Wow

We hung out at home Friday night, Andy was still dealing with the flu and I wasn't feeling too hot myself.  I have been dealing with a mild cold and bad sinus pain for a week or two, but it hasn't put me down, just made me miserable.  Saturday we played wow all morning.  We haven't played World of Warcraft in six months for various reasons, but decided to reactivate our accounts a few days ago.  We missed playing and talking to our in-game friends.  They have made a lot of changes to the game in the last six months!  We did some reading to catch up and then played with our stats and within about two instances we were back in the swing of things.  Just like riding a bike!  I love the changes they made to hunters and love the new abilities for holy priests.  Andy seams to enjoy what changes were made for paladins and druids too.  We're such geeks!  I got to work on getting the cardboard off the small trunk in the afternoon and had a wonderful talk with my mom on the phone.  Saturday evening I went and hung out with a few of my girls and Andy hung out with Dan and played Diablo II (I think I need to play that one, it looks fun)  I really enjoy hanging out with my friends and getting out just us girls sometimes but I was out until 3:00 am once again LOL. 

Today I just couldn't get going.  I got up and made us both breakfast and then sat down and watched Andy play Assassin's Creed and then promptly fell back asleep.  Once I woke up, I had a hard time shaking the sleep out of my head.  When I finally did, I got the laundry going and then turned on wow.  Anytime I had to wait for anything in game, I turned around and worked on the trunk a bit.  It was a good way to pass the time. 

I had to get out the putty knife and the hammer and get a bit rough with it to get most of the cardboard off.  I finally got all the big chunks off and then went and found the spray bottle.  I lightly sprayed what was left stuck to the trunk and the glue residue and let it sit for a bit.  I then just scraped away with the putty knife until it was all more or less off.  Andy then got mad at me for doing it all when this is supposed to be a project we do together.  Oops.  I screwed up.  I just got started and couldn't stop.  I love doing stuff like this and he has been sick and didn't act all that interested so I didn't even think to ask.  I deserved his getting upset with me.  I apologized and I had him get started on sanding the top.  I think we'll scrape out the paper from the inside before we do anymore sanding though and I need to glue in a knot that fell out before we do one side as well.

Started out just prying a bit up here and there with a flathead screw driver

Here you can see the glue residue

Had to get out the big tools

Bit by bit, going slow and easy, I got it all up.

It's all gone!  The wood is still a bit damp here, it doesn't look that splotchy, really.

Started sanding the top

The metal will look really nice once it's all sanded I think.

It was raining bad outside today so we couldn't take it outside and use the power sander, but doing it by hand and utilizing the shop vac between areas to clean up the dust, it's not too bad doing it inside.

Trunk Project

I finally got started on the small trunk.  After work today, I went downstairs and decided to get started.  We had taken some of the canvas off the top the other night and sanded a little bit of both the wood and metal as a test to see exactly what we are getting ourselves into. Yes, that is a huge crack thru the wood on the left.  We haven't decided whether to fill it with wood filler and hope for the best or dismantle the lid and replace that piece yet.

The left is just stripped, the middle has been sanded and a little of the slat between, the right still has canvas

On the left you can see some shine on the metal where Andy sanded it

Today I completely stripped the whole thing of rotten canvas and it already looks tons better, even before sanding.  Andy couldn't help, the poor guy is really sick today.

Before

After

After I got it stripped, I was looking at it trying to decide what to do next and I noticed that the bottom half of the trunk looks funny (you can see it in the after pic).  It is a different color and texture than the top and it shows water damage.  Wood doesn't usually show water marks.  I started examining it and decided it had to be particle board.  I was really confused at this point because nothing I have read has said anything about trunk makers using particle board and it wouldn't hold up to the travel that these trunks went thru back in the day.  Besides, I don't think particle board was even made a hundred or more years ago.  We decided that maybe this trunk was a reproduction, but that was confusing too because of the very obvious aging showing on this thing.  I gave up and decided to try and tackle the inside.  This trunk has it's original paper lining.  Very thin and well glued and it's going to be a pain to get out.

