Life has been taking up much of my time. My new wife is here, there’s always work on the house to do, my employer continues to insist that I show up for work from time to time (how inconvenient!) and the wonderful weather has encouraged extra motorcycle riding. At the end of the day. I tend to head for the bedroom rather than the keyboard, and it seems that I’ve been ignoring the blog.
I’ll have to get better at organizing my time…
So, this post is devoted to updating stuff.
The House
Here in the northernmost part of our empire, the passing of a month has brought many changes. The living room is painted, although the colors were not exactly what we expected to be. We painted one wall a deeper green than the rest of the room. Once dried, the colors were almost the same. I’m going to mix a gallon of white with the lighter green color and paint the walls again. The trim and baseboards are done in primer and the electrical work is pretty much complete. Last night, we chose a nice maple floor, but it’ll take a week to be delivered. Oh, and perhaps a day to install it…. The big wall outside has been repaired and is wearing a coat of primer. The final coat, a nice cream color, will be sprayed on next week. IOur little house is getting a little better every day. The 13 houses being built across the street are for sale. Price is $129,000. Huh?
Vehicles
I am really enjoying the new motorcycle. Like my old one, it goes to work almost every day. I’ve installed a light kit that adds two forward-facing lamps (so I can see deer better). It’s a little dirty right now because of the dust at work, but I’ve got some time off, so it should be looking good next week.
The Explorer is in the transmission shop again. Hopefully, the third time will be the charm. Automatic transmissions are notoriously complicated things, and I can’t get too upset at the mechanic. Of course, if it takes a fourth time…..
The Focus is an awesome little car, and looks really spiffy with its new wheels. We drive it everywhere (because the Explorer’s always in the shop). Oh, and we’ve got a new GPS so Monica doesn’t get lost.
#1 son has a new job. He works as a utility guy for a township in Pennsylvania. Hard work, it seems, but it pays better than washing dishes.
The Brasileira
Monica’s been here for alomst two months. She’s been my wife for one month. We’ve applied for her permanant residency, as well as for the documents needed to allow her to work and travel while she’s waiting for her green card work to be done. She’s a little homesick from time to time (who wouldn’t be?). We received a notice in the mail today with her biometrics appointment (she needs to go to Dover to have her fingerprints and picture taken). Seems odd, as we had to enclose no less than six passport-style photos with her application….. In any event, that’s a good sign, as it means that things are moving along. I have next week off of work, and we’ll likely work on getting her driver’s license. She’ll have to take a driving test again. She’s worried about that. I’m not.
Kate, my awesome daughter, is here on vacation. She’s with her mom. They saw a play in New York City the other day. She spent last weekend with me at my cousin’s place. We had a great time. I think she goes back next week. Ihope to see her again before she leaves.
I won’t see her this weekend, however. Tomorrow morning, we’re off to the Jersey Coast, where we’ll spemd the weekend taking the ASA Beginning Sailing course. We’ll spent the weekend on a small sailboat, and sail the heck out of it for two days. Sunday afternoon, there will be a test, so we’d better pay attention. Sailing is something that I’d like to get really good at. I’m planning to do a lot of it in the next few years.
This is the first shift break in over two years that I didn’t jump on a plane and fly somewhere. Last month, we flew to St. Croix for a honeymoon. The previous times I flew to Brasil. I really don’t miss the travel at all. Although I’ll be busy this weekend, it’ll be nice to spend some time at home and get some things done.
Bonnie is the same, although a bit less lonely these days. She still has that odd habit of barking like an idiot whenever someone leaves the room. Usually, this is not such a problem, but she raises a stink at 4am – when I’m leaving for work…
Dinner’s ready. Gotta go.
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