Tag: Taylor

The Tale of Two Cities

We had planned a getaway for Memorial day that was a little quirky and not like us.  Little did we know that a tornado would get in the way.  Due to said tornado, I had closed myself emotionally.  While you could say I had a “good time.”  I don’t have any emotions to go along with the trip, something I typically have.  My wife wrote a blog post from her point of view, I highly recommend reading to see the contrast in our points of view.

We left as soon as we could on the Friday after the tornado and drove about halfway to our destination, St. Joseph / Benton Harbor Michigan.  We stayed the night in Lafayette, leaving early so we could arrive at our destination early.

As soon as we arrived, we learned about these two cities the hard way.  There seems to be a strong sense of division.  While St. Joseph is a nice, quaint resort community, Benton Harbor shows all of the “what used to be” looks.  There are many homes that used to be mansions, but are now dilapidated; some even boarded up.  It’s downtown area almost looks like a ghost town from the 1950’s.  There is some new growth, but it still feels like a ghetto.

The first thing we did was check into our hotel.  It was a pretty funky Courtyard by Marriott.  We decided to find something to eat, explore, and just relax that evening.  The views from St. Joseph are absolutely amazing.  It’s a great little resort community.  The whole time I was contemplating about what was happening back home and trying to calm my nerves by smoking copious amounts of tobacco.

Sunday was a mixed bag of not great weather conditions, so the beach was not an option.  After having the best breakfast I’ve ever had at any hotel, we headed for St. Joseph.  Our first stop was downtown.  They have a charming area filled with high fashion shops, and typical small town businesses.  They have animal statues on just about every corner, decorated in many different ways.  Taylor loved the “Cash Cow,” a cow covered with REAL money.  It was of course in front of a bank.  My fave was “Vincent Van Goat,” which had a depiction of “Starry Night” on one side and “Irises” on the other.

We then went to the most interesting pizza place I’ve ever been to.  Silver Beach Pizza is a pizza place located within an Amtrak train station.  I had an ice cold beer and a very good barbecue chicken pizza.  It was most excellent!

We then went to the Curious Kids museum.  It was fun for both the girls.  Taylor enjoyed encapsulating herself in a bubble.  Amelia enjoyed the water table, and acting OCD with random items.  They’ve ran out of space in the converted brick house they are located in, so with the price of admission you can also access their addition, which is located next to the indoor carousel.  We then went there.  They have stuff even the adults can appreciate.  They have a climbing wall, water tables galore, space items.  It was quite fascinating and good stuff.  We then went and had fun with the carousel.
We were a bit nervous, as Amelia had never been on one before.  She was a trooper, and had a blast.  It was good family fun for all!

Amelia’s nap time was approaching, so we headed back to the hotel.  Which was perfect timing, as a severe storm approached.  After going through the tornado, this was the first time a storm actually scared me.

That night, we played in the pool – all of us.  This hotel has a very interesting pool, it has an indoor and outdoor section; you can swim to either section through an opening in a glass wall.  We then found an arcade was in a mall not too far away and decided to check it out.  What we discovered was a mall that was essentially dead.  There were no anchor stores at all.  While there were interior stores, there weren’t that many.  We played for an hour or so and then went back to the hotel.

The next morning, we stopped at beautiful Silver Beach.  The difference between an ocean’s beach and a large lake’s beach is pure calm.  It’s an amazing place, with an amazing view.  The girls had fun, I put Amelia’s feet in the cold water and she didn’t want to leave!  The sand was so fine and plush that we decided to bring home a bucket full.  We all have glass jars of it to help remember the experience.

As fun end to our short trip, we stopped at Fair Oak’s Farm in northern Indiana.  It’s a large dairy farm that gives tours and offers many learning opportunities for children about where our dairy products come from.  We took a bus tour, which takes you through some of their barns to see how the cows live and what they eat.  Amelia sat with me, and I told her that these are cows, they go “moo.”  She started repeating me, it was adorable.  We then saw their carousel milker.  It’s an amazing machine that lets them produce vast quantities of moo juice.

We then went to the birthing barn, and witnessed the births of two calves.  While I had seen this many times as a child, Rachel and Taylor had not.  I think it was a good experience for both of them.

Next we stopped by the kids area, where Taylor got to do something she hadn’t done in a while, jumping on trampolines while attached to bungee cords.

We then visited the store, where I sampled some cheese.  We bought some souvenirs for the girls and they had some ice cream.

I had just started to heal from this life changing event, and our vacation was over.  Coming home was almost like a nightmare coming true.  While it was nice to get away, the mental extremes that it forced me to go through were almost too much to handle.

The Little Girl Isn’t Dead

This is a continuation of my last post, The Little Girl is Dead.

