| 12-24-05
Hello All, Where to begin? I need to write more often, so there is not so much to tell! News around the place. The weather here has been strange. We didn�t have much rain this Fall and then the first few weeks of Dec. it got down right cold! About two weeks worth of temps in the lower 20�s and even dipping into the teens a few nights. We had some snow, ice, hail and freezing rain all mixed in for some extra fun! Now for the last week we have had some rain, lots of RAIN! The stream is running full and the ditch along the driveway is overflowing (note to self, must get shovel and work on ditch). Other projects have been put on hold in order to facilitate our �Interior Decoration Alterations�, in other words we have not had any new furniture for years and one thing we needed was a good dining table and chairs. No problem right? Big wrong! We went looking for Real Wood Made in America furniture. Well if you can actually find it you had better be sitting down when you look at the price tag. So, no problem, Lorelei and I stop by an Estate sale and lo and behold, the perfect table! Well OK it did have two minor flaws. One flaw, a faded dark patch on top and two, no chairs. Hmm, no worries. I get the table home (remember this is the coldest wettest time of year) and the boys and I start stripping, sanding and more sanding (I burn up one sander) and more sanding and still the dark spot is there! No problem, I do some research, go back to the hardware store for the fifth time and get some wood bleach! Another weekend and now the dark spot is gone, wohoo! Of course now the table is too light, no problem, I have some stain. Finally after multiple coats it seems about the right color. Ok, so now we put a coat of urethane on the top, (remember I am out in an open air shop in the freezing weather) and no matter how many heaters I have going I can�t get the finish to dry! So at this point and two weekends later we have no choice but to bring the table inside the house. Lorelei was not immediately receptive to turning her living room into a furniture re-finishing shop. The finish still will not dry, so the boys and I start stripping the finish we just worked so hard to put on! So now we begin again. Somewhere about now, between all this we have been driving near and far trying to locate chairs (remember there are no chairs!). So we find some chairs and bring them home, set them next to the table and realize that there is a definite difference in the �shades� of oak! Yikes, no problem I can fix that, just a few more coats of stain! More urethane, sand, urethane sand, finally I have had enough! I guess the table came out OK, Lorelei seems to like it and now at least we can all sit at the dinner table together! (Note to self, never, ever, ever, buy anything between the months of October and March that needs to be refinished). Adam and Jonathan were a big help on this project! The last couple of months have also been basketball and Birthday time. First, Jonathan made it to the ripe old age of 14. Then Lorelei turned 39 for the : SELF EDIT, SAFER TO LEAVE THIS BLANK, time. Then last week Adam turned 16! Adam and Jon are both playing basketball. Adam plays JV at the high school and his season is just beginning although he has been practicing for over a month and has had several pre-season games. Jon�s 8th grade season ended a couple of weeks ago. His team did awesome! Amity has it�s own basketball league that picks up when the regular season ends. I will be helping coach Jon�s team starting next month. I am looking forward to that. Just a note, at the high school here in Amity there are less than 300 students in the entire school. They have 3 girls basketball teams and 3 boys teams, each carry about 12 kids, that is a total of 72 kids or roughly � of the schools enrollment, and this year they had to make cuts, because there were just too many kids that wanted to play! It�s very thought provoking to imagine the high school I came from, where 3 or 4 thousand kids were enrolled and how you could possibly get 1 thousand of those kids busy with the same activity or any activity and if you could, what a difference it could make?? I still manage to make it to the gym a couple of nights a week to play basketball. When the boys are not busy with Church or other things, they go along. I really appreciate being able to still run (hobble) up and down the court with them. Cody goes along sometimes and he spends the time playing and practicing his dribbling on the sidelines. He wants to be a basketball player like his big brothers. The boys are still playing music. Jon just bought himself an acoustic/electric guitar. They both just wanted money for Christmas so they could purchase more music equipment. It takes all the money they can earn to keep themselves in strings, cases, and other stuff they need. Cody is not sure about school. He enjoys seeing his friends, but he is not happy about being away from home and his beloved Mom. After being home schooled last year, he is so far ahead of the other kids I think he is bored. Lorelei has returned to substitute teaching part time. She has been working in the �Special Ed� classes around the County. Substituting, she is able to pick and choose the jobs, which let�s her travel where she wants and the hours she wants to work (she likes to be home when Cody gets home). Our Christmas this year will be the same as most years, just the 5 of us. This year we cut down a tree from our property, it�s not as �shapely� or �full� as the ones from the tree farms, but I think it�s great! As I sit here typing, the owls outside are talking to one another, it�s still dark but I am sure the deer are out on the lawn having breakfast and the sound of the stream gushing down the hillside, is in the background. It�s mornings like these that remind me of why I wanted so much to move here and at the same time I am remembering friends and family so far away. Our Christmas as usual, will be simple and quiet, Jon and I made some wreaths from only things found here on our property. We gave them away to some of our friends. We will go to Church tomorrow (some Churches I understand are closing on Christmas?? Now how do you explain that one?). We have received phone calls, cards and gifts from all over the west coast and beyond. Our thoughts turn to all of you, our family and friends so far away. May the joy of the season be in your hearts. We miss you all! Take care, Glynn Jr. |