3rd party

I don't normally discuss politics with anyone but my closest friends. But I thought I'd share my views from the frozen tundra (Minnesota).

I'm a frustrated conservative living in a land of liberals. I've learned that liberals have some good ideas especially when it comes to those of us who deal with disabilities. Recently my frustration has grown to cover both Republicans and Democrats alike.

The recent vote to bailout the failing financial institutions pushed me over the edge. Both presidential candidates voted for it. The major flaw in the plan is the debt they put on the country in order to save private entities that were foolish. It was evident that this was wrong in the comments I received from my own Senator. He felt it wasn't the best of plans but *had* to do it to save the economy. Whatever happened to finding the best plan?

Before I get out of hand here, my frustration is causing me to seriously consider 3rd party candidates. The two party system is broken. There's corruption (and stupidity) on both sides of the aisle. I'm ready for our government to be shaken to it's foundations and get a fresh perspective.

I don't really like either presidential candidate.

In my opinion, John McCain some how believes he deserves to be president merely for his amazing service to our country. The service was and is amazing, but it's still not a ticket to the White House.

In my opinion, Barack Obama is well rehearsed and apt at playing the crowd and a camera. Whether or not he will be a good leader will be seen come January (in case you couldn't tell I'm resigned to the likelihood of his presidency).

The time has come for *real* change. Not the kind of change that blows with the wind or the latest poll, but the kind of change that is true, wise, foundational, and lasting.

I'm of the mind to "throw the bums out." Seriously folks, can we really do worse than where we are today?

Houston, we have completion!

Yipee! Woo hoo! Oh yeah! Far out! Scooby Dooby Doooooo!

We're in! Yes siree, it's done! Done enough to live in that is! You've seen the completed bedroom. Now feast your eyes on the completed living area. (small side note - the bathroom in our room still has some work, but hey we can use the rest!)

It's been nearly a year since we sent our boys "digging for gold" in the back yard. They were digging holes to try and find the sprinkler system. Since that time we've had a lot of ups and downs a TON of help and some pretty awesome stories to share.

In a time when the financial markets are a mess, the world is imploding on itself, nature disasters are prevalent, we find ourselves with this incredible blessing of a completed addition!

How did we spend our first night in it? Check out Vicki as she drives her chair in the expanded space. She wanted to work on her "reversing" and also took her dog for a walk. It's absolutely wonderfully awesome to see her spend extended time working on her driving inside the house!

You may also notice a certain male type searching the inside of his eyelids. He just passed out from being overwhelmed. OK he was tired from being awakened several nights this week. He was enjoying the new couch purchased one week ago from the neighbor who bought new furniture. Even the timing of that is amazing! Not to mention the color is perfect!

So enjoy the pics while we enjoy the house. Thank you one and all and especially Jeff W. And most important we thank God for choosing to bless us. Yes, God himself showed up many a time during this project and I'm confident He will have more to show us in the years to come.

A room with a NEW view!

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, an event never before seen on television! The Prices move in to the master bedroom!

After a LOT of work by MANY people, the final key to this room was installed. Our feet are happy feet as they walk about the new turf. The laying of the carpet allowed us to move into the bedroom. The bath is not yet done, but we can still sleep soundly behind the new six-panel door. Soundly that is if the dog isn't getting sick.

Let me back up. On Thursday the carpet was laid. Due to other activities and logistics, we left the little boys in that room until Saturday night. After a long day of putting up shelves in the closet, a valence over the window and moving furniture, we turned in for a short fall's nap (as opposed to a long winter's nap).

We awoke to some clatter to see what was the matter. And what did appear, but Hajik and 8 tiny little, well not exactly. It was more like a bucket of... Oh wait I'd better not really describe it or you too might do what he did. You get the picture. He got sick. Vicki woke up. We got up. We cleaned up and went back to bed - for about 2.7 seconds. Then we got up again to lots of noise from the dog, but not so much mess. About 2 hours later the sounds and mess finally ended and we finished our short fall's nap.

