September 10th, 2004:

We’re going to celebrate Jess’ 21st birthday on September 18th. Not tomorrow, but the Saturday after that. We’ll most likely go somewhere, for a few drinks, and then head back to someone’s house/apartment for the rest of the evening. Perhaps our new house, maybe somewhere else. That hasn’t been decided yet. If you’re interested in attending send me an email, call me on the phone, or find me in IM. Do not comment here.

Because I know Jess would want it this way, all women will be required to be topless for 75% of their time at the party. If you have special needs or concerns, please let me know.

The big move is this Sunday. I pick up the truck at 7:00am, and we’re going to get started around 8:00am or so. If you’ve got nothing better to do on Sunday and would like to lend a hand, let me know. Mike and Lisa are probably coming to lend a hand, as is a good chunk of my family. But still, a few more sets of hands certainly wouldn’t hurt.

Somehow, one of the wires that connects our doorbell wiring to the transformer in the attic got cut cleanly. So, I decided to fix it. Of course, I’m a whiny wus when it comes to electricity, so I was a bit scared to do so. After calling my Dad 100 million times to be sure I wasn’t going to die, I finally decided to try. It went pretty well. I managed to create a spark, once, which almost sent me falling out of the attic, not because I was hurt in anyway, but because I was afraid that I would be.

Our refrigerator came yesterday. Again, thanks to “Joel”:http://livejournal.com/users/rockbugg/ for hooking us up with a good deal. The guys who delivered it were real jerks, but, in the end, everything worked out and it should be ready to store food by now.

Our new furniture came yesterday, as well. We ended up getting another couch and a new dining room table. We’re going to put the old dining room table (the one I made) into the Garden Room and we’re going to put the futon that is in our Living Room currently, into the Game Room. My quick evaluation of the condition of the furniture had me pleased. However, after the delivery guys left I realized a few problems. The couch has a tiny hole in the fabric on the back, and one of the chairs has some very sticky, very stuck on, tape residue… even though I never saw any tape on the chair and can’t think of a reason to tape the chair. A very nice gentleman at Freed’s customer service is scheduling a technician to come out and repair the problems and/or replace the furniture entirely. I’m sick of taking days off work to sit at home and wait for people, so I’ve scheduled it for the next available Saturday, which is the 18th of this month. It’s no big deal, as neither problem makes the furniture inoperable or dangerous, I just want it repaired.

Our blinds came on Tuesday. I installed them all myself in about 2 hours. They look fantastic. I mismeasured one window — the one in the master bathroom — by about 1/4″. So it rubs just a little on the way down. It’s no big deal, for now, but I’ll see if there’s any way to modify it, either myself, or for a small fee. I have yet to put the hold backs on to the shades on the doors. But that’s because my attempts to do so failed miserably. I think I need a different kind of screw that will hold well in a metal door. The ones that came with the shades just want to pull out.

I mowed, weed-eated, and edged my lawn for the first time yesterday. It was quite a pain in the butt. I haven’t mowed a lawn in so long, I didn’t even remember how high to set the mower. Well, I guess I set it a little too low. No big deal, I’ll just raise it up a bit for the next time. One thing is for sure, I’m going to have to put my fear of flying bugs on hold every Saturday morning, or I’ll never get the lawn mowed.

Tuesday night, Jess and I saw STOMP with Lisa and Mike at the Bass Performance Hall. Mike and I had seen it before. It was a decent show, but not nearly as good as last time. This time, our tickets were $60 each and, even then, we sat pretty high, and pretty far back. Last time, our tickets were so cheap that I can’t even remember paying for them, and we were up in front, very close. The cast also seemed to be more “on” last time. Regardless, it was a lot of fun.

Seeing it, or even thinking about it, always makes me realize how much I enjoy all things related to percussion. And, displays like STOMP mix both the theatre arts and percussion into one big event. In an alternate reality, I’d spend my life, and bring home a paycheck doing something like this.

I’d like to publically thank “Mike”:http://livejournal.com/users/mw/ for spending last Saturday busting holes in our walls. With his help, I have all the wiring I want in all the places that I want it. Of course, since we busted holes in the walls, they now have to be patched up. Jess and I have plastered them back together and sanded them silky smooth and flat. However, I’m having a hard time texturing them just right. I’ve read different ways of doing it in several different forums, but, the general rule of thumb seems to be “it’s nearly impossible to make them match”. So, we’ve got a call in to the builder to see if he can send a guy over to retexture for us. I’m not sure what it’ll cost, but it shouldn’t be too much.