Daredevil......

Yep, that's my husband on the roof. Don't worry, he made it off in one piece. As a matter of fact, I took 1/2 of today off so I could be home while he went up there. He's not allowed to do some things without me being home.

I got up this morning and the pellet stove in the family room was off. Again....it hasn't stayed on for the past week. Which means, there's a clog in the venting. It was absolutely freezing this morning so I left a note for D saying I was coming home around noon to 'help' him clean the pellet stove and chimney.

He got scolded for wearing these pants on the roof. He didn't see anything wrong with them. I see him getting his foot stuck on the flapping fabric and tripping. Yep, men and women definitely see the same thing differently! LOL!

Since he was up on the roof, he cleaned all three chimneys and fed the tubing into the bedroom fireplace for the new pellet stove. I figured if I could only have him up there once, I'd be happy. To bad I didn't give him a paintbrush and some black paint to redo the trim. I hadn't realized how cracked it was until he got up there.

Yep, that's duct tape. Man can't live without the stuff. Actually the brush we used to clean the chimneys is for the small 4" tubes. He was adding a towel over the brush to make it fat enough to wipe the sides of the inner liner. Oh...this is where I laugh and tell you he dropped the brush and it fell through the liner and landed in the fireplace in the bedroom. It was hilarious. The look on his face when he let go of the brush and it disappeared down the chimney. Hahahahaha! Priceless!!!! Hahahahaha!

When I got home, he'd already started moving the wood burning insert out of the fireplace. He got stuck and needed a woman's advice. So of course, I gave it to him.

Oh, this is where the brush ended up. You can't see it because the insert was still attached to the liner, so we had to take everything apart in order to be able to retrieve it.

When I left for work the bedroom was clean with the exception that the bed wasn't made because he was still asleep in it. Then the remodel bug hit and all hell broke loose.

See the small tube? That's the venting for the new pellet stove. It's inside the fireplace liner. The fat tube you can barely see at the top of the picture. The fireplace liner started to slip and come down into the firebox. It was almost touching the floor of the firebox and I wasn't strong enough to push it back up. I had D get the floor jack. Then I used it to slowly push the liner back up where D could secure it. It wasn't attached to a darn thing. Go figure!

D took off for work about an hour ago, so I took the opportunity to clean up after him. The room looks nice with a minimal amount of stuff you could trip over in the dark. I think maybe I'll actually head in there and put some clothes away. I just changed and threw them on the bed when I got home.

Hopefully, by the end of the weekend I'll have a new pellet insert installed and will be able to heat the back portion of the house. Next blog I'll take a picture of the 3 tons of pellets we bought in the past couple of weeks.

You'd think I'd have biceps the size of guns instead of little old lady wiggly arms. So much for hefting 40 pound bags of pellets. Maybe I need to do it on a regular basis instead of once in awhile....nahhhhh. LOL!

MEN!

I've got D convinced it's time to sell some shi.....I mean unused items around the house and yard. With a month or two of coaxing and a huge fight, I finally got him to be persistent to list the cab of the old truck on CL. Guess what? It sold. Yippee!!!! He gets mad if it doesn't sell in the first couple of days and gives up. Sighhhhh...

The guy told him he had a trailer. Luckily I wasn't home for this little project because I would have rolled my eyes and said, "You've got to be kidding!"

Have you noticed the problem yet? The guy brought a boat trailer. The cab is on a couple of 2x4 skids and is strapped down with two straps. I just don't get the male mentality. I look at this and say, "Well, now I know why S is always busy at work. This is absolutely nuts!"

D said he had to take pictures so he could say goodbye to what's left of his old truck. Me....I say, good riddance. Hahahahaha!

Now to pick a new item for the auction block and prep myself for another blow out fight as to why it needs to be sold. I'm thinking fork lift is next, then the airplane mover. Yes, we actually have one of those vehicles you see at the airport backing up planes and loading luggage.

Lots of pics...busy few days....

