Sunday, January 25, 2009

Open, Sesame!

Over the previous holiday weekend, Alan and I decided to tackle a project together. The front door of our little guest house needed to be replaced, even though I really tried everything to keep that rustic, cottage-style door. It was so old and beat up with layers of peeling paint - so authentic looking for an old "cottage." But since there were so many holes in the door that you hardly needed to use the installed peep-hole, we finally trekked to the Depot and bought an unpainted door slab.

It took us over a span of two days to hang this new door - chiseling out the places for the hinges, trimming the door, drilling the holes for the door knobs, painting it, and finally hanging it in place. None of it was very easy, because half the time we spent figuring out which hand tool or power tool we should use for each piece of the project.

After all was said and done, we think we did a pretty decent job. But our hard work was to no avail, since the door frame was probably as old as the original door and had previously been drilled and chiseled and gouged into so much that we can't get the door lock to hold. So it looks like we have more work to do on the frame before we can call this project finished, but at least the new door is pretty. And the fact that Alan and I worked as a team on something very frustrating and were still friends afterwards, is an accomplishment in itself!

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Homecoming

President Bush came home to Midland yesterday for a farewell gathering. I didn't attend, but I did watch it on our local news. It's perhaps the best speech I've ever heard him give, considering many of his have been awkward at best. He was so relaxed, funny, poised, and confident. But of course he was in front of a very warm and welcoming crowd - his hometown. I've believed for a long time that time will reveal some things that make the public think twice about his time in office. It's not that I don't think he should be accountable for certain conditions, I just think we as a public tend to be pretty pompous about how much we "know."

I'm sort of neutral on this new administration. I might be skeptical that any big changes are really going to occur (for the better), but I also don't want to be the type that thinks we're all doomed. We're not, and we'll be fine. Maybe better, who knows. I was sort of put off by some of the jabs in Obama's speech towards Bush and his administration, and will steal Alan's word by saying it was pretty petty, considering the time and place. But hopefully that isn't an indication of what the man is really like. He's my president now, and I'm hoping for the best.

And that's probably the most politics you'll ever hear from me.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Bed warmer

Imagine this at the foot of your bed every night. We might as well get a Labrador.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

With a capital "B"

Wow, I'm following off the face of the internet earth. I just looked at the date of my last posting, and I think that's the longest dry spell I've ever had between posts. Nothing's wrong. I just kind of bore me right now, so why bore you?

Friday, January 02, 2009

I've had enough blinding sunshine.

The banner photo is from two years ago. See? We really do get snow here on occasion. Anyway, just some wishful thinking on my part...it might work.