Delayed Gratification

Waiting can be difficult if you have patience issues like I do (or at least my family tells me I do). It's hard, let's admit, to wait for something we really want.  But the wait can also be wonderfully satisfying when it's over.  Believe me.  I recently experienced such a joy.

Case in point - that annoying magnolia tree in my front yard.  Why annoying?  Two things.  First, the trunk could not be more centered over my sewer pipe from my house to the road.  It's as if the person planting the tree said 'hey, where's the sewer pipe?  let's plant this baby right on top of it so that it can mess that puppy up!".  Secondly, magnolia trees drop their big, stiff leaves year round.  Ugh.  It's like planting work.

I've been trying for the last few years to get Julie to agree to let me take this sucker down.  This year she finally relented.  So, the weekend before dump week I called a friend with a chainsaw and scheduled its demise.

I had a third of the tree cut down before my friend arrived - simply using a hand-held tree saw.  Like I said - I have patience issues and he was 30 minutes late arriving;  I wasn't gonna just stand around and wait! When the big guns showed up - we made short work of it.

It took less than half an hour to (carefully) put an end to my never ended days of cleaning up magnolia leaves.  A blessed half hour that was :)

And, it being dump week (a time when Santa Clara will come and pick up pretty much anything you put at your curb!) all we had to do was cut it into smaller pieces and stack it at our curb! (that took 2 hours!)

Ahhhh... and just as a reminder.. while I waited to schedule the stump grinding... I did a little decorating.

Hannah's Pad

We're so proud of Hannah as she has graduated and is transitioning into the next phase of her life. One step along that transition was to move into a house in San Jose with friends.  And, yikes,  pay rent!

 The girls are combining free craigslist.com and friend's furniture - with some of their very own first purchases.  We had great fun going shopping with Hannah at IKEA a week or so ago where she bought a bed frame and some decorations for her new room.

After utilizing my LEGO skills (thanks Joel!) we had the frame together and her mattress setup!  Here's Hannah modeling.

Next Hannah went to work setting up her nightstand (a craigslist feeby!).  Check out her new light and decorations.  She is developing a great little decorator eye.

Add a new, color coordinated carpet.. and you're in great shape.

Yeah,  it looks good Hannah!  Congrats and enjoy your new pad!

First In!

Congratulations to Joel who came all the way from Oregon to nail down 'First In' honors at the pool this year.  And he also won special honors for his very stylish entry.  Clearly a force to be reckoned with!

Well done Joel!

Finished

I almost forgot to mention that we finished the bathroom project last week; just in time to free up the guest bathroom for our visitors to Hannah's graduation this week.

It's hard to get a good picture of such a small room.  I don't have lens with sufficient wide angle to nail it - so I tried with Julie's camera this morning.  The results were mediocre - but you get the picture.

We love the dark vanity and matching mirror - and the solid surface vanity top and matching shower walls turned out great.

A critical design decision for the bathroom was low maintenance.  We went with solid surface walls to get rid of those grout lines we'd need to be cleaning when we're 70.  And, there won't be any failed grout lines letting water through the walls and popping tiles off! 

I'd discuss the floor - but Joanne would laugh at my commentary.  So, let me just say we've received some nice compliments that the floor looks good.

It was bittersweet finishing this project as this was the last room in the house we renovated.  I guess it's time to focus on the backyard now.  Julie already told me I'm going to have to slate the patio sometime :)

Making Progress

I better stick to my day job; I'm way too slow to make money working in the building trades.

We are making progress, however.  Here's a couple pictures of our bathroom remodel.  We've got the walls back together and the shower pan in.  We also installed the vanity (it looks great! - and yes, we have more knobs and pulls to install).  With the pan and vanity in - it was time for the folks that did the solid surface walls and vanity top to do their install.  Then it was on to the floor.

Julie picked a hexagon pattern marble tile that adds a lot of visual interest to the design.  Her idea was to break up all the solid, straight lines in the room with a different shape.  It's beautiful - but a bear to install.  I won't bother you with all the details - but let's just say this project took up pretty much the entire weekend; most of it with me on my hands and knees.  And I still have to grout between all those little tiles!

Wish us luck.  We have to finish the floor.  Install the shower doors.  Do all the wood trim.  Hang the mirror.... well, you get the picture.  We should be done before Hannah returns and people start dropping in for Hannah's graduation. 

At least that's the plan ;)

Last Room

This is the last room you're going to have to read about us renovating!  I can sense your relief already.

We're actually long past due in reworking our master bath.  It was sooooo disgusting!  I didn't even take a before picture.  You can thank me later.

