Septiheptihan

Sixteen years ago I married my wife. Since then I don't think I've ever regretted it or doubted that it was the absolutely right thing for me to do. She is my best friend and I believe she always will be. This helps make the marriage work. Sometimes I wonder why she puts up with me. Other times (much much more rarely) I wonder why I put up with her. It must be looooove.

We aren't big on ceremony/hokieness. Nevertheless I have been married long enough to know that I cannot fail to recognize the day with a gift and card. I lucked out this year. I was in Cincinnati yesterday on business. Driving home I decided I stop at the Florence Mall (Y'all?) and look for a gift. After 20 minutes of wandering in vain (such as I usually do in malls (side issue -- malls always depress me. Why is this? Is it because they make obvious the shortcomings of materialism? Dunno.)) I stumbled into Spencer Gifts.

Cheesy as it is, I must peek into every Spencer Gifts I pass. I think it's a remnant of the 13 year old hick in me.

They had a big ol' Clearance sale going on. Amongst the soft-core sex aids, the fart joke novelties and the glorified lava lamps I found a some useful stuff. Heart lights (strings of 10 with heart shaped covers.) $2.50 each. Date cards which will give us pre-planned spontaneously romantic ideas of what to do with each other for the duration of an evening after almost 20 years. I also got some incense that I like (Gonesh, the McDonalds of incense, but damn it, I like this flavor) and some ceiling stars for Patty (fiddy cent).

And Halloo but there's a Hallmark right next door. Stop in, buy suitably sappy card. Rush out to avoid having to take insulin injection. Done and done. Cross fingers and hope quirky gifts are received well.

Cut to this a.m. She's getting home from work, I'm leaving for work. Nicely wrapped presents and card await her. She has JACK for me. HA! 10,000 brownie points for our hero. She loved the lights and was intrigued by the cards. Touched by the sentiments I writ on the card -- although I was not pleased with my romantic prose. First paragraph of this post expresses it better.

So anyway, we go out for a decent dinner tonight -- Mitchell's Seafood. Apparently a chain (what isn't anymore?) B+ food, C- service. I had Cherrystone clams, Grouper and a cup of Lobster Bisque. It was all good but not great. Service was all but poor.

Then we went to Target. This is what we do for recreation. This makes me sad, but still I go. I was able to pick out my present. I got a cool looking bonsai. I've always wanted a cool looking bonsai and now I have one. Nyah.

Back to work on the bathroom floor in the morning.

Lisa brought our furniture tonight. Moved the old into Sue's office for now. The new stuff really fills up the family room. Took the other new chair up to our room for TV watchin'!

Looks like I'm going to Pittsburgh for a seminar around the first of October. Sue wants to go too. Maybe we can go by Beau's too. That would be nice.

I haven't worked out since last Thursday(?) Maybe it was Wednesday. I was pretty physical all weekend, but jeepers, I need to get in there. Tomorrow for sure.

Not updating this thing like I wanted too. No deep thoughts to convey, just a blow by blow summary of my days. That has value too, I suppose. Mainly to me. I'll try to do better.

Little result. Nothing is ever easy.

Managed to get 3 of the cement boards down last night. Hoped to finish the subfloor today so that we could tile tomorrow. Nope.

Started out at Lowes to buy the rest of the supplies. Salesguy convinced me that I couldn't cut slate with a snapper. Luckily a wet tile saw was on clearance for only $79! Another 80 bucks! Got it home and Sue told me she could borrow one from a work friend. Back to laying subfloor.

Struggle and struggle to get the big heavyass tub out. Cannot unsweat the joints, so I must hack saw the pipes. Done. Then must move the behemoth out to the hall. After much sweating, grunting and groaning, also done.

Neglected to mention that I stopped by Rose's daughter Lisa's house to pick up the furniture we bought from her. We loaded it onto her horse trailer, and brought in her new furniture. Both sets were very very heavy. Damn it. Hit the bridge of my nose on the frame of the loveseat and it still hurts.

OK, back to the floor. With the tub out, I could lay a piece of cement board across the vinyl under the tub area. OHO! It's not level. Yes, there's a wood subfloor under the vinyl. It ain't coming up. Fine. So I read up on what I can put on the wood to make it an acceptable substrate. Back to Lowes.

This time the whole family wants to go! And not just to Frankfort, but all the way into Louisville! And not just to Lowes, but to dinner too! And we can't go to Louisville without going to Target, can we? No, of course we can't. Home by 10 or so. Too tired to start anything major.

I got some plastic mesh stuff ($56.00 for a roll of plastic mesh!) to put down and put adhesive over. But I don't think I'm going to use it. I think it'll bring the subfloor higher than the cement board, plus, I don't see how it will seal the wood at all.

