Floor

I have floor joists! Alan came and helped for a while last week and I snapped this shot.
Ross also came and helped for about 1/2 hour and he got more done in those 30 minutes than I had all day. You can definitely tell he has more experience. He cut one of the boards short...though, which made me feel really good. I had some extras because I figured that I would do that :0)
Next project: Time capsule. Any suggestions on what I should put in it before I put down the floor?

Ok...ok

Ok...ok. I know. I haven't posted anything in months. Sorry. I'll repent.

Here is a quick update on my crazy cabin project.
The Kings came over a while back and we straightened out the front wall as much as we could. It still is crooked, so the door will hang straight, but it looks like it's crooked. If we hung the door according to the wall, the door wouldn't be able to swing inside :0) Such is life.
Sid Facer is the one who did the foundation brick work. He came and knocked out the brick for the doorway (just one layer down...can ya tell?) It was quite a process.



Now we've been working on getting that doorway the right size and the door the right size. They had to trim the door off the bottom because it was built for a house with 9' ceilings. Long ago, this was my mom and dad's kitchen door. I wanted a door that had a window since there are no windows in the cabin except for upstairs.
Looks like we'll have to reach to our knees to twist the doorknob. Oh well. Worse things have happened.



Now I've got the lumber all ready to go for the floor. We're going to lay 2x6 joists and put down insulation and a nice subfloor. I don't know yet what will go on top of it, but that will be a ways down the road anyway.

Oregon Trail and the need of a social life

I love wintertime, but there are times when the cold and the darkness can be dreary. Volleyball hasn't started, so the nights are just, well....boring. This Friday I was contemplating my life as I sat on the couch and tried not to watch the Australian Open with my mom. Not that I don't like tennis, it's just that it hits me sometimes how very sad and depressing my life is. I mean, it was a Friday night. I should be out on the town doing something fun. I'm single and can be kinda fun, right? Anyway, enough being ornery about my non-existent social life.
The point of my ranting is that I discovered something fun that will help those of us with no evening time hobbies and no social life to waste time properly..."Oregon Trail". Those of you who were in Elementary school in the 80s might remember the game on the awesome old-school Apple computers. I bought an Ipod touch a couple of months ago (which I love, by the way) and I found a fun new version of the old game from my youth. I invested the 99 cents for some entertainment.
It is, of course, not exactly like the old-school version. It is extremely updated as far as the graphics. It also has some other fun extras. It gives you options to play different games to win food, fix your wagon, fish and hunt. You can pan for gold for win money and in the forts and towns, you have the option of buying supplies and also playing a "Simon Says" type game at the telegraph office. Another fun option is meeting notable characters from the Old West and learning some history (I think that was the point of the game in the first place). You can deliver packages for people and give people rides for a fee.
I didn't fare too well. I was WAY behind schedule and two of my sweet daughters were carried away by a giant bird, but it was a fun way to waste my depressing Friday night. I finished the game today with my nieces and nephew (I couldn't finish on Friday night because my battery died...it can be a much longer version as well) and they were getting the biggest kick out of it. It shouldn't have surprised me...I was their age when I discovered "Oregon Trail" as well! It's never been more fun to have typhoid and dysentery!

