making more progress

And with a little skill saw work, another wall came out.  Now serious structural work had been done prior to this last little bit of cutting was done, but the former living room and den separation is no more.

Looking from the kitchen you can sorta get an idea of how it now looks.  Like very different.

 and from the front door, there is the fireplace.

and looking  back towards the kitchen from the front room that used to have no furniture.  (we had gotten rid of what was in there so we could put half of what was in the den in there to make the house look spacious for the realtor who was helping us sell the house-- and she did too -- but we decided we liked it so much we kept it.)  there is a warning message in that rambling sentenace.

So that leads me to the next pic.  Furniture stores.  and I have noticed that they all have a clearance sale sign out front - unless they are changing from one clearance sale sign to another - and we have been going to furniture stores as I mentioned we had no furniture -- horror or horrors !  do you know what biscuit stitching is?  I hope not.

 it is a good thing furniture stores are having sales.  the sales staff will help with colors too.  makes me happy.

Anyway this is the look we are going for.  some may think it is a little over the top, but nah, a little style is what a light airy open look requires- or is contemporary, 

As we entertain so much.  (Kate and/or  Emily might come stay with us again-- and perhaps not at the same time) we thought that we must look at getting a sectional.

And the fireplace is getting a do over too.  Except I am going for buffalo and moose heads

keeping ya posted

yes, Construction has started

and it has taken just a little adjustment on my part too.  the moving around of furniture, possessions, changing of schedule all that -- piece of cake, -- now strangers in the house,  and people wearing shoes, construction boots hold it  Now we are just going a little bet far with this if you ask me.  Check this out.

Not only wearing shoes on the bricks in the front hall that are so easily scratched, but hitting them with a hammer too.  Well those bricks are history now.   They went from 70s green to 90s gray to gone.

not only are people working here but seems like everywhere.  pulling wires for the electricity, engineer checking structural stuff, measuring.  I have had more than a just a little adjustment.  So far I am not completely nuts.  or any more than I already was.  

Our cup-de-sac was a hoppin' place last week as the power company had at one time four monster tree trucks trimming trees along the power lines on our little street and in the cup-de-sac (we needed something else to have going on).  So the neighbor had a dump truck load of mulch delivered.  

One of the things I got to do was get cars and trucks moved around, that is our car in the driveway of the house with the columns.

Let me recommend a a port-a-jon for your front yard.  It is just the thing.  A dumpster for your side yard as we now have beside the garage is also attractive.  Cars and trucks in the driveway that are not yours also good.  Patt is not so fond of the port-a-jon look, not so sure on the dumpster. 

 The cabinets came out of the kitchen in a hurry.  there was a pile of papers, opened mail and notes that had fallen under the bottom of one of them.  Most of the papers were from 1975, but one was a note of chores for the kids that included feed Cisco, fold laundry,

We have saved (because we are who we are I reckon) the upper cabinets.  They may, or may not be hung in the garage in the future.  Need cabinets anyone?

 And I had forgotten what was under the flooring we are replacing.  Red faux tile design linoleum.

 Withe the wall down this is the current and future view from kitchen, past the non-existent sink toward the fireplace and the for the moment refrigerator.

 And this it the turn around view from the fire place back toward the kitchen.   The planned opening between the den and the former living room, soon to be TV room is yet to be accomplished.  The use of that broom could be encouraged if you ask me.

more to come

Bet you can do this better than me

Picking Brackets for the NCAAs

Some people do this, I have done this for years.  I used to do it with pencil and a newspaper and track by checking scores on late editions of of newspapers or by calling friends who were possibly certified also.   Then with the advent of the copy machine and that guy who wants to do an office pool, tracking was taken care of.  

Well, the last couple of years I have entered ESPN's Challenge -- this year there are some 8.3 million entered into their contest.  Winner gets $10,000.  Better than the couple of $100 available at the office where I used to work.  Multiple entries are allowed and some must try to get them all incorrect as the first day there were two entries with all incorrect, yes, some picked 16s to beat ones.  

I however did not try to get them all wrong.  Next year I just might.  Check out my west region.  All I missed were the Zags and the Buckeyes.  With a little work, I believe I can do better - or worse next year.

At present, on Sunday afternoon, Indiana just won and UNC is about to play, (I picked them both) I am currently ranked number 7,849,543.  That puts me in the 3rd.percentile. (3.6 to be precise)   The President is in the 64th.   Dick Vitale is in the 52nd.   I am a lock to get another team out of the east into the sweet sixteen.  From the other regionals, I can do worse.  

How are your brackets doing?  Better than mine I am sure.  

You can see I am a bit of a homer for the ACC, looking forward to seeing Duke lose to Miami once more.  Miami can take 'em says the expert.

A little re-arranging

-

We have moved stuff to the attic

 We have moved stuff to the basement

 In fact we have moved a lot of stuff to the basement.  

There is some stuff in the garage too.  Upstairs stuff was moved too, some to the top of beds, some under beds, but everything was moved.

 The reason we moved stuff to the basement, garage and attic is because there is nothing left on the main floor and little left upstairs.  We have had the popcorn ceilings scraped and re-plastered and painted.  The plaster dust, by the way, can and seemingly does get everywhere.

 The popcorn ceiling was removed wet after the walls and floor were covered in plastic.

Of course, there were a few days that we were not staying at 4307 while this was going on.  There will be a few more days in the future too.  

