Fifteen Minutes of Delusion

I got the wall grouted today. As the title suggests, it was, um, messy. Standard procedure when grouting a floor is to dump a whole bunch of the stuff out of the bucket and use a large, rubber float to push it into the space between the tiles. Gravity is your accomplice. Grouting a vertical surface is much different. In this case, gravity is your nemesis, and the trick is to try and dump as little as possible. I found that the best way make this work is to grab a handful and smear it around the wall like, um..., like..., well, let's skip the analogy. Once the grout has been shoved into all of the cracks, the fun ends and the work begins. And the mess continues. Excess grout is wiped off by using a bucket of water and a large sponge. The sponges get covered in grout very quickly and need to be rinsed often. The buckets fill up with grout quickly and need to be changed often. Smart tile people use several buckets of water and many large sponges, but I only had one of each. Years ago,...

Thanks to a little inspiration from Tristi, I have moved the painted Halloween pumpkins from the front porch and replaced them with the indoor/outdoor Nativity. Anna set up the pieces while I used super glue to give the angel her wings. (Did you hear the bell?) Alyssa used the back-up camera to take a bunch of really fuzzy pictures, and these two good ones.

So I had a little trouble the other night, resulting in a damaged wall and a tough predicament. The holes in the wall needed to be repaired, because if left open the chemicals in the attic insulation would come down into the house even more readily than they are now. Plus a wall with holes in it just looks bad. Patching the holes was easy - just cut out the damaged drywall and replace it with a new piece. However, finishing the patch to match the rest of the wall was out of the question. It took nearly a month for the "safe" VOC-free paint we used last year to off-gas enough that Kara could be in the house, even for a little bit. And things are in enough disarray here that I can't stand having yet another half-way finished project around. I pondered and prayed, and was inspired to hang ceramic tile on the wall. Most walls in the Dallas condos where Kara stays are floor to ceiling tile, and it works well. Installing tile is messy, but the materials are all chemically iner...

We haven't found the camera yet, and hope fades that we ever will. But Anna used my phone to take some very cute pictures of Alyssa at the play area in the Galleria mall. Here are a couple of the best. And yes, we went there two different days.

We survived our stay in Dallas. Kara is still there - we're not sure for how long. It was difficult for me to let the whole weekend go by without doing any of the many tasks that need to be done here at home, but I think it was good for our family to be together for that time. Sunday night Anna and I were here at the house, trying to get everything Kara was going to need for the foreseeable future packed into the car. I was carrying out three glass pans (including a large glass stock pot) when they slipped from my hands and fell onto the tile. As usual, the tile won. The pots broke into thousands of little pieces, and my nerves shattered right along with the glass. I said a bad word with enough volume and frequency to make myself hoarse. In addition, a nearby wall was visited by the Flying Fists of Frustration, and like the pots, the wall did not win. So now, in addition to all of the chores that I didn't get done last week, I have a wall to replace. And the great irony? I'...

So in honor of Black Friday , I took the girls to the mall to give them a little education. I think they're still to young to be taught about pre-dawn Doorbuster Mayhem, but they're old enough to learn about Hustle and Bustle, which is more of an afternoon activity. Our mall of choice was Northpark in Dallas. This was chosen for the model train display, which I mentioned yesterday. Our day started between 7:00 and 8:00 - I didn't exactly pay attention to how many times I snoozed the alarm. We worked and rushed getting onion broth and acorn squash and two pounds of Brussels sprouts cooked up for Kara's breakfast and lunch, then got her out the door. We followed along behind. We made it to the mall after Kara's 1:00 appointment with the doctor, where we "convinced" him to have her central line put in next week. (On Wednesday he said he wanted to hold off since Kara's weight loss had slowed, but today he claimed that he was waiting on her.) She's curr...

