First of all, let me say that I am blown away by the tragedy of the Tsunami.. as of this writing.. the death toll is over 125,000. Unbelievable. Like C-U + some of the surrounding communities gone in an instant. My prayers are with the survivors and their families.

For the good news, we just had out house reappraised in preparation for our final mortgage. In preparation, I got the drywall hung on the east side of the dining room and finished the bathroom closet.

In April, our house appraised for $120,000. As of this morning, it appraised for $181,500, and we aren't done yet! We still have to build the wrap around porch, finish the dining room, laundary room, put in the fireplace, plus all the outside landscaping we want to do. Woo hoo!

We are having a few friends over for New Years which will be nice. It's been a long time since we could host anyone.

Have a Happy New Years everyone!!

Here are some pics of the '71 Mustang that Gary (Holly's Dad) picked up in Wisconsin this summer.

'71 Mustang Mach I

We had a really nice Christmas. Although it would have been nice to have some snow.. for the travellors, I am glad that everything was clear. It was the first time a lot of the family has seen the house in quite some time, so it was a lot of fun to show everyone around. Everything seemed to go smoothly, which is always a nice thing. We ended up taking all the food up to Karen's to eat, since we did not get the dining room done enough to eat in.

Broderick and Bridget both really enjoyed their presents. Broderick got a HO scale John Deere train set, which he loves, and Bridget got several dolls that she has been carrying around.

Holly and I decided to forgo presents for each other and hope to get a piano for the house soon.

I did end up getting about half the dining room ceiling put up on Sunday. I can't do the other half until we tear out the bathroom and all upstairs, which I may start on soon.. or I may not. It is so nice to have the house basically livable... certainly isn't perfect, but you can walk through the dining room now, which you couldn't do this time last week...

Finances are really tight right now, with X-mas and the dog indicent of last week... but we'll get through it. The digs are both doing really well.

Alex and Glen were in town over the weekend and we went out last night... a lot of fun catching up with everyone. We ended up going out last night (office 2 and the embassy), so I was just exhausted this morning...

Otherwise, we just took it easy over the weekend. We are going to have some friends over for New Year's Eve, which will be nice. :)

Our dishnetwork still isn't set-up.. hopefully by later today, everything will be alright. The kids would really like to be able watch some other stations...

I can't believe tomorrow is the day that we are hosting 20-30 people in our house. The dinning room is still studs, although I am well on my way to putting up drywall (which will happen tonight). I got all but one light installed, although I still have to do some wiring (darn 3-way switches always require some thought). I also opened up the stairwell... which was very scarey.

There aren't many times when you are working on something thinking, "oh sh*t, what am I doing?". Here I am, on a ladder, cutting through the ceiling joist over my head, hearing lots of "creaking" noises... I was the only one home and I was thinking, "Crap, if this falls on me.. no one is even around to call for help!". Of course, I had taken precautions of putting up supports and all, but it was a scarey moment. It all turned out well though.

Holly is spending the day cooking up a feast for tomorrow. I think the new kitchen is working out well, although she realizes that it would have been nice to have two sinks. (23 lbs Turkey is thawing in one side of our sink). Our fridge also isn't large enough to hold lots of food, so I brought in the fridge out of the shed and put it in the basement over lunch to give her more storage room without having to go outside.

I also put up drywall on our bedroom closet while I was home for lunch.

Dishnetwork is being installed as I type this. I won't be able to enjoy it tonight... but the next couple of days should be nice and the kids will really enjoy having all the channels again. We are also getting the DVR!

My last day here at HK has been bumped back to Jan 7. They want 10 business days notice instead of 2 weeks notice (since there are a couple of Holidays these next 2 weeks). I don't mind, but I really don't have much to do.. and I hate being bored killing time. Maybe I'll have to find some other things to occupy my time...

Carrie is switching jobs out in DC going to work for a Government contractor which means that she'll get security clearance. That will open a lot of doors for her. She is also driving back home to Michigan tomorrow, so safe travels to her.

