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As far as I know, my Mother coined the phrase “Belly-Up to the Bar”. It’s basically a call for my children to come and eat! The Architect who invented this table built opposite the kitchen deserves an award. It’s such a convenient way to “slop” the hogs in between sit down family meals. The food goes straight from being prepared in the kitchen to their expectant mouths with a simple flick of the wrist.

I knew these days would come, and in reality It’s just barely starting. Be that as it may, it still doesn’t negate the fact that I’m having trouble keeping up with appetites. Four gallons of milk per week, a box of cereal demolished in a single sitting! Pounds of cheese, multiple loafs of bread, dozens of eggs… it numbs the mind. To this end, I’ve taken to shopping Sam’s Club again and buying everything in bulk. Simple things like ketchup and mayonnaise I’m bringing home now in vats instead of jars. I couldn’t find enough room in the cabinets to store all the food which prompted me to create the “Granary” which is a topic I’ll leave for another blog.

I feel like one of them “momma” birds with a nest full of chicks with their mouths constantly open screaming for food. Erick is only 12 years old and is in a size 10 shoe for men, I wear a size 9! WTF is up with that? I’ve always been under the impression that having big feet is an omen of tallness. I am not a tall guy, like 5’8″ at best, Wendy is pushing 5’2″ and I fail to understand how we bred gargantuan bottomless pits!

The Sunroom is 100% complete, YAY! I’ll have pix of its construction later. For now, I’m just happy to have a place to put all the excercise equipment she’s accumulated!

In a previous blog, I stated that one of our most treasured household possessions was our wood burning stove. Perhaps “The” most treasured item of everything we own would be our bed. I know it’s so 80’s to have a waterbed but we’ve been married almost 20 years and have owned nothing but! This is our second waterbed and we’ve had it for about 7 years now.

It is equipped with a heater, which enables one to slide into cozy warm bliss on a frigid winter’s eve. This bed is also the perfect height, not too short, not too tall! Adorned with a fine set of Egyptian cotton sheets & a down comforter with a chenille Duvall and plenty of big fluffy pillows, the bed is the epitome of comfort! I kid you not.

The size is a California King so the boys can all pile in first thing in the morning (they love to do that). We also got a special padded liner for it that makes it less “wavy” and more firm. Add to that a set of Captain’s drawers underneath for extra clothing storage and how can one go wrong?

I figure the average person spends over 1/4 of their life in bed, why not make it an enjoyable experience?

Our friend Jennifer brings this yummy treat over on special occasions. This one was a present for Wendy’s birthday. Wendy goes crazy over this stuff. It’s like popcorn mixed with I think a marshmallow cream and peanut M&M’s. I think it’s the “salty-sweet” that appeals to her. I’m quite fond of the stuff too but Jennifer knows the key to my heart lies somewhere between Red Velvet cake and Snicker-doodles!

One of the challenges I had to address when building our house in the “stix” was connectivity to our high-tech lifestyle. I was spoiled at our previous residence with a high speed cable connection. I knew I never wanted to go back to a regular 56k dialup connection but I assumed I could acquire DSL through our local phone company. As it turns out, I was wrong! Apparently, one has to live within a certain distance of a DSL base station or the signal weakens and degrades the further out you go.

That left me with only one really viable alternative, satellite. I found out that there were two types of satellite dishes I could buy. The first would allow me to only receive signal for my television. The latter accepted both TV & Internet. I signed up for a plan that took care of both and amortized the equipment investment over a 1 year period in my monthly payments.

I must say that going from high speed cable to a satellite was like slowing from a sprint to an easy jog. It was definitely better than dialup but still left much to be desired. Beggars can’t be choosers though so I was just sort of happy to have something in between. A few months ago, we got an offer from Direcway to upgrade our modem to a “premium” for an extra $10 a month. They claimed much faster speeds would be available so we signed up. After installing the new modem, WOW what a difference. I still can’t say it’s as fast as a cable connection, but fast enough for little ole me up here in the mountain!

This type of flower is growing wild all over the hill in back of my pool. So of course I snap a pix and bring it here. Anyone wish to be so kind as to identify it for me?

As our pool project nears completion, Wendy and I have been shopping for a fountain to put on the patio. We’ve narrowed it down to a couple of choices. Both of the fountains below will fit in the place we need it to and both we could live with aesthetically. We’d like to get everyone’s opinion of which they like better if you’re so inclined!

1st fountain – – This is made of cast stone and depicts two cherubs aside a basin which water cascades down 3 more tiers. It’s a bit shorter than we would like (only about 3 feet tall) but we are fond of the fact that it is made of stone.

2nd fountain — This one is made of a cast poly resin material which makes it cost about 1/2 the price of the first fountain. The water streams from the lion’s mouth and gets diffused into 5 separate streams where it falls to the bottom basin. It stands just over 4 feet tall (Which we like, not so “squatty”).

So what do ya’ll think? Do you like one better than the other or do they both suck?

For most of my adult life, I’ve sipped my Starbucks Venti Sumatra blend and looked down upon tea drinkers with disdain. Such a “girly” drink served with cups and saucers, spoons, cream, honey & sugar in petite little flower covered ceramic pots was not worthy of my kidneys!

Then along came Stash Double Chai and now I’m hooked. I feel like such a failure to the race of “Manly Men”.

I’ve always enjoyed it when my Mother makes me cake. A fresh Mom made cake beats what you will find in the supermarket any day of the week. For the last few years, Mom has taken to making the Birthday cakes. You can tell she is getting better at her craft because they have grown in magnificence over the years. Here are some samples of her work.

Mark told Grandma he wanted TWO cakes for his 5th Birthday. She supplied chocolate and vanilla with a Spiderman theme!

Here is a Harry Potter themed cake which she did for Erick. You can’t see the decor too well because the lights were out but she did a nice job with Hedwig the owl and a Goblet of Fire.

This is her latest, and greatest in my opinion. This one she did for Wendy’s last Birthday. Isn’t it PURDY?