Life After the Farm

been a while

2010-07-06T21:35:00.002-04:00

So it has been a while since I've really posted and kept up with my blog, but now its back. If you haven't heard, Amanda and I are expecting our first child, due Jan 25, 2011!! We are very excited. She is about 11 weeks now and the baby is the size of a lime. It is fun to compare the baby to fruit as it gives you a good idea of the size. It is also exiciting that she is just starting to slightly show and before we know it we will have a new baby boy or girl....of course i am hoping for the blue blanket but i would very happy with the pink blanket as well.

So in preperation for the baby, operation office/nursery conversion is starting. I have begun clearing out the basement room to create the office, we need to:

-clear it out
-rip out MORE green carpet
-choose paint colors
-paint
-build built in desk
-re-carpet room
-move stuff in
-rewire room

then phase 2 will begin and that will consist of converting the current office into the nursery!!

so check back for more updates and photos as the work progresses!!

until next time....

Relay for Life

2010-02-26T22:30:00.001-05:00

American Cancer Society Relay For Life

I am taking part in an American Cancer Society Relay For Life this year.

Whether it is through a friend, family member, the neighbor down the street, or our own personal experience, we have all been touched by cancer in some way. No matter who the person is, or how close they are to you, cancer is a very scary word.

This year, cancer hit very close to home for me as my grandfather and mother-in-law were both diagnosed with cancer.

I am participating in this event in honor of my grandparents, Ray and Marion. A few years ago my grandmother was diagnosed with cancer, and she is a Survivor. More recently, my grandfather was diagnosed with cancer. He overcame it, beat it and is also in the recovery and healing phase. He is a strong survivor and has never let anything get him down.

Also, as some of you may know, Amanda's mother was diagnosed with lung cancer a few months back. She was diagnosed and within weeks had surgery to remove the cancer and now is in the recovery stage. She has had a strong attitude and bright spirit throughout this hard time. Amanda decided to start a Relay for Life team to honor her and help raise money for cancer research so that others can have the same great experience she has had. So that is the reason for our team name, Ruthie's Rockstars!

I also have had many other family and friends affected by cancer and I am doing this for them. I understand that times are tough right now and donations can be hard to come by. I am asking if you are able to, to make a donation to our team in any amount. We will be "relaying" June 11-12 in Franklin Mass. There will be more than 230 Relays happening throughout New England this year, and more than 5,000 across the U.S., each uniting communities against a common enemy: cancer.

Amanda, myself, our friends, and family will be cheering the cancer survivors who kick off the event by taking the first lap around the track. Then, everyone else will join in and the goal is to keep at least one member of our team on the track all night. Lighting the way will be hundreds of luminarias - lighted bags bearing the names of loved ones who have faced a cancer diagnosis.

Relay is a time of reflection, a time to celebrate survivorship, and a time to pledge to take some kind of action to fight a disease that roughly 1 in 2 men and 1 in 3 women will be diagnosed with in their lifetimes. It might be a pledge to wear sunscreen, quit smoking, volunteer with the American Cancer Society to drive patients to and from treatment, or remind a loved one to get their annual mammogram.

As a Relay participant, I am committed to raising as much money as I can to help ensure that the American Cancer Society continues to meet the demand for its programs and services for cancer patients and their caregivers help finding clinical trials and affordable health insurance, temporary lodging during treatment far from home, summer camps for children and teens with cancer, and much more.

I am proud to be part of Relay, can you tell? And I'm hoping you find the cause as worthy as I do. If so, please take just a few minutes to make a donation on my personal Web page. I would be so appreciative.

Thank you!

Sean Matthews

Click here to visit my personal page.
If the text above does not appear as a clickable link, you can visit the web address:
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Click here to view the team page for Ruthie's Rockstars
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Joslin Fishing Derby

2010-02-22T10:37:00.002-05:00

Got SKUNKED!! No fish, but great fun, last weekend I embarked on my first fishing derby and we caught nothing but bait. We had a great time as Team Basshole did have one of the best snowman (snowgirl) made by the one the only Ciarra, the Ice Princess. I was out there with Rob, amandas Bro, Tom, Amanda's dad and Ciarra our niece.

We met some great guys from the IceShanty website and enjoyed some DELICIOUS Clam Chowder made by Lisa

The derby was to benefit Camp Joslin, a camp for kids with diabetes. So in the end it was fun and for the kids, they gave away tons of great prizes, Grampa Tom won 4 tickets to the Worcester Sharks!! so i guess we did catch 4 sharks out there!!

BANNERS

2010-02-08T18:12:00.002-05:00

Great banners, check out this website http://www.esigns.com/ I can design something for you or if you want you can design it on there website. I ordered a 2ft x 4ft banner, full color and looks great!!! Check them out for a great deal, again i can design it or you can have them do it for you.

Ice Fishing

2010-02-08T18:11:00.001-05:00

Been a while since I've posted. Winter is here and that mean ice fishing season too. I've slowly become more involved and fishing more frequently!!! Caught 40 + fish with rob, tom and ciarra on saturday!!check out facebook for some great pics.

Snow

2009-12-22T09:20:00.003-05:00

Winter has begun, and that means snow. I love the snow, i love to watch it fall I love to shovel and use the snowthrower, I love to ski in it and play in it, i just love the snow.....but one thing I don't like is the cold air that comes along with it. I have always dreamed of having snow in a warmer climate without it melting. wouldnt that be great!!!!

Fenway is getting used tot he snow, seeing as though i have to shovel him out spots to play and go to the bathroom, he is enjoying it, the snow is about 12 inches deep, he is about 6-10 inches tall, you do the math, he's a short guy.

He had a fun Hanukkah, got some new toys, some treats and even got to play with bailey. We had a nice hanukkah too, spent some time at my parents with latkes and candles.

Went to Rob and Lisa's for an extended family christmas, Fenway got to play with Oliver and Mark & lauras new dog, Hercules the hot dog, another long dog friend.

So now its almost Christmas, quiet at work, everyone is off shopping and worrying about what cookies to bring to the holiday party. I thought, what a better time to take a moment and write in this trusty ole blog of mine. If you get bored of this, jump on over to Craigs page and read about some boston sports over at 4sportboston.com

Speaking of boston sports, the Bruins are playing at Fenway next week on Jan 1 for the Winter Classic. Tickets for that game were impossible to get and/or extremely expensive. So I bought a few raffle tickets to win some to benefit Travis Roy's foundation. The raffle was oringally to be pulled Nov 1...delayed to Dec 1.....delayed to Dec 18.....which brings us to to the final dealy of Dec 22....TODAY....I still have hope that I may win these tickets. It would be AWESOME....although we would have to cancel our plans we already made with friends.

