Sold!

Well, we found a buyer for our mobile home. He seems like a really nice guy. We are free and clear of the place. What a huge relief. He is a contractor and will be able to fix the place up for fairly cheap.

Fingers crossed

We got a call Tuesday. A nice sounding fellow wants to buy/lease the double wide. We are going to meet with him Saturday. He said he wants to put down money to hold it until it becomes available. Please oh Please!

Also, Kylee found a website that said to give the goldfish a 15 minute bath in mildly salty water ( 1 tsp per gallon ). It appears to have worked. The fish is doing much much better.

Worst day in awhile

Not the worst day ever but it is somewhere in the top 10% of worst days.

So, several bills came due about the same time and we are stretched thin. Thin enough we've cancelled our date night. I had a small misunderstanding with Kylee about it this morning but we cleared it up. Then I get to work and our entire organization is going through a really big re-organization. My job looks pretty stable but several friend's jobs will be shuffled to other divisions and I won't be seeing them as much anymore. Then our renters called and they are moving at the end of August. That's going to cost us big bucks. The carpet is trashed and it will need painting and probably more. We will most likely have to cover several payments until we can sell the place for a steep loss. And to top it all off, our 4 year old goldfish is just about dead. The poor thing is floating at the top. Rest in peace, Gibbles...

Greenhousing

So, its about time I put up a picture or two of the greenhouse. I had to remove most of the panels last fall because the wind was huffing and puffing and blowing the greenhouse down. So I put up 6 4x4 posts inside and put two 2x4 rails around it. I bought bolts that fit the rails the greenhouse came with. I slid them in and used Dad's suggestion to cut PVC pipe to make spacers.






Dad came over and helped hang the center two 2x4 rails and we re-hung the door on a 2x4 so it wouldn't blow away. Saturday, I glued in PVC and attached a bunch of micro-sprinklers to the undersides of the shelves. Hopefully, that will keep the plants watered while I'm at work. Today I dug the trench for the water supply line and started gluing that in. Luckily I was smart enough to think ahead 5 years ago when I originally did the backyard. I added an extra valve and piped it out to the backyard and left it in the ground. That has saved me hours and hours of work. I just had to dig up the pipe and glue onto it.

Disney Freezing World

Well, what do you say when your once-in-a-lifetime disney vacation becomes a battle to stay warm? Maybe I should start with the flight to Florida. Everything was going well until we started our decent into Orlando International Airport. Brenna wails and screams her little head off. Apparently, her ear infection had not cleared up like the pediatrician thought it would. One of the flight attendants came over and gave me a tongue lashing for flying with a ear infected child. We landed at about Midnight Orlando time. The temperature was a balmy 70 degrees. We took a taxi to the hotel and slept like babies. The next day was less warm but still very nice. We loaded up our six plus Don and Ruth and their 2 scooters into the 7 passenger mini-van rental and tried to check-in into the condo but check-in wasn't for another 5 hours. We drove to Patrick AFB and got 7 day disney tickets. Then we went to the beach and played on the sand and enjoyed a splendid sunset.

























We made it back to the condo and checked-in. It was a really spacious 3 room condo. After check-in, we unpacked and crashed. The next morning it was raining like crazy and wasn't warm anymore. We hung out at the condo then went to pick up Daron at the airport at 4:30 pm. So now we have 9 people in our 7 passenger van. That was crowded! After that the weather was downright cold! It was below freezing most mornings and never got over 60. We bought thermals and warm sweatshirts for everyone but it was still dang cold. We went to Animal Kingdom for our first day. I might have enjoyed it more if was warmer. But I left feeling like it wasn't enough Zoo nor was it enough amusement park. The shows were kinda fun.

Epcot was our 2nd day. It was cold and cloudy and cold. Now, I'm no stranger to cold but it wears you out fast. In Disney World you want all your energy to enjoy the park you are paying big bucks to attend. Here we are before the cold wore us all out.








