A day like all days...

I write this from OHSU's Casey Eye Institute. Patrick is having surgery as I write to correct his strabismus (crossed eyes), which was diagnosed 20 years ago. He and I are both asking the question, "Why wasn't this taken care of then?" I don't have answers, but I do have faith in his surgeon, and we expect a good outcome. In fact, the surgeon told him that he won't even need to wear contact lenses when it is finished.

We (Jill and I) are in the waiting room, but Katie went back to the prep area with Pat. The surgeon told us that the procedure takes about 45 minutes. That, of course, doesn't include prep and recovery time. It is a day surgery, and Pat will be going home with us. I suspect he and Katie will go back to Monmouth this evening. If I were the patient, I would want to recuperate in my own home, rather than at my parents' house!

This has been a full day. Pat and I played 9 holes of golf this morning at a par 3 course near my home. It was neck and neck in a see-saw battle, until the old man quadruple bogied the 9th!! It was the pressure, man...

After the golf game, we did a little geo-caching. Things didn't seem right and we didn't find the cache. When we got home, it turns out that the GPS co-ordinates we were using were given in degrees, minutes and tenths of minutes, whereas our GPS reads out in degrees, minutes and seconds. The difference in notation put us off target by something like a mile!! That is not conducive to successful geo-caching.

Today is Jill's and my 8th wedding anniversary. Pat and I stopped by Safeway on the way back to the house to pick up a dozen red roses. They made a hit and bought me a few husband points. So, this has been an eventful day so far, and it is just now 1:36 PM! I think I'll go rest now.

Seeking higher things...

Today, we finished the Murphy bed. I say "we" advisedly. Jill, bless her heart, helped me haul the mattress box in from the garage, even though it was VERY heavy and unwieldy. Then she helped me complete the construction of the cabinet and install it against the wall. That was yesterday.

Today, we installed the mattress support and the mattress. That is when the crisis erupted. We looked high and low, but we couldn't find the 3" memory foam mattress topper that we had planned to put on the bed. The mattress we have is pretty low quality...one of those "mattress and box spring for $99, both pieces" kind of deals. However, with the topper on it, it is quite comfy.

We finally found the topper, and then we were all set to make up the bed. That's when we discovered that we didn't know where the mattress cover was. Again we searched high and low. I guess, in the future, I should search higher and low. The mattress cover was in the same place the foam topper was: in the attic. Having no memory, I had completely forgotten that I put them both up there last fall.

Once we found the mattress cover, we made up the bed, and now it is ready for its first occupant. I hung a picture over the head of the bed for a little "down home" atmosphere.

One more project from the "to-do" list to the "done" list!

We finished up the dining room window installation today. Click on the photo of our "new" dining room to see a slide show of the process. My cousin, Tom, (he's the good lookin' guy in the photos - aka world's nicest guy) installed the new window unit, which is 6' 0" by 6' 0". The old window was 6' 0" by 4' 0", but the effect of the new window is much more dramatic than the figures would indicate.

After Tom installed the new unit, I trimmed out and caulked the exterior. Then I used some of the old sheetrock that was removed at the base of the old window to trim the inside opening. It took a couple of days, what with mud drying time and sanding and texturing, but I must say the finished product looks quite professional. Jill put a new coat of paint on the window wall, and we have a new dining room - tres chic!

The beat goes on...

Today was, guess what, another project day. We got the new dining room window installed on Monday. Yesterday, I installed the exterior trim boards and caulked them. Then I went into multitasking mode. I put a coat of varnish on some of the parts of the Murphy bed that I am building. While that was drying, I installed the new drywall trim around the window, installed the edge strips and put on the first coat of mud.

Today, Jill and I went to Home Depot to pick up some more mud. The stuff I used yesterday, in addition to being nearly gone, is also very old and it's getting kind of lumpy. On the way home, we stopped off at "Biscuits" and had a yummy breakfast. Then it was home, where I morphed into "Project Man."

The first order of business was to sand the mud that I applied yesterday. Then I went into the garage and stained some parts of the Murphy bed. While the stain was "working," I went back in the dining room and applied a new layer of mud to the drywall. Boy does it help to have fresh, unlumpy, un-dried-out mud!!

The rest of the day was spent working on the Murphy bed. All of the parts are now made, except the 1/4" plywood deck that the mattress will rest on. I believe that, by the weekend, I will have all of the staining and varnishing done. Boy do I love MinWax Polycrylic water soluble varnish. It dries in about a half hour, so multiple coats can be applied in one day!