And speaking of the winter classic.....this is one thing that is crazy, the city of boston gives 3000 free tickets to families in the city to skate on the ice, a once ina lifetime oppurtunity....and people are out there selling them on ebay/craigslist for thousands of dollars......thats insane....where is the fun in that!?!?!?!?!

So in the end, I'd like to wish everyone a very happy holiday season....Happy Hanukkah...Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!!!!!

SNOW????!!!???

2009-10-21T10:16:00.003-04:00

SO as I said in my last post.....snow...was a different story. Now earlier last week we had a very brief little snow squall where we woke up and had some snow dusting in the yard....not soo bad for October...i mean it does get chilly sometimes..... but Sunday was something totally different.

If any of you watched the patriots game on sunday you know what I am talking about.
The picture to the left was taken by a random FB friend, and i stole it for blogging purposes. As you can see, the grass is white and the grounds crew were shoveling off the lines and had piles and piles of snow on the sidelines.

Now this is something you would expect in ...say January or even March, NOT OCTOBER!!!! (side note....I am not hating on snow, i love snow, just not this early)

At our house it snowed all afternoon, it covered the ground but didn't have the chance to stick around for morning. We took Fenway out in it and he wasn't quite sure what to think of the huge flakes that were falling from the sky.

Now this week the weather is gettin back to normal, mid 60s right where it should be for the fall.....but i heard a forecast for rain again saturday.....ENOUGH WITH THE RAIN on the WEEKENDS!!!!! this whole year of weather has been crap. give us a break!!! We work all week and want to enjoy our weekends with nice weather.

well thats my weather rant for the day.

Been a while

2009-10-19T14:52:00.003-04:00

So it's been awhile since my last post. Many things to touch upon to bring yall up to speed

Fenway......He is growing up so fast. Last I wrote about him he was getting the snip, he is all healed and ready to party. He is up to a whole 10 lbs and that's about as big as he will get. I recently built him a ramp so that he can join us on the couch and he's learned fast how to go up and down on his own.

AS you can see in the picture below, he experienced his first snowfall this past weekend in OCTOBER....(NOW THATS A HOLE DIFFERENT STORY). He wasn't quite sure how to react to it, but I don't think he likes the coat that much. Keeps him warm, but he hasn't figured it out yet.

He will start basic training next month at his favorite place....Paw Planet with Jan. He is looking forward to it, especially since it will be all dogs about his size....sorry Brutus, the bull mastiff.--------------------
Amanda and I recently celebrated our first anniversary. We first dropped Mr. Fenway off with my dad in Marshfield. He had a fun time with him and even got to the beach!!

Amanda and I went to a move at the Cinema Lux Level at Patriot Place...Great place to see a movie and have a good meal. Lots of fun!

We then spent an enjoyable weekend (sunday-Monday) on Block Island. We stayed at the Spring House Hotel. One of my customers is the owner, so it was nice to check it out. Amanda and I rented a moped and drove aroudn the entire island...in under an hour and a half....wasn't too big. We drove on every paved legal; road.

We took this picture at the end of the road, by the North Light house. Thank you to everyone for your well wishes and cards!!

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House projects....

So we have been in the house since February and I always have some sort of little project to work on. My latest endeavor is finishing the laundry room. Right now it resembles a pink insulation dungeon. I have taken down the 1 board that is currently up and purchased some new drywall to put up. With tape and mud from my dad, I will attempt at finishing and painting the room. I am looking forward to this project and making a nice place to do laundry

Also on the radar, we are looking into removing the rest of the ugly green carpet and replacing with something less ugly.

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SM DEZINES

I have revamped and recreated my graphic design website. I have been doing lots of work recently for a future club in the Providence area, looking to open in November!!!

I also have been working closely with Craig on his creation and build up of 4sportboston.com. I have been creating logos, t-shirt designs and even a guest on the weekly podcast!

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Thats about it for now.....a short recap of my life right now, more posts to come in the future!

The Snip

2009-08-19T21:28:00.002-04:00

So Today Fenway got neutered. I felt so bad for the little guy. He didnt know what was coming, he was to be put under anestesia and when he woke up, he had an incision....down there. Poor guy. Now he is sporting a fancy new ECollar. We had the one from the vet, but he wanted no part in it so we were lucky enough to go down to Paw Planet, fenways favorite store, and picked up a better cone collar that snapped on and much easier for him.

As much as I did not want a dog about a year ago, I love this little guy. I never knew how much i could love an animal. I was so worried about him today and I was so excited to see him when I got home from work. i layed down on the floor with him and cuddled him like a baby.

We have had so much fun with him in the first few month. Our friends and fmaily love him too. Even Caleb wanted to buy him a shirt for after his surgery....and no not a doggie shirt, just a regular t-shirt.

He has learned how to go up and down the ramp I built, he does it on his own for fun.

It's bed time on night one of cone wearing, neutered dog. Not sure what this night brings, but hopefully he will sleep the night as usual and we dont have any issues.

thats all for now.

FENWAY #00

2009-08-11T19:28:00.004-04:00

NOW BATTING, for the BOSTON RED SOX, #00, FENWAY FRANK

This was fenway practicing his Papelbon staredown:

this is Fenways most favorite place, by the back door where he can look out:

Fun with fenway

2009-07-07T20:56:00.010-04:00

Lets start out with a funny caption from Amandas facebook.

Amanda Lacouture Matthews is @ the park with Fenway & Sean.

Yesterday at 7:16pm

Alex Kasendorf at 7:19pm July 6

not to be confused with at Fenway Park with Sean

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Yesterday we took fenway to the park and went for a walk on the trail. Ever since fenway and Bailey played together and walked together on the 4th of July, he has been walking better on the leash.

We like taking him out so he can meet other dogs and interact with other people too.

This past weekend was the 4th of JULY. As mentioned in previous posts as well as when we were doing work on the house, we had a great 4th/housewarming party!! We had about 30 friends and family gathered at our house. It was really nice to see everyone there.

More pictures of Fenway and Bailey as soon as my mom uploads them to facebook, so if you want to see them, send her a message!! :)

This is his usual nightly pose:

and a few other pics we have:

In other news, I was the recent winner of the t-shirt contest for www.4sportboston.com and appropriately wont eh FENWAY FIRE DEPARTMENT Shirt from supahfans.com

RAIN+Puppy=wet dog

2009-06-24T22:36:00.008-04:00

So this rain has got to stop. It makes everyone miserable. Hopefully tomorrow we will have some nice weather. This will do 2 things for me, allow the grass to dry, and allow me to mow the grass. Wet grass is not something fenway likes at all. He has his little short legs which means he is right down there close to the grass. When we bring him out to "do his business" he quickly runs back to the cement walkway.....where there is no wet grass. It doesnt help that the grass is growing and I dont have the chance to mow it. We've only had a few nice days since Fenway has come to our home.

