D.I.Y.

I love the internet. You can find anything, well almost anything, you want to know. If I had the money I would buy books on the subjects I wanted to know about, but I can't. So I turn to the internet. There is always someone, or some group of folks that have a site specializing on the topic in question. Collect rare hats worn by dogs that appeared on T.V.? Looking for hard to find cereal boxes from the sixties? There is a site for everything. I have been forced to learn a new profession, or group of professions. All of them revolving around house construction, or remodeling, or anything for that matter having to do with owning and improving a home. I have only the quick, "cliff note" version to work with. Home improvement for DUMMIES I guess. I have worked in many fields, most of them pertaining to construction, but I have never worked on houses. Until now. I would love to hire out the jobs, and watch as the tasks are completed one by one, but we can't. One day, just not today. It is just as well. If I want to know about a specific field I do a quick web search and find what I need to know. Well most of it. There are certain things that no matter what you are told and how long you study there is no way to understand it fully until one has the "on the job training". My point is that I really enjoy learning these fields, but to say it is frustrating to take a crash course would be an understatement. I have become a proficient painter, an apprentice HVAC guy, a proficient plumber, and part time carpenter. There is so much to do, and it seems to be that when one task is completed there is two more that pop up as a consequence of the previous act. I like it, but I need two more days a week, and two thousand more dollars a week. Oh well, I will keep plugging away at the small stuff, and work up (and save up) to complete the larger tasks. I just cant wait to have the time to do the task that I actually DO, landscaping. It will be spring soon, and I have a list of things to do outside. Outside. Thats where I belong.....

Horray for Wednesday!

I have a rare two days off of school. Fan- frickin- tacstic. We had a good day at work today. Well we didn't actually work. We went to a pro-day event, a sort of 'convention' for landscape pros. They show off the new equipment and give away shirts and hats and all that good stuff. I enjoyed it because I was able to attend three classes and get a couple of recertification credits that I need for my pesticide license. As expected they were very boring. I did learn a couple of things. It has been very hectic lately. I have overloaded myself, and with the addition of buying the house I am a bit stressed. It will be over soon. I have posted a pic of a couple of orchids that we have had for a couple of years that is about to explode with flowers. It is very drab around here and they will bring a much needed boost in color..... It has been very cold lately highs in the low forty's. I actually saw a couple of geese walking on ice in a small lake. It is rare to see any lake or pond frozen around here. The cold has allowed us to use our fireplace. I have enjoyed lighting a fire in the evenings(when I am home).O.k. that's about all that I have. Oh wait, the greenhouse. Yeah, I don't have anything to say about that, except for the fact that there are a lot of dead plants in there. We haven't even placed our order for seed yet. It will be a late start this year. I have decided to take the spring off, well maybe I will take one class. I will be able to spend some time over there then. I need it, as I feel the spring 'bug' coming on already..........Soon, soon it will be time for the green to come back, soon........

To busy to write a blog

I just don't have any time lately. Work, school, sleep. Repeat. The weekends are spent doing homework, as I don't have any time to do it throughout the week. Going to school four nights a week is a lot harder than anticipated. I can do it though, only five more weeks in this quarter. I am ready for it to be over, as the design class is definitely the most challenging class I have taken so far...I don't have much else. Work and school are really the only thing that I do now. Not very exciting. I wish I had more time to do things around the house, as all the projects have basically come to a halt. It is o.k. for now, as we have run out of funding. I still have so much I want to do. Everyone is good. I wish I had some pictures, but I don't.

Warm spring day

Yeah I know it is not spring if you read the header. It feels like it though. It almost made it to seventy degrees today. Crazy weather, what's new. I am not complaining, as it was a nice day to work outside. I did some more painting, this time on the outside. Ah the fresh air. I am surprised that I got anything done, as I had my wisdom teeth removed Friday morning. It wasn't that fun, but it wasn't that bad either. It has been two days and things are getting back to normal. I ate my first solid food in a couple days tonight for dinner. No more soup! I am still feeling a little groggy. We have been knocking out things around the house. We are close to being "unpacked", and the whole upstairs is painted. It feels like home now. Oh, but there is so much still to do.....I started back to school this week, and good grief four days a week is going to kick my ass. The most I have done previously is two days a week. I am taking design, which will be educational and challenging. Lots of technical drawing. Spanish is my other class. It feels like I am in high school again, as I had three years of Spanish in those days. It will be a breeze, but we are forced to converse and study in groups. It will be frustrating, as most of the people in the class have never spoken any Spanish before. Oh well. Time for some more Ibuprofen. Teeth, or places where my teeth were previously are hurting. 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.