Happy Thanksgiving. We decided at almost the last minute to all spend the Thanksgiving weekend at the condos in Dallas. Kara is not doing very well, and I wanted to try and help her get around to her appointments. Also, this gives us a chance to be away from home, almost like a little mini vacation. Almost. I managed to lock my keys in the car at one clinic - the same one where Kara has locked her keys in the truck twice. There must be some kind of curse on that parking lot. After sitting through the longest visit we've had in months with Kara's doctor, I rewarded the girls by taking them to the new American Girl store here . There were girls and dolls and accessories and really big numbers on the price tags. We were content to browse, fortunately. We also went through the Galleria mall, and found a toy store, a puppet store, and a play space. After dinner, Anna and I went next door to Blockbuster and got Hairspray and The Santa Clause 3. We also got a couple of Wii games - ...

Tagged by Autumn. Here we go. Five things found in my room: Stacks of magazines I will never have time to read. Three laser printers; one that prints onto rolls instead of sheets Two dead cell phones, one mostly dead phone that I'm trying to return, and one that works quite well Four computers and five monitors A box of tissue that is being emptied at an alarming rate Five things I've always wanted to do: Become a pilot Write a book Make a movie Start and run a successful business Become a philanthropist Five things found in my (computer) bag: My passport My Pilot's Flight Log Book (one hour and holding) A bag of foam earplugs Batteries - AA, AAA, and Dell Rechargeable Lithium Ion (the non-exploding kind) Business cards of people I will probably never see or speak to again Five things found in my wallet: Texas driver's license, but without the M endorsement this time Good Earth supplement card only needing 4 more stamps (too bad the nearest Good Earth is 1,000 miles awa...

I wish I could take credit for coming up with this, but all I did was steal it from somebody else.

I'm reminded of the old Westerns that show Chinatown with the big cauldrons of boiling clothes. That may not be the most politically correct portrayal , but it's the mental image I got as I boiled my own pots of clothes today. Boiling gets smells out lickety-split, and as it's turned cold here (ie no longer in the 80s) I've been trying to get some of Kara's heavy clothes so she can wear them. It's amazing how much laundry soap came out of clothes that have been in boxes for over two years. I had three pots going for probably 8 hours today. Hopefully I've done what is needed for her to wear some of these things without reacting to them. Also, as of today I am married to quadragenarian. I get my turn at it soon enough.

...Disapproval would be folly. So the radio stations here in the DFW Metroplex have begun playing continuous Christmas music. My guess is that your radio dial has been similarly afflicted. Now, don't get me wrong. I like Christmas music. A quick look into my iTunes library shows over 600 songs - that's nearly a day and a half of holiday tunes. And it's not that I really fault them for starting mid-November. I would prefer they wait until after Thanksgiving, but I understand the need for Yule. As a child I would smuggle my parent's Reader's Digest Christmas collections into my bedroom as early as September. No, the problem I have with playing Christmas music on the radio when the Halloween decorations are still out is that this leaves a lot of air time to fill, and they will play just about ANYTHING that mentions "Christmas" or "Holiday" or even "snow." And quite frankly, a lot of it sucks fruitcakes. Now, I'm not going to mention ...

I got a little bit of sleep last night. I think. I have no idea how much. Alyssa has a cough. I hate it when Alyssa has a cough. She coughs pretty much non-stop, until she throws up. I prayed before bed last night that Alyssa would please not throw up. That was a mistake, as she started coughing at midnight and she has coughed off and on (mostly on) ever since, despite all of the syrups and tinctures and drops and pellets I could throw at her. She has not thrown up, and she has not stopped coughing. She's currently in the tub with cool water and Epsom salts. She should be done right about the time my morning alarm goes off. I think I might be justified calling in sick today.

A few months ago, a cat began hanging around our house. He appeared to be a stray, although he seemed too healthy to have been homeless for long. The girls, especially Alyssa, began spending quite a bit of time giving him all kinds of love and attention, which he eagerly returned. Then one day, Anna showed up with some cat food "borrowed" from one of her friends. She asked if we could keep him, and was told no. Having a cat in the house is out of the question. However, having a cat live outside is something I didn't really see much harm in. So on a trip to Wal-Mart, I looked the other way as Anna bought some cat food and began a clandestine feeding operation. It lasted for all of about 6 hours before being discovered. There was some consternation and discussion, and finally an agreement that an outside only cat might just be OK. Anna decided on the name Tucker, then changed it to Tuckee after learning that cats respond better to names ending in ee (she read it on the inte...