The girl child surprised us with a short visit over Thanksgiving. It was a complete spur of the moment surprise. It's funny because she talked to S & S and told them she expected to see her new niece or nephew when she visited. Guess we know who's boss in this family. LOL!

She's always avoided touching or holding babies but admitted she had been practicing with a bag of flour. Hahahahaha! Thatzah my girl!

Here's the proud grand dad! No there are no picture of me. I'm always on the other side of the camera and nobody ever thinks of taking a picture of me with my own camera. sigh..... I'm blatantly absent in all my children's pictures also. It's the price of being the guy behind the lense.

Okay, this guy is jut not tired enough. Guess we know who's getting up and feeding the little one.

No Coco is not snarling. He just yawned. Just thought Nana would like a picture of her grandson.

S is looking much more rested on this day.

H got mad because I snapped this when she wasn't 'posing'.

Thursday, D sold the cab of the truck. Finally! Yesterday (Sunday) we worked on putting it in position so the guy could pick it up this week.

D previously made a dolly for it to sit on so he could roll it out of the way when necessary. One of the wheels came loose so he had to repair it. Look ma, no circular saw in sight.

It didn't take long to rotate the cab into position. Let's hope loading it onto the guys trailer will go without a hitch. D needs to make a couple of skids so they can slide the beast onto the flat bed trailer.

While D was working on the wheel, I was sweeping leaves. This reminded me of when we were kids and dad would rake all the leaves into pile and we'd play in them. This is just a small sample of what I did. I got sidetracked and just stood there and enjoyed the view. Sometimes I do that.

Today was a wildlife day. I woke up to deer eating the front lawn. We need more rain so they'll stay on the hill.

When the mist melted away we had more turkeys on the hill. No these aren't the rerun of the pics I posted earlier. Just another day with the beasts. I told D if he could train the stupid things we'd never have to till a firebreak. They're scratching the hill and picking up anything they can see to eat.

If we could get them to do it on command and dictate where, we'd have a nice weedless hillside. LOL!

When I got back from the store this afternoon, there we two coyotes just outside the fence. They look monotone here but they were actually very spotted. Look how fat they are. I suspect they've been catching turkeys. Go coyotes go!

I met D next door to work on the deck for awhile. When I came down the driveway the pyracantha were swimming in turkeys. Proof they fly enough to get in the trees of bushes. It's hard to see but there are 5 in this small section of bush. When they saw the car, they flew down in a panic. I was driving through feathers like it was snowing. LOL!

Isn't this just as pretty shot? No not the icky turkeys, I mean the leaves on the ground.

D's been working on steps for the deck. These are the ones in the front.

I added support brackets to them today so D wouldn't have to.

When I left, D was finishing up the back risers. I can't wait until the actual decking starts to go on all this framing.

Well that's it. Family, animals and projects. I'm pooped. I think it'll be nice going back to work tomorrow. Although I have to admit, I really enjoyed having 5 days in a row off.

Thanksgiving Cancelled!!!! Oh my!

Well, Thanksgiving was cancelled this week. We were going to celebrate tomorrow (Saturday) but had a last minute change of plans. D and I had a nice romantic dinner with a large game hen, garlic mashed potatoes, veggies, fruit and a nice wine. All this was done in the living room at a small table with candlelight in front of a beautiful fire. I love it when we do that.

A few minutes ago a flutter of movement caught my eye when I was in the kitchen and an influx of turkeys took over the kids base.

This is actually nothing. When I went to work Wednesday, I gave up counting at 40 how many were on the hill. I figure it was about 50+. They're noisy and dirty and much bigger than what you buy in the store. I know because years ago D and I were on a turkey farm (can't remember why now) but I remember thinking how large they were. These wild guys are actually larger and yet still stupid. LOL!

Oh what were, 'said change of plans', you ask? Here's our little Emma. She is a little over an hour old here. She was born Tuesday at 5:37 p.m. She's a whopping 6lbs 4 oz and 19" long. Scott couldn't wait until Sarah was done feeding her so he could play papa.

