Spreading Some Holiday Cheer.

Ok...I "advertised" it. I put the address to the blog in our family Christmas letter.

This was originally supposed to be a little private blog for the parents, sister and the crew in Sioux Falls...but in the back of my mind I knew that if you put something on the web it was for the world to see. If I wanted it private I would have e-mailed it, right?

Well, it seems that the little link drop in the letter worked. I have a "hit counter" on the website and it has been rolling up like the national debt in the last 3 weeks.

We had a great Christmas...we were a bit depressed on Friday, it didn't seem like we had any big plans and none of our family was coming into town, but that mood changed quickly.

Saturday was a great laid back day. Maxim and I went out on the ice and it was perfect weather for making snowballs and snow angels. We had an epic battle that ended with me getting a snowball shoved down my sweatshirt! Maxim won. It was cool, last night you could still see our footprints on the snow covering the ice from that battle royale.

Sunday was the church play, Maxim and I both remember our lines...I was the Mayor. After we partied with Eric and the Gross crew for a while and closed the night out up the gravel road at Steph's family's party. The boys basically passed out that night from exhaustion.

Monday, we hung around the house in the AM and went into my folks for lunch and supper. Brent, Vicky, Aaron, Sheila, Lynn and Gloria came over to join us and Grandma for supper. Brent and Aaron are the party starters! Never at a loss for stories and they keep everyone laughing.

Jim, Linda and Scott (AKA - Waldo) came over later for dessert and some cowboy quickdraw shooting. My dad is a fastdraw cowboy gunfighter, and he has this range set up in the garage...the neighbors must have

been gone, because it was a loud night! Tons of fun with Scott...he might be the only cowboy gunfighter that holds his .45 pistol like a gangsta.
The boys had a great time opening presents from family, and once again were blessed beyond what we could ever imagine.

We have no plans for New Years, so that should turn into a Festival Con Vaquaros...or something epic like that.

2007...

Merry Christmas!

For those of you that didn't get the mailed version of the Christmas letter and photo...here is the picture. We are standing on the ice on the lake behind our home.

Steph's knee scope went great, the Doctor thought she should be perfect in a few weeks. She started PT yesterday, just easy stuff. I have been juggling work and helping with the boys. Did I ever mention that being a stay at home parent is more work than going to work? It is, and I am so thankful that my wife has given up a great banking career to stay at home with the 2 chipmunks.

Maxim and I have been skating on the lake lately...it is so surreal sometimes...the quiet, the openness, the bond of 2 hockey players enjoying the ice together. Maxim loves it when I chase him and hook him with my hockey stick and then pretend to check him. In 2 more years there will be 3 of us out there.

John Denver's "Country Roads" just came up on my playlist. I think that song sums up the year. With the exception of the West Virginia thing.

It's rain/sleet/snowing outside...things seem perfect in this world.

Merry Christmas and Peace on Earth.

Here is a couple of links to consider during this time.

www.heifer.org

www.buynothingchristmas.org

Kitchen Progress

The sheetrocking of the kitchen is shaping it up nicely I am over half done and should be finished in theory by Friday. It always amazes me how sheetrock changes the look of a room. Sometimes it makes a big room feel small and a small room feel big, but our kitchen with sheetrock still looks huge.

576 square feet of kitchen/dining area. Most people in the world have about half that to call home! We are spoiled in America.

The sunrises at the lake have been super beautiful lately...I could use a blanket of snow to make things a bit more wintery, but that will come soon enough.

The boys have been great, with the exception of Maxim and I loosing our PlayStation 2 playing rights for a while. Seems when it was time to shut it off the other day, Maxim threw a bit of a fit and Steph put it away. She is a great mom...I wouldn't have the well-behaved children I do if it wasn't for her.
Brecken is doing some amazing things...standing on his own for 3 or 4 seconds, feeding himself finger food and his bottle, using a little bit of sign language, SOOOOO BIG and bye-bye are super easy now.

Last Saturday was an amazing December day...54 degrees (F)...so we were all outside, Maxim and Brecken drove around in the Jeep, I put up some Christmas lights and Steph made a star out of plywood and then put rope lights on it. Maxim wanted a star, and Steph gave it to him. It looks super cool when you are driving up to the house...you can see it from about 3 miles away! Makes you think about the real Star.


