Saturday, July 07, 2007

How I spent the Fourth of July

Well I spent the Fourth of July starting the second summer of DIY/This Old House - Cleveland edition.

My railing on the porch has been in bad shape for some time now and I finally decided to do something about it. The first order of business was to try and salvage the mailbox. It has sentimental value since it has my dad's name on the top of it in metal letters. Well I fought with that thing for over an hour trying to get it off the railing. Ummm considering it was attached to the railing for at least 40 + years it was not budging. I finally got the top of the mailbox off the rest of the mailbox and had to be satisfied with that.

I forgot to take any pictures pre-demo so we only have after pictures today.

The railing was really easy to get off (helps that it was rusted out where the rails met the steps) and I had no trouble getting it to the curb. Happily it did not actually leave with the garbage men on garbage day. Someone came by with a truck the night before and loaded it up to take to the scrap yard. Of course once I had the railing off I decided the carpeting that was on the stairs also needed to go. It was pretty much falling off the bottom step and was very torn on the second step.




Of course once I got everything off the steps it dawned on me.... I no longer have anywhere for the mailman to leave my junk mail (trust me - that is most of my mail). So it was off to the Home Depot to look for new railing and a mailbox. The railing they had (which I had looked at last week) turns out to be a bit longer than the railing that was removed so I am waiting for that until I do some more measuring.

I did get a mail box and a post. There was much swearing involved while installing the post (it's still a bit wobbly) since the screws (provided) don't fit well into the screw holes (predrilled).



I was thinking about painting a sheep on the side of the mailbox to go along with my knitting obsession. Which is why I have a black mailbox on a white post (plus it was the only not REALLY REALLY expensive post they had at the depot).

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Wrapping Up the Sock

Remember the sock that kept meeting people at book signings? Well the pair has been finished since the beginning of May when I went on my guild bus trip.

The sock did get one more brush with glory though... we had lunch at Tony Packo's
(Klinger's favorite restaurant on M*A*S*H) in Toledo. They are known for having celebrities sign a hot dog bun which is then displayed on the walls of the restaurant. As a side note - I am now hopelessly addicted to their pickles and peppers....YUMMY!!! Also I really recommend their stuffed cabbage platter if you're even in Toledo (mine came with parika dumplings and a sausage). Oh and the fried pickles are also awesome (darn it now I'm hungry!)






I was delighted to find Scott Hamilton's signed bun (geesh that doesn't sound very good does it??)

And since Scott himself wasn't available for sock holding I did the next best thing -



Of course maybe someday I'll get Scott to hold another sock since he does an annual benefit for the Cleveland Clinic cancer center, but until then this will have to do.

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Scattergories

Well after a total kick ass workout tonight at the Y, we will once again be swiping something from another blog for today's post.

It’s SCATTERGORIES, and it’s really fun (of course it helps that this is one of my favorite board games)! Thanks again to JenLa.....

Here are the rules:
~Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following.
~They MUST be real places, names, things…NOTHING made up!
~If you can’t think of anything, skip it.
~Try to use different answers if the person before you had the same 1st initial.
~You CAN’T use your name for the boy/girl name question.

Have fun!

Your Name: Mary

1. Famous Singer/Band: Meatloaf/Michael Stanley Band (trust me they are/were huge in Cleveland)

2. 4 letter word: More

3. Street Name: Mullholland Drive

4. Color: Mauve

5. Gifts/Presents: Money

6. Vehicle: Mustang

7. Things in a Souvenir Shop: Mousepad

8. Boy Name: Michael

9. Girl Name: Maude

10. Movie Title: The Money Pit

11. Drink: Mojito

12. Occupation: Medical Assistant

13. Celebrity: Morgan Freeman

14. Magazine: Ms.


15. U.S. City: Modesto, CA

16. Pro Sports Teams: Marlins

18. Reason for Being Late for Work: Morning traffic

19. Something You Throw Away: Melon rinds

20. Things You Shout: Moron

21. Cartoon Character: Mary Worth

Okay. Your turn!

(I've double checked both JenLa and the blog they got it from and for some reason there is no 17 - in case anyone was wondering)

Sunday, July 01, 2007

All Audiences Approved

Found this over on Stephannie's page and decided to have the blog "rated." I guess if this place was a movie I would be more Disney/Pixar than Miramax.


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