Next was Disney's Hollywood Studios ( formerly MGM studios ). Here's Alyson and I waiting for the Monorail. I'm wearing a t-shirt, long sleeve shirt, long sleeve thermal shirt, long sleeve sweater and the jacket I thought I wouldn't even need. The stores were all sold out of hats/gloves so I wrapped one of the kids hoodie-sweaters around my neck and over my head. It barely kept me warm. We had lots of fun riding the rollercoaster and the tower of terror. The lines were less than an hour and we had some good fun.



To Be Continued...

Treat yourself

Pumpkin Cheesecake Pudding: Two Points, 10 Servings

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces fat free cream cheese (room temperature)
• 8 ounces Cool Whip Free
• 8 ounces fat free sour cream
• 2 pouches 100 calorie packs Honey Maid Thin Crisps (crushed)
• 1 can pumpkin puree
• 3/4 cup Splenda
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• 2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

Directions:

1. Beat cream cheese, Cool Whip, sour cream, lemon juice & splenda together.

2. Add pumpkin & pumpkin pie spice, mix until well combined.
3. Pour mixture into 10 dessert dishes (ramekins or muffin tins).

4. Top with small handfuls of crushed Honey Maid Thin Crisps.

5. Chill in fridge for a few hours, until set firm.

The swine flu, or did it?

Yeah... Here you go Linz, this post is for you :)
Friday - 10/30
Small cough develops, more of a throat tickle than anything. Almost like my asthma is acting up. I decide to go home early at 4pm. By 9pm my fever has started. At 10:30 I'm feeling really hot and our ancient ear-clicker thermometer doesn't think I have a fever. The headache sets in and the body aches start. I'm coughing regularly by now. I send Kylee to buy a new one but there isn't an ear clicker thermometer to be found for miles around. She picks up a 10 dollar under the tongue digital thermometer. It works great and tells me I'm at 102.5 degrees.
Saturday - 10/31
I read the symptoms for the swine flu and I have all the usual symptoms. I get a Dr. appt and he confirms my self-diagnosis and prescribes Tamiflu since I have asthma. Sorry Halloween, I'm going to have to pass. I stay home and Kylee takes the kids out Trick-or-Treating. By Friday night, I am way tired of the constant headache. It's bad enough to have the flu but the constant nagging head-ache is just no fair!
Sunday - Monday - 11/1 to 11/2
I feel the same... achy, headache, cough, fatigue, fever... I lay around all day taking numerous 2 hour naps. I hardly even feel like goofing around on the computer or watching TV.
Tuesday - 11/3
Hurray, my fever is down! I'll be right as rain in no time...
Wednesday - Monday 11/4 to 11/9
or so I thought. The headache doesn't go away, the fatigue is still debilitating and the cough is not going anywhere. Good thing I have lots of sick leave saved up.
Tuesday - 11/10
I think I'll go to work today. Maybe I can hide the cough and my headache is finally gone. After 2 hours of work, I'm so tired my boss sends me home.
Wednesday - 11/11
1/2 day at work. The cough is barely improving. A coworker complains to my boss that I shouldn't be at work.
Thursday - 11/12
I have the energy to get through a day of work but I'm spent when I get home. The cough marginally better.
Friday - 11/13
I put in a full day at work. I attempt a workout, I get about 1/4 of my workout in before I get dizzy and quit.
Saturday - Friday - 11/14 to 11/20
I go to work but have no energy for much more than that. I still cough up small amounts of junk regularly and I don't even bother attempting exercise. Each day is marginally better than the last. Boy this thing just won't give up.
Saturday - 11/21
I take the kids out shooting guns in a brave attempt at feeling all better but by the time I get home, I'm done for the day...
Sunday - 11/22
I think I might be making real improvement today.
Monday (today)
I finally, finally feel 99% better. I do about 1/2 my normal workout during lunch break. I barely cough all day long and I cook dinner while Kylee takes our son in for a double ear infection.