I give full credit to the folks that put the shower in that I just yanked out.  They put that puppy in to last.  But after applying a crowbar, hammer and liberal use of a sledge - it's gone.

Unfortunately, but not unexpectedly, there's been some water damage to the floor.  So, I'll have to figure that out next. 

Now, while was in the bathroom spending hours in demolition - my gorgeous wife mowed the lawn.  That's a job I usually do and it was looking like it needed to be done.  I was so grateful when I heard the roar of that little two-stroke engine; with Julie behind the controls.  How sweet is she!

Okay - more when we get a little further along.

Miscellaneous Stuff

Random stuff to share:

Arrested?
Love this picture of Hannah getting arrested in Berkeley!

She wasn't really getting arrested... as you can probably tell by her laughing.  But, it looks very realistic.  That really is a policeman.  But he's just playing around with her!  Besides, I told her we will pay tuition.. but not BAIL!


Spring Cleanup
Spring requires us to do a lot of yard work.  Check out the pile I generated today.  This is just the result of topping one Oleander bush and hacking back a portion of the overgrown pine tree on our neighbors yard.  I cut up a bunch of it and stuffed our three green buckets.  The rest got stored in the side yard.  It'll take weeks before we'll get rid of it all.  And that's just one small section of the yard! 

From Bad to Worse to Better

Sometimes when it rains; it pours. Sometimes when you biff; you get biffed on.

Most days, if there is not something urgent or pressing happening at work I get away for a walk. Yesterday was just another day of walking. I was reading this really interesting economics book and humming along - when all of a sudden I feel this, 'twap' on my head. Something had dropped on my head. Since I was reading, I was distracted and it didn't immediately dawn on me what had just happened. I thought a leaf bounced off my head or something. Instead, as I brushed through my hair I transferred the bird poop that had so gloriously rained down on me from the top of my head to my hand. Sheesh.

Thankfully, I was only a few hundred yards from our building. I was able to get back to the bathroom without further incident. There, I washed my hair (thank God for big sinks) and hands. Back to normal.

I have never had that happen to me.. although I've experienced prolonged attacks on my car. How bizarre.

Coming off the worse.. I am pleased to say that I was able to successfully mix up grout last night and apply it to the floor without further incident. So, Hannah - it only took one extra bag ;) At least I finished the day strong. TKA would be so proud of me.

The Good and the Bad

It's easy to write a blog post when you've accomplished something. When something good happens. When there's something good to share. But to be fair and open - every once in awhile you need to admit your failures.

Well, today was a massive biff in the effort to finish the guest bathroom remodel.

I was planning to grout the bathroom floor this afternoon. Grout is this sandy, mortar type stuff that you mix with water and mash in-between the floor tiles to form a water barrier. Normally, you put a bunch of the mix into a bucket, pour water in and mix to the consistency that is required. For some reason, I decided to start with filling a bucket with water and then dumping the mix in. I was obviously using my mad jello skills.

Well, that method might have worked had I not put about 5 times more water than I needed in the bucket. Within 10 seconds I realized that I just wasted an entire 15 pound bag of grout as it mixed with the water to form a nice runny soup. A total biff.

So there you have it. The good with the bad. Isn't that just how life is?

Floor Down

Well, after a full day we got the bathroom floor down today. It took us awhile to figure out exactly how we wanted to do the layout. Julie finally decided that a diagonal layout would be the best. It added a bit of challenge - but we eventually mastered a system and had a good time working together to get it in.

It was a long - but fruitful day. Now, we let it set up and will grout on Sunday. We're getting closer :)

The work in progress:















The finished product:

First Blows

As Joel and Carissa were finishing their visit and getting ready to return to Oregon - I noticed Joel took one final blow at his childhood home. He knew that we would be starting our guest bathroom remodel shortly after they left. So, he took the liberty to ensure the project would kick off - by putting his hand through the shower's back wall. Yep, he punched out our house.





























The long weekend afforded me an opportunity to further the destruction. Most of my efforts have focused on removing the tiles, wallboard and insulation surrounding the tub. So far, so good. I have more work to do later today and tomorrow - but the destruction is coming along ;D I found it surprising that an entire tub tile job could be reduced to a single bucket of pieces. Easy come.. easy go.





























Julie's almost completed figuring out what parts are going back in once the destruction is complete. Hopefully over the next month or two we'll be able to share more about this project. We think this will make our B&B even a bit more attractive to visit.

More later!

Detente

Okay, under normal circumstances this post would be about who was 'first in' the pool this year. Saturday was a gorgeous day - tipping 90 degrees; a perfect day for a first dip.

