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Sunday we decided to tackle a project that we’d been putting off for quite a while.
A couple of years ago we purchased a large entertainment center. It was a massive piece of furniture that we just barely got in the front door and that dominated the living room. Given the layout of the room, it could only go in one place, and that meant that all the furniture had to be arranged around the TV. In addition, when the afternoon sun came in the front window, it basically rendered the TV unwatchable (which, admittedly, was only a problem on a handful of football Sundays when the Vikings were nationally telecast).

Regardless, we decided that it made little sense to arrange the room around a massive piece of furniture that neither of us was terribly fond of, much less the television inside it that we rarely watched. So, a week ago Sarah sold the entertainment center via craigslist. We unplugged the TV and the stereo and put them in the basement until we could get a smaller piece of furniture that would let us arrange the room in a different fashion. We spent a couple of hours in furniture stores looking at entertainment centers that were smaller, but none of them were that interesting, so we decided to sit on the decision for a while and see if we could come up with a different scheme.

With the entertainment center out of the picture, the shabbiness of the carpet in the room really stood out. We knew it was shabby (the people who owned the house before us installed it), but with the entertainment center in the room we could never get excited about doing anything about the carpet. Yesterday changed all that.

We ripped out all the carpet in our living room and the hallway that connects the dining room, living room, the bathroom, the office, and our bedroom. Now that the carpet is gone, we can’t understand why we didn’t get rid of it years ago. It was all stained underneath and the pad was disintegrating in the high traffic areas. Where the pad was disintegrating it left large piles of dust on the floor. Once all the carpet was outside, we had to pull out the tack strips that held it down along the edges of the room and the staples that the installers used to fasten the pad to the floor. It was dirty, hot work, but the room looks so much better now that the carpet is gone.

My sister, Amy, is staying with us at the moment and she was a big help with the project. Having three people working on that project made the difference between getting it done in one day or having it linger over several.

Now that the entertainment center and carpet are gone, we’ll likely paint the ceiling, put up some more pictures, and have the floors professionally refinished. The work is far from done but at least we’ve started down the path.

If you want to see pictures of what we did on Sunday, check out this photo gallery.

Last night was one of those rare summer gifts: temperatures in the low seventies; a clear sky; a gentle breeze; a generally quiet neighborhood; and only a handful of mosquitoes. After dinner outside, Sarah left for yoga and I planned on mowing the lawn. However, once I noticed how pleasant the evening was, I decided that the lawn wasn’t going anywhere; poured myself a beer; and spent the evening outside with a book.

Nights like last night only occur a couple of times a year, so you’ve got to enjoy them when you can.

For the Fourth of July this year we had spectacular weather for a generally lazy day.With gentle breezes, sun, a few wispy clouds, and temperatures in the 70s, we had glorious weather for the Fourth. Sarah and I originally planned to hit some garage sales that morning to look for infant-appropriate furniture, but there were almost none so we scrapped that plan. Instead, we rode our bikes to the local miniature golf establishment and played a round of 18 holes. After the first nine, Sarah had a two stroke lead, but I rallied on the back nine to take the title.

Friday evening, we walked up the hill to watch a nearby fireworks show, something we’ve done for the last few years. This year we left Dalla at home since she clearly doesn’t like fireworks that are reasonably close. It’s too bad that we couldn’t leave the mosquitoes at home, too. They got pretty ugly while we were waiting for the show to start, but we persevered and the show did eventually start. Normally, the show we watch is nothing special, but worth the walk, nonetheless. This year, it was amateur hour. I’ve never been to a show that was so badly paced. It went something like this: *firework*… *firework* … … … *firework* *firework*… *fountain* … … … … … *firework* … … … … .. … *firework* … *firework*. Even the grand finale was paced such it wasn’t a grand finale in anything but name. Apparently nobody told the folks manning the firing tubes that if you shoot off the grand finale fireworks one at a time, instead of all at once or several at a time, it isn’t any more impressive than the rest of the show and people never know when you’re done.

We hosted our second cook-out of the week on Saturday evening as several co-workers of mine came over. The menu was burgers, potato salad, green salad, cheese bread, cheese curds, homemade ice cream, and strawberries. The mosquitoes left us alone long enough that we were able to enjoy dinner on the patio for several hours.

Sunday morning we went hiking at a nature preserve south of town for an hour or so. We picked some yarrow (which went into my next batch of beer) and a handful of blackberries. A bumper crop of blackberries should be ready in a week or two and we’ll likely go back then. Sunday afternoon I brewed said batch of beer while Sarah knocked a couple of holes in the front of the house as part of our soffit-replacement project.

A friend of mine from Tufts came through town earlier in the week on his way from Vermont (where he used to live) to Olympia, Washington (where he’s moving). A picture of his luxurious rolling home is below. We cooked a meal for him and his father who was helping with the drive on Tuesday evening.

Oscar, the campervan.