Wow! Phenomenal...

A gorgeous shot of Atlantis and the ISS crossing the Sun!

http://astrosurf.com/legault/iss_atlantis_transit_2010.html

Them Crazy Bananas

It has been about 3 weeks since we culled the banana groves and cleaned them up. A little TLC, and poof, they're off to the races.

(Just after culling)

(After)

Pool Party Numero Uno

This past Sunday came the first big Pool Party of 2010, the first of many! Good food, good fun, and good swimming. The total attendees: 14 humans & 6 canines. There was plenty of room for everyone. After a shindig like that, Lady and I always think back to how we had to get really cozy to have 6 people in our UofM apartment.

Good times were had by all (we assume...) and more good times to come over the summer.

Come on down y'all, we're fixin' to have a whole lotta' fun!

Mmmm Power Tools

Don't even try to deny it. I know you love power tools, too!! When putting the hardware onto the cabinet doors this past weekend, I was able to unleash the power of my new drill press.

The great story that the drill press completes is this:

The kitchen has now come full circle with its construction process. Part 1 of the kitchen was done all free hand with a drill. Part 2 was done with Lady's dremel drill press. Part 3 will be done with a real benchtop drill press. My tools have evolved with my experience working through the kitchen, and it has been great!

(Feelin' Good)

(Yeah, that's right. This bad boy even has a laser sight!)

In the immortal words of Mr. Mader, "THX DAD"

Our New Bar

The past few weeks have kept me very busy working around the house. The biggest benefit of this has been our kitchen. As my mojo came fully back, the kitchen moved ever closer to completion.

For the new bar, we wanted it raised up from the base counter. This would make sitting on the stools far more comfortable and appealing, as well as make it look awesome! As we pondered the many ways to create the raised bar, the subwall option came to the forefront. After building my workbench, I had the hang of how to create a very sturdy 2x4 frame. With that, ta-da! Meet our new bar!

There are a bunch of new pictures in the "Kitchen Remodel" gallery (click on the slideshow at the top right of the main blog page) which show the details of creating the bar and show off some more finished cabinets!

(Soooo much more comfy now)

Pardon Me Sir, Your Nerd Is Showing!

A movie that finally got me back to a midnight showing, Iron Man 2 was released last night! I was even joined by a handful of friends for the show. We got to see a couple of guys decked out in their Iron Man suits there, and the theaters all filled up. They had it showing in 5 theaters at the place we went to. Sadly they took down the giant Iron Man and War Machine sign before we got out of the movie, so we didn't get the iconic picture I was hoping for.

It was a fantastic movie, and I had a great time letting my nerd show with good friends. The show had iconic Iron Man moments, and additional moments teasing the other upcoming Marvel movies leading up to the big kahuna Avengers movie in 2012! Yep, I know, my nerd is showing and I'm proud of it.