picture time

Here are some long overdue pictures. Some are of Brooke and I playing golf and the others are from when mom & dad were out visiting.

I've been a bad, bad blogger

Things have been so crazy lately that I haven't had much time for tending to this site which isn't very cool of me. I realized that I ony posted twice last month and this will be the first blog in August. "Get it together, man!"



Work has been steady which is good. I haven't been selling homes at the rate I did last year, so I really have to start budgeting since the bank acocunts are slowly dwindling. That being said, I have been fortunate to have some things going on business-wise that are promising. I had my friend, Toby, out last weekend and it ended up being very busy around here. We had fun though. He had never been to the east coast so I showed him around New York City which was nice. A great thing I discovered which I wish I did when mom & dad visited out here was the double decker buses. You pay about $40 per person and an open-air bus takes you around all of the highlights of the city. It stops at all of the attractions and you can hop off, see what you want, then catch the next bus that comes around and keep going. A great way of seeing the city!

Well, I've got to go. bye for now.......

Blogless

Sorry for the lack of new blogs. I have been really busy here at work and haven't had much time for anything else. My friend Toby is coming out this next weekend which should give me some pictures to post on the blog. The Pocono 500 Nascar race will be taking place and we're going to that which should be fun.

Whose kitchen is this???

Well, we now have a kitchen fit for a chef with our GE Profile appliances, granite countertops, tile floors, and maple cabinets. Now we just need the chef...

Dust is in the air

We're currently having our kitchen remodeled. It is very close to being done now - we'll have everything done after Monday except for the delivery of the new fridge on the 30th. Here are some pics of the progress...........





BEFORE

DURING

ALMOST DONE...


As you can see, Brooke is pretty excited about it. Since the last photo, the granite countertops have been installed (thanks again for all who voted and helped make our decision), the floors have been tiled, and the backsplash is up. By tomorrow afternoon, all of the GE stainless steel appliances will be in except for the refrigerator. I'll post final pictures after mom and dad get out here and see the finished product in person. No need to spoil the surprise!!!

Giants spank the Phillies

Don't worry about my hat...I'm not a traitor, just trying to blend in with my surroundings

Brooke and I checked out a Phillies game last week. The game was on a Monday and despite the cloudy skies, no rain fell and by the 8th inning, the sun came out in full force. The Giants spanked the Phillies so hard that most of the fans had left before the game was over. Good for us, because 15 minutes after the game, the security guards let fans walk the infield warning track which was fun for me. I wish I was a senior citizen - they got the round the bases!

who knew - no new news

I keep forgetting to bring Brooke's camera to work with me and it has all of the new pictures we've taken. This past Monday we went to a Phillies baseball game which was a lot of fun. We had pretty good seats and the ball field was beautiful. After the game, we got the opportunity to walk on the baseball field which I thought was really cool.

Work has been a little slow but I feel it is the calm before the storm. I think in a month's time I will be a lot busier. Brooke and I are waiting for an installation date for our new cabinets which is holding us up because we can't order the countertops, flooring, or appliances until we know what is going on. It has been a little frsutrating because I've had a hard time getting certain contractors to call me back. It happens a lot more often up here than I'd like.

Anyway, I'll post new pictures as soon as I can......

Greased Lightning

Well, we experienced a thrilling night of thunder and lightning last night. Actually, the forecast predicts more of the same over the next few days. Lightning bolts were literally striking all around the area and they occurred every 5-10 seconds. The storm lasted for about 30 minutes so I tried to snap a couple photos of it.

Other than that, just hanging out. Here is a picture of Tika checking out the new bed Brooke bought her.

Memorial Day

Today we honor and remember

the many fallen brave

who gave their lives in war and battle

their friends and family to save.

The men were brave, the men were true,

And they believed in what soldiers do.

They fought the enemy on land and sea,

They fought for freedom, honor & liberty.

Today as we enjoy our freedom

let us never forget

The many ones who've fought and died -

the many who are fighting yet.

Let's not forget our soldiers.

Let's not forget to pray

for the men and women still strong and brave

on the battlefields today.

America...it's time to vote!!!!!!!!!

I took pictures of both countertop options in different lights. It's so hard to capture their "true" colors but here you go. Let us know what you think.

Option 1

Option 1

Option 2

Option 2

Compare - Option 2 on left and Option 1 on right

Side by side comparison

Our new bench.

ramblin' man

I have no new pictures to post but I thought I would write something anyway. Hence the title of today's blog. It is the end of my workday and I'm going to go home and change to go to the gym. It is busy this weekend due to all of the people coming up for Memorial Day Weekend. It is pretty warm today - 84 degrees as I'm writing this.

Carolyn and I had 2 closings today, well, one and she is in the middle of the second. I have been busy with that and showing some customers a few homes that they're interested in. Hopefully that is a sign of a busy selling season.

Timber and Tika are doing well. Tika is still adjusting to her new environment and hasn't quite grasped the whole potty training thing yet. We went out yesterday and bought a big folding cage for her so that she'll have a 25 square foot area to learn how to potty outside without either one of us having to worry about her wandering too far away while we're waiting for her to do her business. Let's hope it works.

I've been a little frustrated lately with a couple dozen carpenter ants crawling around in my house. I called the pest company but they won't be out until Tuesday so I sprayed the outside myself with some spray. I have also been handy doing some rudimentary landscaping as well as buying and assembling a little bench for our front porch that I bought on sale at Ace Hardware.

I'm looking forward to the kitchen being finished up. Brooke and I are having a hard time selecting the granite for our countertops. She and Carolyn narrowed to down to 2 pieces but it is hard to choose one with such a small sample piece. I keep going back and forth - one day I like the lighter one and the next I like the darker one.

I'll try to remember to post pictures of everything tomorrow so you can see what I'm talking about.........

bArKiNG bUbbLe bAtH

bath time

I took some pictures last night of the dogs getting their bath but my computer here at work won't recognize Brooke's camera, so I can't upload the pics. I'll do so at home later tonight. In the meantime, here is a picture if Tika's first bath that she got a couple weeks ago...

Belated Birthday Pictures

Well, Brooke celebrated her 26th birthday on the 7th and I thought I should finally post some pictures of it. The last one is of Brooke and her friend Tara who went out to dinner with us. Brooke's dad Frank finally met the puppy Tika and thought she was cute. When he found out how much we payed for her, he almost fell out of his chair. I told him that it was a lot of money but that the way I figure it, I don't have to get Brooke another birthday or Christmas present for the next decade. He laughed a lot at that one.

Brooke didn't find it so amusing......

Tut and Nefertiti

Just a couple pictures from our visit to the King Tut exhibit in Philly a couple weeks ago. They didn't allow any photos in the museum, so no cool pictures of his artifacts although there is a nice shot of Brooke and I looking like dorks. Good enough?

Boy Meets Girl

Well, as you've all heard by now, we got a new dog - a pomeranian named Tika (pronounced "tea-ka"). She just came home last night with Brooke, so here are some shots from last night and this morning of the kids at play.

They get along great and Timber has been a good big brother to his new sis - not picking on her too much.

Timber the Sun God-Dog

I couldn't help but take some pictures of Timber taking advantage of the warmth from the sun via our skykight. He really is a warm weather doggie.

Spring has sprung

Here are a few outside pictures of the house. Notice the absence of snow...yay!!! We've even gotten crafty and planted a few flowers in our planter box. Can anyone say "green thumb"???