SMOTHERING in STUFF!!!!!!!!!!!

Hmmmm......today began slowly......great weather....mid-50's this morning......and then as the morning disappeared..........

The 1st Lady decided to complete the cleaning and disposing of the "stuff" that has been inhabiting the study/den since we began the remodeling projects last winter. Sooooo, the work began and we finally finished moving the furniture around to suit her wants for the room.....and then as I was pushing the large 36" TV on it's corner tv stand......something happened to the exercise "machine" and it began to tip over(it was folded against the wall...like an ironing board) and this caused me to lose my balance as I pushed on the tv/stand.....and soon I was floundering around, falling through the air towards the hardwood floor and ALL of the STUFF that was laying down there......and as I fought to regain my balance, that just made it worse. Soooo, in the 1-2 seconds that all of this was happening......I hit the floor with my left arm tucked under me and my head/forehead hit the floor....throwing my glasses off....and .....well, there is now a dent in the floor where I hit it!! AND.....there is an egg on my forehead with abrasions on my skin at the same place......and my left arm is a bit sore from ALL of my sagging hulk landing on it.

THANKFULLY, my glasses survived.....and, so did I!!!!

Soooo, the next problem became the "STUFF"!!!!!! What to do with it???????? Me? I would throw all of this crap that we have collected, purchased, been given.......throw it all away. However,....there are two of us living in TheHowserHouse/stick and brick.......and the 1st Lady doesn't agree with that. "We might need that sometime".......is the phrase that I hear daily!! Well.....my feelings are that if we haven't really put the item to use for the last 6-12 months.....GET RID OF IT!!!! But......I'm fighting a losing battle.......ugh!!!! And so, we move the "STUFF" into a new area of the house......to be moved again at a later date!!

This evening I grilled some brats on the patio, had a beer(no red medicine tonight), read some in the fading light of the evening, and then fought a few flies that insisted on feasting on me, along with a few no-see-ums which have arrived in our yard in the last few days. Hope they migrate right on....whichever way they want to go!

And so, here I am.....an egg on my forehead, my left arm slightly sore, and I'm trying to surface from under all of this "STUFF" so that I can breathe!!!! Aside from that,

Life is GREAT......and I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!!!!!

This grass tickles....

 

Time out from the ole ballgame

 

I'm getting better at this walking thing.....

 

Four Generations

 

WOW!!! What a beautiful day!!!

Yep.....that says it all tonight!!!! The gorgeous weather made the day just perfect to mow the lawn......and that is just what I did. It had been a week or two since I mowed it.....and due to the lack of rain, it really didn't need it that much UNTIL......today. ALL of the rain we hd yesterday simply pushed those blades of grass up and our of the formerly parched earth......and I could almost hear the grass growing this morning when I was outside for my morning coffee.

When I was finished this afternoon.....we moved some of the furniture around into different places in our study......it needed a bit of change since we had already moved one of the desks out to the garage to join the other pieces of furniture that will be sold.....hopefully.....next month.

The monthly meeting of the local Board of Education was tonight. I have been on the board for almost 2.5 years now........my three year term is finished in the spring. I'm not certain if I will file for re-election this winter or not..........just haven't made this decision!! Anyway.....it only lasted a bit over two hours tonight.....not toooooo bad for having school start this week.

I have thrown in a few pics from this weekend. I am certain that the 1st Lady's mother will be upset when she sees HER picture and the unprepared way she looks in the pic. Anyway.....a picture of four generations needed to be taken this year.....and so I did.

Another great day is forecast for tomorrow......and I have some plans to spend most of it in the yard taking care of some much needed TLC for some of the plants and shrubs. And if it is a day like today.........it will be another day in which I can honestly say....

Life is Great.......and I hope it is for all of you, also.

A STORMY DAY!!!

The storms began before I had even put myself into a vertical position this morning. And......then for the rest of the day they arrived about every hour or two........exploded above our hill, and after sharing their fury with all of us, they raced southeastward and out of our area. And.......then they would arrive again........

I, too, exploded from my own "storm" this morning, on the phone. Today was to be the day that FINALLY our bedroom furniture was to be delivered. We had received a phone message while we were gone this weekend from the delivery section of Bassett Furniture Direct warehouse. He indicated that we had not told him that we would be here today.........sooooooooooo, I called him at 8am this morning. Again, he stated the same thing and then said that we couldn't get our delivery until NEXT Monday because I had not "confirmed" that we would be here today.

SOOOOOOOOOOO, I unleashed my own storm with as much fury as I have had in a long, long time. Be the time I hung up on the rude, impertinent fellow......well, my BP was surging to the boiling point.......and for the first time I REALLY felt it surging out of control. When I became a bit more settled, I called the manager of the Bassett store where we purchased the furniture. I reminded her of the rather costly purchase I had made in June.....and then told her of the conversation that I had had with the delivery man. The manager said she would check on this.....and about an hour later she called back.....and said that my furniture would not be delivered until NEXT Monday........it was a "miscommunication" between the delivery guy and myself!!!! The rest of my morning was one of being pissed off at everything that went "wrong"............a stormy morning AND afternoon.

The 1st Lady and I spent about 2.5 hours this afternoon......after I cooled down.....measuring, locating the needed studs for the pole supporting brackets, and then getting the drilling done correctly. Sounds easy.....doesn't it???? BUT......it certainly took more time than either one of us had expected. After the drapery panels were hung........well, it was certainly worth the efforts!

As I said, it was a "stormy day" in more ways than just from the weather......but, nevertheless,

Life is Great.......and I hope it is for all of you, also (without the storms)

A weekend without traveling thru Cyberspace!!!!!

Oh yeah......once again I was isolated from the cyberspace world for an entire weekend!!!!!! Did I twiddle my thumbs, exercise, etc.,etc.???? No......I curled up in a great patio chair on my mother-in-law's patio and became totally lost in a good book for most of the weekend!!!!!!! THIS is something I have not done for almost a year..........and it really felt good to spend a lot of precious time just........reading!!!!! The drawback???? My eyes were sooooo damned tire by last night that I could barely focus.........they watered, they stung, they looked like I had been staring at the sun, which I hadn't. Do I need to see my nephew in St. Joseph, MO.......an optometrist??? YEP.......Greg....I do need an appointment!!! New glasses are definitely in order!!

My last post was from the Moser Estate on Thursday evening...... Friday we kept the little girls there at the Estate while Dr. Jeni had consultations with business pros concerning her upcoming business deal. Then we all headed north to "Granny's House", arriving mid-afternoon. And then......I began to read.....

Saturday........coffee (Folger's regular) was on the patio enjoying a gorgeous morning with an incredible breeze. And then I continued to read...........

This morning....I finished the book last night......I went to the grocery and bought today's STL Post-Dispatch....returned to the patio and had my coffee with the Sunday paper. EXCITING......huh??????

We left around 2pm.......stopped at "Armini's" at the Chesterfield Commons Mall just west of STL. Stopped there to look for an area rug of a contemporary design and colors that will go with the new living room color. Then a quick trip south to Manchester Rd to spend another hour at EXPO looking at some items that they have on display there. IF any of you good readers have NOT been to a Home Depot "EXPO" store..........GO!!!!!! There are not many in the country as yet, but check out your area and see if you are lucky enough to have one close by. It is great store for home items from appliances to kitchen designs to flooring to art work. EVERYTHING is there!!!!

Home around 7:30pm and a bit of putting things in order from being gone for four days. Had a message that pissed me off......a call from the Deliver Warehouse of Bassett Furniture in STL. The caller wondered if I planned on having our new bedroom furniture delivered tomorrow!! HA.....Good God.....he and I had quite a heated discussion about this date three weeks ago and I assured him at that time that I WOULD be at the door waiting for him tomorrow, the 14th!! He damned well better show up with that truck load of furniture tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And so........our four days went quickly and now the new week begins. This one is a busy one also.........but, nevertheless.....

Life is GREAT.......and I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!!

We dropped......after we shopped!!!

Oh yeah.......it was up and off to the city before I even had time to fully drink my FIRST cup of Fr. Roast this morning......DAMN!!!! Thankfully, I have a good sized travel cup and so quite a lot of my pot of coffee went with me to STL.

We had a multitude of stops to make to begin to narrow down our choices for the kitchen, now that the cabinets are on order and will be here in 4-5 weeks. We also had to pick up the remaining drapery panels which we needed for the living room.......we bought one last weekend and had "reserved/put on hold" three more panels to be picked up today.

What else? WELL........we spent oodles of time checking out: 1. gas ranges of stainless steel, 2. stainless steel fridges, microwaves, dishwashers, 3. tile for the flooring, 4. countertop materials from laminate to tiles to complete granite tops, 5. recessed can lights of 3", 4", and 5" sizes, hanging pendant lights for the bar section,......etc., etc.

Decided to have a small dinner around 5pm in West County (Manchester Rd.)......at the Madison's Cafe. This was our first time to eat there.......it was just ok. The cream sauce in the pasta dishes we ate was a bit thick and heavy.........the cheese garlic bread did not have enough garlic on it and the bread itself was....well, just rather tasteless and thick. Costs??? Well, I had a prescription filler of dark red medicine.....the house kind...and was about $6.....and the entire meal was only $32.00, so it wasn't expensive, but then it wasn't that good, either.

