Michael Phelps at a Young Age

I don't think that he is leading by enough though.....

Smokin'

Introducing the Orion Cooker. I have a few friends that have been raving about this new cheap little smoker that they have been using. So, when I walked by one in Home Depot that was marked down to $99 from $149, I decided to try it out. It isn't your traditional smoker by any means. You use charcoal in the ring around the bottom and on top of the unit to cook the meat inside the chamber. Adding wood chips to the inside of the chamber gives the meat some nice smokey flavor. Basically it works out to having a smoker that is little or no maintenance while cooking.

Miranda cooked a rack of ribs for dinner (remember - I was working in the bathroom). It was super easy - put in the meat, put on the lid, light the charcoal and check back an hour later. The only clean up we had to do was to put the rib hangers in the dishwasher and rinse out the drip pan.

The meat was nice and tender too. Admittedly they weren't the best ribs that I have ever had, but they were dang good. You can cook all sorts of stuff in it too. Turkeys, brisket, ribs, fish, and just about anything else. Here's the website if anyone is interested in joining Team Orion.

http://orionoutdoors.com/products/cooker/

Now back to your regularly scheduled programming....

Slave Labor AKA Dave Labor

I have spent the last three days in bathrooms.....Before you get any nasty mental images, we are renovating the bathrooms. On Friday I spent the entire day repainting the walls, ceilings, and trim in the guest bathroom. I reinstalled all the hardware, and wired in a new light fixture over the mirror. Then Saturday and Sunday, I tackled the other bathroom doing the same things. Repainting the ceilings and walls, installing a new light fixture, painting the trim, cleaning up, etc. Not to mention that I spent Saturday morning mowing the yard - and of course it was hot...

But the good news is that everything is done except for the countertops, sinks and a few other small things. The new bathrooms are free from ugly wallpaper. I must say, they do look pretty nice compared to what they used to look like. At least now the upstairs is in enough order that we can have the cleaning ladies come up here to clean. It has looked like a construction zone for the last month or so....

We are going to wait to buy new granite countertops until next month. We're trying to spread out the expenses a bit. But after we get those installed, it shouldn't be too hard to finish up and be done with the "Great Bathroom Renovation of 2008". At least this summer it wasn't building a retaining wall in the Texas sun. We will post some pictures when we have everything completed.

Drum Cafe

I've neglected the blog lately because I had to start back to work. The beginning of school is always hectic, but ready or not, kids will come on the 25th.
Today our district held its annual convocation--a pep rally of sorts for all district employees. This is the fourth one that I've attended, and it was by far the best. I don't really think anything can top what we did today. I remember very little about the past 3 convocation key note speakers, but I will never forget today's key note program.
We entered the gym to find a drum for each employee in attendance. While I should know how many people the district employs, I don't, but it's around 2,000, give or take a hundred or so. Instead of listening to a speaker, a drum team from Drum Cafe interacted with us for about an hour. We learned simple rhythms and that if you breath or walk, then you do have rhythm. The team leader had all two thousand of us in the palm of his hand. He reminded us that we all come from a mother, whose heartbeat was the first rhythm we heard; he went on to talk about relationships and human connection from there. At times, opposing sides of the gym were pounding out opposing rhythms. Sometimes the music was chest vibrating; at others it was barely audible. But always, we were united in producing music. Something we all need to remember. We're always tapping out a beat. Does it harmonize with sounds those around us are producing? Are we trying to "drown out" the music of others?
Did I hit every beat correctly? Absolutely not, but that's OK. I had a great time and was reminded that I do, in fact, have rhythm.

Drum Cafe is an international organization. Some of the drummers performed during the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. I remember seeing the African drummers and was perplexed by their attendance since the other performers were Chinese. Now I know . . .

Free Crap - You Pick Up

Anyone need some good used crap? If so, then I can make you a deal. We have an overwhelming mass of junk that has broken or been removed from the bathrooms. We have:

-2 vanity counter tops with molded sinks
-2 light fixtures for bathrooms
-2 faucets that are outdated and need replaced
-freezer that has stopped working
-ceiling fan that works occasionally works after repeated remote button pushing
-mower with broken handle and no back wheels - Runs great!
-2 LARGE bathroom mirrors
-leaf blower that does not start
-Hard Floor Cleaner/Scrubber - this one actually works...