However, the few minutes we did sleep in our new room were wonderful! It's a bit more spacious and the carpet is nice on the toes (Thanks Al).

So tonight I can say "Happy Fall to all, and to All a Goodnight."

Go Green!

No, this is not a post about saving the planet. After all, the planet is a ROCK and rocks don't need saving last time I checked. This is a post about getting some sod!

I'll begin with the Thank You's!

Gary, Jeff, and Rich and his kids for their time, ideas and muscle!

Andy from Nature Scapes Landscaping Inc. for his time, advice and help with the sod costs.

I continue to be amazed at what can be done with a few extra helpers, regardless of their age. What fun to see it go from dirt to grass in a few short hours.

We have been really blessed throughout this project with the right people, donations and materials at the right time.

Paint, and there was light!

We needed to spruce up the color scheme a little - off white is a tad boring. So we enlisted the help of Barb S. and Gaston K. and finished the two big rooms in one day! Thanks so much for your help. It's very nice to look at now.


Ever been in the dark? I mean the real deep dark where you can't see your hand in front of your face. I have. One time in a cave. That is a strange experience. Well, it's never been quite that dark in our addition, and now it never needs to be dark again - unless you want to get some sleep.

We have lights thanks to Grounded Electric. Need a good electrician? Give 'em a call at 763-753-6215.

Here's a small sample of their handy work.

20% to go

They say the last 20% is the hardest. You want to finish, but you want it to look great so you take the extra time needed. Well we're at that 20% and we can see the finish line.

We've primed the walls. Now we need some color - Laura wants it to be homey. I want what she wants :) That's my way of saying I really don't care what color it is.

Here's a couple of prime pics from our sheet-rocking and paint job.

God's sprinkler system

If you haven't figured it out by now, I believe in God.

I also believe in sprinkler systems.

Do you believe that God cares about sprinkler systems? I do.

Over the last 4 days I have embarked on a journey to the center of the earth. OK it was only 18 inches, but it seemed like it was deeper to my office-job-weakened-muscles. This was my time to resurrect something from the dead - my sprinkler system.

It was dealt a lethal blow by the excavators last fall. I knew then that I would lose my system if I didn't do something so I severed the one zone I thought would be affected. I failed to remember that there was a feeder line AND electrical lines between my two valve boxes. I was enlightened to that fact when I saw extra line and electrical lines in the grips of the back hoe.

I was dreading this project most of the winter because I thought I would have to call in professionals.

As I was digging the 18 inch by 100 foot trench this last week, I ran into a number of "coincidences" or "good luck" or "fortunate" events.

-First my 5 year-old accidentally found the wire from the first valve box. He was helping me dig the trench and simply stumbled on it. It saved me about 40 feet of digging plus any time looking for the hidden wire.

-Second I found a broken zone that I did not know about. I would have eventually found this, but the fact that it was right in the trench I dug was an amazing find.

-Third, I found the end of a zone I knew had taken a hit, but planned to leave it unconnected. Since I found it, it was easy to reconnect.

-Fourth, when I connected what I thought was the supply line, it turned out to be the disconnected zone. Guess where the supply line was pouring out? Yep right in my trench! So I swapped the connections and had the supply line up and running.

-Fifth, I found the second set of wires with little effort. I was a little concerned that I had the wrong wire when a portion of that wire went down almost to China. It went straight down for a LONG way - likely due to being caught in the back hoe. After digging down the depth of a long shovel, I gave up and simply used the line I had found. It turned out to be the right wire.

So these five things combined with the fact that I was able to reconnect the electrical lines and the water lines with no MAJOR hassles was such an exciting endeavor that I really had to consider whether God himself was helping me. I rarely if ever have projects get completed without some major issues. This was beyond anything I expected.

He doesn't promise us that life will be easy. But He does promise us that He will be with us and that He will take care of us.

The Bible tells us that He has the hairs on our heads numbered. So if He counts hair, He can certainly help with sprinkler systems. I KNOW He did with mine.