After dinner, we headed on west out to the Moser Estate for the night. She needs a sitter (us) for a few hours in the morning and then we are headed to northeast MO for the weekend.

The 1st Lady and I have DROPPED from shopping soooo much today. Did we make any decisions??? Nope,......just narrowed down the choices we will have to choose from. GOT to get these decisions made and on order SOON!!!!!!!!

And even with all of this running around today.....

Life IS Great.....and I hope it is for all of you, also!!! (Mark H.....I am jealous of your upcoming fishing trip to Canada!!)

SOMEBODY's been hammering inside my head.....

UGH!!!!! CRAP!!!! DAMN!!!! I detest waking up early in the morning and realize that somehow, some small alien has climbed inside my head and is pounding with some large mallet deep inside the backside of my skull!!!! I laid there attempting not to awaken the 1st Lady at this hour of sunrise, but finally pulled my throbbing head off of the pillow and slipped into the kitchen to grab whatever pain killers I could locate and quickly downed a couple of those little pills. Hoping a shower would help, I stood in the steaming stream of water as it played on my head, my neck and shoulders........thinking it would relax my tightened muscles and relieve some of the pain. BUT.......it didn't work!!

So, after some Fr. Roast, I laid down on the sofa and just laid there for several hours. And......so went my day.....up for awhile and then back on the sofa. Was it as bad as a migraine???? NOPE.....but it was not pleasant.

This evening, after dinner, I began to feel somewhat better.......enough so that I have put some things together for the weekend. We are leaving this weekend to visit the 1st Lady's mother. TheHowserHouse will be occupied though, as Dr. Jeni's husband, my son-in-law Darrel, will be racing down in this area this weekend and will use our stick and brick as his headquarters while down here. Hopefully he will not experience the hard rain like we had this morning!!!! It really rained quite a lot......thankfully!!!

As I am certain the alien inside my head will leave this evening.........I remain positive that....

Life is Great.....and I hope it is for all of you, also!!!1

Hot...hot...hot!!!

TOOOOOOOOOOOO hot for coffee on the patio........when will autumn arrive?????? This morning started quickly with a run over to the Bentinganan home as I took a bowl of fresh fruit to the family.....hopefully in time to use for breakfast.

Came home.......and then a bit later I dressed for the funeral of Dr. Bentinganan........never thought I would have difficulties getting my tie tied properly!!!! Guess it has been tooooo long since I have needed to wear one for any occasion.

The funeral was a service of celebration of his Life........as one of his sons said this morning, "Dad loved to celebrate.....any occasion", so it was only fitting that the service do the same for him. Vaughn....the saxophone performer......performed an original composition which was not only a display of his talent, but also a wonderful tribute to his father who had supported ALL of his children in sooooo many ways.

I was joined in St. Michael's Church here in F'town by two former students who are now BOTH outstanding band directors. It was great to see them.....and to have a brief bit of time to visit with each of them!!! In talking with each of them, it is always extremely gratifying to hear the influence that I had on them, their decisions to become band directors, and the successes they are now experiencing!! But you know the REALLY wonderful thing about being with my former students????? It is the incredible warm and wonderful friendships we share with each other........the value of friendships with former students can never be measured........it is what makes my Life so satisfying as a retired band director!!!!!!!

The afternoon.....well it was toooo hot to enjoy doing any of the needed work and tasks outside, so we began to sort and throw away STUFF!!!!!! WOW.......the 1st Lady and I are incredible pack rats........we have kept soooooooooooo many things, sooooooooooooo many pieces of paper...............soooooooooooooo many things that we just HAVE to keep, or so we thought at the time. STUFF.....STUFF......STUFF!

I want to throw it ALL out the door, but I am having some verbal confrontations with the 1st Lady about doing it. We have collected soooo many things from our trips around the world to so many countries.........NOW, what do we do with all of these things?????? With our remodeling projects and stages, we are now not wanting to have all of this STUFF and these THINGS sitting around on the floor, the tables, and on the walls. Can we part with it????? Hmmmmm, only time will tell...............

And so, as I ponder all of this STUFF and these THINGS........I continue to believe 110% that....

Life is GREAT......and I hope it is for all of you, also!!!! (what do YOU do with all of your STUFF?)

Remembering.....visiting....seeing friends from the past

By 9:30 this morning, I had finished off a couple of cups of Fr. Roast coffee when the doorbell rang. Opening the door, I saw the smiling face of a former student.......and now a good friend. The youngest of Dr. Bentinganan's sons, Vaughn, was standing there with his best friend....his saxophone.....and before long we were drinking more coffee and sharing stories of the past two years since we have spent any time together. He had arrived in town over the weekend after driving almost non-stop from Seattle to be here for his father's funeral tomorrow.

Vaughn and I spent about three hours talking, playing a bit of music together (even with my stiff fingers because of my broken arm last year), and discussed his Life and the events that have transpired. He has just broken up/off with is partner of four years, whom he left in Seattle. Of all of the students that I have taught to play the saxophone, Vaughn......well, he is incredible. He has always been a great player, but he has matured sooooo much with his playing.....and what a difference this makes. It was wonderful to talk, to remember his student years, and to hear about his life. He is a great young man!!!!

The 1st Lady and I spent the afternoon trying to return the living room to some sense of normalcy by moving back in some of the furniture, but re-arranging it for a fresher look. This evening we then went to the funeral home and visited with the Bentinganan family, as well as seeing many friends who are here from out of town/state for the funeral. I also saw many former students......some that I couldn't remember names to go with their faces.

Sooooo, it was a day of looking backwards and remembering the many good times that we had as teacher/students while in the fine high school band.......and it was so great because of these wonderful kids that worked soooooo long and hard to perfect their performances!!! Now they are anxious to have their children study music.........time goes quickly, doesn't it???

Life is GREAT, isn't it????.......and I hope it is great for all of you, also!!!!!

A hot....but a good day!!

Both the 1st Lady and I were up and on the road by 7:45 this morning. We spent the morning and early afternoon with a visit to Michael.....and enjoyed our time together!!!

From there we went on to Arnold and then to the Gravois Bluffs Shopping Area..........did you really expect us to hit the suburbs withOUT doing some shopping?????? We found only one panel of some draperies and purchased it, along with a 140" drapery pole for our large window in the living room. Not certain if we would actually like the panel drapery, we didn't attempt to find another shop in the city that had three others in stock. As wide as the window is, it will take four panels to cover it completely at night, so we need three more.

Yep......when we arrived home .....we quickly tried out the new panel......and the colors look great at night with only table lamps on. In the morning we will see how the colors "hold up" in the streaming sunlight of the early part of the day.

After a bit more shopping, we headed to the Arnold Cinema and caught a really enjoyable movie: The Devil Wears Prada. I really enjoyed it.........not a very deep thinking or complex movie, but it was good study in the characteristics of a fashion diva. AND....the scenes that were made in Paris.....WELL......it made me salivate to get back over there SOON!!!!!!! I, and the 1st Lady, BOTH love Paris!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is beautiful city and is always soooooo wonderful to stroll around, not to mention the wonderful art museums....and the croissants and the WINE!!!!!!! OMG..........it has been five years since I have been over there.....and the urge to get back there is overcoming me. I have been to Europe twelve times and 2 or 3 of those times I have gone to Paris more than once on each trip. I can't imagine anyone NOT liking and enjoying Paris.

We returned to TheHowserHouse this evening and caughter some Tivo'd shows we missed today. All in all........a wonderful day, albeit a bit hot this afternoon.........but,

LIFE IS GREAT.......and I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!! (GO TO PARIS!!!)

Sorting, cleaning, and normalcy begins again..

Well...... an incredibly beautiful morning......cool (63 degrees)....and blue sky. It was a perfect morning to have breakfast on the patio......and the 1st Lady and I did just that!!! I lingered over a second cup of French Roast.....and then somehow, completely unplanned, we began to sort out some of the STUFF that we had moved from room to room during Stage I of the remodeling process.

I threw away an old TV that was hiding from me in the closet......it struggled against my tight grip as I carried it-not-so-gently to the trash bin outside and let it drop into the bottom of the bin......and quickly closed the lid so it would not attempt to bounce back up into my arms. Did I feel guilty??? Did I feel remorse?? NOPE.......I was excited that I had made the move and did the deed of getting rid of the aging, unused, never use tellie!!!! What's next?

Well, over the course of a couple of hours, I made many trips to the trash bin.....and soon it was filled and beginning to overflow. WOW......we made soooo much progress in throwing away some accumulated STUFF.........STUFF that we do not need, nor will we ever need. We removed some old cans of paint that were stored in the laundry room.......and what did we do then??? We put in some NEWER cans of paint.......some that were left from the painting of the remodeled rooms. Hmmmm...I wonder how long THAT paint will be stored there???????

After a LATE lunch, I sat down to have a cup of coffee......and soon I was answering the phone and spent about a half hour talking to the recent groom, Andrew. He had finished the first week of the summer band camp for the Edwardsville HS band......and we discussed the progress and the staff that are assisting him and the head director.

