Ice Storm Cleanup
After nearly two and a half months, we’re mostly cleaned up from the ice storm. We’re not completely done, but things are getting back to normal. As the trees begin to grow new leaves, the damage from the storm will be covered up somewhat.
All the fallen branches are gone, though we have a lot of small sticks that we’re paying The Boy by the trashcan to pick up to put out for yard waste pickup every week. It’ll take a while, but he’ll get it and, hopefully, learn something about the satisfaction of working hard and getting paid for that work.
Our back porch cover was smashed by a large branch that fell from our sycamore, and it’s been taken down and hauled away. We’re now left with just a concrete slab porch that’s not all that enjoyable or useful. But, luckily, a good friend is an architecture student, and he and a classmate are going to design and build us a new deck. They’re going to start after the semester’s over in a few weeks, so we should have a great new deck by the end of May! The best part is, since they want a real-world project that’s actually been built in their portfolios, they’re going to do the labor themselves for free! All I have to do is pay for the materials, though I plan to help them build it, as well. Look for updates as soon as we get started.









So, I’m going to be 40 years old at the end of July 2009. For the last seven to eight years, I’ve slowly gained weight until I’m back at the size I was when I dropped 40+ pounds 10 years ago. My primary goal for this year is to lose 40 pounds by my 40th birthday.