Steph has the house decorated to the hilt. I only wish we could have people over to our kitchen to enjoy some holiday cheer at our new home...maybe for NewYears Day? Or Steph's Birthday? For sure 4th of July!

Christmas Letter Season.

My writing for personal reasons has taken a backseat to work, being a husband, dad, carpenter and hockey coach. My last entry was more than a week ago. May be the newness of the blog thing has worn off.

I couldn't believe it when on November 29th we got our first Christmas Letter/Photo in the mail. It was insane. I wasn't even done with leftover turkey, and Little Miss On Top Of Things (Name Removed To Protect The Properly Planned) had already dressed the gromets up the same, gave the dog a bath and talked her husband into wearing a sweater for a picture.

I think it is funny, and I am guilty of it as well, but our lives all sound so "Leave It To Beaverish" in Christmas letters.

For example:
Joe got a promotion in his company, he is now a Facility Engineer (aka-janitor).

I (the wife speaking here) enjoy my time at home with the kids keeping the house clean, and running them to football, soccer, gymnastics, swimming and piano (aka - I watch a lot of Oprah and Dr. Phil, and then ship the kids off to activities so I don't have to put up with them for a few hours).

Johnny is an 8th grader and loves math, science and is a great athlete (aka - we held Johnny back in 5th grade, because he wasn't starting on the YMCA league basketball team).

Mary is an active sophomore and dad is doing a good job to keep the boys away (aka - Mary is on her cell phone with girl friends all the time, but the boys just aren't calling her).

You get the picture...so I thought, I need to write both versions of the Christmas Letter...I'll send the one that paints the beautiful and then Blog the one that tells the reality of some things.

I'm doing them both in the same format.

January - I worked some crazy long hours at work, and watched a lot of TV. Steph turned 30 on the 30th and I completely missed her birthday. She is still mad about that one. Maxim got into some trouble at day care for hitting and not listening.

February - Steph ran a red light and totaled her brand new Yukon, broke her ankle, banged up her knee, but thank God that her, Maxim and unborn baby were protected. My highlight was that my bonus gets deposited in February...believe me it came in handy for the hospital bills...by the way we met our deductible this year.

March - I looked at some Christmas pictures we had developed and I realized that I was a fat tub of crap, and instantly launched myself into a workout routine...I weighed 228 and had the body of a 38 year old...happy to report that now I am 202 and benching over 260 pounds. Steph was starting to be ready for the baby to be born in March...she did a lot of nesting during this month. She made me start finishing our basement. Maxim went through a spell in March where he would not sleep in his own bed, because it was "nary, nary scary". So instead of fighting it, we let him sleep with us. We are still on occasion trying to break that habit.

April - April was great...Brecken was born, Steph was at home with the boys...the month kind of flew by.

May - My little cousin got married in May...so we all (our family and my mom and dad) packed up and drove to Chi-town together. My dad at times was completely annoying. I think he wanted to punch me about 4 times during the trek. We always end up loving each other.

June - Maxim turned 4 on June 17th. Steph went back to work, and we started to contimplate a move...and on a whim we decided to move to a lake...Lake Byron north of Huron.

July - I do not remember a single thing about July...except it happened, and the 4th of July was during this time...I think we went to Pickstown and wakeboarded a ton.

August - Dad and I went to the Knoxville Nationals...great red neck fun...We put the house on the market and sold it for full asking price in 30 days. Moved our stuff to my parents house and storage in Huron and started on the extremely big project of fixing up the house at the lake we bought.

September - Wake me up when September ends. I think this is when Steph had her gall stone surgery...or was that in August. I can't recall.

October - More house work...Maxim swore 2 times this month...where he heard that from, we have no idea. It is pretty scary hearing a 4 year old use the f-word and s-word properly. (See now that's something every parent would leave out of their fantasy world Christmas letter, but it happened and it was a big deal so I included it on the blogmas letter)

November - Maxim started hockey...to my pride, but he started hockey with tears for the first 5 practices and didn't want to go, and wouldn't skate without someone helping him...he is one of the best 4 year olds on the ice now! Brecken started feeding himself, and standing up...he will be walking in early 2007.

