Ok, so for those of you who have known me long enough, you know that this time of year is when I take a nice long vacation. Due to my schedule, vacation availability, and some trade time, I take a minimum of one month off in the Fall. Anywhere from September to November, really. This year, it's the entire month of October. What do I do with myself during all that time? Well, the simple answer is: Nothing. Mostly, at least.
My first week of vacation was spent playing X-Men: Destiny on PS3. After I finished that off, I made my To-Do list for around the yard since the weather was uncharactaristically warm, with weather in the low 80s. Being from NW Indiana, you really never know. Last year at this same time, the weather was in the mid to high-40s. So I made my long list of things, wasn't going to stop until everything was done. Problem was, I got it all done on the first day. Ain't that some crap? I cleaned up the garage and got it all straightened up to get ready to store all the lawn furniture, cleaned up all of the weeds and overgrowth around my shed that's been accumulating since we moved in almost 4 years ago. I pulled up the landscaping blocks in the lawn around the daffodil garden that looks great for 2 weeks in the spring, then like crap for the rest of the year and killed off the daffodils with some Round Up. I cleaned out the shed and got rid of all the cob webs and sprayed it down to kill off all the bugs and spiders. I removed all of the low hanging limbs and shrubbery and piled it up for what will be a glorious bonfire. I mowed the lawn nice and short, edged around the cement, weed whacked around things, blew off the trimmings, and even cleaned any brush and dirt off of the roof. All in one freaking day.
Yesterday, the wife and I decided to do a heavy cleaning of our bedroom. Well, one thing turns into another, and we decided that our beautiful sleigh bed we bought while living in the house we were renting, was just too big for our long, yet narrow bedroom. So, we took apart the sleigh bed and bought a queen-size metal frame for our bed. Or so we thought. We bought it from the Salvation Army for $20, and they have a no-return policy. Turns out, ti was only a full-sized frame. So since we can't return it, I made the best of it and bought some 2x4s and some 1/2"x4x6" boards and made some supports that would fit in the frame to hold the box spring. Works great! So we rearranged the room, opened it up tremendously by getting rid of the sleigh frame, and then went through all of our clothes, getting rid of anything we don't wear anymore. 3 13-gallon trash bags worth. Sad, I know. Well, we couldn't stop there, so we decided to clean out our spare room quite a bit as well. We have a houseguest that is staying with us long-term, and felt we needed to make that room his room, so we removed all we could from there to give him more of his own personal space. On top of that, we turned our upstairs hallway into our "Fire Hallway." We've long talked about turning that hallway into nothing but pictures, collectibles, and nick-nacks of fire department stuff, so we hung all of that. 7.5 hours later, we finished some deep cleaning, rearranging, remodeling, and overall heavy work that was long overdue.
Today, I put up some Halloween decorations. I love how some of the houses on our street look at this time of year, and Halloween may be my 3rd favorite holiday, behind Thanksgiving and Christmas. The Missus and I always talk about buying decorations after Halloween when they're 75% off and what not, but never do. So I decided that we would start small and continually build. $40 was my limit this year, and we bought some lights to go on the ground in the landscaping rock that rings the house, and a couple of strands to go up the pillars on the front porch. A couple decorations for the front door, and 2 windmill items for the yard in front of the front porch, and it's a start. Next year, perhaps we'll get something to stand up in the yard. I know, I'm a dork, but aren't we all? I love Halloween decorations!
Which brings me to the here and now: I have nothing else to do, and don't go back to work until November 2nd. I could clean and reorganize the basement a little bit, but that'll take me a couple hours at max, so it's not that huge of a deal. Without spending money I really don't have, I can't undertake any more projects around the house. I'd love to have a few grand so I could build my deck, but that's not happening.
I have a lot of potential possibilities yet, however. I can get to work on SEVERAL custom projects I have in mind. I could FINALLY finish my story, "In My Father's Footsteps." I will be buying the new game, Batman: Arkham City when it comes out on 10/18. If it's anything like Arkham Asylum, it'll last me well after I go back to work. I can catch up on all the movies and TV shows I've been wanting to watch. And I can take lots of naps with my puppies! I brought my recliner back into the living room, getting rid of our loveseat that really was underused, and they both want to lay with daddy all the time.
Speaking of puppies, I think I forgot to mention, we got a new puppy on August 25th. We had 2 dogs before, a terrier mix named Max and a pit bull/boxer mix named Joon. Max contracted cancer and had to be put to sleep in early December after 8 wonderful years with us. He truly was the best dog I ever had, was so well behaved, so good natured. Turns out, I put so much effort into being strong for my wife, I didn't deal with it well on my own. As much as I tried to move past it, I was really struggling with his loss. Joon wasn't doing all that great either, she missed having someone to play with. So I made the decision that we were getting a new pup. I'd been looking casually, because I wanted a puppy, not a young dog. I also refused to pay what some animal rescues and places like that were charging for animals who needed homes. We paid $65 for Max from the local County Animal Control center when he was 8 weeks old, which included his first shots and neuter. Joon was free to a good home, and we said we'd take her because we were told she was a boxer. I laughed uncontollably when she got out of the car at our place, because she was definitely NOT a boxer! So looking for the new puppy, I'd been keeping an eye again on that same animal control center, and one day saw a lab mix who was 10 months old and looked like a potential winner. I sent the wife to look at him while I was at work one day, and she called to say that that dog was pretty nice, but a brand new pit puppy came in just that same day, was only 11 weeks, and adorable. So I went the next day to look for myself. The lab mix was way too big for what we were looking for, and one look at that puppy my wife had seen and I was sold. I didn't even need to think about it; I filled out the paperwork and said I'd take him. They sent him home with me, along with a kennel to use until I bought him his own that same day. He is a brindle coloring, and we have named him Lidstrom, after my favorite hockey player Niklas Lidstrom on the Detroit Red Wings. I feel like the house is whole again. Funny enough, he has picked up several of the exact same traits that Max had, which is both heartbreaking and joyful simultaneously. I'll have to see if I can find some pics of him to post.
Here are my 2 puppies; Lidstrom (brindle coloring on left) and Joon (brown on right)...
Happy Sunday, one and all, enjoy!
