Son-day Carnival of Evil

To keep myself busy in this oddly stage of my life I've begun doing just about anything there is to do. Chores mostly. Helped dad with some of his school stuff. Nothing major yet.

I took this week off work (which is basically a tomb) to do some job hunting, burn off my overwhelming amount of PTO, and get some house stuff done.

The last storm blew through and beat the roof up, they should be replacing that this week (a day or so of hammers, Hooray!). Around that Mo and I hope to get the kitchen finished (finally, it's been a year) and paint a few rooms. Looking forward do it. 

One of the things I did this last weekend was build a carnival game with my dad. It was for the school carnival down at Dove and it was clever. Basically, it's a shooting game where kids fire squirt guns at toilet paper until it cuts off and falls. Neat idea. Worked perfect until it was set up outside and the wind became an issue. We made couple adjustments and everything is fine. We'll box it in when we have the chance. We are hoping to build a few more, it was fun. 

But my mom had a clever idea to re-use it beyond the carnival. Basically the idea is to set it up for Halloween. Kids come tricker treating, great play the game, the kid who wins gets an extra piece. Then, have a donation box for Wounded Warrior, St. Jude's, Humane Society, or whatever. If you make a donation, you play for a full-sized candy bar and get a BIG squirt gun. Prolly load the squirt guns with red water and put zombies or something behind the toilet paper, just to make it gruesome. 

The face of genius. 

Recovery and Countertops

Last time, I mentioned my dad was in the hospital. At the time we really did not have a very clear idea of everything that was going on. Basically, two things tried to kill him at the same time. Oddly enough, because it was two things, neither succeeded.

Basically, he had a bacterial blood infection. We're not 100% sure how, but he did. It got serious and an ambulance was called. We think he may have had a heart attack on the way to the hospital. The heart attack he had has a nick-name. It's called the Widowmaker. It earns that name. Here's the irony: If he had not had the blood infection, it's likely the heart attack was going to happen with no warning and just kill him outright. BUT, because the blood infection tried to kill him first, the heart attack was treatable. BUT, the heart attack had to be treated first before they even found the blood infection. So, because two different, intensely dangerous, conditions both tried to get through the 'kill you' door at the same time, they got stuck and failed comically.

Surviving,
Like a Boss. 

It was a really intense few days. He stayed 10 days in the hospital and then a couple weeks at home recovering with a PICC line and a drain line. The drain line hurt and we were all happy to see it go. Since it came out, his recovery has been intense. He still gets tired pretty easy and has to watch his exertion, but he's back to work and getting caught up.

I could EASILY fill a blog about how great Dove Academy (where he works) has been. They had flowers in his room before he even got there. The principal came and visited. They've been nothing but awesome through the whole thing. I'll leave it at that.

So, today, I was able to get him to help me redo the sink. Now we also redid the countertops. Well, Mo did. I just primed them. So, here are more before and afters.

Before

After, lights on

After, lights off

Here's a close up of the counter tops. This Giani Granite stuff looks surprisingly good. Mo did a great job.

See that new switch? I did that. It was hard, but it works. 

You might notice, the faucet looks different and the sink is now stainless steel. That is what Dad I did together today. It took most of the day and we are both tired now.

But, it looks really, really good. 

The House

Well, the appraisal and inspection went through without adding new complications. That pretty much means we will be closing on the house by the end of the month. We want to me moved in by June. I figured I would post about it and share some photos.

It's in NW OKC more or less at the corner of Counsel and 112nd in the Willow Creek Estates neighborhood.

it needs a paint job.

The yard is Rye Grass. They probably did that to increases curb appeal because it's green no matter what, but you have to reseed every year. There used to be a big tree in the front yard (I saw some old photos) but I bet one of the ice storms brought it down. Structurally, the house is rock solid. No foundation problems, no interior issues. It has good bones.

I'd like to give the front walk and steps a bit more curb appeal. Not sure how though. The little tree and the hedge are just out of control huge and we don't like them. Maybe a patio or fresh walkway.

