Coming January 2010...

So all those beautiful girl names we were coming up with will have to go back on the shelf. We found out this morning that our new addition will be decidedly male. Taeg' was really hoping for a little sister, but seemed to take the news in stride. Karst', on the other hand, is overjoyed at the prospect of a younger brother. The kids have presented their naming suggestions.

Karsten came up with "Brick."

Taeg' thought for a moment and then offered up "Bunny Rabbit."

Hmmm...let's put it to a vote.

What shall we name the boy?
List alternatives (please!) in the comments section

Happy Happy Birthday!

[Sarcasm ON]

One of my wife's most favorite things in the whole world, besides pink taffeta evening gowns, is public acknowledgment of her birthday.

You've got syrupy sweet birthday tributes? Melissa can't get enough of them, so please leave some in the comment section.

Here's some Melissa trivia: Who does she secretly wish would show up unannounced at our house and sing "Happy Birthday to you..."?

Celine Dion? Nope.

Rick Astley? Surprisingly, no.

These dudes? No, they're actually still locked in my mother's basement.

The answer?

 

Red Robin waiters. Melissa could listen to their unique brand of awesomeness ALL DAY.

We've noticed that Taeg's flair has shown some promise; perhaps someday she'll be good enough to perform at Red Robin. Ooh. We wish upon a star.

[Sarcasm OFF]

Happy Birthday Dearest!

retaining walls for dummies

A few years ago we moved into our fixer upper. We have remodeled a lot of the inside (with bathrooms in the near future) but have decided to switch our focus to the outside... probably due to the warm weather. When we bought the house we didn't hate the yard but saw a small need for a change to better suit our young family. Since moving in, we have realized that the current 30yr old retaining wall and fence do not stand a chance against our 2yr old or 5 yr old, I am tired of patching them. I thought, "we can just build a new fence and retaining wall, lay some sod, build a deck and then we are good to go.. all for under $3k"!

I have to admit that my interest or talents are not in the yard, just ask Travis about the tree that I 'pruned' by the front door. He is still having nightmares about it. Travis has great taste/imagination and loves to think and plan what he would do if funds were unlimited, and I am the the one that brings him back to reality of a budget and the fact that he will be doing the work and we reach a compromise. We always start our projects by calling a professional or two and getting estimates, then realizing that we can do it better for less than a 1/3 of their price, but it will be very inconvenient for us for awhile.

Back to the yard. I have had 4 pros come in and look at my property. The 1st, basically told me to leave it and patch what is broken. The 2nd quoted only half the retaining wall and told me the rest wouldn't be worth the $... $7k for half the wall. The 3rd, just told me $12k for the retaining wall but I would need to do the excavating. The 4th is still coming in but it is not promising.

We are not staying in this house forever and we WILL sell this place for a large profit when we leave. I cannot justify $12k for a retaining wall, what about my deck, sod and fence? Does everyone think that just because I live in the South Hills I will roll over and just start throwing money around?

I am peeved. Screw the contractor, I can follow plans that my husband or friends draw on napkins. This can not be that complicated. I am freak'n 5 months pregnant with a cold that makes my head feel like it will explode, but if I need to move a thousand 72# blocks to fix my yard then we will find a way to do it, within our budget, and it will look better than any of the freak'n brochures or business cards that are on my desk.

Excuse me while I go measure my yard, call the local rental company about a Kubota, and look at airline tickets so I can get my nieces/nephews over here for a few weeks (I think am starting realize why my parents loved having a large family... more gorillas for projects). I believe that I am just a regular moron, so it can't be that difficult!

So the next time you see me, I will definitely have a large belly (hopefully only until the first week of January) but I might have some frigg'n huge quads and biceps to match, if I remain ticked off long enough.

Trav's college football (fashion) preview

With the start of the college football season just weeks away, I'm sure everyone is clicking the refresh button on our blog in anticipation of my indispensable analysis. OK, maybe not. But I do want to comment on this...


Yeah, yeah, I'm sure the Ducks have "the firepower to shake up the BCS" -- but the SI cover story should really be titled: "How SWEET are the Ducks New Unies?!"

There are those who say, "Uniforms don't matter, winning is what really matters." And there are still others who say, "Winning doesn't matter, academic achievement in the classroom is what really matters." I have no doubt these uniforms will increase both winning and academic achievement. They are that sweet.

When the team isn't feeling very monochromatic, there's a plethera of other color and helmet combinations to choose from. The Ducks' math skills will improve just by figuring out how much a "plethera" really is. I'm bad at math, so I'll just guess "one hundred million."


Speaking of feeling monochromatic, the Ducks' opponent on September 3rd got new uniforms too.

Pretty subtle, huh. Maybe, the BSU marching band will play Eifle 65's original Italian megahit "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" and the Blue Man Group can perform at halftime.

When it comes to blue, these fellas wear it best...

Go Ducks/Cougs!


P.S. - tell me what you think about Oregon's new threads.

UPDATE