As this seems to be the unofficial "Ron Send-off Week," I couldn't pass it up !

It was Ron, Ben, Kevin G. and myself. We were pretty awful-but it was still a blast. We originally planned to play 18, but after 9 holes, 20-some lost balls and 3 1/2 hours, we decided to call it after 9 holes.

I think it was the best choice as we finished off the round with a celebratory Chipotle.

Day Off Pt 2...

Cleaned out the garage (and garage attic). Cut some lumber for the makings of a corn-hole set. Grilling out pork chops right now. (Cue the harrassing coments from the brother and sister : "On the laptop while grilling out ? Can't get away from the technology at all, can you?")

Ah well ! It's a beautiful night !

Word !

When the weather finally gets nice enough to enjoy, you spend the day working hard.

Since the snow melted the hard reality set in that Allyson and I had a lot of work to do in the yard. With the septic system being replaced in the back yard, it is pretty much just a bunch of uneven dirt. Also, our soil is very clay-rich so the drainage isn't the best, which causes there to be soppy ground with patches of grass. In the back yard, where there isn't just dirt, the grass barely grows due to the heavy shade.

The flowerbeds were very overgrown with weeds and leaves and rocks and everything else. Allyson's been working relentlessly on the flowerbeds, weeding and pulling, picking up sticks, etc, etc.

I started by leveling some ground in the front yard. Since the septic system had to be drained to the front ditch, there was a 3-5 foot wide mound of mud all the way from the back yard out to the road. I used a shovel and a rake and worked for 3 days or so for a couple hours each day. I only made it to the garage. It seemed to take longer than it should.

Allyson and I have been reading about various lawn practices. Fertilizing, aerating, shade-tolerant plants, mowing, mulching, etc. (too many etc.'s thus far).

In any case, that brings us up to today...

Dad came up @ 11 AM. Before he got here, I made an expensive run to Home Depot where I picked up a chainsaw and weed-eater and sledgehammer.

Then Dad and I went on some more errands. One of which included buying a used rear-tine Craftsman Tiller. It was a bit expensive ($300) but seeing as models that aren't as powerful or wide usually go for $650 and up, both Dad and I thought it was a steal. Only had to go to Twinsburg to get it, so it was even more convenient.

Once we got back, we fired up the tiller to see what it would do with the thick-wet clay. It mowed right through it. It even plowed right through the hard stuff that had been sitting around where the septic system was replaced. It's going to make the re-seeding of the back yard, much, MUCH easier.

After tilling for about 30 to 45 minutes, I mentioned to Dad that I might want to cut down a couple trees. He agreed that we'd probably want to do that before tilling, so we got ready to be lumberjacks. The first tree that we wanted to take down was the biggest tree in our yard. I'd say a good 80 feet tall. The tree had numerous dead branches, and was blocking most of the sun from hitting the back yard. It had a single stump, but split into two main trunks about 3 feet above ground. So the plan was to cut the tree down where it was a main trunk. Well lets just say that Gravity had a different plan.

The trunk that was facing away from the house fell harmlessly into the open yard. The other trunk stayed up and wasn't falling (thankfully). The bad part - it was definitely not straight up and down, so any more cutting would probably release the tree right in the house, and seeing as this tree was the biggest, it would have done some serious damage.

In order to release some weight, pulling the tree toward the house, Dad and I thought it best to cut branches off the side that was facing the house. Problem was, the branches were far above the reaches of the extension ladder. On comes what I will now refer to as the "Farming Ingeniuty." We've got two extension ladders and some rope. Sounds like the making of a 'Super Extension Ladder.' Allyson saw what was going on and headed to the front yard where she didn't have to watch. I ran up the ladder with the hand saw, and one by one, cut off the branches that were pulling the tree more toward the house.

Well that was the first big win-the tree didn't fall when I was in it, about 50 ft up with a saw in my hand.

So we went at it again with the chainsaw. I cut and cut and cut to try and get the tree to fall in right direction, but in looking at where we were with the cut, it just wasn't going to fall in the direction that we wanted...i.e. the house. We took about 20 minutes to try and figure out the best method to get it to NOT hit the house. We tied a rope around a top main trunk so we could 'guide' the falling tree as best we could. We made another 'incision' about 4 feet up on the trunk, borrowed our neighbor William for an extra 'puller.'

After some lengthy cutting, and a big tug from Dad and William, the tree fell...away from the house. For the record, I was really, really affraid that it was going to drill the house.

We ate some dinner, and then cut up a ton of branches and stacked the wood in the back brush area. That took about 2 hours or so. We then called it quits and cleaned up.

Boy it was a good deal of work. I'll quote Ben Stiller from Happy Gilmore "Well now you're back's going to hurt, 'cause you just pulled landscaping duty. You're in my world now Grandma."

My back does hurt.

I'll post the pictures of the event soon :)

I'm out.

We've moved in.
We hosted Thanksgiving dinner for 16.
We provided space for 13 people for 3 days.
We put up our first Christmas Tree in the new house.
We had our septic system replaced.
We had our garage door and opener replaced.
I put the "Winter Wheels" on the cars, washed and stored the Summer ones.
We've eaten a gaggle of drumsticks (my lastest favorite treat).
I put back on 5 pounds of the 15 that I had lost since we started working on the house.
Scrubs is back on TV.
We've watched some episodes of Everwood, and now I'm hooked...

Whew.

We still have a ton more in store to do, but we're waiting on $$$ that we'll save and also the time (and weather) to do so.

Countertop
Tiling
Bathroom Updating
Ceiling Fixes

There's a whole 'laundry-list' of To-Do's posted on the fridge and we keep crossing things off.

Merry Christmas to all and Happy New Year !!!

Water heater has been replaced. Washer and Dryer have been hooked up. I have nothing else to say but a HUGE thanks to Phil (good friend I play volleyball with). He ran the show and taught me quite a bit at the same time.

It's a huge load off my mind because now, the house is livable (it would have been rough w/ no hot water !

I'm off tomorrow. Allyson's off tomorrow. Dad's off tomorrow. Can you guess what we'll be doing ? Packing and moving and raking leaves and moving shingles and cleaning and anything else :) Oh yeah, hanging the cabinets, too.

We're still moving on Saturday with (again) the help of friends. Ron's, Kevin, Ice's, Burnett's are the folks thus far. I think Dad will be back again on Saturday, too :) Well, it's night time for this guy. Only got 5 hours of sleep last night - I got stuck watching the last two episodes of 24 : Season 2. :)

Night !

Although it only took me about 15 seconds to write the above three tasks, it took a TON of effort by many to complete them. We are moving right along. Almost complete with painting the kitchen cabinets and also almost complete with replacing all of the drywall in the kitchen where the cabinets used to be.

Things left to do...

I've got a list at home, but I can't seem to remember (and don't have the energy to) list them all out again.

Some tasks :

Fix / replace water heater
Remove remaining carpet
Hook up washer and dryer
Remove remaining shingles / plywood
Move in
Replace ceiling fans
Clean

MOST IMPORTANTLY - Allyson and I have been humbled by the amount of help we have received in working on the house. I typically like things to be done in a particular way, so I prefer to do them myself, but everyone has been very detail oriented, and I can't say how nice it has been to finish a day on the roof to find that 4 rooms were painted while I wasn't around !!

Thanks to everyone who has helped. We REALLY appreciate everything :)

PICTURES !!!