We'd like to extend the roof line down the driveway so my folks will have some covered parking. Have to see if the HOA will let that happen.

this is the floorplan

The house is cavernous big. Well over 3k sq. ft. The back section is an attached apartment the original owners (we are the second owners) built for a grandmother. That's pretty much our use for it too.

Front Living Room

This is the front living room. The photo is taken from a raised entryway. We want to re-tile the entryway and redo the entryway closets. Those book cases are not built it, they just look like it. They will get moved, likely into the spare bedroom or the dining room (which you can see through the opening in the back of this picture.

I'm thinking a large sliding barn-door to seperate the dining room (which will likely be my office/man-cave). Alternatively, a door hidden as a fake bookshelf. A window seat for that window is something I want to do for Mo. Otherwise, this room will be the main living room with the TV and such.

In this photo, of the den, you can see the entryway tile in the bottom left corner. It's gotta go, as do the ugly railings. The 1970's lighting in the left corner of the den is as good as gone. We may or may not redo the brick of the fireplace, but the shelves need to be redone with a new stain. The wooden pillars will likely be removed. I'd also like to open up the wall into the kitchen. The door to the right goes into the living room of the apartment.

Here you can see the apartment living room and the doors. I'd like those door replaced. One option is hidden door made to look like a wall or bookcases. Maybe a sliding barn door. Not sure, but something that serves are a better boundary to the apartment. My folks need their privacy and so do we. I'd like to take out that wall in the back. It creates a pointless hallway and I don't like hallways.

The kitchen is decent sized, but the cabinets and counter-tops need some love.  The appliances are very nice, we just need a microwave and a refrigerator. Mo really wanted a flat-top stove and this kitchen has that. Someday, we want to completely redo the kitchen, but for now we are going to stain the cabinets. There is a doorway on the left that goes into the laundry and to the garage. There is also a half-bath there. I like the big window on the right, but it goes into the apartment. The french-doors on the window are cheap and don't close and I'm not sure what the future fate of that space will be.

You can see a door through the window. That is the external entryway into the apartment. It's important that remains. We may have to wall up the window to offer my folks a place to hang coats and have an real entryway. It's not a huge deal, but something to think about.

This is looking from the kitchen toward the den. The door on the right goes into the formal dining room. That wall will almost certainly be walled up to create more counter space (and because there is no reason to have a door into my office from the kitchen). The little table and bookshelf there is going away soon too. There's just no need for it and just about anything would make more sense.

This is the dining room. I was aversive to getting rid of the built-in hutch, but neither Mo nor I like it. I'm not sure anyone does. Plus, we don't have good dishes and don't care if we ever do. Then, Mo and my mom thought this would be a good 'man cave' space for me. I though that was cool, we never formally dine or have any interest in ever doing so. So, The hutch will be taken out and a wall put there. I'm thinking a door to the left of the hutch so I can access the half bath. Then, redo the wall so the laundry space is better. The door to the kitchen will be walled up because it will serve to offer more counter space. I'm also thinking I may cut the room in half (or so), to make a space for a pantry. Not sure. Lots of options, but it's a big room and I don't need that much space.

Here is the master bedroom. It's nice. The curtains will be changed (and hung correctly). Repainting is almost certain. That door is smaller than a standard door. Moreover, I think it used to just be open to the bathroom. We may change it, I'm not sure.

This is the master bathroom. Behind the picture is the shower and toilet. Through the door is a closet. There is also a closet in the bedroom...so lots of closet space, but no tub. It's weird.

This will likely be Jojo's bedroom.

Hopefully, a future nursery when Mo and I try for another baby. For now...spare bedroom, storage, play room? Basically, whatever Mo wants to do with it.

This is the fourth bedroom of the main house. That window opens into the living room of the apartment, not to the exterior of the house. We are going to turn it into a doorway and let this room be an office space/spare room for the apartment. My folks need a little more space and a room for computers and such. This will do that. I'm thinking the doorway from the main house to this room will become a sort of 'secret door' made to look like a picture wall or bookcase. Still accessible, but not obvious or noticeable.

Here, you see my parents entry into the living room of the apartment. Not much in the way of a real entryway. You can see the kitchen through that window. Really not sure how to deal with that space. It's weird.

