How I Spent My Summer Vacation...

...by Brad (ghostwritten by Michele)

My wife finally convinced me to paint the basement of our house, where I work teaching percussion lessons. We had already painted the smaller of the two rooms I use last summer, so this was going to be a similar treatment to the larger room. As these "quick little projects" often go, things quickly escalated into a major project. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I wouldn't be satisfied with just a coat of paint.

I've always planned on remodeling the basement, and when I say "remodel" I mean gut down to the cement and start over: 2x4 walls, decent insulation, acoustic ceiling tiles, updated wiring (the house is two-prong), new duct work to utilize our dual-zone furnace, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. Why put off the inevitable with a band-aid job when we can start on the job I really want to do? I had all of last week off from work, so the timing was perfect.

I got Michele to go along with the idea and off I went. I did all of it myself, removing everything down to the cement. It took nine pickup loads to the dump to get it all out. Here are some photos:

Before


After


The boys had fun pulling nails.



All in all, not a bad way to spend my summer vacation. Now to start building it back in!

R.I.P. Deadwood

Goodbye to one of our favorite shows. HBO aired the last episode of Deadwood on Sunday night. For those not familiar, Deadwood is a series about the early, lawless days of the mining camp that became the city of Deadwood, South Dakota. Since the show is loaded with violence and foul language, it may surprise some to hear that I love the show. For some people, those elements are reason enough to watch, but that is only part of it. The characters are vibrant and interesting. The acting is superb. There is history, intrigue, suspense, and a lot of humor.

My favorite part of the show is the way it was written and the use of language - sort of antiquated and formal. I don't know if it accurately depicts the usage of the time, but it was very funny once I got the hang of it.

Sniffle, Cough, Wheeze

This poor child. I took him to an allergy/asthma specialist this week to see if we can improve his quality of life. Connor has had allergies, asthma, and eczema since he was about 18 months old. We've finally gotten pretty good about managing the asthma by staying on top of his breathing treatments, but he usually seems pretty miserable anyway.

Dr. Piyamahunt ordered three tests. The first was an allergy scratch test. They put drops of allergens on his back, then scratch the spots and wait for 15 minutes to see if he reacts. They tested for 25 allergens, and he reacted to all of them! Trees, grass, weeds, molds, dogs, cats, dust mites. That pretty much explains why he suffers practically year-round.

The second test was a CAT scan of his sinuses, which showed he has a massive sinus infection.

The third test was a pulmonary test, which showed that he has reduced lung function due to asthma.

The doc wrote a book of prescriptions and sent us home with a pile of meds. Connor is now taking:
Zyrtec
Singulair
Nasonex
Flovent
An antibiotic for the infection
A steriod for inflamed bronchial tubes

Other things to do: dust frequently, wash bedding weekly, vaccuum daily, use an air purifier, and remove carpet in his bedroom. I feel bad because I'm not the most fastidious housekeeper, which probably hasn't helped him.


I really, really hope he can get some relief. Imagine how his life would change if he could breathe!

Back To School

Today was Dylan's first day of second grade, and it was a first day he'll not likely forget. The day started out gloomy and overcast. I couldn't even get my camera to take a non-flash photo of Dylan as he left for school. The weather got progressively worse as the day wore on, with intermittent heavy rain and wind. The radar was positively lit up with green and red. Then around 2:30 this afternoon, there was some talk of a tornado outside of town; however, the sirens didn't wail here in town.

I drove over to the school to pick him up because it was still raining. When I got there, I had to go into the building to get him because they had taken the kids down to the basement shelter. ALL 650 OF THEM. I suppose that is proper protocol at a time like that, but it was absolute pandemonium down there. Dylan doesn't handle noise and chaos very well and was very relieved to see me. Walt Grenz, the school counselor, told me that they had also run a tornado drill this morning. They must not have told the kids that it was the real deal the second time because Dylan said how funny it was that they had two tornado drills in one day. Northridge has a new principal they year, a young-ish guy from South Dakota. Talk about trial by fire - an actual tornado event on his first day of school.