Yep, one hour and she's pooped already. Scott was cute. Sitting in a chair, held her close to him and softly said something like, "Let me introduce myself. I'm Scott but you can call me dad."

This is our family doctor. He surprised us by stopping by. He wanted to take a look at the newest W generation. He's getting a kick out of our children who were his first gen of kids to take care of, now having babies.

Here's the papa trying to compare which of his traits his little girl has. So far she looks more like Sarah than anyone. I saw some of her brother in little Emma also.

Ya just can't beat this picture! No caption needed.

Of course as the perfect grandmother, here's a picture of little Emma almost 24 hours old. My how she has grown. Hahahahahaha!

Heather surprised us and is in town. We'll be meeting her at Scott and Sarah's along with Pat and Marge for some pizza. D and I will pick up a couple of Papa Murphy's to feed everyone. I think I'll also take one of the apple pumpkin pies I made yesterday morning too. I'm hoping to keep the visit to around two hours, so we don't over tax the new family.

So Happy Dang Thanksgiving to us all! Whoopie.

No pictures, just stuff

No pictures today. I have a dog in my lap and one asleep on my shoulders and I don't have the heart to wake them up.

First, it's been hell the past couple of weeks at work because we've had auditors. They're the most unorganized, inexperienced group of young people I've ever met. I thought I was going to be fired Friday because in the morning I lit into them for their lack of professionalism and stress they've been putting on the employees.

It's a long story but to make it short, the head auditor went in and was talking to my boss explaining his side of the procedure and she said he was fighting tears. I almost made an auditor cry. Hahahahaha! Anyway, her comment to me was, "Why didn't you take them to task sooner?"

Having been an internal auditor and married to the big honcho B of A auditor, I know how they're supposed to be performed.

Today, I stopped in to meet my boss because we were going out to Casa Real in Pleasanton for a meeting. I've been organizing the Christmas party and just finished the open enrollment party, Halloween luncheon and a few other client breakfasts/lunches. She hands me the smallest yellow post-it note and says, "You've been doing a fantastic job. You're a hard worker so I talked to the CEO and CFO and we're giving you a 10% raise." Wow! I had to fight back the tears. How nice is that.

Wayne at work sent me this:

Click here: Biertijd.com // Media » Tablecloth Trick

I hope you can click on the link and check it out. Go to the bathroom first because I promise you'll pee your pants laughing. I must have played it 8 or 10 times today. I laugh harder each time I see it. So enjoy!

Birthday

I had a nice quiet birthday last week. D took me to lunch because he had to work that night. We're skipping the gift portion because the money is going to someone's medical bills. I wonder who that could be. LOL!

The important thing is, he remembered and took me out so it was just the two of us.

This is a picture of the birthday card my big sis gave me. I don't know where she finds them. She sends the coolest cards. I hold onto them until D bugs me to throw them away.

Here are my birthday socks. They are the best! I've been coming home from work, taking off my shoes and stockings and putting on a pair of socks she knitted for me. They run circles around what you buy in the store.

I've been remis on thanking E. for the wonderful gift. So thank you big sis! I love, love, love them!

The flash lightened these. Picture the darkest blood red you can conger up and that's them. Are you ready for this? I took the picture this morning but my boss gave them to me 10 days ago. I asked if they were from her garden and she said, "No not this time". She grows the most beautiful roses. It's obvious she doesn't have deer. Hahahaha!

Work has been super busy so I've been behind on almost everything on my computer and at home. I worked from 7:15 to 5:00 yesterday without a lunch break. Everyone was sick and there was nobody to relieve me. My boss told me to take off early Friday to make up for it. So, I'm going to be a good little employee and take her up on the offer.

Speaking of work, gotta jet. See ya'll around the computer sometime!

Hum drum.....

It's been an uneventful week. (Thank goodness!). It's been very busy at work and there just hasn't been enough time in the day to get things done. I've been crashing when I get home.

This weekend I was going to just do absolutely nothing but instead I finished an icky project. My griddle has been caked with grease and crap for ages. It took me over a week of soaking and scrubbing to get it this clean.