Although, the apartment living room is probably the best room in the house. It has a great view of the backyard and has a very open feel to it. When we redo the flooring (pergo throughout) it will get rid of the mismatched carpet. around the corner to the right is the rest of the apartment.

The kitchen/dining area is a little small and funky. Not sure what can be done here, but my dad is pretty clever. That closet has the water heater so it can't really be used as a closet. That's kinda my issue with the apartment, not entry space to put coats and such. It's goofy. I know there is a solution, just haven't figured it out yet. Ultimately, it's not my problem. It's my folks space and they can damn well do whatever they want with it.

This is the apartment bedroom. It's bigger than the picture makes it look, but it's not huge. The doors on the right go to a closet and the bathroom. They are thinking about making the back wall (to the right of the window wall) into a patio door that opens onto the side lawn. That way they have their own private small yard. I think it's a great idea. I don't have any real say in the interior of the apartment, that's their business. If it changes the exterior, Mo and I have a say, but we are totally on board for the patio door and side lawn. I think it will look good and give my folks an added sense of privacy. An exterior space they can do whatever they want with. It's a good idea is my point.

The back yard of this house is just nuts. It's well kept and pretty. Dad and I want to rebuild that shed into a usable workshop. Those two stone areas are neat, but I'm not sure what function they will serve. The large flat one will make a good space to work on things until the shop is built. The other...I have no idea. It may be removed to offer more running space for Jo. The deck is nice too, but the wood is old and badly sealed. A few of the trees are in bad shape and need to be taken down.

That ivy has to go. Maybe a fence or something around the electrical pole (decorative but will keep Jo away from it). That tree is tilting badly and need to be taken down. I LOVE the stone walkway. I also want to enclose the AC unit in something a bit more decorative.

That swing is massive, and old, and showing it's age. We may cover the deck and almost certainly get a new swing that takes up a little less acreage.  We want to fence up the rest of the yard too. Part of what you see is the neighbors yard and in the back is the green belt. We still want to access the greenbelt though, so a fence with gate is likely. The wood of the deck needs to be replaced. Maybe with something a bit more durable. I'd also like to extend the roof a bit to make sure my folks have covered access to their door. Because it's Oklahoma.

Well, that's the free tour of the future Casa-Medders. It's big and we have about a billion projects. There is literally not one room that doesn't need some kind of work. But, we have time and we are patient. It takes time to make a house a home.

I am a stupid person

Some people think I am a smart person. This flies right in the face of all available evidence. Let me show you the facts.

1. I am working on a second masters degree.
2. While my wife is working a masters degree.
3. While raising a 15 month old.

"Bwahahahahahahaha"

4. While working full-time
5. While my wife is working full-time.
6. While looking for a house.
7. With my parents.

Any one of those things is enough to stress a fella out and make him a little crazy. I'm doing all of them at the same time. Furthermore, I use italics a lot so you know it's really crazy.

The only rational conclusion is that I am a profoundly, unquestioningly, certifiably, stupid person. 

Thanks Fred, happy belated birthday btw.

Revival Son-day

Okay folks, seriously.

Ihavebeensobusy. 4real.

Everyone tells me that this course is the hardest one in the MBA (almost certainly designed to weed out the ones who do not really want it and should not be here - and it works because about 1/3 of the class is gone now). They better not be lying cause wow.

I mean, the class is not actually that hard. None of the assignments (in and of themselves) are all that horrid. The trick is I was kinda busy before I started the program, so...now I'm just always busy. 200+ pages of reading a week is no big deal. A 9-page report and presentation is no big deal. Having a wife in a masters program, a 10-month old, a full-time job, AND then add the above. That starts to creep into sleeping time pretty quick. When a lightning storm kills power and you lose 5 hours or so of work on said report...now we are into big deal range.

Regardless, it hasn't all been bad and hard and what not.  My mom and I celebrated out birthday on the 3rd (mom) and 6th (me). We went to Dave and Busters. My parents like going to D&B and like collect tickets. However, spending those tickets seems to be the worst part because there is nothing in the reward area that my folks actually want. It's weird, but I totally get it and I'm pretty much the same way. However, my folks had like 20,000 tickets or something. So, it's kinda out of hand.