I decided to stain the exterior of the bed cabinet a nice rich cherry color to match the desk that is in the den. But I also decided to leave the interior the natural color of the birch plywood. This means that I first have to varnish the "natural" area, being careful not to "slop" onto the area that will receive stain. Once the natural area is varnished, I can apply the stain to the exterior surfaces.

When the stain is dry, the final application of varnish will finish up the construction phase. All that will be left then will be the installation of the bed in its ultimate home.

Meantime, back at the dining room, I hope to texture the dry wall tomorrow. That will leave that project with nothing further to do but paint. Now all we have to do is decide what color...the same color?...a new color?...it's the decisions in life that kill you!!

Never a dull moment...

My how the time does go by. It has been a whole week since I posted, but what a week. Last Saturday we started the demo of the kitchen in preparation for our new countertops. It took until Monday evening before we had removed all the countertops and disconnected all the plumbing. Then the contractor called to say he would not be here at 8:30 as promised, but would be able to be here at noon.

Finally, at 12:30, the two Brians from Contour Countertops arrived and went to work. The results are beautiful, and we couldn't be more pleased. Click on the photo below to see the demo process and installation.

So, we got the new countertops installed. That evening, I reconnected the plumbing, so we were only without water in the kitchen for about 24 hours. The amazing thing is that there were no leaks when I finished...and everything works!! Two days later we were having a potluck in our new kitchen with our Bible study group.

Well, now that the countertops are done, it is on to other projects. Thursday, I shagged enough materials to build a Murphy bed in the study. When all of our kids come home at once, there just aren't enough beds to go around. Yesterday I started the construction, and today I continued. It is coming along very well, and I should have it finished by the time the kids all come home in 2 weeks.

Just to make sure we don't get complacent, we also had my cousin come over and start on the installation of a larger window in our dining room. That project should be finished on Monday, although I will need to do some drywall repairs after I finish the Murphy bed project. So, there won't be any dull moments in our immediate future!

It's good to be home...

Today is our first full day home from a 4 week road trip in out motor home. See our blog Travels With Sadie for a full account of the trip, with photos! We spent yesterday afternoon unloading the coach and doing laundry.

I didn't want too much grass to grow under my feet, so this morning I ripped out our kitchen counters...well 2/3 of them. The new ones are to be installed on Tuesday, so the old ones had to be out of the way. I left the counter with the sink in place, so we can use water in the kitchen until Monday evening. Then I will dismantle that one, and by day's end on Tuesday, we will have new counters. I hope I can also have all the plumbing reintstalled by then, as well.

My big brother, Charlie, is in town, staying with Mom for the weekend. Oddly enough, his wife and developmentally disabled daughter, Laura, are also in town, but not with him. They rode down on the train from Seattle with a group of disabled folks to see the Grand Floral Parade, the centerpiece of the Portland Rose Festival. The group stayed in a hotel last night and had reserved seats for the parade this morning. There is nothing that Laura likes better than a parade.

Charlie came down to visit Mom and help her with some household projects. They are coming for dinner in a little while. So, wrath and destruction in the morning, and a little family reunion in the evening. That's what I call a good day!

Waiting on the Lord's timing...

Our dear daughter-in-law, Katie, is down with strep throat. She has had bouts of this illness over the years, but she says this is the worst episode to date. She missed work yesterday and went to the doctor, who prescribed medicine and bed rest. We are praying for a speedy recovery.

Although it is bad enough for Katie to be ill, this episode also interfered with a planned family get-together this weekend. Since we will be on the road on Mother's Day, we invited my mom to come for dinner tomorrow afternoon. The plan is to celebrate Mother's Day, and the kids were coming home for the occasion, and for the first visit since their wedding, last August. They were looking forward to it and we were, too. So, Katie's illness is a double whammy for the family.

Patrick called yesterday and said they will come up later in the weekend, if Katie improves. I told him not to rush things, because Katie's getting well is what really counts. He also said that his school has a pupil with swine flu, so there is a chance that the school will be closed next week. Ever the optimist, Patrick sees that possibility as an opportunity to come for a visit before we leave on our journey. Today, we got word that his school is closed until further notice, and definitely for the entire week next week.

So, at this moment, we are patiently waiting to see what develops. In the meantime, we will have Mom over tomorrow afternoon and enjoy ourselves. As Paul the Apostle said, "I have learned to be content with what I have."