 Monday contractors start with some serious work on the main level taking out the kitchen and some wall removal between den and kitchen and den and opening up the wall between the front room and the den.  We now have a microwave, hotplate, dorm refrigerator in the basement,-- Paula Dean where are you when I need some advice on cooking?

Well it was no surprise but it was not Wake who won

And indeed while I would have preferred NCSU to have won had Wake not (Stephen most definitely would have), I was quite satisfied that Duke did not and pleased to see Miami win.  I like their team.  They are fun to watch.  Seeing Duke lose was also fun to watch, if you have not had that experience, let me recommend it to you.

That is Dez Wells, a Raleigh kid at the top of the key probably about to lay a monster dunk on Duke, he certainly put enough of them on Wake earlier in the season.  Duke does not handle defeat well.

Saturday morning of the third day, that is the day we "only" have two games, Stephen and I went by Meg's shop in Greensboro as Stephen had a little shopping to do for Jen.  Jen should be pleased.

one of the things you do when you spend two full days at the Coliseum is by definition require a few calories.  Well there are some real opportunities to acquire some too.  Here are a few of the offerings.

 a little unexpected, but there were a number of sweet offerings, even a cupcake stand.

 of course BBQ

 the standards, note the $7.00 hotdog, virtually free, $5.00 popcorn, also virtually free.

 and who knew, "gourmet" fast food

 surprise surprise "FRY FRY"  but of course

After the second game on Saturday, Stephen and I drove back to Raleigh and stopped for a drive through Graham and a delightful visit and dinner with Kelly and Maddie at a restaurant on the banks of the Haw River.  En route, I took Stephen on a nostalgic tour of said fair town including my old elementary school where I attended grades one through eight.  My first grade year the school was a union school or all twelve grades.  It had wooden, oil soaked floors- to keep the dust dow- and large windows, steam radiators, high ceilings, loud cafeteria and small gym.

 For the last day Stephen and I went to the game dressed in our best fan gear, he in a Chris Paul or CP 3 shirt, me in my old lucky shirt - (those are ear plugs, not ear hairs in my ears -they had the volume turned up on the speakers).

 and the Miami fans were few but also decked out.

they also celebrated after the game

 of course Dickie V was there 

Watching Miami get their trophy was fun and reminded me of watching Wake back in 94 and 95.  As we were about to leave, I saw Dave Odom, coach of Wake then and told him how much we had enjoyed celebrating like that when we won.  He smiled and said "thank you-it was fun".   Wonder when we will win it again?  I am not thinking next year.

The ACC in Greensboro

Stephen and I are in Greensboro for the ACC tournament, eleven ball games in four days, in a format of four, four, two and one.  We have thus far seen eight games in two days.  Seen below is Boston College v Georgia Tech in game one, noon, day one.  And a very good game it was.  By the end of the day, we left the Clemson, Florida State game before it was concluded -- best I recall it was not very good but then it would have had to have been great to have been good. 

Day two  photo on the outside (the red shirt on me says I am not wearing Deacon garb, but have switched to NCSU red).  

And here is the high water mark of the Deacons effort against Maryland as we led going into the half 35-30.  That is us in the black. And close looks at the score board and the clock establishes the facts.  I did not take a photo at the end of the the game.

Now Kelly and Beth and Maddie had joined us for the Wake Maryland game, and they also left the Clemson- FSU early -- Beth had an early flight to the west coast was their excuse.  

The Coliseum is well decorated with school banners, posters and all sorts of  paraphernalia food options relative the the occasion.   None of it inexpensive.  They saw me coming.

 After the games, when it is time to go, people do get up and go.  And the place is not for those who get nervous in a crowd, though crowds are well managed and generally very pleasant.  I do not think we resemble a South American or European soccer stadium crowd, or even a USA football crowd.

Between the afternoon and evening sessions, we had dinner at the Coliseum Complex, eschewing driving to a restaurant, and Stephen was overjoyed to have a chance to meet the Lady Wolf.  All the Characters from the teams were present and posed for photos and such.  The dinner crowds were most enjoyable and we lucked into a table the second day with a scout for the NBA Minnesota Timberwolves, and the President of the Greensboro Sports Council who were most interesting.  At the same table was a member of the Maryland Board of Regents, so we had a wide ranging conversation. 

The aforementioned mascots entertained one halftime with a "game"  (I went to a mid-court section for the photo).  We had various half time entertainments, some good, some not so good.

Not everyone found all the games interesting all the time.

 And of course highlights included NCSU winning so far two straight and Duke losing.  So through day two things are going pretty nicely all in all.  Here is NCSU putting it to Virginia.

Eight down and three to go.

Deacon Fan Day

Patt and I went to the last home game of the season Sunday afternoon and it was Deacon Fan Appreciation Day and we were appreciated with a brunch at the Field House at the football stadium before the game.  As is obvious, it was a pretty day and we had a grand time.

 Virginia Tech was the perfect guest too for the final game. (we should play them more often)   They were considerate enough to lose, something that we have been especially good at doing of late.  Here our lone senior is set to make a free throw.  Next week starts the ACC tournament and I am looking forward to going with Stephen.

some new furniture

Patt and I have signed a contract to have some renovations done to our house: take out a few walls, new kitchen and stuff like that.  We also happen to be shopping for a few new pieces of furniture and an "accent" piece or two according to the interior decorator.  The purple, white, orange, and yellow deer certainly is an accent piece and we have a potential chair in sight.  The subtle pattern is sorta me, don't you think?