Saturday I decided to buckle down and finish the job. We'll it's almost where I want it now.

I've oiled the griddle since I took this picture and it looks great. There's a small spot on the right side I'd like to work on a bit more but I simply pooped out. I'll tackle it when I get hit with a burst of energy again.

I got this cup from mom's things after she died. It's a beautiful cup but is actually very hard to drink out of. The handle is extremely comfortable for my small fingers but the lip is shaped odd. When I drink out of it, I always spill on myself. As my dad used to say, "You have a hole in your lip". I've decided I still love the cup but will only drink milk and OJ out of it so I don't get burned when I try to drink. LOL!

Tonight when D got home we worked on a pellet stove for the bedroom. He's had almost all summer to install it but of course waited until it's cold to work on it. It's a used pellet. Small for the bedroom and back part of the house.

We got it for a couple of hundred dollars. If we have to put a few bucks in it, it'll still be a screaming deal. It's a Lopi and is a little older. Considering the one in the family room is 25 years old and we've only had to replace the auger once we're sticking with that brand.

D replaced the starter and now it will light. He's been talking to the Lopi repairman on the phone. He wants D to test the convection fan tomorrow because it's not working right. Depending on how the test turns out, we'll either have to replace the circuit board or the convection fan. Either way it's still a screaming deal.

I wanted to try the new style but the smaller one for the bedroom. I'd like to replace the one in the family room with a newer model that would be more efficient and easier to clean. I figured if we bought a used one for a reasonable price, we'd be able to see the difference between the model we currently have and the newer style.

We had this lit tonight on the deck and it's the small stove for a small house and it was kicking out a lot of heat even with the convection fan not working. I think I'm glad I didn't decide to put a large one in the bedroom. We'd roast to death. LOL!

I'm hoping the weather stays nice for next weekend. Then D and I can go up on the roof, clean out the chimneys and install the small exhaust tube inside the existing tubing we have for the wood burning stove. If it's wet, there's no way I'm letting Sir Clutzalot on the slippery roof. Hahahaha!

Fire!

First I'd like to say, I forgot Neal. I loved his Halloween costume. He came as....are you ready for this???? Steve Jobs. Hahahahaha! He was hilarious!

Tuesday night was a very quiet night. D was working and I was chilling out in the family room. I got sleepy around 9 so thought I'd head to bed. I know these are hard pictures to figure out but when I went to the bedroom I saw flashing lights reflecting on the walls.

The lot across the road had caught fire earlier in the evening. Each of those spots are fire vehicles. I counted over 20 of them.

It's the long winding road across from us. The house we'd looked at and decided not to buy.

If you put these pictures side by side, you'd get the idea of how many vehicles were there. One right after the other. I didn't even catch all of them because some of my trees were in the way and it was too cold to walk around the driveway to a clearing.

The fire vehicles started at the house and then there were a few at each bend of the road and bumper to bumper once they hit the flat part off the main road.

Now you're going....ahhhh....that house. It burned about 3 acres. I never heard a siren or smelled the smoke. I'm wondering if the sounds were blown away from me because they came from the canyon side, across the backyard and toward the road. The wind sounded like a freight train.

Here's a small article on it: http://www.danvilleexpress.com/news/show_story.php?id=6609

This is the fear we have every 4th of July, which is why we never leave home during that entire week.

Oh and to address my sister's comment about the mangled finger/thumbs in the family due to power tools....In ER I told D, "You just couldn't leave Ray and Dave to have the cut off fingers...Now could you?" It's interesting (if you can call it that) how the three of them have completely different versions of amputations. Although, Ray gets the first prize if there's one to award. Here's hoping Steve and Darryl can behave themselves and keep all their digits.

I'm thinking by the time the finger heals, it'll look like a mini version on Megan Fox's weird thumb nails. That is if we're lucky. We'll see.

Time to go find me some popcorn. Bones season premier is tonight. I think the occasion calls for either popcorn or ice cream. Since I want to fit into a nice dress for our Christmas Party, I think I'll go for the popcorn.

Tah tah!