Sears Tool Sale

So last week was Spring Break around here and we didn't go anywhere because Julie had just gotten back from California. Since we didn't have any school or anything planned for the week, I loaded up Grace's schedule and I think she had a great week. Monday she played with her friend from across the street as her Dad was on Spring Break too.

Then on Tuesday she had a play date with her friend Kailei from school at our house. It was the first time they've played together and it went really well. They got along just perfectly. Then on Wednesday she played with her friend from around the corner and Thursday with another friend from school that she's been really close to but hasn't played with before outside of school. Her name is Nevina and they've been close for a very long time but for some reason have never been able to play before now. Then on Friday we went with our friends from down the street to see Seussical the Musical.

I don't know if you've seen it but it was really fun. Grace had a great time and was even dancing along in her seat. I think she might actually be interested in seeing Horton Hears a Who! now since that is the basic plot line for the show.

Then over the weekend we didn't do a whole lot. We're trying to clean the house up a bit so our house-sitter doesn't have to live in a filthy house. Today Grace and I had preschool story time at the library. I think she really enjoys going to this. She always looks forward to it. I'm guessing she'll be disappointed when this class is over. I'll have to keep my eyes open for future classes.

As far as the drywall contractors is concerned, the two estimates I've gotten are night and day. One was more than twice as much as the other. I'm waiting for a third contractor to be available so I can get an estimate from him but that will have to wait for us to come back from vacation.

So you are probably thinking that the subject of this post is about tools and wondering when I'm getting to that. Well, I got the greatest deal yesterday - even Julie was impressed with the deal I got. I'm taking this auto restoration class in May and I am going to need certain tools to do the class. One of them is a pneumatic cut-off tool. I got my Craftsman Club flyer in the mail last week and they had this cut-off tool on sale for 50% off. I couldn't believe it. The sale didn't start for a while so I was waiting to buy it until the weekend. Then I get an email from Sears saying that on Sunday night from 6pm to 9pm they were having a 10% Friends and Family sale. So I got it for 60% off and was pretty excited about it. Maybe not so exciting for you, but for me it was great.

Ready for drywall

Sorry again about not writing for almost a week. As you can imagine things were a little hectic with Julie gone and then there was Easter, etc., etc. So here's a rundown of the last six days. On Thursday my Uncle came over to help with the house again. Grace went to preschool and Uncle Bill and I got the exhaust fan ducting replaced and a new vent hood put outside which turned out to be a great idea because birds had taken up residence inside this ducting. This explains why the fan in the downstairs bathroom was basically useless. I still feel we need a new fan, but at least the fan we have should work better.

I drilled holes for conduit in the garage and installed the sub-panel for electric out there. Then we got all the electrical conduit in place and started pushing some wire. However we ran out of wire so we'll have to finish up on Friday. Thursday night I took Julie's brother to O'Hare Airport as he was heading out to sunny Arizona with some of his friends. They were going out for spring training to watch some Cubs games. So I didn't get to go to bible study again this week. Hopefully next week...

So on Friday Grace had preschool again and my Uncle came back to finish up the electrical work we had begun on Thursday. We pushed all the wire and got the new circuits working: one for the low-voltage distribution box I put in for my cable and telephone lines and for the new outlets in the kitchen and then another for the server that will be moving into the basement. There aren't any more spaces left in the breaker box for the garage sub-panel, so we'll have to add that when we expand the box to a 200 amp box. But the really good news is that the family room is officially ready for drywall! I'll talk to my BIL on Easter and see if he has time for us anytime soon.

Saturday we were re-acclimating to Julie being home and enjoying being together again so we didn't really do much. Sunday was Easter so obviously we went to church as did the rest of Lake County, WOW! We've never seen that many people at our church at one time before. Thank goodness we got there early - really early. Otherwise we would not have been sitting for the service.

After church we had some time for me to make some cinnamon bread and then head over to Julie's parents for Easter dinner. We were there and one of Julie's sister's and our BIL that will be helping me with the drywall in our family room was there. The rest of Julie's family is on vacation/spring break. So anyway I mentioned to my BIL that we were ready for drywall and he said that he couldn't do it until he gets things done at his own house. So now I'm searching for a drywall company to come and install this for us so we can move forward. I'm tired of not having a ceiling in my family room and we need this done now.