Not long after that I received a phone call from another very good friend, Vimille Bentinganan. We talked for awhile about the death of his father this past Thursday.....and the arrangements for the visitation and Mass at the Catholic Church.

After grilling some brats and finising an early meal this evening, I went over to the Bentinganan home and spent over an hour talking with the family and friends that are gathering there. It was great to see some of the ones that I had had in band back in the 90's. And, obviously this led to some laughs as various stories and events were remembered. We also discussed the trip that many of us had made to the Philippines for Vimille's wedding in 2000. It was also such a joy to see his new daughter of nine months, Alexis. What a cutie she is!!

This evening was just a laid back evening in front of the plasma.......enjoying a couple of movies on the movie channels. Tomorrow.....we plan to go visit Mike for a few hours.

And, as always......

Life is Great........and I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!!

AHHHH.....a beautiful day!!!!

WOW......what a gorgeous day it was today!!!! The morning was just right with wonderful, breathable temps and low, if any, humidity. Ohhhhh that they all could be like this morning! I made a run out to the Supt's office to take care of some paperwork, both for ourselves here at TheHowserHouse and for the Madison County Democrat Club. Attempted to locate a grocery receipt in the house trash cans.....and then I got to dig through the corn husks, etc., in the large trash receptacle out at the edge of the driveway.......and NO luck. It really wasn't that important, however, the local grocery store ONCE AGAIN double charged us on my credit card.....not a huge amount, but it just pisses me off!!

They did this one other time but that time the amount was over s$900 and it took almost a week to get the money re-deposited into our account. This time it is only $15.10.....not a bank breaker, but I will NOT let them get away with this again. I simply will not ever go into that place again!!!

This afternoon was relaxing.....the 1st Lady had gone up to Farmington to have lunch with a couple of other educator friends....and as always, the lunch took about 3 hours!!! I did some reading on the patio and spent some time on the phone with a couple of friends that called.

Part of the afternoon was spent in sweeping, cleaning, and returning a couple of pieces of furniture to the living room. When the 1st Lady returned she did some touch-up painting on the living room walls, and FINALLY we then took down the blue tape on the moldings/baseboards.

Late afternoon vino was shared when our neighbor across the street knocked on the door and came in to discuss an interview he had had today. It sounded positive, but a person never really know how the interviewer perceives the individual he is interviewing!!! Sure hope he gets the position he is pursuing!!! Nevertheless.....we enjoyed a bottle of Pinot Grigio together with some interesting conversation!!!!!

Our evening meal was small and yet, wonderful. I forgot to mention that yesterday while we were downtown we stopped at the Soulard Market and even though it was late the middle of the afternoon, there were several veggie stalls still with some great buys on the fresh veggies!!!! We bought 14 ears of very sweet corn......so, tonight we had some fresh corn with a few other leftovers. WOW........that corn was soooooooooooooo GOOD!!!! I also sliced up a tomato that I had grown in my patio pots.....and it, too, was soooooo yummy!!!!!

Do any of you daily readers really have any doubt that I am getting saggier (is that a word?) with all of this wonderful summer eating that I am doing????? Good God, but I am going to have to cut back!!!!

I did receive word today that Dr. Bentinganan had passed away yesterday. With five sons and two daughters, and each one of his children sooo very, very successful it seems that his Life has been cut way tooooo short. I believe that one of his sons is currently in Iraq. I had five of his children in band.......there was one each class for five years in a row! Interestingly enough, each of the children had names that began with "V"!!!

And......by now the moon is shining brightly on the lawn.....and it is time to get this little posting of my Life today published and sent out through cyberspace to the some 200 people who read this daily! Sooooo.......as usual and always.....

Life is GREAT......and I hope it is for ALL of you, also!!!!!!!!!!

AHHHH....another day of shopping in STL

The 1st Lady and I were up before Dr. Jeni had to leave of her dental offices......and had a fun, but short, morning with the two little ones before we had to leave. The girls have two babysitters that come to the house........a HS senior and her sister who will be a second year opera major at UMKC Conservatory of Music. They live on the adjoining 5 acres which makes it very convenient for everyone.

We headed into Washington and found a nice little "mom and pop" cafe where we had had breakfast a couple of years ago......however, this time it just wasn't nearly as good as we remembered. It was just a very average breakfast......with a not-s0-puffy omelet!! HAHA.....at least the server kept the coffee mug filled!!

From there we headed into STL.....about a 30 minute drive. We took Mo. Hwy 100 into the western part of the city......the hwy. turning into Manchester Rd. Well.....we say a place called "The Tile Store"....and stopped. Well.....that might have cost us a bit more......we wound up being there an hour as we looked and discussed with a great salesman about the possibilities of using granite tiles for a countertop. We had originally entered to look at tile for the floor, but spent most of our time looking at the choices of granite tiles........and getting a bid on the almost black granite tiles which we really liked. Now......to check with the tile layers around this area to get a bid on the cost of putting them down as a countertope.

From there, it was back to EXPO for a quick trip to see what they have to offer for draperies for Dr. Jeni's dining room. Well.......we were LUCKY!!!!! They had a sale going and the ones that fit the size of her big windows AND were the correct colors......well, they had been reduced to practically nothing, by having the cost cut twice!!! So.....we got them....and then selected a rod/pole for them to hang on. A be-the-right-spot-at-the-right-time event!!!!!

From there a quick run into Lowe's to look at black granite and black slate kitchen sinks. Now....do we want a black sink with black countertops or a stainless sink???? The black would allow us to purchase the brushed nickel faucet fixtures.........Hmmmmmm......what to do about this???

Then into the downtown area to the cabinet shop to give them the final "go-ahead" on our order.....which he said should be around four weeks from now. ANXIOUS!!!!

Oh....forgot that we had stopped earlier in the Manchester area at a Pier I.....where we discovered a table lamp that works beautifully for our tv/family room. BUT......each one they had was slightly damaged in various ways, so I had them call a couple of other Pier I stores around the city and located one that was still in the box. So, I purchased it over the phone with a pickup time of later in the day.

Soooo, leaving the cabinet shop.....we headed south to the last Pier I in the south end of the city....and picked up our lamp!! I took it out of the box and it was perfect!! Packed it back up and headed home. Did make a quick stop at Kohl's......one of our favorite places to shop for great quality and even better prices. Didn't buy a thing.........

Then headed home and arrived there about 20 minutes before we were to be at the county Democrat Club dinner and meeting. Hadn't been for TWO YEARS.......so I felt that I should go tonight......as next week is the Primary Election here in Missouri. The meal was good....and the meeting lacked a bit or organization.......don't want to hurt any feelings, but I do want to be truthful. Enough said......

I heard some very disturbing news while there that the father of some of my best students in band had suffered a heart attack or stroke on Sunday while exercising. He had a massive heart attach several years ago and survived that one. No one seemed to know the seriousness of this one, except that he had been taken to Barnes Hospital in STL. Dr. Bentinganan is originally from the Philippines.....and a few years ago I flew over there to provide the music for the wedding of his son, Vimille. This family means a great deal to me......and so I have tried all evening to find out some news as to his health!!!

And now.....the remaining part of the evening has been spent in taking care of some things around TheHowserHouse...stick/brick. As I sit here in our new family/tv room.......I am soooo excited about how it has all come together to make a great looking and functional room!!!!!!!! Only a couple of more items that we are looking to add to it and it will be complete!!!!

Sooooo, after a very busy day.......my

Life is GREAT.....and I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!!!

An evening at the Moser Estate....

After a relaxing morning with some great coffee......the 1st Lady and I left for STL and then out to the Washington, MO area. She had an appointment with Dr. Jeni to have some teeth problems checked out......and so we did a bit of shopping for the house prior to heading out of STL for her check-up.

Hotter than Hell in the city today........the thermometer on the Park Avenue's computer registered 104 degrees with humidity on top of that!!! UGH!!!! It certainly didn't make for an enjoyable time getting out of the car and rushing to get into the stores/shops. We are looking for some table lamps for the new bedroom and the tv/family room........and, as usual, we are a bit picky as to what we want to complete those rooms. Sooooo, we continue to look.........

I got the 1st Lady to Dr. Jeni's offices in time for her appointment.....which then lasted about three hours. She has had some problems with some bridge/capped teeth.....it has come loose and so the prognosis is BIG BUCKS to get this repaired!!!!! Perhaps implants!!!! We'll see what the final diagnosis and decision will be soon.......!!!!

I left her at the offices and then headed to Lowe's to look for the new appliances we intend to get in the next four weeks......and, of course, they only had ONE gas range on the showroom floor, which didn't do me a damn bit of good. We plan to get stainless steel for the finish and we would like to find one that has a second smaller oven in the unit. Also checked out some Microwaves in a stainless steel finish.

I then came out here to the Estate and relieved the baby sitter at 5pm.....giving me a chance to play with Meghan and Ava for an hour and a half before the 1st Lady and Dr. Jeni arrived out here at the house. We went ahead an fixed dinner and about an hour later Darrel finally arrived home from his business.

The evening has been spent visiting and enjoying the two little ones as they played and coerced us to play with them........not a difficult job to get us to join them.

