The Deck

Here is the promised picture of the deck. So far so good. I am looking forward to getting some more work on it done on Monday after our trip to Gettysburg.

Today, we traveled to Gettysburg to spend a few days with Meggie's family. The ride there was uneventful, except for our mishap at the Valley Forge entrance to the PA Turnpike. I accidentally drove through the EZ-Pass only line (which is bad, since I don't have EZ-Pass). We pulled over and tried to figure out what to do. I figured I would just find a manned toll booth and ask for a ticket. But then I realized I had to cross several toll lanes of steady traffic. So out went that plan. Meggie called 411 and got the number for the toll plaza, and someone came out and gave us a ticket. It is pretty embarrassing. The rest of the trip went well.

We got to Meggie's mom's house, which was a surprise to both her mom and sister, since they didn't know we were coming today. But they were happy to see us early, and Mom took us out to dinner at TGI Friday's. I bought everybody drinks (non-alcoholic and no sugar, for Meggie, of course) before dinner, and Mom treated us to dinner. It was delicious. I had the Jack Daniel's burger.

We went home and hung out for the rest of the evening. I got buried in a book "Eyes of a Child" by Richard North Patterson, while Meggie caught up with her mom and sister.

Tomorrow will be another relaxing day. Meggie's extended family is coming over tomorrow to celebrate her grandfather Pappy's birthday, cookout style.

Some pictures

Two pictures to summarize the last few months...


Max LOVES swimming in the pool.


Our baby at 17 weeks 

Wow, I still have a blog

Okay, so it has been a really long time since I have written in this thing. A lot has happened in the past 3 months, so I will attempt to catch up without too many words.

The big news, I will be a father in November. I knew this at the time of my last post, but the news wasn't public and therefore wasn't "Blog Worthy" yet. Meg is doing well, for the most part, however, she was recently diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes. At first, we were really worried, but after a meeting with a dietitian, we found out that it isn't really so bad. Meg will have to test herself several times a day, and stick to a lo-carb diet. To support her, I will also be attempting the diet (whether I am successful, that is another story). I even also gave the blood-sugar test a try, to find out that I am okay.

The rest of the last three months was finishing up the school year, which went well. This year went a lot better than last year, and I am actually looking forward to getting a third try in September.

So, that glorious thing we call summer vacation is here, and now I have no excuse not to blog. This is pretty much going to be a "what I did today" journal (inspired by my mother's many notebooks). It will also include pictures, because hey, we all like visual aids.

So here's what I did today...

Got up about 9 or so and had breakfast with Meggie. She was going out with a friend for lunch, so my goal was to get the "spare" room cleaned up so that we could turn it into a nursery. Well, I ended up spending the morning farting around, so by the time Meg got home, I had nothing done. No biggie though. Meggie and I worked together to get the room cleaned out. It was kind of like an episode of "Clean Sweep," where we divided stuff into piles to keep, give away, and throw out. Meggie found something to do with all of the piles, while I moved all of the furniture into the guest room. So now, the room is empty, and ready to be prepped for painting.

The BIG accomplishment of the day was the deck. Since a few weeks ago, I have been working on building a deck behind our above ground pool. Right now, we have a rickety ladder, which makes it very difficult for all of us, including Max to get in and out of the pool. It was slow going at first, digging six 4-foot holes, and pouring concrete footings. Then, finding time for my dad to come over and show me how to put up the posts. Last night, my dad and I went to Home Depot to get all of the lumber. He also gave me basic instructions. Today, I figured I got started, and have all of the main beams finished. I will definitely post some pictures.

Now, I will be doing "money stuff" and then going to bed. We have to get up earlier tomorrow, because we will be visiting Meggie's family in Gettysburg this weekend. Well, that's all for now...