Thursday, November 29, 2007


Painting the ceiling


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Using a spraygun to paint the ceiling - a recipe for a good time.

Drywall Repair


Time to paint the master bedroom. I started by moving all the furniture out which was a difficult task for our new dresser and bed. Not insurmountable, just a pain. I had to remove the mirror from the dresser, which I did. I put the mirror in the loft and then dragged the dresser out there as well. Then came the bed.

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I didn't want to take it apart if I could help it so I attempted to flip it on the side, thinking that I could get it out the bedroom door that way. Problem is, the ceiling wasn't high enough - a fact that was brought to my attention about the time that the bed frame hit it. Here's the resulting damage:

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Its about the size of a quarter. I was mad and depressed for about an hour about it. The I went to Lowes and found something called a orange peel texture patch. It matches the texture of the ceiling fairly cosely and, best of all, I don't have to cut up the wall and force compound into the hole. Just slap on the patch and paint over it. Here's hoping that it looks good.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007


The grass is growing


I looked in the backyard today and discovered that the rye grass that I had sown there a couple of weeks ago is now sprouting.

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Monday, November 26, 2007

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BYU 17 Utah 10


A little treat for BYU football fans


Thanksgiving

A few pictures of visiting family playing boardgames.


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One of my nieces. Isn't she a cutie?
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Saturday, November 24, 2007


The Loft


I really busted my can to get the loft done in time for Thanksgiving. The morning of I was still painting, even as family was arriving.


Some 'in progress' photos:



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And the final product

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It feels good to have it done.

Friday, November 16, 2007


More on the backyard

Yesterday I dug up a rather sizable rock.

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I'm since been trying to figure out how to get rid of it. Its too heavy to cart to the dumpster by hand without giving myself a nice-sized hernia. My wife suggested flattening out one of the bigger cardboard boxes and using it to drag the rock to the dumpster. A good idea but it still has to go up(about 6 feet up) and inside it.

I did some more today, including digging up another sizable rock(although not as big as the first one.


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Also, I need to paint the loft area in the house before Thanksgiving so as to make it all look nice for the arrival of family.
Seeding the Backyard, part deux

I spent a couple of hours today going through the soil(hand 'tilling' it) and pulling up rocks and weeds. I put the rocks into a used 5 gallon paint bucket and, when its full, I dump the bucket into the dumpster in front of the house that's being built next door. There are a lot of rocks. And weeds. Some of the rocks are rather sizable.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007


Seeding the backyard



The builders laid the sod for the front yard as part of the purchase price but wanted an exhorbtant fee for doing the backyard. So we decided to seed the backyard ourselves. We've been living here now for about six weeks during which time I've been primarily occupied with painting the interior. In the meantime, weeds have been cropping up back there. Lately, I've finaly gotten around to loosening the soil - and trying to pull up the weeds in the process. I'm using a 3-pronged tool to do it but it is still a labor intensive process. After the soil has been loosened, I'll put the seed back there. Its not much fun but its better than having a backyard full of weeds.

Here's my progress so far:


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Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Evening of Christmas Joys

Every year our church does a stake Christmas music program. Choirs sing, instrumental groups play, and there is a group sing along to the Hallelujah Chorus. Usually there is a brass group that plays although there wasn't last year because 2 of the lds horn players and myself had a conflict playing in another Christmas program for an orchestra that we are members of. This year, there is no scheduling conflict so a small brass choir was organized to play at this years event. Anyhow, we had our first rehearsal Sunday night. I was expecting marginal brass players, as in years past, but I was pleasantly surprised, for a couple of reasons. One was because there were 2 lds trombone players who are both doing graduate degrees in performance here at UNT. And one of the players was a former student of mine from my BYU days. I was her first teacher - 15 years ago. It was surprising to find out that she is now at UNT(where I did my masters degree in trombone performance). Its funny how your past comes full circle sometimes. The other trombone is a former BYU & Manhattan School of Music student. He's here doing his DMA and is also a very good player. In addition, the horns are solid and the trumpets hold their own.

We're playing Canzon septimi toni No. 2. I was worried about how it would come together, because I've played Gabrieli's canzons in some brass groups where it sounded like a train wreck, but this sounded positively great for a first rehearsal! Its very exciting. I haven't felt that good about playing in a group for a long time. Warm fuzzies.

Halloween


Our house in all its Halloween glory.



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