Guess what Im still working on....

Tuesday and Wednesday evenings I was back to work on the floor.  Got quite a bit of the kitchen done.  Ran into a issue where i am a 1/8 of an inch off on my gap between the entrance way and the door to the kitchen.  Somehow when i made my way through the doorway from the dining room into the kitchen or the transition from the living room into the entrance way something got moved or angled and it was just enough to add up to an 1/8 by the time I got 20 feet forward.  Only option is to put in a transition piece on the floor between the two rooms.  Kicking myself that it happened but there aren't any other options without taking a couple hundred square feet of floor back out!

Friday was just a fun night in with the family.  Didn't worry about the floor.  Ben and I made a trip into GB to get some brad nails for the trim, then grabbed some Bruams and headed to Grandma Nancy's to hang out.  Nancy bought us a huge area rug for the living room.  Which was a blessing in that we got a 300 rug for free but also made my wife nervous because she is particular about how she wants the room to look.  Luckily the rug worked out perfectly.  Although i question all the effort I have put into this floor and now we are going to cover half of it up!



Saturday was spent finishing the flooring in our Kitchen table area.  Also got the quarter round trim stained.  Its much yellower than the rest of the trim in our house though. I'm going to give it a second coat and see if that helps it to darken up a bit.  The current trim is almost a little bit red in comparison.

Sunday was a busy day.  Up pretty early and got to work in our detached garage getting things organized and making room.  We have had lots of our stuff still in storage at Kelci's Grandma Doris's house.  Well she wants to put her car in the garage so we got to work moving stuff out of there.  While we were moving things we also moved household stuff out of the detached garage and into the basement.  Then in the evening Doug and Della came over and helped us move our living room furniture up from the basement.  So alot of carrying heavy furniture up and down!  But we got the living room situated how we want it.  Although its still missing all the trim!

Sunday afternoon i had our 3rd basketball game.  The team we were playing was fairly similar to ours in that they had a couple good playmakers and then avg rest of the team.  But i think we ended up stealing the win from them.  We had a great run at the end of the first half that put us ahead by 12.  Then in the second half they closed to within 3.  It lead to a very intense last 3 minutes of the game.  I had a few good rebounds and scored around 10 points.  got fouled late when they were in desperation mode and sank both free throws.  Which was great since i had missed the first 2 I took earlier in the game.  We only had 6 guys show up so got to play all but 4 minutes of the game.

Saturday night Kelci though maybe Boston was too cold at night and that was why she kept waking up all the time.  So in the middle of the night she bundled her up and she slept the rest of the night.  So Sunday she started her out all warm and cozy.  And.....   she slept the longest shes ever slept straight.  It was wonderful!  She looked pretty silly though :)



And that was our Week!

30 and i feel like i am just getting started!

Monday was my 30th Bday.  It was a pretty low key affair and i honestly don't feel any different.  I still feel like I have alot to accomplish and alot of growing up left to do!  But looking back over the last 10 years and alot of life has happened.  I've had the greatest moments of my life and also my absolute worst.  But I'm expecting great things out of the next 30 years for sure!

Saturday we were up early and headed to Wichita.  It honestly felt weird to be visiting Wichita from Hoisington and not the other way around.  The plan was to meet up with Sean for some disc golf, then get together to eat and go watch the Wichita Thunder hockey team.  Sean said he needed to have his son Aiden with him all day so we decided to bring Ben along for the trip as well.  When we got to town we did a little shopping then Kelci wanted to go to Chick Fil A for lunch and to let Ben run around.  Sean and Aiden met us there and the 4 of us headed to the Warren to watch the new Peanuts movie.  We decided it was too windy for throwing disc, plus we had the boys with us.  Ben did good at the movie.  He was pretty engrossed and didn't move from the previews right through most of the credits.

After that we headed to All Star Sports.  It was a bit of a mad house but we had a bag of tokens from last year when we had gone to play games and we divided those up between the boys and let them run wild.  Ben is just starting to get the hang of playing games and he gravitated towards the bike and car driving options.

Once the boys had traded their earned tickets for a few bouncy balls we went to River City Brewery for dinner.  I love the atmosphere and delicious craft beer so it was the perfect spot.  Plus its fairly close to the Arena for the hockey game.  We drove over to the Arena and parked in our favorite free parking spot only 2 blocks away and headed in.  I hadn't purchased tickets yet but knew they had corner bowl seats for only 9 bucks.  Well we got there and they told us that those seats were sold out and we would have to get seats behind the nets for 20 bucks each.  And the boys needed their own tickets!  so a 30 dollar semi pro hockey game turned into a 60 dollar game and for that amount its just not worth it.  Kelci doesn't enjoy hockey and Ben wasn't particularly interested either.  At least the game was exciting.  Went into overtime and then a shootout.  Unfortunately the Thunder came out on the losing end this time.

