A Few Sights...

Hooray! My cold is gone! I will swear by Crown Royal from now on...

Today, Noah and I just hung around the house while Kendall was at school. I did my normal everyday tasks...making the beds, doing a little laundry, picking up around the house, cleaning up the kitchen, etc. etc. etc. Noah just played around the house and out back, sometimes with Scout, sometimes just with me or by himself.

It's a beautiful fall day, and here are some of the sights around our place today...

My view out the back of the house.








A few nice looking weeds...still flowering.










Scout, running around the backyard, looking for someone to play with.







Noah, busy as usual. He wouldn't even stop to look at me!









Chickens, chickens, and more chickens!







Haley, sitting in the sun.











The last few cherry tomatoes of the season.




Happy Fall, everyone!

Sick!

I am sick.

Not throwing-up, diarrhea sick. Just the headache, stuffy head, sore throat, extreme fatigue variety.

But it still sucks.

I even had to have Barry come home from work today because I was not fit to take care of Noah and the dog. How sad is that? My head hurt so bad and I was so tired that I couldn't take care of THE DOG. Oy vey.

Why was I so tired, you ask? I was up until 2:30 am last night because I couldn't sleep. Oh, I was tired all right, my eyes would hardly stay open! But I couldn't get comfortable, and my throat was burning to the point of not being able to breathe. So at about that time of night, when my mind is totally not right, I finally decide that the only way to get to sleep is to do a shot of whiskey. Sounds reasonable, right? Here's my reasoning: #1, the alcohol will kill any bacteria that's trying to make a home in my throat, as well as numb it so I can sleep. #2, alcohol always makes me sleepy. So, that is what I did. Made my way into the kitchen at 2:30 to pour myself a shot. Let's just say that lit me right up! But it must have done the trick, because the last time I looked at the clock, it was 2:51.

So there you go, folks...whiskey - the best medicine out there, apparently!

The Kissing Hand

Last night, while we were riding in the car on the way home from Kendall's soccer game, she asked me for my left hand. Curiously, I wrapped my arm around my seat so she could reach it. She gingerly held my hand and turned it palm up. I had no idea what I was in for, so I said, "Don't you dare lick my hand, Kendall-Bug!"

She just looked at me with this look that said "don't be ridiculous", and went about her business. She kissed my hand so lightly that I barely felt it. Then she sat up, looking very pleased with herself, and asked...
"Did you feel that, Mama?"
"Yes, Kendall-bug. It was so nice! Thank you!"
"That's something I learned last week. Your left hand is called your kissing hand and if someone who loves you kisses you right in the middle of your palm, you'll feel the warmness go all the way up your arm to your heart! And then you can feel it there everytime you think of that person! Did you feel it, Mama? Did you??"

Well, what could I say? I was floored...never saw that one coming. The tears welled up in my eyes immediately. (Yes, having kids has turned me into an emotional wreck!) So I did the only thing I could, and told her that of course I felt it and that was the sweetest thing anyone had done for me all week. Of course, now she was doubly pleased with herself...and Barry was just sitting there with a look on his face that said, "THE BAR HAS JUST BEEN RAISED. SHIT."

Insanity? Who are you calling insane???

Ok, folks, I promise this is the last one for a while...but I really enjoyed it! Thanks, Sue for sending it to me! And I do think I will practice #9 today at my local Walmart...oh wait...I don't go there anymore. Maybe at my local Kroger!



19 Ways to Maintain a Healthy Level of Insanity:

1. At Lunch Time, Sit In Your Parked Car With Sunglasses on and point a Hair Dryer At Passing Cars. See If They Slow Down.

2. Page Yourself Over The Intercom. Don't Disguise Your Voice.

3. Every Time Someone Asks You To Do Something, Ask If They Want Fries with that.

4. Put Your Garbage Can On Your Desk And Label It 'In.'

5. Put Decaf In The Coffee Maker For 3 Weeks. Once Everyone has Gotten Over Their Caffeine Addictions, Switch to Espresso.

6. In The Memo Field Of All Your Checks, Write 'For Smuggling Diamonds'

7. Finish All Your sentences with 'In Accordance With The Prophecy.'

8. Don t use any punctuation

9.. As Often As Possible, Skip Rather Than Walk.