TOnite we had some fun playing with the squeeky ball. We also had a short photo shoot, which again, he thinks the camera is a toy.....not so much.

And of course, Gotta have a little fun with him too:

Click the pic to visit Craigs Boston Sports Blog!!

til next time........

another good day

2009-06-20T21:24:00.003-04:00

so the excitements comes during the day when fenway "POOPS" and "PEES" he has been really good with the training. He is getting used to going outside here and is realizing he is doing something good. After he goes he runs right over for praise!! He is doing great responding to his name, the breeder started this early so that helped a ton.

Fenway has been getting used to his collar/harness and leash. he still doesnt like it but slowly he is getting used to it.

We ventured accross the street today and met some neighbors. They were very friendly and excited to see there new little neighbor. They welcomed us to the neighborhood and fenway made some more friends.

Tomorrow is fathers day and we are headed to Marshfield to see my dad and mom. They are very excited to meet fenway.

We will have more pics and videos we took today uploaded most likely either tomorrow night or monday, Amanda is out for Betsy's bachelorette and I think she has the camera.

So thats all for tonite.

FENWAY

2009-06-18T22:44:00.004-04:00

So this evening, Amanda and I picked up our new pup from the Breeder. We have had some fun with him and now its time for him to get used to his new crate and sleep. We know it will be a long night, its a new home, no other puppy friends and new people.

We will have more pics and videos soon. Stay tuned for updates!!!

Rock garden

2009-06-16T20:58:00.000-04:00

my latest project in the back yard

The Blog is back

2009-06-14T22:03:00.009-04:00

Blog is back and ready for some fun. Its been a while since a real in depth blog post. I've been busy doing work around the house and amanda has been excited and "puppy proofing" the house. Yes, as seen in previous posts, we are getting a puppy on thursday, Fenway Frank, a red long haired dachshund.

In honor of his arrival, we purchased a package of Fenway frank Hot dogs. As you can see in the picture, we have his food bowl ready, a crate, baby gates and already lots of toys. More pics to come of the little guy on Thursday after we pick him up!!!

I've been kept busy on the side working on some logo designs for what is becomin the next best thing to NESN (or so Craig thinks and hopes) www.4sportboston.com I've been creating some various logos, banners and other random things for him and his Logo design contest. Some of the designs can be seen on his blog page as well as his facebook page.

Another thing that has kept me busy, my new hobby, Rock hunting. I've recently realized that, yes since I live near a quarry, we have rocks. Around the edge of the tree line, I have found out that when they built our house, and rocks they had they threw to the sides and now have been grown over throught the years. Now, the explorer in me, has found these rocks and am making it a mission to uncover as many stones as possible.

My first project with found stones was to create a stone island/mountain and incorporate my lighthouse to cover, protect and disguise the well. Looking at it now, you would never know there is a steel pipe coming out of the ground!!

I am now creating a stone garden on the side of the firepit to add some hardscaping to an area that right now seems overgrown. I will have more pics of that as the work progresses.

here are some recent pics of the house:

this was the garen when first planted, the veggies have grown alot since this pic was taken. More pics to come as things grow!!

Well thats all for now. More updates thursday or friday after Fenway has Arrived!!!

Meet fenway frank

2009-05-25T08:53:00.003-04:00

this is the future addition to the Matthews household!! Here he is about 6 weeks old We will get him when he is about 11 weeks old!!! He is a red long hair dachsund aka: Hot dog (hence the name...fenway frank ....for all those who read this that are not from boston, those are the hot dogs served at fenway)

One neat thing about this puppy, he shares the same birthday as amanda, march 28th!!

Long time no posts - time to post

2009-05-18T22:20:00.011-04:00

So alot has happend since the last house post. We have done many things at the house and it really is now our home. It is a place that we are very proud of and proud to say its ours.

here are some updates

More to come soon as we do more work

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Going to meet our new dog tomorrow!!!

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Check out Craigs new website www.4sportboston.com

excitement on Hartford Ave

2009-05-04T20:13:00.002-04:00

This afternoon the little town of Uxbridge saw some excitement on Hartford ave. All of a sudden about a half hour after i got home from work i hear sirens coming up the street, mind you, in uxbridge we very rarely hear a siren, unlike fitchburg or north providence where it is part of the normal day to hear sirens allll day.

i notice cars stopped and not moving, another police car shows up and I decide to go "check the mail"....in the mean time 2 ambulances and lots of uxbridge emergency personell show up. I felt like i was in the middle of a dane cook comedy sketch, people were coming out of there houses, i did though put shoes on. In the end, I met another one of our neighbors and saw a pretty well crunched front end of a ford explorer and a mustang with the entire drivers side door and wheel crunched in, airbag deployed. I know the EMTs were helping some and ambulances took away some, hope everyone was okay!

thats all from hartford ave!

2-5

2009-04-28T08:37:00.002-04:00

So today is my Birthday!!! 25 years.......

25 years have been great

born april 28, 1984 and since then I have shared many years of fun and excitement with many friends and family. Thank you all and I look forward to many more years!!!!!

gotta get through work today and then a fun night with the guys tonight!!

First Mowin

2009-04-27T20:31:00.002-04:00

Well let me first start this entry out talking about yesterday. After workin at the golf course in the morning, Amanda and I went to go pick up my Jeep from Matt, We switched vehicles so I could use his truck to get the rest of Amandas grandmothers dining room set..... So when I picked up my jeep, i didnt even recognize it, matt had taken the time to completely wash it, and detail the exterior, and even WASH / CLEAN / SHAMPOO / ORGANIZE the interior of my jeep. WOW that is a task I didnt even want to attempt. THANKS A TON

So After I got my jeep back, we were on a mission to exchange our propane tank that ran out the night before, let me tell ya, out here in the sticks, its pretty difficult to do that, Koopmans (the local lumber company) was closed sundays, Walmart just sold out, but luckily Shaws was able to exchange it even though it was a different company.

After that fiasco, We came home and I weathersealed 2/3rds of the deck, i wasn't sure how far 1 gallon would get me, but I picked up another can today and will finish it Wednesday.

In the afternoon the Legers came over for a BBQ. Cassidy was eager to test out our swingset/slide and sandbox. And actaully craig was eager to try out the slide too but when he went down, it kinda bounced, and well lets say he didnt go down it again. In the end it was considered kid tested and kid approved. Although I got some handles on the recomendation of Daddy Craig for the top of the stairs. We had a nice time out in the back gettin some sun, through the baseball and hangin out with some great friends.