After the game we headed to our hotel over by Dugan and settled in.  Ben was still pretty wound up so we had a fun time playing in the room before bed.  Since I didn't know he was going to be going when i booked the room i had only got a queen bed.  Luckily Kelci was able to throw a little bed together for Kamben on the recliner in the room and we didn't have to worry about him squirming all over the place on our bed!

We woke up early so Kelci could get some more shopping in and then headed to brunch at Granite City.  Met up with a few of my old co-workers and their families.  The brunch at GC is fantastic.  We loaded up on breakfast stuff and then went right into the prime rib and pasta.  Its expensive but worth it when you realize your probably not going to be hungry again that day!  After eating we hit up Lowes and Sams and got headed out of town.  I watched the Steelers game on my phone while Kelci drove.  Love it when the Steelers can hand it to the Browns!

When we got back into town i took a quick power nap and then headed to GB for my second basketball game.  Got there just in time for the game to start so didnt get any warm up and had to come in off the bench.  We were playing a team with a bunch of guys around our age and skill level and it was a close game.  Again the Ref was terrible and there were fouls galore.  Since i play under the basket most of the time I got pretty beat up.  But had a few good rebounds and put backs.  The game came down to the wire and unfortunately ended up losing by 3.

Monday we went to my inlaws for dinner.  Della was awesome enough to put together a delicous Meatloaf feast and invited Bryan and Ashley.  So we ate up and enjoyed time with the family.  Ben loves to see his uncle Poey and with hunting season now in full swing it will be pretty much holidays only when we get a chance to see them!

Well that was our busy weekend and the start of the last year of the 3rd decade of my life.  Im going to work my ass off to make it one of the most memorable yet!

Pretty much just more flooring = Boring

A new week is here.  and so is Daylight Savings Time.  I enjoy leaving for work at 7 in the morning and having it be light out.  But not more than i absolutely despise it being dark at 6:00.  My new job means i get off at 4:00 and have a few hours of daylight but its just not enough.  And Winter isn't even here yet!

Monday was a pretty lazy day.   Kelci's volleyball team had their final games.  They ended up going the season undefeated.  It was pretty cool to see Kelci participating in a sport.  She has never had the time or chance to play before we moved to Ho-Town and its great watching her compete!  We are hoping to get a coed team together so she can keep playing.  We are trying to get Ben to go to bed earlier and tried to use the time change to make it happen.  So off to bed at 8 for him.  But i think hes got my plot figured out. He just plays around and sings in bed for an hour.

Tuesday was a sales meeting in Concordia KS so was after 5 when i got home.  Then got right to work on the floor again.  Had a time consuming cut around our angled hall closet entrance but then was able to get in a grove and get some work done.  20 boards later it was time for the kids to sleep and the saws and hammers got put away for the night.

So only a few hours meant only a few boxes of boards got put in.  But progress is progress!

Wednesday was work and then some basketball practice.  an enjoyable but fairly unproductive day!

Thursdays are Kelci's current call night.  Part of her new job is covering the ER at the local hospital.  Since she is new to working in a ER setting she has been shadowing the other PA's and Dr's.  She got to come home for about half an hour before she had to head back to the hospital.  So i was in charge of feeding the kids and playing.  Since I couldn't work on the floor I took the opportunity to knock out some laundry, and general tidying.  I know Kelci has been particularly frustrated in our mess of of a house lately.  Both of us cant wait to get it to where we can just live in it!

Friday meant a little time to work on the floor then off to bed.  Nothing too exciting!

Saturday I got right to work on the floor.  got to the doorway into the kitchen from the dining room.  So i had to tear the floor up behind the fridge and in the main kitchen area.  Well when i got to that i noticed the floor was wet under the fridge.  Turns out our water line has been leaking for some time.
So instead of knocking out flooring most of my time went to fixing the subfloor and wall.  Took a few hours in the afternoon to meet up with my friend Heath to go into Great Bend for a late lunch and a beer.  Great escape from my flooring problems!

