monkeys and mahem

Clay (Ella calls him Cliff) and Kathy (Becky) were champs and helped us fix up the yard today. Clay brought his chainsaw and did some handy jobs on our crepe myrtles. Word has it they'll grow back in the spring. Tonight's bonus: good steak at livingston and an awesome babysitter that lives across the street.

jason bourne does ceilings

Jason bourne is efficient. So is Kyle G. Here is our new wood ceiling, all ready for some primer and paint.


Thanks to BP for a quick installation consult via phone.

Tip: When installing wood ceilings, 2 people could make things go a lot faster.

Gun show above. Ella's bird nest below. The ants were invading our house by climbing up a tree outside our bathroom and then through the brick. Kyle cut the tree down. This nest was collateral.

Good thing clay and kathy are coming to visit tomorrow. we can celebrate the ceiling with some steak from livingston.

He don't need no stinkin' nail gun

Where to start. Kyle has rewired the kitchen, hung new lights, moved a plumbing outlet, and is now installing a wood ceiling with some glue, a chop saw, and a hammer. We thought about going to get a nail gun but the nearest lowes is just over an hour away and the hammer thing seems to be working out.

Kyle is my new sub of choice. he is dependable, easy to find, and cheap. Plus, he pays attention to the details unlike the guy who finished my wood floors.

Also, ants have invaded our house. This is a pile from outside but they were all over my shampoo and conditioner tonight in the shower and that just about did me in. I almost packed up the van and headed west.

Ella and her new friend Sydney.

jane, thanks for the new purple jogging suit

Merry Christmas

Our first Christmas in Alabama was a success. Thanks to santa and grandma's for all the gifts. Our Tree was a little weak but everything else was great. Ella and Kate got everything they ever wanted and more. Santa brought Ella and tag along bike that attaches to my bike so we can ride together, she is very excited about it. I surprised Brittney and actually got her a Christmas present this year and she actually liked it. It was a jewelry box. She gave me a published book of all my blog entries with photos, it is really cool.

Thanks to our friends the Olsens for coming to visit us this past weekend and we went to see the Tombigbee river lock and dam. We need a canoe to explore the river.

I am still working on the house almost every waking minute, I did finish wiring the kitchen lights today, I have been on a ladder with my head in the ceiling for the past 3 days. In the morning I will start putting the wood ceiling in the kitchen. I used to not care much about the kitchen but after all the work I have put into it, it is now my baby. I will post photos soon so everyone can see how great it looks.

December 8th, 78 degrees, not bad.

http://www.weather.com/outlook/health/achesandpains/tenday/36732?from=weekend_topnav_aches

Hi my name is Kyle, does anyone remember me? So it has been months since I have updated this blog. I have good reasons though.

For starters I am living all alone in a big house with no kitchen. Have you ever lived in a house with no fridge, stove or microwave? not very fun. I have a cooler full of ice for my milk, and a toaster over for my dinners. My television picks up two fuzzy channels, pbs and abc, and my neighbor has a spotty wireless network.

My new job is great but keeping me busy. When I am not at work I should be studying for Part II or the national board exam that is next week but I have spent most of my waking hours when at home working on the house. This house has about killed me (literally, more later), and It is not even close to being finished. I do now consider myself an electrician, plumber, finish carpenter, painter, grunt laborer, landscaper, and mover(thanks to all those that have helped guide me via phone) you name it I've pretty much had to do it on this house.

I could have died today. While moving the outlet for our stove and after turning the breaker off, I had the heck shocked out of me. After further investigation I figured out that the breaker was labeled wrong and the breaker to the stove is not in the breaker box like it should be. The idiot who labeled the breaker could have killed me. Needless I will not get close to anymore wires without my volt meter.

After having the snot shocked out of me I spent a good part of the day under the house in the crawl space rewiring the stove and moving a water line for the fridge. what a waste of near 80 degree weather on a saturday. A cat lives under our house and I found a full pack of cigarettes under there, I left them for the cat.

By the way last week I did find some cool trails along the tombigbee, black warrior river that I ripped on my cross bike with road tires. I hope to dust of the mountain bike soon and do some exploring.

In summary, over the past month I've worked harder than I ever have, felt like I have been camping and been very lonely (oh yeah I forgot to mention Brittney and the girls are in Utah until January), went to bed at 8:00 or earlier every night and lost 5-10 lbs. If you want to loose weight come live with me, no food and lots of hard work and you will melt away.

Life will get back to normal, I will have a kicthen and a family again, I will blog again and post photos instead of lame stories.

This photo sums up how I feel and how we have been living lately, sleeping in a box.

A pirate party at the park

Arhh! Evan may have to walk the plank!

the darling saddie E.

ella aka captain hook

and her friend bella, below, who wins the award for most authentic pirate expression. and yes, that is her parrot.




lana is ella's other half. or visa versa. some believe they were seperated at birth.

and the best friends a girl could ask for, eating at Superior Grill, yummy mexican that i wish i would have known about my entire 3 1/2 years in bhm.







Kyle started his new job and is getting the house ready for our return. Hopefully he'll have a post soon.

--Brit