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After work today I fired up the mower that my dad helped rebuild and tune up for me. I mowed the entire yard, which didnt take me as long as I thought it would. I really get a sense of appreciation for a lawn after its been mowed and the stripes are nice and straight. I guess i get it from growing up around a golf course.

Tomorrow is my big 2-5 Birthday!!! Unfortunatly, Amanda has her last grad class, BUT, the great wife that she is, called up my bro, craig and Jay to come on over, fire up the grill and fire up the firepit!!! Shes got the food ready and even baked me a cake, but I can't see it until tomorrow.

thats all for now, back to watching the sox!!

My New Birthday Grill

2009-04-24T21:28:00.002-04:00

So when i got home after work I saw my early birthday present sitting at the end of the driveway.......

MY NEW GRILL!!!!!

Now my old grill had a nice life, and I'm sure I may use it again (CountryFest). I picked up the old grill at a yard sale for free about 2 1/2 years ago. I had done many repairs to the grill and fixed it up quite a bite. It was finally starting to deteriorate and Amanda noticed the frustration I was having and the fact I needed tinfoil to secure the top rack. With my birthday around the corner, she decided to treat me to a new grill.....4 burners + side burner, drawer and cabinet for my grill supplies. It is great, Now i plan to build a small grill patio.

:)

The Great Tuesday Night Matchup

2009-04-21T21:13:00.002-04:00

Tonites Air Hockey Matchup
Team Pittsburg Penguins - Jay Palazzo
Team Fitchburg Falcons - Sean Matthews
Team Craiggadrome- Craig Leger

In the first match-up of Team Pittsburg vs Team Craiggadrome, Craig destroyed Jay, a newcomer to the air hockey league. With a score of 17-3 Craig moved on to the finals.

In the second Matchup of Team Pittsburg vs Team Fitchburg (YEA that was craigs idea) it was a pretty tight match till the end. Jay and Sean Battled it out for victory. In this game we had expert comentating by Team Craiggadrome.

In the finals, Team Fitchburg proved to be a fierce competitor for Team Craiggadrome. They fought back and forth with Sean answer every goal scored by craig. Finally craig broke free and finished Sean off to run away with the 1st Annual Tuesday Night Air Hockey Match-up!!!!

For a full recap of the tournament.........call or IM Craig, he will give you every detail of the matches.

until next time........

updates - productive weekend

2009-04-20T21:47:00.005-04:00

This past weekend we had some great weather and was able to be very productive. Starting out by starting my new part time job mowing greens at Blissfull meadows Golf Club, right down the street.

After that on Saturday, Amanda and I Picked up the guest room bed at her parents, managing to stop by a few yard sales on the way, (nothing good).

I got alot done in the yard, prepped the garden by the front fence to plant flowers, planted some seeds (we'll see if they grow). I also finished fixing up my mower.

I have to say, Ikea is a great store, there stuff is inexpensive and nice. But one thing about there stuff, they DO NOT make it easy to put together. We bought a nice queen size bed for the guest room at a good price. Brought it in the house and began putting it together. they make it sooo difficult and borderline impossible to get some of the screws in. I ended up deviating from the directions a bit since it was so frustratingly difficult. In the end, the changes I made were probably for the better and most likely made the bed stronger.

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SUNDAY

Sunday began much like Saturday....mowing grass at the golf course.

After work we headed out for a couple yard sales, one of which I found a small wooden replica of a kayak, alost exactly liek the one I built and used to propose to Amanda, I got it for $2 ....What a Steal!!!!

Amanda headed off to see her girls for a coffee in worcester and I did some work at the house.

I took a trip to Home Depot - mind you if i realized lowes was about the same distance away, I would have gone there. I like lowes much better.

I got some wood to rebuild the stairs at the playset/swingset. the existing stairs were not the safest and did not want anyone's children getting hurt. I took down the old ones and used them as a guide and rebuilt some new ones.

I was about to paint the playset, when I noticed the paint was nowhere to be seen. I quickly realized I had left the paint in the cart in the parking lot of home depot........OOPS!!! I called back and they said they would remix a can for me! (Amanda went and did that today, thats a whole different story you can ask her about) So instead I started painting the white trim and will soon paint the rest of it now that i have more paint. It really will look alot nicer and safer, when I am done.

This evening we completed a most important task, unpacking the LAST BOX!!!! I has been about a month and a half and finally can say we are all unpacked!! It feels great!

Thats all for now, oh yea GO SOX!!.....GO BRUINS!!.....GO CELTICS!! ITs a great time to be a Boston Fan!!!!!!

Mantown Update!!!!

2009-04-15T22:14:00.009-04:00

SAMMY's PUB

Dr Eric had the day off today so he came on over to the house with Bailey to do a little work in the bar area. This is a slowly evolving room in the house. The minute I walked into this room when we originally were looking at the house, I saw the potential. Now, I see my vision. Those ugly wires sticking out of the wall, are now hooked up to speakers and they actually project sound and filled my vision. Dart board is up on the wall, and yes I did beat Eric in the inaugural match.

He does though have his claim to fame, beating me for the first game of Air Hockey, which also is a nice addition. We have created a space to hang out, relax and get away from the stresses of life. On the walls we decorated with sports memorabilia and other things that are important some way in our life.

Hooked up next to the tv, is a very important part of the bar, the karaoke machine. As most of you know, I love karaoke, no matter how good or bad I sound. I also have a permanent place for my shot glass collection that is growing and I need more space to display my future glasses

So that's all for now. more updates to come soon!!!!

a sign of summer

2009-04-10T22:45:00.003-04:00

Today I experienced my one true sign that summer is almost here, ordering a nice cold, lemon zesty, Samuel Adams Summer Ale. I love beer as most of you know, and usually my beer of choice is Coors Light, because its cheap and well good. But my reall favorite beer of choice is Sam Summer (as we...we being craig and I... like to call it) I always order it with a lemon wedge to bring out the lemon zest that they brew with the beer. Sam summer reminds me of camping, it reminds me of tailgating before countryfest and most importantly, it is a reminder good times spent with great friends.

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on a side note concerning the house, the phone people were here today and now ALL of the phone jacks are operable and we have phones alllll over the house.

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As noted in the previous post, I am doing the Relay for Life with Amanda and her fellow teachers at Woodland. I decided to join up with her and take on this challenge because I have seen how cancer has affected members of my family and my friends. This is such an important cause to raise money for and to help find a cure. If you can donate, great, if not, thats great too, because i know you took the time to read this today and your at least thinking about someone you know with or has had cancer and somehow, someday you will make a difference in their life.

