Meyer Mix

Due to the Larrys’ schedules, I am using vacation days on Tuesdays to renovate the house.  The Larrys showed up at 7:30 yesterday, to begin our work on window/siding/trim replacement, and by 10:00, our house looked like it was in a war-torn country.

In our subdivision, we live on one of the two main streets that everyone uses to enter and exit.  So, when we do anything to the front of our house, such as cut a blade of grass, hang up a decoration, plant one flower, etc.,  Jenny can always expect to get a comment from other parents at the girls’ school.  Little did the community know, that yesterday, they were in for a real show.  One mother commented to our neighbor “oh my gosh, did they have a fire?!”  Jenny said at least a dozen other mothers offered to watch our kids for the day.  How righteous… as if it is no longer ok to let your kids run around barefoot in a construction zone full of rusty nails.  Seriously, don’t tell me everyone didn’t have that experience themselves as children.  How else do you get to tell your story as an adult about ‘that one time, when a rusty nail when through my foot…’   But I digress.

For your pleasure, here are the before, during, and after photos of the day.  6 windows are in and sealed (not including screens and grills). 18 or so to go.  Dupont recommends that Tyvek house wrap is covered by siding within 180 days of it going up on the house.  Phew!  That means no need to put the siding up until exactly Tuesday, November 17th.

7am

10am

7pm

Everyone knows that the number 2 Meyer offspring is a smidget. Technically, a smidget is anyone below the 5th percentile on the height chart, and, is likely to have her height eclipsed by her younger sister before the age of 8. That is Grace. But like all Meyers, she embraces her differences with pride.

However, when it comes to going on rides at Disneyworld, being a smidget just wont do. Grace was exactly 1 inch too short for both Space Mountain, and Mt. Everest. So, doing what every responsible parent would do, and capitalizing on the opportunity to teach your child right and wrong, we stopped by the nearest food stand, grabbed a handful of napkins, and rolled them up to stick in her shoes. As she walked up to the line to get measured, her heals weren’t even in her sneakers! She loved both rides!
Smidgets 2, Disney height police 0.

Smidget lifts

We are getting our summer schedule in order, which includes a couple camp outs, a visit from the Oregon Fronza’s, speech class, summer orchestra, and a class for Brian.
We are also expecting our order of 25 windows to show at any point this week, and have to figure out how to get windows, siding, trim, and a front door all done before winter sets in. An old friend of Jenny’s family is joining our crew. His name is Larry. Not to be confused with my father Larry, known around these parts as Slowsky. Larry the friend is able to help out on Tuesdays, and Slowsky said he could as well. So, I’m planning to use my vacation days on Tuesdays to see how much we can get done. I had a quick call with Larry the friend, and he seems to be focused on efficiency in his work, which is a far cry from Slowsky’s and my current approach: painstakingly incremental and slow steps towards always changing designs. So it sounds like he will be a much needed and welcome addition to our team!

We have finally finished building a new fort/jungle gym/swingset for the kids. In typical Fronza-Meyer fashion, we couldn’t just build the kit according to the directions. We needed to customize.
We built the structure backwards, to put the swings on the opposite side (so it would fit better in our yard). But, then we added a 10′ monkey bar section, wood chips, and a border to contain it all.

It has been a really long time since we posted any new content.  Things have been wicked busy (I always say that though), and we have been otherwse preoccupied.  Actually, I can’t even really give any thought to a post now, because I am on lunch at work, and have to get back in a few minutes.  But, to tide our 8 regular viewers over, here’s the quick rundown of events in our lives:

