Happy Halloween

DSC03032.JPG
Originally uploaded by jasonhunter.

Here's a trick for the bloggers since we got our treat early.

If I Had a Hammer

I'd hammer in the morning? No. I had a hammer on Monday though and I used it to hammer apart a giant "trweed". What's a trweed? It was the massive weed that conveyed with the house. and was already 1/3 of the way up the house. As of Monday the tree was almost to the soffit. That is until I took the claw-side of a hammer to it for 5 minutes and then tore it down. Rock!

WiiBirthday

WiiBirthday
Originally uploaded by jasonhunter.

September brought many things - including Dawn's birthday! On this day, September brought a fancy dinner out on the town, a digitized CD collection, and Wii. Additionally I had the NFL move the Washington game to Monday night so as not to interfere with the birthday weekend. Not that I'm bragging or anything.

Nursery Complete!

DSC02814.JPG
Originally uploaded by jasonhunter.

It's done! Well, almost done - it still needs a baby. I checked with the stork about that baby I ordered 8.5 months ago but was told it will still take another 14 days for delivery. Sigh. We are very happy how it turned out. It's ready and all we need is our baby.

We're back!

Oh my! We're back and just shy of one month of being truant from the blogsphere. I've got fun news to share and normally I'd hold some of it back for the coming weeks. However, I sense that I'm going to be very busy very soon so we are going to run through a series of posts very fast.

Revenge is a dish best served with tomatoes

DSC02790.JPG
Originally uploaded by jasonhunter.

Mom Scattolini was here last weekend and she unleashed her fury on the ravenous tomato plants that overtook our front walk. She hacked them back to a manageable length, clearing away the dead loss as she plucked off the good tomatoes. Now the postman and us have a clear path to the door. Of course, the overgrowth was good for one thing - it hide our cracked and crumbling walk. Hopefully, in the spring '08 there will be a post here about how we've replaced it with a new shiny one.

In The Details

DSC02784.JPG
Originally uploaded by jasonhunter.

We are still working on the nursery. We are hoping to finish up this weekend. Until then her are some detail shots of the sea life that were painted by Dawn.

Nursery Progress

Next Wall
Originally uploaded by jasonhunter.

We continue to paint and decorate the nursery. We painted faces on the creatures occupying the first wall and add some more aquatic pals on the second wall. Dawn also framed the wet pets with white bubbles. The second wall contains my attempts at painting sea life. While Dawn praised my efforts, the true test is when the baby sees it. Will s/he be pleased with my interpretation of sea life? We'll find out in less than eight weeks.

The Guest Room is Closed

Green Corner
Originally uploaded by jasonhunter.

Dear Future Guests,

We are sorry for the inconvenience however our guest room is currently under renovation. We plan for renovations to be completed shortly. Once renovations are complete the guest room will be available again. However, no reservations will be accepted until 2025 as the room is currently booked by a distingushed guest through that date.

Thank you for your understanding.
Sincerely,
Mangement

Attack of the Tasty Tomatoes

Overfed & Overgrown
Originally uploaded by jasonhunter.

Early in the summer we planted four little tomato plants expecting the venture to be a colossal failure. Instead what we got was success beyond our wildest dreams...and lots of tomatoes. With this success has come a new culinary challenge: what to do with so many tomatoes? Dawn has posted some of the top recipes on her blog. We've given 10 bags away so far and our neighbors have permission to pick tomatoes whenever they want. Next summer we'll have to plant some cucumbers to go along with the tomatoes in the summer salad. That or we'll need to plant a pasta tree. They have such a thing, right?

Meet Me In the Bathroom

DSC02660.JPG
Originally uploaded by jasonhunter.

What was once a closet is now a bathroom. Our long-time dream of having a bathroom in the basement is realized. No longer must we walk up two flights of stairs with urgency, no longer is there a line for relief. Now one person can go up, the other down, for there is now a bathroom for every person in this house (until October when the baby arrives).

Brand New Kitchens (or Renovations Pt II)

DSC02579.JPG
Originally uploaded by jasonhunter.

The sadness brought by the end of vacation was tempered knowing that a brand new kitchen awaited. The suspense was dizzying. What kind of kitchen would it be? Would it be nice? Would the contractor remember to install the counter tops? Would there be a giant hole in the floor? All fears were allayed when we walked into the kitchen. Pristine white cabinets stretched high above us, a sleek stainless steel microwave beamed back at us, and best of all no one stole the fridge. I've hardly made a meal since we've been back. The happy new kitchen has re-energized Dawn and she's full of pep for making dinners and tasty treats. Money well spent, I say.

Kitchen Renovations (Part I)

Kitchen
Originally uploaded by jasonhunter.

We're back! And we have lots of entries planned. Home renovations tales, vacation tales, invading critters and so on.

First up, part one of our kitchen renovation. In the past we had done some of the renovation ourselves (some cabinets, ceiling) however we had an opportunity to do it right and we took it. The only thing better than having a professional renovate our kitchen is having them do it while we were vacationing in Portugal.

