ticks? in the woods??

I found out today that yes we do live in the woods, and these woods have ticks!!!!!!!

Mailbox/Amanda's 25th

So we got a little note in our mailbox on friday, after only being in the house for just over a month, from the mailman stating: our mailbox does not conform to postal regulations, that the front does not align with the mailbox next to it and needs to be replaced.

What you can't tell fromt he pic is that it is leaning wayyyy back and is rusted out, being held together by a bungee cord. Now, I know we needed a new mailbox, but was jsut waiting for warmer weather to get it and dig the hole, we certainly did not need a note from the mailman to tell us. So today we went and bought a new mailbox and I will be installing it soon.

Saturday we went to Travis's 1st birthday party at Jill and Marty's house. We had a great time with the little guy and our friends, after a bunch of us came back to the house to relax and/or do yardwork. Marty came over to help cut down a tree as part of operation firepit. My bro was there to help also with brush and tree removal. Eric Jay and Tom put together the wheelbarrow and eric hauled the stones for the firepit.

Marty got the treet down in a flash I will post pics soon, they are on Amanda's iPhone and im not sure how to get them off yet. We cleared the branches and he took the trunk of the tree to heat his house in the winter and i kept everything else for campfires.

Even though it was Amanda's birthday and she got some nice gifts, my birthday gift from my Eric & Connie and my Parents came a little early.


A custom Red Sox dart Board Cainet. Once it has been installed I'll post pics of it in the bar.!!!! THANK YOU!!!!

In the evening a unch of our friends went out for some drinks and food to celebrate Amanda's quarter century milestone. We had some great laughs and lots of fun.

Today I finished re-installing the closet doors and mounting the tv in the bedroom.

until next time..........

Da Bar!!!

So with lots of help from my brother, the bar has evolved into an awesome room to hang out and relax with a nice cold brew!!!

check out some pics:

the view from the air hockey table

The Pennant wall/beer bottle wall

yes thats a shovel and a sword on the wall,
the shovel is from FSC Groundbreaking ceremony,
sword is from a sword factory in Spain

the Sports Wall

A nice view of the room

Check out the new barstools we picked up on craigslist, thanks eric

and i fixed the tv now so we have cable above the bar.

My bar would not be complete without.....

my JEEPS!!!!

After the Move!!!

Dont be scared..the blog is here. As I previously wrote, the blog will continue and follow our lives!!!!!

This was a very productive weekend. Early saturday morning Amanda went to pick up Matt's Truck and I went to Pick up Marty's Truck. Now this was an interesting swap, because my dad also met us in blackstone to help move with my mom and brother, we went from all Jeep, to all Ford.
We moved almost everything on this first trip. We made a 2nd trip with Rob, Matt Ciarra and Tom in the afternoon.

If you had ever been to our apartment, you know we had a TV that fit just perfect inside of the entertainment center, well we bought it that way from craigslist and to this day still hasnt come out of the entertainment center. My dad brough his hand truck along and we were able to wheel it around. LIterally you can tip it upside down, (screen side facing down) and it wont MOVE!! (which we did so yes thats true). getting it down the bulk head was a lil difficult but thats ok. We also had help from Jay, so that was good.

We have begun to settle in, started unpacking boxes and moving stuff around. The light fixture in the bathroom has been replaced. As you might remember, a certain someone did not like the gold ugly box light fixture that was there. So, its been replaced


We had the coffee table and end tables redelivered saturday also, since when they delivered the first time they were damaged. They look great. the big coffee table cover actually moves up to tray table height if you wanted to use the computer or eat at the coffee table. A neat little design feature!!



As you may have read previously, Eric and I have embarked on Operation Air hockey and today it has been officially completed. I cleaned up most of the boxes in the bar area and put back together the Air Hockey table. Amanda and I had the first official game, and I won by a score of 3-1!!!! The couch is nice down there and its really turning into "Man Town"

Today we had some help from Mister Craigga and we picked up Amanda's Grandmothers dining room table from her old apartment and where her uncle still lives. He was kind enough to pass the dining room furniture on to us and it is something I and I am sure Amanda will treasure for her entire life. I know how much she meant to Amanda. We will pick up the rest of the furniture when Uncle George returns from his florida vacation.


So unpacking is coming along, put up some curtains in the master bedroom, stored some stuff away in the basement closets and the attic. Next weekend we are celebrating the 1st birthday of Travis (Jill & Marty's baby) and then in the evening we will be celebrating Amanda's 25th Birthday!!

Until next time..........