Tomorrow it is back into STL and then on home. We may possibly go to Evansville, IN to visit Jay for the weekend......this will depend on his schedule. He may have flown to Florida for the weekend......will have to see.

Soooo....... as always.....

Life is Great......and I hope it is for all of you, also!!!

WOW.....Very hot....And relaxing

Luckily, it was only in the upper 70's when I stepped out onto the patio with my morning coffee.....you know, don't you??? Yep....it was French Roast.....dark and rich and with a very full body!!! HAHAHA......the "full body" part aptly describes me.....that is the ONLY part of that sentence that really fits me, though.

Mid-morning I ran out to the local hardware and lumber store....and took along with me the picture with the paint color that we had used at Sherwin Williams to have the computer match the color with the paint formula. WELL.......of course, they didn't have a computer there that could do the paint matching.......why does that NOT surprise me???? The paint I had matched yesterday at Lowe's was way toooooooooooooooo orange.....in your face orange!!! Sooooo, a bit pissed, a bit depressed, and a bit frustrated I drove home and gave up on that paint problem for the day.

It was getting really hot by that time, so I spent some time searching/researching online to find the closest Home Depot........and of course, it is 50 miles away at a minimum. Foiled again......so, I played around online going from thing to another.....until......."foiled again".....the internet went down!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well, this led me to believe that today is/was NOT my day!!!!!

After about 30 minutes of not-so-patient waiting, I called our service-friendly (sarcasm) Charter Communications and for 15 minutes talked with a non-entity.....some damn computerized "female" voice. This "voice" attempted to talk me through a procedure to re-set my modem.......well, I'm not THAT dumb or technologically challenged.....as I had ALREADY done that procedure twice. So.....I started hitting the 0 key over and over, quickly....and I immediately had a real, LIVE person talking with me. After he checked my modem.......that sounds rather erotic, doesn't it...... he said that there was an internet outage in my area and it would be fixed as quickly as possible.

Three hours later.....I was back online!!!

The 1st Lady fixed dinner tonight........WOW, but was it ever a tasty and delicious meal!!!! Pork chops browned in olive oil and then layered on top of a cassarole full of rice and cream of mushroom soup. Then it was baked and the casserole was then accompanied by sliced carrots cooked in freshly ground nutmeg and cinnamon, and some baby peas topped with real butter. All of this was washed down by my dark red medicine and the 1st Lady had a glass of Pinot Grigio. She IS a great cook!!!

Prior to dinner, I spent 45 minutes sweltering and sweating as I went to work on the lawn, pushing the power mower around and slipping on my sweat!!! After dinner, I spent another hour working off that marvelous dinner as I trimmed our grass and weeds.

As the sun set behind the tall elms that belong to the lovely lady next door, I called it an evening, although there was still more grass to cut. Went inside, a quick shower, and then I smelled wonderful aromas drifting into the bathroom from the kitchen. AHHHH, but she had done it again.......a wonderful fresh peach deep dish cobbler!!!! And, this was topped with my favorite: Breyers Vanilla Bean ice cream. A GREAT way to enlarge my sagging body......so that it will sag a bit more tomorrow!!!

And sooooo, this day of heat and relaxing(?) sped by quickly, as is my life at this age. As quickly as it is going by, I will NEVER EVER get all the things done that I want to do!!!!!

Life is GREAT......and I hope it is for all of you, also!!! (Goldie....are you alive???)

Appointments.....and decisions(?)

After a quick step or two outside on the patio this morning......I returned to the coolness of the inside of our brick and stick to enjoy my French Roast coffee which was made with some freshly ground coffee beans. By 9:15, I opened the door for the tech specialist for Verizon to bring in his computer and run some tests on the reception that I was getting....or NOT getting...on my Verizon cell phone.

For the past three weeks, my phone has "changed service area" everytime I would walk from one room to another or from one end of the house to another......or even while I was just sitting watching the tellie. NOT the type of service I am paying for each month!!!! Well, "Christopher" was here for about 45 minutes.....and could not give any answers, as he could not duplicate the same problems that I have been having. Sooo, nothing changed with my "changing service"!!

Shortly after he left, I headed to STL to pick up two more samples of the possible stains and glazes for the cabinets. I didn't spend much time up there.......the heat was stifling.....almost unbearable to have to get out of the car which has a great a/c system. I was back in Farmington by 3:30 and spent a half hour looking at ceramic tiles for the kitchen flooring. BAck at TheHowserHouse, we are about 99% sure of the stain(less) for the cabs..........think it will be a natural maple that has a "shine" on it.

Prior to going to STL, I did stop at the Sherwin Williams store. I got a full refund on all of the paint I had purchased as the last gallon they gave us was just as imperfect as the ones we had purchased. The store owner has no idea what the problem is and said he had contacted the head office and called for an investigation of the problem. Perhaps some day we will know......???

This evening our contractor was here to discuss the demolition of the kitchen and the installation of the new cabinets and gas range. Along with lighting, new ceiling, flooring, and a change of the plumbing system location, removal of one wall, etc., etc. and we did some more measuring for accuracy. It IS going to be horrendous mess......with two more rooms torn up for 2-3 weeks later in August or early September. Not something to look forward to!!!

And so.....

Life is GREAT......and I hope it is for all of you, also!!

Missouri Misery......again!!!!

I will only briefly mention how horrific the heat/humidity is today....and for the next three days, so we are informed. The heat index tomorrow is to be 116 degrees!!!!! It rained this morning for some time....and then the sun emerged in its fullest fury and it then became almost impossible to breathe outside!!! DAMN!!!

Today was just one whereby we remained inside, relaxed a bit, and caught up on some administrative things in the form of bookkeeping, etc., etc. The paint in the living room is becoming a bigger problem........the "new" paint that Sherwin Williams gave us on Saturday DOES NOT WORK!!!!!! IT IS WORSE THAN THE FIRST BATCH!!!!!! It is guaranteed, however, it is only for the cost of the paint.....and not for the labor and the ruined walls that we are experiencing. I am just sick with this problem........and so, tomorrow it is back to the Sherwin Williams store to file my complaints.......and am thinking about going to small claims court with this problem. WHAT NEXT??????????????????

And "WHAT NEXT???" with the problem(s) in the Middle East????? Our administration must be changed!!!!!!!! First it is Iraq.....and now this "do nothing" in the Israel/Lebanon/Hezbelloah war...........

And even with ALL of the above....

Life is Great......and I hope it is for all of you, also!!

Finally....they are ordered!!!!

Well, like it or not, we have finalized....almost......the order for our kitchen cabinets........an on-going ordeal that has taken MUCH more time, energy, and dollars than I ever, ever expected!!!! I say "almost" because after I signed the contract and wrote a check for 50% of the costs, drove away, and then began to look at some cabinets that were in this store, I am not certain I like the wood color that I ordered. SOOOOOO, I am calling first thing on Monday to have them put a hold on the order until I return to ONCE AGAIN check out the color to make sure.

You know.....when you buy a car/truck you know that you will only have it for a few short years.....however, a purchase such as these cabinets will be for the rest of OUR lives....and I want to make damn sure I get as close to the kind that I want as financially possible.

The task now at hand is to find some table/bedside lamps for our new bedroom furniture. It SHOULD be delievered next week.......we opted to let them deliver it today. Started figuring the costs of renting a U-Haul, gas, etc., etc. and decided it was worth the few extra $$ to have Bassett Furniture deliver and set up the furniture in the room for us! Hopefully.....it will be soon so we can finally get moved into our new bedroom. I FIRMLY vetoed putting the old furniture back in the new room.......knowing full well that we would NEVER go out and get a new bedroom suite if we ever put that old stuff back in there.

Sooooo many more decisions to make during the next couple of weeks ......for the kitchen. Meeting with the contractor Monday night......need to firm up his bid, set the date for the demolition of the kitchen as it stands now.......moving appliances, flooring, electrician, removing one wall, etc., etc. UGH!!!!! Stage II of the project is about to get under way........and I WILL be better prepared this time!!

Spent quite some time with the Sherwin-Williams paint store manager this morning discussing and raising my voice about the terrible paint we got from him and used on our living room walls. He had ordered a new patch of base paint and mixed it for us....again....and we are to try it to see if covers better than the first three expensive gallons. This next group will be free if it works for us!!!!! I LOVE the color.......but, it doesn't go on smoothly or evenly or even the same color across the wall!!! Hoping it was just a bad batch of base paint!!!!!!!??????

Began to look for new drapes for the living room today, as well as lamps for that room also. A couple of new pieces of art will be needed for the walls.......but, that may take more time to study and think about.

Had to fight quite a storm while in STL late this afternoon...........no winds, but horrific lightning and HUGE quantities of rain!!!!!!!! Stood at the door of a store for 30 minutes before I even dared attempt to dash to the car.......lightning striking close-by and buckets and buckest of hard rain flooding the parking area.

Oh well............even with all of this.....

Life IS Great......and I hope it is for all of you, also!

The Moser anniversary weekend!!!

 

NOW I can take a bite!!!!

 

Best Friends (cousins)

 

Hmmmmm........two complete days.....gone???