Happy Passover and Happy Easter

RELAY FOR LIFE

2009-04-09T10:42:00.001-04:00

Support me in the Relay For Life - I have joined forces with my wife for this great cause. this isnt one of those fake "causes" on facebook, this is real and I would like your support!!! my personal site is http://main.acsevents.org/goto/sean.relayforlife

SOX in HD

2009-04-08T20:19:00.002-04:00

Let me tell ya, HD is awesome, right now i am sitting on our Bob's Furniture recliner couch watching our 42in HDTV and I've never watched a better baseball game.

We've been busy at the house getting the little things done:

fixed the electrical panel door

re-installed the hand rails on the stairs

continued putting up things on the walls

fertilized the lawn and overseed (now i jsut need a mower)

Thanks to technology, we were able to give my grandparents in florida a video tour of our house over the internet using video chat. It was really neat to be able to have them see the house like that.

..

..

.....we have found the parents of our future dog......more to come soon!!

Outdoor Entertaining Area / BBQ PIT / Campfire

2009-04-04T21:03:00.001-04:00

Here is a pic of the firepit my brother built!!

New Mailbox

2009-04-02T21:09:00.003-04:00

Our dumb mailman should be happy now. This afternoon I installed a newly painted mailbox.

It is at the legal height and aligned with the other box on the other side. No more complainin mr. mailman.

My brother also finished work on operation fire pit. I will post more pics of that as soon as I take them.

ticks? in the woods??

2009-03-30T16:08:00.002-04:00

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

Mailbox/Amanda's 25th

2009-03-29T21:19:00.006-04:00

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!!!

2009-03-26T21:53:00.009-04:00

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!!!

2009-03-22T20:31:00.007-04:00

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

2009-03-18T22:24:00.002-04:00

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

2009-03-17T22:23:00.003-04:00

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

2009-03-15T20:55:00.002-04:00

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

2009-03-14T20:18:00.006-04:00

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

2009-03-14T12:40:00.002-04:00

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

Dear Goats

2009-03-13T20:42:00.009-04:00

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

2009-03-12T22:12:00.003-04:00

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-03-11T08:30:00.007-04:00

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

2009-03-08T18:35:00.014-04:00

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....

Updated To Do List

2009-03-04T21:54:00.002-05:00

I know Amanda loves her lists, so here is an updated to do list

-install flooring in office and guest bedroom
-nail in all molding
-mount tv and put together entertainment unit
-touch up painting
-paint bathroom and install light fixture
-furniture delivery (scheduled)
-unpack all the boxes

i could be missing a few things, but the list is getting shorter!!!

MISSION KITCHEN COMPLETE

2009-03-03T22:18:00.001-05:00

Jay and I worked after work in the kitchen and we finished the hardwood floor in the kitchen.

Short entry tonight. More to come saturday!!

SNOW DAY

2009-03-02T18:50:00.003-05:00

Snow day for both Amanda and I today!! After shoveling out the apartment, I trekked on up to the house to tackle the driveway. I fired up the snow thrower and made my way to the driveway. Once there I noticed 2 of my neighbors out across the street with their snow throwers, i felt like we could all talk without even talking, yet I haven't met these neighbors. One guy had a much smaller snowblower and the guy across the street had one about the same size as mine, but I did notice mine had bigger tires. I felt like we were all out there to show off our snow throwers and see who could get the cleanest driveway. In the end it didnt matter because it snowed some more later on in the day.

I went back to the house later on with amanda to get a few things done. She prepped the office for flooring tomorrow night and I installed a few light fixtures. After a few "shocking" moments, I had them all up. The most difficult one out of them all was the haning chandelier.
I got it hung and working only after a few attempts and limited shocking moments this time, (i learned what not to do)

Amanda got some of the closets back in order, most of the faceplates back on the outlets and the rest of the cabinet liners in. So all in all a pretty productive snow day.

I'll be there there tomorrow night with Jay and Tom to work on more floor.

until tomorrow.........

Floors/appliance/ (and a visit from the mystery blogger)

2009-03-01T19:26:00.006-05:00

Today got off to a snowy start! Craig came by to lend a hand once more. I do have to thank Ashley and Cassidy for letting us borrow Craig, he's helped out quite a bit too!!

Craig and I continued in the master bedroom. Got around the corner, in the closet and soon the DELIVERY TRUCK was HERE!!!
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A special note from your mystery blogger!!

Well, today was the first of many anticipated days for me ... the day that the APPLIANCES were to arrive. As you know from my past post, I was beyond excited for the washer and dryer. I forgot to include the last time I appeared on here that our washer and dryer in our apartment now shakes and squeaks so badly that we need to close the bathroom door (and even then it doesn’t help much!), also it takes me … no exaggeration … two hours to dry one load of laundry with our current machine. TWO HOURS! Think about it, when you are doing at least three loads of laundry a weekend … that’s six hours of just drying!! I was thankful to have a washer and dryer in our apartment and not to have to do coin op or go to a laundry mat. However, when I ordered my new washer and dryer for the house I was thoroughly looking forward to QUICK laundry. Anyway, the washer, dryer, fridge arrived today with no issues. AND I brought some laundry to do with me!! The clothes came out clean, nearly wrinkle free, and I did two loads in the time it took me to just dry one. I am a happy camper :)

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Craig and I worked through the day and with only a break for lunch, 6 boxes of wood and no smashed fingers, we finished the Master Bedroom. I think we will have the furniture delivered a week early so we can actually start living there.

Amanda has a snow day already for tomorrow. We are expecting about 12-15 inches of snow. I foresee another snowy day which means I will have to go up to the house and clean the driveway, what a bummer, since i have a wonderful snow thrower to help me, I will actually enjoy it!!!

until next time......

HARDWOOD FLOOOOOOOOR

2009-02-28T21:43:00.007-05:00

Today was very productive!!!!We got started right away putting in board down the hallway. Amanda's dad worked one end by the master bedroom and I worked from the kitchen.

Not long after, Jay and Erin showed up to lend a hand. Jay and I got busy right away with Tom putting in more boards.
Erin got to work finishing up the closet doors.

After looking at the bathroom now and seeing everything else soo nicely painted, Amanda decided to paint the cabinets and give the bathroom a fresh coat of paint!!!!

The men continued with the floors. We finished the hallway and the corner for the fridge. that was the main priority for me today. The fridge is being delivered tomorrow and it needed to be done. I looks great with the molding up!!! Thanks Ruth for getting all the molding painted today, even though we think she caught amanda's cold (see begining of painting).

I only had 2 mishaps, well not really mishaps and not really injuries. But the hammer met my finger twice, and not different fingers, THE SAME FINGER, OUCHHHH!!! Smashing your finger with a hammer hurts, if you didn't know that.

