Christmas Cookies

We (Emily mostly) spent some time this afternoon baking and decorating sugar cookies. There were a few casualties (headless snowmen, one armed Santas, etc.) that ended up in my stomach...mmmm, delicious casualties...

Blinds Installed

If it weren't for blinds, it would be curtains for us all.
- Larry Duane Moran

It's Yellow

It's been almost a month from the last post to this one and I have been working on this room almost every day.
I made a huge dusty mess that blanketed most of the house in a fine white powder, vacuum, repeat, primer.
Next, I spent about 12 hours trimming by hand along the ceiling and doors and windows. It is excruciatingly tedious but the results are worth it. I'm really only trying to impress my mom and sister, who inspire me to such masochistic endeavors. I hope you guys like it.
3 coats of paint, new out lets, new light, new outlet covers, new blinds, new (and repainted trim), filling in nail holes, blah, blah, blah. Still not completely done...but almost.

This is me trying to figure out what to do with the blinds. One of three is too long so I have to take it back to get 1/8" trimmed off.

Mostly done. The yellow looks good, no??

Square light and improved view. It looks better in person so you'll all have to come and check it out sometime.

Turkey Time

We traveled to Marysville last weekend for good ol' Thanksgiving. A few days eating a lot with the family and remembering how lucky we all are. I ate a ton, played with my nephew, dominated on rock band and laughed incredibly hard at my uncles tales of Bub's Daddy gum and fumbled chicken wings.

The spread...maybe 25% of it...there isn't a lens wide enough to capture the entire tempting schmere. Classic American cooking. I made the mashed potatoes and Emily made the mac & chee. Mom made most of everything else...and a lot more...well played!!

My plate. I try to eat a bit of everything. It takes me about and hour and I am in pain afterwards. As I lay on my left side and digest I think about how lucky I am to be able to be so full.

Walking Stick

Northern Walking Stick to be more precise. Diapheromera fermorata. Found on my back deck last weekend sitting perfectly still...which is pretty much this guy's MO. If attacked they can emit a foul smelling odor, if they lose a leg they can grow it back, and they are the only species of stick insect that are legal to sell, buy, and keep in the United States. Pretty sweet.

Dining Room Work in Progress

I've started work on the second to last room remodel. This is the first of two major projects for this winter. The process generally goes like this : I make a really big mess and put more holes in the wall, clean up the mess and fill in the holes, make a bigger dusty mess, clean up that mess, and then paint. This is definitely the worst part of owning a house.

This is in between the first mess and the dusty mess...the white spots will become the dusty mess.

The shop vac cleans up the mess, the radio keeps me sane, the ladder beguiles me to unsafe heights, the light lets me work late, and the view reminds me why I bought this money pit.

The view out our bedroom window this morning.

Spooky

On Halloween we had the whole fam damily over for dinner and trick or treating. We carved pumpkins, emily made a lasagna...terrific.
Below are our spooky jack-o-lanterns. See if you can guess which is mine and which is Emily's.