They are calling for 1-3" of snow tomorrow with winds.. so we may not have x-mas anyway. A couple of family members are coming in from out of town, so they'll likely cancel if the weather is bad.

Oh! Almost forgot... both of our dogs are recovering nicely. Sam was even out playing with a ball today. JD got blood and cost us $800 altogether and Sam just got vitamins and cost $100 and they are both doing fine... makes me wonder if we put JD through more then he needed (and expense).

Lefty got out yesterday while I was home for lunch. I decided to dump out the frozen watering container which was pretty loud. He didn't know I was there and spooked, taking off running... right through the fence! Luckily, he didn't get hurt at all. The fence connector gave way, so rather then breaking, it went slack.

He had a good time running around (he has such a pretty trot when he wants) and after 5-10 minutes came right back to me.

http://thebarnharts.org/downloads/Why_Women_Live_Longer_Than_Men.pps

Once you open it, click the mouse button or hit any key to go through the pics. G rated. :)

Well... to complete the story about Roger... Yesterday morning, I received a job offer from Wolfram Research which I've decided to take. I'll be working in the database group creating reports, web portals, working with Discoverer, and Crystal Reports.

The decision was very tough, but Wolfram really feels like home to me. I worked there for just under 7 years before leaving to go to Levi, Ray, and Shoup and currently Human Kinetics. My last day (and first day at Wolfram) will be Dec 29, 2004.

As I mentioned yesterday, Sam must have also gotten into the poison. Holly took him to the vet and they gave us more Potassium pills (JD also got a blood transfusion). Last night was pretty iffy... Sam would cough a bit and then almost stop breathing (or so it seemed to us), but this morning.. he looks much better. JD has really bounced back and by looking at him, you'd have no idea. Both dogs were coughing up blood from bleeding in the lungs.

This thursday is the day the family is coming over for X-mas... and the dining room is still barely touched. I had thought we'd just get it cleaned up and leave it as is, and eat in the family room, but Holly pointed out last night that there isn't enough room in there... so I have 2 days (evenings) to get at least 1/2 of the room drywalled... Which means I have to get wiring up for lights, insulation, open up the stairs... it will be tough, but it is doable. Tonight I'll open the stairs, finish the wiring of lights and put up insulation.... tomorrow night I'll hang drywall... (We don't have to get it mudded... just hung)

This is one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time! (everything is G-rated)

Thought you were having a Bad Day?

What a weird weekend. I called in sick to work on Friday... I woke up just feeling like crap and went back to bed until 11 or so. Even then... I was still feeling under the weather.

Holly finished mudding the Master bedroom on Friday and we were able to move our bed in there! (Wow!)

We also went and picked up our X-mas tree at Ridge Road Tree Farm after we picked up the kids from school and decorated it that night.

Saturday I slept in as well, but felt much better. I started building our bedroom closet and cleaning the dining room in preparation for tearing it apart. I also installed the support legs for the island and did final prep work to install the laminate.

We soaked in the hot tub as a family for awhile... haven't done that much. (Normally, Holly and I soak after the kids are in bed)

Sunday I had a lazy day.. I've become adicted to this game called "War and Peace". The kids enjoy playing it with me, which is fun. Some of you might remember a Mac game called "Strategic Conquest" that was popular in the early 90's.. reminds me of it.

I installed the laminate countertop to the island (although I still have to trim it) and tonight, I'll finish up our closet and start putting up lights in the dining room.

I also set-up a small stall for Lefty in the East side of the shed. The roof on the Grainery is really looking bad and it can be a big pain to get Lefty in and out of there, so this way, we can go in whenever he wants (which he has not done yet).

Poor JD got into Rat Poison sometime. On Saturday, we noticed he was coughing.. so I brought him (and all the dogs) in Sat night. No coughing at all during the night.. but Sunday morning, I saw him cough up blood. So, a trip to the Animal Emergency Clinic, $700, blood transfusion and Potassium shot later, he is on the path to recovery. We'll have to give him Potassium tablets for the next 4-6 weeks.

