Home Repair Part II

So I have reached the point of diminishing returns when it comes to fixing up the house. Last night, after 2 hours of painting smudges and nicks all over the house, I thought we were finally done with the home repair. Nope, I just had to keep going. First, I went to screw in the face plate on the light switch and broke it by screwing the screw in too far. Then I went to try to fix a crack in the drywall, ended up ripping off a chunk of the wall. Luckily with some superglue it’s back in place :)

We leave tomorrow for DC and the big race! I think I am ready for it. Beside the race, DC should be fun. We’ve never been there and this time of year is supposed to be beautiful with the Cherry Blossoms. I am excited to see some friends from college that live out there now. Should be a good time!

Caulk This!

I am so sick of fixing up my house. I have spent all of my spare time the last 3 weeks getting my house ready to sell. This is frustrating since before I started I thought it was already ready. To date I have:

• Replaced the carpet
• Re-caulked all the windows and the bathtubs
• Painted over scuffs on the doors, walls and trim
• Scrubbed the outside of the house
• Cleaned the inside at least 15 times
• Packed and moved out many, many boxes of crap
• Re-arranged the furniture at least 5 times

I don’t think I can do anymore to fix it up. The house goes on the market on Thursday so hopefully the effort will help to sell it.

Wine, Wine, Wine

Apparently, I have an acute sense of smell and taste. For instance, I can taste things in wines that most people can’t. I’m not sure if this is just my imagination or if I can really taste these things, but as I have become more attuned to it, I really enjoy tasting new wines now. Below are a few really good wines that are cheap and great for drinking with dinner….or after work……. or as a 7am morning drink (ok, that might be a sign of a problem). Does anyone else have any recommendations on wines? Having spent most of my drinking years consuming Keystone Ice, I am a novice when it comes to wines. Anyway, on to the wines:


Maribeau – This is so cheap and good. Barb’s parents turned us on to this one. It has a really clean taste, yet has enough body to not feel like you’re drinking . It’s really good with anything and is so cheap! It’s about $6 a bottle and comes in a liter bottle (a standard bottle of wine is 750ml). Both the red and white are good.



Twin Fin Pinot Noir – This is a good pinot that Barb read about and found. Again, it’s not overbearing but has more flavor than the Maribeau. It’s from a small vineyard in California whose motto is “We prefer sunny Days over dark cellars”. The name “Twin Fin” refers to a type of surf board. It’s $9 for a bottle of pinot noir that is better than the more expensive, larger Kendall Jackson type brands. If you don’t want to finish a bottle you can just screw the lid (no quark) back on. They also have Cab, Merlot and Chardonnay which we haven’t tried.

Evolution – Our local wine store, Marczyk’s, recommended this white. It is a bit more pricy but is so good. It’s very crisp and you can definitely taste the pear in the wine. It’s great with dinner, but at $15, it’s a little pricier. Worth the cost though
Strawberry Boones – Ok, just seeing if you are still reading at this point. If you are an 18 year old freshman girl rushing Kappa Kappa Gamma, this is your drink. Otherwise watch out for the wicked hangover the next morning. If you would like to go down this route, like me, you may be fooled into thinking there is only one flavor of Boones, but oh is that wrong. They have many revolting flavors, a sampling of which includes blackberry ridge, sangria and melon ball. Mmmmmmm Yuck!

Oh Brother(s) Where Art Thou?

I’m beginning to think my brother, Danny, doesn’t like his family or Colorado anymore. He moved to New Zealand last August for a year and has decided to stay for, at least, another year and move to Melbourne. In fact, in the last 3 years he has spent more than half his time out of the country. Prior to the trip to New Zealand he spent 6 months in Melbourne.

Maybe it’s all the family functions… birthdays, holidays, anniversaries. With 3 parents, 4 brothers, 3 girlfriends and a dog I guess it can get a little overwhelming. Maybe it’s that he doesn’t jive politically with our amazing President……..unnecessary wars, deficit spending, cronyism out the ying, yang…… I don’t see the problem there. Maybe it's that Australia is amazing and I’m sure New Zealand is just as beautiful?

No, I don’t think those are the reason.

I think there is another, more pressing motive for staying in the Southern Hemisphere. I think that he and his Kiwi girlfriend, Charlotte, who happens to be a great person…….I’m sure she’ll read this………are hiding their love child from the rest of the family. That’s right, I think they have given birth to a beautiful bouncing baby boy…..who’s name is, I assume, Matthew.

On a side note, it’s easier to figure out why one of my other brothers, Joey, moved out of state last summer. I know he likes the family and Colorado, but he just likes money much, much more. Hence the move to Las Vegas.

Run Matt Run!

So tonight I did my last big run before the Cherry Blossom 10 mile race that's in two weeks. We ran 8.25 miles and it was a tough run. It was really cold and very, very windy. I ran a little under 10 minute mile pace so I am psyched about that and think I may try to run the CB at that pace. I figure I will be able to since it is at sea-level.

Tomorrow is NCAA Tourney Day. I am picking UW-Milwaukee as my upset team. This is because they are an underrated team and are going up against an overrated team, Oklahoma…………apparently overrating runs rampant in all Oklahoma sports….

NCAA Tournee

All the pressure, I am frantically filling out my brackets today before office poll deadlines. No time to really write in the blog. I would like to pose the question though? Who is going to win it all?

Spring In Denver

For everyone who lives in Denver, they know that there is really no such thing as Spring here. It’s either 75 and sunny, like a nice June day, or it’s 29 and overcast, like a cold day in January. I’m not sure how any flowers grow here as they start to bloom when we have a few warm days in a row and then they freeze the next week when the frost comes in. I’ve lived in Colorado for almost 25 years and I still can’t get used to it. It tricks me every year.

Also, I think I may be regressing to my college drinking days. In the last week I have been debilitating hung-over twice. That Maker’s Mark, though very tasty the night before, slaps me around like I’m Glass Joe and it’s Mike Tyson while I sleep. (Note my little homage to Nintendo).

Thirdly, Just to follow up on my last entry, I bought some new carpet this week at Lowes. They had the best selection of carpet and much better prices than Home Depot. However, I did end up selling one of my kidneys to pay for it still.

Preparing for the Future

Barb and I are getting ready to sell my place and I can’t believe how much money you can drop on replacing stuff in your house. It makes me wish I was a carpet manufacturer. I am going to easily drop $2000 into my house to just get it ready for selling. It’s a little crazy. Apparently my Formica countertop isn’t very desirable????

Anyone have any suggestions on where to get cheap carpet or counter top? These decisions I’m making are way too serious and have lasting impacts. I liked it better when my biggest decision was “Malt Liquor or not”

By the way, do you like the picture below? It’s my white trash look, I look freakishly natural huh?