For perspective, the giant stuffed animals usually go for like 8 to 9 thousand tickets. So they could get one...or two. But all they had was these truly horrid looking gorillas and a banana...a smiling banana. That's not happening. On our way out, my dad noticed a really cute set of stuffed bears (polar and brown) that were really cute, but not in the store area and no price listed. So he asked and it was (*shockingly*) well within the number of tickets he had. So he got it for Jojo.

How big is this bear?

bed-sized.

We also got Jojo a pair of little plastic frisbees. He obsessed on them for some crazy reason. In short, a good time was had by all.

Tomorrow, we plan to go pumpkin picking and get photos done of Jojo in his Halloween costumes. I said costumes. We got two. We love Halloween. I'm looking forward to haunt the zoo more than I'm looking forward to his birthday or Christmas.

I'll post way more photos on FB, but these are the costumes we got:

I'm not jojo!

neither am I!

State Fair Son-day

Mo and I took Jojo to the state fair on Monday. It was kinda strange to think that the last time we went to the fair Mo was just entering her 3rd trimester and it would only be another few months before he was born.

Last year it was brutally hot and Mo ate like a hyena. It was fun to take pictures of her and whatever she was eating now. We also went on a very busy day and just moving around was difficult.

"nom nom nom kill you nom nom nom"

This year, we went on a Monday afternoon and the crowds were much more manageable and less intense. We could move around easily even with the stroller. The weather was fantastic. It was bright and sunny, but not oppressively warm. It was comfortable for all. We easily found places to sit and feed Jojo. Jojo was a joy during the whole thing. He looked around and smiled at people. When he got fussy it was mild and just because he was hungry.

My parents joined us shortly after we got there and hanging out with them was lots of fun. We had some food and got very full. My parents like to look at EVERYTHING. Mo and I are more for look while you walk and we often found ourselves stopping while my parents looked at something.

We finally bought something at the fair (other than food). We always mean to buy something to support the vendors and the fair, but never really find anything we are willing to buy. This year, mo found a cute little art box and had it customized with Jojo's name.

It has chalk and stuff inside and the back is a dry erase board.

The children's petting zoo was impressive. Normally it's common petting zoo animal (goats mostly), but this one had a deer, llamas, donkeys, and (of all things) a wallaby. Jojo is not really old enough to care and stared at things with his "I am not impressed" disdainful look.

So, your momma is a lama?

We did have some fun at the AGtropolis. Mo petted a baby chick (I like to imagine eating that same chick at chick-fil-a eventually). We also did a horrid thing to our son.

you can see the hate in his eyes.

Recovery Son-day

Today is all about recovery in several ways. 

First, recovering from shock. We took Jojo to the doctor for a check up. He's fine. Sadly, we are losing our doctor. She got another job and won't be able to see us anymore. It's sad because she is just a wonderful doctor and her staff is great too. :(

But, Jojo is HUGE. He is in the 60th percentile for weight (18.17 lbs or so). Nothing special there really, average. But on length (when does it become height?) he is in the 99th percentile. Which I think means he is 99 times larger than other babies his age. 

Stormtrooper represents normal-sized baby

Seriously though, I'm glad he is doing well. I have no idea why he is getting so long/tall. We have a few people in our extended family who are tall (Mo and I are wee-folk). I think it is just a growth spurt. 

Second, my parents moved out of the apartment on Friday and we did more moving into the new apartment yesterday. For the most part we focused on the heavy stuff, in the hot July afternoon. As you can imagine, we were pretty exhausted by the end of it. That and sore. 

My folks new apartment is alright. It's near an apartment complex we used to live in. The area is not great, and neither is the apartment. They are old and in dire need of...well, rebuilding honestly. But, as a temporary place it will do. I think they wanted to get out of our place and get one of the storage units empty and work on getting into a nicer place near their schools. I'd like to see that happen, but next time, it's going to be a moving company. I'm too old for this. 

You own how many chairs? Why do you have a couch?

So I am resting and recovering today. I slept in, Jojo is being very nice to me and let me sleep a good bit. 

