Take the time...

Memorial Day began in the United States on May 30, 1868, after the Civil War had ended. Flowers were put on the graves of both sides, in order to help heal the nation. It was later expanded to include all men and women who had died in America's wars.

It is now celebrated on the last Monday of May.

For many, this day carries no special meaning except perhaps an extra day off from work and school, a barbecue, the start of the summer holiday season, and for stores, the opportunity to hold their annual Memorial Day Weekend sale.

In reality, the holiday is observed in honor of our nation's armed service personnel who were killed in wartime.

If you know anyone that was killed during a war or know anyone that has lost someone in time of war, please take the time to remember them.

If you know anyone that has served or is serving this great country, please take the time to Thank Them.

We have porch swing

Yes, we now have a porch swing!!!

My Dad read the entry about my failed attempt at hanging our porch swing and called to offer assistance in repairing what I destroyed and getting it hung up correctly. I readily agreed to his offer. My Dad ran his own housing construction company back in the 80's. He's built both houses lived in growing up along with close to 20 other houses in the local area. I even roofed some of those houses while I was in High School to make an extra buck or two. So, when it comes to knowing how to work on a house, my Dad knows his stuff.Dad had his monthly EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter 38) meeting this morning and then he was supposed to go and finish up an engine overhaul on his airplane. After he finished putting the engine together, of course, a test flight was in order, so I didn't expect to see him until about 4:00 this afternoon or so. But, the part he was waiting on didn't come in yesterday's mail and today's mail wasn't going to run until about 2:00, so he came over right after the meeting. The first thing he did was decide that all of the vinyl that was partially coming down, needed to come down all-together so we could fix the wood it was mounted too. First we had to figure out how to get it down without tearing it up. Once we figured that out, we decided to run to Lowe's to get some screw-nails, roofing nails and a tool to separate vinyl pieces. Once we got back from Lowe's it was on the disassemble, which went very quickly. After we pulled all the vinyl down, we reattached the strip of plywood with screw-nails. After that was back up, we started putting all the vinyl back up. Again, that went very smooth also. Once we got the vinyl all the way back to where the swing mounts were gonna go, we measured and drilled the pilot holes for the eye bolts. Then we finished the vinyl . After that, we located our pilot holes under the vinyl and drilled into it. (Of course, I didn't find the pilot hole in my first attempt of drilling a small hole in the vinyl, or even my 4th attempt on the left side. Thank goodness for caulking) We installed the eye-bolts and hung the swing. Then the test. Dad sat down on it and it held. Then, I sat down with him and it held. We have a working porch swing!!! The biggest test of faith: Heather sat down it with my Dad.. When Heather will sit on it, you know she trusts it, so we are good to go. Thanks Dad for all the help!!!! You know I couldn't have done it right without you!!!

Forthcoming Lawn Care

BP is probably my most regular reader. (It was his idea for me to even get this BLOG because he didn't like the way my self-made blog looked on my website.) :) Anyway, he read my entry on May 20th about killing my lawn and wanting to install an irrigation system in the front yard so I could start mowing grass instead of weeds and dirt. I had forgotten that he installs lawn sprinkler systems as a side business. He called me up the next day and told me he would be more than happy to design me a system. He said he could order a lot my parts through his business, and he would come help me install the system one weekend in the near future. He gave me a quote, I checked with "The Boss," and, after she OK'ed the deal, we've got us a plan. Of course, when we install this thing, I'll be taking pictures and doing a write-up because, you all know, when I'm involved in something, it never goes as planned, so it should be interesting. I know BP knows what he's doing, but my karma seems to come into play with even the most knowledgeable of people. I don't even call it bad luck.. I call it: Just another chance at a good story for the BLOG. :)

Crap...

Last weekend I finally got around to hanging our front porch swing. When my Grandfather died last February and the daughters were getting ready to sell his house, they gave Heather and me the porch swing from his house. We were the only folks in the family with a front porch and had a use for it. I took it to my sister's father-in-law and he refinished the swing and painted it white to match our porch. Unfortunately, the swing has been sitting on the porch floor since last August because of one reason or another and was never hung. So, this past weekend, I was finally able to make the time, buy the parts and get it hung. To start off, just about every piece I bought to hang the swing had to be bent, stretched, ground or cut to work, but I was finally able to get it all together. Then, it was on to hanging it. The right side (as you look at it) went up great and it was sturdy. When I worked on the left side, however, it didn't feel near as sturdy and it felt like only a thin piece of wood was all that was up there when I drilled the pilot hole for the eye bolts. I decided to try my luck and hang the swing there anyway. After it was hung, I sat in the middle of the swing and it felt fine. I swung in it for a little while and had no problems. The left side still bugged me, but I guess it was going to hold. I told Heather later that evening, that some time the next day, we both ought to sit in it to make sure it was going to hold.