December - Steph is having her knee scoped, and holiday cheer...stuff like that. But for real, things have been great this year, I just need to hurry up and get the kitchen done in the lake house before Steph yells at me again. I guess when you take away a woman's kitchen it's like a man losing his garage.


Happy Holidaze
The Fam



There both versions...if you were not among the people on the list of mailed letters, I apoligize for that, but you were invited to the blogmas letter.

By the way my sister rules. (There Sal, now you have been mentioned like 4 or 5 times on the blog)

Stupid Chain e-mails.

If you are like me you delete most chain e-mails, no matter who they come from...I'll wade through the jokes and funny videos, but if I have to hear one more time about the Free Mason's rule over America based on the markings on the back of a Dollar Bill, I'm gonna puke.

Anyway, my buddy Mike S. sent this one today, and for lack of sending out more crap mail, I copied and pasted.

Participate with me on this. It's actually quite interesting. Ionly sent this to folks whose answers are bound to be clever!This is what you are supposed to do, and try not to be LAME and spoil the fun! Just give in and do it. Copy, not forward, this entire e-mail and paste it into newemail. Change all the answers so that they apply to you then sendthis to a whole bunch of people you know *including* the person who sent it to you. Put your name in the subject. The theory is that you willlearn a lot of little known facts about your friends. It is funand easy questions to answer.

1. FIRST & Middle NAME : Thomas Robert
2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER SOMEONE? Doubting Thomas??? I have no clue?
3. Do YOU HAVE A BEST FRIEND? Steph
4. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? During the movie "Luther" (Life of Martin Luther, great movie by the way) I got choked up...full on cry, no idea.
5. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? YUP I WRITE IN ALL CAPS ALL THE TIME, AND MRS. GROSS, MY H.S. ENGLISH TEACHER HATED IT WITH A PASSION!
7. KIDS? Maxim 4, Brecken 7mo.
8. WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? some days
9. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? www.livingonliquid.blogspot.com yes, I'm a blogger
10. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Whenever I can, I did go to rehab for it one time
11. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? yes
12. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? yes
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Peanut Butter Crunch and Smores...on the healthy side "Blueberry Mornings"
14. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? depends on if I tied them when I put them on...most of the time you don't have to untie flip-flops or Tevas...
15. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? I can bench 250# 5 times, but I don't feel strong
16. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? Rocky Road
17. SHOE SIZE? 11 in Teva/tennys and 9 in ice skates
18. RED OR PINK? Red...if you know me you know about the red and black addiction
19. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? My ability to be super laid back...but ironically, at times, it's also my favorite thing about me.
20. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My sister, and her family
21. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? kind of, kind of not
22. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES YOU ARE WEARING? old blue jeans and barefoot
23. LAST THING YOU ATE? Do you eat coffee?
24. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? a mix of Radiohead, mewithoutYou, MxPx, Roper, Beck, Nodes of Ranvier and Showbread (Pretty typical for me) http://www.last.fm/user/glanzer77/? youchartstyle=sideRed you can see for yourself
25. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? BLACK
26. FAVORITE SMELL? Campfire, coffee and when someone smokes a pipe and it is that sweet smelling tobacco...love it.
27. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Steph and Maxim...He calls to ask if he can play with the Playstation 2.
28. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? eyes
29. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Love him, just wish I could see him on the golf course more.
30.FAVORITE DRINK? HOT: any coffee COLD: Coke or room temperature water out of my Nalgene31. FAVORITE SPORT? Hockey, soccer and board sports32. HAIR COLOR? brownish with a smattering of salt
33. EYE COLOR? blue
34. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? since 1986
35. FAVORITE FOOD? Johnny Carino's Spicy Shrimp and Chicken Pasta, and Qudoba's Steak Classica...home grown Steak on my grill
36. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDING? Happy endings
37. SHOWERS OR BATHS? Showers
38. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING: blue
39. WHICH CELL PHONE COMPANY DO YOU USE? Verzion
40. HUGS OR KISSES?? are we talking Hershey's little chocolate morsels here...if so, I am a hug
41. FAVORITE DESSERT? O'Henry Bars, my mom's recipe
42. WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Skipper, he has way to much free time
43. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Skipper...he is a horrible typer
44. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING? just finished Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell
45. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? Napoleon Dynamite picture, a good friend hooked me up with this one.
46. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? I haven't watched TV since like Tuesday of last week.
47. FAVORITE SOUNDS? Maxim's feet running around the house, Brecken's cackle laugh, and the sound a boat makes when it pulls a wakeboarder out of the water.
48. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Beatles
49. THE FURTHEST YOU BEEN FROM HOME? Chezch Republic
50. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? I can do the back spin, and the worm...Breakdancing was big for a month or 2 in Huron.
51. WHEN AND WHERE WERE YOU BORN? 1972, Wessington Springs, SD

How's this, Dad?