The rat race

This is a parable of two rats. The first rat was good at the race. Every day the door opened and he ran the maze as fast as he could and enjoyed his reward at the end of the maze. The second rat was also good at the race but quickly tired of it. He knew he was capable of much more than a silly maze. One day he climbed the wall of the maze and danced and flipped and cartwheeled on the top of the maze wall. He was captured by the researchers and never seen again.

Thank you Lindsey

We had lots of fun at your house for the 4th of July!

Goji Greens - Update 3

There are 3 starts in the vermicompost but none in the crosslinked polymer.







The control group is doing well - a few more seeds decided to sprout. I think maybe it has been too hot recently to germinate many seeds.

Goji Greens - Update 2

There are 20 little starts in the control group.








No starts in the other 2 groups.

Germination in 9 days

Experiment 2925C - Update 1 - 17 JUNE 2009

Control Group 9 Days to germination: The control group started germinating today. About 1/3 of the seeds have sprouted.

Goji berry starts

Experiment 2925C
Subject: Goji Berry Seeds
Variables: Normal potting soil, Crosslinked Polymer, Vermicompost

Inquiry: How much does the initial planting medium affect germination and growth of Goji berry seeds?
Study duration: 10 weeks
Measures of Success: Seedlings will be measured for height, width and number of leaves
Method: Goji berry seeds were purchased from a local vendor. Germination rate is unknown. The control group was planted in normal potting soil about 1 week ago. Today I planted the rest of the seeds either in either agricultural grade crosslinked polymer or vermicompost harvested from my european nightcrawler bin.
Here is the crosslinked polymer. I added approximately 1 cup polymer to 1 quart water but quickly found out I need about twice that much water.






Adding the polymer to seed starting trays









Vermicompost on the left, polymer on the right

Garage gardening

I've seriously scaled back my greenhouse plans. Kylee bought a decent self for the garage for starting plants. I do have a nice vermicomposting system. Right now I'm growing worms and their castings in two tubs but I committed to scale back to one tub soon. I harvested a full bucket of worm castings yesterday. Ok I did have help from my unbelievably loving wife who helped sift through the dirt and put the worms in the new buckets. I really did marry the right woman. Alyson and Camille befriended the 12 year old adoptee, Yuliya, in the neighborhood. She is from the Ukraine and is really a sweet child. We had a really fun time for our anniversary. Thanks again Jensen's for watching the kids for 3 nights :) We love you guys! Here's a picture from the adventure.

From 256 Shades of Grey

Greenhouse gardening

Quick post today...
I went with my dad to the Greenhouse gardening class at Thanksgiving point today. I went last year and had a great time. We planted lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, glacier tomatoes, spinach and swiss chard. I'll post pictures next week when they have sprouted. Did you know most garden veggies like 75 degree soil for germination? So my brain is thinking of ways to make my own greenhouse and make it one that the rabbits can live in so it would have to be heated during the winter and cooled during the summer. I've also been thinking about trying to find someway to get the kids involved in a micro-business. Worms promised to be that business for me as a kid, but they always died. My wife also sold worms from her backyard as a kid. So I've been doing some research and I think I may have struck on a plausible business plan.
Step 1: Clean out the shed, insulate the walls, properly arrange the stuff thats in it to give us one free wall. Install electicity to the shed and hook up an air conditioner/heater unit ( we already have a window unit in the garage).
Step 2: Move the rabbits into the newly thermally controlled shed.
Step 3: Buy/Make a worm bucket farm
Step 4: Buy red wigglers and start the worm farm
Step 5: Start seeds in the shed, grow them in garden.
Step 6: Sell worms to pay the electricty bill for the shed/greenhouse combo

It is pure genius I tell ya... The rabbit pellets and garden waste feed the worms. The worm sales pay for the electricity in the shed/greenhouse. And I get all the 'free' plants I want from my shed/greenhouse. This should be a self-sustaining system and that makes me happy!

Labor Day Love follow up

Sorry to keep you waiting for the rest of the Labor day story. I'm afraid the writers guild went on strike...

... The next day we decided to head over to Yellowstone National Park. Old Faithful made us wait quite a long time but finally it did its thing. We drove around and took some nice photos.

