Rain, rain go away.....no wait...it's supposed to rain...

It has been raining...a lot. We have had over four inches in the last week at our house. It has been great. I have seen downpours that I haven't seen in years around here. It has really changed things here, even within one week. The grass is finally growing, the wilted plants are back to normal, and my mood has improved. I love to see it rain; after two years of being in a drought(of which we are still in), it is nice to see it rain. O.K. that is enough about that, I just get excited when it rains like this, hell it is raining as I write this:) I started back to school this week. Back to reality, or more of it. The classes should be a lot easier this quarter as I am taking a greenhouse class and an herbaceous perennial I.D. class. I have a lot of experience in these subjects, so they shouldn't be that bad. They will still be demanding though. Business is going well. I finished a large job this weekend that has been going on for over a month. That was a good thing. It turned out nice, I believe, and I will post some pictures of it soon. I have two more medium size jobs lined up for the coming weeks. Good times.....thats about it. Cathrine is doing well, and Anna is on vacation with here grandparents in Boston. It is an annual trip. She is having fun. These girls have had it made with all the vacations they have had this summer. I wish I had their schedule! I am glad for them, as they are at the age that all the memories start to stick. I hope they are making good ones......

Weekend get home, I mean get away...

We took a little trip to "them there Smokey Mountains" this weekend;> It was a nice weekend getaway. The girls, as usual had a blast. We did all the touristy things. We went to the Rip-me...I mean Ripley's attractions(the highlight being the aquarium), went out and walked the strip(man my feet hurt), and went to the top of the Smokey mountains. We hiked to Clingman's dome, the highest point in Tennessee, and it was the highlight of 'my' weekend. I hiked trough that pass a lot of years ago when I crossed that section of the Appalachian Trail. It brought back some fond memories......Over all it was a pleasant trip, albeit an expensive one. Gatlinburg is a cool little town, and the backdrop is always spectacular. I will; however, never be there on the Fourth of July again.....Bad timing......Mooooooo cows! I am not complaining, as even a mediocre vacation beats no vacation. Besides, it is all about Anna and Cat, and they are not complaining....Another highlight of the weekend....We had the chance to see it rain. Two days in a row! Sure do wish it would do that around here Damn-it!.....It is dry as a bone....

Vacation post #3

Well, actually i am not on vacation anymore. I hesitantly returned to work today. It will be a two day workweek, so it is had to complain to much. I had a busy two weeks off. There were many highlights, the main one being I could do what I wanted, when I wanted. I stayed busy. I bought a new desktop computer, after selling my previous computer to my brother. It was a fine computer, one that I had built from meticulously selected parts at the pinnacle of my computer tech days. It was antiquated for the purposes that I need (or want), so I wanted to upgrade. I like the new computer......I did receive two 4.0 grades in my fall classes after all. I was worried initially about the English 191 class, but I managed to maintain my 4.0, and I received a very high quality grade, which was surprising.......I will quit talking about my composition skills, as anyone who reads this blog will see my writing is far from being perfect, but this is for fun, I chose to write as I feel........I start back to school next Monday, in a remedial college algebra class. Ugh.......Back to the vacation recap. I spent lots of time with the girls, which was nice. They are growing up so fast, it is astonishing. I was glad to have the time to hang out at the house with them and just do nothing. Valerie and I had plenty of time together also, and we managed not to kill each other. I did some work around the house,(tile job, new ceiling fan, etc.), bought and chopped some firewood, watched it rain, and finally quit smoking......Actually today is my first day without a full cigarette, but the hard part was accomplished over my vacationing period. I slowly, and I mean slowly weaned myself off of nicotine. I can not take all of the credit though, as I had help from Chantix. I thought hard on whether I wanted to link to this stuff, as it is a prescription drug, but this stuff actually worked. I really works. I hope it continues to work.....There was lots more to my days off but they shall remain in my memories. It was enjoyable, and I look forward to 2008.....Here is to day two of being a non-smoker..........

Vacation post #2

It has been a good vacation, oh wait, it is not over yet. One more day until it is back to reality. I have done a lot in the past two weeks, which I will write about later.....I started, and I continue to maintain this site mostly as a chronicle that I can look back on to see where I was a week, month, or year ago. I did that tonight. I went back and perused the past year, and it reiterated the fact that it was a shitty year.....There were some good points (buying our first house for example), but overall I would like to extend my middle finger to most of last year........This year will be better. I know it.......I have seen all the cheesy year end wrap-ups and I don't want to do one of my own. I look forward to the new year...........More later, I have to enjoy my last late night doing whatever it is I enjoy doing. One more day until it is back to reality.........It sure is cold outside. I would love to be outside in that cold smoking a cigarette. I think I will sit next to the fire for a while longer.........