WOW........am I losing my mind......just where in the hell did the past two days go??? I can't even put a thought together about yesterday........???? I know that I made one trip to our wonderful, incredible mini-SuperCenter, the Walmart model for small town SuperCenters. And....everytime I am out there.....almost daily......I get a bit angry that they stock so much of such few items that I can never ever find exactly what I am looking for, or need. Soooo, what do I do??? I find myself buying what they have instead of what I want/need.

I HATE their wine selection!!!!!!!!! And, they have heard that same sentence and emotion from me personally. To be BLUNT (and I am NOT the Governor of our Misery state).........their tiny selection here is the shits. Wish I knew who their "wine buyer" is.....and hopefully "was". He needs some input about the desires of some of the customers that shop there for their wine!!!!!
Oh well......

The positive thing about shopping their is the socialization of "long lost friends". I always see and visit with former students and friends that I never see anywhere else......and that is a GOOD thing. Although.......sometimes if I haven't seen these former students for several years, and then I run into them out there, it is a struggle to remember their names. I HATE that experience!!!!!

Today......well, it went quickly as I had to get things ready for a food visit with our son, Michael. And, as usual, we ate all afternoon.....and I am sitting here miserable, feeling much like I imagine a stuffed pheasant or pig feels........NOT GOOD!!!!!

The 1st Lady is home now after her week of visiting Dr. Jeni.....and then going on to her mother's for the rest of the week. Somehow during the first couple of days of her journey, she managed to lose....oops, "misplace".....her cell phone chargers!!!!! BOTH the regular charger AND her car charger!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sooooo, she now cannot use her cell phone until we purchase a new one!! UGH!!!!

We are going into STL in the morning to sign the contract on the purchase of the new kitchen cabinets!!!!! Sure hope we have made the correct decision because we will have to live with them for the rest of our lives.......DEFINITELY!!!! While there we will need to pick out the new sink, and then narrow down our choices on lighting, flooring, countertop, and appliances. Not to be a pleasant day ........I'm sure.

Tuesday I have to go back up there as we can then pick up our new furniture for the new bedroom as it has will arrive from the Bassett factory. Hard to believe.....after almost 35 years we will have a complete bedroom ensemble that goes together!!!!!! All three of the kids had wonderful new sets of bedroom furniture......and we took the left-overs and used ones. Guess it is finally OUR TURN!!!!

And so, with a challenging day ahead tomorrow.....I will close this, and as always....

Life is Great......and I hope it is for all of you, also.

WOW...A day to be soooo proud.....!!!

As I brought my sagging, sleepy self to a half-way vertical position on the edge of the bed, I realized that I hadn't ground any French Roast coffee beans last night.....how COULD I have forgotten that important task???????? Alas......before I could take my wake-up shower massage, it was very necessary to hear that Braun Coffee Grinder make it's wonderful coffee cocaphony which would emit that wonderful fresh coffee bean aroma. And, as always, the grinder did the assigned job and before long the drip of the coffee evolved into a full carafe of the dark liquid that would soon become a part of my blood stream!!!

I didn't have much time to linger and loiter over the fresh steaming cup of coffee.......I took a quick trip out to the patio, checked to see if my lawn invading plants were dying more than they were yesterday and then it was time to get started up the highway to Rolla (of course, I put the remainder of the coffee in the thermos to accompany me on the trip). It only takes a few minutes more than two hours to run over to Rolla through the hills and valleys. Interestingly enough, as I drove through Potosi everywhere I looked there was large piles of debris from the storm this past week. And, in the rear of the county court house, there were the National Guard members distributing water and other food items for those who still do not have electricity.

How does one describe a former student who has experienced so much success in his vocation in such a brief amount of time??? I suppose the one word that sums it all up is......Outstanding! He was in my HS Band in Eldon and later married another band member.....he is a trumpeter and she was a percussionist. He went into the Navy.....and then they sent him to college....Tulane University in New Orleans. And from then on.......he has met with incredible success. He spent extra time in the Navy past his initial enlistment requirement and then upon leaving the military, he remained in the same job he had, only then/now he wears civilian clothes. He works in Washington, D.C. for the Navy in the field of .....well, I suppose it is called Nuclear Engineering.

We have kept in touch throughout the years.......as we share a common bond: we were both born on March 31......plus our interest in music....and our rapport which has always been strong and developed into close friendship. He is the proud father of four young daughters.......sure would hate to be in his shoes as they reach the teenage years!!!

We try to get together as often as we can, however, we both have our own obligations which makes it difficult to schedule any time together. I have visited him in D.C. several times and when he and his family return to Missouri for a holiday, we try to meet somewhere for lunch so we can visit. And, THAT is what we did today in Rolla.

He and I were in Applebee's for over three hours.....outlasting our server's work shift. Topic after topic was bounced around across the table and over the Margherita glasses.....until we were almost hoarse from our never-ending conversation. The time flew by and yet, we were not "caught up" with everything we needed to discuss......and so, it will be put on the back burner for the next time we are together, whenever and wherever that will be.

It is soooooo rewarding to continue the relationships with former students......those who were just young pre-teenagers when they first became a band member.....and now have become wonderful adults with families of their own. I suppose I have had a thousand students, probably many more than that, over the 30 years of teaching........and it is sooooo great to still be a part of their lives........and for them to still be a part of mine. WOW.....how fortunate I am!!!!!!!!!

And so, Kelly Powers ( and Heather)..........a big thanks to you both for our continuing relationship, for our friendship, and for making my Life much more meaningful and rewarding to me as an aging hulk!!!

LIFE IS GREAT .....and I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!

Another test.....another trip

I had to be in Festus today for an ultra sound test. An interesting and relaxing type of "test"......enough said.

Afterwards I went on in to STL, went to the cabinet shop that we are working with on our prospective cabinet order. Saw the last stain sample and think we will remain with our initial choice.... I am ready to get these damn things ordered and get them here. It is a company from Canada, but it really doesn't matter, it will take about 4-6 weeks for them.

Did a bit more shopping at several different stores........mostly for decor items: draperies, art work, etc., etc. Always something........

Returned back down here around 4pm......and just kind of "hung out" and relaxed this evening. Nothing doing........am doing some reading......haven't done that for some time, and I have stacks of books that I have on my list to read.

Meeting some friends in Rolla, MO tomorrow for lunch. They were band students of mine back in the '80's in Eldon, but now live in the Washington D.C. area/Virginia. I always visit them when I am in Washington....at least we get together for dinner, etc., etc. Sad to say, it has been two years since I have been over there......time goes way toooooo fast. They are back in Missouri for a brief visit with families......so, we will meet about halfway between Eldon and here for lunch.

Sure this is just a terribly interesting post tonight.......my mind is not very active or thoughtful....and not a damn thing that was interesting to discuss occurred today. I could discuss a bit more of the ultra sound, but think it might have to be censored......hehehee!!!

Soooo, rather than bore you more than I already have done, I will just say.....

Life is GREAT.....and I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!

Two days of.........

WOW.....was I ever pissed last night!!!!! I spent about 45 minutes putting together a thoughtful and very descriptive post about my day.......and, due to having installed some anti-virus software yesterday......this blogspot site decided to delete my post as I attempted to publish it....and there was NO way to recover it. It is a GREAT thing that I am living as a bachelor this week, because the 1st Lady would have been somewhat upset with my tantrum and verbage which turned this normally sedate and sagging hulk into a raving and ranting maniac!!!!!!!

To update about yesterday, the new paint on our living room which was "completed" day before yesterday, but the walls had some strange and very unsightly "sheen" to the terra cotta color, and it just gets worse with various strengths of lighting. I, under orders from my other half, painted a fourth coat on a couple of walls to see if more paint would help.......but, NO....it didn't. Soooo, I decided to take off the painters blue tape from the molding around the doors/windows and the baseboards. Well,.......the new paint began to peel around the edges......and looked and acted just like wallpaper!! ANOTHER BLOWUP by me.....actually the first one yesterday.

I gave up on the room after getting it cleaned up and a couple of pieces of furniture back in place. Then.....it was 5pm.......and I put together a couple of panini sandwiches, minus the grilling. Used some really great Roma tomatoes, mozarella cheese, fresh basil, olive oil drizzled over the entire contents and some toasted Tuscan country bread.......and LOTS of dark red medicine!!!!! My heart valves, blood vessels, and the aging gray matter needed some calming after the paint episode of the day.......and so the day ended quietly as I remained on the patio until the sun had set........and I meditated on the calm and quietness of the Tetons and the Big Horn Mts. in Wyoming.

MONDAY.......

Fr. Roast coffee on the patio enjoying the peace and quiet.....only the yellow finches to watch and enjoy. But........it was time soon to head to Farmington to the Sherwin-Williams paint store to complain and demand something be done about the quality of the three gallons ($120) of their paint that I had carefully put on our living room walls.......did I really need to be so careful??? Well.....thankfully for my blood pressure, the "main man" was sympathetic, interested, and thoughtful about what the problem is, but not so sure as to the resolution of the problem. So, he offered to come down to TheHowserHouse this afternoon to check it out. I readily agreed!!!