Project Fire Ring

Project Fire Ring is now in full affect. eric came by again after work and started clearing an area to build a firepit ring and sitting area. I hope to be able to have some chairs out there, a nice place to relax in the yard and enjoy some toasty marshmallows in the summer nights!

On the inside, more unpacking, oh so fun!!!

Operation Air Hockey

So eric found a sweet deal on an air hockey table on craigslist. I emailed the guy and he called me back and I got it!!......so after work I went to pick it up in Johnston, what i didnt realize is how big it actually was, for some reason reading the dimensions in the ad meant nothing to me and i didnt think of it not fitting int he jeep. So we start putting it in the back of the jeep and it aint fittin. we were able to finagle it abit so it got MOST of the way in and I had to tie the swing gate shut and pull down the glass, which was a lil tricky but got it to work. Luckily i remembered eric was getting out of work at 5 today and i called him to meet me at the house so we could unload it and bring it in the basement, and luckily he wasnt too far away. Meanwhile I droe the table home, I was all scrucnched up in the drivers seat and was quite nervous driving it home about 45 mins. But we got it home. Pictures to come soon once its set up.

Side note, amanda is feeling better and things are starting to get put away.

Some people have asked if the blog will continue now that the bulk of the work is done, NOPE!!! I will keep going, blogging the chronicles of our life in Uxbridge!!!

See ya real soon!!

life at the house

Life at the house got better as the day went on today. I woke up and amanda still wasn't feeling well at all. I went back the the apt to load up the desks in Tom's truck and sell our old bedroom set. Thank you craigslist!!

Today was alot of cleaning and putting things away. Amanda felt better in the afternoon and evening so I had her work as my director telling me where she wanted stuff. we got alot accomplished this way!!

I also went rake crazy today and raked a ton of leaves, but when I went to Wally World i bought an electric leaf blower to aid me in my leaf removal efforts in the back yard.

Met one of the neighbors today, he stopped over with his wife, in there jeep, to say hi and welcome us to the neighborhood. Very nice folks!

time to relax and get ready for work tomorrow, first day with the new commute!

until next time....

Time To Relax

As I type this blog, i am relaxing on my oh so comfy couch and watch my oh so wonderful 42 inch tv.

Today was a busy day, starting at around 8;15 when the furniture delivery crew showed up. They came in and got everything in and set up quite fast.

I think my favorite part of the delivery was sitting on the couch for the first time.

Meanwhile on the farm, Amanda has come down with the flu. And this flu is not the flu that was covered by the flu shot she got, oops. She was able to get an appt with the doctor and she went with her mother while the men worked.

At the house we were finishing the last room with the hardwood floor. We had about 21 rows left and we were determined to get it done before lunch. Jay showed up and we were rockin' and rollin' and we were soon putting in the last board.





We all took turns nailing int he last board and we celebrated with an ice cold corona!!!

The sicky wife came to the house after the docs and made use right away of the couch and as soon as the bed was all set, she transferred to the new bed.

Hopefully, crossing my fingers, i don't catch this sickness.

relaxing for now, doing a few little things while cleanin up a bit.

thats all for now....

FLOOR FINISHED

LIVE FROM THE OFFICE FLOOR (thats where my comp is and no desk yet) FLOOR IS FINISHED!!!

Dear Goats

Dear Goats,

This letter to you has been long awaiting. Tonight is the last night we will be sleeping on the farm. We will miss you all very much. The time we have spent here has been great, but it is finally time for us to move on.

When we first moved here, we wern't sure what to think of you, these animals that now lived in our back yard. We enjoyed some great times with you. Our Labor Day party, with our friends, Rosie and my grandparents visiting the farm. Also the many meals I fed you and leftovers from those summer nights "grillin on the farm".

We have made some great memories here, Family dinners, summer cookouts, quiet weekends and busy weekends. This is where we met our families together the day we got engaged after kayaking on Hopedale pond. Then this is where the party bus picked up the girls for the bachelorette. And finally this is where Amanda got ready before our wedding.

We love the farm so very much, but it just grew too small. We love the landlords, Lucien and Judy, they have been very friendly and helpful through our time here. Plowin the snow with the big tractor, getting the furnace fixed when it wouldnt turn on the first winter and just stopping by in the afternoons to say hi.






So as I write this letter and look at old pics, I am reminded of the good times we've had. But also know all the great memories we will make in our new house. We look forward to those good times but will never forget the farm.

Love,
Sean

A few things

Got a few things done today, met Amanda at the house to do a few things. I put up the molding in the office and some in the guest room. I also set up the new microwave and finally unpacked my car, which had been stuffed with boxes. But like always, when i got back to the Apt. both cars were once again re-stuffed with boxes, ready for the next trip. Amanda was busy doing a few odds and ends, putting up face plates and putting away some dishes and glasses (thank you wedding/shower guests for your gifts).

