rolling out the carpet

Please ignore the outlets missing face plates. Those will be fixed later. While not perfectly arranged, it gives you a feel for what the basement will look like.

Diane's new carpet in the rec-room and the office.
The office was from a remnant and was a little better quality. The other main room is cut pile and has "fuzzies". Lilly was naughty and dragged her butt on it twice before being booted out of the basement. There were no streaks or marks from her dragging, but she left a scent she could smell.

cut the cake

quick look at a group shot

No, the happy couple is not in the shot for they stayed behind to meet the other guests who came around 2:00 something. This also doesn't include all the guests or family, but it is a shot showing the many people there. This may not even be the best shot, but I have many to sort.

Don't challenge me to, "name 'em" please; I would fail.

Anniversary

First, I would like to thank everyone who sent notice of well-wishing, heart-felt compassion to our loving couple. I know that it was a bit short notice and that that all people could come. I thank you very much for your love. I also thank all the people who came to the event and it was quite a turnout. For a short while, it was nearly as though there wouldn't be enough places in the main room, despite others sitting on patio.

The folks were impressed, pleased, perhaps even a bit moved. Thank you very, very much.

As of this writing, I am sorting through pictures (the collection is not yet mastered) and will then select from those, which go on the blog. It is likely that I will start another blog to house the pictures and comments, etc.

Those who have RSVP or called

Leticia Clark
Betty Dorton
Bill Ferguson
Donnasue Osborn
Cathy Pebley
Doris Hugh
Sherry Blake
Ruth Schoenie
Norman Grandos
Barb Kukman
Lois Hess
Kate, Bill, Gavin, Alex, Jaden
Merle, Grace Seiy
Art, Dee Storer
Mr. & Mrs. John Steiner
Bill, Lennie Serstad
Mr. & Mrs. John Mader
Mr. & Mrs. John Kruk
Kris, Mary Agabekian
Blanche, Tony Orozco
Mr. & Mrs. George Nichter
Dan, Margaret Roth
Larry, Sandy Standfield
Ramiro, Lube
Bill, Gloria Carey
Mr. & Mrs. George Wiggins
Mr. & Mrs. Bill Derbyshire
Mr. & Mrs. Bob Hobler
Mr. & Mrs. Don Gerber
Mr. & Mrs. Jerry Haines
Mr. & Mrs. Jim Oglesbee
Mr. & Mrs. Steve Stininger
Sue Frato, and guest
Mr. & Mrs. Rex Stinson
Mr. & Mrs. Chuck Kerekes
Herb, Marcie Klug
Mr. & Mrs. Warren Hendryx
Keith, LeAnne Koteskey, plus two children

Dick, Gale Kosiarek

Bob, Margie Kosiarek

Joe Volosin

And no offense, but others (names keep coming a bit late, difficult to keep amending. There will be a guestbook.

There will be family there as well, so it will be a good crowd. The list is in no order.

Thursday's work

Jenny came home late and didn't like the colors.
It is a tradition now, I suppose that every night end with Lilly going belly up.
Well, we got four walls painted today. Pomagranet (red) is quite the bold color. Two other walls are yellowish off-white and the fourth is yellow.
Jim finished with office room by installing lattice work, hiding the seams.
Jim hard at work with pants that are too big for his size 31 waist. I am thinking he is a size 29.8" waist, but ...
Jessica with paint plays a bit with Lilly who wanted to play all day.
Jessica covered her painted legs with jeans and went to a movie.
Hey! It's an installed door! The funny thing -- there are no keys for this door.
Jim and I put on the coat of polyurethane.
Diane posing for the multitude of work.
This young man is spraying the outside of the house to kill ants -- carpenter ants maybe.
Jerry came out and installed the door on his birthday. Thanks Jerry!

We made progress today, Diane ended it with well-earned baklava. We still have much to do, but we are making progress.

In from the rain ...

Tom comes to Diane's to see the work. Lilly, of course ran low on belly rubs, Tom came just in time.

Short version of Wednesday

What I wish I could do ... lying around and roll on the lawn (and a recently chewed stick)

Quality pants and shoes and shirt ... who needs to buy them pre-stained?
These wonder shoes are 3 months-old, seams are ripped, inside torn and stained, outside burnt, stained with nature and through work -- note the varnish stain. They are also peeling.
This is the blue end of Lilly.
No, Diane doesn't have frostbite ... that's primer and spilled paint.
These were Diane's last pair of shoes.
Even Diane's arms are a mess.
This is 100 percent typical Diane. She is messed up from working, tired and has two phones. She's talking on one, the other is ringing. Lilly lies at her feet.
Garage door, no more!
Recently stained cabinet
yesterday-stained cabinet. Note the line on the top. It rested on something while it and the other thing was wet. Crud! We have a line.
It had been a hole leading to the kitchen, then a mudded wall, then a primed wall, now coated with a first darker blue.

The downstairs is primed and nearly ready to paint.
Diane picked me up and we went to Botanical Gardens to arrange things for 80 some guests for the 50th Anniversary Celebration for Tom and Lois. We then dropped off wheels to Fox & Fox who later said 3 of the 5 wheels were OK (fixed). We stopped off at a specialized shoe store. Diane offered, but I declined a new pair of shoes. At $80, I couldn't accept them. I would certainly tear them apart in a short amount of time, though they were more rugged than most I have seen.

We painted the living room (blue room), kitchen, hallways. We stained the cabinet after the door man came. We finished by painting the basement.

------------

What went awry: National Serv-All didn't come, didn't call back, hasn't fulfilled the service agreement to pick up the trash, which grows larger daily.

The door installer who was due today or tomorrow postponed until Monday. Diane got another one who came out and found that the door we had from Menard's was too large. He pieced together a covering.

The cabinet was delivered while Diane wasn't home, so he had to go through the house to open the garage.

Marcus kicked a can of paint on his way downstairs; it spilled but the floor wasn't a concern.

Fire

With all the wood (fuel) that was there, I didn't need an accelerant. It got so hot, I could easily feel the heat 30' away. If you will not the one picture shows the thermal change in light transmission or the mirage effect (top picture).

stained

Diane and I tried the stain. It was tough to make even for it was thinner than water. It was a stinking mess for sure. Diane got cabinets to go over the new wall in the kitchen. She had them delivered from Menards with doors matching those on the cabinets she already owns. One cabinet will be replaced for it was damaged in shipping.

I emptied the garage to gain access to the door

The door was broken in the center by a bonehead. It had to be patched, well, it wasn't replaced right away and was kind of forgotten. Jim sprayed in foam to ensure no heat leaking out. It was air tight. The wood there also prevented any would-be burglar from choosing that route.

It took me 20 minutes to chisel away the foam. To completely free the door, Diane had to turn the lock open and I beat the other side with a hammer. It eventually came free.

This is a rare sight, for Diane doesn't usually get trash service.
The trash service came, but whined that the bags were too heavy to move.
Diane and I re-bagged them, but they still didn't come and didn't drop off the bin for trash use.
This used to have a lot of toys along the wall. Well, I moved them to make way for a few other movements -- it spilled into the front lawn.

Diane sorted through toys.
Some went to storage for later garage sale.
Some were pitched into the trash.
Some were saved. There were no fewer than 12 basketballs. Wasteful.

Diane also had to weed through old school papers to find out which were confidential that needed burnt and those that were to be recycled and those that needed back to school. Lilly got several new chew toys.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

I still don't know if it was a good or bad idea.

Hugging after a long day