Walker West

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Spring Break - Day 1

I still look forward to Spring Break every year, even though I haven't actually had a break in many years. There's just something that the school system plants in you around the third week in March that makes you think you deserve to take a break.

We are actually taking a few days off this week since the kids are here. The Arlington Science Center hosted a Kite Festival at the park behind our house yesterday, so we loaded up the bikes & kites and headed over to check it out. They were very fortunate to pick a beautiful day with a good wind. And they had a good turnout, so hopefully they raised some money.

P Diddy is fighting a fever, so we took it easy the rest of the day. He's in good spirits & taking this opportunity to watch as much Power Rangers as he can stand.

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We did have an exciting night. The power went out around 7pm & the kids were not happy about it. Kid 1 even threatened a lawsuit. At about 10pm, 4 huge trucks show up out front to replace the transformer in our neighbor's back yard. Since we had nothing else to do, we peeked through our windows and watched the crew moving about with their hardhats & headlamps. They were there until about 3am.

The unfortunate thing about this is that we have a hunch that the home located behind our neighbor is to blame. The house was foreclosed & recently purchased - but no one lives there. Since no one has really lived there for a long time, no one will take responsibility and fix the pool problem. The pool does not drain in a 'drain'. It poors into the neighboring yards. We recently replaced our fence mainly because of the rotted post (due to pool). We are guessing that the transformer may also have been flooded.

I hope that the electric company will pursue the problem. I hate to think that my rates will eventually go up to absorb problems like this - when it isn't the electric company's fault at all.

Sunday, March 09, 2008

We decided to spend the weekend at home for a change. I got to spend Saturday afternoon babysitting sweet-baby-James and man are my biceps sore today! I bet that Nell has developed some great muscles in the last 6 months! This morning we were able to have brunch with my dad and stepmom. It was nice to visit with them since we have not seen them since the holidays.

And then we headed to Lowe's to pick up some fence panels. Replacing the fence has been on our to-do list for two years. But never at the top. Until recent heavy winds were starting to blow it down. We were excited to see the panels on Sale in the Sunday paper. We got to Lowe's and picked up the posts, screws, concrete, and headed to the counter. Only to find out that the panels were already sold out. So at that point, we let out a big exhale of disappointment and paid full price.

E just never ceases to amaze me with all of his talents. (He also disposed of a dead possum).

Demolition:

After:

You'll notice that huge pile of leaves at the bottom of our pool in the 'before' pictures is gone in the 'after' pictures. I wasn't a complete bum while E did all of the hard work! That lovely green color will be blue soon.

Thursday, March 06, 2008

It's raining/sleeting/snowing outside today, for the second time this week. My boss kicked me out of work early, so that was nice. But it took me an hour and a half to get home.

I decided to make some chili and I sliced my finger. So I decided to have a beer too. Now eliot is going stir crazy. He wants to go outside, but as soon as I open the door, he sniffs at the cold air and turns back around.

Crazy Cat!

My first presentation for my research class was supposed to be tonight. Class has been cancelled already, so I get to put it off another week. I do have 3 more cases to research and write. Today is looking like a good opportunity to get started.