The Ending of an Era

For the last year and a half or so, I have had the privilege of serving in the Manti Temple as an ordinance worker. One day, my dad admitted to me that he'd submitted my name to work there. "Like I don't have anything better to do." I retorted. There was a pause as he looked me square in the eye and then replied "No....you don't." It hit me like a slap on the face. It was true. No matter what was going on in my life and how busy I was with work and church callings and life, I still had an obligation and a desire to serve in the temple. Well, what better way that to have an assignment?
When I was called down to visit with the Temple President and was given this special calling, I chose to work on Tuesday Evening so that I could ride down with my dad. There's something about being with my dad one on one. I haven't had a lot of opportunities for that in my life unless I was doing chores with him.
But those days are now past. He announced last night that he's not going to be working on Tuesdays anymore. His farming responsibilities are too demanding and he feels like they need him more on Saturday.
Most days when we'd ride to Manti, the conversations were few and far between. But on the way home...that's when things got exciting. He'd tell me stories about growing up. He'd tell me stories about sheepherding. He'd tell stories of hunting. He'd tell me what had happened to him that day at the temple or stories that someone had told him. He'd tell about people he saw and then tell how he knew them and how he was glad to see them at the temple. He'd tell stories about whatever was on his mind. Usually it was something that had happened that sparked a memory.
Last week he told about going to Ephraim with Oliver as a deacon and going swimming. Then, they'd stop at a small cafe (he pointed out where it used to be) and buy dinner.
"You could buy a hamburger for two bits, fries for 15 cents, and a drink for 10. You were set if you had four bits." He told me.
I asked where he got his money as a teenager.
"Oh, I had my milk money", he replied.
He told about milking the cows. He told about the milk truck from Spring City that would come and pick up the milk and that he would get a check for about $3.00 every week. He told about those people that were Grade A and about his friend Gary who milked for Devon Mikkelsen. He earned a dollar a day, so he got $7.00 a week. Then he told a story about when Devon's bacteria levels in his milk went sky high. He couldn't figure out what was going on, but Gary was there one day when a lady that lived across the street came and dipped her cat's bowl into the tank. She never washed the dish, and that's what was causing the bacteria. He laughed as he remembered.
Sometimes we'd stop and get a hamburger on the way home. He'd always comment on the burger. He likes a good hamburger, you know, and is pretty particular about them.
I'm going to miss those hamburgers.
I'm going to miss his latest query when we were ready to leave, "Well, should we take your outfit?" or "Well, what are we going in? The Mitsubichi?" I always laughed on the inside not only because of the mispronunciation, but because I drive a Toyota.
My trips to Manti will be pretty boring from now on.

Lady Antebellum

Holly texted me last Saturday and said something to the effect of 'Don't you want to get a sub for the temple on Tuesday and go to a Lady Antebellum concert?' After some banter, I was talked into it.
The venue was the Rail Events Center in SLC. It's just one big open room basically, so we had to stand the entire time and get pushed around by little teenage twits. Plus, since Cori's friend said that we had to show up early to stand in line because of the general admission, we arrived several hours before it started and stood then, too. My feet hurt by the end of the night.

Here's Holly waiting for the concert to start. Yay.



I was bored, so we took pictures.



Here are the FG girls. We made quite a nice wall for those who wanted to get to the front. I look short.



The security dude between us and the stage looked an awful like Ryan Hansen...don't you think, Tam?



David Nail opened for them, but I didn't get a good picture of him. But I was totally digging the red piano that they brought with them. Cori had some guy that worked for Lady A that was flirting with her the entire night. I told him after that the pianos sounded good. He said he'd pass that on to Dave. Apparently he tunes them himself. Do you think that could be right?



Here's Lady A as they first came out. We soon found out that they spotlighted their band members very well and that they were fairly entertaining to watch. Especially the electric guitarist with the long braids. Very entertaining.



Dave Heywood turns out to be my favorite because he's so incredibly talented on his instruments. It's got to be more interesting to play something. I'm just sayin'. We soon found out that being way at the front means that you are that much closer to the incredibly loud speakers. I told Holly that even my esophogus was shaking. My ears were still ringing when I got home. Note to self: take ear plugs next time and you'll still be able to hear pretty well.



Charles kept coming over and stepping basically right over the Ryan Hansen security guard to touch everybody's hands. He interacted with the audience well.



My absolute favorite was when they brought the whole band up and did an acoustic number. Braid boy played the dobro. The pianist played the accordian, Lead guitarist played the mandolin and Bass Man played the upright. It was somewhat awesome.



They each took some time to do some solos. Dave rocked Luke Bryan's "I do" playing and singing completely by himself.



Charles sang Bruce Springsteen . Not bad. Not bad at all.



They did four or five encore numbers. Cori's boyfriend told us that they never sing that much. They were having lots of fun. I guess this is their first tour that they've headlined and they're only about 2 1/2 weeks into it. Yeah, I'd be having fun, too!!

kind kleaning kings

Kaye and Kenzie King kame over again today to help me klean up the cabin. Kenzie brought his pressure washer and with a little power and water from my kind neighbor, Bill, we demolished and kleaned to our hearts' kontent.
Kaye and I demolished an existing wall and a couple of random boards on the inside. The inside is now just one big room. We all got turns using the pressure washer. Kenzie and I even klimbed up into the loft and swept out all of the hay and dirt up there.

Kenzie is spraying the inside


Here's a better picture of what the sides look like now, with no foundation.
The door is one that has been stored in the brooder and used to be our kitchen door on our house. I'm hoping that we kan use it for two reasons.
1. There aren't any windows in the place and it will be nice to have that big window in the door.
2. It's free.



I finally kaught a picture of Kenzie at work. I need to get one of Kaye, so you kan see who has been aiding me in my krazy project.

Monster Rap

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