For today only, I am selling all this great stuff for FREE! That's right, I said FREE to all our millions of fans who read our blog. Sorry, no deliveries, you pick up.

Actually, it is going to all be on Craigslist shortly.

It Was Good While it Lasted

A few weeks ago my company asked employees to turn in ideas to "reduce" costs for the company. An overwhelming response was to have a four day work week. Evidently the management thought this was a good idea and implemented a 4 day work week (four - ten hour days). I'm no so excited about having to get up an hour earlier every day and getting home later than normal, but the three day weekends have been AWESOME! Last Friday I had the bathroom walls textured after we removed the wallpaper, and put up a ceiling fan. This Friday I took out the kayak and paddled around Lake Grapevine for most of the day.

But evidently you can't make some people happy no matter what you do. Either that, or they want everyone else to be as miserable as they are....Rumors have been circling this week that we are going to go back to five days since a few people in Austin have been constantly bitching about having to get up so early. I didn't think the four day work week would last forever, but I assumed it would make it longer than a month. Oh well - all good things must come to an end I guess.

Here's a picture just before shoving off in the kayak for a nice paddle. Fishing was slow...one white bass to show for my efforts. But it was nice and cool for a change - we got 1 1/2 inches of rain the night before.

Soooooooooooo HOT!

Yes, that is a real picture from our thermometer on the back porch.....

Miranda, Mason and I have been sweltering here in Texas for the last few months. I believe that today marks the 25th day with 100+ temperatures in DFW. Normally we have 14 such days in an average summer....and we just got to August! This weekend has been especially miserable. We hit a record today of 107, and it was 105 yesterday. I confirmed the sweltering heat while grilling on the back porch this afternoon (crazy I know). Our thermometer was registering 107 when I was out there at 6:00. Thankfully the air conditioning units are buzzing along without any problems (knock on wood). Relief is in sight though. It's only supposed to be 106 tomorrow and 102 on Tuesday. Ugh..........

It has been a loooong summer, and it's only going to get longer. We can't wait for our upcoming mini vacations to Colorado and Minnesota.....

Breaking Point

Poor Dave is almost at his breaking point; it seems like everything around here is breaking.

1. Mower--handle broke at the end of last mowing season; my brother welded the break at Christmas; the week before July 4, the handle broke again just above the weld. So, Dave got a new self-propelled mower.

2. Blower--our blower was bought at the same time as the original mower, seven years ago. Dave's been having trouble getting it to start for a while now. Today it wouldn't start, so we went to Lowe's and bought a new Husqvarna blower.

3. Ceiling fan--last summer, Dave installed a new ceiling fan in our bedroom. It has a remote control. The remote quite working. Dave had to take it down and get a new one. Our bed suffered a wound in the initial and secondary installations. For the past two months the remote has been spotty in working. Last night, Dave "dropped" the remote when fighting to get the light off. Today, we bought a new Hunter, remote-control-less fan.

4. Side garage door latch. Randomly isn't working. Dave finally got the door closed last Sunday; we haven't opened it since. He's decided to put a new keyless lock on the door to remedy the problem.

5. Drop Light. Dave has been plastering and sanding the walls in the two bathrooms upstairs to get them ready for texturing. Today he decided he would finish everything up in an effort to get Jorge out here next Friday or Saturday to texture them. Since the light fixtures are down, Dave is using a drop light. He finished one room, moved to another, then the light didn't work. We bought a new one at Lowe's. I laughed and said that the original would be working when we got home. Sure enough, it was.

6. Freezer. A few months ago, we went out into the garage and found water coming from our upright freezer. Opening it, we discovered it wasn't working. Thankfully most items were still mostly frozen, so we put them in the freezer inside. Since it was a $99 purchase at Home Depot on clearance at least 4 years ago, we figure it will cost more to repair it than to replace it.

I'm sure there are other things that are just waiting to break. Hopefully, the purchase of a new ceiling fan, drop light, and blower will keep us limping along for a while. I think Dave might just break if something else does.

