Today was another nice day outside - I didn't have to run "Florida" hardly at all (except in the morning to warm things up), and I even had a the garage door open for a little while. Mostly I just kept plugging away on the projects. Here's the completed list: installed the cabinet frame, cut out the strategic spots for electrical access, cut out the shelves, put the edgeing on the cabinet top, sanded the shelves & top, put the edge banding on the plywood shelves, and gave everything a coat of polyurethane. It's drying out in the garage now, but here's what it looked like before that (CDs and and videos added for dramatic effect):

Hope the first day of your road trip was a good one - I'm still jealous that you get to spend 3 days driving throught the outback. Have fun! -- Love, Kevin.

They Come Bearing Gifts
Mom and Matt & Karen came for lunch today - actually a late lunch by the time we ate it. And Mom was being her usual self - brought a whole bag full of stuff she found on sale at Eddie Bauer ("it was too cheap to pass up" she said. "Everything was less than $10!"). So, she got me this great lightweight fleece (just like the one we tried to order), and another very soft long-sleeve t-shirt:



Sorry, I don't think I smile for photos of myself very well...And of course, you didn't get left out either... she bought to two pairs of slippers - one really fluffy wool lined pair - (saying "she'll use them as fast as she wears them out"), plus a fleece vest ("petite xtra-small, just Des' size"). It doesn't show up great in the photo, but it's a nice wine color.


I know you already have a gray one, but it's nice to have some variety now and then, right? Plus Karen brought 2 things of soup, and a host of ready-to-make enchilatas - so I'm set for dinners for the week! Matt helped me take down the Christmas lights since it was such a nice day, and Josie came along too, and enjoyed a nice run in the fenced backyard. It was nice of them to come, but it sort of makes it more lonely when they leave, until I get used to it again. It's nice for you that even though you're away from me, you've still got family around all the time. Hope you're enjoying that. -- Love, Kevin.

A Good Day For Mail
Well, the haul from the UPS man was quite good today - here's what we got:

Not bad, eh? The "Best of Red Green" video had quite a few things we've already seen on the DVD we have... but some good new things as well. I'm debating whether to watch the Parenting one, or wait to watch it with you. We'll see. Let me know if you like the shoes - if you don't I can easily send them back. Love ya.

We've been talking quite a bit, so I think I've really told you all the "news"... so this is ending up being more of a photo diary than anything else. I originally imagined it as mostly thoughts, with a few pictures... but it seems to be turning out to be mostly pictures, with a few thoughts. So today, here is the evidence that I manged to go to the grocery store, entirely on my own, and procure some sustenence:

Hope you're eating well too. And Happy Groundhog Day! He predicted 6 more weeks of winter, so there should still be some when you get back!

Not much exciting news from today... I talked with my Mom this evening, and heard that you might not be around when I try to call... so I'm currently deciding how long I might stay up to wait for you - could be a while!

Not much exciting news from the project front today. I discovered that the fireplace brick is very crooked when I tried to place the trim up against it... so I had to make this long, thin cut in the trim to try to match it up - it took me 30 minutes to do it, but I think it might work! Ever the perfectionist, I just couldn't stand having a big gap next to the trim piece...

Book Update: Mr Darcy has finally asked for Miss Elizabeth's hand (although it comes as no surprise, as the reader has been anticipating it for over 1/2 the book), so I expect that this tale will be coming to an end soon. So think of me here in my accustomed pose, and I'll try to get in touch with you again when it's finished.