May 20th, 2009
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
Posted in The Burbs, The House | 2 Comments »
May 15th, 2009
Finally, a movie that both Jenny and I loved. Sure, we had to go with the Oscar winner for best picture to find one, but at long last, we both left the Meyerplex enjoying the movie experience. Really a great film. And, we now have a renewed kinship with our sister-in-law Meridith. She has been to India for work, and we have watched Slumdog, so now all of us have a similar level of worldly understanding! Meridith, where to next? Let us know so we can pick the appropriate companion film.
Next up at the Meyerplex, “The Long Green Line.” A documentary about the cross country program at our alma mater York High School, which is the winningest high school program, in any sport, in the entire country. Twenty-five state titles in 50 years!
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May 14th, 2009
Oh, my, lord! Jenny thought this would be a good one after watching a review of it on The View, and seeing Kirk Cameron plug the movie. She said, “it is supposed to be a good story about marriage!”
What she failed to mention, was how horrible the plot, direction, acting, and writing was. I mean downright freakin’ horrible. Did I mention the bad acting? I am still dumbfounded that Kirk Cameron actually went around and promoted this. He has to be the worst actor I have ever watched. We are talking if Steven Segal and that William Hung from American idol ever had an offspring together, that person still would be a better actor than Kirk.
And the best part, was that I still watched the whole thing, becuase it was such a train wreck, that I couldn’t turn away.
Anyone else who knows us, and has the guts to watch this movie, will laugh their butts off thinking of us sitting through it. That is assuming they don’t throw up on themselves first.
Posted in Now Showing | 2 Comments »
May 14th, 2009
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
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May 7th, 2009
Want a 3 hour downer to complete your general mid-week feelings of depression? Then I highly recommend Benjamin Button for you! We decided to try to get in a tw0-movie week with netflix, which means watching the one movie we have at time right when it arrives (Wed in this case), and mail it back the next day so hopefully another title will arrive by Saturday.
The story was good overall, and relatively entertaining, but I’m not sure I’m on board with all of the hype over this movie. It was slow, long, and wicked depressing. I’m glad we watched it, and I guess would recommend it to others, but be mindful of your mood before you begin this 2:45 long story.
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May 5th, 2009
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!
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May 5th, 2009
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.
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March 26th, 2009
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!
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March 26th, 2009
Unlike Changling, this movie came in the mail, and I convinced Jenny to watch it with me that night, despite the fact that we are up to our eyeballs in things to do. For an action movie, and James Bond franchise film, this didn’t disappoint at all. It was awesome on blu-ray, and in the home theater setting. It did make me want to get a more powerful AV receiver though. I need more speakers!
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March 26th, 2009
This was one of those movies that we had in the house for over a week, before we felt the urge to depress ourselves by watching it. As usual though, it was a very good movie, and I thought, “why did we wait so long to queue it up?” However, the ending of the movie did drag on forever. And…this has to be one of the worst titles ever (which is saying a lot coming from a reformed D&D fan who used to battle Changlings all the time as a high schooler kid)!
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