Ok, I realize I'm not solving any of the worlds problems on this blog, in fact, some might read this and think it should be a blah-g instead of a blog. However, my dad is a huge reader of the site. Who knew?

This afternoon I talked my pops into treating me to lunch at the local diner, and he says, "OK I just have to talk to you about something on your blog...". So I am thinking he is in disagreement with my somewhat liberal and progressive Christian mind. NOOOOOO not in the least...he was ticked about this comment in the list of "My Moments" on my birthday entry. "My mom making a pan of O'Henry Bars, "just for me"". (see Nov. 21 post)

He claims I dissed him as a major contributing factor in my life on the blog...well Mr. Father Of Mine...Let me count...not counting this post which is dedicated to your ego. You are leading Ma by a score of 12 mentions to 7 mentions. Hmmmm, I guess I owe MOM a few props to catch her back up.

Mom thanks for:

Teaching me and taking me rock climbing
Building my first go-kart
Taking me ice skating for the first time
Teaching me how to downhill ski
Playing hours of catch and hitting me grounders
etc...

There you guys are all square.

Hey, by the way, dad...check the picture...you would have never let me do that as a kid, let alone taken a picture of it. But it is one of your prized grandsons so it is funny and cute. Man, you held me down...

Kidding as always...nothing but love for ya O-G. (that stands for Original Gangsta in street talk but today it stands for Original Grandpa)

Happy T-Giving.

Maxim's team hockey picture. Can you see my chest swelling with pride?

Birthday Thoughts...by Jack Handy

Theres a difference in living and living well,
You cant have it all, all by yourself
Somethings always missing 'til you share it with someone else,
Theres a difference in living and living well.

-George Strait-

This would have been posted yesterday, but Blogger.com was down.

November 20 was my birthday so I'm gonna get all sappy. I still feel 18, but for the record I'm not. I don't know if it is my Generation X upbringing, but I don't feel like some stuffy 34 year old career-minded only businessman.

I am satisified with my balance of life. Hence the George Strait lyrics up above. Mom and I share the love of music...granted mine is still a bit louder, harder, screamier and faster than she likes, but we find common ground on a lot artists. George is one of them...she heard "Living Well" on the radio the other day and thought of Steph and I and the Lake House. She gave me the CD for my birthday...great gift! You can never go wrong with music.

Anyway, the more I have listened to that song the more I realize that maybe that's why I don't feel all crusty and old. I'm still 18 at heart, a bit to laid back for some people, but I enjoy living and thanks to my family and God I'm living well.

I live for my moments.

What are MY moments you ask?

Brecken's full-cheek smile and cackle-laugh
Maxim and I (Coach Tom) on the same ice at hockey practice
Hugs from both of them
Watching both of them sleeping in their beds after a big day of playing
A good friend and 3 dogs looking for pheasants on the wide open prairie
A good cup of coffee
Baby calves running and bucking in an open field
Looking out my window and seeing a butter-smooth lake
Snow when it falls straight down
When the perfect song comes on at the perfect moment
Steph's eyes, her big smile, pierced nose and perfect feet...when she wears my old SDSU sweatshirt, or any of my clothes for that matter, or those tattered Gap jeans
Sitting on the deck at night with my guitar
The smell of campfire
My mom making a pan of O'Henry Bars "just for me"
The sound of skates on frozen water
Did I mention coffee...stuff like that.

It got me through the first 34 years and will be about the same thing that keeps me young for the next.

About The House...thanks to my dad, the kitchen ceiling is sheetrocked and insulated. After T-Giving, I will finish the walls and make the electric "hot" as long as "ElectricDealer" as he calls himself on Ebay sends my no longer in production Wadsworth brand 15 AMP single pole circuit breakers right away. Otherwise, I have to buy retro versions of the little suckers and they cost like $40 a shot. I need 6. Mr. Ebay is selling me 2 used ones for $.99 but $6 for shipping.

