November 2005 Archives

I just finished reading Jennie's entry about spending Thanksgiving with her folks and some of the thoughtful things they did as a family that brought extra meaning to the day and made it a special day for everyone.

I wish our Thanksgiving was half as special as that.

Maybe ours was kind of lame because my sister insisted on getting together last Sunday for a pseudo-Thanksgiving get-together that wasn't on Thanksgiving. To distinguish it from an actual Thanksgiving feast, we had cold meat instead of hot meat. Amazingly, everyone was there. I didn't expect my sister's son and middle daughter to come, really, but I was happy they did. I know it meant a lot to my mom.

My sister loves family history and always tries to impress the importance of understanding your heritage upon her kids. This occasion was no exception. She brought a bunch of questions printed out related to our family history and left each one on a small strip of paper at each place sitting on the tables. It was kind of like a trivia game and everyone had to read their question and see if anyone knew the answer. "What ancestor lost their sense of smell?" "How many family members graduated from college?" Things like that.

After dinner, before anyone left as quickly as they could, we managed to get a family picture in the family room. We took a family portrait this last Summer in Hyrum, but it didn't turn out quite right. This time it turned out much better.

The whole family

Siblings: Tom, Allison, and myself

So, we had that event on Sunday and then my brother and I had our kids over there again on Thursday -- this time for hot meat.

I showed up -- with wife and kids -- a couple hours early so we could help my dad put up some Christmas lights outside. We went to see Chicken Little beforehand and went straight over to my parents' after that. (Movie was better than I thought it would be, but still probably should have gone straight to video.)

Putting the Christmas lights up went pretty quickly, partially because, well, I'm good at it at this point.

Then Uncle Ralph, my dad's half-brother, showed up. Then, right around the time we were supposed to eat, my brother and his kids showed up. We had to wait around for a half hour because my mom said the turkey wasn't quite done. She beat herself up about that for the rest of the evening, which was really quite stupid, I thought. I mean, when it was done, it was great. It was worth waiting another 30 minutes for.

Then, my dad said a simple prayer and we ate dinner. It wasn't fifteen minutes before people finished their food, began clearing the table, and started washing dishes. As soon as my mom was done cleaning up, she started asking people if they wanted pie yet. Christine said no, mostly, I think, because she just wanted my mom to calm down and relax for a while.

There were also some comments and gestures made that really didn't go with the Thanksgiving theme at all. So, yeah, nothing at all like Jennie's family.

Starting to get real chilly as we head into Winter. I'm not a big fan of the cold weather. It used to be that I didn't mind it so much. I'd wear shorts all Winter long, for example. Since I was diagnosed with insulin-dependent diabetes, however, my legs don't tolerate exposure to the cold so well anymore.

The expansion

Slowly, but gradually, I've been working on our basement. I got the walls all framed for one of the bedrooms in the basement as well as the adjoining closet. I also finished some of the electrical and exterior wall insulation in there as well. It's close to being ready to throw some drywall up.

My office got the ceiling textured by my brother this last weekend. I've got some more mud-work to do on the walls in there and then it'll be ready to prime and paint. To finish that room, I need to replace the window and get a door. So, that room is very close.

The other bedroom going in the basement needs some framing done on one exterior wall, a stupid existing wall (installed by previous owner) removed and a new wall put in to give the room larger, more bedroom-like dimensions. I'm hoping the framing will all be finished within the next week.

The family room / theater won't need much framing at this point. It mostly just needs all the crap being stored in it out of the way. :-)

I've been doing things in a very manual, old-fashioned way so far. All my walls have been built with a hammer and 16d nails. The floor is literally littered with bent nails because some of the wood I'm using is rock hard and I'm not that great with a hammer to start with. I'm wondering if I should get my hands on a framing nail gun for the rest of this project. I definitely don't want to install the moulding or the shelving in the closets without a brad nailer. I did all that with a hammer and finishing nails in our last house and the results look so much better with an air-powered tool.

"More Mayart"

Here are some more drawings by Maya.

An advertisement for Fur Real Maya Dolls

Maya draws some of her favorite TV shows.

A self-portrait.

A message to dad.

A rainbow heart.

Some may know that my eldest daughter Maya, 7, is a budding artist. She's got an exceptionally good eye for things and, if she chooses, she could go amazing places with this gift.

Anyway, I've been scanning in some of her art. Below are a couple she's done recently about one of my passions: Linux.

I should ask her sometime why my pants are on backwards. :-)