travis' brain dump

You know, those ones where you roll in after lunch and leave before four? lol

Ok, that would be an incredible waste of time….

All in all it’s been a good day though… I’m looking foward to the weekend though despite the fact it will be insanely busy… My task list for the weekend:

• Fix the roof. I have to remove the old chimney and cover the hole, roof it, etc… yay!
• Mow the lawn
• Plant the garden
• Tear more of the downstairs apart to prepare for construction next week
• Help Amanda plan out Arwen’s birthday party.

Yeah… squeeze that into one-two day kiddos! 🙂 At least I’ve got two back to back three day weekends coming up. That’s *ALWAYS* a good thing. I’ve got to at least get the new bathroom door installed downstairs in the house before Arwen’s party though, so I’ve got some things to finish in a short amount of time.

I think we’ve picked out a good fireplace for the downstairs though, so that project is coming together nicely. I’m hoping to have all the framing done and at least the stairway finished by the end of June. Puts me right on schedule to have most of the insulating and sheetrocking done by July and allows Mike to roll in there in August to do his thing with texture. *knock on wood* That’s the plan at least. It should make for some interesting pictures up on the gallery though as we document the remodel a little better with pictures. It’ll be interesting to see how the house comes out once all is said and done. More than likely it’ll be just in time to have to find a new one because I’m running out of space huh? LOL

Anyway… duty calls.

Geez…. I think this is a serious lapse in posting on my part. I just noticed it’s been 21 days since I last posted. Between daylights savings and the rush that’s been going on here at work piled with everything going on at home I guess it makes sense. Well… hi… I’m still alive! 🙂

Let’s see, what’s been going on…

Work, work and well more work. There have been so many changes going on here it’s been ridiculous… I literally increased the workload by almost double this month I think. It’s good though, they are fun projects, just time consuming. I’m really enjoying it, with the exception of the all nighter I had to pull last week. I don’t even remember the last time I have been up for over 24 hours but this time was definitely *NOT* fun. OH wait… I do remember. It was when I drove from Denver to Phoenix and then to Mexico back in May. LOL That was definitely more fun than this was.

The home life is buzzing for sure. I’ve gotten almost everything figured out for materials on finishing the basement off so it’s time to start making the budget and planning. I can’t wait to rip that freakin place apart and get all that finished up. If the first room we did is any indication then it’s going to look so nice when it’s done. We’ve already started getting some of the planning started for the kitchen/living room run which should kick off in the spring of next year. Yes, the planning for the downstairs was started last year so we’re right on track for another one. 

We’re making some more progress on Andy’s truck too this week. The lift is going in! 🙂 It’s a modest lift, but none the less it should change the look of the truck especially with the new wheels/tires going on. You know pictures will be posted. 🙂

The blogsite will probably have some quirks with it over the next couple of days, I’m installing the new version of WP that just came out. It’s supposedly a complete overhaul so this should be fun. ^^

Well, that does it. There will be more to update shortly I’m sure. 🙂

Well, I’m proud to say that Arwen did great!

It was a slow start to the morning since there was some snow blowing through so we ended up leaving a little later than usual, but it all worked out. We got up to Breckenridge at about 9:30 and got started right away. Arwen was psyched the entire time. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her this excited about something. (she’s only wanted to go up there with me for the last two seasons, lol)

We grabbed a bus from the parking lot and off we went to Peak 9 where a nice bunny hill lives with Arwen’s name on it.

Arwen didn’t want to waste a second. She was ready to go. So I got her all strapped in and ready to rock and roll. Within a few minutes she had her balance and was ready to go! I don’t think I’ve seen her even this excited for Christmas, lol.

I took her down holding onto her the first time and then gave her a shot on her own by letting go. She did awesome! She got a little freaked out at the fact she was sliding down a hill but she really took to it. By the time she finished a few runs she was pretty wiped out but was definitely looking forward to coming back to do it again soon. I hope I can get her up again before the end of the season. I’m so proud of her.

Another one I’m proud of is Amanda. She really did great this time too. She’s starting to get her balance pretty well on the board now and didn’t fall even a 20th of what she did last time. Definitely improved there. This time definitely was a good trip for both of them!

Once I got done working with those two they went and rested. They earned it. You’d have though they had just run a marathon with the way they looked after honing some basics out there. I headed up to the top of Peak 9 for a couple good runs after that. Talk about an absolutely beautiful day up there. I do have to admit, I got stupid at one point and tried to catapult myself into oblivion but that’s another story for a later time. I landed it okay without any significant damage physically, just a bruise to my pride. LOL

Either way, the trip was a huge success and I can’t wait to take them back up.

More pictures from this are available on my photo gallery under pictures for 2008. 🙂 (link to gallery on menu to right)

(continue reading…)

I tell ya… It’s Tuesday afternoon and I swear it feels like it’s been a full week here. We’ve been busy like no other. Two positives to this week? I’m taking tomorrow off and we have Friday off so only one more work day this week for me!!!!

I think I’m setting myself up for disaster there as next week is going to drag by just ridiculously slow. I guess it all depends on how my schedule looks though. We shall see!

So tomorrow is hump-day hookie… while it’s a cheap ticket for those without a pass, it’s also an opportunity to go up when no one else is. ^^ It should be fun though. Tomorrow will be Arwen’s first trip up to the mountains to try out the snow! She’s super excited. I think she’s been waiting for this day for well over a year now. Hopefully she’s ready. If not, there is always next season. I’m sure she’ll have a blast though and hopefully Amanda can get some more practice in. I know I’m looking forward to getting up there and getting a few good runs in, that’s for sure.

Other than that, stuff has been pretty normal around the house. There has been an abuse of FFXI playing going on though I think. *shrug* oh well, it’s fun. Andy came over this weekend and helped Amanda get some good progression in and I definitely have my work cut out for me this week with getting some more stuff in-game accomplished. It’s almost like a second job/life. More like an addiction. LOL

We’re ramping up around there to get started (as soon as warmer weather kicks in) with the remainder of the remodel on the downstairs portion of the house so that’s going to be a lot of fun. I’m sure that will consume a ton of time once we get rolling on it. I would like to try to at least get to the finishing stage within a week or two. From there I will slow down. The biggest hold-up will be getting the new fireplace installed. Out of everything that will be the most expensive and most time consuming part. I think we’ve almost gotten it all figured out and we just need to go buy some materials and get ready to rip the room apart. 🙂 I can’t wait – I’m gonna need a roll-off trash dumpster for this one! It’s going to look so nice and modern in the downstairs area after we are done.

This time I’ll try to make a point out of making a good detailed blog on the progress. It should be fun.