SNOW!!!

It's snowing!!!! I mean really snowing. This is the first time that I have been here when it snowed. What is it about snow that brings out the little kid in all of us? I am working from home today so I will be here when Sally comes home. I have an uncontrollable urge to go outside and make snow balls and hide and ATTACK! when she gets home. Probably won't but that is what's on my mind. Guess this means I am going to have to make some more collards.

Busy Weekend

Well, another incredibly busy weekend has blown past. Sally and I started the weekend with dinner with the theater group and then a Celtic Music concert. Very good. However, they had two twin girls in BIG blonde wigs that were doing the Irish step dancing aka Riverdance. They were very cute and very good. However, something about twin blonde girls in giant wigs doing exactly the same dance moves left me a little unsettled. I felt like I was watching Thing 1 and Thing 2. Don't know why this was so creepy but it was. After that we stayed up to be the first to wish Jessie a HAPPY 24th BIRTHDAY!!!!!

Saturday was a flurry of activity. Got up at 5:30 so I could meet Karl Pry for a 32 mile bike ride from Cat Spring to New Ulm and back. Very hilly and very windy. Combine those two things with my lack of sleep and I was WIPED after the ride. I came home to find my beautiful wife glowing! She had been playing on ITunes while I was riding and downloading all of that music put her in such a good mood. God I love her! After I cleaned up we loaded up the stuff we couldn't burn and took it to the dump. Katie and Moose showed up and we had burgers and made a trip to Discount trees (where we purchased a Satsuma Orange tree). After that, Katie and Sally made a lovely Spaghetti dinner and Moose and I played in the dirt. We planted potatos, chard, beets, 2 kinds of lettuce, radishes, marigolds, nasturtiams and parsnips.

Sunday found us at CCE and then church. I am happy to report that Katie and Moose joined us for Mass. After Mass we finished off the spaghetti and the kids headed home. We headed to Nana's to clean out the barn. Before we left though we got horrible news. Our neighbor, Bob Moore has Pancreatic cancer. Very sad. Even with that bit of bad news Sally and I enjoyed the drive over to Nana's and the time we had there. David has really done a nice job. All in all it was a very lovely but tiring weekend.

Clean Up

Monday was President's Day. Since I had the day off I decided to make the most of it. I had promised to do the clean up from the remodel as a way to save money. The yard looked liked Hurricane Ike had come through. Since it was sunny, I decided to clean it up. As we all know, clean up is usually the most unwelcome part of any job. Well, this was no exception. However, there is one bright spot to construction clean up; YOU GET TO PLAY WITH FIRE!!!!!! So, I started clean up when Sally left for work (7:30ish). I did not finish until 2:00. OMG! I am so tired and sore! However, it was worth it as the before and after pictures show:

Fabulous Family Weekend-Thanks again Carl!

OK, I know this is getting a little redunculous (cool new words the kids are using). Four post in one day. What can I say. It has been an AMAZING four days. It started with my presentation in my landscape design course. It went so well, that my prof sent me a text at home to tell me how impressed he was. I will of course include pics now.

Sally and I left about 5:30 and drove to Denton. We stayed the night with Whitney. Friday, while she was in class we took Jessie to our favorite Mexican place. After eating we gathered up Whit and headed to the funeral. We haed such a nice trip. Not a single cross word. When we got to Tulsa, Sally took us to Utica Square (http://www.uticasquare.com/). What a lovely place. We had dinner at the Stonehorse Cafe. OMG!!!! I had one of the finest meals I have ever had. Sauteed veal liver in carmalized onions and apricot sauce over a bed of mashed potatos and spinach. After this, we headed off to the funeral. As noted in the earlier post, it was fabulous! Then we went to Margaret's and had many Moosehead's and bratwurst's in tribute to her amazing father. Jessie went out for drinks with all of the Hartley children and their friends. Sally, Whit and I went back to the hotel and crashed! Sunday found us back at Margaret's. Ate, told everyone bye and then headed home. On the way, we stopped so I could introduce Jessie and Whitney to the sin of CASINO GAMBLING!

We stopped at a casino in OKC and I let the girl's run wild. I am pleased to say that everyone lost everything (except Whitney). None of them had any fun so I do not have to worry about thiem becoming addicts! All in all it was a very fun weekend.