Vacation: post #1

Yes, I am on vacation. Fifteen days to be exact. No school, no work, and no stress. I like vacations, as they are few and far between.....Oh, the Christmas season. The girls had a wonderful Christmas, as the presents were to the point of excess, and the food was unlimited. The adults had a fine Christmas also, watching the children open gifts, and then being in charge of opening them. I don't know if anyone who reads this blog is familiar with the packaging they use these days or not, but let me describe the process of opening them. One must picture an unassuming Barbie doll in a seemingly plain cardboard box. Nothing to it. As one rips open the box in assumption of sliding the toy out, one encounters resistance. What could it be? Upon further investigation one comes to the realization that a labyrinth of plastic coated wire is weaved, as a fine tapestry is constructed, to ensure the safety of said doll. Upon even further inspection it is discovered that there are wires securing every accessory that accompanies that plastic toy. The ultimate truth is that after one has wrestled with twenty or so super-bread ties to free Barbie and her companion "pooping dog" (I am not exaggerating), one comes to the realization that the security that surrounds the doll is compromised by the mere cardboard that surrounds it. I can comprehend the reason for the lashings. To keep rowdy children from pilfering the contents of the retailers prized purchase, but I must ask myself: what is next titanium packaging? Will they soon install shock pads that must be deactivated after the purchase, and before one leaves the store? It is insanity. Hold on, The girls have a fresh round of toys that I must "open" for them..I will be back in an hour or so......Then there is the lead paint. It turns out the Barbie in question was recalled because the dogs poo (which is also his food), was painted with lead paint. Oh great, now we have to throw out the dogs poo and pooper-scooper that came with the toy and make the children cry. Damn Chinese. If anyone is wondering what the hell I am talking about check out the toy. Craping dog........Damn. I am quitting smoking. I have not smoked a pack of cigarettes in two days. I usually smoke a pack to a pack and a half a day. more on this later. I will post some pictures of the girls and the Christmas morning extravaganza. Later.

Settling in

To say it has been a busy couple of weeks would be an understatement. We have been moving nonstop. We have managed to accomplish a lot, but a lot remains to be done. Moving is done, and we were out of the apartment on the first of January. We have lots left sitting in the garage waiting for a place. It will take some time. I have just finished painting the whole upstairs, with the exception of one bathroom. That was a process. Lots of work for sure. We have cleaned, painted, and moved furniture to pretty much the entire upstairs. The basement is a different story. I will have to save those rooms for another day. I need a break. I am happy at what we have accomplished, but I am overwhelmed by the amount of work left. It is nice owning a house though. We need time to settle in. I had to go back to work after 16 days off, and that was rough. I enjoyed my vacation. I had problems with my wisdom tooth for a couple of days, but it has subsided. It did however convince me to finally have my wisdom teeth removed, which will happen next Friday. I am not looking forward to that, but I will be glad to have them removed. I am going to have them removed surgically, and I will have to go under for the surgery. Oh well. I have so many other things to talk about, but I am ready to relax. I go back for a full week of work tomorrow, and I also start the winter quarter at school tomorrow. Four nights a week this quarter. Cathrine and Anna went to a friends birthday party this afternoon and I have included a picture of them with their hardhats on. It was a Bob the Builder party. It is really pouring here and I just heard some thunder. Nice April storm, in January. This weather has been crazy. All of the bulbs I planted are popping-up, and a lot of the early flowering trees are in partial bloom. Very weird.

Overwhelmed

Christmas was good. The girls had a lot of fun. They got so many presents it was ridiculous. It didn't seem like Christmas, with all the things going on, but after getting together with the family it felt right. We are so lucky to have a family as close as this. Everyone shows up for Christmas, and it is very comfortable. Good day....There has been a fair amount of drama recently. Cathrine fell out of my truck while playing yesterday, and damn near earned a trip to the emergency room. It was not good, a nice big knot on the head. It scared me, bad. She ended up being fine, it looked horrible though. She is pretty banged up, or "racked up" as she said. Tough little girl....The house work is going slower than anticipated. We have been painting and cleaning for four days now, and we are ready for the carpet tomorrow. It is a lot. We have to start moving tomorrow or Wednesday and that will be fun, always is. No not really. I hope we will be able to make some progress then, although I might have to take a day to get my wisdom tooth removed. It has been annoying me for a couple of days now. I am hoping to make a quick recovery as time is running out. It will be time to go back to work and school soon. Oh boy.... I posted a picture of the family. Good looking folks.

My Vacation is over

What a week. We took a trip to the Georgia Aquarium this week. I was impressed. It was very interesting, and the girls had a lot of fun. I put a couple of pictures up(below this post). I was on vacation all week, although it didn't seem like a vacation. All I did was work. I enjoyed it though. We finished two jobs, both of which turned out nicely. It was even more fun, as I did the design for both jobs. I am always working on projects from someone else's design. There have been countless times that I have thought to myself I would never have put this plant here. So that was fun. I even made a little bit of money. So even though I worked all week it was good. I have two more jobs lined up, and a possible third on the way. I am contemplating starting a business, I just don't know when. I want to make it legal. Things are good though.......The greenhouse, or that structure with plastic on it, is o.k. I lost a lot of pansies, and that wasn't fun, but everything else is good. There is always to much to do there. I am becoming frustrated at the fact that it is not a full blown greenhouse, with a heater and adequate ventalation. Also I feel a bit cramped. I should have built it two times longer. Oh well. We had our first frost of the season, and it was a mild panic to rescue the cactus and succulents. So they are all over at the house, well half of them anyways. We have well over 100 arrangements and not enough room. Liquidation sale?. I have installed grow lights in the kitchen, which will expand the area a bit, but it will be tight. School is good. We went to Rambo nurseries, one of the biggest greenhouses in Georgia. It was amazing, about three acres of greenhouses, connected. It was all completely automated. I had to wipe the drool off my mouth from time to time. I also got some good advice and tips on growing pansies from a master grower. Good stuff....That's about it, need to do the old homework and get back into work mode.......Here are a couple of pictures of one of the jobs we did. Also the pansies are starting to bloom(violas also).