As you can see, we got alot of work done today and it really looks great. Looking forward to tomorrow and Craigs help once again to finish the hardwood floor in the master bedroom and hopefully we can get our furniture in a little early!!!

Thats all for now, need to go relax and rest my back/legs/arms/FINGER so we can have a productive day tomorrow. Might be abel to use the snow thrower again soon, snow in the forcast!

Dining room DONE

2009-02-26T20:30:00.004-05:00

Craig came by tonight, (thanks ash for letting come over), got everything nailed in in the dining room. We had everything lined up just had to nail it in. We only had to make a few special cuts.

As you can see, we were able to make some nice cuts around the baseboard heater. We were lucky enough to be able to put the last board in and not need to rip down another board, as it fit like a glove!!!

We started into the kitchen, but we have to finish the "first" board along the front entryway at the top of the stairs. We were able to nail in a the first few rows but we had to stop and wait to finish on saturday. We need to finish the kitchen saturday so we can have the FRIDGE DELIVERED and we can have a regular size fridge, we have been using the small dorm fridge amanda had at school.

Thats all for now, I'll be back satuday night with some more exciting news and pictures!!!

Updated to do list! State Of The House

2009-02-26T09:40:00.004-05:00

Here is an updated list of things to do! Might be missing some things

-Finish Hardwood in kitchen, hallway and bedrooms
-paint and mount the molding
-paint the coat closet
-design and create bar area
-appliance delivery
-furniture delivery
-install TV - (including services)
-install light fixtures
-unpack boxes
-finish painting doors
-finish odds and ends (baseboards - handrails- kickboards on stairs)
-get rid of the rest of the trash
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-MOVE
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After move in
-Landscaping
-Remove ugly fence
-fix up playset/swing/slide
-build a vegetable garden
-continue work in the bar area
-build a firepit

and i'm sure there is lots more for both sections. if anyone wants to help on any of those items, you are more than welcome to!!!

I will be at the house later to work on #1 - floor installation

Important Lesson Within!!

2009-02-24T20:54:00.006-05:00

This evening was very productive. I got to the house and Tom had stopped by after work to check the compressor, which is all fixed.

Speaking of that, here is your lesson of the day:
If you are using a compressor and it was working when you plug it directly into an outlet great. If the next day you move the compressor and use an extension cord - not great, and it wont work. So the lesson for the day is don't use an extension cord with a compressor!

Craig and Jay stopped by to lend a hand. Jay was busy trimming all of the door molding. This is a very difficult job and Jay made it look easy. thanks for the help!!

Craig helped me with the floor in the dinning room. We nailed in most of the rows, including going around the doorway. We got as far as the nail gun would nail and then we racked the rest. I am gonna go back thursday and nail them in.

Thats all for now folks!!

Trash Day

2009-02-23T20:07:00.002-05:00

Just a short entry today. Stopped by the house today after work to move in some more things, check the mail and take out the trash. Tuesday is trash day now!! WAHOOO!! I will be at the house tomorrow night with Jay again while the wives are at class. We are going to get some work done on the floor so we can move right along.

Thats all for now, more to come tomorrow!!

Very Productive Day!!!!

2009-02-21T21:43:00.014-05:00

Hello all, I am back tonight. Today was very productive and we had some nice visitors stopping by and helping out. After a quick breakfast, Amanda and I got to work, cleanin the kitchen and laying out tar paper. Soon after, the Lacouture Crew showed up and we were back at the floor.

Amanda and her mother Ruth were back to the painting and FINALLY the "blue room" and the "Red Room" are no longer and are now the Office and Guest room with neutral colors!!!!!

We had some help today from my parents, they showed up with tools and work clothes, ready to help out. We had an important job for my dad, the shower doors. We HATED these shower doors, they were ugly and i felt made it feel claustrophobic in the shower, (not that I've showered there, but i went in to test it out. After the doors came out, he installed a new curved shower rod, which will be sooo nice!!!

My mom was very busy painting the closet doors. We have lots of doors so this was a big help! She brought us some traditions for a new home, something Sweet/Sugar (Wicked good cake, salt, and bread.

We were also delighted to have a gift from my grandparents, two mezuzahs. Mezuzahs are nailed to the door frames. (click the link to learn more!!)

After a tasty lunch and yummy cake, we were back to work. While I'm on the subject of lunch, a little history. See the first day we lived in Blackstone and I was installing some AC's I was hungry and needed a quick bite to eat, I ventured to "downtown blackstone" and found TKO Pizza and had a chicken finger meal. MmM TASTY!! This has become our favorite pizza place and I have become good friends with the owner. Now that we were moving I got sad that we would be leaving TKO behind, but not to worry!!!! When I told the owner where we were moving he said, "Not a problem!!! My brother in law owns a pizza place right down the street, Niko's Pizza" So, now we have been saved and have a new pizza place, keepin it in the family.

So back to the floor we went we got quite far, even some boards into the kitchen We made some great progress!!

We had some visitors stop by throughout the day, The Rankins family and Jill and Travis. But we quickly learned the house right now is not "Kid Friendly" Many things to get into, lots of loud noises and tons of sharp tools to play with.

My dad installed a light fixture in the office, and after trying a few wires, he found the right one that worked with the light switch!

At the end of the day, we admired our work. Thanks to everyone who help or stopped by, Tom, Ruth, the Levy's the Rankins, Rob and my Parents.

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on a side note, after working all day, we met up with my parents once again, along with eric & Connie and Connie's Mother and Sister at a nice chinese restaurant on Federal Hill in Providence. The food was great and they also made little birds out of carrots and potatos as decoration for the dishes!!
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IMPORTANT SCEDULING NOTICE

Now that vacation week has Ended for Amanda and her dad, work won't be going as fast as it had been. We will be going to the house when we can and posting on the blog as things progressl.

Stay tuned!!!

Guest Blogger - Amanda

2009-02-20T21:02:00.006-05:00

Today's blog will be written by our most favorite guest blogger - Amanda!!

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Hi everyone! I am so honored to be the guest blogger tonight. I know that you all were holding your breath in suspense and have been checking the blog religiously to see who the "mystery person" was. HaHa.

Anyway, today was another productive day at the house (but what day this week hasn't been productive?). I got to the house early, even before Dad and began fixing the walls in the master bedroom where I missed a few spots yesterday due to my exhaustion. Dad arrived about 8am with his buddy Bob to get started on the floors. I swear Dad and Bob were like two little boys laughing and teasing each other all day. I felt like I was back at work!

Through of the all the giggles and stabs at each other they did a great job. They got into the groove and started moving along quite fast. When I finished the master, I began working on getting some paint in the other two bedrooms. Mom arrived about noon with lunch from Annie's Market, THANKS MOM! Then she and I finished painting what we refer to as "the red room" which will soon be our office. It's going to need another coat, but it was a start.