His teacher this year is Renae Ely, who coached the Centahnas when I danced in high school! I LOVE HER, and I was so happy he got placed in her class. She is kind and giving and had a knack for the little things that made wonderful memories of dance team for me. Hopefully Dylan will have wonderful memories, too. I haven't seen it yet, but Brad said her classroom is great. He even used the word "sophisticated" and said she has a couple of cool art-deco lamps. I'm not surprised. She always had impeccable taste.

Kaleidoscope, Redux

I got my hands on a few more good shots of our group from Kaleidoscope. Thought I'd share some...

It's a flower! It's a kaleidoscope! It's our boots!

Back To The Grind

Fall semester started at BSC today. I was physically prepared for class, with a new skirt, copies of my syllabi in hand and my first-day speech brushed up, but it was mentally hard to get back in the groove. It's been a really good summer, relaxed and fun. I'm not ready for that to end. It was even harder for Connor, who has gotten used to me being around every day and wouldn't let go of me when I hugged him goodbye. He even ran down the sidewalk waving/crying as I drove away. HEARTBREAKING.

At least my classes went well. The 12:00 class even got my sense of humor, except for that one gal with the thick, black liquid eyeliner that made her eyes into slits. She was barely tolerating me, even rolled her eyes a couple of times. I almost laughed out loud. You won't intimidate me, you catty, slitty-eyed little waif!!

Ah well. Another semester of exposing a few young minds to the joys of grammar, punctuation, and a well-turned phrase.

Goin' To The Chapel...

Brad was in a wedding last night. The groom is the bass player in Rift. Brad was one of NINE groomsmen. That means that counting the couple, the ring bearer, and three flower girls (one of whom had just learned to walk), there were 24 people in the wedding party. Yikes! They barely fit around the little altar of the Condordia Lutheran Church of Beulah.

After the ceremony, the whole shebang moved to the tiny town hall in Zap, where she is from. The meal was very good, and the DJ was, too. The kids had fun, although the scented candles triggered a bad asthma attack for Connor. Good thing we always bring along his nebulizer when we travel. I was hanging with Gina and Kris, fellow band wives. I even got to dance a couple of times with Brad.

On the way home, we saw some Northern Lights, which was extremely cool for me because it has been a very long time since I've seen them. Dylan also liked how bright and numerous the stars were. Great memories for us to be making for him.

Pat, Peg, Shawn, Brad

Pikes and Flying Fish

The boys did a two-week session of swimming lessons, which wrapped up on Thursday. They both had a very good experience. Dylan has had plenty of lessons and swims very well, but this was Connor's first time. Dylan's instructor was one of the best he's ever had. She was in the water with the kids the whole time, and gave hands-on instruction on stroke technique. Plus, she was enthusiastic and fun.

Connor came a long way in this one session of lessons. The first day he hung on the edge of the pool with just his legs in the water. Look at him now!


He still prefers to stay extremely vertical in the water, but it was so neat to see his progress. On the last couple of days, he even was blowing bubbles a little bit. Maybe now it won't be so traumatic when I splash water on his face in the tub.

Lone Lily

We bought our current house in March 2000. One of the first things I did in the yard was to dig up an ugly little bush and plant some lily bulbs there instead. I remember this vividly because Dylan was 18 months old and clung to me constantly, making the job much harder than it otherwise could have been.

Those bulbs did NOTHING for a few years. Then two small shoots sprouted in the spring of 2004, but they didn't produce any flowers. Last year the same two shoots came up, and a few blooms appeared. I'd forgotten what color they were supposed to be.

This year we got two sprouts and several blooms. Progress!


And here a couple shots of some petunias and impatiens that I managed to keep alive all summer. It's so nice to have some color in the yard. (Sorry - it was getting dark when I took these.)




I don't have a green thumb, so this was a small miracle, especially considering the brutally dry summer we've had. Everything I know about gardening I learned from Irene. I wonder what greenery she's got going in Manhattan?

Happy Birthday, Mom

We celebrated my mom's birthday on Friday. It was just a small cake and ice cream affair at Curt's, and I got a cute pic of her. Unfortunately, I didn't have 60 candles for the cake.

Room With A View

We took a major step this summer and bought an all new bedroom set. I know, I know. Big deal, right? People buy furniture all the time. But this was the first time we had bought a room full of new furniture. In fact, the only other pieces of new furniture we'd ever bought were the entertainment center in 1999 and the boys' bunk bed in 2003. Otherwise, our furniture is a mish-mash of scratch & dent, used and hand-me-down pieces. And even that was a step up from the cinder blocks and milk crates we used for furniture when we were first married.