The next day, I was walking the dog and decided to sit in the swing again. Ripley jumped up in the swing and went to the right side, so I sat on the left. I think it held about 7 nano-seconds. The whole left side ceiling of the porch above the swing came crashing down while the swing and my butt crashed to the floor. After I moved the vinyl siding off my head, I looked up to see what had happened. When I installed the eye bolt, I missed the stud and put it in a sheet of plywood that was only about 8 inches wide. That plywood was then nailed by two nails into each stud for the entire 8 foot length of the plywood. When I sat down, the eye bolt stayed in the plywood, but the plywood came off the studs it was nailed on. As it ripped down, it pulled the vinyl siding down with it and made a big mess of the whole area. On the bright side, I can now see the studs I need to put the eye bolts into. I just need to get some extra time and an extra set of hands to help me get the vinyl back together and nail everything back up.

Now I remember why I never started that construction company....

CONGRATS!!!

A hearty Congratulations goes out to Dive Buddy Dee. She earned her PADI Advanced Open Water certification AND her Enriched Air/NITROX certifications this past weekend. She also made her first ocean and night dives of her diving career for these certifications. Below is her quick write up of her events:

All I can say for my first dive in the ocean--Oh Wow! We dove Friday and Saturday. Friday, the weather was beautiful and the water was calm. Perfect for my first dive. We did two dives that day and went back that night for two night dives. During the day, we got to see a shark hiding under the reef, a sting ray, puffer fish, lobsters, big blue fish that I can even name and soooo many others. It was just beautiful. Then we went back for a twilight dive. The weather was rough with thunder and lightning all around us and huge waves (to me) as we jumped in. As we descended, you could see the lightning from above and hear the thunder. That was the coolest thing ever. The reef was very active at this time of the day. The current wasn't too bad either so we just floated gently along the wall looking for critters. We saw two wrecks on this dive. We came up just before dark and did another dive after dark. Spooky but fun. We were at the wall of the reef and that's when it happened...we were attacked...by a turtle! Yes, this peaceful animal came gracefully gliding toward us out of the dark and I thought, "How cool!" But then it kept coming right at me and I had to get out of the way. Tim, Dick and I were right there together and this turtle kept doing figure-eights around us causing us to keep dodging it until it finally rammed Tim and then left. It was quite an experience! Mark, who was hanging out just above all of this commotion, later said that it was quite amusing. The next day we did two more dives. The first was my deep dive for AOW so we went down to 97'. The water was so clear at this location that you could see the bottom almost as soon as you got in. This was also a drift dive but I think it was more like a fly-by as I swear we were going 30mph. (I later asked Tim how fast we were going and he said about 2mph.) Anyway, it felt like we were flying! It was the most beautiful dive of the trip with the water that clear as we sailed over the reef. We saw a couple more turtles on this day but they were all sleeping. Anyway, wow! Thank you Tim and Diversity Diving with Capt. Tony and DM Sherry for a great trip! I hope to do it again soon. Dee

Congrats Dive Buddy Dee!!!!

You done good. :)

Oh Yeah....

If anyone went to the GA Dive Show in Atlanta over the last two days, can you pop me an email and let me know how it was? I didn't get to go because of the stuff we had to do around here. (Not to mention I had been gone three weekends in a row, so there was no kitchen pass being issued this weekend) Thanks....

Another weekend has passed...

Another weekend has passed, and it was a good weekend. It looks like Tiny Baby is finally over her stomach bug, allergies, pink eye or whatever the heck it was she had. She was out of school all last week and will finally go back tomorrow.

Saturday, Heather and I cleaned up the house during the morning while Tiny Baby took her morning nap. After she woke up (3 hours later) we went to the Mall to get her Mother's Day present. Heather has wanted a bit of "bling" to wear for awhile now and I figured her first Mother's Day would be a great excuse to buy her some bling. After looking around and having my sister look for me, I never saw anything that I was comfortable getting because Heather can be very particular about certain things. As I was in one of our local jewelry places a week or so before Mother's Day, the girl working the counter told me they were having a custom jewelry show on the 19th and they could make anything she wanted. So, that's what I did.. I gave her a nice thing of flowers and a card that explained the custom jewelry thing and that we would go that day and have her something made. So, Saturday, we went to the jewelry store and she picked out her necklace and had a ruby (Tiny Baby's birthstone) added to the arrangement. She has been wearing that necklace every time we leave the house. Heather has never been one to put a lot of emphasis on material goods, but she LOVES this necklace. It's worth every penny I paid for it just in the joy she displays when she wears it.