Rat Poison works by causing the blood to thin and not clot. Rats die through internal bleeding. They tested JD's blood for clotting and it was off the scale of their instruments (not good).

Holly just called a bit ago and said that Sam isn't looking well either... so she is taking him in. Hopefully, if he got into it as well... we caught it early enough to avoid the blood transfusion.

Update: Sam is not doing well... but we are hoping to ride it out and keeping an eye on him... If you want to learn more about rat poison.. http://www.ipmofalaska.com/files/rodenticides.html

On the other note... I heard from Roger this morning. (I mentioned a few weeks ago that I ran into him at Best Buy)... decisions are to be made on my future! I'll update again this afternoon when I've made up my mind.

Ever need to look up a manual that you've lost?

LiveManuals

This is a fun X-mas decoration applet.

Deck the House

Rather then start ripping apart the future dining room, we are focusing on really finishing up the other rooms.

The family rooms is now all painted and ready to go... I may start laying the flooring in front of the door tonight. We don't have a lot of flooring.. so I won't get far. But, a job started....

Most of the drywall is hung in our bedroom. I have 1 more piece to hang on the South wall, but I am out of insulation..

In the kitchen, I need to put on the final touches to the bar so we can finish it up. I still doubt that we'll get trim put up everywhere.... but other things are coming along nicely.

Tomorrow night is the kid's Christmas program at school, which will be fun.

Oh! I sat out in the hot tub the other night and watched the meteor shower. I didn't see a lot of meteors, but the ones I did see where very bright and some traveled relatively slowly across the sky. Holly didn't want to brave the cold weather to join me. Not bad as long as you stay in the tub... but getting out, covering it, and getting back into the house is very chilly!

I signed us up for Dish Network today.... hopefully, they'll be able to install it soon. The kids are home on X-mas break the next 2 weeks.

I thought this columnist had some interesting (fun) discussions...
Regina Lynn Online

We got a ton done this weekend.
Friday

Friday night, we went to my brother Donald's for dinner, which was very nice. Once things settle down, it will be nice to be social again!

Friday night, I finished making the counter for the bar and installed it. Looks very nice. Tonight, I plan on laminating it (so it matches our other counter tops) and installing the posts that give it some flair.

I also finished the toilet installation in the master bath (which required plumbing in the sewer line for the toilet and sink). :)

Saturday

Saturday I finished hanging drywall on the ceiling and the east wall in the master bedroom. We put the finishing touches on the family room walls and ceilings. (We are texturizing it with drywall mud and a thick nap roller). I think the effect will work really nicely. We took some time off in around dinner time to drive through Candle Stick lane, but it was pedestrian traffic only. Since we didn't have our coats with us, we decided to skip it for the night and come up another time. (I found out today, that the roads are closed until 7 when they open up again).

We watched "Alex and Emma"... very cute. I didn't expect much and was very pleasantly surprised.

We also started mudding the ceiling in the bedroom. Our plan is to get the ceiling done and painted within the next couple of days so we can move out bed in. (Not enough room in their to work on the ceiling with the bed... but we can work the walls).

In the processes of preparing the ceiling, I had to remove the old light. I thought that this light was the last thing on this circuit, so I removed the wire from the fuse box (it is getting full) and removed the wires from the basement only to find that the kitchen lights didn't work! Doh! I forgot that I tied those lights into the old system.

Sunday

Sunday, we decided to skip church and to go shopping. We bought the bathroom sink and cabinate along with the needed hardware (towel holders, etc), a light to put over the bar, paint, etc, etc. Ended up spending just over $1K..dang.

We also hit target. Broderick's friend Lande had a b-day party at skateland, so Broderick went to that from 1-4. It's the first time in a long time that Bridget was home without Broderick. Sure enough... within an hour, she was complaining that she was bored and wondered when he would be getting home. :)

The day was spent painting the family room with primer (one small section left... we ran out of primer), and I installed the bathroom sink and accessories. I also installed the light over the bar and fixed the kitchen lights so they would work again.