While on our short vacation, my mind refused me the opportunity to forget about what was going on at home.  Instead it kept thinking about that phrase that was etched into my mind that night.  I kept running scenarios in my head about my girls; I didn’t like to, but I had to.

I felt bad for everyone who had been affected by this storm, especially the less fortunate ones who lived in that trailer court, right next door to me.  They had lost everything, and probably didn’t have insurance.  There were many children living there, so many that the schools had 2 buses come for pickup and drop off.  We would see them all waiting for the bus in the mornings on our way to work.  I still see their faces, and imagine what they must have went through on that eventful night.

I received two phone calls that Saturday while we were in Michigan, our power had been restored!  It had been out for around 3 and 1/2 days.  We don’t know how many utility poles had to be replaced in total, but it was a large number.

Since I had Internet access, I was always keeping up on the news.  Our township trustee had organized a volunteer day, to help with tree & debris cleanup.  This made all of us happy, and was the first step in putting my heart and soul to ease.  In the end there were a total of 3 volunteer days, but the news that an IU student had disappeared shifted the focus, and the volunteers.

We returned from Michigan on Memorial day, and reality set in.  While I had no damage to my home, we had lost about 10 trees; including our beloved apple tree.  Many of these trees formed a ‘natural’ fence along my property line.  They provided large amounts of shade and oxygen, they were also wrapped in vines.  Anyone that knows me, knows that I’m a “jack of all trades.”  I have had experience in cutting trees since I was about 12, when I helped my then step-dad do just that for a living.

We had already lost our weeping willow tree and a maple tree due to wind and ice storms that occurred earlier in the year, we purchased a chain saw so I could clean them up; I was prepared.  Little did I know how difficult the task would be when vines were involved.  This was a task I couldn’t handle, this task needed a quantity of experience people.

We decided to get estimates from tree-trimming businesses.  I called around 5 companies, only one showed up and gave me an estimate.  It was more expensive than we wanted to pay, and under our homeowners insurance deductible.  I wasn’t going to feel at ease until this was taken care of; I was literally stuck between a bunch of trees and a hard place.

I turned to our township trustee’s office.  I called them and asked for assistance, but let them know that I should be placed on the bottom of their list.  I let them know that it was simply downed trees that needed to be cleaned up, there was no damage to my home and that it shouldn’t be a priority.  While we could have paid for the cleanup; it would have presented a financial burden that we might have not recovered from.

A few days go by and as I arrived home from class an Mennonite looking fellow was at my house.  He said he was surveying what needed to be done; he was assembling a crew.  The next day when I arrived home, the trees were almost cleaned up!  It was a group of boys and a man.  At the time I presumed they were Mennonite, since they used technology.  It turns out I was wrong; it was the Worthington Amish Youth Group.  I thanked each one of them personally, and asked if they needed anything at all.  They requested some water, which I promptly fetched and then they went about their business.

With all the property damage and the trailer court in ruins, I was blown away that they decided to help ME.  My whole family is in their debt and are working on a way to pay it forward and show them how much we appreciate what they’ve done for us.

After they finished cleaning up the trees, a larger group, including women went over to the trailer court and assisted cleanup.

The effects of this tornado will be felt and seen for many years to come.  Not just from the people (like me) who live where it happened, but by the thousands of travellers that take that section of Highway 45.  I went through many years of emotional issues as a child, which I thought had toughened me mentally.  I learned the hard way that I was wrong.

While we are mainly healed from this event, our souls will never forget it.  That storm took something from me.  Even though I don’t exactly know what “it” is, I feel incomplete inside.  I don’t know how to move on from this experience.  Writing this has certainly helped.

 

The 2010 List

We have many projects we would like to accomplish this year on our home.  With last year being primarily dedicated to two areas, this year we are focusing on a large number of smaller projects.

1.  Complete Taylor’s bedroom.  We are slowly but surely changing our trim and doors to white versus stained.  Taylor’s room is also the last room to get new cable, phone and LAN lines ran to it.  I’ll be happy when that is over with as we under estimated how much CAT5e cable we would need and have paid through the nose for 100 ft sections at a time.  When we’re done her room will look like Amelia’s room, except Taylor’s room is pink.

2.  Refurbish foyer area.  This area needs a lot of love.  Our home is a bi-level, which means when you enter the front door you are faced with a decision – up or down.  Our stairs are covered in carpet, which I’ve tripped on several times.  My neighbor removed his and underneath was hardwood and I believe mine is the same.  If so, I’m going to stain the treads and paint the risers.  We are also going to lay down a new floor for the foyer.  The current floor is horrible at best.  It’s a fake parkay and very dark, we plan on replacing it with laminate wood of some type.  Last but not least is the stair railing.  What we have was mainly used for outside hand rails.  It’s a solid metal piece that doesn’t really go with the rest of the home.