10. With a serious face, order a Diet Water whenever you go out to eat.

11. Specify That Your Drive-through Order Is 'To Go.'

12. Sing Along At The Opera.

13. Go To A Poetry Recital And Ask Why The Poems Don't Rhyme.

14. Put Mosquito Netting Around Your Work Area And Play tropical Sounds All Day.

15. Five Days In Advance , Tell Your Friends You Can't Attend Their Party Because You're Not In The Mood.

16. Have Your Co-workers Address You By Your Wrestling Name, Rock Bottom.

17. When The Money Comes Out The ATM, Scream 'I Won! I Won!'

18. When Leaving The Zoo, Start Running Toward The Parking lot, Yelling 'Run For Your Lives, They're Loose!!'

19. Tell Your Children Over Dinner, 'Due To The Economy, We Are Going To Have To Let One Of You Go.'

I'm wondering which ones you all might be willing to try!

Things to Think About

My friend Sarah emailed this to me today. I quite enjoyed it. Especially the part at the end that said, "And always remember....when life hands you lemons, ask for tequila and salt and call me over!"

1. There are at least two people in this world that you would die for.

2. At least 15 people in this world that love you in some way.

3. The only reason anyone would ever hate you is because they want to be just like you.

4. A smile from you can bring happiness to anyone, even if they don't like you.

5. Every night, SOMEONE thinks about you before they go to sleep.

6. You mean the world to someone.

7. You are special and unique.

8. Someone that you don't even know exists loves you.

9. Even when you make the biggest mistake ever, something good comes from it.

10.When you think the world has turned its back on you take another look.

11. Always remember the compliments you received. Forget about the rude remarks.

I'm NICE!!!

Took me a few days to get to this, but I think it may have just sunk in! Someone actually thinks I'm nice!!!

And that someone is Logzie...Awwwww, ain't she sweet? Thanks, girl!

This came at a really good time, because I was starting to think that I wasn't so nice! All these rants and people getting on my nerves...it was really keepin' me in a tizzy! But, now, since I've been given this award, I have no choice but to BE NICE.

So, to celebrate...here are some nice thoughts that rolled around in this big ol' head of mine today:

The girl at Verizon is really good at trying to make a bad situation better. At least she's trying!

Kendall's teacher keeps commenting on her amazing kindness...and it's true. Kendall is amazingly kind to everyone! And I so appreciate her teacher mentioning it!

I love my home, and I love being here. Wish I could be here more!

One of my clients has lost some weight and she looks great! I made sure to tell her so!

I let a friend who is dealing with a sucky situation know I was thinking of her today.

I spoke to a stranger today, just to be nice. (I have a reputation to uphold, you know!)

I didn't charge a client today who cancelled at the last minute.

I am lucky to have so many really great, REAL friends.

My hubby is really and truly the best person I know.

I can't wait to see the kids tomorrow morning so I can smooch all over them! (I really miss them on Tuesdays and Thursdays, since I am gone all day and they are in bed when I get home.)

And last, but not least, I am so happy to have met all of my blogging buddies out there. I enjoy each and every one of your blogs...and always look forward to seeing what is going on in your world! Keep it up, folks! And know that even if I am not commenting, I am still reading!

Oh yeah, and to pass on the nice award...I nominate Kristin, who is always humorous and real...I love her stories. And just to be a smart ass, I nominate Rick...not only because I think he's nice (obviously...duh!), and also just because I will get a kick out of seeing this girly pink award on his blog! HA!

Toothless Wonder

It's happened again! Another tooth has popped out!

And now, Kendall has NO front teeth. Tell you what...she's really taking that tooth fairy to the bank! And what's her biggest concern? The fact that corn on the cob is virtually impossible to eat with no front teeth!

Also, she is entertaining herself (and the rest of us) with things that sound funny when she says them. Some examples...

She sells seashells by the seashore.
Washing machine
silly slithery slippers
Dr. Seuss
accident
tennis shoes
juicy fruit
strawberries
actually
slushy
chickens

As if she didn't talk enough already...now she actually ENTERTAINS herself by talking!!!!! Aaaarrrggghhh!

Construction, Brownies, and Soccer...Oh My!