Fabulous Farewell for Carl Skay

Sally, Jessie, Whitney and I went to Tulsa to say farewell to a very fine gentleman; Carl Skay. We had a lovely trip together which is enough of a reason to get together, but we received a very special blessing for making the trip. Carl's funeral was fabulous! His daughter (Sally's best friend Margret Hartley) did a wonderful job putting together such a perfect and loving tribute to a man that was truly a remarkable human being. From the pictures that chronicled his amazing life (he caddied for Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Ben Hogan plus invented the processes to make ammoniun sulfate and alum) to the table with his three favorite tools (a Moosehead Lager, a golf club and his slide rule) the insert in the bulletin that listed his favorite jokes and his grand children's participation; the whole thing was just lovely. Margret wrote the petitions that were read by his grandson Danny. They were so perfect and moving I am going to include them here in total. Good news kids. You no longer have to worry about what I want at my funeral. Jessie and Whitney now know. just follow Margret's lead.

Prayers of the Faithful for Carl Skay

For Carl Edmund Skay, devout catholic, faithful husband, lovong father and grandfather, exacting engineer, proud American and proud Canadian, we ask God to reunite him with those members of his family that have preceeded him in death and hold him safely in the palm of you hand until we can all be together again in Your heavenly kingdom,
We pray to the Lord

In honor of Carl's pride in a "job well done", let us remember his dedication, his engineering percision, and his work ethic with regard to tasks both big and small. We pray for those seeking employment that they might discover the dignity of work and the pleasure of doing ones best'
We pray to the Lord

In honor of the value that Carl placed on education, let us pray for all those that teach and for all those that learn that each may find fulfillment and satisfaction in there pursuits,

We pray to the Lord

In honor of Carl's love of dogs, especially Stella, Theo and Seattle, who gave him comfort and companionship in the last years of his life, let us always remember to take good care of those creatures that God has entrusted to us as stewards of His creation,

We pray to the Lord

In honor of the amazing humor and grace with which Carl faced his last difficult year of life, let us pray for those who are faced with the same challenge of long-term illness and loss of independence and those that care for them,

We pray to the Lord

In honor of Carl's enjoyment of a round of golf, a good joke and a cold beer, let us pray that, in the midst of our busy lives, we remember to count our blessings, to find balance and to appreciate all that God has given us,
We pray to the Lord.

What a perfect and loving tribute. I am so glad that I got to know, if only briefly. Your humor and grace touched me deeply. I hope that I leave as wonderful a legacy as you. Rest in peace dear friend. I will remeber you fondly each time I use one of the tools that you gave me or I tell a really bad joke! I hope you are with your wife in a place that is far more wonderful than you imagined!

Jay and the Giant Cauliflower

I grow cauliflower for two reasons. First, I like to eat it. Second, I love taking pictures with the giant heads that I grow. These lovely heads were a complete and welcome surprise. Between work, grad school and the remodel I had completely forgotten about my little fall garden. I came home from A&M on Feb 4 and saw that I needed to harvest some broccoli. When I went out to the garden there they were. Huge and beautiful and ready to be pulled. So, I brought them in and started taking pics. The big one has already and made Sally and I two meals. She took one to her friend Beth and Whitney got the third one. I really think it is as much fun to give things from the garden away as it is to eat them myself!

Foam Crown Molding

Sally and I went to Waco Friday night. Our stated purpose was to install the foam crown molding that we bought for Gran for her Christmas/Birthday present. An added benefit to going this wekend was that we got to see Jessie and Mary Davis. Friday night Sally, Jessie Gran and I stayed up late talking. Saturday we (Sally, Jessie and I) got up early and took Mary to mass. After that we went to breakfast at Cafe Cappachino. We then took Mary to Dollar Tree and HEB. Sally ran in and saw her old hairdresser Betty. Then we went to Lowe's and got the stuff to hang the foam molding. Let me tell. FOAM CROWN MOLDING IS FABULOUS!!!! This was the easiest home improvement project I have ever done. With Sally and Jessie's help, we hung both bedrooms and caulked it. It was so easy and it looks so good. Gran still has to paint it, but I know it is going to be beautiful.

We left on Friday evening and returned home to a VERY COLD house. Seems all the missing windows in the Living Room, Dining Room, kitchen and porch allowed way too much cold air to come in. So, I was up till 11:00 (with Sally's help of course) closing inthese windows. I had to modify the studs in the wall so I can put up the bead board later. Then we had to block in the holes with ship lap. Finally, we insulated until we ran out of insulation. Sunday, we taught CCE and then went to see MiMi and Pa. MiMi seemed to be having a good day. herb took us to Olive Garden. When we got home, we were back to hole patching. Here are some picks of our accomplishments:

Also, here is a bonus pic. Our new porch!