Under normal circumstances we would award 'first-in' using fairly straightforward criteria - such as visually identifying who gets wet first and telling you. This is the type of picture you would expect under normal situations; everyone smiling.



















However, this year we have some 'special circumstances' which require a certain level of detente in making this award - to avoid dealing with the following attitudes.















So, without further ado.. let me get to it. You won't be surprised to hear that we have multiple winners!

Rachel [almost Logan] Massey - recipient of the following:

• most in emotional need of being first-in
• it's your wedding week - so you're first-in
• designated first-in by those technically breaking the surface of the water earlier
• person first-in fully clothed

Jon Logan - recipient of the following:

• Logan or near-Logan first arriving in a non-predominantly oxygen filled location
• Logan first to concede victory to his soon-to-be wife although technically qualified to be crowned
• smartest non-winner in order to receive later - much bigger - victory reward
• individual most likely to be viewed as winner by non-friends or relatives

Julie Henderson - recipient of the following:

• most likely to reveal classified first-in plans to the enemy
• most likely to look the other way to avoid having an opinion award

Whew... this diplomacy stuff is hard work.

Saturday Morning

Here's Julie and Jon Logan putting on a little end of summer garage sale Saturday morning.

The Henderson's goal was to do a little garage cleaning! We were happy to clear some stuff out that had just been taking up space and see it put to good use by people that could use it.







Team Logan (Jon and Rachel) have been taking an awesome class on managing their finances.. and were looking to cut back on some unneeded items and trim their expenses. That's pretty good for such young people to be putting their financial house in such good order!



















Tod even contributed (once he got out of bed) by trekking to Stan's Donuts to make sure the troops were well fed and had a sufficient sugar high to get them through the morning. We all have something to do! And - yes! We had lemonade for our guests! Doesn't everyone?

Mad Pool Skilz

With Summer upon us.. (yeah!).. and approaching 100 degrees here today.. I thought it a fitting time to remind us all of some of Team Henderson's mad pool skilz. We are a talented bunch! Here are some golden oldies.

Enjoy!


We'll start with Joel - tube wrangling! Niiiiceee.




Next we have JT - tube shooting - bottom first!




Joel - heal grab to a tube shoot - feet first!




Hannah - micro tube shooting! How does she do that????




And finally - Joel - oops!!!!

First In!

You might wonder why Jon Logan is racing towards his girlfriend Rachel while she looks like she is luxuriating at the end of the pool. Allow me to explain.

Team Henderson has an informal, friendly competition each Spring to see who will be the first to brave the cool waters of our pool. The pool is not heated so contestants must weigh the relative risk (thermal shock and death) vs reward (winning!) as the days get longer and warmer to decide just when they will go for it.

This year Jon thought he had a stone cold lock on the title as he came over Sunday afternoon with his girlfriend. However, as Jon was distracted talking with us - Rachel- sweet, loving, sneaky like a fox Rachel - raced to the pool and elegantly dove in - claiming the prize. Moments later Jon dove in. Second. Close but no cigar.

Rachel is one amazing woman. We have really enjoyed getting to know her and having a chance to see her and Jon together. They have a lot of fun and we enjoy having them around. I especially love discovering the fun, smart, sassy side of Rachel that was on display for all to see on Sunday.

Arbor Days

One of last year's yard projects was the construction of an Arbor (1st picture - when just completed). We needed to get a wisteria off the fence that it was slowly pulling down due to its weight.

With the help of Bill and friends Jon and Eric we put this bad boy up in hopes that we would be able to 'train' the wisteria up and over it this year.

Well, here's an updated photo of the wisteria (click it for a better view) which is in full bloom right now.

Didn't Julie do an excellent job this spring of getting it off the fence and up and over the arbor? We're really happy with the way this project turned out and specifically wanted to share it with Bill and Linda (along with the rest of you). So - Joanne.. would you please make sure they see this if you can? I would greatly appreciate it.

And - notice.. the old fence is still standing!

Have a great day!

Two favorites - Dump Week and Grandma Elsie!

We LOVE dump week! What is dump week? Well, once a year in Santa Clara - we can pretty much put anything (except toxic stuff) outside on our curbs and the city will come and haul it away for free. When you live in a place where it costs a minimum of $50 to go to the dump.. you really appreciate dump week.

The accompanying picture shows you the pile outside our house. In the words of our neighbor Tim - "very manly pile, guys!" Sweet.

This picture shows another of our favorites; Grandma Elsie who is visiting this week! With grandma and Julie in the picture you get a sense of how much stuff we had out there.

BTW.. grandma and Tod 'dumped' on Tim and JT last night in Euchre. No one can defeat grandma Elsie!!