So starting today I've begun researching contractors and will be getting estimates soon. I'm anxious to get this room done so we can do other rooms in our house. We have so many ideas and so little time and money which is why we have been doing so much ourselves to save money. I just don't feel comfortable doing drywall on a ceiling myself if I want it to look nice. It wouldn't be a flat surface if I did it. I could probably get away with doing walls, but ceilings are (at least in my opinion) much more difficult.

That's about it for now. We're going on vacation ourselves soon so we'll be busy getting ready for that. But I'll try to update soon.

Hump Day

So it's Wednesday and it's been a long week already. Monday was pretty good; Grace had her preschool story-time at the library. Since it's from 1:00 to 1:45 and we normally eat lunch at one we got to the library early so that we could spend time at the library before her story-time and then leave as soon as class was over and get home to eat lunch. But I suppose we got there a little too early because she spent time with the computer that reads books to you and then picked out a few books (at my prodding) and she was already asking if it was story-time yet. I'm guessing that we shouldn't get there quite so early the next time we go. Next week is spring break so it will be a couple of weeks before we're back there.

After that we just came home and hung out. Grace has been congested and coughing this week, especially on Monday, so I really just wanted her to rest so that she'd get better without really getting sick. Tuesday was preschool and she was so happy it was nice to see. She got up and did her homework before going to school so we didn't have to struggle with that. I had stayed up late Monday night baking cupcakes for Grace to bring to school because she was the snack person Tuesday. One of the kids in her class who is actually a friend of hers, Kenny, is allergic to eggs and tree-nuts. So I had found a recipe some time ago for cupcakes that doesn't have eggs and I used it to make these Monday night.

They were actually pretty good. The frosting was incredible. Honestly the cake part of them tasted pretty good, but I thought it needed something. And I'm not saying they needed eggs, just that it needed something and I couldn't figure out what it needed. Anyway, they were a big success as Grace came home and couldn't wait to eat the leftovers. But she saved one for her Mom to have when she gets home. Speaking of Mom, Monday was her birthday and she "got" to celebrate all by herself on her trip.

Tuesday was preschool for Grace and she brought her cupcakes with her. Apparently they were a big hit as there weren't many left. I honestly don't remember much else we did on Tuesday. After staying up so late making the cupcakes the night before I was too tired to do much on Tuesday.

Tuesday was my Mom's birthday (Happy Birthday Mom!) and Monday was Julie's birthday--yes she celebrated all by herself in California--and yes she's a St. Patrick's Day baby. Now on Wednesday Grace has dance and gymnastics and we went through the day as usual. But as the week is progressing I'm noticing that she is missing her Mom a little more each day.

So that's where things stand so far this week. Julie is supposed to come home on Friday, but we are also forecast to get 5-8 inches of snow so hopefully that won't affect her flight home.

Boyd Coddington

Anyone watch American Hot Rod on the Discovery Channel? I was an avid watcher. I didn't always agree with the direction Boyd took on things or his design ideas; although he was a genius designer. But he seemed like a down-to-earth guy and just an all-around good guy. I just found out today that he died back on February 27th. I can't believe I didn't hear about it at all and I find that ridiculous. Someone as important to the automotive industry as he has been, I can't believe it wasn't covered by the news media.

Here is the article I found: Boyd Coddington Statement

Rest of the week

On Thursday Grace had school and we were supposed to have bible study that night with my Dad but it turned out that he was sick so we didn't do that. On Friday Grace had school again and then we had dinner at Julie's parents house. Saturday Julie and Grace went shopping at Kohl's while I worked on the house. Then we went to a friends house for dinner and were there too late as Grace completely lost it when it was time to come home. Then Julie packed for her business trip before we went to sleep. She left this morning and will be learning all week.

So for Grace and I we're on our own for a few days. So far things are going well. She listened pretty good today. It was Palm Sunday so we started the day at church and brought our palms home. I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but when Grace goes to children's mass, she calls it Children's Mask - very cute. She was so cute right after that because the boy sitting next to her was making crosses with his palm and she wanted to make one with hers. I said I didn't know how to do that but we could try when we got home or she could offer to trade her palm for the cross he had made. She was shy and didn't want to ask, but then a few minutes later she went to ask him and he offered her the cross before she could even ask. It was really cute. If my memory serves me correctly I believe he was the boy that did the very same thing a few years ago. It's kind of funny that we were sitting by him again. We also saw Grace's god-parents there today. They usually go earlier I think so we don't normally see them at church. Which reminds me I forgot to ask Sharon how her Mom was doing after her surgery...