I was just about to give you a timeline on when stuff was going to get done, but I remember a comment from my ever patient wife..."Don't...Don't...Just don't give me anymore timelines that you can't hit...I don't want to hear them." So honestly I CAN'T TELL YOU WHEN WE WILL BE DONE...or Steph will be mad.

Caller: Hey, you guys have a car on one of your power poles...

What?
This actually took talent.
Our stuff is built so tough you can park cars on it.














Vertical Parking.

This is all I have.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8697728961740914069&sourceid=igoogle

This guy would have ruled any college in America.

Back Home

I've been on the road more than home in the last 3 weeks. My travels should be done for a while, and I'm looking forward to the slow down. Steph and the boys did come along on some of my trips. On the way back from Nebraska we stopped at the Fort Randall Dam area where we camped and wakeboarded last year with The Crew. Super nice day and Maxim loved it.

Last night I put up the rest of the siding that I had torn off to put the new windows in, so we are now ready for snow. The siding is temporary, because next spring I will put some brick on the front to dress up the road side of the house a little bit.

I started to connect all of the wiring last night...now I have to call my electrician-in-law to see if I was reading his mind right on a 3-way switch. This electrical system will challenge my abilities, and suck my will to live.

Steph has put a Thanksgiving Day deadline for the sheetrock to be up...I should be able to hit that date. The only think keeping me from it would be my fear of getting shocked AGAIN while messing with the electric.

The geese on the lake have been insane! Every night they honk the night away.

All Things Considered...

As the sole editor and writer (and most likely reader) of this blog, once in a while I take the liberty to preach.

Every professional job I have held has required a decent amount of windshield time...which I love. So needless to say, if I'm not using the BlackBerry while driving, I'm messing with the MP3 player looking for another song or I'm searching the radio dial.

Over the years I have become a big fan of National Public Radio's show "All Things Considered". It is news radio that makes you feel smarter for having listened. Yesterday they were reporting on something that was right up my tree-hugging alley.

Prime Minister Blair said the scientific data is overwhelming - the world is getting warmer and greenhouse gas emissions are largely to blame and that if the trend goes unchecked the consequences could prove disastrous.

"This disaster is not set to happen in some science fiction future many years ahead, but in our lifetime," reminded Mr. Blair. "Unless we act now, not some time distant, but now, these consequences, disastrous as they are, will be irreversible."

Most climate change is driven by the burning of coal, oil and natural gas, which puts carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. A report that Blair's office released yesterday says that analysis finds that to avert potential disaster, greenhouse gas emissions will need to be reduced by a staggering 80 percent.

China and the good ole USA are the main burners of these fossil fuels, most of it for transportation, electricity and heating needs. In fact, each day China brings another large-scale gas fired electric generation plant on line...EACH DAY! That is insane!

Some smart Brit named Sir Nicholas Stern, who is the primary author of the 700-page report issued by the British government, says it makes economic sense to get started now. He says the first step is to convince governments around the world, including the reluctant United States, that they should share a sense of urgency about global warming.

Why is the USA reluctant, because we are cowboys that's why, we can't handle when some tea sipping Brit tells us the polar ice caps are melting because we are set on driving a H2 sixty miles to work each day by our self.

The first time world leaders got together to discuss global warming during the current era of Global Warming awareness the USA decided it was not in our best interest to be a signed partner in the Kyoto Protocol. Next week's Kyoto conference in Nairobi, Kenya, will give President Bush a chance to join our cohort Tony Blair and all other industrialized countries in support of the Kyoto Protocol.

WHAT IS THE KYOTO PROTOCOL?

- It is a pact agreed by governments at a 1997 U.N. conference in Kyoto, Japan, to reduce greenhouse gases emitted by developed countries to at least 5 percent below 1990 levels by 2008-12. A total of 165 nations have ratified the pact.

Can we reduce that much greenhouse gas?

The question isn't can we...it's will we? In my opinion no, we have EAZY access to a plethora of coal, and natural gas, so why should we care? My boys will be dealing with the problems their father's generation placed on the earth with our big cars and get rich quick throw away society.