Tonight, I want to get the remaining drywall hung in our bedroom so that we can really get it finished up.

Unfortunately, I don't think there is any way to get everything done by the end of next week... but we will have most of the downstairs done. Later this week, I'll rip out the western ceiling in the dining room (old living room). I should be able to get the new ceiling joists put in, but I doubt that I'll be able to close up that part.

I do plan on getting most of the drywall hung on the eastern side though...

Look what this team is up to!

Also.. update on things... we got the tile floor laid last night in the master bath.. tonight we need to grout and then wait 2 days before we can start using it.

Other then grouting... tonight's schedule calls for cleaning up the bedroom so that I can hang drywall, final prep for the kitchen bar, and *maybe* taking down the remaining insulation in the dining room so that we can start putting up lights and new insulation.

When I went home for lunch today, I found out that the wind caught our storm door on the west and ripped it open. tearing out a good chunk of wood and bending the crap out of the closers. Darn wind in the country.. :(

Oh, I forgot to report that Holly and Bridget went to go see the Nutcracker Suite on Sunday at Krannert. Bridget is now wanting to get back into Ballet classes...

Thanks to William who pointed this out.. very cool use of technology!

Animal Planet :: Spy on the Wild :: Bird Technology

Man, I am getting so bad about posting. It's not like there is nothing exciting going on.. but how many times can I say "put in a new window, hung drywall" :)

OK.. house update...

Put in new window... hung drywall :)

We are down to just 3 more windows.. (after replacing something like 22, this is huge). I also have all the siding put up on the North and just a another small section on the East. That leaves one wall left (where the fireplace is going and home to 3 new windows) and the whole house will be done.

Blows me away how much we are saving by doing this work ourselves. In the last year, we've spent something like $80,000 in remodeling... but that is just the cost of materials. If we had to pay someone to do all the work, I bet this would be hitting close to $200,000. Even the windows and siding. Our estimates came close to $50,000 for both to have professionals do it. We spent about $3,000 on siding and about the same on windows.

The double ovens were installed on Friday.. man they are nice. I am working on finishing up the bar and then the kitchen is really done! Our big push right now is to finish our master bathroom so we can tear apart the upstairs bath and laundary room. We are falling a bit behind schedule. I was hoping to be tearing things apart at this point.. butthe bathroom is painted and lights/outlets are installed as well as plumbing. Tonight, we'll put down the tile floor (which has to dry for a couple of days) and then we can install the toilet and sink and we are good to go.

Holly has been an amazing trooper. She is finishing the mud in the living room and got the bathroom done last week. I bought the drywall to finish our bedroom, but we haven't hung the ceiling yet.

I did manage to slice open my finger last night on a new razor blade while doing wiring... I told Holly she needed to get me some man bandaids instead of the small kid sized... she suggested I just use a paper towel and duct tape... not a bad idea!!

Work is crazy busy... web site is going live tomorrow but my part is pretty much done. Now everything falls on William as he is working like mad to get the builds going. I wish I could help out... but no doubt that I would just get in his way. I was watching him program last night.. damn he is fast. I could keep up with what he was doing more or less, which is good. :)

The farm is becoming a huge pond... we've gotten so much rain. We are also on an expedition to kill rodents. They are taking over the shed... I put out 7 things of poison and they were all empty (eaten) the next morning. Saw a stray cat this morning by the lab (garage).. took off as soon as we went outside... we could use some barn cats!!

2 1/2 weeks left before x-mas... crunch is on for the house... I doubt that we will be able to "finish" everything... but I hope to at least have all the drywall hung so no studs.. That would be a huge improvement. I got another garbage dumpster, which will help. Getting rid of debris can be really slow if you have to bag it all up.

I haven't had much time to work on my website in the last few weeks.. did get some more functionality added (logins and such) over the weekend. http://midwestopenhouse.com. Looking at some of the sites that William and Scott have put together... man.. I need some better design elements!