Mom's Seventieth Birthday Makeover

Since Mom should be on her way back home now....it's safe to post this here!


And so it began!  Mom's birthday was coming up and we were searching for ideas for something special to do. Denise suggested new carpet for their living room...and then of course we had to do paint too! Sneaky timing - she and Frank would be out of town for a 5 day weekend for Frank's grandson's wedding in Missouri - so we had a nice window of time. Keith arranged to meet Lowe's at their house the Friday before to do the measuring while Mom and Frank were away from the house on their normally scheduled Grandma Hall visit.

These photos are a mix of my camera and Keith & Denise's camera, so you'll notice some slight differences.  Denise snapped this one before I arrived Thursday evening.  She snapped lots more of the walls, etc. so that we could put everything back where it was!

With most of the stuff out of the room, we started with the ceiling. 

Keith & Denise had gotten the paint to loosely match both the existing paint and the new carpet.  Kindof tan for the walls and a lighter tan for the trim.

Patched some holes in the walls

Took a few phone calls - texted Mom Happy Birthday!!

Started taking up the carpet because we couldn't paint all the way the floor with the old carpet in place.  Fun to see the old, original tile. 

Paint mostly finished.  Windows washed and repainted.

Burning the trash... beautiful weekend after some heavy rain.

Final cleanings, getting ready to re-install the blinds.

Keith took them down so we thought he needed to put them back up!!

Now for the miraculous part.  Three men and a van!

They made quick work of it!

Padding in place

They swept the pavement, then laid out the carpet and rough-cut it.

Amazing to watch this - and it re-affirms my belief that this should be left to the professionals!

Putting the seam in.

Stretching....

All done - they hauled the couch back inside for us.

Starting to put everything back in place.

Denise wanted to put stove black on...so we let her!

All done!!

Ta-da!!!

Banner and cards in place ready for Mom to walk in!

No more diet drinks

We decided to try to stop drinking diet sodas. It seemed like I was drinking them one after the other....more like a habit than for thirst. Too, too many. There are all kinds of discussions about the artificial sweeteners and their effects on blood sugar and the nervous system. None good....

So, I simply quit buying them for the fridge at home. And I refuse to get them out of the machines at work. Cold turkey.

Here is what I drank at work yesterday. Coffee and water. Never fear - they were bottles I rinsed and filled at home with tap water (the water at the airport tastes like rusty nails!)

And, when we want a little fizz, we're drinking seltzer water.

Tomato soup!

I was hungry this morning....but I didn't really bring my proper lunch today. So, I went foraging on top of the refrigerator at the airport. This is where various food is stored and sometimes forgotten by the various employees. There have been a couple of cans of Campbell's Tomato Soup there for, I think, a year or so. Hmmmm, thought to myself "it's a chilly morning, I think I'll have some soup!"....

Well, it's been literally years since I've had tomato soup. This is as far as I got - first few "slurps" were fun. If I'd had some saltines or Ritz crackers, it would have been pure nostalgia. But, the saltiness got the better of me and I could eat no more! Wonder how big the pile of salt would be if they separated it from the soup - scary, I bet!!!

More turtle

Just a random photo....this morning driving out I spied this turtle. It was kinda chilly, and he was just "frozen" with his legs out. I actually thought he was dead. I touched his shell and he jerked awake, hissed at me, and retracted his appendages! I moved him to the other side of the road in the direction he was pointed. Hope that doesn't confuse him.

Beef allergy finally explained!!

An article in our local paper was about a lady with a beef allergy. Turns out, after all these years that I have been dealing with this "mystery allergy", they've discovered that it's TICKS that are causing it! My symptoms exactly! The article also states that it's any "mammalian" meat, which I suspected. Since chicken and fish are not mammals, that explains why I can eat them with no problems. Interesting... I get about 200 little tick bites a year, so I'm probably re-infecting myself.

http://allergicliving.com/index.php/2010/07/02/food-allergy-beef-emerges-as-issue/

Another airport photo

I know, more airplane stuff......

I expected today to be really boring. The weather forecast was for cloudy skies and rain. Usually that makes me the "Lonely Maytag Repair(wo)man".

But, for some reason, it was busy all day! Interesting aircraft today!

Cool, calm morning at the airport!

I went to the airport early this morning because I had a King Air that needed fuel for an early departure.....

When I arrived, there was lots going on!

Neat way to start the day!!!

McCraw Reunion

It's reunion time again! This year, "our" branch of the McCraw family tree was responsible for the setup of the fellowship hall for the reunion.

We were up before sunrise (unusual for me!!) to fly up to Asheville for a very yummy breakfast at Cracker Barrel.

Afterwards, there was a little bit of prep work before we went over to the church.

Always have to include an Obie photo....he's on a strict diet now (I guess he's getting old like the rest of us!!)  No more treats, poor thing!

