meow?
hello again. we managed some productivity on the house this weekend, horray for us! saturday we moved the old hardwood floor wood remains off the old garage slab and into the
little shed (after some clean-up/reorganizing inside the shed). it had been sitting there waiting for room in the garbage to get disposed of slowly. but, we've had too much junk from inside that we haven't gotten to that wood. long story short, there was a "request" that we expedite the process. the annoying trash service hasn't been helping, as they don't always take everything we leave out, even if we're within our 4 bag/can limit. we're confused about that deal. so, we'll slowly remove the old hardwood from the shed instead of the old slab. oh, and of course it was cold and snowy for the first time in a month on saturday. wheeee!we also made a good Lowe's run for some other weekend projects. other
things completed include: towel bars in downstairs bathroom, re-install of upstairs towel bar, new shower head in downstairs bath, smoke detector in basement, pipe insulation on hot water pipes in basement, new lights in upstairs bathroom (see pic), new kitchen light (see pic), and new hallway light upstairs (no pic, same roundish light as in bedrooms). i also made and updated the "official" to do list (electronic version ... not misc. scribblings on 3 scattered pieces of paper). not bad. all this and we still managed to see Walk The Line on Friday night (thanks for the giftcard Traci) and rented Hotel Rwanda on Saturday (thanks for the giftcard Steve & Lori). both were excellent, excellent movies. Reese & Joaquin both deserve Oscars for their performances ... wow, to think neither one was a singer/musician at all before that movie. Don Cheadle was also amazing in Hotel Rwanda. great movie, it's surreal/maddening how the world treated that event. granted i was only 15 at the time and didn't follow world events like i do now, but how do i not even remember an event where nearly 1 million people were murdered? did anyone remember this prior to seeing the film? did it even hit the front pages of American media? was i asleep in 1994? sheesh.
in other news, the past two weeks or so, we've been noticing some "guests" off and on in the backyard. we've noticed quite a few stray cats roaming around, but there
were 2 somewhat young cats who've kept hanging around (see pic). the white one has been very friendly. the black/gray one seems fairly scared of people but is getting more daring. we've gotten a kick out of watching them play in the back yard (the white one thinks it's some fierce hunter ... stalking and pouncing on blades of grass, dirt, leaves, us, etc.). this got us thinking. Chrissy, as i'm sure most of you know, really has wanted a dog for a long time. i, on the other hand, have really really not wanted a dog. i generally don't like most cats, but cats with the right personality i have found to be fun. however, cats as pets don't have some of the annoyances of dogs as pets = the reasons i don't want a dog (they go to the bathroom in a box--not in the lawn, go to the bathroom on their own time--not yours, no walking, no training, can be left alone longer, don't have that doggie smell, are generally cleaner animals, less likely to chew up your house, cheaper, etc.). thus, we have been exploring the possibility of a cat as a pet (Andy is voting "no" to dogs and cats). it gets us a pet that is "easier" to play with (no offense Andy) which is what Chrissy has been wanting, but provides less annoyance for me. maybe a good compromise. we toyed with the idea of seeing if our stray cat friends would get tame enough to keep as pets, but are leaning toward adoption instead. sooo ... maybe we'll have a cat soon??? maybe this one?here's a question for the viewers ... what should we do about getting a truck? we should have got one a while back to haul materials and help with moving (you'd be amazed at the things i shoved in my car), but with the expenses at the time it wasn't feasible. we still have lots of upcoming uses for a truck (lots of landscaping to do, etc.) so it would be very helpful to have one (it would also be my daily driver to get to work). my car is getting up there in mileage, so is due for a round of more costly maintenance items (brakes, tires again, tune-up, etc.). so, it should probably happen soon (esp. before spring landscaping season -- i don't want to haul mulch in my trunk). i toyed with keeping the car and getting a junker truck for hauling, but having 3 vehicles doesn't sound fun. i'm leaning towards a full-size, long bed hopefully with an extended cab of some sort. i've studied Edmunds.com a lot, but nothing has come up as a good option. i'm thinking something 1-4 years old to keep mileage down, but miss out on the worst of the depreciation years (and less cost). reliability is a big factor. a basic assortment of features is all i'd want (CD, cruise control, power locks, etc.). what do you think out there? what is the truck for me? should i go full size? anyone have a good, reliable truck they want to sell us?
posted by Chris and Chrissy Miller @ 8:41 PM
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