Lots of things going on around here this weekend...and I sure am tired tonight! After Jodi's birthday night out (which we didn't get home from until 2:00 am), I had to get up early the next morning for Kendall's theater class...ugh. 7:00 came way too fast, I tell ya! Then we were supposed to go to Jodi's surprise party that night, but we were just too tired, to be honest. I have been fighting a severe headache all week, and just couldn't get myself motivated to go. So...we stayed here and watched Blades of Glory with Will Ferrell. Love that guy!!! The movie was funny and I got quite a few laughs, so I felt a bit better after...but still went to bed as soon as it was over. We knew Dad and Taffy would be here super early in the morning.

We also had lots of help on the deck this weekend. Barry's friend Jon came out on Saturday to help for a few hours, and then he came back today too, as did our friend Chad and Dad & Taffy. They got a lot done...they laid quite a bit of the decking and also got the stringers for the steps put up.


Of course, we ate lots of good food, as usual. And dinner was not complete tonight without Ghiradelli brownies...(thanks to some help from my little monkey!) He loves his chocolate!

Then today, Kendall had her very first soccer game. I wasn't sure how they would do, since the six year old attention span is not necessarily spot on...but those kids did GREAT! I mean, there were some real go-getters out there! No one got confused about which goal was theirs, and they all played with good sportsmanship. But, I must admit that the game was not without drama...and of course, it starred the one and only Kendall! She was right in the mix and the ball was kicked loose...she took off to run and tripped over someone's foot and went flying, belly down. She didn't get up (of course!) and then started crying because she hurt her pinky finger. She had to be escorted off the field by her coach. But don't worry...she was fine after a minute to sit and a drink of water. She toughened up a bit after the half...the next time she fell, she popped right back up and kept running...so I was happy about that. In the end, the other team won, 2-1... but that's all right. The kids weren't bothered by it, and it was fun anyway. So here are a few pics from the game...
So that's it in a nutshell (Help! How did I get into this nut? What kind of tree has a nut this big, anyway? ...Austin Powers, of course)...nothing real exciting, but hey, I tried! Maybe I can drum up something spectacular this week....we'll just have to see!

Happy 40th Jodi!

Here she is...the birthday girl! Girls' night out was fun, as usual. Dinner and drinks at Martini, then off to Park St. Patio for more drinks and dancing. The funniest part of the night was the pickup line a guy gave Deetra. He walked up and said, "Are you a librarian?" (Seriously? That's the best you can do?) She said no, and he replied, "You look like you could be!"
So then, Kirsten had to get in on the action...

"She's a stripper."
"Cool! Hey, speaking of strippers, we're going to the strip clubs later tonight...you girls should go with us! "
"Uh, yeah...that would be NO."
"Why? Seriously, it's fun! We could go, get f@%$&* up, watch some girls dance...it's really fun, dude!"
"Uh, yeah...that would STILL be NO."
"You guys SERIOUSLY don't know what you're missing! It's so fun!"
"Uh, yeah, still NO." (And go AWAY!)

Ok, so really now...WTF? Do girls really enjoy going to strip clubs these days? YUCK. I have no desire to see a bunch of men oggling a bunch of women with silicone-filled naughty pillows dancing around in order to get their thongs filled with money. I can think of no less than 1,000 things I would rather do. And what's up with that sad, sad pickup line anyway? Let me be clear here, folks...I DO NOT WISH THAT DATING SCENE ON MY MOST MORTAL ENEMY. No way, no how. I can safely say that I left that world behind with no regrets, no looking back.

Anyway, we girls did have a good time...here are a few more pics for your viewing pleasure. I know they aren't the most exciting pictures, but I don't know what happened...most of them didn't turn out - blurry, dark, whatever. Oh well...enjoy anyway!

Silliness

I made chocolate chip cookies the other day....with Ghiradelli chocolate chips...MMMMMM! Kendall helped, of course...but I am not fooled! It was not out of the goodness of her heart, but out of the desire to eat chocolate chips, globs of cookie dough, and the first cookies out of the oven... and here's the proof!As I was taking her picture, she asked me if I could take a silly picture, so of course I obliged! And here's what she came up with. Yeah, that's silly for sure! She's such a goofball!! I told her if she didn't stop doing that with her eyes that they would stay that way...but she didn't believe me!
Noah and Barry tore them up too. In fact, Barry cannot control himself around cookies! Those cookies are almost gone, I tell you! And finally, here is something I forgot to show you after last weekend! My dad built me a window box for the front of my house! Isn't it awesome??? I filled it with mums for the fall, but next spring I will fill it with an herb garden. This is my kitchen window, so I think it will be so nice to just lean out my window and pull the herbs I need! I am so lucky to be surrounded by such handy men!