3.  Remodel master bathroom.  We have a 1/2 master bathroom, at 4′ by 6′ it’s quite small.  It’s also in need of a lot of work.  When we moved in, the room had some hideous wallpaper.  We removed it to find the walls had never been painted.  We plan on replacing the vanity, medicine cabinet, toilet, re-finishing and painting the walls and replacing the entry and closet doors.  We should be able to do this for around $500 on a long weekend.

4.  Change coat closet door.  Our coat closet door is not level and obtrusive.  We plan on replacing it with a closet door instead of an entry type door which is what is currently installed.  It’s the door on the right in the picture.

5.  Replace moldy insulation and replace drywall in garage.  Our home had from what I can tell many water issues prior to us moving in, and some after we moved.  Not too long after we moved in I (with my helper) removed a vast majority of the drywall sealing our home from the garage.  See the black areas?  That’s mold folks!  This needs to be replaced to help keep our home sealed from the elements.  We will also be replacing the door separating the garage from the living area of the house with a steel door, something our home inspector noted should be done.

Now onto the smaller stuff

6.  Remove cat door on garage door, seal and insulate it.  Pretty much self explanatory – I’ve used this access to get myself back in the house when I was locked out by our Roomba.  It’s something a thief could do as well.

7.  Create self sealing door in attic for whole house fan.  We have this fan, it’s great – but we never use it.  I need to create a door that will seal it when not in use, but open automatically when in use.  Hopefully this will keep our heat and air from escaping through the attic.

8.  Landscaping.  This is work I have done before and really don’t enjoy doing.  I would hire it out if our financial situation was better.  I only plan on fixing some grading issues in the backyard.  My neighbor is going to lend me his roto-tiller so I can cut down the hump left where our pool was.  I will also do the same for where our shed was.

Whoever told me that a homeowners work is never done was sure right!  There is an amount of self satisfaction that I get from doing all of this work.  I think the fact that I’m turning this place into mine and not what some builder planned, is the biggest factor.  These builder neighborhoods with HOA’s really drive me insane.  That’s why I love where I live.

Amelia

Tuesday, October 13th 2009 at 8:30am.  An angel was sent to us via mommy’s tummy.  Her name:  Amelia Josephine!

After Rachel’s last OB appointment, it was decided that she was rather large and it would be best for her to come here via C-section.  Weighing 9 pounds, 9.8 ounces, she was rather large.  It seems that isn’t a bad thing as I haven’t heard anything otherwise from either the OB or her pediatrician, Dr. Laughlin.

There were minimal issues with her birth, she had some extra fluids in her lungs due to not being “squeezed” out of the birth canal.  Rachel was sutured, but a slight mishap occured with them and it created a small hole where one spot did not fuse together.  I have been treating it with Neosporin and it is healing greatly.

We spent 4 days in the hospital to ensure Rachel properly healed before venturing forth and becoming an active mom.  Then the real fun began.  The safety and security of the hospital created a fear of being on our own with this little one.

Since then we have been adjusting to fill her every need.  It’s been tiring, yet satisfying at the same time.  I wasn’t as involved in this crucial stage of my first daughter’s life, so I’ve learned a lot.

Now we spend most of our day eating, sleeping or changing diapers.

Big sister Taylor just loves her new sister to death.  She bought her a Minnie Mouse, which Amelia adores.  Minnie sits on her changing table and Amelia stares at Minnie as if she’s in deep thought about what she is exactly.

The kitties are still getting adjusted to the change.  They have both noticed the lack of attention they are receiving, and sometimes force their way into receiving some by jumping on us while we’re sitting.  I’d like to think they love her, but I’ll let time be the judge on that one.

My time thus far  has been taken up significantly by her care and needs.  Mommy does need a break!  Today I started back at work full-time.  I hope Rachel is doing fine today, I really do.

A New and Improved Space

We officially finished the remodeling portion of our basement area over the weekend.  Rachel, Taylor and I applied the epoxy basement floor coating on Friday night.  It required 24 hours to fully cure, so by the time her family arrived on Sunday we were able to give the first full tour of our proud accomplishment.

Here is what the space looked like when we purchased this place.  It was dark, dingy and uninviting.



Until now, we mainly used the space as a place to “put stuff.”  We didn’t use or utilize it for any meaningful purpose.  We knew the time would come when we would have to use it, and that time came quickly.

One issue that we weren’t sure about was if we had any structural issues.  The downstairs would get water when it rained heavily.  The first step was to take out all the old paneling and carpet and get the space down to its bones.  To our luck, there were no visible issues.  We corrected a majority of the water issues with a repair to the gutters.

We had many decisions to make, all of which were extremely difficult.  We needed to decide what to cover the walls and floor with, whether or not to install new cable and phone lines.  Many of these decisions  brought on major arguments-in which we were able to bring to the surface any issues we had with each option. 