You can really see the water damage on the inside of the lid

In the photos, you can hardly tell the inside is paper lined

So I got out a razor blade and started scraping away at the paper and then got even more confused.  It was showing solid pine boards all around and top to bottom.  What the?  Andy was downstairs at this point and we both got looking at it and decided it had to be a covering.  I found a spot that had been gouged at some point in its life and decided to gouge it further with a flat head screw driver.  I took out a big chunk and discovered the bottom half of the trunk, but only the front and sides, not the back, is covered in a thick compressed cardboard stuff.  I can't find anything on any site even mentioning this.  Do I leave it or remove it?  I am hoping to refinish this trunk with minimal dismantling.  With that in mind, if I remove the cardboard without removing the slats, I think it will be noticeable around the edges as it will make the slats look pushed out from the sides, but I highly doubt it will take an oil coat or stain and therefore will look awful if I leave it. But I was happy to realize that this is the real deal and not a reproduction.

Weird huh?  I think so

Nice wood underneath tho

I guess I can always remove it the same way I removed the canvas and then if it looks funny, dismantle the slats and metal.  Big pain I hope to avoid, I'm already not looking forward to attaching the lid and replacing the latches on the front. You can't just pry everything off and yank out the nails.  These trunks were built to hold together and last, if you just start yanking things you will remove huge chunks of wood and ruin the entire thing.  Trunk makers really knew what they were doing.  The nails used for these taper at the ends and are made of a pliable steel.  They used a hammer and a steel "heal" to nail them together.  The heal is held on the inside while you hammer the nail in thru the outside and when the nail hits it, the end curls and "clinches" back  into the wood.  What this does is makes the nail hold tight and not come out.  To remove them you have to very carefully pry at the head and then snip it off and push it thru to the inside.  Its a lot of work that could very easily go wrong.  I'll have to special order the nails to get the right ones, but I'll have to order some replacement parts anyways like handle and latches.  I found a great site that has these things for not too much money.

Anyway, we have a lot of work ahead of us.  This thing has broken parts and rust all over it.  It will be so worth it when it's done tho.  I'm already in love with it and can't wait to see it done.

The lid is not attached and will be interesting getting it back on

Broken latch that will have to be replaced and the corner is rusted and banged thru to the wood

The corners are beat up and rusty

Ooh look at the bottom of this thing!  Rust and split slats and half ruined rollers oh my!

This will most definitely be a refinish job rather then a restoration (there is a difference).  I have no idea why the blogger turned some of the pics, it's annoying and I can't fix it.

Week

It's been an okay week.  Monday we got our flu shots at work, Tuesday we had our department's yearly retreat and Andy and I are lucky enough to not only work for the same company but to also work in the same department so we get to go to the retreat together.  We went to the new Boondocks this year.  It was tons of Fun.  We bowled two rounds when we first got there, but they chose our teams for us which I wasn't too happy about, but it was still fun.  I got a 77 the first round and was up to 71 the second when they cut us off.  We were on a time limit and didn't get to finish the second round.  We then moved on to laser tag, which I love!  Andy and I were on the same team (I was hoping to be opposite so I could take him down LOL) and we were told to play defensive on the first round.  I came in almost last on the score board and our team lost.  They sent us in again and Andy and I played offensive this time.  I found a lovely little corner that no one noticed at first where I could just pound their base.  Once they discovered the corner, I used Andy as a meat shield and still pounded the base.  What kind of wife does that make me?  LOL  Any way, I was the point leader that round and our team won!  Sweet!  I stepped in for a coworker on the third round and went in again.  Did I tell you I LOVE laser tag?  My gun this round was defective though and would only tag players and would not tag the base for some reason, it was so frustrating.  We played the arcades the rest of the afternoon and then had to head back to work for a bit before going home.  Wednesday I found another trunk to go buy and did so, Thursday was a typical day.  Friday we had a date night and it was wonderful!  we went to sushi again at a place called Takashi which was really good and then went to see Secretariat which was also good.  Saturday we had a lazy morning and then headed out late to go to lunch and another movie.  We saw Red this time which was a great movie, so funny!  I love action comedies.  We then went to Lowes and got our supplies to really get going on our trunks and then to my sister's church to help watch Becca for the scout fund raiser.  It wasn't as fun as it usually is this year, but the chili cook off was tasty.  We went to Stacie and Kenton's after to pick up their electric sander and headed home.  Today I woke up stuffy and sick again, but I did get the laundry going and the house picked up if not cleaned.  Now I am listening to the boys watch football in the other room.  I don't care for football.  I was hoping to get started on the small trunk today, but since Andy wants to help and he is watching the game, I can't.  Oh well, there is always tomorrow. 