Today I am working and then I have to come home and make a gift for my friend Jodi's birthday. We are going out to celebrate her 40th tomorrow night, so watch out
Columbus! We are headed to Martini's and then out to Bar Louie for some music and dancing. I am soooo looking forward to it! Maybe I'll take my camera....would you all like to see some pictures of a bunch of moms getting a night out??

Come on, now...

Ok, ok...I will be the first to admit that I am not Britney's biggest fan.

But come on...how can anyone seriously look at her and call her FAT? Are you kidding me?!? She looks great! I WISH my belly and boobs looked like that! Yes, folks, she may not have her previous "18-year-old-before-I-had-two-babies" body, but hell, people! Who does??? I just think it's really crappy to kick her not only when she's down, but for NOTHING, to boot!

Has this girl made mistakes? Most definitely.

Is she having a hard time coping with an adult life? Clearly.

Does she have a solid foundation and a good source for guidance? Most assuredly not.

Is that a reason to pick on her for being thicker around the middle than she was 3 years ago? NO.

Come ON! I'd like to parade some of these journalists around in that outfit and see what kind of muffin-tops would be spilling over! Now THAT would be something. And as far as the argument concerning the fact that she sells "the whole package", including sexiness...ok, I'll buy that. But I truly believe you'll be hard pressed to find a group of men who don't consider her sexy, even in her post-baby stage. Hell, I'm a girl, and I think she's sexy! (Admittedly, not the girl you probably want to marry and procreate with, but sexy nonetheless!)

Yes, I watched the performance. And no, I didn't feel like it was up to her standards. Not by a long shot. She was sluggish and barely even danced. She looked lost,or drunk, or tired...or something! But leave her alone about her body please. It's just cruel and unnecessary...and let's be real here...there are plenty of other things to pick on her about! So pick something valid!

Boy, I'm just full of piss & vinegar here lately, aren't I???

Why I Hate Wal-Mart

I hate Wal-Mart. Yesireee, I do. And I'm sorry if you love it...you can stop reading now if you do, because I feel a rant coming on!

Unfortunately, there is not much in my little town BUT a Wal-Mart. And a Kroger. But that is beside the point. Anyway, because of there not being much else, I sometimes have to run in to Wal-Mart to pick something up instead of running all the way to Columbus. I despise this course of action, because...well, as I've just said, I hate Wal-Mart!

Why, do you ask? Well, there are actually a whole lot of reasons...

1.) Sure, they have low prices...but at what cost? Their attempts to drive prices lower ultimately force American companies out of business, therefore causing not only the loss of well-paying American jobs, but also sending these jobs overseas to places like China. And we all know how that is turning out right about now with all the recalls. Then they want to talk all about how they employ so many Americans, but in reality, they are pushing the well-paying jobs out of the country and then replacing them with low-paying jobs that carry crappy benefits and hours. And yet, America loves Wal-Mart. It's sad. People don't even see what it's doing to us. But hey, I bet China loves Wal-mart too!

2.) They push the little guys out of business. You know what? The Mom & Pop store around the corner might have higher prices, but you can bet they will have better service...and knowledge. You won't get some 17 year old kid selling you something from the hardware department that he's never heard of or used before. Your cashier at the locally-run grocery may actually know the difference between a zucchini and a cucumber!

3.) And that brings us to customer service...they SUCK! There is no one ever around to help you, and if there is...well, they probably won't know anything about what you need. They are always from a different department! The Customer Service desk offers anything BUT customer service. There is always a line 15 people deep, and the employees rarely make eye contact or smile. Today when I was there, they had 3 lanes open out of like, 20. Come on! It's a Sunday afternoon, people! When your 3 lanes are running 10 people deep, it's time to get some people on lane! And when you finally DO send someone out, can you PLEASE not make it the surly customer service desk worker who is bitching about not getting her 15 minute smoke break?

