Molly and Level 5

We got our letter today and Molly will be moving up to Level 5.

We’re pretty dag-gum proud of her.

She’s also going off to a week of Gymnastics camp at Camp Woodward in Pennsylvania. Looks like a pretty cool place.

This is a pretty big deal for her. We’re excited, and she is pretty fired up. She hasn’t been away from us for a week, or rather hasn’t been away from family in a week. She will be with Mama Lichey, who is as good as it gets. In fact Molly said, “Mom, if I couldn’t have you as a mom, Ms. Sharon would be OK”. So she’ll be fine.

She also got her press today from the floor to handstand without any help. I think she did another 25 of them tonight after she got home.

Go Molly Go!

Men’s Rules

I have seen the “Women’s Rules” before but not these, the are appropriate. I’ll protect the identity of the person who sent it to me 🙂

  1. Learn to work the toilet seat. You’re a big girl. If it’s up, put it down. We need it up, you need it down. You don’t hear us whining about you leaving it down.
  2. Birthdays, Valentines, and Anniversaries are not quests to see if we can find the perfect present yet again!
  3. Sometimes we are not thinking about you. Live with it.
  4. Sunday = sports. It’s like the full moon or the changing of the tides. Let it be.
  5. Don’t cut your hair. Ever. Long hair is always more attractive than short hair. One of the big reasons guys fear getting married is that married women always cut their hair, and by then you’re stuck with her.
  6. Shopping is NOT a sport. And no, we are never going to think of it that way.
  7. Crying is blackmail.
  8. Ask for what you want. Let us be clear on this one:
    Subtle hints do not work!
    Strong hints do not work!
    Obvious hints do not work!
    Just say it!
  9. We don’t remember dates. Mark birthdays and anniversaries on a calendar. Remind us frequently beforehand.
  10. Most guys own three pairs of shoes – tops. What makes you think we’d be any good at choosing which pair, out of thirty, would look good with your dress?
  11. Yes and No are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question.
  12. Come to us with a problem only if you want help solving it. That’s what we do. Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for.
  13. A headache that last for 17 months is a problem. See a doctor.
  14. Check your oil! Please.
  15. Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument. In fact, all comments become null and void after 7 days.
  16. If you won’t dress like the Victoria’s Secret girls, don’t expect us to act like soap opera guys.
  17. Let us ogle. We are going to look anyway; it’s genetic.
  18. If you think you’re fat, you probably are. Don’t ask us. We refuse to answer.
  19. If something we said can be interpreted two ways, and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, we meant the other one.
  20. You can either ask us to do something or tell us how you want it done. Not both. If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself.
  21. Whenever possible, please say whatever you have to say during commercials.
  22. Christopher Columbus did not need directions, and neither do we.
  23. The relationship is never going to be like it was the first two months we were going out. Get over it. And quit whining to your girlfriends.
  24. All men (real men) see in only 16 colors, like Windows default settings. Peach, for example, is a fruit, not a color. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have no idea what mauve is.
  25. If it itches, it will be scratched. We do that.
  26. We are not mind readers and we never will be. Our lack of mind-reading ability is not proof of how little we care about you.
  27. If we ask what is wrong and you say “nothing,” we will act like nothing’s wrong. We know you are lying, but it is just not worth the hassle. (See number 26).
  28. If you ask a question you don’t want an answer to, expect an answer you don’t want to hear.
  29. When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is fine. Really.
  30. Don’t ask us what we’re thinking about unless you are prepared to discuss such topics as navel lint, baseball, the shotgun formation, golf, or monster trucks.
  31. You have enough clothes.
  32. You have too many shoes.
  33. Foreign films are best left to foreigners. (Unless it’s Bruce Lee or some war flick where it doesn’t really matter what they’re saying anyway.)
  34. It is neither in your best interest or ours to take the quiz together. No, it doesn’t matter which quiz.
  35. Beer is as exciting for us as handbags are for you.
  36. I’m in shape. Round is a shape.

Thank you for reading this; Yes, I know, I have to sleep on the couch tonight, but did you know we really don’t mind that, it’s like camping.

Construction Update; Barn, Fence and Attic

The weather isn’t cooperating, not in the least.  I figure if I can golf in the rain, I can stretch fence in the rain, and that’s what we did at least part of the weekend.

Our barn is still stuck at a stand-still.  We’re still missing parts, trim and what-not.  It’s supposed to be here today (Monday).

On Saturday we did get the electric service in the house upgraded and switched out which is the first step to getting service to the barn.  The trenching to the barn should happen tonight.  If it’s not raining that is.

We did learn two things; one, stretching fence in the cold rain is miserable and two, you can stretch the hell out fence with the Excursion.

During brief periods we did some work in the attic putting up the infamous 1x8x8 tongue and groove boards.  The first 8 when up pretty good, but crooked.  So a trip to the depot to buy a laser level took care of that.  They came off about as easy as they went up which was a huge bonus.  It helps to have the right ‘Reverse’ tools as Charlie calls them.

In the end we got through the first roll of 200ft of fence with another roll ready to go, we’re going to need at least one more if not two. 

Did I mention stretching fence isn’t any fun? Because as much as you might think it is, it’s not.

It’s never ending :)

So we’re about 2 nope, I think we’re 3 weeks behind. We’re still missing stuff.

We now have a door that doesn’t fit, but that’s OK. It’s just like building a house.

The weather hasn’t cooperated, and neither has the supplier. But we are making progress and that’s all that counts. It could be worse. We could be building a Fischer Home. Must suck to be one of those folks.

But with some luck we’ll get the barn filled, the loft and stalls built and the fence up and the horse home in the next 2-3 weeks. Sounds impossible eh?

Wanna help?

Construction update

The Barn, which should be complete by now, isn’t.

It’s been a comedy of errors with material delivery.  Only we’re not laughing.  We’re still missing the corner trim, and enough siding to complete about half of the east side wall.  The 8 foot door on the east side wall isn’t right, either.  

Some how, some way, they thought we were putting in an 10 foot door or something, but that still doesn’t make up for the lack of siding material.

I hope there is enough adjustment in the door hangers to make it right or they’ll be building a new door.

Other than that things look good.  We’re only two weeks behind at the moment.

On the attic front, Home Depot delivered our wood yesterday, which coincidentally was the day I was going to take the receipt to them and well, get a little ‘Jiggly’ with them.

So all in all we’re still moving forward.  This weekend we should make some progress, they are supposed to fill the barn today and start the ground work, though the weather doesn’t look conducive if you ask me.

We still need to finish the fencing, there’s bracing to be put up, fencing to be stretched and nailed and gates to be hung.

Giddy-up.