Obsessions

K, so a few weeks ago I got talking to Gladys about old stuff and trunks and things and, as I have said before, I have been wanting a project to do quite bad.  Well I fixated on trunks.  I have always been fascinated by them in all shapes and sizes.  I had a little box when I was little that I always pretended was a treasure chest and kept all my little treasures in it.  I decided I wanted a real one. I started watching the antique section of ksl.com and then I got looking at trunk restoration sites and got more specific about what I wanted.  I went to an antique shop with my mother-in-law and found one there but it had been poorly restored already and they wanted way too much for it.  I found one on ksl that wasn't worth having, too rotten, and then Andy and I went to a couple antique shops and we finally found one.  It's huge! Its far bigger than what I had in my mind ( I can fit in it) and more than I had been wanting to pay, but it's beautiful and only needs minimal work. It even still has the tray, which is awesome.  As far as I can tell, this was made sometime around the turn of the last century.

Someone took some time and did some restoration to this trunk at one point, but still a long time ago.  The paper inside stunk, was discolored, and starting to rot.  We started by removing the ugly paper.  The black is what's left of some really old cardboard stuff that was on the roof and the bottom.  The next step will be to get whats left of that out and then sand the inside smooth.  I think it already looks tons better.  I also talked to my dad and he said he can fit a key for it, yay!

We plan on brushing the canvas and polishing up all the metal after the inside and tray are sanded, then all it will need is some tung oil mix to coat and protect it inside and out to finish it up.  Oh and to replace the handles, it's too awkward to move without them.. I'll post pics as we go.

So I thought I was done.  I had my project and Andy is going to help me with it.  But....I keep looking at ksl.  I can't help it, it's another obsession.  Well, today I found another trunk.  It's smaller and beat up and older than our other one (which is actually appealing to me).  But it was super cheap!  and it wasn't sold yet.  and we just got paid.  So I went and picked it up.  :)  On a side note, I LOVE having gps.

This one has had a hard life.  It's beat up, has some water damage, has loose nails and the top is not attached to the bottom, but we both agreed that this will be our practice project before we go on with our bigger one.  If we get this one right we will feel safe moving on with the big one and we can sell the small one for far more than we paid for it.  If we screw it up, we aren't out much.  I'm super excited about both of them!  I know, I'm crazy!

I'm done tho.  Andy made me promise I wouldn't get any more no matter how cheap they are LOL

Hellfire Sushi

Yesterday was a good day.  We are both feeling better finally so that's always a plus.  We decided to go down to my mom's early and visit.  We haven't been down for a while and I have been missing my mom.  It was really nice to visit and my sister and her family went down early too so that made it even better.  Becca came in and immediately had to give us both hugs.  She is such a little darling!  It was a really good visit but we couldn't stay as long as I had hoped.  We left about fourish and headed back home.  We tested the gps in Andy's phone on the way down and on mine on the way back.  It's going to be awesome to have gps, they both work great.

When we got home I decided to work on my trunk a bit and between the two of us we got all the old, gross paper out of the inside and off the tray.  There was really old cardboard stuff on the roof and the bottom and we'll have to get a scraper to get all of that out, but then all we have to do is sand and stain the inside and that part is done.  It looks so much better already.

We then headed over to Jason and Elizabeth's so we could all go get sushi together.  We had watched Man versus Food a while back and the guy had visited a local sushi place, Kobe Cho, that has this hellfire challenge (we used our new fancy gps to get there, cause none of us knew where it was).  For the challenge, you have to eat two pieces of their level 6 spicy tuna roll and then two pieces of their 6.5 to even qualify to do the challenge.  If you do that you have to sign a waiver that releases the restaurant from any liability for your actions and to show that this was all your idea before going on.  It's a pretty daunting waiver, it states that in the event of hospitalization that you will not sue and in the event of death your spouse and/or family will not sue as it was your choice to go on!  Crazy!  It mentioned hospitalization several times and death in every paragraph.  We asked about it and our waitress said no one has ever died and only three people had to be taken to the hospital.  They have 10 levels of heat.  Only 53 have succeeded with the level 7 challenge.  Only three have made it to the 8 and we assumed those were the three that went to hospital.

