Our Yard... landscaping from start to finish!

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Thursday, October 30, 2003
8:37 AM

Dad sent me the bird pics and at first I admit I was reluctant to post them. As I warned you, they aren't pretty. But Lois said she wants to see them, so here they are:

See how tiny they are? This is the first time one was taken out of the nest:

All three together:

One getting feathers (thank God!):

Proud momma bird:

I really have a hard time figuring out what is what in some of those pics. Dad sent quite a few pics but I tried to pic the best ones.

So the question is, what are they going to name the new birds?

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Wednesday, October 29, 2003
3:43 PM

Did you know that cats don't know about Daylight Savings Time? Which means that they think it's time to get up in the morning when, in reality, we can sleep another hour. And they really aren't very understanding when you try to explain it to them. At best, they want to crawl under the covers and act like there is a tent for them when there isn't. I think it's a foregone conclusion that I'm not ready for kids.

Lots of new stuff to take pictures of, but the other downside of the time change is that by the time we get home, it's dark. Hence no pics. But after all of our incredibly hostile e-mails last week they have really been cranking. Most of the plants were going in today. The fireplace is almost done, as is the BBQ. All we need is grass (which may go in Friday) and water for the pool. We originally were supposed to have the pool plastered and filled late this week, but because of all of the ash in the air, plastering has been postponed.

Meanwhile, down the hill from us, my folks have some new additions to the household. Remember the birds that are part of the menagerie? Well they have 3 new ones. Apparently the Petty breeding program continues to be very successful and a couple of the birds managed to produce and hatch 3 eggs. Dad is supposed to be e-mailing me some pics to post, but don't have them yet. But be warned: I've seen the babies and they are far from cute at this point. No little downy yellow chicks at their house. I'll let you see for yourself if Dad gets me the pics.

That's it for now. Have a good one!

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Monday, October 27, 2003
9:54 AM

Enough about our landscaping woes. What's up with all these fires? Pretty scary. Luckily none of them are near us or any of the family, but there is ash everywhere. It smells like smoke and, depending on the winds, the sky is really dark. Here's a pic I took in the middle of the afternoon on Saturday:

You can see the sun (sort of) through all that orange sky. It really did look pretty bad outside.

At Lois' request, here are a couple of pics of the yard:
BBQ island almost finished (except, naturally, the BBQ itself!)

The smoke makes for some nice sunsets though:

I'll spare you the rantings.

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Sunday, October 26, 2003
6:23 PM

I got up this morning, uploaded new pics from the camera and got ready to post an update. And then I just couldn't bring myself to even bother. I am so tired of the yard stuff that I have zero spare energy to talk about it.

I'll try to muster up some tomorrow.

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Wednesday, October 22, 2003
2:32 PM

Well we may have fired our general contractor today. Actually, we gave him a list of things that must be fixed by Saturday or he's fired. Why in the world would we do that at this point you ask?? Allow me to explain.

Today we learned that the GC did not bother to get permits or inspections from the City for either the wall that they extended or the fireplace. Obviously totally unacceptable. When added to the fact that we are more than 6 weeks behind schedule and are not done yet, we have been pushed just a bit too far.

So they received an e-mail riddled with the word "unacceptable." We even threw in "incompetent", "incapable" and "egregious" for good measure. Words cannot even convey how livid we are.

Again, why oh why did I buy a new home??

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Tuesday, October 21, 2003
12:04 PM

We finally got to start puttering in our own yard this weekend. We were able to plant some stuff in the courtyard and it's starting to look much more civilized (notice the festive pumpkins on the sides):

They have also been working on the BBQ and fireplace, albeit slowly:

We did get the backyard trees today, but I haven't seen them. I'll have to take some pics when I get a chance.

The good news is that we will probably have water in the pool by Halloween!

Remind me again why I bought a brand new house?

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Monday, October 20, 2003
1:21 PM

This post is dedicated to my Auntie Lois.

