For now let's get back to my list...
Making Rooms: Back in May, the room that is my wife's office had been painted (a calming gold), decorated and furnished. By July the only thing left to do was set up of the closet to store her wardrobe.
Armed with the area's dimensions, she did extensive online research to find the bins and clothing racks she wanted. Combined they would give her the space for her clothes she's been wanting for a long time.
Over the 4th of July weekend we went to Lowe's and bought the pre-fab units. Although most of them are assembled and installed there is still some work to do to complete the closet. But at least we have made progress.
Although I haven't really started redecorating the room that will eventually become my den/recording studio, over the summer I did make some major changes to that end.
I decided to sell my rolltop desk in preparation for getting a desk with enough room to allow me access to all my recording equipment.
Once the desk was gone, I rearranged the entire room. This was no small task because I had to find a new place for Angel's crate, the stand up freezer, the small fridge, Aria's Lego table and the two 6 ft storage cabinets.
I created a work area using a square card table and a 4ft high 6ft long table in the corner just inside the door on the left. This area serves as my office/ music spot, and holds my new desktop computer, a printer, along with my ukulele and music books.
All of this is temporary because early in 2017, I plan on buying the desk that will allow me to permanently set up my recording area. That way I can create as much content as I want.
While it seems like we are accomplishing our home improvements at a snail's pace at least we're getting there. Our goal for 2017 is to be sleeping in our new bedroom which is currently a storage room. I'm going to do my best to see that it happens.
A Visit To St. Louis: September was a busy month for me. There were 3 major events. The last one I'll mention first.
Back in May our friends, Mark & Patty Quigley, moved to St. Louis. It wasn't until the last weekend of September that Paula and I got the chance to go visit with them.
We had planned on staying a couple of days but because of family commitment we only stayed one.
We made the 5 hour drive on Friday night and arrived at our friend's house close to midnight.
The next day we enjoyed some breakfast at their house and some time just hanging out.
Here's a "groupie" of all of us.
In the afternoon our hosts drove us around to show us their new surroundings. After lunch at a local restaurant we went into downtown St. Louis. There we drove past the Budwiser brewery, Bush Stadium and the famous Gateway Arch.
After an evening of playing cards, swapping stories, listening to a special playlist on my Ipod and laughing a lot we called it a night.
The next morning, after a slight delay because of a nearly flat tire on the rear driver's side rear of my Kia, we were on our way back home.
I was thrilled by the fact that heading out of town we once again crossed over the mighty Mississippi River. Although it was the second time on this trip. It was the first time in the daylight. Crossing the Mississippi was a travel milestone for both of us.
It was great to hang out with the Quigley's again, even if it was just for a brief time. We look forward to going back when we are able to spend a little longer and enjoy being with two of our bestest friends.
Reunion With Friends: The expression "The cherry on the sundae" is very applicable to this next thing.
The week after my birthday, a couple of my long time friends, Gene and Larry, came to Kentucky on vacation. They were nice enough to spend some time with me here in my little corner of the world.
Gene was a good friend of my dad's and my church youth leader when I was a teenager. But most importantly after all these years, he's still a great friend.
Larry, was the coach of my church softball team in the 1980s. He's as much if not, more of a baseball fan than I am and also a good friend.
After making their way from Easton, PA to Pittsburgh, then on to Cincinnati, on Tuesday September 15, they drove to my house. They hung out with me for the evening just talking about the old days and some of the stuff that was going on now.
Although I hadn't seen them in probably more than 15 years it felt like we hadn't missed a beat in our friendship. We spent the evening just catching up. I was thrilled to have Paula meet them.
Over the next couple of days we went to both the National Corvette Museum...
Both in their late 60's Gene and Larry are relatively low tech. Texting with their phones is about as "advanced" as they get. It was a lot of fun to entertain them with some of their favorite music from my Ipod on our trek up and down I-65. Larry couldn't believe that I had more than 10,000 songs on such a small device.
A week or so after their visit I sent them a few CDs I recorded with some of the songs we had enjoyed together. They both sent me a thank you card with very kind words.
I can't begin to tell you what a great time I had just being with these guys again. Showing them around my "world" was a lot of fun. But the best times of their visit was sharing memories, stories, and music again.
The couple of days they were here always will be one of my fondest memories from 2016 and that's saying something.
Thanks Gene & Larry.
Those are the 2nd set of memories in my 10 things from the last 4 months.
Up next, in part 3 of 4, a couple of terrific vacations that are not only highlights of the summer but of the year. See you next post.
No comments:
Post a Comment