Next week, we'll see the wonderful results of all this destruction.

The Leaking

DSC02214.JPG
Originally uploaded by jasonhunter.

Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in. While not the flash flood that was last summer, we discovered that the shut-off valve for our outside faucet leaks when turned on. It leaks inside the house, of course. Dripping inside the wall and soaking into the plaster.

I wouldn't have know this if the Roto Rooter plumber had not insisted I pry off four wooden panels. Of course, once the panels were off, the plumber came to the conclusion that removing them wasn't necessary.

I shouldn't complain though. After the plumber tightened a single nut (which was accessible from the start) he told me, "I was smart. I could be a plumber too".

Thanks, dude.

What's Your Bench?

Bench
Originally uploaded by jasonhunter.

This is ours. It's new and replaces the vanity that was a magnet for junk mail, magazines, dust, and pens. Now all that stuff can go in the baskets under the bench. We thought our Bean would want to sit on it so we put his favorite blanket on top. However, he seems content sitting on the couch or in our laps.

This marks the last post I have planned. So unless I accomplish a loosely-related home improvement task before next Wednesday, there won't be a schedule post. To be notified of when I resume posting I recommend Google's Reader, which 'watches' website, like Blogspot, and notifies you when its updated.

Grosser Than Gross

We cooked various meats throughout the winter. With the meat, came a lot of that troublesome grease. Not wanting to pour hot grease in the trash, nor down the drain I began collecting it in a plastic Super Bowl XL cup. During the winter months this worked perfectly - we could store the cup outside in the chilly temperatures and retrieve it when needed. Which was often. By the end of February we had a full cup of solidified grease. I thought of getting a wick and making a meat candle.
Then, like my thoughts, the seasons changed. I become occupied with spring cleaning while the solidified grease began to melt. This weekend we went to Philly and my Mom watched the cat. During her visit she must have carefully placed the grease cup (now liquid) in the recycling bin. I hadn't noticed this. If I had I certainly wouldn't have yanked the recycling bin with so much force. It wasn't just the grease that got over everything including me, the recycling bin, the deck floor that was the nasty part. It was that it smelled like rancid meat. Not just one kind of rancid meat. No, it was a vile bouquet of rancid meat smells.

I placed the foul recycling container on the curb for the morning pick-up. I had hoped that once the recycling folks dumped out the contents it wouldn't smell so bad. However after a day of baking in the sun a nasty, empty bin simply mocked me with it's stench when I came home. Defeated, I took it into the backyard and washed it out.

Memorial

Virginia Tech Alumni Hall
Originally uploaded by jasonhunter.

My deepest sympathies for all those touched by Monday's terrible events.

I loved my four years at Virginia Tech and I was proud to document the wonderful place that is not just Virginia Tech, not just serene Blacksburg, but a true community.

To the current students, faculty, staff, and parents my thoughts are with you.

Wade in the Water

Low Overhead
Originally uploaded by jasonhunter.

I would like one calendar year where I don't get the phone call "Come home, water is leaking from [somewhere] oh my god come home now!!!" On Monday I got that call for the second year in a row. Thankfully, it was only a fraction of the amount of water from last year. This time the new twist was water dripping from the ceiling. Our toilet overflowed and seeped through the space between the toilet and bathroom floor, down the pipes, and through the spaces we cut for the recessed lights.

We took the ceiling down to dry out and began to disinfect everything in the kitchen. On the upside, the kitchen is now the cleanest it's ever been. On the downside, toilet water, eww....

Blue Flower

DSC02146.JPG
Originally uploaded by jasonhunter.

...and white, and yellow. Lots of yellow.

Now that the weather has turned warmer, we're focusing our efforts on improving the house's "curb appeal". Last year we planted the 'yellow things' which has bloomed nicely. I think we also planted the 'purple things' last year. True, I don't know the correct names; that doesn't restrict my enjoyment of them though.

We bought most of the flowers at a local nursery near our first apartment. However, some items in the pictures were recycled. One set of the yellow flowers are from a friend's wedding decoration; the pot featured in the picture was one of the four stands to our wedding huppah.

We also did some weeding and trimming. Since I know that you can imagine how amazing awesome fun that is, I knew posting pictures wasn't necessary.

Gone, Virtual Daddy, Gone

Actually, I don't think I ever played a game like that...


They're gone. It took about a year but I sold all the unwanted video games and all but one DVD. During my experiment with selling used video games and DVDs online, I discovered Amazon.com totally kicks e-Bay's butt. I sold one thing on e-Bay and never got paid. I sold tons of games and DVDs at the Amazon Marketplace and got adequate cash. I even sold the instructions, the map, and the box to GTA3 - but not the game (I lost it)! Granted, I sold this item for $0.50; hell, I sold everything for less than what I paid for it. Still, I got it out of the house and got some extra cash too boot. This was such a successful experiment that Dawn is looking for other things to sell. Cha-ching!