Now, while we were shopping, we decided to stop by the food court and grab a bite to eat. There standing in line at the Chik-Fil-A was this lady. She had to be in her mid to late 30's and about 30 pounds over weight. She had bleach blond, long, curly, stringy hair. She had on shorts and a top that showed her midriff. Her pot belly was poking out further than her boobs and with the short shirt, you saw it in all it's glory. On the shirt was written: EYE CANDY... After seeing that "eye candy" you almost wanted to take one of the chopsticks from Yokohama's and jam it in your eye. But unfortunately, the image was already burned into your memory so you would accomplish nothing by poking out your own eyes after the fact.

After the most enjoyable trip to the mall, we went by my parents' house so they could spend some time with Tiny Baby and then it was back to the mall to pick up the necklace. After that was dinner, putting the baby to bed and Nextel All-Star Challenge. My man, McMurray didn't make it to the All-Star event, but he ran good in the Open and it looks good for his car in the 600 next weekend. Maybe we'll see another good run by the 26 team this coming week. For those of you that follow the Cup series, how about Busch taking out Busch???!!!!

Sunday, we decided to do some work around the yard. Somehow, last year, I managed to kill our grass. Now, when I cut the weeds out front, I have more dirt, rocks and dust flying out from under the mower than grass. So, we've decided to put in an irrigation system. It's in the planning stages, but it shouldn't take too much time or money since we have a small yard. But, even though I have no grass to work on, there are plenty of weeds in the flower beds and everywhere else. So, Heather pulled up the weeds while I FINALLY installed our front porch swing. It's been sitting on the front porch for about 9 months now and I finally got all the parts to hang it today. So, she got the weeds, I hung the swing and she and her mom planted more daylilies around the house. Maybe if we have enough flowers around the house, no one will notice the huge dirt patch that's supposed to be the front lawn. Hopefully, the irrigation system will put enough water on the lawn that our grass will come back. My Father-in-Law seems to think it will, so we'll see when we get some real water on it. You know I'll update here whether it works or not.

Now, I sit here typing my BLOG while #1 Mom puts Tiny Baby down to bed for the night. It's been a very good and productive weekend. You gotta love those types of weekends... Hope you all had an equally enjoyable and/or productive weekend.

Since I didn't have a picture that really went along with this entry, I decided to just upload a pic of the family that was taken on Easter Sunday. The post was mostly about the entire family, so I guess it's fitting.

This weekend...

Good Luck to Dive Buddy Dee this weekend. She is headed down to Boca Rotan, FL to get her PADI Advanced Open Water certification and her Enriched Air/NITROX certification. When I get her trip report, I'll write about it here.

New Diver!!!

As of last weekend, we now have a newly PADI certified diver in the family. My niece, Alyssa, was able to do her check out dives on the 5th and 6th of May and received her PADI Jr. Open Water certification. I was supposed to go with them as the Safety Diver, but they changed which instructor was to go with them just days before the trip and it wasn't an instructor I work with, so I was left out in the cold. (sort of)... But, this isn't about me.. This is a very big CONGRATULATIONS to Alyssa for doing her check out dives and doing great with her skills. Her brother and Dad were along for the trip, so she did have moral support. Not to mention, it's very cool to dive with your family members. That's awesome Baby Girl!!! Now, let's go diving!!!

Never fear for me though.. I wasn't left in the cold for long. Scuba Steve, since he couldn't go on the check dive trip either, got me invited on a spearfishing trip he was going on that weekend instead. We had a blast!! Highlights: Racked up 6 dives over the 2 days, I speared three fish and dove a cool wreck. We also saw a 500 lb fish. The full write-up is here. And the pictures are here.

One picture everyone wanted to see was the "Dragon Hood" in action. Although the water was actually too warm to warrant wearing a hood, I wore it on our first dive so I could get the picture I promised.

And here it is:

Whoops..

I didn't realize it had been so long since I made an entry.. Sorry about that.. Been kind of busy.. My wife's grandfather died last week, so we had visitation and funeral days. Then, I went away for 3 days on a spearfishing dive weekend with some friends down in the Gulf of Mexico. The write up about that weekend will be ready in the next day or two.

A quick update about Tiny Baby: She crawls with lightning speed now. She can hold her own bottle while she drinks. She can drink from a "sippy" cup. She can stand up while pulling up on something. She has her first tooth. She can eat soft table foods and crackers with the best of them. And while we're on the subject of food: She has learned that if she drops food on the floor next to her highchair, she can see her dog when he comes to eat it. Fun times!!!!