Back to our home on the hill and some puttering in the yard. I was checking to see if the ground ivy and violets that I had sprayed with some KILLING liquid yesterday had done the job. Hmmmm......well, not as quickly as I had hoped. There was some visual evidence that they might be dying, but......I am worried that these invaders into my grass will somehow recover their lives and continue to expand throughtout my lawn.

And then......the paint man arrived. He quickly admitted that the strange sheen on my walls after using FLAT paint was not good, and not what the paint should have done. Sooooo, he agreed to order a different batch of the paint base and I could then try it to see if works better. He also "toured" our new rooms and was amazed at the work that we had done and how it had completely made over the rooms that I had told him about......he loved the family/tv room.

After he left.....it was time to have a bite to eat.....and so I had some tortellini with spinach and ricotta cheese in the pasta bites. I used some Parmesan cheese sauce, added some fresh mushrooms to it, and then topped the entire dish with diced and salted Roma tomatoes. All of this was garnished with some of my wonderful fresh basil.......and guess what!!!! Several glasses of my dark red medicine to compliment the pasta!!

Tomorrow.....it is off to Festus for my appendages' ultra-sound exam. Hmmmm......sure am curious just how this will come about......hahaha!!! You may never know......

And so,.....

Life is Great.....and I hope it is for all of you, also!!!

YEAH!!!!!! Weather to ENJOY!!!!!!

Hmmm.....you might think that my Life is based on the weather here in Misery......and I must admit that the weather DOES make living much better when it is nice! Yesterday.....well, that was quite a different story!!!!

I had driven up to Festus for my appointment with the urologist doctor and since it was my first visit with him, I arrived early to fill out the reams of paperwork that everyone must now complete before they can even meet a doctor. With the clipboard and pen in my hand, I began the task...and suddenly the lights went out in the entire building. We were plunged into darkness for a short period of time until the emergency lighting came on. In about a minute or two the electricity was back on.......and the reception room door opened and in came a lady in a wheelchair being pushed by a friend......and they were a bit shaken as they had been in the elevator which stopped between floors when the lights/electricity went out.

Well, for the next 30-40 minutes the lights continued to go out.......at least 12 times during that time period. When they were operating the TV, which was on, was giving all kinds of severe weather warnings and so we knew the problem with the lights. So......about an hour after my appointment was scheduled to begin, I finally was called to head down the hallway......and after a few "liquid" test samples, the normal BP/heart rate checks, and a few other minor items, it was into another room to wait(nothing new here.....ALL doctors seem to have the same procedure).

The exam by the Dr. went well.......and he seems to believe that everything that is inside me is all that is supposed to be there.....and no foreign entities are down there. However, he is still not through with the testing and so I return next Tuesday for an ultra-sound test, and then another appointment on Aug. 21st. I was impressed with the urologist.........and seemed to be sincerely interested in me as individual, and not just someone who had been referrred to him for him to check all of my......hmmmmm.......male appendages.

While I was inside the Medical Building, the rains had dropped quite a bit of liquid outside.....and when I returned to F'town.....well.........a HUGE storm had rushed across the top of the hill where TheHowserHouse/stick and brick/on wheels .......all spend their time. Limbs were down in the yards, twigs and leaves, and other debris had been blown everywhere!!!! Quite a wind storm, but nothing of any substantial damage....Thank God!!

The 1st Lady left yesterday evening and will be gone for a week. She is spending this weekend at the Moser Estate.......caring for the two granddaughters...well, actually three(Rachel also is there)......as Dr. Jeni and Darrel are spending the weekend celebrating their 11th wedding anniversary in the city at a hotel, dining out, and........whatever. Then on Monday, the 1st Lady is going on up to Monroe City to spend the rest of the week with her mother and will return to F'town on Friday.

Me???? Well, I spent 95% of this BEAUTIFL day outside working in the yard.....which included spending almost 3 hours simply CLEANING the yard from yesterday's storm. I have no idea how many loaded wheel barrows it took to remove all of the storm's debris. Following that I finally had the chance to mow the rest of the lawn that I had not completed from earlier in the week.

Having not cooked for sometime.......I fixed one of my favorite easy meals; long grain rice topped with steamed broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots and then added some Roma tomatoes that I had salted a few hours earlier and they were quite juicy!! Then I garnished the entire dish with some wonderful Feta cheese and fresh basil which I picked from my herb garden. Of course........all of this was accompanied by my dark red medicine. THIS was a very healthy meal!!!!!!!!

And soooooo, tomorrow morning I plan to touch up the paint job on the living room walls. Following that.....well, I hope it get the room "cleaned up".......sooooo much painting stuff is everywhere and needs to be put away, IF I think we are finished for awhile.

A BEAUTIFUL DAY........and,

Life is Great......and I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!!

Will it end TOMORROW????????????

Humidity and Heat........as we all know, the combination is absolutely miserable in the state Misery!!!! I really dread to see my utility bill with the constant a/c that we are using......but, what can you do???? Tomorrow is SUPPOSED to be cooler.......??? We'll see.....

I spent the morning, after my several cups of French Roast coffee, painting the dining area and the wide hallway ceilings. Lots of blue tape had to be applied first to the moldings around the doors and also to the ceiling light in the dining area. It is a very contemporary light and with most of it being brushed nickel and glass. We did have a beige color on the ceilings and the new white really brightens up the areas and makes it all look so fresh.

This afternoon I ran up to Farmington to pick up another gallon of the paint the 1st Lady is using for the living room.........there is not any place here in town that sells Sherwin-Williams paint........one of the negatives of living in a small town in the middle of the National Forest area.

This evening I installed the new drapery pole....which is really cool looking.....and put up the new drapes in the tv room. They are really great looking.....a casual look....and the darker gray and black drape really works for our gray walls!!!

Tomorrow morning I have to run up to Festus for my appointment with a urologist. Not certain what to expect............sure hoping there is not an invasive procedure....at least not while I am wide awake!!! I'll report back on this issue tomorrow evening.......

And so.......hopefully tonight will not be a repeat of last's nights storms.....but, nevertheless.....

Life is Great.....and I hope it is for all of you, also!!

A WEATHER DAY.....all day and into tonight!!!!

AGAIN.......the horrific heat and humidity today!! And.....this evening, within the past hour, terrible storms blew by just northwest of here.....just a few miles away. The storms came from the NorthEast and went southwest.......really, really odd for Missouri. STL was hit very hard.....at the present moment, 10:10pm, over 300,000 people are without electricity, three buildings have collapsed, and one of the main bridges is totally blocked by three semi's that were blow over while crossing the bridge. They remained on the bridge, but are heavily damaged. There doesn't seem to be any injuries of any consequence, but with so many utilities our of commission, some may not be able to report, or get any assistance. The airport is closed as there has been damage to one of the main terminals and there is no electricity there, either. Sooooo, the end to a HOT day!!!!

We went into STL this morning for our appointment with the Kitchen and Bath company that we have decided to contract to build our cabinets. We spent 2.5 hours with the designer/rep. and made many decisions as to the "guts" of the cabinets, the arrangement of the various cabs., and other specifics. The only hold up is to allow a few days for a cab. door example with a new stain on cherry wood which has just become available with these cabinets to be shipped to the company in STL so that we can see it. Otherwise, we will go with the natural maple........

We made a stop at one of the Sam's Club stores.....and bought WAY tooooooo many items, but that is nothing new when we make a stop there!!! HAHAHA.....now, as usual, the problem becomes WHAT do we do with the LARGE quantities of some of the boxed items. HAHHAHA....I told the 1st Lady that we would just have to store them until our new cabinets and pantry are built!!!!

Gas has risen in the STL area to $3.07-3.09 a gallon......DAMN!!!!!!!!!!! Since it personally affects me, this issue angers me MUCH, MUCH more than many other issues in our country. HOWEVER........the narrow-minded bumpkin that lives in the White House DID veto the stem cell bill..........THAT DOES REALLY, REALLY UPSET ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have managed to stay away from politics in this little ramblin' blog concerning TheHowserHouse, but I am about to begin writing about my/our feelings about the way this country is regressing.......and going in the WRONG direction!!! How...repeat, HOW many of my/our freedoms do we have to relinquish in the name of "fighting the war on terror"????????? Well, I will close this for tonight, but my mind and my feelings will continue........

Even with all of the above........

Life is Great.......and I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!

And Misery in Missouri just gets worse!!!!

THIS has been the WORST day yet during this heat wave that we are experiencing........the heat index was 113 degrees at one point this afternoon, and might have been higher than that!! Everytime I stepped outside today, it was exactly like stepping into a sauna......with the exception that here I was fully dressed.....well,.......almost fully dressed. I wore as little outside today as I could legally get by with and not get the neighbors all hot and bothered.....and not from the temps......hahahah!! We did have a 15 minute HARD downpour at 6pm.....but all it did was to increased the amount of humidity this evening, and for tomorrow.

Today......well, I found myself preparing the living room for painting: moving some of the furniture out my way, laying huge sheets of thick plastic sheeting across the floor and what furniture remained(white leather sofa and grand piano). Then after a quick trip to pick up two gallons of Benjamin Moore "Decorator White" paint for the ceiling, I took the plunge and began to paint over my head...........seems like I am always over my head in some type of activity!!!