Thats all for now, tomorrow cable/internet/phone is being hooked up and saturday is furniture day!!

ALMOST THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So i am posting this Wednesday morning. I got in last night quite late and did not have time nor the energy to write a blog entry.

But before I begin on last night, let me take a quick moment to thank my brother Eric for spending the first days of his vacation at our house working. He came for the afternoon on monday and painted all the remaining baseboards and molding....BIG HELP!!!

I then got a call yesterday morning, he's at home depot picking out paint colors for the Bar and building a shelf for my growing beer bottle collection. So he got to the hous eabout mid day and was hard at work in the bar, got the whole room painted. by then end of the night he had a few things up on the wall and even mounted the wine bottle racks and the beer bottle shelf.



Tom was there when I arrived at the house, he prepared the last room for floor. Jay arrived after work, as usual for a Tuesday night. We right away got hard at work. Now Jay was DETERMINED to finish the room, I knew it really wasnt possible, but we sure tried to. We got about 2/3rds of the way done and called it a night at about 10pm.




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As a thank you to everyone who has helped so far on the house, I was sure to put everyone's name down on a sheet of paper, the date and the blog address and nailed it to the floor. Then I proceeded to cover it forever with flooring. That way our names will always be under that floor.




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Furniture is being delivered Saturday and our internet/phone/tv will be hooked up Friday. so that means next weekend blog post will be LIVE from the new house!!!

Until next time...............

Very busy weekend

So sorry about the lack of blog posting last night. After we got home from working at the house I was completely exhausted and pretty much fell asleep right away. So here is "our weekend" in 1 blog post.
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Saturday started out great, Tom was busy getting the floor going in the office. My brother Eric stopped by to lend a hand before heading up to work at the ER. (at least if someone got hurt we knew we had a doctor in the house)

I put him right to work. We needed to move the cabinets by the fridge up about a 1/4 of an inch so that the fridge would slide under with no issues. After a few trys the doc satisfied is need for perfection and we were all set.

On to project #2, My parents showed up to help. My mom and my bro built the entertainment center to go under the tv. funny little story...i see eric and my mom sorting through a bag full of assorted nuts, bolts, screws and fixtures trying to figure out which is what number on the directions.....after they get everything sorted out, i unpack the TV and there is a bag with all of the screws needed and each different kind is in its own little compartment labeled with letters. I thought, wow they got smart and helped us out a little bit.

Speaking of the TV, Matt and his family stopped by to help me hang the new tv. We wanted it mounted before the cable people come on friday. BTW, Can't wait for RED SOX IN HD!!!!!! After a few issues, we managed to secure the bracket and hang the tv on the wall and move the entertainment center underneath for a nice finished look.

As an added security feature, my dad installed the mini blinds in the living room and Amanda, Ruth and Jeracah installed the curtains in the dining room.

My dad also was busy witha few other small projects, finished the shower walls (plugging the holes fromt he shower doors) fixing the icemaker hose and reataching the closet door.

The day before on friday was both our mothers birthdays, March 6, so we surprised them with a cake and it made for a yummy dessert!!

We hung one of the Mezuzahs that were a gift from my grandparents. Jewish people put this in their doorways to bless you as you enter the home. We have another for the front door.

The following photos are courtesy of guest photographer - my mom..





We attached the door knocker which is engraved with our name.

And my dad helped Amanda install new locks on the doors.



Throughout the Day Amanda's dad was hard at work in the office....haha putting down floors that is and Amanda's mother was hard at work in the bathroom.....painting that is.

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SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY

Amanda and I tried to get to the house early today, but due to daylight savings, we got there at about the same usual time. We decided we needed to clean up a bit. and by cleaning up Amanda sorting things out, Toms box and Seans Box. What happens everytime someone cleans up, WE CANT FIND ANYTHING. Half of the day was spent searching for things that were where??? IN THE BOX!!!

Tom and I finished the office with the hardwood floor. It looks great and ready for molding. and with that room finished......all that is left is the guest room, which Jay and I will tackle Tuesday night. With the help from my bro.

Amanda was busy putting up some curtains, cleaning the cabinets and putting felt pads on the kitchen table and chairs we brought over to eat at. She also continued her cleaning efforts and organized the bar area, where everything we own is right now.


So all in all it was a very productive weekend. We got alot done, some of which I am probably forgetting here. Stay tuned this week for more progress and hopefully the completion of the hardwood floor.

Unitl next time....