OK. Well, I didn't get the dozens and dozens of guesses that others did with this game , but it was fun anyway. The answer is #2. Something similar to this did actually happen to my buddies J and D, but I was not along for the ride. Instead, if I remember my ancient history correctly, I was helping another friend with his Eagle Scout service project when the whole affair went down. Being anxiously engaged in a good cause has kept me out of trouble more than once. FYI, this is a PBY Catalina As for #1, the haunted house story was pretty much just as I described it. I personally never saw or experienced anything, and often spent hours alone in the house by myself after dark (reading like a true geek). But whether or not the house was truly haunted, most people believed it was. #3 - what can I say? Looking back, I still can't believe I thought concocting a pretend girlfriend would make for a funny joke. I guess everyone does at least something embarrassing when they're 16.

Tomorrow. Evening. After dinner. So hurry up and guess . Please.

I made it to Sarasota safe and sound last night, and today was a very productive day at work. The folks I am working with are singing my praises tonight, which is a little unnerving, actually. I've been working hard on this driver for quite a while now, and fortunately everything converged today, and we went from a barely-working-at-all driver to a nearly finished one in a few short hours. I'm enjoying Sarasota, what little I've been able to see of it. I'm staying at the Hotel Ranola , which is an old hotel from the '20s recently renovated into a little boutique. I love the stark contrast of modernist decor against the historic architecture. And having one of only nine rooms is quite nice. One of the other guys working on the printer from out of town is staying here, too. The hotel is not far from the ocean, and we walked down to eat at Marina Jacks. This is what the view from the restaurant looks like. At least, that's what it would have looked like had we gott...

Tristi is pressuring me to tell a lie. So much for positive peer pressure. I've never been able to lie very well. See, whenever I try, my ears turn red. However, you can't see my ears from where you are, so maybe I have a fighting chance at this Liars game. Here's how it works: I list four experiences from my past. One is a lie. It's your job to guess which one. Ready? Here we go. 1. I spent nine weeks in a haunted house one summer. 2. That same summer I spent several hours in jail. 3. I had a make-believe girlfriend turn real on me. 4. I used FedEx to ship a dead rabbit. Oh, you want details? Oh, OK. 1. I was fifteen that first summer on Lanai. The fifteen year old gangs could only work the day shift, and were given housing away from the main camp. My group lived in Hale Manele, an old wooden frame building at the edge of town set up barracks style. Some people said the building used to be a hospital. Most people called it Hale Spooky. The first few weeks of the summer...

I was tagged by Autumn over at Autumn Ables to come up with 5-10 classes to either take or teach, depending on which version of this game's instructions you read. In keeping with the new status of 'Rebel,' (which was given to me by Connie in response to comments I left at LDS Writers Blogk ) I've chosen to make my own rules and split the difference, coming up with 5 classes to teach, and 5 to take in hopes of improving my life. These are classes to help make my life better, and they constitute the curriculum of Deluded State University. First, the classes that I will teach. There will be weekly quizzes, and the final is comprehensive. Home Improvement 280: Project Initiation This course describes how to make detailed plans and solid preparations. It will involve a weekly field trip to Home Depot. Civics 125: Becoming the Neighborhood Oddity Subjects covered include aluminum foiling and taping, carpet ripping, window climbing, and vodka spraying Theater 305: Advanced...

Oy! This has turned into a wild weekend. I have been asked to take a trip for work the second half of the week, and the preparations have put me into overdrive mode. I worked hard all day yesterday, trying to get caught up and ready to go. There is still much to do today. And tomorrow, and Tuesday when I leave. It's the typical dilemma - there is a lot going on that I want to blog about, but but the events themselves are taking up all of my blogging time. Even with an extra hour today , I'm going to be struggling to catch up. But it will happen. Y'all are worth it. Autumn and Tristi - I'm working on your tags. I'm having fun with them, but they are not progressing quite as fast as I would like. But then what is?

I went to the store today. A sign on the door said "Only service animals permitted in the building," but I went in anyway. Nobody tried to stop me, and there were other people in the store as well. I guess some rules are just made to be broken.