Mom and I then tackled the stove/oven. It was DISGUSTING. I still sometimes look at what was a pretty dirty house to my standards and think "people actually live like this?" Thank goodness for Lysol cleaning products!

About 3pm Dad and Bob finished the flooring in the living room and we all decided to call it a day. The living room looks great. From ugly green rugs to beautiful hardwood in one week ... we are making progress.

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Now for the highlight of my night ...

Sean and I ventured out for some dinner at Restaurant 45, one of my favorites and then headed out to Lowe's. Sean and I decided it was time to buy what appliances we needed. We got a new fridge and ... a Whirlpool Duet washer and dryer. We saw this on a recent episode of Jon and Kate Plus 8 and I fell in love! After talking with the nice man, Joe, in appliances he educated us enough to know that we definitely wanted front load washer and dryer so the Duet it was. The fridge and washer/dryer will be delivered next Sunday! I can't wait to move in and do some laundry (who would have that I would ever say THAT!)

Tomorrow we will be continuing with the floors and painting the other two bedrooms. We are also expecting lots of visitors throughout the day so we look forward to seeing you all.

Until next time ....

p.s. Be sure to leave us some comments. We have heard many of you are following our progress and we are curious to see who you are ...

FLOOR DAY!!!

2009-02-19T20:46:00.008-05:00

Got to the house early today, took a day off from work, to well...work. But this is a different type of work. When I arrived, I noticed a much deeper snow accumulation than at our apartment in Blackstone, so I decided it was a perfect time to test out the snowthrower!! There was just about enough snow to use it, and it worked quite well. We also received our trash bins and recycling bins today.

Amanda was hard at work painting the master bedroom. Now Amanda had been suffering from a slight cold and hasn't felt quite 100% all week. With that being said, she has work very hard and has been determined to not let it stop her. So now that it is Thursday, a week from the closing and lots of work, her body was catching up to her. She was getting tired and she was allowed to. And, unfortunately it showed a little in her painting. She got the master bedroom done, but.....it needs a little touch up towards the end of her painting today. At around lunch time, she called it a day and headed home to let Tom and I work. She headed home for so much need relaxation and rest.

In the meantime, Tom and I trimmed the molding in the living room, notched out the first few board to fit around the baseboard heaters. We top nailed the first few boards in place and then it was home free from there. We lined them up, tapped them in and brought out what I like to call, "The Monster" gun. One tap of this pneumatic device and the nail went in, luckily it hasn't gone through my boots yet.

I did have one slight mishap today while putting down the floor. I noticed after a while that the boards just didn't feel right and things were wobbly and not staying in place. What I did not realize was, I did not have an endless supply of nails in the gun, I HAD "NAILED" 3 ROWS WITH NO NAILS.....arrgh So after realizing this, we had to go back, pull up those rows and re-nail them all into place. Oh well, now we know to check and make sure we have enough nails (well actually they are huge staples) in the gun

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On a side note, It is nice to see that people are actually reading this blog and I hope I bring some enjoyment into your lives and you enjoy seeing our progress. Please feel free to comment and leave your words of wisdom.

And to jsut think, one week ago to was the closing and we stopped by the house where there was....Ugly green carpeting all upstairs, holes in the wall, ugly eggshell molding and doors, dark red and dark blue walls, linoleum in the kitchen, faucets that leaked. Alot has been done in the past week and Amanda and I want to be sure to thank everyone that has helped us so far.

We look forward to 4th of July at the house with all of our friends and family. Mark the calendars, if you are reading this, you are invited (well unless you came accross this blog randomly and you have no idea who I am)

have a good night. Tomorrow we will have a mystery guest blogger to fill you in on the details of the day since I will be at work all day!

Goodnight!!

MORE PAINT

2009-02-18T19:28:00.006-05:00

Today was spent painting, mostly by Amanda and her dad. They finished the kitchen and hallway and prepped the master for paint tomorrow.

I arrived in the afternoon, after picking out our entertainment console and stopping to see my mom to pick up our final wedding DVD and wish her a Happy Anniversary (31 years).

I spent some time marking the floors so that we know where to put the nails when we put down the floor. Speaking of floor, tomorrow begins what we have all been waiting for,.......FLOOR DAY!!! I cleaned the living room and vacuumed up all the little pieces so we can begin putting down the flooring. I helped amanda with some trim paint at the end of the afternoon. And no, that picture isnt upside down, she took this from up above in the living room.

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This section is specifically for unscientific measurement purposes only...We have figured out that the space between the countertops and the ceiling is "1 Amanda" because of this non-scientific measurement, it was concluded that she was the best person to complete the task of painting above the cabinets.

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and on another side note, we saw the first snowfall at the new house this evening.-----------------

until next time, when we have floors........

painting day

2009-02-17T21:29:00.005-05:00

I was at work most of the day today but came to the house later on and worked into the night. Tom, Ruth and Amanda spent most of the day painting the kitchen, some more ceilings, edging around the stairs and the hallway. There would be more pictures but Amanda didnt take any even though i made sure she had the camera. If you want more pics, email her amandamatthews28@gmail.com :)

So when I got there today, Ruth was cleanin up the place, us men make messes. I finished painting the stairwell to the basement. I also pulled the rest of the nails from the molding and touched up the trim in the bedrooms.

Jay came over and had some dinner, amanda so nicely cooked a meal and left it in the mini fridge and heated them up in the oven. We enjoyed it with some cold Aruban Beer - Balashi (was thinkin bout you craig)

Jay painted the ceiling in the "red room" while i primed the "blue room" and we also primed the red room. We also brought up some of the boxes of wood from the basement to the dining room so that on thursday, the nails start flying and hardwood floor is goin in.

So all in all a very productive day. more painting tomorow.

I'm off.....

Lots of Painting

2009-02-16T21:01:00.005-05:00

Paint crew showed up this morning early and got hard at work. Amanda and her dad painted most of the day - dining room done, most of the trim work, doors, and ceilings. I showed up at around 2:00 with the snow thrower (thanks to our landlord lucien) after working the morning at work.

We had some help from Brandon (smitty) and Alicia. Brandon helped pull rugs and paint ceilings. Alicia pulled the rest of the staples and has a nice blister to prove it!!!

We'll be back at it tomorrow with more painting, but it is nice to know all the carpet is GONE, no more ugly green carpet!!!!!! We need to paint the molding and finish prepping the floors for the hardwood. Cant wait to see the finished product!!!
Meanwhile, the trash mountain on the back deck is growing, good thing trash day is soon!!!

until next time........