4.) I'm pretty sure their security is a joke. Today when I was leaving (with my cart full of BAGGED groceries) the young man greeting at the doors asked to see my receipt. OK, well, if I'm really honest, he demanded to see it. Parked himself right in front on my cart and demanded to see my receipt. SERIOUSLY???? It's not like I was walking out with one of those big plasma screen tvs. I almost just said no and kept walking. What the hell was he going to do about it? Glad I wasn't trying to rip off Wal-mart...he had me on his radar for sure! ***Insert hugely dramatic eye-roll here***

5.) Wal-mart employees with attitude. For instance, the girl working the photo department today. I needed to get one single 4x6 print made for Kendall to take to school tomorrow, so I opted for the Kodak "quickie" machine. You know, the one you slide your memory stick in and it just prints out the pictures right then and there??? Well, if only it went that smoothly. Today, there were 2 ladies in front of us when we got there. The first lady's prints were printing and the second lady was processing hers, so we went and picked up the cat food and came back. By now, it was just the second lady waiting for her pictures to print, so I went ahead and started my order of ONE 4x6 print. The lady in front of us had a grand total of 16 4x6 prints. Can I tell you how long it took for me to get my print? 30 minutes. Yep, that's right. Flippin' ridiculous. Then, I went over to the picture counter to ask for a marked envelope so I could pay for my picture up at the checkout. Do you know what she did? She pulled out my picture, looked at it, and said (very rudely, I might add), "Who took this picture?" I replied that we took it at Disneyland. She said, "Well, I need to see the original." I told her there was no original. It was on my memory stick...and I showed it to her. So she then acted very put-out and got me my envelope for a whopping $0.28. Boy, I'm sure glad she caught me trying to rip off Wal-mart! Gotta love those 18 year old Wal-mart employees who think they are the copyright police. Actually, I think this girl was over 18. Although she WAS wearing this huge guy's classring on her index finger. And here's the funny thing...the year on it was 2002. Say it with me folks, CLASS-SSY...

Anybody want to go to Wal-mart???

(And yes, you may want to side with my dear hubby and say that if it weren't Wal-mart, it would just be another big-chain retail store, and you would probably be right...but I still HATE Wal-mart!)

Saturday Morning

Yippee! It's Saturday Morning!

And yet, for some reason, I feel blah. You know what I mean, don't you?

Here I have a weekend free of plans...the only things I must do are finish the laundry and go to my acupuncture appointment at 4:00. Oh, and we are talking about going to the South Vienna Corn Festival tonight for some of that yummy festival food and to let the kids ride a few rides. And of course, Barry is thrilled to have the entire weekend to devote to the building of the deck. Other than that...nothing! I've been dreaming of a weekend like this for a long time, and yet....BLAH. It really pisses me off to feel this way...

I've also had a hard time blogging this week. I just don't feel like I have anything interesting to say, and if I did, I don't think I'd be able to say it in an interesting way...so no blogging. THIS is my attempt to break my yucky little cycle!

So, to that end, here is my one funny little thing that happened this week...

Kendall had this loose tooth on the bottom...and she had been working it all week to get it really loose. On Sunday night, we almost had her convinced to let Barry help her get it out. (It was just barely hanging on, and looked to really be bothering her.) But in the end, she decided she wanted to wait until the next day. Well, Monday came and went, and still that little tooth was hanging on for dear life. So she went to school on Tuesday and of course, I didn't get home from work that night until after she was in bed...but when we were getting ready for school on Wednesday morning, she says,

"Oh yeah Mama! Look at THIS!" And she opens her mouth real wide to expose a wide expanse in the center of her bottom jaw.

"Wow, Kendall-bug! When did that happen? Did you remember to..." And almost immediately panic sets in. Why didn't Barry tell me? I didn't perform my coveted duties last night...what will she think if the tooth fairy didn't visit and take that little pearl of a tooth?! Did Barry take care of it? How could he not tell me?

"Oh no, Mama...I don't know where it is. See, yesterday after lunch we sat down for story time and of course, I put my finger in my mouth to wiggle my tooth and it was GONE! I got really upset and started crying because I didn't know what happened to it! But my teacher got me calmed down and said maybe I swallowed it when I was eating lunch! What will happen now? (Said with teary eyes...) What will the tooth fairy think of me losing my tooth? She probably won't even leave me a prize! (And you can see the panic start to set in now...)

"No worries, Kendall-bug! We'll just write her a little note to explain what happened. I'm sure things like this happen all the time and kids still get their prize. We'll do it tonight. Thank goodness!

So that night, she sat down and wrote a letter to the tooth fairy...and it went like this:

Dear Toth Fari,
I lost my toth and I can't find it. Leave me a prise please.
xoxo,
Kendall

I love her little notes! Of course, that note has a new little home...somewhere safe and sound. And, not surprisingly, that toth fari left her a little something...just because she's too darn cute!