After our long day at Yellowstone, I wasn't too excited to drive back to Star Valley. Kylee wondered if there was a room available at the old faithful lodge. I figured there was no way we'd get a room at the last minute on Labor Day so I encouraged her to ask. Well, the guy must've thought we looked particularly desperate for a room so he said, "Well, there is this one room that we don't usually rent out. It is right above the boiler room and quite often there is alot of noise and vibration from the boiler but I guess I'll show it to you if you want and give you 1/2 off." Huh? 1/2 off? I'll take it... Oh well, I guess we should look at it first. Yep, we took it. We didn't experience any noise or vibration issues but dang-gum that room has HOT. Holy mackeral that room must have been 85 degrees. We opened a window and figured it would air out. Pfft.. I might as well have been trying to air out Hades. After about an hour we drenched every towel we could find in the room plus a couple the front desk brought up and slept under wet towels. Every couple of hours I had to wake up and re-wet the towels. Finally, the morning came and we bailed out. The weather outside was very nice, a little drizzly but cool and crisp, the kind of weather that makes you want to go running. We piled into the Pilot and headed out for more fun in Yellowstone. We finally saw some bison and elk on Sunday.

The weather turned on us so we headed home in a mild rain. By the time we got back to Star Valley, it was a steady down pour and cold enough to be unpleasant. We dropped into bed and realized the roof above the master bed was leaking. I got up on the roof to see if I could stanch the leak but succeeded only in freezing my hands and slowing it down some. We grabbed pots and pans and towels and spent the night curled around them as best we could. The next morning I bought a big tub to leave under the leak and did my best to cover up the leaking area. We left glad to have gone and glad to get home to our own beds. Would I go back? Absolutely! You can't make memories like that at some snooty 5 star hotel.

I swear the egg nog wasn't spiked

black mail

I think the title of the post says it all :)

Labor day love

So, the summer is over. I mean OVER. I just about had a panic attack that we had not gone camping even once this summer. Kylee suggested I follow up on a conversation with Betty and Larry at the family reunion wherein they suggested we spend a weekend at Star Valley. So, I called them and sure enough it was open for Labor Day. I figured that would be close enough to camping to whet my appetite. Meanwhile this summer, our van had gotten worse and worse and worse. I got an estimate from a repair shop for 750 smackaroos. Hmm... I'll pass on that. We had been looking at vehicles and settled on the Honda Pilot. Autotrader.com found us a dealer that only sells Honda lease returns and is cheaper than any other place I can find a late model Honda. Cheap enough in fact that we could purchase one and still have budget to save for the next car we'll have to buy. So we were really interested in that too. Now, where was I? Oh yes Labor Day... Well, we doubted the van would get us to Star Valley at all so I took Friday off and we went and test drove a 2005 Pilot that had 47k miles and was priced at $12,900. Right on! I tried to talk him down but it was a very clean car with a clean title and was below NADA trade-in. He wouldn't come down in price but added a few upgrades (tow hitch & tranny cooler, roof rack, and DVD system all together for less than $1200) and offered $800 trade-in for the van. Well, that was all she wrote. We bought it. Let see, I was writing about something else... Oh yeah Labor Day... Ok, so they installed the DVD, we picked up the keys and packed up the Pilot and kissed the old van good bye. We were on the road for Star Valley by 5 pm in our handsome new vehicle. Did I mention we totally love that thing? Oh yeah, I can actually pass people that are driving slowly now. Even packed to the brim with stuff and all 6 of us in it, we still got 21.9 MPGs. And, no I wasn't driving slow... We arrived just after Midnight and quickly unpacked the essentials and fell asleep. Little did I know that that would be the only good nights rest I was to get over the weekend....

Its Alive!

I would like to publicly apologize for not helping Dad more with his gardening back in my younger years. However, I have caught the garden-fever. Kylee complains that I'm turning our residence into a farm. I don't know why but something about growing plants speaks to my soul. I wonder if it has something to do with our ancestors being farmers? I'll have to post some pics later on