I believe global warming will affect all of Generation X in some very major way...on a negative scope. What the Dirty '30s and WWII was to our Grandfather era (The Greatest Generation), what the Nuclear Era/Cold War was to our Father's era...Golbal Warming will be our biggest hurdle to crest before passing the torch on to the next era of leaders. Who, by the way, are right now listening to Kanye West on an I-pod worrying about not getting shot on the way home from school or in school.

Should they be worried about it, NO.

I didn't worry about Russia blowing up the USA when I was in 6th grade and my sons shouldn't worry about freak weather patterns and a vanishing O-zone. My father's generation shouldn't be worried either, they did their work, it's time for GenX to step up, and start living a bit smarter, slower and greener.

As much as I hate to say it, cause I think he is a complete puppet...but Gore is on the right track with his push for Green Sanctions and Taxes on businesses in America that emit large quantities of greenhouse gases.

By the way, as I write this...so you know...I am on the payroll of a company who uses fossil fuels to create energy, but also is a company committed and striving to find alternative ways to create that energy. I am proud to be a part of that, and a part of the future energy BLOWING all around us.

I just hope I can do what my dad always taught me..."When you borrow something, give it back better than how you got it." Well, I am borrowing the earth from my boys for about 45 more years, (by my plans) and I hope they remember their father as one who loved Creation enough to care for it now.

The House That Golf Built.

A buddy of mine that works for the SDSU athletic department LOVES golf, and yesterday he sent me PowerPoint called "The House That Golf Built". The pictures are of a stunning house overlooking the ocean somewhere. Everything is in order, and decorated to the hilt. Turns out on the last slide, it tells you that it is TIGER WOODS' house. (see www.thingsireadontheinternet.com to see if it is true) If it is Eldrich's house or not it is a complete JAW DROPPER, but there is one thing that I noticed...as full of "stuff" as it is...I thought it was empty.

There was no 3 day old sippie cups with sour milk hidden under the couch, no Rescue Heros all over the living room floor, the couches didn't look slept on, and there was no bouncer seat in the middle of the kitchen. So if that is the house that golf built, I would rather have the house that a family built. Don't get me wrong, I would take Tiger's house in a second, spill some milk, mess up the bed, throw a Malibu Wakesetter LSV on the boat lift and call it home. I think you get the picture.

We had a home this weekend, last night alone 15
people were at the house to visit with Steph's folks one last time before they left on Friday AM. I loved every hour of entertaining, and didn't want them to leave so soon...it was 10:30 pm.

This was a busy week, of work and fam. We "dedicated" Brecken at church on Sunday, which if you ask me is like saying, hey church family look at our kid. When in all reality I think it should be called a Parent Dedication...Steph and I saying to the church family, "Hey we are going to do the best we can with these boys, will you help?". Anyway it was nice and Steph's folks were there so that made it special.

It was just nice to see the boys with Steph's parents. It is rough for them to be so far away, in Indiana. It would be nice if they were far away in Colorado, Utah or Florida, but Indiana? You can only say WOW more Amish people, so many times. I can tell from Steph's mom's comments that they can't wait to get back to S.D.

Roger and DuckMan (Ohio Hunter) did a bunch of work, and they deserve the Living On Liquid good citizen of the month award! Which reminds me we will have to give our another one next month...Rog, you wanna come back? You can continue to be a part of the house that family built...kidding, thanks for the help.

Blues Traveler

I feel I have seriously neglected my duty to blog...but then again the main reason for my writing is to keep Steph's folks updated on the life of the boys and the house project, and they are at our house this week!

It's pheasant season and I have been spending a lot of time traveling. I was in Chicago last week and hooked up with my cousin Aaron and his beautiful new bride Sheila for Bob Chinn's Seafood! I ate my weight in lobster. I don't think we left the restraunt until 11:30 p.m. It was great to catch up with them. They are the coolest people in Chicago, right next to Cubs players Derek Lee and Jacque Jones, and Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Adrian Aucoin.


I returned to SD on Saturday night...hunted Sunday, my German Shorthair got something stuck in her front left paw so I had to take her to the vet. So the season has been a bit of a downer so far.