So, I guess I've resigned myself to not getting this done this weekend. Hoping to get the subfloor finished and the water back on upstairs. Then we can tile next weekend.

Also, I've realized that Friday is my anniversary. 16th. Haven't the foggiest what to get Sue.

Bought backerboard for the bathroom floor on the way home tonight. This is going to be a shitload of work. Oh well, won't be the last time...

Went to EMS carnival tonight. Was very pleased and surprised with our conversation with Patty's writing teacher. Patty is apparently very active in class and eager to participate. Teacher was highly complimentary at her attitude and insight. Cool.

Long Electrical Board meeting this morning (into afternoon). Leg workout tonight. The dryer/circuit breaker is still a mystery. After steadfastly refusing to work for two days, I go out and buy a new multimeter (thus insuring that my old one will turn up tomorrow) and test the breaker per Billy Perkins' directions. It works. A quick test of the dryer proves that it now works too. Sigh. To make it even jollier, I hit the main breaker with the service panel cover while I tried to reattach it. Sigh. Now I get to reset every clock in the house. I hope I don't have to reprogram the TIVO.

Have I mentioned lately that TIVO rocks. Because it does. A lot.

Trying to ponder on how to change my life. Clearly I need to work on organization. Goes without saying. I'm feeling all dressed up and nowhere to go. I have lots of potential energy but nothing I'm motivated to spend it on. I'm capable of anything (sort of) but interested in nothing (and everything, which is essentially the same problem).

Whatever the hell that means.

Busy day. Up early with the girls for a 10 a.m. softball game. Their team has really improved over the course of the season. They won last night, lost the 10 a.m, came back at 1 p.m., won that one, then lost the next (double elimination). I missed most everything past 1:15 or so because I had to go to CVG to pick up the parents. I'd been operating under the impression that they flew in tomorrow. Luckily I called Tom to see if he had their itinerary (having deleted it from my e-mail, I didn't). 2 hours before I was supposed to be at the airport (which is 2 hours away) he let me know it was today I was supposed to be there. Or something like that.

So, Sue wakes me up this morning with a brilliant plan for the rest of my life. I'm to be a fiery political commentator. The left's answer to Rush. She even has a pen name picked out for me. Despite the fact that there are roughly 10 million bloggers, journalists, talking heads and pundits out there, I seriously doubt I have either the drive or the self-discipline for that type of life.

Came home from work tonight and fell asleep. Skipped my workout. Probably won't be able to make it tomorrow either. Saturday it is...

I'm feeling gloomy and dispirited, but perhaps that's just because I'm tired. I think I'll go on to bed and read myself to sleep.

The physical went well. Cholesterol is just a little high (225) but the HDL and the triglycerides are both very good. LDL is down 50 points from the last time it was checked. Dr. very encouraging on the whole. I'm supposed to check with Tom re: why his polyps were checked and with Mom and Dad re: their thyroids.

Something I didn't mention from my weekend trip: I met Tom's new girlfriend, Kate. Tom H. thinks it could be serious. The fact that I'm meeting her indicates a certain level of seriousness in itself. Very nice, quiet, intelligent lady. I wasn't quite at my best for the encounter, but there may be more in the future.

Got The Mauritius Command today. Also have three other library books to read. Seems like it's either feast or famine when it comes to reading.

I'm dropping the ball here! This was supposed to be an exercise in daily discipline. Must. Redouble. Efforts...

Lesseee, last post was on Friday, is now Tuesday night.

Saturday I went to Hopkinsville for the UHA Alumni Soccer game. Not as good a turnout this year, but surprisingly Steve Gorman showed up. Has just moved to Nashville. Just got off the road from touring with the Stereophonics (?). Feel like I should know who the Stereophonics are, but I don't. Sucks to get old and not give so much of a shit about music anymore.

Game went well for me. Well for an almost 40 year old, 245 lb guy who has always been slower than the kids on the short bus. Got several good headers, one right in the face. Weird because I had a premonition that something would happen to my glasses and brought my spare pair. They were knocked off my head, but OK. Never got winded throughout 80 minutes of play. Ran hard. Knees did not hurt after the fact (thank you Glucosamine & Condroitin).

After party something of a disappointment. Becky was having a dinner party so the pool house was not available. Original plan was to watch the girls game and drink around the field. Girls game fell through. Ended up going to Taylor's house, which is beautiful. I was struck by how close they all live together. Tom is right across the street from Taylor (well, right out the back door) and they're both about 30 seconds from Becky. I guess this relates back to Mom, Becky and Leese -- those three houses aren't much more separated. I miss that sort of thing, sometimes. Mostly not, though.

