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September 24 Abi's day at the oceanDestination: Ocean Shores Yesterday Abi and I took a road trip to Ocean Shores, Washington--a resort town on the coast. We got up at 4:30am to hit the road and get down there since we were going down and coming back in one day. We had a blast walking on the beach, looking at the waves crash, climbing rocks, finding seashells, and doing all the other stuff you do when you go to a beach. Abi raced the waves to say she dunked her hand in the water. She seemed very happy to be there! We had lunch at a restaraunt overlooking the beach, then and took a small ferry across the harbor to Westport Wa. it is a cool harbor community with lots of shops to explore. Westport has 2 "tall ships" in town at the moment. these tall ships are pirate era replicas, complete with the double masts, scurvy crew, and buxom lady hanging off the bow of the ship. As we were leaving town, so were the 2 ships, full of tourists. they were going out into the harbor for a full on, sails billowing, pirate battle. fake cannon fire echoed across the bay as the ships moved into position for the kill. it was pretty neat to be on the water and watch. We also saw countless seagulls and pelicans, but also a few sea otters or seals (really hard to tell the difference when they are in the water) and I saw a porpoise on the way to Westport. Abi was on the wrong side of the boat and missed it. :( It was a great day and a fun getaway. and now Abi ccan say she has been to the ocean....it only took 26 years. check out the new photo album for pictures from the trip. ~ddv September 20 Ollie, the Santa substituteDuring the flooring project, it became necessary to confine the dogs to the areas of the house where there was no exposed nails, tools, dirt & dust, and contractors working. Our basement was the perfect spot--plenty of room, the dogs are used to being down their (from their kennel days), easy access to the backyard, and we come in the house from the basement.
So last Friday Abi and I went out for our Friday Night Supper Club with some friends. We feed the dogs, then confine them, by means of a puppy gate, to the 2 rooms in the basement: the computer room and the library. We left them some toys and water, and they were perfectly content.
Fast forward to midnight when Abi and I return home. I open the door to from the garage and the dogs are excited to see us at the puppy gate. they are jumping up and down and barking--pretty typical hello form the boys. But I notice in the bad lighting that Ollie looks different. He is black from his chin down. My immediate thought is we left the door into the backyard open and he was out playing in the dirt/mud. But nope, the door was closed.
We turn on the light and sure enough, he was very very black from his chin down....all the way back to his tail. Then Abi notices some black flecks on the carpet....leading straight to the fireplace.
We have never used the fireplace, but it is a working (and previously used apparently) wood burning fireplace. Ollie must have gotten bored and decided to explore the fireplace. Then he must have thought it a nice place to lay down and relax in as he was covered in ash and soot.
Needless to say we had to give him a bath at midnight--none of us were too happy about that. Check out the pictures below to see our Santa Claus in training.
~ddv
September 16 The flooring project...day 3Today was the final day of the flooring guys visit. We were busy with the dentist, vet and hair stylist, so we weren't around much. But when we got home, it looked good! the stairs don't stick out as far as they warned me they would (drawback to the current "technology" for doing the stairs) so I was happy.
I wasn't so happy that they left a good deal of dust over everything. So I brough out the trusty swiffer and went to work. :)
We aren't 100% done as there are a few things we knew we'd need to take care of. like the side of the stairs going down to the basement--the carpet used to wrap around a few inches, now the hardwood does not. So we have to come up with some creative molding options. same goes for some small "holes" along the other side of the stairs. That might be harder to deal with. Then there is all the touch up spackle and painting we need to do on account of lowering the baseboards 1/2 an inch or so. booo for painting!!
we also need to put felt pads on all the furnture and reconstruct our living room. ugh...
Check out the photo section for the additional day 3 pictures. highlights include the completed stairs and all the "ugly" spots we now need to deal with.
~ddv September 15 The flooring project....day 2So the flooring guys were back today, sans supervision. Abi and I both had to work (well, I was doing the United Way Day of Caring, so I was at a senior center in Seattle dealing blackjack), so the guys were home along. We left the door unlocked and put the dogs away.
I got a call early in the afternoon from Paul, our sales rep, saying that they would be finishing up today (instead of Saturday morning as originally planned). But, they might be a board or two short for the stairs. So they ordered another box and it should be in on Monday. THey will do what the can, and then finish up when the materials arrive. We won't be charged for the extra box, but we will keep all the extra pieces for future use. I'm ok with the situation.
So I make it home about 3:45 and walk in from downstairs. I let the dogs out, play with them, then make my way upstairs. Much to my surprise--all the stairs still have carpet on them.
*hhhmmmm*
The upstairs is done, but not cleaned up. They did put the baseboards back on (damn, we are going to have to paint as they neeed to put them about 1/2 inch lower than before to meet the new floor level. Things look pretty good--except for the stairs.
So I call Paul and he knows exactly why I called. ;) He says they are coming back tomorrow to finish up the stairs, and there is a good chance they will have enough materials to do all the steps. I think we will still keep the box if they have enough, but I don't know.
I guess I'm fine with that, but kind of miffed they didn't really put in a full day. they only had the large room to do, and there wasn't a lot of cutting to do. So they should have been able to 1) get as far on the stairs as they could 2) clean up the upstairs. But I guess they will just do it all tomorrow. Just sucks cause now we can't put the living room back together tonight. Oh well, I guess we have Saturday or Sunday morning (but not afteroon as Jer hooked us up with Seahawks tickets!!).
I added day 2 pictures to the floor photo section if you are interested.
~ddv September 14 The flooring project...day 1The flooring guys came today about 10:30 or so. Within about 20 minutes they had all the baseboards off (it took my 45 minutes to get a 8 inch piece off!) and moved right on to the carpet disposal.
they nearly have the hallway done, and that was right before they left for lunch (at 3:30). Taking lunch at 3:30 makes me wonder how long they will be here tonight.
Abi and I plan on leaving for most of the evening as we have nothing to do in the house, and no where to do it since our entire upstairs is overrun. We have to go pick up some felt pads for the furniture anyway...
The dogs hung out with me in the office. and by dogs i mean edgrr--ollie wanted to spend all day outside (he didn't mind the rain) as he didn't like the noise coming from upstairs. I think he also liked being able to spy on them from the deck.
Take a look in the photo section for day one, before and during pictures. I'll post more as we progress.
~ddv September 04 I am a winner (sort of)Our long weekend started off well enough. Abi and I met some friends for dinner and then the opening of "Crank" the new Jason Stratham action movie. it was quite different, and a lot funnier than we expected. Not as good as "The Transporter", but tough to beat that considering Crank featured no BMW's...
Saturday was spent fixing the back fence with the neighbor--it was bowing and tilting, so we added some bracket clips and some new boards. the fixes should last at least a few years, then we can decide how we want to deal with a new fence. Abi was inside working on her final project for school.
Then it was off to poker. Now this wasn't our normal monthly game, but rather a small satellite game with the same group. only 5 people showed up, but it still counts in the regular season standings. I played the best poker I've played and came in second place! I definately need some more experience in heads up poker as it is a different game and i didn't last too long. But, to my defense, i've never been able to play heads up before. I made $25 and will finally make it on to the RaggedAces.com winner's board. I also vault into 3rd place in the season standings for the entire group of around 20 players. Of course Abi is 1st in the overall rankings. :)
It is amazing what good things can happen at the poker table when you actually start paying attention. All along i've just been content to go, have a good time, socialize, and while i'm at it, play some poker. but then i got sick and tired of losing. So i started paying attention and changing my play a little bit. Since i've done that i've come in 4th and 2nd. So watch out Ragged Aces, this is the year of Monkey Boy!
ddv |
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