Sunday i got back to work on the floor and filled in the area under the fridge so we could get it back in place as well as about half of the kitchen area.  Then it was off to Great Bend for a my first basketball game of the season.  Unfortunately not much of our team showed up and we were playing the reigning league champs.  We kept the game close for the whole first half and never really let it get away but did end up playing from behind for most of the game.

I didn't feel great before my basketball game and felt pretty bad when we went food shopping after it. Ended up feeling terribly nauseous all night and staying home Monday from work.  A day of rest was pretty helpful and i felt better by Monday evening.

Tuesday was just another day, nothing special.  We did make a trip out Spuds the new restaurant in the old Shaneys.  It wasn't anything too special unfortunately.  I don't think we'll be making many trip back.

Weds was Veterans day.  When i worked at the bank I always had Veterans day off.   I didn't expect that when I started at the Brick Plant but turns out they take the day off as well.  So that meant another day working on the floor.  Was able to completely finish the dining room.  Then we had a parent teacher conference at Ben's school.  Turns out he is extremely bright but he isn't the best listener.  Who could have guessed!  We spend lots of time every day talking about letters and numbers and counting and reading and coloring and all that jazz.  So in his preschool class he is expected to be able to count to 10 on his own by the end of the year.  Well in the first semester he can count to 39 :)  and actually can go quite a bit higher with prompting.



Thursday was Kelci's call night so it was just me and the kiddos until we had a 10 min Kelci sighting at 10 pm.  then she was gone again until 12:30.  The ER was really jumping on Thursday!  Ben was tired and went to sleep without any help on the couch before 7.  So i just put him in bed.  But Boston is fighting double ear infections and she took 3 hours to get to sleep.  It was pretty frustrating but I need to work on patience and understanding that its not something shes doing on purpose.

Well this weekend is my bday and we are going to Wichita to see friends so it should be great!  Also here are some pictures of a beautiful 7 month old!

BUSY BUSY BUSY

I’m busy with work, putting down a new floor in our house, and now I’m playing on a basketball team.   Kelci is busy figuring out her new job.  Trying to open a new clinic in a new town being a new resident.  Also learning how to work in a ER for the first time.  While also trying to get things unpacked and organized in the new house, while cleaning up after the construction messes I’m making.  Bens busy figuring out preschool.  Almost playing on a soccer team and just being a rambunctious 3 year old.

Last weekend we started tearing out the carpet and tile in our living room/dining room.  It was just nasty and had to come out. 

Here’s the before:

Kelci and I both wanted to replace it with a wood floor and we settled on LVT planks.  Basically laminate that is on top of manufactured wood.  It uses tongue and groove to lay down pretty quickly.  The first night I tried it I was having trouble getting everything to seal well and basically ruining the boards by overly hammering them to get a tight fit.  Checked YouTube for some tips and saw how other DIYers were having better luck putting them together backwards.  So that’s what I did.  And it started working pretty nice.

Process is pretty easy.  First we put down an underlayment that is supposed to spread the load out from the individual planks and also help with noise management in the basement.  Then starting in the corner you work in a stagger pattern.  Putting the table saw, miter saw and jigsaw to good use!

Thursdays Kelci is on call in the ER in Hoisington.  So that puts me on dad duty for the night.  But a few weeks ago i got invited to play on a basketball team in great bend.  Has a few old friends from high school on it so it should be alot of fun.  We ended up getting together on Thursday to play a pick up game and dust off the cobwebs.  Since i haven't played basketball in quite some time I'm going to be hurting for a few days!  Kelci and i are so blessed to have her parents here in town.  Her Mom and Dad are usually able to grab the kids for us when we have something else going on that we need to do and might not be kiddo friendly.  We are so grateful that they are there for us.  Kelci was called into the ER immediately after work and her parents were able to watch the kids for a few hours.

Friday was family pictures with Kelcis family.   Kelci had purchased her mother a picture package back on Mothers day and we finally got around to using it.  Unfortuately that also happened to be the only day we've had any sort of rain lately.  So we ended up inside to take the photos.  After that it was a nice dinner out then back home.

Saturday we were up early so i could get back onto the floor.  Worked about 6 hours, tearing up more carpet and pad and pulling staples, and getting another layer of boards in the living room and got most of the entry way finished.

After that it was time to get cleaned up for Halloween.  Ben decided he wanted to be a rocketship so Kelci bought a Astronaut costume for Boston.  They looked pretty much adorable together.  We visited all the family before dark and then headed out trick or treating with Bryce, Abi and Grandma Della.  I stayed home on candy duty and passed out the candy to tons of kids.  it was pretty great.

Well that was our week!

- Kevin