Church went long today and we parked in a spot we don't normally so it took awhile to get out of the parking lot. When we got home Uncle Bill was already done installing the solid vent piping to replace the existing flexible piping for the lower level bathroom fan. And we now know why the fan wasn't moving much air; some birds had set up shop in there and had it packed quite full of just about anything they could fit in there. So while I want to replace the fan because it's useless and loud, it will work at least a little now.

We also started trying to get a 220 line out to the garage to place a sub-panel out there. We ended up not having enough materials, but at least we determined a route to get it out there and got it started. Now I have a set of tasks to complete before Uncle Bill comes back (hopefully Wednesday) so we can move forward with this part of the project.

After he left I started working on the railing in the kitchen by pulling it out and trying to determine the best way to install the half-wall there. The issue is that you need to extend a 2x4 down below the level of the floor to provide support for the wall so it doesn't wobble. The problem with that issue is that under where the half-wall will be is a double 2x10 support beam/joist and at the end of this support beam is another double 2x10 support beam/joist at a 90 degree angle. To determine this I had to trim out the underlayment so I could see the support beams under the floor. I think my only option is to extend the wall a few inches past where it originally ended so that I can extend a 2x4 down against that second set of support beams. You never want to make walls protrude further into a room; especially a room that is already small and that you want to be as big as possible, but I don't see any way around it. But it's only a few inches right?

So that's the current state of the family room project. Things are close to getting to the next phase and that's very exciting. Hopefully we can get things moving along on the family room and make some serious progress. We've got to get this room done so we can move on to other rooms -- kind of like double jeopardy where the scores can REALLY change.

March has arrived

I forgot to mention in my last post that people who feel as I do about Berkeley California are boycotting any products being sold from there. Just check the address of the companies website you are doing business with and if they are headquartered in Berkeley simply choose not to do business with them.

Anyway, March has finally arrived and the temperatures are actually starting to rise...yea! Looks like the high today was about 42 which is a very welcome change. Of course Grace is all ready to spend time outside since it's "a nice sunny day." The only problem is that it doesn't quite feel that warm when you're outside as the perpetual Chicago wind makes it feel much cooler.

On Monday Grace and I went to see her pediatric ophthalmologist and the appointment went very well. I'm not sure if they even checked to see how her eyes looked as far as healing from her surgery back in October, but if they did it must have looked fine because it wasn't mentioned. What the Doctor did say was that she looks really good, her eyes are still perfectly straight and her eyesight is still very good too. He changed her prescription so we'll be getting her some new glasses, but he's very happy with how she's doing. So happy that he wants her to come back in three months for her next checkup and then it will be nine months after that before she'll need a checkup.

After this appointment we had to rush to the library for preschool story time. This week was the first week of a six-week program. Considering how far away we were from the library while at the doctor's office and how much time we had to get there, we did excellent by only being 10 minutes late. We went about 30 miles in about 40 minutes. That's not easy to do with road construction and traffic, but we did it. Good thing we don't go during high traffic times.

Yesterday I managed to drop Grace off at preschool and drive all the way to Waukegan to the County Clerk's office to get an original copy (oxymoron) of her birth certificate so we could register her for kindergarten. This is the only document we still needed to get her registered, but there are a couple other documents we'll need to get before she'll be able to attend in the fall. After I got those copies, I went to her school and picked up a registration packet so I could fill out the forms during the day and be prepared for the registration in the evening. Then I had to run and pick her up from preschool as she's only there for two hours.

So I was able to do all of that in the two hour time-frame and I spent a good part of the day filling out all of the forms they required. Some of the questions they ask are quite honestly difficult to answer because they involve knowing your child in situations that you normally don't see them in. Like "how does your child react to discipline?" This was an especially difficult question because how she responds to us is completely different than how she responds to other people of authority. Also the sheer volume of questions and documents they require was a little enlightening to me.

Here is a list of the documents I had to (or will need to) supply for Grace to be able to attend kindergarten at her school:
-Original county birth certificate (they make a copy and return it)
-One of the following:
- - Real estate tax bill
- - Mortgage papers
- - Signed lease agreement
- - Affidavit from local resident attesting registrant is living with the owner at no cost.
-Two of the following:
- - IL Driver's License/State ID Card
- - Voter registration card
- - Residence Insurance document
- - Vehicle registration
- - Public Aid card
- - Gas or electric bill
- - Cable TV or Credit Card bill
- - Other (as determined by Superintendent)
Also the following health documents (by the time the school year starts):
-Health examination form filled out by pediatrician
-Eye examination by an eye doctor (not general physician)
-Dental examination form filled out by her dentist
Plus I had to fill out the following forms:
-Registration form
-Affidavit of Residency
-Session request form (AM or PM class)
-Textbook loan request (borrow text books)
-About your child (getting to know you information)
And $100 registration fee.

