The room is painted!!!

It was actually finished a couple of weekends ago, but I'm just getting around to posting about it. This is primarily due to my complete ineptitude with technology. Cheryl has to get the pictures off of the camera and onto the computer so that I can put them on this blog. I'm at her mercy - ain't that marriage though?

Anyway, Pete came over to help me paint. I was able to get a picture of him showing me his forearm. He's a little camera shy...

We had a fun day. I hooked up the laptop to the boombox and we got the 80's station on XM Radio. We spent the whole day playing the "name the singer" game. Only now, unlike the old days, we didn't have to wait for an annoying DJ to tell us who it was - it was right on the screen! I love XM Radio. It costs a bit, but man, it's so worth it! I listen in the car, at home, at work, everywhere! I've got the new age station pumping into my earphones as I'm typing this.

Painting. Pete works like I do - slow and careful. It was quite nice. We worked the whole day and all I fed the poor guy was a double-double. What is it about In-n-Out that goes so well with manual labor? Like when moving to a new place - nothing goes as good with a U-haul truck as a double-double - not animal-style, that's gross. Yes, I said it! Animal-style is gross! Thrrr!

But I digress. We painted the room. The color is hard to see in the pictures, but it looks like butter. We're trying to steer clear of the pink. I don't like the overly girly, pinky, flowery, nausiating stuff. I like funny and cute. Note the picture of Milton the Monkey. That's the wall art that goes with her room's theme - Jungle Babies. Friggin' cute!!!
So, there it is. the room's been painted. Pete was saying that we should do crown molding. Maybe this weekend if he's not busy. I think it could look nice, no?

Texas Vacation...???

Yes, it has been over a month since I last posted. I took some time off doing house stuff. Cheryl has been feeling good and we've been doing other stuff together, enjoying the second trimester. We took a trip to Texas in late February. Our fifth anniversary (five years, people, five years!!!) was on Feb 22. Instead of buying presents, we take trips. This year, it was off to Texas.

Why Texas?

It's a common question. First, because we are going to see all fifty states eventually, so why not? Secondly, we've been wanting to see Texas for some time. Cheryl's grandpa was from Texas. The man had a tremendous impact on Cheryl's life, and to be honest, mine too. If I'm going to learn about him, best to do it as I'm gearing up to be dad.

I feel really lucky. I've got some really good role models in my life of how to be a dad. Of course, the greatest example for me is my own old man. I'm hoping I'm a fraction of the dad he's been to me. But it is also great that I have other examples as well. Cheryl's grandpa was another example.

I really only spent time with him while I was in college. They lived down in LA and Cheryl and I would spend time there. Aside from the free dinner and laundry, we got to spend time with two of the most amazing characters in our lives. They were part of the greatest generation. They had seen the depression and WWII. Cheryl's grandpa was in the Navy during the war. He married Cheryl's grandma a few weeks after having met her and they were married since then. He retired from the LAPD.

I have a copy of a letter he wrote to his son describing his experience in the war. It was one of the greatest things I've read.

Cheryl once showed me an article from the LA Times. There was a picture of him in a suit and fedora, smoking a cigar, standing over a huge pile of weapons he had helped confiscate. How cool is that?

Looking back, it was an interesting time. Cheryl and I were both getting ready to start our lives on our own, and they were living their last years. Cheryl's grandpa passed away just before she graduated college.

I knew I had to go to visit the land that produced that kind of a man. He was everything that is good. He had strength, intelligence, and passion yet he was gentle and kind. We all knew he was the boss, and we all knew Cheryl's grandma was really in charge. If you're not married, that may not make sense.

Visiting there was one of the most comforting things during my college life. There was regularity. Dinner was at 5pm. There would be salad, meat, and veggies. We had our seats at the dining table that we always sat in. That kind of routine was like therapy for two college kids.

We wanted to see more of the state that produced such a hero. It was a good trip. The best part was visiting NASA. If you've never been - go! Doesn't matter if you're not into space. It makes you proud to be American - nay, it makes you proud to be human. It is incredible to see what can be accomplished when a group of people trick themselves into thinking the impossible may not really be impossible.

That really was some generation! Saved our nation from hunger, delivered Europe from tyranny, walked on the moon. What will we do? What will I pass to my daughter? What will my grandkids blog say about me on their blogs? I pray for the wisdom necessary to draw my designs.

Okay, it was a sappy posting. But stay tuned! I finished painting the baby room with a little help from Pete. There was paint, burgers, and '80s music!!! I'll post just as soon as I just figure out how to get the pictures from the camera to the computer...Cheryl!

It's a girl!

That's right! I'm going to be the proud papa of a bouncing, baby girl. We were going to keep the gender a secret, but we realized that neither of us would be able to pull it off. The name is a different story. We have the first and middle names picked out, but we're not telling.

We had the ultrasound today. The heart, head, spine, stomach, kidneys, feet, and hands all looked great. It was pretty neat to see her squirm around as the lady running the machine tried to get her measurements. My little girl was not cooperating too much - she gets that from her mom. The lady running the machine kept having to wiggle Cheryl's tummy to get the little munchkin into position. She did melt us all though by touching her face and sucking her thumb while we were watching. It was really neat.

As for the prep on the room, we have finished the office this last weekend! Yay! I took some pictures of what the final room looks like, but the pictures are on the camera and Cheryl is asleep. When she downloads them to our computer, I'll put them on here. We also bought the paint for the baby's room, but the painting is going to have to wait - we're going on vacation.

We're off to Texas in a couple of days and we're staying the for just over a week. When we get back, I'll start painting.

Here's why it's taking so long...