Progress

After a long weekend of work, much progress has been made!

Barry and Dad worked their tails off this weekend, I tell you! We had lots of good food though, to compensate for all the hard work! Grilled steak, fresh tomatoes and mozzarella, spinach salad, ice cream, banana bread, fresh scrambled eggs, impossible pie, grapefruit, corn on the cob, more fresh tomatoes, grilled chicken marinated in soy sauce, cantaloupe, brownies, and of course MORE ICE CREAM! Oh, and 6 pitchers of lemonade! No one went hungry or thirsty around here, but hey, that's par for the course!

Dad put a couple of the Trex boards down over by my bedroom door, so I could come on out and sit on what will be my deck...and all I can say is "WOW...." What a view! I can't wait for this thing to be finished so we can get out there and enjoy it! I'm already making plans for my hammock!

Hope you all had a great holiday weekend...and hope you didn't work as hard as we did!

12 years...DID YOU SAY 12 YEARS????

Yep, I did. 12 years. That's how long we've been married. 12 years to the day!

Since we just got back from vacation and had so much work to do around here, we made no big plans. My dad and Taffy are here to help with the deck, so no....no plans. But that's ok! Really, it is. We don't go all out for anniversaries (at least MOST years)...opting instead to just spend some real time together and enjoying each other's company. So we cooked out last night and sat around playing with the kids and talking. It was really nice.

But, I WAS surprised to find these, picked out just for me...
That's right, one rose for every year of wedded bliss! Awwww, how sweet! I don't get flowers very often, so this was really fun for me...and I really love them! Although Kendall is waiting to get her hot little hands on them, as she has been coveting them since Barry gave them to me. I told her she could have one in a couple of days...and she is already trying to pick which one she wants! Barry said if he'd have been thinking, he'd have gotten her one all her own! Oh well, live and learn...

I seriously can't believe we've been married this long. It doesn't feel like it! But I guess when you look at everything we've accomplished in that amount of time, it HAS to be 12 years!

1. We've finished school.
2. We've each had a few different jobs...but have ended up happy with what we have now.
3. I started and still own my own business.
4. We've built a house, finished that house, sold that house.
5. We've built this house, and are STILL finishing this house. (But we will NOT be selling this house!)
6. We've had two awesome children, two cats, a dog, and 12 chickens.
7. We've gone on countless trips...to Mexico (twice), Jamaica, Grand Cayman, South Carolina (many times), California (3 times), Las Vegas (twice), Florida (twice), South Padre Island, and Canada, just to name a few...
8. We've owned 7 vehicles...and still own 3 of them! Technically 4, if you count Barry's high-school ride, the Chevelle Laguna (which is still sitting in his Dad's barn awaiting the day Barry can spend the money to get her fixed back up).
9. We've taken thousands of pictures, made thousands of purchases, and shared thousands of ideas...
   

I still think we are the perfect team! Love you bunches, honey!

Looking forward to the next 12...it just gets better and better!

End of the week wrap-up

So let's see...what has been happening around here? Well, for starters, Kendall found a new toad. This toad was soooo fat...and so cute! He kept chirping at her when she carried him around, talking to him. Anyway, she named this newfound toad Bumpy. As usual, when she finds a new "friend", she insists that we take a picture of it so she can remember it. So, anyway, meet Bumpy...

Then, of course, Tuesday was the first day of school. Kendall started first grade at a brand new school. So here she is!
We found out that Scout really likes the rawhide bones...so we bought him one as a present for graduating his puppy class with flying colors! Here's the big boy (did I tell you he's over 50 lbs already???), enjoying his new bone...
Then last night, I met my friend Heather for dinner. We live about an hour and 10 minutes away from each other, but try to get together once a month for dinner and good adult conversation...and we meet halfway. So, Rick, if you're reading this, I shot you a wave as I drove by Springfield on I-70! We had such a good time...and of course, followed up dinner with some Graeter's ice cream!

Other than that, just an all around busy week, getting into our new schedule and all. Barry is still working on the deck and making great headway. I will have some more new pictures to share after this weekend, as my Dad is coming to give Barry a hand. So, wish us luck everyone! I can't wait to see this deck when it's finished...it's going to be awesome!!!!