Roger and his Marine buddy Mike have been doing the electric work in the kitchen in the mornings before they hunt. I'm in the middle of my "harvest" season, and right now I can't hardly break away from the electricity factory to enjoy some time with them or even really bear down and work on the kitchen.

I haven't even skated yet! I have to ref a SDSU hockey game this Saturday and I don't even know if my skates are sharp. Bruce Bergman to the rescue.

1 Bedroom?

Night 2 in the new house was great...I didn't wake up at all except when Brecken cried at 5:15 a.m. Maxim slept on the couch in our room. He isn't quite ready to sleep in his own room yet. I can't blame him. He has been sleeping all over grandma and grandpa's house for the last month...usually ending up in bed with Steph and I around 4:30 a.m. So new surroundings take a little bit to adjust to when you are 4. He said his bedroom is "nary, nary kinda scary", so we cut a deal and he slept on our couch.

Brecken is also sleeping in our room in a play pen thingy...seems my system for saving the special brass bolts from the crib during the move didn't fare to well. I have only found 2 of the 4 needed. I hope they turn up somewhere. I'm sure Babytown in SF would charge me $80 for 2 bolts and yell at me for bothering them on the way out of the store. I still don't like that place...a little customer service, please? On Monday morning I woke up to find Maxim AND Brecken in the middle of the bed with Steph and I. I told Steph last night that this was how the Ingalls must have stayed warm during the "Long Cold Winter"...everybody in 1 bed!

Speaking of hardware, I put the kitchen table together last night...somehow I lost 5 of the 10 needed screws to keep that thing together, too. Rev. Decker did you steal those? So I found 4 more that looked just like the others and we set the table up in Steph's "kitchen". (see pic) It worked out pretty good, but doing the dishes in the bathroom sink sucks...at least that's what Steph told me.

The living room is super cozy, and I have a hard time not crashing in front of the TV all night to watch 1 of our 4 channels. At least there is baseball on! Steph will continue to put up decor next week when her mom is there to help. I hope Clarice has her "tough boots" on as she is staying with us and she is at the cold end of the house, next to the future kitchen.

Finally, this is what we woke up to this morning. Now I understand the love my brother-in-law had of the "stark beauty" of the lake in wintertime.

Where we are sleeping tonight!

We moved in all of our stuff this weekend...set up the beds, and we will be sleeping in our house tonight!

6 weeks after we purchased, we are now going to call it home. It's a good thing, I was getting way to comfortable in mom and dad's "apartment"!

I'll post pictures tomorrow.

Exciting times in the Living On Liquid blog.

I can't wait to sleep on my own bed......zzzzzzzzzz.

Floored

The wood floor is done, it looks ace!

The carpet dudes came today and kicked out the rooms...they covered up a nice wood floor in the master bedroom that Steph found last night.
Oh, well the boys need somewhere soft to wrestle.

We will have very little carpet in the house, with the wood floor and monster tile in the kitchen and bathrooms...easier to clean after parties. I'll get a big "school janitor mop" and when I think the party should be over I'll turn off half the lights in the building, and start mopping up, hopefully people will get the hint to pack it up!

Is is just me or do school janitors never want to hang out and socialize after a game? I swear at my high school the final whistle would blow and half a bank of lights would go out before the players got to the locker room.

On my way back to the office this afternoon, Mark K. and some of his buddies were out spreading manure using a teams of horses! It was a great sight, so I stopped and shot some pictures of something that could have happened 120 years ago on the same field. A big poop throwing party, right there north of Huron! Mark and my dad were born 120 years too late.

Speaking of which, dad and I watched a great western last night, "Ride With The Devil". Civil War era western of sorts. Ang Lee directed...pretty solid, kept us up until 12:45 a.m.

Finally just a little picture of the young jester...in the backpack.

LAKE EFFECT SNOW!

It is has been snowing in Eastern South Dakota all day.

When we left the lake house tonight is was "flurrying", we crested the hill leading to the James River Valley and the wind kicked up, and it looked like a full on snow storm...it only lasted 2 miles, but I turned into my usual giddy little boy-self when the snow comes.

Maxim woke up this morning and ran to a window to see if he could make snowdudes...he wanted to use the grass since the snow wasn't staying.