I work slowly. Really slowly. This is not from my parents. Not sure where this came from, actually. I came home from college one summer and was promptly informed that they had been waiting for me to come home to help them paint the house. It became very apparent, very fast, that they were not fans of masking. "We'll just be careful." Uh-huh. I spent a week trying to move as fast as possible to stay one step ahead of the two of them with the masking tape so that they wouldn't paint everything in sight. They were in a hurry and didn't want to be bothered with the silly details. Never mind that the baseboards were brown and the walls were white...

Maybe it's rebellion. Some kids drink, sneak out of the house, and do all kinds of crazy things -
Cheryl! - but me, I'm overly meticulous about my masking when I'm painting. I'm going to be different than my folks! I'm going to be careful with a paint brush! That'll show 'em!!! (also notice the testimonial to my mild OCD in the layout of the tools...)

Of course, like them, I like to have music going. What's the point in trying to do work if you don't have music? What's the point in trying to do anything if you don't have music?



Anyway, this is why it takes me forever to get this stuff done. Normally, you'd think it would take someone a couple of hours to paint a room. I took a weekend plus a couple of afternoons. We've still got some months left though. We'll see how this goes.

No really, who paints the closets?

Well, I do. I paint the closets. Even the top shelf, where no one sees, where I need extra lights to help me see, even up there, I paint. Both my parents are to blame for this insanity. "If you're not going to do a job right, don't do it at all." That, and the white-glove inspections my mom made when I did my cleanings have left me with this complex.

After we got rid of the couch, there was room for the closet in the spare room to barf out its contents. Some of it was given to Goodwill, some was tossed out, but most we kept. Before, we had stuff in the office and in the spare room. With the kid coming, all that would have to be compacted down into one closet. I needed a storage solution. I needed Ikea!

We drove down with a particular shelf in mind. It was cheap. It was aluminum. And it was small enough so that I could fit four of the shelves in the closet. At $15 a pop, it was going to be okay.

We got to Ikea. Cheryl and I had an awesome $2 breakfast (if you've never had these, go this weekend! seriously, it's great) and then took a long stroll through the warehouse in search of our shelves. We found them. I think if we had stacked too much paper on them, they would have crumpled. So scratch that plan. What else can we do?

We lookded around and found modular shelving. It was raw lumber. There were different sizes of wood that could be transformed into any size shelving needed. Some quick math and geometry told me I could have nice, solid, wooden shelves for cheaper than the aluminum jobs that I originally intended to buy. How sweet it is! And to top it off, the wood was a bit too tall. I'd have to saw it down myself. I get to use my saw!!! I grunted in approval. We bought the stuff, loaded the Accord and came home.

In just a few short hours, we had gone to Ikea, bought the shelves, sawed and sanded them to size, assembled them, and loaded them with stuff. The closets were done! Not too bad so far. I may get this baby room ready after all.

Two Birds with One Stone - Telling my Parents

Step one was to get the spare room to be an office. That meant getting rid of the old couch. It was a great couch. I really liked it. We got it from the in-laws. It was a La-z-boy with reclining seats and a fold down middle part that had cup holders. This was a couch. It didn't fit in with the new decor, so it had to go. We took it to the consignment store and got a little cash for it. Not a bad deal.

Of course, we have two Hondas. Not the ideal couch moving vehicles. I needed my dad's truck. I also needed to tell him and my mom that they were going to be grandparents. They've been nagging since forever to have kids and it was taking its toll on me.

I invited my parents up for breakfast and to help me move the couch. They were suspicious. My uncle was visiting from Canada and I'm asking my parents to leave Turlock, drive an hour up here, and have breakfast all so that I can get rid of a couch that has been sitting there for a couple of years? It took some convincing, but they came up.

We loaded the couch in the truck, took it to the store, then into the store, then up the stairs to the second floor of the store, where we reassembled it. Great, phase 1 complete! The couch was gone. If they sold it, awesome, I'd get some cash, if not, it's okay because I could at least start working on the office.

Now came the part about telling my mom and dad they were going to be grandparents. We went to a restaurant for breakfast. We had a little brag book for her and had put a picture of the sonogram we had in it. The kid has their tongue sticking out in the sonogram - yeah, it's my kid alright. The lady that took the picture had a good laugh and told us we were in for it with this kid.

A bit of advice. If your mom is like my mom, a bit emotional (understatement) and really gets excited about things, and if she has been waiting years to be a grandma, and you are about to tell her, pick somewhere private so she can flip out in peace. Smack in the middle of Mimi's Cafe is no place for an emotional outburst of that magnatude.

No matter, the couch was gone, my parents were happy, and I had some killer eggs benedict.

Getting Started

I found out I was going to be a dad. First thought? "My boys can swim!" Then, "Oh wow, someone's going to rely on me for guidance, support, and education. Am I mature enough for this?" Likely, I'm not, but then is anyone really? Doesn't matter. It's happening. So what do I do to cope? Build and paint things.

What else would I do? So far as I know, this is the ultimate test that a man faces - being a dad. My response is to fall back to what I know to be the ultimate display of manhood which is working with wood and tools. I can probably thank my dad for this. Looking back, it was working with him in the garage or in the yard where I learned the most from him. Not that he was lecturing me, he was just spending time with me laughing and having a good time. I'm hoping that we get to do the same with my kid, once they're old enough. Okay, enough sappiness.

The plan: we have a three bedroom condo. Room 1 - Master Bedroom - this is where the cats sleep at night and sometimes they are gracious enough to let us sleep there too. Room 2 - The Office - this is where the cats have their litter boxes and have agreed to let me have a desk and computer there too. Room 3 - Spare Room - the cats had an old couch they slept on in here, we negotiated a deal with them to use the closet for storage. Room 1 will stay as it is. Room 2 will become the baby room. Room 3 will be the office. We'll see how this goes.