A New Ride

Caption: 2008 Honda Accord EX-L, Leather, sunroof, dual climate control, heated front seats, Royal Blue

Caution: Long, tedious, car-buying experience follows. You might just want to enjoy the picture and caption.


I spent much of Thursday buying a new car. In June, I had gotten serious, done my research, and test drove vehicles to make my decision. Then, July rolled around and between travel and work, I didn't really have a chance to do much about my decision. But, with Monday being my first day back to work, I knew it was time to act, even though I dreaded the action.

Our truck-buying experience in 2002 sullied my already not-so-pretty picture of car buying. We had a terrible experience with Jeff in finance who tried to take advantage of us. Needless to say, I was not looking forward to this foray into car buying, but I knew it needed to be done. Well, maybe.

My 2000 Camry has been a great car. It has 123K miles on it and has had only maintenance and a few minor repairs-like the broken power window. It's been paid for, so why get rid of it? Dave and I don't want to have 2 car payments at the same time ever again. We did for about 3 years, and it was tough. So, I know I need to get a new car, so we can pay it off, save for a year, then replace the truck, eventually.

I psyched myself up on Wednesday to get ready for my expedition on Thursday. I even hedged my bet by going Wednesday to pick up the new sticker and plates for my Camry, since they expired on Thursday. I didn't want to be in a position of having to buy a new car. I think that attitude of "I don't have to have this car now" helped a lot as I started out. Armed with trade-in and third-party resale values for my Camry from Kelly Blue Book and true national market values from Edmunds.com (plus some work to occupy my waiting time), I set out.

First stop: Carmax. I needed the written estimate in hand to use to negotiate with the dealer. Carmax was a pleasurable stop. Not having the courage to tell the kind sales associate who put in the information to get my Camry appraised, I let her look up '07 and '08 Camry's and Accord's in the database. I even let her walk out and show me an '07 Camry with 18K and all the bells and whistles including a navigation system and a keyless entry and start. It did give me something to think about when haggling over prices later. Within 30 minutes, I had my offer on my Camry in hand: it was exactly what I had predetermined I'd be happy with.

Off to the dealership. In mid-June, Dave and I test drove three Hondas: the CR-V, the Pilot, and the Accord. While we both loved the Pilot, with gas prices rising, we didn't think the Pilot was the smartest purchase. The CR-V was OK, but knowing we'll be driving this automobile for 8-10 years, who wants OK? So, the Accord was our choice. I can buy an Accord with all the bells and whistles for less than the Pilot anyway. We did look at Camry's, but I've been driving one for 8 years and just wanted a change.

At the dealership, I found the salesman, Mike, who had test drove with us. I picked a color, looked the car over, then started the negotiations after he had looked over my Camry for trade in. His first price for the Accord was way too high. And I told him so. And the trade-in offer on my Camry was insulting. I told him that, too. So then, I made a counter. They didn't go for it. I didn't like their counter. I whipped out my Edmunds info and showed that to him. Now, the sales supervisor is involved. He's very curious about how Edmunds gets their information. Can someone in the car business not know about Edmunds? After several offers, counter-offers, "I've got to go eat lunch" statements, we finally settled on a price. I think it was fair. While it was $200 over the Edmunds price, I still think it was fair.

Financing was pleasurable. The guy gave me his mandatory sales pitch on extended warranty, roadside assistance, maintenance, and various other add-ons. I listened politely, but declined them all. I was almost tempted by the maintenance when we got down to $499 since I'm a school district employee, but then I realized that it was 7 oil changes over 35K miles. I think I can get my oil changed 7 times for less than $499.

My salesman was so interested in making a sale that he drove my Camry to Carmax while I followed in my new car so that I could sell it that day.

Again, Carmax was a pleasure. I walked in to the business office, told them I wanted to sell my car, showed them the offer I'd gotten earlier in the day, gave them my title and vehicle registration. They said they'd have a check ready in 30 minutes. I took the salesman back to the dealership then returned to Carmax for my check.

I guess a girl can buy a car.
I did call Dave once to further my "I can't make a deal without my husband" charade, but he and I had already discussed payment, down payment, and price, so I knew I was doing OK. I think he's pretty proud of me.