a little worried about is the four to five hour drive and sleeping in a strange bed.. hope my back stays in alignment.

How much does it take to kill a bee?

Apparently a lot.. because we have bees in our wall that just won't go away.. Ron has sprayed enough bug spray to kill a horse but the danged bees just won't die.. he also sprayed expanding caulking in the hole where they were getting in but the old saying about bees being busy is true because they can get past the strongest deterrent known to man.. I have nightmares about the walls buzzing.. but tomorrow he's putting flashing all along the foundation so unless they have a blow torch or (what I'm afraid of) a back doorway into the basement.. we're good.. Plus it's too hot for my honey (pun intended) to be all decked out in beekeeper gear.

Two Weeks Vacation on the Way!!!

I just have to work today and then off for two weeks.. got Aaron and Richie's wedding in there, working on the house, a dentist's appointment and most importantly.. an appointment with my chiropractor... lol.. sorry guys but I'm in pain again so all that other stuff takes second place.. :(

Ron got the dining room window in with just four more windows to go after that.. once the windows are in the rest of the work should go quickly... I have to help next week with the blown in insulation but all I have to do is fill the hopper and Ron will be in the hot, stuffy attic doing the main work.. he's anxious to get that over with.

Our pellet stove will be delivered the last Monday in August.. and since we have 140 bags of wood pellets that should do us most of the winter and we have them piled in our front porch so we won't have far to go to get to them in the cold blustery winter days.. now we just have to get a generator in case the power goes off..

Ron's mother, sister and his son were here on Wednesday for a visit and his son, Raul, helped him with the window which was good because it was too heavy for me to lift.. now if we could just get some dry days to dry out the exposed slats of wood on the house before we apply the insulation and wrap... and it ain't looking good according to the long range weather forecast.. keep your fingers crossed.

My Tarot Card Deck is Complete...

I've finally gotten them done and to the printers and I'm so proud of how they turned out.. I also did some silky cloth bags to put them in and a hanging tag with the picture of my mystery card that is a feature unique to my deck as far as I know.. There is also a Bio card with a little blurp about me (it's that card in the front).. I got 10 decks printed and they are all sold or spoken for.. The name of the deck is latin and means "first time".. and since this is the first time I've created a deck it suits well..

Damn.. I can't get blogger to upload my pics for me.. I keep getting an error message.. I'll upload them tomorrow if I can..