In Over Our Heads

 It's been a little while since we finished The Great Duplex Remodel and we've been looking forward to our next project.

It's a project I've been wanting to do since we bought our house  26 1/2 years ago.

Although the duplex paint has only recently dried on my work shirt, I'm eager to jump into a new remodel. Stan is equally excited to have me push him into the same remodel.
Yup, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

 Yes, kids, we're finally getting rid of the popcorn ceiling.

We began on Saturday and spent several hours preparing...

...then dug right in. About 20 minutes into the scrapping, we got a call from our trailer house renter, complaining that his fridge had stopped working and all of his food was melting. Stan left to evaluate the problem....

 ...leaving me to work alone for a couple of hours. Kids, you know how fabulous my balance is, and will be surprised that I don't actually remember falling off the ladder Monday. Actually, I don't remember Monday at all.....

Stan finally returned. Turns out the renters had never vacuumed under or behind the fridge, and even more puzzling, had turned it down to "1". Stan showed them how handy a vacuum is for cleaning fridge lint goobers and suggested trying a higher cold setting, like  "5". Renters are interesting.

It took only 8 hours to clear the ceiling of all that popcorn and turn our floor into a dusty, muddy mess.

By the way, our chairs were too big to move downstairs. We've decided that keeping your living room furniture in the kitchen is a bit awkward. We probably won't stay with this look.

We are also updating the lighting while we're making a mess. These lovely 1980's lights have seen a lot of use over the years. We've turned them on and off probably a billion times over the decades. They've been on for millions of hours. In the nearly 27 years we've lived here we have NEVER had to replace a light bulb from this fixture. We've come to the only reasonable conclusion--they are powered by elves riding little elf generator bicycles.

Stan had to actually pry the wood molding off to get at the bulbs.  Apparently the builder was in cahoots with the elves and knew we'd never need to replace a burned-out bulb.

Stan looked for the elves, but they must have heard him coming and cycled off.

The space the lights are in is about 18" deep, 6' long, and 2' high. Stan will be sheet rocking it over, but not before we stash all of our gold in there.

You can't even buy this plexiglass panel that covered the light anymore--we just know we're going to become rich by selling our two slightly used panels online.

The new lighting will be recessed canister lights, spaced around the living room, giving us all-around better illumination.  Unfortunately, Stan doesn't like me sticking my fingers into electrical sockets, so I'm consigned to watching for the rest of today.

 

I thought I'd go to the mall, or library, or find a good restaurant to relax in while Stan slaves, but something about driving around on ice-covered roads in 4 degree weather is just not that appealing. I'll probably just stay home and give Stan helpful suggestions. He loves that.

Stan would like all interested people to know that nope, he won't depopcorn or rewire at your house so DON'T ASK!!!!

Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion to the Jones's Project!

Newly Twenty-Two

Little Ashley grew some of the more funky Jones hair. This is what Ashley's hair was like for the first year or more of her life. She also loved to blow raspberries. The photographer couldn't get her to stop blowing raspberries long enough to snap a picture, so he immortalized it instead. This is the way I remember Ashley--you just couldn't help but smile when you saw her.

Ashley, 9 months

Ashley's hair had improved markedly by the time she was 2 1/2. She still had the cutest grin.

Ashley, 2 1/2

Ashley loved to wear swimsuits or Shelly's old dance costumes 24/7. If I wouldn't let her wear them, she'd sneak them under her church dress, pajamas, or play clothes. I was sure she'd grow up to be a swimsuit model.

Ashley, age 5

Ashley has always been a happy, easy-to-live with kind of girl.

Ashley, age 8

She played volleyball and basket ball growing up, but just couldn't overcome her sympathy for the losing team. Sports weren't as fun for her as the other girls--she just felt too bad when the losing team cried.

Ashley, age 12

Ashley's hair color has mysteriously ranged from black to platinum blond over the years. I wonder what color it REALLY is?

Ashley, age 15

Ashley has always loved horses. We are happy McKay knew the front end of a horse from the back so that Ashley would marry him.

Ashley, age 14

Ashley never lacked for interested young men in her life. No wonder! She is beautiful, inside and out.

Ashley, age 17

If Ashley had (emphasis on HAD) one fault growing up, it was her less than stellar driving record. We had no idea when we handed over keys to our sixteen year-old how many cars she could (and did) hit, dent, high-center, and lose control of during her 2 short driving years at home. We are glad she left that all behind her!

Ashley, age 16

Ashley has always made us smile.

Ashley, age 17

We love you, Ashley! Have a happy birthday!

Ashley, 19 with McKay

Look, Ma, No Cavities

A quick update...

Amy took Hailey and Makayla to the dentist today. They got a clean bill of teeth health.

The dentist discovered not one, but TWO wiggly teeth in Hailey's mouth. He thought it would take another  4 or 5 months for them to actually come out.

Makayla told me over and over today that her "doctor made my teeth sparkly-clean!!!"  Then she demonstrated what to do if your dentist wants to peek in your mouth.

They each got a bag of "I love the dentist" objects. Hmm. My dentist only gives me a toothbrush,paste, and floss and then mails me a bill. He's never offered me any of this other cool stuff.

Hailey, who can't remember to use her indoor voice, but never forgets anything else, remembered I promised her some computer time today. She graciously let Makayla watch her count with Bert and Ernie.

In other exciting local news, after several weeks of record-breaking warm weather, my yard is sprouting all over.

Don't worry--the temperature is suppose to drop 40 degrees tomorrow and we're getting snow.

Sigh. It was nice while it lasted.

Out With The Old, In With The New

Well, the time has come to return Megan and her snowboard to college.

It's so nice to be able to drop Megan off and have an excuse for visiting the two cutest grandkids in Idaho.

It's probably hard to tell, but Krew is into things with wheels. At one point Jorden pointed to one of his matchbox vehicles and asked, "What's that, Krew?"

Krew replied that it was a "helicopter-don't-touch-it-kay?"

He may be just a bit obsessed with his trains, planes, and automobiles.

Krew even sleeps with them riggghhht next to his bed.

Jessica, Stan, and I took Megan back to her dorm. Krew and Jorden stayed behind to do man things. Of course, we had to go see the Pearsons while in Rexburg. We chose Kiwi Loco as a meeting place. Not sure why-all they serve is frozen yogurt.

Maybe because cute little Brinlee is eagerly waiting to be old enough for a sample.

Grandpa making Brinlee giggle.

After dropping things off at Megan's dorm, we all headed back to Idaho Falls for dinner. Jessica and Jorden have this huge, scary, aggressive pitbull-like dog, Harvey.  But don't worry, Brinlee told him who's boss. Brinlee, by the way, is crawling like a trooper.

Jessica and Megan are always so dignified when they are together.

 It's good to see they've left their childhood disagreements behind.

There was a time Jessica could take Megan down with one arm tied behind her back.

Now she needs Harvey's help.

The time came for Stan and I to leave our Idaho girls and families and head home. We went through Ennis instead of West Yellowstone because of the bad roads. It's not as pretty, but it's often a lot less scary in the winter. There's a mountain range between Ennis and West Yellowstone, and it's often colder and snowier on one side than the other.

 The roads were still icy and slick going home, but much improved from the pure ice coming to Idaho a few days ago.

 I drove three miles per hour

while gripping the wheel with white-knuckled hands. It took Stan 2.4 hours, a crowbar, and a blow torch to remove my hands from the wheel when we finally arrived.....

....back to our lovely empty nest. Have a good semester, Megan, Ashley, and Jessica! See you all when the snow melts!