Taylor's back yard opens up into the big field behind Grandmother's old house. After a few drinks I couldn't resist. I skulked off to the back of her house to check it out. Still the same, still different. Gravel driveway is gone, as is the garage, the concrete benches and the walnut trees. Everything else looked much the same. I don't know why old places interest me so much. Somehow I expect to find residue of my experience there. They do help to spur my memory sometimes.

Continued drinking, unfortunately. Was very very hungover next morning, which sucked greatly. Had not been drinking for about 3 weeks prior, which could have been a contributing factor. Also hadn't eaten much. Have not felt much inclination to drink since, which is a good thing.

Worked yesterday. Legs very sore. Worked today. Legs less sore. Reg review subcommittee meeting, was very uneventful. Had another nice conversation with Rep. Pullen. I think she has the hots for me (if so, the feeling is somewhat mutual.)

Leg workout tonight followed by a softball game. Tomorrow is the first day of school. I have a physical scheduled for 9 a.m. (fun fun fun!)

We got up and went to Home Depot and Lowe's today. Left the girls at home. This is what passes for recreation for us. Checked out backer board and tile for the bathroom. Home Depot wasn't much help, but I think we found some interesting stuff at Lowe's. Also agreed to bring more of the slate up and lay it out to see how it might look. I want to use it somewhere, but I'm concerned that it is too dark and just not bathroomy enough.

Today was Patty's 11th birthday, of course. Opened lots of presents -- all toys. Lego, DragonballZ, Beyblade, Gameboy, Harry Potter. Stuff, stuff, stuff. Also a cool new LL Bean backpack with a gecko embroidered on it. Went to Gattiland for dinner because that's what she wanted. She won 100 tickets by rolling a token into a toy truck bed. Woo hoo.

Then to Target, then home again. What an exciting life we do lead.

Just took my BP -- 122/80. Good stuff, Maynard. Wearing 40's again. Heh.

Yay! Taking Friday off. Two days in one week = my vacation.

Let's see, what's new?

The girls adopted a stray kitten they found when they were shopping for tile in Louisville. He's a little black and white guy named "Oreo." Patty seems very attached to him, and he is accepting her affection. This is good, she wants a pet.

I am going to play in the Alumni soccer game on Saturday after all. Called Tom twice today to confirm that I was coming, he didn't return my call. Guy gets a girlfriend and forgets his brother.

HBC Board meeting today. Uneventful, which was nice. I have decided to take my laptop in to the office, and sneak off in the afternoons for an hour or so. I get so distracted by various and sundry (the internet, phone calls, people stopping in) that my drafting isn't getting done. I have to do something to correct this. This will be a stab at it.

Read O'Brian's Desolation Island. It's very good, as I expected. I was a little concerned that I wouldn't like actually reading the books after listening to them on tape. But they're very readable. I can't help hearing Patrick Tull's voice sometimes, though.

I think we're going to work on putting a subfloor in the upstairs bathroom tomorrow. Needs to be done. The shower is still leaking and we think it is seeping through to the family room ceiling. This can't continue!

Had a terrific day with the girls at Holiday World yesterday. Patty and I rode the roller coasters and the Liberty Launce bungee jump thing. Fun stuff. Spent most of the day in Splashin' Safari.

Did I say that the joint was PACKED? It was more crowded than I've ever seen it before. We've been on days where it's been relatively empty -- walk right up, slide right down -- which is sweet. Not so yesterday. Approximately 1 and 1 half gazillion people were there.

Weird though. You see lots of skin, some of it highly attractive (most not, but plenty so). You kind of hit overload after a while and it ceases to register. Either that or I'm much older than I feel. Also, there are no perfect bodies. There are some very (very) good ones, but none to match the ideals portrayed in the media. It's all an illusion....

Good workout tonight (leg). Girls had a ballgame which they lost by one run in the last inning. Too bad.

We rearranged our bedroom tonight. Since we're in the process of tearing up all the carpet from the upstairs, we decided to try a new arrangement up there while we were at it. Moved the bigass bed from one side of the room to the other. I think it works.

At first glance, the former spot is the only reasonable place for the bed. It's a bed sized niche under a window. And it did work OK there. However, with the bed on the other side of the room, it opens up the entire niche so that it can be used as a separate sitting area. Good thing I read Feng Shui for Big Dumb Idiots!

Mowed the yard today and the mower did remarkably well. Only took a couple of hours, probably because it hadn't grown enough to bog things down.

Going to Holiday World tomorrow. WOO HOO! I suppose this counts as my vacation. Patty and I will try to get the front car on the roller coaster. Plus, I think they have a new one that I haven't been on yet.