I went to the dentist today! Wonders never cease. And the good news is that apparently my teeth are in good shape. No gum disease. No cavities. Now my teeth are just that much cleaner (and now my parents can stop nagging me about going!).

But I do have a list of questions:
1. Why is it that in the past 25 years or so since I first went to the dentist the dental industry has not come up with any better way to do x-rays than those little card things that they wedge into your mouth? There is no way that ANYONE can have x-rays done without the cards cutting into your mouth in various places. Perhaps you dentists should revisit this issue. You might improve your sadistic reputation if you didn't force people to have those hideous cards crammed into their mouths.

2. What's up with the suction thingy? I swear that whatever damage was spared by the cards was completed by the suction thing. Again, I think this is just a tool for torturing people.

3. Why in the world is the water that comes out of the spray thingy soooo COLD? (No, it couldn't possibly be just my teeth.) Even room temperature would be an improvement. And do you have to spray it at high force? I don't think pressure washing should be part of the cleaning.

4. Does the light thingy really help or are you just trying to look important?

5. Do you really know how to use the mini-mirror at the end of the handle or are you just bluffing?

6. Do you ever feel the urge to gouge someone in the tooth with a sharp object while demanding to know "IS IT SAFE?" If so, have you ever done it?

Actually, all in all, the visit was not bad. Everyone was very nice and it wasn't even too painful (notwithstanding my bellyaching above). I even had molds made for teeth bleaching stuff (that mold making was by far the worst part - horrible!). I have to do some bleaching before they will consider evening out my front teeth a bit with bonding.

So to all you dentists out there, especially my favorite one, keep up the good work!

P.S. If you didn't get the "Is it safe" reference, go rent "The Marathon Man." Great flick.

Marathon Man

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Thursday, October 16, 2003
9:50 AM

Hello all! Hope everyone is doing well.

Slowly but surely things are coming along. Most of the trees are in in the front. We are very happy with how they look:

Don't you think that the pile of sand, the trash cans and the cement mixer give the yard that extra something we needed?

Meanwhile, they started adding the stacked stone areas. The area where the spa runs in to the pool is done:

Every day when we get home something new is done, but it always seems like they did about 3-4 hours of work instead of a full day. Maybe I'm just being unrealistic. Who knows.

Not much else to report. Talk to you soon!

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Tuesday, October 14, 2003
4:05 PM

Sorry, it's been a few days, but I've been a slacker.

Yard continues to progress. I think we are nearing the home stretch. The BBQ island is all built - it just needs the slate on top and the stone on the sides. Although our previously mentioned neighbor tried valiantly to convince Mark to expand the island to inclue the beer tap, he failed. Mark would love the tap, but if the island was any bigger it would look too big. The good news is that the kegerator thing is very portable. It looks like a mini-fridge with a tap (and is has wheels). So eventually we will get one to wheel out when we have people over (Hey Terry - come on over any time!).

Meanwhile the fireplace is rapidly progressing and they delivered our trees today. It's actually starting to look like a yard! I'll have to post some pics soon.

We learned a couple more things we like about our neighbors - they like to BBQ and given that we don't have a usable one right now, that is the ticket!! We bring food and we all cook. The perfect plan!

The final neighbor thing we learned is that living in a neighborhood with lots of kids is different. On Sunday we were out front and two of the little girls from a couple of door down were walking around with a pad and pen making a list. They approached and very seriously asked it we had been "spooked." We had no idea what it meant either, so don't worry. Apparently you do in friendly neighborhoods. Someone starts it by putting a bag of goodies on your front door. Included is a little note explaining that you have been "spooked" and that you are supposed to do the same for two other neighbors. You also get a sign that says "WE'VE BEEN SPOOKED" that you then post on your door so the neighbors know that someone already got you. So sure enough, yesterday morning there was a little bag of goodies on our door knob. Not only that, but there were even toys and goodies for the cats! I was really amazed at how thoughtful these people are! So, in turn, we spooked two other neighbors and the cycle continues.

