Saturday, May 24, 2008

Come the day I awake the child inside

I have drywall.

After weeks of inspectors, corrections, re-inspections, and the discovery that I apparently am not qualified to run my own phone lines (and must pay someone to do it for me, exactly the same way), I have drywall.

This means that someday my basement will be finished. Someday very soon actually. So it was great joy that I came home Tuesday, went down to the basement to see for myself the amazing spectacle.

I have drywall.

On other happy news, the finals for the Stanley Cup playoffs has begun. Pittsburgh vs. Detriot. I of course am cheering for my beloved Penguins and against the hated Red Wings. This will though be one hell of a series. The 1st game so far has been a little worrisome since the Penguins can't get a good bounce of the puck. However it is offset by the fact that the Red Wings can't catch a break either. A strange situation, but makes for a tense game.

Speaking of tense, not a day goes by that I don't expect a phone call from my wife at work telling me its time for the new baby. Pam is quite big now, and the baby is making her life miserable. However it apparently is content to stay in for a bit longer. We haven't settled on a name yet, however we're not too concerned. I think we're going to wait until he's born to see what feels right.

If we're lucky, the basement will be done by then. But I'm not holding my breath...

Sunday, May 04, 2008

Hey I, but, I'm still alive

I thought it was going to be longer until I quoted Pearl Jam, oh well

Sarahlynn (http://sarahlynn.blogspot.com/) has tagged me, which is pretty much a wake up call for me. I've had a lot of false starts over the last month and a half. I'll log on, start writing, look at the clock, then say screw it and go to bed.

Besides, it's hockey playoffs, if you didn't think I was going to be distracted, you haven't read this blog very long. (does anyone still read this blog?)

OK, according to the rules I have seen, you must do the following (shamelessly copied and pasted from Sarahlynn):
1. Link to the person who tagged you. (done, 2nd paragraph, hers is good, read it, she rocks)
2. Post the rules on your blog. (done)
3. Write six random things about yourself. (following)
4. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs. (ummm, maybe next post)
5. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.
6. Let your tagger know when your entry is up. (it's 11:30pm, should I call? :) )

Random stuff:
1) I love Oreos. I love them so much that I have to protest whenever anyone buys them for me, because I know that the battle of wills has begun. It is a battle I will lose. I feel shame.
2) As much as I praise the likes of Genesis, Rush, Tori Amos, plus countless other artists in that vein. The website I check just as much for a new album is Roxette. (probably because its never going to happen)
3) I have problems convincing myself to buy anything over $50.
4) I have problems imposing myself on anyone, for any reason (hence reluctance for rule #4)
5) My favorite series of books is the "Death Gate Cycle" by Margaret Weiss & Tracy Hickman
6) I am planning to write a series of 7 books (more on that later)

So let's catch up. We've started the process of finishing our basement. We decided to go the contractor route instead of doing it ourselves. There were a lot of reasons, but the main one being that I'd spend days obsessing over the spacing and leveling of each stud, where a contractor gets it done in a day or two.

We're doing a playroom, a guest room, and a bathroom. The guest room is causing the largest issues since it is a 'living area' and the permit office has all sort of annoyances for the permit and what not. Every contractor I talked to suggested that I skip the permit process unless we got caught. My neighbors that had done their own improvements agreed. However, I know my luck, and each time I take a shortcut it comes back to bite me. So we went through the frustrating process (even though my contractor handled it). I wouldn't of minded as much except that its costing me more money. Oh well.

We decided to put a guest room in the basement and turn our upstairs guest room into a room for kid #2 (no, we haven't picked a name yet, but we have finalists). There was talk of bunk beds, or moving our upstairs office. But it came down to the fact that keeping an upstairs guest room we used once or twice a year wasn't worth it. On the upside, the new guest room will have direct access to the bathroom.

I'm thinking of putting a security camera down there as well, so I can send Gavin and friends down there to play, and know what that crash was. Probably not a bad idea to have when he's a teenager too now that I think about it...

Hey, don't look at me that way. My mother's deviousness pushed me and my brother to higher levels of creative trouble making. With this trend, I'll need higher tech to keep up. Spend some time talking to my mother and you'll understand.

Speaking of Gavin, people have been showering him with gifts lately. Not only people I know, but random strangers. I'm not talking about people driving up and offering him candy, stop panicking. I'm just saying that while Gavin and I are waiting in Pizza Hut, a random woman playing the little "win a toy" game in the corner gives the prize to Gavin when she's done. No big deal, but after 3 incidents, I went back to check this wasn't a Give A Gift To Gavin month.

By the way, I'm not promoting that month, we have enough stuff in our house already.

OK, this post is long enough as it is, besides if I do it all now, there won't be another post for another month again...