Flooring delivered and PAINT

2009-02-15T19:25:00.009-05:00

So today was very productive. We started out the day meeting the delivery guy from lumber liquidators and unloaded the flooring into the basement. Tom helped the boxes off the truck and me and the delivery guy brought them in the house. 48 - 6 ft boxes 960 square feet

We then had some help arrive, Rob (amanda's brother), Lisa (his wife) and ciarra (the niece). All were a great big help. Rob helped fix a few small leaks and replace some sink fixtures. Lisa was busy doing some work in the kitchen and bathrooms and Ciarra was very busy helping amanda pull staples and wash walls. She was a big help today!!!!

Pizza came at lunch time and painting began. Today we were able to paint the ceiling in the dining room, living room, stairwell and hallway. We also painted the walls in the living room and stairwell.

We pulled the carpet out of the master bedroom and got all the staples pulled. We also decided to pull the linoleum in the kitchen since it was not glued down. That was easy and it will make things easier when installing the floor.

Tomorrow Amanda will meet her dad at the house and work throughout the day. I am going to go into work early to get things done and leave work around mid day to be able to get more work done at the house.

More to come tomorrow.

DAY 2 - DEMOLITION DAY

2009-02-14T19:43:00.006-05:00

Well not really demolition , but we started the day out removing all the fixtures, faceplates and wall/window decorations. Amanda spent some time patching the holes left in the wall by the previous owners.

Jess came by to help and she did some sanding and removed all the crazy child proof hinges on the kitchen and bathroom drawers. They were such a pain and its nice to know they are all off!!!

Amanda did her favorite part and the part she was most looking forward to doing, cleaning the bathroom and the shower. It was quite a task but with the help of her new cleaning tool, which resembles an enlarges and glorified electric toothbrush, she got it pretty clean!!

Then came carpet removal. Amanda's father, Tom, removed the molding and I began tearing up the carpets and rolling them up along with the foam that goes underneath, dusty process -> kid with asthma = must wear a dust mask!! Eventually I got all the carpet up and was left with tons of little staples to remove, and what a perfect time for Alicia to show up and help jess and amanda pull staples!!

The day concluded with tearing out the hallway closet and removing the molding from the master bedroom. Also, the ladies washed all the walls to get ready for paint!!!

We had a nice visit from Rob & Val after lunch and it was nice to show them around the new place, and I knew Rob would appreciate the bar downstairs.

on a side note, my partner in crime has had a little cold, but she isnt letting that stop her hard work and determination. We had a very nice valentines day dinner last night and had a fun day today, including a bartenders bible and book of shots for me (and some chocolate) and a nice display of flowers for her!!

More pictures are on facebook.

Floor delivery tomorrow morning!!!

see you then

day 1 - boxes

2009-02-12T20:15:00.006-05:00

So we went over to the house today after lowes and brought 2 jeep loads of stuff!! It was really nice to open our house with our keys.

We were able to hang out in the house for a bit and unload the cars. Jess came over and we tried out one of the restaurants in town, which could be our new place!! Looking forward to doing the work and making it ours!!!

ITS OURS!!!!

2009-02-12T13:51:00.001-05:00

We got Keys!!!

Closing went well!!! Signed our names about 50 times on lots of random papers. Then went over to lowes, picked up some paint and so other supplies. We'll head over to the house later to unpack some things from the jeeps.

thats all for now.....

walk through, final preps

2009-02-11T21:55:00.002-05:00

So today we finalized everything with the loan and the lawyers office. Got everything squared away. Also we got the results of the well test. everything is safe and potable. I think thats a funny word, potable / potability in terms of water.

We did the walk through tonite, heat was on, which is a good thing, considering every other time we have been there there has been no heat and it has been FREEZING!!! Found the knob for the coat closet, which was nice because everytime it closed it was hard to reopen.

Tomorrow is the closing at 10 am. we are excited, we did some more packing this evening. After the closing we are going to get a bite to eat then pick up the paint at lowes. then the moving and work begins. All are welcome to come pick up a paint brush and roller.

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Landlord already has someone interested in the house after the sign being out for only one day. Which is nice, we were hoping he would rent it out right away, we felt bad moving, but it was time for us to move on to bigger and better things.

"For Rent"

2009-02-10T20:19:00.004-05:00

So its a sad day on the farm. As I pulled into the driveway today I noticed the "For Rent" sign in the front yard. The same sign we saw when we rented our little farm house. There will be another post later on about the farm and a special message to the goats. But I'm not ready to write that.

Talked to the delivery guy today for the hardwood floors, as previously written, delivery was scheduled for Saturday. He was reminded last night by his girlfriend that Saturday is valentines day and she had a day planned for them so he was unable to convince her that delivering flooring was part of that plan. So he will deliver it on Sunday.

thats all for now folks

lining things up / my bar

2009-02-09T21:30:00.003-05:00

So today was productive:
set up the electricity
set up the delivery of the floor
---sold some more things on craigslist!

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as mentioned in the previous post, the new house has a bar in the basement
this is my room to decorate, pretty excited, want it to be a mix of sports/skiing/beer. Look forward to many good times and definitely some karaoke!!

things i want for the bar: (my wish list, some things i will actually get, some i think would be cool to have but prolly wont ever get)

pool table/air hockey
dart board
ipod stereo with surround sound speakers....already wired for the speakers
or jukebox (that'd be cool)
karaoke machine (we all know I love karaoke)

and i'm sure there are things i will add to this list.

I already have my beer brewing kit (thanks rob and lisa)

I'll post some pictures once i've completed the bar and open for drinks!

goodnight

The new house

2009-02-08T21:55:00.004-05:00

So this is my first attempt to "blogging" so bear with me. Thursday is the closing on our first home and I want to be able to use this as a way of keeping track of how things are going and a way to remember the process.

Here is a list of what we plan for our home:

Replace the floor with hardwood
Paint all the walls
Get a new Refrigerator and Washer/Dryer
find some sort of tv console to under the tv
In the spring, take out the ugly chain link fence
Finish the Bar, yes there is a bar in the basement

I will try to update as the process is completed!

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Today we picked up a snow thrower from Amanda's uncle, as much as i am tired of the snow, i kinda want it to snow just to use the snow thrower!!

We also went to the Providence Bruins game vs. the Worcester Sharks.....didnt really matter to me who won, i consider both teams "home teams" but it was fun to have the PBruins win since we were at there home ice. Got the tickets from my paper company at work, which meant we werent in the nosebleed section, rather a few rows up from the ice at the red line (center ice).

writing in this is somewhat relaxing............makes me remember livejournal from college. I hope I use this frequently and people might actually read it. Thinking of that, i have to make sure i tell pho i have a blog now so he can link to it.

thats all for now folks!