I started reading this book on my last business trip and made pretty good progress with it. But, life got in the way and I never finished it. I wanted to finish it up before my next trip (which, incidentally, is tomorrow), so I’ve been making an effort to read it in recent days. I just got done with it this evening. I liked it, but not quite as much as its predecessor–Odd Thomas. I suppose if I would’ve liked it as much as that book, I wouldn’t have had to make an effort to finish it. Nevertheless, I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series, Brother Odd.
busy as a bee
I have to go to a training class for work next week, so I’ve been trying to get ahead on my household duties so that I’m not overwhelmed when I return. Couple that with Jake’s bedroom remodel and I’ve been quite busy the past few weeks. As I previously mentioned, Jake’s carpet was installed on Tuesday. Last night, we finished assembling his new desk/wall storage unit and put it in his room. At this point, all of the furniture is back in his room, but none of his stuff has been put away yet.
I’m looking forward to Memorial Day because it will be the first day off I’ve had since New Year’s Day. Normally, I like to take a day off per month, but with all of the job changes I’ve had this year, that’s not within the realm of possibility thanks to my new and improved reduced vacation schedule. But, what can you do? Grin and bear it.
i call it ‘motivation’
Brian has been working on the trim for Jake’s room, but there was still a lot of work to do on it before it could be installed. Unfortunately for him, REC Carpeting called today and said our carpet was in, and they just happened to have a cancellation for tomorrow, so they could install it then if it would suit us. I just want to complete this project, so I was pretty excited to hear that news. I hung up the phone and told Brian about the conversation and he said, “You know, we still don’t have the trim installed. I guess I know what I’m doing today.” I totally forgot about the trim–I wasn’t expecting to hear from REC for a few more days. And, I certainly wasn’t expecting to get an installation appointment so quickly. So, he took off work early and got to work. He didn’t even complain (too much). By the time I finished working, the trim was ready to be finished–I did that while he prepped the room. Then the two of us spent the next few hours installing baseboard trim. We just got done a little bit ago and the room looks great. It’s going to look even better tomorrow once the carpet is in and we can put all of Jake’s new furniture in there.
mother’s day
We spent Mother’s Day at my parent’s house. My mom invited Brian’s parents, so that was nice that we could all get together today. My grandmother and Aunt Betty were there, too. We had actually given the moms their gifts yesterday because that is when I got mine (after Jake’s party). Brian and Jake worked on the bird feeder when I was traveling for work last month. I’ve been wanting this particular bird feeder for so long, that I finally gave up on it and bought some cheap plastic ones in the spring. So, this gave Jake the idea to make me a bird feeder for Mother’s Day. Brian knew I wanted this particular one, so that’s what I got. Pretty nice, eh? Brian’s going to put it just outside my kitchen window so I can watch the birds when I’m in there (which is quite often). He dug the post hole this evening and I expect he’ll finish it up tomorrow night. Then, the birds will be eating in style.
party time
We had Jake’s birthday party this afternoon. Things went smoothly. I’m pretty sure everyone had a good time. Luckily for me, Brian took charge of the party and kept the kids entertained all afternoon. Jake made a haul as usual. Good thing we are remodeling his room–we might actually have some place to put all of this stuff once we get his room back together.
We got to try out our new gazebo today. We bought it at Home Depot last fall. It was an impulse buy, but it turned out to be a good decision–it was pretty warm outside and we would’ve fried if we had been in the sun all afternoon. (Actually, Brian got fried, anyway, because he was playing with the kids in the sun all afternoon and forgot to put on his sunscreen, silly boy.) The assembly and disassembly went surprisingly quickly for the first time. I don’t know how much use we’ll get from it, but even if we only use it once or twice a year, it will be worth it.
Anyway, Jake’s one happy kid. We bought him a lego set and he spent all evening working on that. Now, he’s listening to the iPod shuffle we got him (I found a refurbished one on the Apple store for a great price–I couldn’t pass it up) as he goes to sleep. Tomorrow, he has a date with the Lego set my parents got him. And, I’m sure he’ll probably be wearing some of the camo clothes he received from both sets of grandparents as he works on it.