This all started this spring when we upgraded our bed from a king-size futon that sat on the floor to a queen size adjustable Tempurpedic bed. When Rachel saw it, she exclaimed, "You got a real bed!" Very funny.

Anyway, the new bed looked out of place, like it deserved better than 40-year-old dressers. So we went to our favorite furniture store, Simply Wood in Mandan. Larry there is terrific. They sell unfinished furniture, which you can finish yourself, or they will finish for you. We ordered a mission style set in maple from his catalog and picked out a stain. The maker is in Minnesota, and he does beautiful work. It took about seven weeks from order to delivery because his pieces are in high demand.

Here was the bedroom before:


And here it is after:




I love it! It arrived right around our anniversary, so we kind of called it an anniversary present to ourselves. To be honest, I was kind of holding out hope for a new setting for my wedding diamond, but that didn't happen. Oh well. Maybe for our 20th!

John Edwards For President?

Last night, Rift played a Democratic Party fund-raiser that featured an appearance by possible presidential candidate John Edwards. The event was a backyard barbeque attended by only about 100 people. I assume they were of the "deep pockets" type. Anyway, the band played for a bit, then jumped offstage and had their picture taken with Edwards. Brad said Edwards gave a pretty good speech, mingled a bit, and ended up spending around an hour there.

You may notice Brad's new look in this pic. About a month ago, I buzzed his hair and he got his ears pierced. Why pierce his ears now?? His mother had always disapproved, and it took him this long to get up the guts to go against his mother's wishes. I told him that he's 38 years old, and if he wants his ears pierced, he's allowed.

Fun With Exercise Equipment

This is a video made by a band called OK Go for their song "Here It Goes Again". I love this video! The choreography is interesting and clever, and it's performed very well. The campy element is very hip, and the song's pretty good, too.

One band. Eight treadmills. Brilliant!

If you can't see the video, click here

Goodbye, Peggy

Peggy Schaff was an early role model for me as a young Girl Scout. I will remember her kind and nurturing spirit.

Tooting My Own Horn

When I got home from my long weekend away at Just For Kix Convention, here is what greeted me:

And congratulations truly were in order. At the banquet, I was announced as this year's Director of the Year! This is a very big deal in my company, a true honor. I was completely shocked and moved to be chosen. It really makes me feel appreciated for what I've put into JFK - tons of energy, time, and hard work over the years. I have a passion for dance, and it's great to be able to work in the field.

The 2005-06 season was my 10th, so I also was recognized for 10 years of service, which is another big deal. I received a really nice JFK logo watch. Overall, it was a big night for me. Being a teacher, coach, and mentor to young people is so rewarding. Here's a nice quote from convention that sums it up:

Priorities
One hundred years from now
It will not matter what my bank account was,
the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove...
but the world may be different because
I was important in the life of a child.

She's A Maniac, Maniac On The Floor

You semi-regular readers (both of you) may have noticed that I've been absent for awhile. That's because I've been absent for awhile. I left Wednesday morning for our annual Just For Kix Directors Convention in Minnesota. This year we were in St. Cloud, where they've built a beautiful new studio. The convention is always really fun because it's the only time I get to see some of the JFK gals I've made friends with over the years. We also get to do some bargain shopping on dance gear from the JFK catalog.

The convention consists of large group presentations and four smaller break-out workshops. We can choose from several workshop options, including discussion and active sessions. Since I'm a Dancing Fool, I chose an active session all four times, and not just the easy, low-impact little kid dances. I chose the hardest one every time. I went there to DANCE, and besides, I can learn the easy ones off the video. It's way more fun to tackle the tough ones in person. However, I'm not one of the young ones anymore, and I had to work harder than in the past to keep up. I LOVE to dance, and it is a total rush to work up difficult choreography like that.

Anyway, the upshot of all that overachieving is that my right quad, ham, and glut are very angry at me now. They are refusing to obey my brain's command. A few days of Advil and maybe a good massage ought to placate them.

Tomorrow I'll post the really big news about convention. Stay tuned...