Actually........I was happily surprised at how easily the paint went on the textured ceiling(I did NOT sand the ceilings)!!!! I had already taped over the moldings around the windows, doors, baseboards, and other openings so it was not a time consuming task today. I gave the living room ceiling two coats of this great white paint.......our ceilings had been painted with a beige paint.....for years and years. So......WOW....it really looks clean and fresh!!!!

I will continue with the white paint on into the dining area and the WIDE hallway leading to the second bedroom and to our den/study and the bathroom. I just couldn't get to all of it today because of the stacked furniture in these two areas. AND.....the 1st Lady said she will paint the living room walls, so the room needs to be as vacant as it is now to allow her to get to the walls. She had to make a trip to Farmington to pick up the wall paint: Sherwin-Williams and the color has no particular name because we had them use their computer to copy the color of a picture we had.......however, it is a burnt orange/terra cotta color......or so we HOPE it is!!! HAHA......we will know more when we get it on the walls and probably it will take at least two coats to get the color we want.

This evening I had to be at the Board of Education meeting for a couple of hours at the Bd. Building. A very calm and laid back meeting tonight!!!

Tomorrow morning we head up to STL for our appointment with the guy in the cabinet shop that we have been haggling with. Sure do HOPE that tomorrow we can nail down exactly what we want and get the ideas across to him so that only one more trip will be necessary......the signing of the contract.

DAMN......but this aging of my body.....the evolution into the sagging hulk that I have become(and it is NOT pretty).......well, it does bother me. I am sooooo damned sore from painting over my head with a long pole and roller brush......just the different muscles that I use really sets my evolving body into screaming spasms of muscule pain!!! Hate it.......

But, nevertheless......

Life is GREAT......and I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!!!

HOORAY ....HOORAY!!!!!! The Lappie is ALIVE!!!!

A BIG thanks to Dr. Brandon Hale for taking my sick and dying little lappie, giving it a needed transfusion by draining all of the wonderful stored information inside it, temporarily storing it in a secure place, and then re-energizing and recovering my lappie's Life by loading all of the programs that were inside it when it became mine.......and then transfusing the saved information back inside it......and voila .........it is working perfectly!!!!! How wonderful the little keys, which have my fingerprints all over them, feel........my fingers are rejoicing because they feel more natural on these keys........they are almost orgasmic with joy!!!!

Soooo, what else has happened with my day???? Well, it has been a day of attempting to remain cool (welllll, I'm ALWAYS "cool")........cool by temperature, that is. It has been VERY hot here, close to 100, and there is almost no breeze at anytime of the day. I know that this same horrific heat is all over the US......but doesn't one always think they are having the worse than anyone else???

This has been a day of thoughts, some planning for the days this week, and for the following weeks. Tomorrow is buy the burnt orange/terra cotta color paint for the living room walls, and also the white paint for the ceiling, which the 1st Lady informs me is the part of the room I will be painting (ceiling). I really don't give a damn what I have to paint......I just want to get this task completed to as close to perfection as possible!!!!!! I also have a Board of Education meeting tomorrow night and an appointment with a urologist for Friday morning. Still some more testing needed to see if it is a "growing problem" or a "going problem". I have also spent some time this afternoon getting back to my lappie and re-loading some of my own software onto it........things that didn't originally come with the lappie.

We do have an appointment in STL on Wednesday morning with a cabinet shop. Think we have arrived at a decision and will place an order for the damned kitchen cabinets within the week. Just want to nail down the exact costs.......as we have had bids from $8000 to $17,700 for the same small, small kitchen cabinets!!!!!!

I really did need to finish mowing the lawn this evening, however, it is just toooo damned hot. So, I watered the plants and tomatoes, sprayed for mosquitoes in the back yard/shrubs/plants/etc. and called it an evening for the outside work. "Wimp"....you say???? Well......perhaps so, however, at 63 years of age.........nothing I am called bothers me at all!!!! HAHAHA.......my skin is thick!!!!!

I look forward to the day in the very near future when our stick and brick will be totally finished and I can take TheHowserHouse (on wheels) and head out of this humid climate for dryer temps.!!!!

Soooo, with much joy and elation.......

Life IS GREAT.......and I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!!

How do I look???

 

Beauty and Bubbles!!

 

Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Gipson

 

A BUSY weekend!!!!

From Friday thru Saturday night......my main focus was centered on the wedding of Andrew Gipson and Laura Shrewsbury. The 1st Lady and I went up to STL on Friday morning, did some shopping and purchased some drapes for the new family room, along with a new drapery pole, and then before we knew it, it was time to head over across the Mississippi to Waterloo, IL. This extremely clean and very neat town is the home of the bride and where the wedding church is located.

The rehearsal went well.......it was a beautiful church in which to have a wedding. And the rehearsal dinner given by Andrew's parents was good and enjoyable. We returned to F'town rather late......somewhere around midnight.

Saturday.....it was up and checking to see that we had all that was needed for the late afternoon event. Then.....because we had screwed up and didn't have the correct measurements for the window draperies...AND pole.....we had to go back out to West STL on Manchester.....the EXPO Decorating Center.....and exchange everything we had purchased the day before. LUCKILY, they had the correct sizes and we were soon on the highway back to Waterloo.

With the wedding at 3:30pm......it was necessary to be dressed by 1:30 for the pictures, or so we were informed. Andrew and the rest of us guys sat around for over an hour before the photographer told us to follow him OUTSIDE in the high 90 degree heat. He took some pics on the steps of the church and then it was a quick dash back inside to the a/c before our tuxes started dripping sweat.

The wedding was very, very nice......and it went off without any surprises!! The bride was beautiful.....radiant might even describe her look! AND THEN.......we sat around in the church having more pictures made for right at 2 hours!!!!! UGH!!!! But, such is the way of bridal photographers.......it is ALWAYS that way.

Then all of the bridal party entered the limo, sat back with some champagne and enjoyed the ride back to STL to the wedding reception location. With the pics taking soooo long, it wasn't quite the LONG ride around in the limo that was hoped for........but, it worked out perfectly anyway!!

The reception dinner and dance went without any problems and was a GRAND SUCCESS!!!!!! It was a really nice place for the reception, the dinner was soooooooo great, and the party afterwards was perfect!! So enjoyable and I believe the newly wedded couple enjoyed everything 100%!!!!

The 1st Lady and I returned to F'town around 1AM, which made for a quick night in a horizontal position!!!! I was up at 6:30AM this morning as we had made plans to visit Michael for the morning. Had a good visit with him and then returned mid-afternoon.

Both the 1st Lady and I CRASHED for a couple of hours!!! I was soooo tired that I couldn't even make any sense of what I was doing......except to lay on that sofa and get some sleep. Later this evening I got most of the TALL grass mowed and trimmed......the rest to be done tomorrow evening. The ungodly HEAT today made mowing a bit of a chore, so after I lost about a gallon of moisture from my heated body.....I called it a day and put the mower away for the night.

My body is now telling me that it needs to be put to bed for a few hours......soooo....I will follow the instructions it is giving me......quickly!!! But, as I always say:

Life is GREAT!!!! And I hope it is for all of you, also

CONGRATS ANDY & LAURA!!!!!!

AHHHH....the walls are feeling happy!!!!

HOT.....HUMID.....RAIN!!!!! Oh yeah.......I forgot to mention that SE Missouri is much like the tropics at this time of the year.....and today was NO exception. The comfort index registered at 105 degrees......dripping with moisture, and to make matters worse, it RAINED this afternoon!!! UGH.....why am I not in Wyoming...high up in the Big Horn Mts......trying to not break my arm again????? MY STICK AND BRICK.....that's the answer!!!!

Oh yeah.......we painted the walls with a primer today. As we inspected them after painting, we found one wall that still needs more sanding......those nasty little bumps and ridges are still evident, especially with the paint on !! But.....we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.....HOORAY!!!!!

The rest of the day........???? Well, the painting job took almost all of the afternoon, and then the rains came and even with the cool, cool of the a/c, it took a lot of time for the walls to dry. AND......my new-found allergy to paint resurfaced this afternoon.......and my head was pounding with every heart beat, so I had to spend some of the time in the wonderful hot/humid air on the patio just to clear my head from time to time.

I did talk with my best friend.......who has one day and a wake-up before he ties the knot with a really great young lady!!! Tomorrow evening is the rehearsal over in Waterloo, Illinois....and so the 1st Lady and I will head to STL in the morning for some drapery shopping and then hook up with the groom during the day before we head down to Waterloo for the 6pm rehearsal and dinner afterwards. I do need to get a "toast" speech together.........should I embarrass him.....or should I just be nice and humorous???? Hmmmmm.........which will it be??? Which best reflects my personality in situations like this????? HEHEHEEE!!!

And so, I am playing "old man" tonight and turning in early. I hardly slept at all last night because my screaming bodily muscles were sooooo damned angry with me for abusing them soooooo harshly yesterday during the hours upon hours of sanding the walls. And.....they haven't given up on letting me know their feelings........they are still screaming loudly!!!