Andy ordered the hellfire challenge.  My husband is crazy.  She brought him out his roll after serving the rest of us.  He ate four pieces of the level 6 roll when he only needed to eat two and asked for the next level.

Three pieces gone and three left of the level 6 roll

He was hardly phased by the level 6.  His eyes watered the tiniest bit and that was it.

This is him after the level 6.  Nothin'.

He then told the waitress he was going on and asked for the next level. The man is crazy, the 6.5 have raw chili powder mix on them!

These are the two pieces of the 6.5

 She brings him out his two pieces and he takes a look them, smiles, and eats one.  Then the other.  He looks at the waitress and says, "Lets do it, I'm going on."  She then left and came back with the waiver form for him sign.  While we were waiting his eyes started to water and he started blowing his nose.

Here's the waiver if you feel like reading it :)

She brought it over and he started looking it over and signed it.  By this time his eyes are red and he is blowing his nose like crazy and he is starting to be in distress.  I told him he wasn't allowed to die on me and then he got up and went to the bathroom.  We all read over the waiver and were being amazed at some of the stuff it says.  I decided to stick just the tip of my finger in a little of the sauce from one of the remaining two pieces of the 6.  I stuck it on my tongue.  This tiny little dot of sauce.  I thought my mouth was going to fry.  I provided some additional entertain as I tried to cool off my mouth and throat from that tiny little bit.  I can't believe he ate four of them and two of the next!  I realize now that I had been worried enough about him that I didn't think to snap a picture of his face after eating the 6.5.

Once he came out he told us he had just experienced some of the worst stomach cramping he had ever had, but as soon as he broke into a sweat he was fine and feeling great!  I'm quite sure that if he hadn't been full (he had also order a dragon roll) that he would have went on.  He went and talked to the chef and found out he should have paced himself and he would have been okay and that the Man versus Food guy had actually taken two hours to complete the challenge (there is no time limit).  I'm glad my husband is okay, but it was sure funny for the guy that scares Asians and Thais with the heat he can handle to finally find a hot that was too hot for him.  He said next time tho that he'll order a level 6 roll just because it was really good.  I tell ya again, crazy!

I have to say tho that that was the best sushi I have ever had.  It was all delicious and fresh and they actually use real crab on the rolls that have it.  Every other place we've been using that crappy imitation stuff.  I sure wish sushi wasn't so expensive, we'd eat it more.  :)

We then went over to Dan's and bought some gelato ice cream that was super yummy and headed over to Jason and Elizabeth's to play games.  The guys played some football game for a bit while us girls talked and then we all played a round of monopoly on the Wii.  I think we need to buy that one, it was fun!

Over all, it was a great day!

Oh and I can guarantee that we'll be back to that sushi place again.  Andy says he will be going into training and trying it again LOL

Eggs

My new phone was activated and working this morning, yay!  I love it!  It's so much easier to text on, and I can post on fb.  Andy's, however, was not.  Sprint said it is something to do with how the different phones were set up.  Dumb.  He has to wait until tomorrow and isn't very happy about it.

I felt like dirt again today and stayed home again, but I did manage to work my hours.  I like being able to do that.  With drugs, I am feeling better enough to stay awake but that's about it.  I hate being sick. 

Well enough griping don't you think?  The world needs less griping.  So on to good things.  Eggs.  I love eggs.  Fried, poached, boiled, scrambled, deviled, by themselves or with other things, I don't care.  They are the prefect food.  They take forever to go bad until you cook em, they come in their own packaging, they are good for any meal or with almost any meal, they are also a great source of protein and certain vitamins, and you can decorate them and make them pretty.  You can even do all kinds of fun things with the shells.  You can paint, dye, and carve them, and even turn them into decorative little boxes.  I've even seen a pair of small computer speakers housed in empty shells and someone served yogurt in carefully, artfully, broken half shells I saw in a magazine.  They are so versatile and they just taste so dang good.  They are my favorite food.  A well cooked, over-easy, fried egg or a freshly boiled, still warm egg always makes me smile.  Even on a crap day.  I just fried up some eggs for both of us, and it was delicious! 

