September 2007 Archives

After selling our house and moving from the "Big City" to our farm in Northwest Georgia we had to make a decision whether to build new or remodel a somewhat basic 1960's ranch.  After getting settled and weighing all the options we decided that for now we would table the grand plan of building in favor of the remodel.  I'm not sure what the architects of the 60's were thinking when they designed this house, but let's just say it's easy to see that this was a decade of free thought and living for lack of a better phrase. 

After asking friends and family, we found a contractor, Tim Middlebrooks of Rock Spring, GA,(black ball cap) who came highly recommended.  We also found a cabinet maker, Olivers Cabinets, in Chickamauga, GA who does excellent work.  Deciding who to do the work was easy - the hard part has been waiting our turn in the queue which is now finally over!  My wonderful wife will no longer have to do the dishes by hand - yes we have no dishwasher and haven't had for the last seven months.  Guests will have a nice kitchen table, den or screened porch in which to comfortably visit.  Of high importance to the men in the house is that we will now be able to watch my Kansas City Chiefs play football on Sunday brought to me by the new hi-def flat screen.  Men take note:  If you promise your wife a remodel in the kitchen and a dishwasher you are entitled to treat yourself to some type of new audio visual equipment - trust me, this works.

So we are excited that the crew has arrived and we look forward to keeping you updated in the coming days and weeks as we attempt to put some character (not characters) in this 1960's ranch house.  

Until next time - Mike

 

 

What a difference two weeks makes, especially when one of those weeks was spent in lovely southern California.  We came home one week ago today from family vacation and we've been blessed with lower temps and wonderful breezes that speak of fall to come.

California was great; Ventura and the central coast is lovely and after the five weeks of 95-100 degree days we had lived through in August, I was ready to move west.  Ocean breezes, sweaters at night, no sweating during the day:  sign me up!  We finished up our treat week back in Anaheim at Disneyland and California Adventures, where the temps were much warmer than Ventura and the action-packed days combined to slow me down considerably.

Making this trip possible was Aunt Karyl Lynn, the best aunt in North America.  Nana was also able to fly out from Kansas and hang with us for the week.  Nana and I sat out a lot at Disneyland and waited on Daddy, Karyl Lynn and the boys to ride and race and float and rollercoaster.  Let's just say there are a lot of "experiences" at Disneyland that are off-limits to expectant mothers, and we'll leave it at that.  That and the vertigo I felt just watching the Mad Hatter's Teacups spin around with my whole family inside.

Coming home was wonderful, too.  Nothing like sleeping in my own bed.  The chickens really kicked up their daily production while we were away and they seemed to miss us.  At least they acted pretty happy to see us, and I don't think I was imagining their extra attentiveness.

Then, the best blessing of all:  a lovely, slow moving tropical storm filled to the brim with lots of rain!  Praise God!  Humberto was loved and appreciated by the Burns family to the point where the three year old is still walking around the house telling God, "thank you for the rain, and the rain, and the rain".  We saw about 6 inches fall over the course of almost 24 hours, and the dry cracked ground just soaked it all up.  The run-off that made it to the creeks and branches stayed within the banks and did not flood.  It was a beautiful sight to see.

Following the storm, we've had wonderful cooler nighttime temps and the days have been lovely 70's with bright sun and a breeze.  Makes me want a porch.  But that's another story altogether......