The next recovery is my hard drive. I normally do a fairly decent job of backing up data. At work, I always work of an external drive because I never trust work computers. I usually keep backups of just damn near everything on off-line or on-line backup. 

It's become so easy to backup data I really have no idea why lost data ever happens. It really shouldn't. Which is why I am so embarrassed that I simply never backed up my iMac. I know better, I failed to do better. 

Ah, crap. 

I'm in the process of trying to recover data. I bought an external backup drive, setting that up now. Got some software designed to recover data from crashed drives. Sadly, it's a bit more than the "quick start" can handle so I will be on the phone with support tomorrow. I chatted with them on Friday and they seemed hopeful. When I open disc utility, it recognizes a drive it there, but won't it won't mount. Apparently, that's better than many cases. So, hopeful. 

Funny stories: The "genius" (I hate that title) at the apple store told me he's been working there 2 years "helping" (I was there 2 hours and I didn't see one person 'helped' in the strictest sense - mostly they were told 'sorry') people with crashed hard drives and such. He made his first backup on his computer 2 weeks ago. 

One of my computer-literate buddies told me, after I told him about my crash, he checked his backup. It was a year old. 

The guy at Best Buy told me he consulted with one person who had over 100 GB in his trash can. He never emptied it. He just assumed it was gone when you put it in there. Another customer used his trash can as a desktop file. Just stored stuff in there. 

So, hilarious as it is, remember to set up your backup drives, don't be digital hoarders, and back up your data. 

I'm back.

After a hiatus of updating I am back. So much has been happening I just could not find the time to sit down and write it out.

First. My folks are in OK now. The move went well. WAY better than last time. Less stuff, better prepared, not as hot. U-haul was modestly less awful. Which puts them solidly back into "Yeah, I'll get my truck somewhere else"-Land and out of "If I have chance, I will crush your business"-Land. Getting the piano on the truck was hard. Thankfully some nice folks in CO helped out. Getting it off the truck was easy.

Since then, my folks have been living with us. It's been good. Free babysitting is nice, plus the help with feeding and diapers sure does not suck. We also got to watch the NBA finals together.

Go Thunder.

Yeah, I know, the Refs let the Heat win. Blah, blah, blah. Still a good season, still a good team. Still awesome.

Jojo has been awesome too. We got him a Thunder t-shirt.

I totally have Thunder-fever.

He started eating "solid" food (rice cereal) and got the hang of it like a boss. He's still messy, but he got the swallow and tongue action down pretty quick. He seems to enjoy it and it's cute.

Father's day was neat. We got my dad a light blue Thunder polo shirt (he can't wear T-shirts because he has a neck like a Sequoia). I was straight up jealous cause it was a cool shirt. I figured Mo would get Legos or something (the new Lord of the Rings series, for example). Nope, instead I got a shirt.

The most awesome shirt...EVER.

Going to CO

Next week I will head up to Colorado to help my folks move. It's about an 8 hour drive. Normally, me and Mo take turns driving and talk to each other to keep it interesting. However, Mo and Jojo are staying here while I go alone.

Oy.

That's going to make the trip a bit more boring, at least on the way there. On the way back it will be with my folks and one of my sisters.

I've never been this far away from Jojo for this long. I'm not looking forward to it. I always miss Mo on trips like this. Last time I moved my folks from CA to CO it was horrid. By the time I got home I was desperate to see her. I imagine it will be the same for Jojo.

"Hey!"

Yes Pooka, I will miss you too.

Thankfully, this will likely be the easiest move I've ever done with my folks. They've gotten rid of a lot of stuff and over the past month, brought a few loads down. Much of the heaviest and most awkward stuff is already in storage. That will make the loading easier. I think the only really scary part is the piano, and only because it is heavy. The rest is fairly easy. More over, last time my day was still recovering from a procedure and his preparation had two parts: the part he did well and the part he didn't do. Made for a rough multi-day load in scorching heat.

The weather will be whatever it will be, but there is less to move, my dad has done a great job of preparing, much of it is already done, and the trip is shorter by more than half. So I am hopeful. Not excited about being away from Jojo and Mo though.