Sick

Sick and tired of being sick and having headaches.  I've got the worst allergies I've ever had going on effecting my left eye, my throat, my sinuses, and my ears.  I'm pretty sure I've got a sinus infection or cold going on too and I've been getting a lot of headaches lately.  I think they are stress, allergy, and muscle strain related.  Tired of it all.  I've also been hurting more with my fibro, but that's normal for the season.  The weather is in flux and the barometric pressure is in flux, this makes my muscles very unhappy and they voice that unhappiness very loudly.  Missed work today which I don't like doing, but that meant I was here when our new phones were delivered.  That was nice, I got them out and got them both charging before Andy got home.  But then Andy called and asked me to come get him, he's miserable too.  This is very selfish of me, but I never get to be doted on when I'm sick.  I get sick, and right after he gets sick.  I just want to be cuddled and doted on damnit!  LOL  I feel really bad that he doesn't feel good either.  I don't like him being sick.

I kept the car home with me because I was supposed to go to the dentist (eek) but ended up canceling it, which sucks because they didn't have another late appointment which means I'll have to take time off work for it next time.  grrrr  That also meant I had to drag my sorry butt out of bed to go get Andy.  It was really hard to wake up.

So we now have our new phones, but guess what?  We can't use them until sometime tomorrow.  Something to do with transferring our numbers so we don't have to change them.  Oh well.

K, off my box now.

LOL

I forgot to show you Lily's new toy.  It just goes to show she belongs to geeks (dorks) - they had one that had OMG on it too. hehe

In the background, Baggs charges up her lazors to destroy teh LOL!

(I'm tired and have been looking at too many lolcats/dogs)

My Day

I had a good day.  I woke up giggling at my silly husband who then tickled me to death for giggling at him.  We went to breakfast and then went to the store.  We went to simply buy a curtain rod, but walked out with the rod, some goodies, a toy and a new bed for Lily. LOL

She really likes her new bed, actually.

We relaxed for a bit and then I decided to hang the rod.  I went looking for the drill and actually found it where it belongs!  Imagine that!  But I soon found out the battery was almost dead and guess what I couldn't find?  yup, the other battery and the charger.  Over the course of several hours I found the label maker, the adapter for Andy's micro sd card, Chewy's old harness and the other extend-a-leash, a missing book or two, and my Hand and Foot deck, all before finding the second battery, which was also dead, but no charger.  I gave up for a bit and watched TV and got the laundry going.  I went back on the hunt again and finally found the stupid charger!

Dan had come over to play Sin's of the Solar Empire and I guess I entertained them both with my laughing at America's Funniest Home Video's upstairs, while they were downstairs.  :)  While I waited for the first battery to charge, I did get some more stuff hung up on the walls.  I got the clock put back up, the picture in the bathroom finally on the wall instead of the counter and a little picture in the kitchen.

Once the battery was done I went to town getting the stupid, hated vertical blinds down.

A while back, Andy's mom had purchased some curtains that she decided she didn't like and gave them to us.  I've been wanting to put them up ever since.  They are cream and our walls a light yellow, so I wasn't sure how they would look, but wanted them up anyway.  Once the blinds were down, I started putting up the brackets for the rod.  The far right one and the middle one went in beautifully, but the far left one decided it didn't want to join the party.  I drilled, I switched bits and I fought with the stupid screws till I was sweaty and very unhappy and the heads were stripped.  I gave up and tried the stupid drywall inserts for the screws.  For whatever dumb, stupid reason, they wouldn't go in either.  I started growling and grunting at them and Andy came upstairs to see what was going on.  There was nothing to be done.  I moved the bracket over thinking that would help, but it didn't.  I finally ran downstairs and grabbed some different screws and they finally took hold and went in.  I have no idea why the stock ones wouldn't go in, I was so mad!

