Tuesday, August 5, 2008

who was that masked man?

Late Way Tuesday
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there ain't enough time in the day
a cloud of dust, and a hearty...

The past week has disappeared. Four weeks ago, the starter's gun was fired - my wife tore up, as in unfastened from the floor, the TV room carpet. When I arrived home, there were 225 sq. ft. of carpet cut up into 3' x 4' foot rectangles and stacked in a pile near the rear entry / exit door.

More years ago than I'm going to reveal here, we moved into 'this old house' and made a 5-yr and a 10-yr plan for remodeling / refurbishing / cleaning-up / freshening-up the various rooms. One of those high on the list needing work was the back-of-the-house added-on TV room ... which also doubles for a laundry room in one corner.

Well, life intervened. Most every room in the house has had some paint or wallpaper or carpet or tile or something done to it - all except this back-of-the-house added-on TV room. I guess I had to expect to come home and find this sight one day.

I am now trying to find 'an hour here' and 'an hour there' and maybe '2 or 3 hours elsewhere' and have begun the process. The finished project will include drywall / plasterboard all the way around [over the top of some knotty pine 3/4" thick wood-plank paneling], a new floor covering to replace those 3' x 4' rectangles my wife stacked-up, and some sort of a new ceiling [drywall??? acoustic tiles? or whatever else we can agree upon....].

A rather large closet / storage area [7' x 2-1/2'] has been ripped out, exposing original wood siding where this back-of-the-house added-on TV room was conjoined with the original part of 'this old house'. I had to fabricate a faux-wall there to which I have now fastened drywall. Approximately 1/2 of the drywall in the room is hung. One third of that has been mudded and sanded [thus the "cloud of dust"]. A new entry / exit door has been installed to the backyard, and a new door has been installed between the back-of-the-house added-on TV room and the kitchen. And in 4 weeks time, that is as far as I've gotten. Give me a break, OK?

My goal is to have it done by Thanksgiving. Anyone taking bets? Every 2 hour job I've attempted has taken 4 - 6. So an evening's work takes 2 or 3 evenings. But I will get it done. If you've got some old grubby clothes to wear and you happen to be coming near the neighborhood, give me a call - I'll put you to work.

A casualty has been the time and energy to get something posted here at 'a second chance.'

Most days I still try to find a few minutes to look a few others' posts, and maybe add a brief comment - or not.
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Jackie Gleason and Audrey Meadows, starring in...
"The Honeymooners"

ain't it about time?
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The missus and I had never taken an official 'honeymoon'. We were married on a Saturday morning [I got there late but she waited]. Then after an early afternoon reception, we disappeared and drove 2-1/2 hours to Cleveland, OH and spent the night at a Holiday Day Inn in downtown near Terminal Square [long since been torn down and replaced with something else]. We found a church on Sunday morning, had a late breakfast-brunch, and headed back to Toledo to our new home, an upstairs apartment in a converted old house in the north-end Polish neighborhood. Then it was back to work on Monday morning - and we ain't hardly stopped to take a deep breath much ever since.

Somewhere around our 10th anniversary, we set a goal for ourselves. For our 25th wedding anniversary we would go to Hawaii - we'd celebrate 25 years of love and family and happiness and ... well, I think you get the picture ... and we'd finally get our honeymoon.

Like many of our goals, we didn't reach that one by the time-table we'd imagined, but we never gave-up. Next week on August 13 we will be celebrating our xxth anniversary ... and we're going to have our honeymoon - at last. While you think of us, we'll think of you [well, maybe not] while we swelter in the sun and heat on Waikiki
Beach on the isalnad of Oahu in Hawaii with the majestic Diamond Head as a backdrop. Our resort accommodations will have an ocean view and the breeze will bring welcome relief from the snow we'll be experiencing in a few months back home in Indiana.

Here's to all the young-old lovers out there! Dreams can come true. She got hers ... [and I got mine].
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One of Oahu’s greatest attractions lies on the southeast coast at the ending point of Waikiki Beach. Diamond Head Hawaii is an extinct and commanding volcano named after a misunderstanding by explorers from the west. While exploring Diamond Head Oahu the explorers thought they had found diamonds, but had really mistaken shining calcite crystals at the extinct volcano to be true diamond gems.
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8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Funny story. When my husband and I got married we honeymooned at the Sandusky Sheraton and went to the Cedar Point boat show. We also had to put off the honeymoon because he was scheduled to go to Denver for 3 weeks of training with AT&T. My mom asked me to go to Hawaii with her for 2 weeks during that time. She had gone in the past with my dad (who was now deceased), so I decided to go since I would be at home alone anyway and not looking forward to it after just getting married. Three days before we left my husband's training got canceled! My mom loved to tell the story about how her and I went on my honeymoon together!!
Hope you two have a great time - and a safe trip.

MJ

uncle jim said...

mj
good story
have you and hubby ever gone there together?

Anonymous said...

No. He won't fly that far! When we were first married I got him to fly over to England and France. Not long after we got back we were pregnant with our first. So much for traveling for awhile. Went to Italy with B. when he was in high school and would love to go back. Can't get hubby on that long of a trip especially since he had open heart surgery several years ago.

MJ

Lillian Marie said...

The summer after 10th grade, my family, maternal grandmother, and I went to Hawaii. At one of the art gallaries in Waikiki I saw two original Dali paintings...La Christ de Gala and Gala Contemplating the Mediterranean Sea. To be that close to my favorite artist's work was breathtaking!

Lots of stories about Hawaii - a place I will always remember...as I'm sure you will also.

Adrienne said...

Good for you. Two milestones - finishing the remodeling and going to Hawaii. Hawaii is about the only vacation Hubby and I ever took together.

Next? Italy....

k_sra said...

Hurrah for you and Auint Rozzie! And congrats on your xxth wedding anniversary. Hope you have an absolute blast. I liked your "honeymoon" story, too. Being a clevelander, I can imagine more exciting things than downtown, but maybe toledo-ites like that sort of thing! :P

Stop by the blog. I am going to try to post more often. My husband travels and I'm thinking it might be a nice way to communicate with him and other friends out there.

How's Rozzie's knees these days?

lots of love!

Debhartig said...

Sounds like our Honeymoon. We visited Dave's sister. Spent one night with her and one night in a hotel. All we could afford.

uncle jim said...

deb - i know you would have had an anniversary coming up real soon - cherish those memories
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k-sra - aunt roz's knees are doing just great ... she still goes to the local YW every weekday morn for a 6:30am water aerobics class ... i think that has helped a lot.

we were in cleveland 2 weekends ago and ate at a restaurant across from holy rosary church ???Anthony's???

had a great time - we came to see the Vatican Splendors exhibit at Wetern Reserve Museum

where are you living now? still in the little italy area?

wher is Joel? and how are mom and dad?
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thanks for visit