All the usual suspects attended.  Great to see everyone.  Really great to eat all the yummy stuff....my blackberry pancakes from breakfast failed me.....I was hungry!  The McCraws are good cooks!

We made little "goodie baskets" for the 7 brothers and sisters to take home.

Lots of old photos were discussed - trying to figure out "who was who" in some of them.

Then back to the airport.....getting some fuel alongside all the business jets.  A beautiful pre-fall day!

Siler City Airport on our way home - a beautiful flight.  Fun day!

Happy Birthday to my Daddy!

It's that date again - the forever infamous 9/11.....because it's my Daddy's birthday!  He would have been 72 today - here he is with Mom and the boys - likely in 1992 but the photo is undated - all wearing their "Piper" tee-shirts.     I still have all of them - Mom gave me theirs....I guess if we ever go over to the "dark-side" and buy a Piper, we'll wear them! 

I believe your life still has meaning as long as you are in someone's thoughts!

Fuel Pump Paint Makeover at Siler City Airport

I've been meaning for a while to spruce up the fuel pump at Siler City Airport. It's just gotten a bit rusty over the years. Here's the "before" photo from the back of the pump.

I first used a pressure washer and blew off any loose paint/rust.  Then I painted it with trusty Rust-o-leum "Rusty Metal Primer" - then top-coated with gloss white (also Rust-o-leum).  It's not perfect, but should help protect it for a few more years!

Similar views of the front of the pump "before":

And after....I think it looks a good bit better (as long as you don't look too close!)

Stormy Weather

I took these photos during a particularly heavy downpour at the airport...the photo really doesn't show just how much rain was coming down.

And then a few minutes later, the air was very clear.

And we found a little snappy-turtle.  He wasn't too happy to be toted around!!

Join me for our little mini-Labor Day vacation to Myrtle Beach

Since Ocracoke is still closed to visitors, we had to head south for our Labor Day weekend....Buddy and Sharon joined us in Myrtle Beach.  We got a terrific deal on a very nice condo in the same complex we spent last Thanksgiving with the McCraws.

No real plans, just wandering and relaxing. Wandering on the boardwalk.  Friday almost deserted.  By Saturday evening this same spot was wall-to-wall people!  No recession here!

Since one of us is named Marvin.....we had to enjoy a meal at their namesake!!

Yes, every one loves Marvin. 

How's this for a healthy meal??  It was fresh and yummy and inexpensive!!  No, it's not all mine!!!

We contemplated a few of the "rides"....but opted instead just to watch and keep our $50 in our pockets....the 60 second thrill rides just seemed to cost a tad to much for our tastes.


Enjoyed some of the "caution" statements.....read some of these.....I don't think we would be allowed on the ride anyway!!  (especially the "undiciplined people" notice....and a few more, but we won't say which....)
 

Duane resting a bit.  We took every opportunity to relax!

Many strolls down the beach too!

Probably hard to see, but it was fun watching the guys playing in the sand with their young kids.

Went to Boardwalk on Broadway for some afternoon entertainment.  Always something interesting going on there.

At a restaurant Buddy found a sign that he liked - thought he could trade his wife for his bill!!

Silly stools - I thought the pink pokadots went terrific with the lime green shirt!!

Somehow, the guys convinced Sharon and I to "ride the bulls"....Sharon is about 20 feet away riding a similar bull.  I'm not showing you her photo because I'm only going to embarrass myself here.  Really.  Embarrassing.  And Painful!  We are definitely too old for this!!

If you look close, you can see the ending of the ride.  Ugly.  And I'm sore now.  Guess I should have put that on my bucket list so it could be crossed off now. 

And of course, there had to be oysters.  Lots and Lots and Lots of oysters.  I'm the only one in the group that eats them....but they were kind enough to interrupt all the bull-riding fun and take me to Shucker's for the all-you-can eat oyster roast.   Yum, I enjoyed 2 1/2 buckets worth.  The little waitress seemed truly amazed - said something like

"really, that's the most I think I've ever seen anyone eat - it's always the tiny ones that can eat the most!"

Cool - I like her.  She called me tiny!

More beach walking - beautiful day!!  Looking north from Pier 14....no one was catching much....

Looking south from the pier.  Lots of family fun at Myrtle Beach!

Sharon and Buddy - so sweet!!

The vacation is about over - went to play the silly trivia game at a local pub - you play with these little handsets.  My "name" was RED2.

Just wanted to share - I won a round!!!  Really, we all won a round, but this is the World of Karen, so it's the one I'm showing!!!

And that's all, folks!!!  We left early for a rainy flight back home.  We're pretty good at the relaxing vacation - but I'm always eager to practice....

More hurricane damage

Hop over to Glory Days  for an update!

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