Giving thanks.
We started the day with Legos and pancakes. Then we played some more, video chatted with my mother and Lauren, ate lasagna, read, video chatted with Liz’s parents, then my parents again, had dinner, and did the bed time routine. Unfortunately the rain kept us inside.
Making the most of the week’s last work day.
I got to the job site around seven this morning and worked on the back porch ceiling for three hours or so. I made great progress and am hopefully just a day away from finishing it and the front porch. After packing up my tools I went to the dump, gas station, and lumberyard. Next I went to the cottage to clean it and pack up. After another stop at the Lumberyard and a visit to Dollar Tree for some munchies, I started to prepare for painting. Covering up all the windows took a little longer than expected, but eventually I finished. Setting up the lights and heater went quickly. Finally I was ready to paint. I didn’t bother with the closets, but everything else took a little under two hours. After painting I sealed up the house and let the heater run. In the meantime I brought over the rest of the pine porch ceiling lumber from next door and set it on the back deck. After packing up I went to the cottage and chatted with Lauren for a bit. I also played with Wild Dog. My parents returned from campus and I talked with them for a bit before returning to the cottage to shut off the generator and heater. I drove home via the Chick-fil-a in Tullahoma. My shower felt great and I hope to go to bed soon.
Not the day I had planned on.
This morning I was preparing to go to work when Liz texted saying that Luke was sick, and asking me to call her. I did, and it was determined that I would come home and watch him while she worked. The drive was uneventful, with a stop at Marcy Jo’s bakery in Chapel Hill. It was unimpressive. At home Luke and I played until lunch, then he took a short car nap afterwards. This afternoon we had a video chat with my parents and played some more. When Liz got off work I drove up to the Mountain. I’ll just read and clean some at the cottage this evening. Hopefully tomorrow will be a very productive day before I head home for Thanksgiving.
A cold, but productive start to the week.
Last night I arrived at the cottage a few minutes past ten, watched the latest episode of Magnum PI on my phone, then went to bed. This morning I was at the jobsite at 7:30. I started by insulating the flat ceilings that will be covered with cedar. Next I moved the porch ceiling wood over from next door, a task that did not go at all as planned. The tractor got stuck with the full load, so I had to offload and sort through a bunch of boards before hauling them over in segments. That was frustrating but didn’t take too terribly long. Finally I started on the porch ceilings. That was a real challenge to work on alone, but I made pretty good progress. I worked until nearly dark, then returned to the cottage. At some point I will drive over to campus and have dinner there. I am looking forward to that, although I’m not excited about going back into the cold.
The adventures continue.
This morning Liz made pancakes while Luke and I played. After breakfast Luke and I worked to replace defective smoke alarms. That didn’t go too well, as I am going to have to do more work on the wiring than expected. Next we hung lights on the front porch for Liz. Since the weather was nice we went for a hike at Yanahli Park. Luke brought his “claw” and found all sorts of cool things. Back at home we ate lunch and played for most of the afternoon. Unfortunately it started raining so we didn’t go outside. Luke ate a lot at dinner and went to bed without too much fuss. I know he was tired since he didn’t have a nap. I’ll chat with Liz for a bit before driving up to Monteagle.
Out and about on a pretty Saturday.
Liz made pumpkin muffins this morning while Luke and I built towers. We left the house to go to Kroger then the farmers market. I tried to nap during lunchtime, but couldn’t, so I ended up taking trash to the dump. This afternoon we went to Port Royal, then Lowe’s, Home Depot, and finally picked up pizza at BoomBozz. Luke enjoyed the pizza but not bed time. He was exhausted though, and fell asleep fairly quickly.
Just glad to finish the week.
The morning started off in a glorious manner when I went to the Templeton Library to watch the full moon set. That was quite a site to behold, and I took a lot of pictures. Next I went to the natural bridge for some more pictures. After stopping by the cottage I ran a bunch of errands around town and did a couple of things at the job site. Finally I hooked up my flatbed trailer and drove to Chapel Hill to pick up a load of cedar boards. I arrived home just before Luke returned from the playground. We played until dinner time, and also had a video chat with my parents. He went to bed without issue.
Busted day.
I woke up around three this morning and could not get back to sleep. Luke came into our room about five. He and Liz made breakfast cookies before I took him to school. He enjoyed the drive up and only got a little teary-eyed at the classroom door. Back home I gathered a few things, said goodbye to Liz, and hit the road. I stopped at the grocery store in Winchester before arriving at the cottage a little after noon. It was cold, wet, and foggy, and I tried to nap, but couldn’t. I wasn’t feeling at all motivated to do anything.
Finally I went to the job site and started taking the paper off the windows. Unfortunately that revealed that I need to paint the walls with another coat. Doubly unfortunately, it’s going to be cold for the next two weeks. So I piddled around for a little bit before going to Lake O’Donnell. There my fortunes turned and I was treated to an incredible moonrise over the water. It was chilly but I felt great, and stayed until well after dark. After stopping at Piggly Wiggly I returned to the cottage.
Painting round 2.
I got to the job site fairly early this morning and started painting. The paint went on really well. My dad came by to get some wood scraps, but mostly I just focused on the painting. It went more quickly today, and after finishing I loaded everything into my car and went to the cottage. I took trash to the dump and got a drink and cookie at the Goat Market before taking a nice shower. It wasn’t easy to get all the paint off, but I mostly did. My drive home was uneventful and I arrived about 4:30. I had picked up some tractor and equipment classified magazines for Luke at a gas station, and we looked at those before dinner. He stretched out eating quite a bit, then took his bath and went to bed. He has been chattering away for about thirty minutes though.
Painting round 1.
I got a pretty early start this morning and continued to prepare for painting. My dad returned as well and started taping off the windows. I had hope to start painting around ten, but it ended up being about 2:30. It went well, but very slowly. I ran to the lumberyard for more primer, and my dad went to Home Depot in Winchester for more paint. I finished priming at about 7:45 and wanted to apply the top coat, but the primer still wasn’t dry. So I packed up, put the spray gun in water, and headed on. I went to Wendy’s, but their drive through was closed, so I went to Dollar General. The fact that my face and hair were covered in paint definitely caught the employee off guard. Now I am about to read more of a book (picture heavy) on the wonders of the world.