But, with this long awaited wedding weekend beginning tomorrow, I need to get my aging body some rest..........a sagging hulk of me is NOT a good visual for standing beside the groom at the alter as the Best Man. Sooooo.......

Life is Great......and I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!!!!

ANOTHER day of wall-working.....

Yep......I was back on the ladder today with my dust-filtering face mask on to scare off any door-to-door salesmen. I was a bit on the late side this morning, but after a couple of cups of my Fr. Roast coffee, I felt the urge to get my errands completed so that I could climb up on that wonderful ladder and attempt to finish the sanding task today!

Getting a later start than I had hoped for, I was turning green by 12:30 this afternoon. Yep....the dust from the textured "sand-in-the-paint" that we are removing from all of the walls in the living room and dining area soon covered my face and hair.....and I am certain that I would not have been recognized had someone come inside the house. And so........I continued to use the sander until a few minutes after 8pm tonight!!!!!! I had a couple of small breaks as Sue and Dave, our last night dinner hosts, came over to make us take a break.....bringing some of their wonderful dessert goodies that they had fixed last night for after our dinner. After a few minutes of chatter, we finished the cake, they departed for their home, and we returned to our dusty task.

THEN......a former student, who is now a band director in North STL, dropped by to visit for about 15 minutes. Well.......I guess I didn't look as bad as I thought because he did recognize me and remained to talk.

FINALLY, shortly after 8pm, we/I finished the sanding.....and then I spent about 30 minutes cleaning the two rooms. I did a better than average job of sealing off the other rooms with plastic sheeting and tape and so the cleaning was not as difficult as I had expected it would be. SURE glad to get this task finished.......and now: IT IS TIME TO PAINT!!!!!!

Sooo, I will soon retire to my horizontal position after I take a couple of pain killers for my aching/screaming shoulders and arms. I am certain visions of paint brushes will dance through my head all night!!!!! But.....it is the final step to getting some of our house put back in order.....and soooo,

Life is Great......and I hope it is for all of you, also!!!

Wall working......UGH!

What a "tropical" day it has been here.........a bit of sunshine and immediately followed by clouds, rain, and then more bits of sun. The humidity and the upper 80's have made for some very unpleasant weather around here.....even tho the rain was really needed!!!!

Soooo, after some planning this morning, the 1st Lady and I decided to go to work on the living room walls with two electric sanders. Soooo, to say the least, the dust was flying and settling everywhere that was not sealed off by plastic sheeting. I had the large attic fan going all day and the front and back doors wide open to help get the dust sucked up and out of the house, BUT......as you may know, there is STILL dust laying and floating around the house!!

We did make progress, finishing the two remaining living room walls.........all, or at least MOST, of the god-awful sand textured walls are as smooth as they will get!! Now....the evening discussion is how far we want to continue with this extra project.....into the wide "hallway....which it is not a hallway" and into the area we have used as a dining area, or just paint them a different color. Oh my.......another decision to make by morning.....!!!!! I am just wanting to get this part of the house complete......with paint and furniture returned to once again have a living room!!!!

Our good friends, Sue and Dave, called late this afternoon and said that they wanted us to come out for dinner.....so, with dust everywhere.....we accepted!!!! And what a Chef is Sue!!!!! Wine and appetizers were ready and waiting when we arrived........and then a delicious dinner was served which included a wonderful green salad with mangoes and onions, scallops sauteed in butter and wrapped in proscuitto, and then a baked pasta dish which included crab meat covered in a cream sauce!!! WOW........did I ever eat TOOOOOOOOOOO much!!!!! My favorite???? The incredible scallops!!!!!

Since the two of them and the 1st Lady and I have all been traveling alot in the past 5 weeks, we had much to discuss!! They had been to Florida for two weeks and returned through Chicago for a few days there. Of course we had been to Florida in early June, followed by our recent 11 day trip up to the Special Olympic National Summer Games in Ames, Iowa. And, as usual.....our talks led to future trips for all of us......as we plan to leave as soon as the house is completely finished and we also are to be in Orlando for 8 days the last week of September. We still have reservations to be in Nevada the second week of November for a Cedar Creek Rally.....which will mean some time spent either on the way there or on the return.....in Las Vegas. I am still planning on being in Wyoming to trout fish in October.......!!!! And, of course.....we will be in Texas and in Arizona for the winter months.......YEAH!!!

Sooooo, Life goes on......and, of course....

Life is GREAT.....and I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!

Long time, No post......

Well.....we DID return to TheHowserHouse/stick and brick yesterday evening. We departed Ames, Iowa, about mid-morning on Saturday, however, we only drove about half-way and stayed overnight with the 1st Lady's mother. Her mother has been experiencing more health problems, so we decided to spend some time with her before heading on south to home.

Our week in Ames was WONDERFUL!!!!! I know that I have written and expressed my views about the Special Olympics National Summer Games.....but I could write more and more about the atmosphere there and how it made me feel to be part of this unique experience. As I said before......it HAS changed my Life a great deal......and it has opened my eyes to the incredible people who are our "Special Citizens", not only of just our country, but also of the entire world. Did I mention that there was a delegation from China there to observe how the Games were run and administered as China will host the World Special Olympics in Shanghai next year??

Today was a busy one for me. I took my very ill lappie out to the school tech guru and left it with him to attempt to cure it of it's ills......I HOPE!!! Then I had to dash to Farmington to get a haircut......I have a VERY important wedding to participate in this coming weekend......and then dashed home, change clothes and drove to STL for an appointment in Clayton. Finally, after spending an hour sitting in heavy, stalled traffic during the evening rush hour, I returned back down here around 7:30pm.

Tomorrow.....well, it is back to trying to finish sanding the living room walls to get rid of that damned sand/textured paint so I/we can get the room painted with a flat finish. Then.....perhaps we can begin to put that room back together once again.......???? I HOPE!!

My tomato plants are loaded with growing tomatoes!!!!!!! And.....my basil bush is growing soooo much I doubt that I can use all of it......and the rest of my herb garden seems to be progressing quite well!!!! Perhaps I can set up a roadside stand to sell fresh basil??????? HAHA!!!! SURE I will make tons of money doing that!!!!!

Soooo, even tho "home is where the heart is"......I do not feel that way. I need to be traveling down the road, around the curve, over the next hill, and discovering new sights, new sounds, new aromas, and new restaurants. Soooooonnnnn, I hope!!!!

Life is GREAT.....and I hope it is for all of you, also!!!

With our Gold Medalist at the Special Olympic statue

 

The 1st Lady among the garden flowers

 

Time to relax in the Gardens.....

 

Jo Dee Messina sings....

 

An Unforgettable Week......

A memorable Closing Ceremonies tonight.........and it reminded me of just how much this week here at the Special Olympics has really changed me. The love.....the acceptable diversity....and the togetherness among ALL people of all races and disabilities......well, it was so incredible that I feel like my life has changed this week!!! There is no way of describing this week in words that can give any of you a real feeling of what has gone on here in Ames over the past 6 days. I can only say that everyone should spend some time at a Special Olympic event such as this......or even on the state level. I can only encourage you to seek out an experience like this.......get involved and work with those who do have the disabilities like the thousands of wonderful people who were here to participate in these National Games. You will never ever be the same again!!!

This morning after breakfast......well, let me just say that the service and staffing here this morning was 100% improved. Why the 5 days before today was so unacceptable I do not know.....except for what I have written about this week. Why did it take an email to the corporate headquarters yesterday before the staffing and service improved enough to be what the quality should have been all along???? Someone was letting the "ball drop".

After breakfast, we all went to the Reiman Gardens here on the ISU campus.....and it was a beautiful two hours as we wandered through the many flowers, shrubs, and wonderful landscaping of the Gardens. It is just beautiful.......and if you ever are in Ames, or even just passing through, plan to spend a couple of hours in this gorgeous setting.

We had a late lunch at "Aunt Maude's"......and it was an incredible meal!!!!! Probably the best meal of the entire week!!! Most of the limited lunch menu was contemporary cuisine and each meal that was ordered had a beautiful presentation......and the flavors and textures were just as great!! And the price........quite nice as the five of us ate for less than $60 and that included my glass of Pinot Grigio. When in Ames........be sure and eat at Aunt Maude's on west Main Street. You will not be sorry for the experience.

The afternoon was spent by the 1st Lady and I wandering down the Main Street and enjoying the shops and small boutiques that are doing a really good business......even "old fashioned" shoe shops that actually measure your feet prior to bringing out the shoes for you to try on. It was a fun afternoon.

We returned to the hotel and before long it was time to leave for the Closing Ceremonies, of which I have discussed above. The MC was Kurt Warner.....and the entertainment was by Jo Dee Messina, the CW singer. We returned to the hotel and then enjoyed a beer and some appetizers prior to returning to the room. We will leave tomorrow for Missouri and the unfinished remodeling project at home.

After a week such as this one.......

Life IS GREAT.....and I hope it is for all of you, also.

Special Olympics National Games....

 

A GOLDEN Jump!!!!!

 

Justin with the baton during the 3rd leg of the 4x100 Relay

 

CONGRATS on your GOLD MEDAL!!!

 

Justin and his PROUD Parents!!