Boom!

Monday would turn out to be the laziest morning of the long four day weekend. I didn’t get out of bed until about 7:45am. We had some strong rains that blew through between like 4 & 6am, which only served to usher more laziness. Jacob had come in around 4am and told his mother he had wet the bed. Mindy, as she will always do, got up & made him a fresh place to sleep. I was happy for the rain which completely soaked the dry landscape and swelled the pond. Bella joined me for exercises as well as my walk with Ykraps. By then the skies had cleared a bit and gave us a partly sunny morning, but more rain was predicted throughout the day and even threatened to wash out many of the fireworks including Red, White, & Boom! Our goals for the day were many. I wanted to get cracking on the back door repairs, we had a party at one of Mindy’s best friend’s houses, and we toyed with the idea of going to Red, White, & Boom with the kids. My run was a sweaty one. I made us breakfast after my run since Mindy had been doing so much cooking of her own lately. I made bacon and cheese omelets. The kids had cereal too. By the time we finished breakfast and a few other cloud burst blew through, Mindy took a planned trip home to pick-up a few things along with some of her yard art that’s been boxed for two years. She was both excited and willing to share it and display it in my landscape. Bella went with her mommy and Jacob stayed with me. While they were gone, Jacob and I began working on the door repair. After some internet research I learned that many Peachtree door owners have complained about these doors rotting away at the bottom of the jam prematurely. It certainly must be a flaw in the design. Obviously rain water isn’t able to escape and ends up wicking itself up into the jam and brick molding. Both sides of mine were rotting but the door knob side the most – about 5 inches up was completed rotted. The good news is that the internet research also offered repair instructions by a do-it-yourselfer. The advice and pictures he provided gave me lots of pointers on how to proceed and I had been thinking this through for about two weeks. I was fairly confident that I could salvage the door and most of the jam provided I could find the right lumber. Essentially, I would be sawing off the exterior trim, jam, and door stop about 16 inches up. To expose only those pieces meant I had to remove the interior trim and the weather stripping – no biggie. After doing just that I was ready to make my cut. I used a small household level to make my line then put my plywood blade on the circular saw and ripped off the dead lumber. It looked just like the picture on the Internet. So far, so good! Mindy returned with some of her stuff and I got ready to head to Home Depot. Before leaving, Mindy and I placed several of her yard ornaments amongst the landscape. Soon I was of for the Depot. It was already after 1:30pm which I knew gave me limited time to do more work on the door if we were going to make Tara’s party. Still, I fought off the self-inflicted pressure of an impending deadline and made sure I got the few necessary pieces I would need to make a clean repair. I found jam boards and door stop to the exact dimensions I needed. The only trick would be doing the rabbet cut in the door stop to facilitate the weatherstrip. I called dad just as I left Home Depot to see if I could stop by to use his table saw to do the rabbet cut. He obliged. Once at Dad’s, I saw that he was working on his new boat installing a bimini top just like he did on the old Larson. He helped me out a little but I pretty much had it figured out. We got it cut almost precisely like the old piece which I had taken along to Home Depot and to his house. By the time I headed home and got reacquainted with my work area, it was almost 3:00pm. I got out my chop saw and made a few precision cuts until I had just the right fit. A half hour later I had all the lumber cuts completed save for the brick molding. I spent more money on caulk, spray insulation, wood filler, and primer than I did on the actual lumber. I wouldn’t have time to do any of the detail stuff this afternoon, however. My goal after the fix was simply to get the mess cleaned up & then get a shower. I sort of let Mindy dictate the timing of our departure. She seemed content to leave somewhere close to 5pm. Too, we had pretty much came to our senses and decided to not do RW&B. The kids, we surmised, would be seeing them tomorrow with their dad in Hilliard anyhow. We left for Tara’s just after 5pm, but just before leaving, we discovered that Bella had wet her bed too. Mindy stripped the bed and loaded it in the washer just as we left for Tara’s. We arrived shortly thereafter. Just as we were arriving the southern tip of a severe thunderstorm ripped through her subdivision forcing the clan indoors. Incidentally, the storm was considered an actual Tornado warning as it plowed through Union county minutes earlier. Tara’s party was pretty much a family reunion which would eventually culminate in the entire group heading down to RW&B. There was a ton of food and it was fabulous. Turns out her brother, who was in from Maryland, cooked up a storm, and some of the dishes were unbelievably good. Too, they had just completed a new deck which included lots of cool amenities like a tile fireplace center, an island table, and a nifty decking pattern that would make you dizzy. Aside from Tara and Doug, I didn’t know anyone else. So, after some initial small talk I found myself just sitting back quietly relaxing. Mindy’s kids were not on their best behavior, however, and I could tell that was wearing on Mindy. Most of the other kids there were much older (teens). They played inside where we watched form a sofa. And after eating the good food and sinking in the sofa, I couldn’t help but dose off. I was tired from the two prior days of partying and less than adequate sleep. We gathered the kids and left for my house at about 7:45pm. Jacob and Bella were wound a little tight, still. At my house Mindy readied them for bed despite their desire to stay up. Jacob was doing a good job of pushing Mindy’s buttons. I read them a bedtime story – One Fish, Two Fish, by Dr Seuss. Finally, after they were settled, Mindy and I retired to the deck. Mindy, I could tell, was disappointed in the way the evening turned out. She had hoped to have more fun at Tara’s and certainly envisioned me being more engaged, but I just didn’t have it in me. Plus, the kids really worked her today, probably more so than I’ve seen before. But that’s life with a three and six year old. Mindy - I think I’ll keep her. We hung out on the deck for the next couple of hours. I had a few beers which I converted to Raspberry Ales with my Raspberry Schnapps. Mindy had a glass of wine. We raised the blind into the family room and tuned to RW&B on channel 4 to see the firework simulcast. I think it’s safe to say, both of us were glad that we weren’t fighting the crowds at their conclusion and were happy to be resting comfortably on the deck. Kids love fireworks and should see plenty of them in their lifetime, but more often that not it’s as much fun for the parents as jabbing the proverbial stick in your eye. We stayed up until after 11pm talking and eventually closed down the evening with a relaxing soak in the hot tub. The water felt ideal. Soon we were asleep in bed after a long yet exciting day.