The only question that remains is - Who is going to spook the "bad" neighbors? And if they are spooked do they continue the cycle or just act like Scrooge?? I'll report back on these questions. . .

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Friday, October 10, 2003
1:08 PM

Things we like about our new neighbors (some of them):

1. They have cute kids who like to play with us.
2. They like to play ping pong.
3. They let us use their pools, spas, etc. while ours are unfinished.
4. They invite us to their vacation homes (haven't taken them up on it yet).
5. They bail us out when needed (one was there to accept delivery of our BBQ when we couldn't be there).
6. They know way more about landscaping and have been hugely helpful.
7. They have beer on tap in their BBQ islands.
8. All in all, they are nice, fun people.

Things we don't like about our new neighbors (a different set of people):
1. They want us to plant more trees to shield off their yards (after all we have a bigger yard). HELLO? Plant your own GD trees!
2. When we don't plant the trees they want, they plant a whole bunch all in a really crowded row right next to the wall (I'll post a pic of this later!).
3. When one of the cute kids is in OUR yard and finds a marble, another neighbor tells the child that he shouldn't take the marble without asking us first because WE MIGHT COLLECT MARBLES!!! I kid you not.

So I have a simple question for you: How many people our age collect MARBLES??? I know we are one of the youngest couples in the neighborhood (and not even by that much), BUT WE AREN'T 8!!!! What's up with that? This is also one of the tree demanding people.

Luckily the nice outnumber the weird and by and large we hardly even see the weird ones . . .

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Wednesday, October 08, 2003
6:08 PM

Ok, I made it home just in time today! And there are things to take pics of! Here is a shot of the BBQ island (obviously it isn't quite done - if it is we have a problem):

And there is the actual BBQ in the box off to the left. Doesn't really capture it does it?

And just because I am sooo happy with the water line tile we chose, I'm posting a pic of that too! Notice how well it goes with the slate:

Also notice that we couldn't stand the complete lack of plants in the back, so we moved a couple of pots near the pool. Much better! That's about it for now! 2 posts in one day! Check me out!

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8:45 AM

After reading Dana's somewhat passive-agressive plea for updates from everyone, I thought I'd update as well!

Little by little things are getting done. Our side-yard wall is now done. The pool water line tile is in. Really the only major things left are the fireplace and BBQ island, which may start today (ok, so they said they would start yesterday and didn't. Why oh why do I even believe them for a second??? Desperation perhaps.) Sorry I don't have any pics to post - I've been getting home after dark and haven't been able to take any.

Last night I got home particularly late because I made the mistake of waiting until after work to go vote. HUGE mistake. I had to wait about 1.5 hours. Not sure it was worth it but at least I did my civic duty. They really have to do something to update the voting process. After waiting in a huge line, it was easy to understand the delay. Only one person checking you in by S L O W L Y finding your name in this huge list. Then they scrutizine your ID more carefully than a liquor store afraid to sell to minors (ok, so that hasn't happened to me in a while). Finally, after she crosses your name off her list with her ruler (again S L O W L Y, after all the world might end if the line was not 100% perfectly straight), you get your ridiculously large ballot (large only because every Tom, Dick and Porn Star is on it). After waiting all that time it takes you about 7 seconds to vote. Then you wait in line again to turn in your ballot. All I can say is ABSENTEE BALLOT. I need to get registered at my new address so I don't have to do this again.

And after all that, we have an Austrian action film star as governor. I knew this was going to be a bad week . . .

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Saturday, October 04, 2003
4:13 PM

The courtyard hardscape is now done:

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Wednesday, October 01, 2003
11:46 AM

Sorry, nothing new to report. Although the guys were cranking last week, they only worked a few hours on Monday and not a one showed up yesterday. I think they ran out of supplies (don't even get me started). Hopefully they were back today, but who knows. . .

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