In the end we decided to go with new paneling, an epoxy basement floor coating, and to add some electrical outlets and completely rewire our homes phone and cable lines.  We decided to add a wired LAN as well.

The only step left is to connect all the new phone, cable and LAN wires, which I plan on doing this week.  I will then officially move my office to a space we have dedicated for that purpose.

The other area, which I am calling the “Den” we have purchased and placed 2 futons and added an area rug.  We needed a space for guests to stay, and this space is perfect.

We did not remodel our fireplace, as all aspects of fireplaces are very expensive.  The things I want to do are not major, but are expensive.  I hope to have that complete within a couple of years.  There’s nothing more comfortable and calming to me than laying by a fire listening to music or reading.

I now have a bedroom to remodel for our growing arrival, baby girl Lawmaster!

Continue reading “A New and Improved Space”

Another Mish-Mosh

There have been many things going on lately.  With the holiday season and new years over, I’m reflecting on all the activities we’ve been pre-occupied with.

Christmas, as always is a very complicated time for us.  We went to 3 family events, my grandma Lawmaster’s on the 23rd, my in-law’s on the 24th and my memma’s on Christmas day.  We then had “after” Christmas get togethers for my daughter, who spent her Christmas with her mother.

Rachel and I finally stopped schmoozing off of my mother for our cell phone service and got our own plan.  We decided to switch back to AT&T, due to a 12% IU discount, and cheaper plan.  I finally got a smart-phone, a Samsung Blackjack II while Rachel decided she liked a red LG Shine.  It was very interesting to go through this process again.  We haven’t been officially on a cell phone plan for 4 years.  While researching how much this would cost us upfront, the difference in how much and where was astounding.

On the AT&T Premier website (dedicated to business & enterprise):  For the mentioned phones, we were looking at about $325.00 in up front costs.  We would receive a $50 mail in rebate in the form of a debit card.

For the same phones at Best Buy, $50!  I’m not kidding.  I was blown away.  The only difference is that we had to set up our IU discount separately, which just took a phone call.

We painted our bedroom finally, it’s a nice yellow hue.  When mentioning it to people I tell them that the color is what you would get if you mixed yellow and brown mustard.  It looks real nice, now onto the curtains.  Hopefully they will be nice.

I will be starting school next week.  I am entering the CIT (computer information technology) program at Ivy Tech.  Within a few years, I should have a degree in a field I love, which can hopefully help me attain some real employment.

Fit For a Princess, Almost

Over the weekend Rachel and I painted Taylor’s room “Pink Gingham.”  We also installed a new 6 panel door to her room.  Her door was the only one in the house that would not latch.

I wanted to do some other things to her room, but we really did not have the time.  Hopefully we can get this done soon.

I will have some pictures as soon as I get my  main computer back from the shop.

Phase II of her room includes painting her trim and door “whipped white,” and installing new baseboard trim and a new bi-fold closet door.

Next home project on the list:  Basement remodel.

The only task that really worries me is the wiring work I want done.  I need to hire someone to pull some cable and cat-5e wire from the attic to the basement.

We plan on gutting it to the block walls, and starting fresh.  I need  to re-wire some outlets and switches.  We are also going to rework our old and tired brick fireplace.

I hope to have this done by next spring.  Hopefully my wife will release her kung-fu grip on our checkbook so we can finally utilize our entire home.  Since we’ve moved in our basement area has been only used for storage.

Almost a Decade

Almost a decade ago, I became a father, a father to a beautiful baby girl.  How can I raise a child when I’m just a kid myself?

Many things change in almost a decade.  Your mother and I have since went our seperate ways, but the seperation has added two families who love you even more.  Instead of having 1 mommy and 1 daddy, you have 2 of them.

3rd grade was a tough year for me, I hope it’s a good year for you.  I got a burr haircut, I hope we don’t have to go through anymore hair dramas with you.

We discovered a shared interest recently, golf.  We had such fun at the driving range, hitting golf balls.  I hope this is something we can do for years to come, and I’m on the hunt for a golf club set made just for you.

I hope you know that daddy and Rachel will always be here for you, and you will always have a place to call your own with us.

I hope you enjoy your birthday present this year, a complete room makeover.  We are painting your room pink, giving you a new door and closet door.  New trim painted white with pictures on your walls make it complete.  Your room will be the first room complete in our home.

It’s amazing what almost a decade can do, and now I’m starting to feel old.

The Bedroom of Her Dreams

The next project Rachel and I have is to actually finish a room in the house.  That room being my daughter Taylors’ room.

We are installing new baseboard trim, a new entry door and a new closet door.  Her room is going to be painted a light pink and the existing trim in her room will be painted a beautiful color named “whipped white.”

On deck after that is the remodeling of the downstairs.