I do need the COLD weather to hold off until I get the kitchen sealed up, insulated and sheetrocked. Steph put another coat of varnish on the wood floor and it POPS. Can't wait to see it with some furniture sitting on it.

I have to get my docks out of the water this weekend...I think we are done with "in-water activity" for the year. I did tell Steph I wanted to wakeboard while it was snowing. I guess today would have been my day for doing that.

It is time to switch from Glass To Powder.

Steph's Turn.

Our carpet comes on Friday the 13th. Not sure if the date says anything about this project or not, but we are almost ready for it.

Sunday was the usual church, home and work...heavy on the work. We sanded the floor 4 more times. Finally we were ready for stain.

Maxim was hyper on Sunday, all hopped up on sugar from another one of our good parenting moments (see picture). Headphones, dvd and powdered sugar donuts on the way to church. So G-ma $.01 (that's Grandma Penny) pulled the best move of the day, she came out and picked up the boys to free us up to work later.

That's when Steph went into overdrive. She decided to start staining on Sunday night. I wiped the floor clean with tack cloth and she started making the floor even more beautiful. I was nervous going into this floor thing to begin with, but if Steph's Aunt Sharla can do it, so can Steph. They are cut from the same cloth. She just jumps in and kicks it out.

Making dust is a major no-no while staining a floor, so that means my chop shop carpenter skills were put on hold for a while. So I did what every person with an empty room would do while their spouse slaves away...I skated in our future kitchen.

Steph finished around 11:30 pm and we packed up to head back to Huron, but one little problem. The keys for the Expedition were in my jeans in our bedroom. The sliding door was locked and the only other entrance is through the living room. Steph gave me one of those looks, and put rubber gloves on her feet and retreived the keys. As she walked she buffed the footprints out with a rag. She is so smart.

Monday night we were at the house early...Steph was going to put the first clear coat over the floor and I was going to mow the yard, and do some work outside. I mowed the yard with Brecken in the kid-carrier backpack...he fell asleep about 10 minutes into it. Maxim had fallen asleep on the way out to the house and rocked a 3 hour nap in his car seat. When he woke up...my night began.

I have mentioned before that taking care of kids is hard work, but Brecken and Maxim together is like chasing a bunch of Howler Monkeys around. Steph said I would get
frustrated if I was going to try to do any work...I was. Finally around 8:30 I filled up the Jacuzzi Tub and all the boys had a bubble bath. Brecken was laughing at Maxim, Maxim was laughing at me and I was laughing at Brecken. It was still a lot of work. I got both of them into their jammys and fed Brecken...AGAIN.

Steph finished up around 9:30 pm, and decided that she needed some time in the hot tub.

The floor looked amazing, tonight we will lightly sand and tack cloth it, and put on another coat.

Sand-Dead

What a week.

6.5 hours of conference calls, meetings, parties, work on the lake house, Brecken's 6 hour crying spree on Thursday...I only heard 10 minutes of the whole thing, but I almost started crying. We needed a weekend.

Friday we/the company/ threw a tailgate party prior to the football game in Freeman, good times, good people, great pork. On the way home, I had the guys drop me off in Mitchell to hook up with Steph, the boyz, and G-ma/G-pa at Menard's. I capped off their 3 hour shopping spree to the lumber yard with a Matchbox car for Maxim and a some gutter guard to "Keep the clutter out of your gutter!".

We are still getting used to having a bunch of trees on our property, the leaves falling in the yard today bothered me, I wanted to go out with the mower and pick them all up.

Today, Saturday, We rough-sanded the floor of the living room. I am glad I don't redo floors for a living, I would hire some 18 year old to do the work. We went over it 5 times with 60 grit paper. Steph hit the low spots and corners with the palm sander. Tomorrow we will go over it 2 more times, once with 80 grit and once with 100 grit and see where we are at. We should be stained and liquored, I mean laquered, by Wednesday.

G-pa Bob fought off sleep long enough this afternoon for some big projects...he de-shod his horses and de-carpet our stairs to the basement.

Carpet comes on Friday the 13th. Steph wants to make the official first night of sleep there on the 14th. We are so ready to call the lake "home."

Still haven't got the boat battery re-charged, I left the depth finder on and drained it. Last Saturday, Steph and I wanted to cap the day with a little wakeboard session, but no juice.