Inch by Inch...

I can't even tell if the lawn's filling in or just getting longer. We are not mowing until some of these bare patches fill in. Although if we wait for that, we might be waiting a long time.

March 28...

April 5...

April 25...

Now Don't Laugh...

I mentioned a couple of months ago that I was starting piano lessons. I have never taken at all, so I am getting a really late start, but so far I love it.

I have had 6 lessons to date and here are a couple short clips of my progress. Hopefully you'll recognize the first tune as "Blow the Man Down" ( I don't pick 'em, I just play 'em)

And here's "Edelweiss"

Our New Old Bathroom...

The master bathroom mini-makeover is finally done! Here are some before and after shots...

The original paint was a yellowing off-white...
Freshly coated with Restoration Hardware's Silver Sage, the same color used in our living room...

Another angle before, with the old sink...

With the new floor, vanity and mirror trim...

Before... cluttered!

Now, better!

A new Freden Wall Cabinet from Ikea hung behind the door completes the makeover...

Do-It-Yourself Carrie...

In a previous post, I mentioned I was modifying the mirror in the master bath. What I wanted to do was replace the medicine cabinet over the sink. It is a plain mirrored style and does not add to the craftsman ambiance of the room. After some investigating online, I decided it would be too difficult to find something that would fit in the existing cutout (for the recessed part). The type of cabinet I wanted was not cheap, either. So I opted to go the do-it-yourself route and build a frame to attach to the existing mirror. Here is the step-by-step documetation, in case you are interested.

The existing mirrored cabinet...

I started with an 8' length of stain-grade pine moulding, and cut the corners using a miter box...

Here are the finished pieces...

I applied one coat of Minwax gel stain in Walnut, then waited 3 minutes to wipe of the excess...

Here are the pieces after one coat of stain- this has to sit overnight...

I ended up applying 5 coats of gel stain and 6 coats of spray polyurethane to get the desired color.

The completed frame, ready to be installed...

The final product...

A Visit to Jim's New Office...

Today was a beautiful day in Pittsburgh, and we spent part of it downtown moving Jim into his new office at the USX Tower, aka the Steel Building. For those not from Pittsburgh, the Steel Building is the tallest building in the city, at 64 floors. We parked down at my office in Gateway Center and rode the T over to the Steel Plaza. Conveniently, we can ride the T for free back and forth between our two offices for lunchtime visits. I brought along the camera today to document the outing...

KDKA's offices at Gateway Center...

Jim carrying a box down to the subway station...

Inside the Gateway T Station...

The Entrance to the Steel Building...

Jim's favorite thing about the new building...

The view nearest Jim's desk. From the 57th floor to be exact...(That's the new Penguin's Stadium under construction in the foreground).
Looking straight down. Weird to see the top of another building so far down there...

Jim's new workspace...

Posing with his toys...
Very close to his desk is a really nice lunch room and kitchen...

View from the conference room. We'll be watching fireworks from here...

A long way up...

There is a beautiful park right outside the building that Jim can enjoy on his lunch break...

Not a bad place to work, I think!

This Old House- Zahniser Edition...

We are currently in the middle of a master bath mini-makeover. In the past couple of weeks we had an exhaust fan and light installed and had made some other plans for improvements. I thought I'd post some documentation from today's progress...

This is before any work started. The old pine floors are not ideal for a bathroom since they should not get wet, so they had to go...

Mr. Floor Guy (from Rusmur) showed up and set up shop in the bedroom...

Here we are with just the subfloor down (so don't worry, those original pines are safe beneath)...

A few hours later, voila, new linoleum flooring by Forbo. Unlike vinyl, linoleum is made entirely of natural "green" products, primarily linseed oil, and has a jute backing. It is low gloss and has a nice marbled finish...

Carrie mitered and stained all new oak quarter-round... nice work!

The old pedestal sink was charming but not practical- currently available on Craigslist if you are interested!

The new vanity was installed this evening by us (who needs a plumber?) and provides the necessary storage we were previously lacking...
Now we need to paint, install another new cabinet and some new wood trim for the mirror (more on that in an upcoming post) and we'll be in business.

Open Invitation...

This Thursday, April 23rd, we will be attending a live simulcast of the Town Hall for Hope with Dave Ramsey, at Rolling Hills Church in Verona, PA. We'd love to have you join us and we're happy to drive anyone who wants to go from our house. Just let us know if you'd like to come and we'll see you at our place at 7pm.

Connect with families across the nation for a truly radical message: HOPE.

Tired of hearing the fear, doom and gloom that’s filling the airwaves? Join Dave Ramsey for a nationwide town hall meeting and discover what’s happening with the economy, how we got here, and where we’re going. Plus, Dave will answer your questions live throughout the event!
Join us for this free event April 23 at 8:00 p.m. EDT in one of the thousands of venues across the country as we stand together to reignite the fire of hope! http://www.townhallforhope.com/

It May Come to This...

For your Friday enjoyment... Here is a video from the Onion News Network (a fake news station on cable).



Our favorite lines...
"There's no need to review all of those old laws, because I just told you that it's true."
"There really is no time to think about this, just listen to me and send in the money."

Photo Shoot...

Recently, we had a visit from the woman who took Bear's portraits last year. She is a professional pet photographer. We thought Bailey was due some portraits of her own. Click the photo below to view the session.


(If you are asked for a password, it is Carrie)

It's Like Watching Grass Grow...

I promised lawn updates (I know you were dying to see this... right?) Uhh... anyway. We are making slight progress.

Here is the shot from 3/28

And here is 4/5

Ok, so actually I think it is just longer, probably not any thicker... the seed has not sprouted yet. Stay tuned for more updates. The suspense is killing you, isn't it? Who said this blog wasn't interesting? :)

Happy Easter...

And now that we've covered the REAL reason for celebrating... here are some pics from the annual coloring of the eggs. I know it has nothing to do with the meaning of Easter, but it is one of the few childhood traditions that is easy and fun to keep.

Hope everyone has a great day!

Making Music...

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of recording a couple of songs with my good friend Matt Texter. (When we get together to play, we are otherwise known as Cephas and Milo's Rusty Strings Roadshow). It was a great time - we recorded the songs in about two hours and did it the old fashioned way - all live. Just some mics set up in the room and all playing together. I had never met the other two musicians, Sam or Matt B., and we had never played together as a group, but it turned out great and we had a blast. Hopefully I'll get to do it again soon. Matt's original song will be part of a compilation for the New Sun Records in Cambridge Springs, PA, a project of Sam Reese.

The "Pennsylvania Three" (our name for the day) is Jim Zahniser on lead guitar (channeling my best Luther Perkins), Sam Reese on upright bass and Matt Baughman on drums. Side A is an original song by Matt called "Ride The Train To Glory" and Side B is a traditional cover called, "Baby, Please Don't Do".

You can check out both songs and more of Matt's music at www.myspace.com/matttexter.

Nobody Move or the Girl Gets It...

* No cats were harmed in the making of this photo.

How to Get Out of Debt...

You must watch this clip from SNL. If only everyone (including the government) could figure this out:) Click the photo below to link to the video.