Here are the replacement screws and you can see the plastic inserts to the right of the bracket.  I'll fix that later.

I forgot to calculate the height of the brackets to accommodate the tabs at the top of the panels so the curtains are a little low for the type of panels, but since I know these aren't permanent, I'm not going to move the rod up, especially after the trouble I had.  It's where it's gonna be, period.  I think I want darker curtains, maybe green ones, and the ones that have the rings built into the panels so the panels themselves sit a tad bit higher than the rod.  I think those will look nice.  But in the meantime, the blinds are gone and these don't look too bad.

The poor cat was a bit confused and it took her a long while to figure out how to get between the panels so she could get onto the sill and over to the open window.  Silly cat.

Debates and Promises

The car is safe to drive again, yippy!  We haven't really felt safe driving our car for quite a while now, the brakes just weren't working quite right.  They were pulsing and being soft and sloppy.  We took out a small loan and finally took it in.  I am soooo glad we did.  He said our rotors were so thin in the front that they had warped a little and that's what was causing the pulsing.  He also said because they were thin and the pads were thin that it was creating enough heat to boil the brake fluid and that's why they were soft and floppy.  Ya, it so needed to be done.  We also had an oil change and tire rotation done and he fixed the washer fluid line so we can clean the windshield again and he flushed the brake lines and put new fluid in.  Now it drives beautifully and safely.  So glad we did it.  I was very impressed with the mechanic we took it to.  I will certainly go to him again.  He got the care right in, called us with a quote before doing anything, and then actually ended up charging us a bit less than he quoted.  They were all very upfront, courteous and friendly too.

We took out a little more than we needed so we can get a few other things too.  We got a curtain rod so I can finally hang curtains in the living room and get rid of the stupid, ugly vertical blinds.  We can also now go get my new (old) trunk out of lay-a-way at the antique store and get some stuff so I can get started on restoring it.  Now comes the debates and promises part.  We need a new dishwasher.  We have needed a new dish washer for a very long time.  This is the third time we've had an opportunity to get one.  The first time, we bought a new canvas tent instead and the second time we just didn't watch our funds close enough and over spent on other things.  Now, on the other hand, both of our phones suck and are falling apart and dying.  So a debate began.  Do we get a dishwasher as planned or do we get phones?  We talked about it at length until late last night and finally decided to get phones, but not until after I had extracted a few solid promises.  He promises to never let the dishes get out of hand again and to never make me open a cupboard to no bowls or a drawer to no spoons or forks again.  I promised to always rinse out my milk cups and cereal bowls.  In return we end up with nice new phones and some extra money left over to get things like a curtain rod, supplies to start restoring my trunk, and a nice night out together.  If we had bought the dishwasher we wouldn't be able to do the extra things.  He also promised me that we will buy a dishwasher, for sure, the next time we have the money to.  Hopefully we will get a better refund next year and still get our spring bonuses.

I have to admit, I am excited for a new phone and Wire-fly had an awesome deal on the phones we really wanted.  We did, however, switch providers.  I will miss T-mobile, but Sprint had the better deals and better phones and cheaper plan to support those phones.  Hopefully Spint has improved as much as they say they have, it sucked balls last time we were with them.  Oh and we also get a corporate discount with Sprint, so that will help too.

Besides, I now have a very happy Hunney, and sometimes that's worth living without a dishwasher a little while longer.  :)

Well enough

I need to learn to leave well enough, alone.  I scratched my glasses during the summer and decided to have the lenses replaced since they were still under warranty.  Shouldn't have done it.  they were tiny scratches.  I couldn't even see them when my glasses were on.  I was just mad at myself for scratching them at all.  Well, now my glasses don't fit right, they sit cock-eyed, they were pinching my nose.  I went in and had them adjusted.  They aren't pinching my nose as much now but now they are pinching behind my ears.  Oh and guess what?  I have have been having severe headaches the past couple of days.  It sucks.  I was pretty sure my issues with my glasses were causing them, but tonight my ears are screaming again.  Great, so now I get to deal with an ear, and most likely sinus, infection too.  I was so looking forward to a healthy, nothing to do, weekend.