• We’re leaving for Disneyworld tomorrow, driving 18 hours, with 5 adults and 8 children.  Woo-hoo!
• Jenny has spent the last two weeks planning and packing for the trip.  She is home right now trying to get the cartop carrier on the van, without crushing herself.  I’d go home and help, but I’d rather have all of that done, so I can just get in the car in the morning and say, “so, which direction do I go?”
• We have ordered a new front door for the house, and will be installing it in four weeks when it arrives.
• We are ready to place the order for 27 new windows.
• We are researching renovating our kitchen now, because Jenny wants a larger kitchen window…which means moving the cabinets…which means replacing the flooring…which means moving the fridge…which means taking out the soffit next to the fridge containing the chimney for the furnace…which means replacing the furnace…which means replacing the air conditioner and hot water heater too.  That is one expensive frickin’ window!
• Brian has applied to get a second Masters Degree, in Educational Organizational Leadership, which will also result in a Type 75 certification needed for a head-of-school position.  It is a two year cohort program meeting nights and weekends, starting in May/June.
• Brian is coaching kindergarten soccer again.  Indoor just ended!
• Jenny and Brian competed in a family biggest butt biggest loser competition.  It was started at the beginning of January, and ends this Sunday.  Nine family members put $100 each into the pot, and competed to see who could lose the most percent of their weight.  Brian has lost almost 12% of his weight (in second place so far), and Jenny has lost almost 10% of hers (3rd place).  But, we were no match for brother James (that sounds funny), who is approaching a 15% weight loss!  Brian plans to yo-yo back up immediately after the competition is over, to begin preparing for next year…gotta pack on those pounds!   We’ll consider posting before and after photos when we get back from Disney.

I’m sure I forgot something big, but that is why I haven’t posted in a long while.  Off to Disney!

“We Deal With Life’s Toughest Problems”
National Social Work Month - 1990

This picture hung in my parent’s house, over our dinner table, since my mother had it framed in 1990.  She was an oncology social worker, and very proud of her profession.  When my parents moved in 1999 to their new house, it was hung in their study.

My father called last week, to let us know he is getting his house ready to sell, and wanted us to come by and take what we wanted (because anything not nailed down would be sold).  I had just told Jenny a few weeks before, that I was very fond of this poster, and how much it reminded me of my mother.  I haven’t decided if It is going to my work office, or if we will put it up in our home, but I look forward to hanging it soon.

Oh, anyone recognize the boy in the poster (hint: he’s a child actor from the 80s)?  Take a closer look.  I’ll post his identity in the comments.

My store is a bat the wintr.  Wintr is the time uv yer that it is cot, and it snos.  You can mac a snosman and you can drek hot coco.  It is fan, bat the bast is win Santa coms dan the chime.  Then he pots the prasis odr the tree, and we wac up and we opin are presis and we hav a blast.

By Grace Ella Meyer

(See comments for the translation)

Emma’s 3rd grade speech assignment:

Who am I? I am 61, but for my age, I’m not too old. Elmhurst is my home.  One of my hobbies is to bake.  I am Joyce Fronza, in quote marks, Emma’s Grandma.

I said baking is one of my hobbies, and it is.  I love cooking as much as seeing one of my grandchildren.   My grandchildren, are one of the best things in my life, so something as great as them is usually impossible!  I bake for parties, holidays, and just because.  I don’t want to brag, but I am better at cooking than most people. So if you decide to come over, you will probably find me in the kitchen, baking brownies, meatballs, cupcakes, or something even better.

But then again, you might find I’m not even home, because I’m an enormous shopper.  Shopping is another one of my hobbies.  I like shopping because it gives me a chance to get myself new clothes, buy clothes for my grandchildren, and to just be moving around.  If you ask me, I think my life is pretty special.  I’ll have to end my speech, because I only have one life, and I don’t want to stay here wasting it.

The End.

Mmmm... Pie.

Slowsky came over to help on a few projects this weekend, but like me, decided those could wait, and wanted to work on mounting the projector instead.  Sorry Jenny.  This was important.  Getting the ceiling mount to work was a pain, and took a bit of modifications to the standard hardware.  But when we were done, the projector was tight to the ceiling with a nice fit and finish.  I even got used to the size of the projector, which still seems ridiculously large, but next to Slowsky’s head, isn’t so bad.  Meyers are macrocephalic!  Once you are in the room though, it doesn’t even stand out that much believe it or not.  Especially with the towering TV image hogging all of the attention.  Below is a pic of the screen, with the girls posing, to give you an idea how big it is.

Oh, the picnic blanket on the floor is the resurrection of the Fronza family tradition of stringing popcorn.  Jenny and the girls made enough for 1/2 of the tree.  I wanted to help, but I had to futz with the projector the entire game.  I still expect more futzing, before all is said and done.

The girls put on their “1-minute holiday show, including costumes (white paper colored in solid with a crayon, and clipped to their shirts), and a set (emma dragged Jenny’s new christmas tree over to the theater).  They sang “Please Christmas don’t be late.”