The documents I haven't completed yet are the Eye and the Dental exam forms. We just need to get them filled out and turn them in before school begins in the fall.

Grace is really excited about going to kindergarten in the fall. She asked this morning if we could go there today-so cute. I said no obviously and that didn't make her happy. But today was a normal Wednesday, we were busy. Dance class this morning was good. She's learning two dances for the recital in June. One is "Limbo" and I can't remember the other one. They are really cute though.

After that we came home and my Sister stopped by so that Grace and my niece could play while she ran to the grocery store. Surprisingly she didn't want to take both girls grocery shopping. I'm not sure if I've talked about this here before, but I just can't deal with taking Grace grocery shopping. It's much much easier, and faster, to do the shopping without your child in tow. It's just not worth it. It's just aggravating and time consuming.

Anyway, after that we ran back up to Antioch for gymnastics. We were actually early for that class - amazing. I was reading the book I'm currently reading while she was there. It's called "Write it When I'm Gone" about President Gerald Ford. It's really interesting and has piqued my interest in Richard Nixon and Watergate which will be the subjects of the next books I read. Grace worked on the routine she'll be doing in her gym show next month. So far it looks really cute. I think she really likes doing it.

After gymnastics we ate dinner at Culvers. Believe it or not we don't really eat there very often any more. You may have noticed I don't mention it here that much any more. That was not an omission on my part as we've been eating at home as often as we can. Of course she's still only eating her usual array of three options, but we're doing that at home to save money and so that Grace doesn't get bored with eating out which was beginning to happen.

Julie didn't join us this week because she was out shopping with Aunt Connie. We finally decided when we were going to Arizona this year and got the tickets - yes tickets. I was thinking we would just drive out this year because it would save us a lot of money over purchasing airline tickets, but then Julie got this email from Orbitz about a big sale they were having and we were able to save a ton of money. It'll actually be cheaper than driving as we're flying for about the same price as just buying the gas, not including the hotel stays and food along the route. So we'll end up getting there faster and cheaper and everyone is happy. Oh and did I mention that Aunt Connie is joining us? My Mom has been telling her to come out to see her for years and she's finally decided to go out there and she's going with us this year. We're going next month and actually that time is approaching pretty quickly.

So anyway Julie and Aunt Connie were shopping for luggage for Aunt Connie to use for the trip and some other stuff too I think, so I put Grace to bed.

Berkeley CA Special Edition

I'm not sure if you've heard about this since the regular media isn't covering this but as a former Marine I'm just appalled. The Marines put a recruiting office in Berkeley CA in January of 2007. Sound crazy? or sound pretty normal? Sounds pretty normal to me especially since I served in the Marine Corps and I appreciate what it means to have the armed services that we have protecting our country and keeping us free. I don't care how you feel about the current situation regarding our involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, or how you feel about the current President of the United States, you have to be proud to live in a country that is free and to have our military protecting us.

The City of Berkeley CA however apparently wants a communist government and no military to protect them from foreign or even domestic threats. They have asked, no told, the Marines to leave their city -- that they aren't welcome there. I suppose if some type of emergency happened they wouldn't be welcome to help out either right? I find this appalling and completely unacceptable. First of all what happened to freedom and equal opportunity? And that's beyond the fact that this is a government agency charged with protecting our very freedoms they are abusing.

Personally I feel like these people are hurting our country and are fighting a losing battle as Marines NEVER give up. Trust me I know because I am one. If they studied the history of the Marine Corps or any branch of the military for that matter, they would understand in a very short time how many soldiers have fought until their death in order to ensure our freedom.

And now two city council members are encouraging everyone to come out to the recruiting station to "help" protest. These are the city council members that said during a council meeting that the Marines weren't asked to come to Berkeley and it would be nice for them to just leave. What is this country coming to? I would love to see these people protest in the face of an entire platoon of Marines in full battle gear, loaded weapons including mortars and vehicles including tanks. How do movements like this start anyway? How do citizens of this country start thinking that the very soldiers charged with protecting us are the very problem this country faces. I just don't understand.

There is a group taking on this threat to our countries armed forces that is called moveamericaforward.org. If you feel the way I do please check out this site and help out however you feel is appropriate.