The Fruits of Our Labor

What a difference...

Before and After

A picture is worth a thousand words...

Six Years of Work in One Week

We have lived in our home for over six years now. It was only a year or two old when we bought it, so it didn't need a lot of work to "fix it up." That fact would prove to be our downfall. We got lazy over the next few years and since the house needed very little attention, we gave it very little attention. Our eight year old decks had not received a single drop of stain or water-seal until this week. Our gutters had NEVER been cleaned out. Our siding had only been de-mildewed once. The house was in a sad state of affairs. So Bethany took a week off from work to spend some quality time with Alex and me and to help take on these projects. We powerwashed the decks and the siding, scrubbed and bleached the siding, cleaned out the gutters, stained the decks, installed shutters, mowed the yard, added 480 lbs of mulch to the landscaped areas, and put up a 96' long white pickett fence along the yard. Who knew you could do six years worth of home improvements in one week? (I will post before and after pictures soon.) Special thanks to my Mommy for her help with the decks and shutters! I just hope it will be another six years before Bethany decides to take another "vacation."

You Can't Pick Your Friends

My Momma always says, "Everything happens for a reason." Does this mean she believes in fate? In philosophical terms is she a determinist? Are we determined or are we free? I don't know the answers to any of these questions, but every now and then an odd series of coincidences gets me thinking. A few weeks ago at a Mizzou tailgate party, my friend John Briscoe played a Robert Earl Keen CD while we were hanging out waiting for kickoff. It was a great CD of good ol', southern-fried, beer and blues country. The next week another good friend Doug Hurt invited me to my first Wilco concert in downtown Columbia. It was sort of southern fried rock-a-billy with a good dose of rock and blues. It was great. These two friends are old buddies from growing up in Hannibal. It is cool the way distance and time have not been able to stop us from getting together to listen to a good band or drink a few beers. Of course I have made new friends since moving to Columbia including a fun group of guys I lose money to while playing poker. Thanks to my friend Jerry Putting, I met Paul Shields and Roger Phillips. In the world of strange coincidences, fate, or just sheer accidents, Paul just saw Wilco in concert in Texas at the Austin City Limits Festival within a week of me seeing them and wrote about the experience on his blog (Click "Paul's Blog" link). Roger commented that he hoped Paul had been able to catch the Robert Earl Keen concert as well. Weird, huh? It gets weirder.

Paul and Rog have been friends for years, as have John and Doug. Although the two pairs of friends have never met, they have more in common than they could imagine. They all enjoy good music. All but John are accomplished guitar players. They all enjoy drinking a few beers with their buddies. They all lived in Warrensburg in the 1990's. And of course, they all are friends with me. (Lucky them.) Is it coincidence that in three weeks time, all four of these guys mentioned their affection for these two bands? Is it dumb luck that all four have similar political views as well as taste in music? Is it just plain freaky that they all went to CMSU? Is it fate that they have become my friends? It may be. Could it be true that you really can't pick your friends? It seems that fate may have done the picking in this case. If Mom is right that everything happens for a reason, then what reason could there be for us to be brought together and unleashed upon the world? What more does fate have in store? As Briscoe likes to say, "Wait'll they get a load of us... Wait'll."

Big Boy Turns Five

Yesterday was Alex's 5th birthday. It doesn't seem possible that its been half a decade since he was born. He has grown into a funny, smart, and ornery little guy. (Just like his dad.) For his birthday he received Star Wars toys, a guitar, a truck, and more. (These all could have worked as presents for my birthday as well.) His party was at Cici's Pizza (per his request) and a good time was had by all.