The source of frustration

Our dishwasher is a little over 2 years old. Came brand new when we bought our house. This week it decided to die on us. I'm not surprised since we've been having a rash of things breaking or dieing here at Casa de Dunsmuir. First the Clutch goes out on the Subaru(212k on the original clutch). Then the Fridge starts making horrible noises ( we bought it new when we moved in). Then Amber's car dies. EGR valve which costs a small fortune to fix @ the dealer. Then the dishwasher.
I did a little research at the Whirlpool website. Got a parts break down & commenced to take apart the dishwasher. Luckily inside is a pretty good electrical print. So after figuring out what piece had broke free. I got out the handy dandy meter & did some more trouble shooting. Turns out the timer is bad. Called Star Appliance. Two hours & a crisp Benjamin later I have a new timer. Once installed the dishwasher runs like new again.
Amber's car is fixed so now 2 of the 4 are going. Fridge runs just is noisy. I'll fix it soon. As for the Scoob? Can't decide if I want to put $650 into a car with 212k miles on it. If you know anyone that wants a project car let me know. Mechanically its runs great just needs a clutch. Clutch will run you about $150, or Ace Transmission will fix it for $650 (cheapest & best in town). Next weekend We're headed to KC to look at buying a used Volvo XC70. Very yuppie, have to keep up with JP. I have been driving dad's F-250. Diesel is killing me ($$$). Have been looking for a Hybrid Ford Escape but has a long lead time. Besides Volvo's are like tanks & I want my kid to be safe.

Evil Timer!

Where's the Humanity?

One of my loyal readers recently passed word that my blog has "lost its humanity" & I need to post about Mia @ least once a week. OK. I'm not sure how a blog looses its humanity but I'll post more about Mia. I really think that was a line he used to land his new corporate gig & it worked so he's waving it around like a red flag.
Almost all the neighbors had put up their lights so Amber was on me to get ours up. I got them out & plugged them in in the garage to look for blown bulbs. How about blown strands? I ended up throwing away 4 strands & buying new. We went with the multi color lights this season.

We did have 2 strands from the old group that worked. They fade from blue to white so I put them up around the door. This way Mia can see the "pretty lights", her words, from the living room.
How did I get those lights up there you ask? With a big long pole thats how. My neighbor was so impressed he rushed off to Target to get the same set up.

Mia has been very fascinated with pictures lately. She carries them around & will tell you who is in the picture. These happen to be all of her. She carries around 4 of me boating saying "daddie, daddie" very cute.

This pic was so cute I had to post it twice.

Mia & her guard doggie Lacy.

Mia & her horsie Lacy. I can't get over all that Lacy lets Mia get away with.

Mia & Lucky. He's still not a big Mia fan but he is slowly warming up to her now that he sees she's here to stay. That & he's figured out shes good for free snacks.

There a little bit of Humanity just for JP.

Memorial Wknd Update

Amber & I have been talking about adding on to the deck since we bought our house two years ago. We finally pulled the trigger on it this weekend. I took Friday off & my niece Ashton came to help. Thursday after work we loaded up my dad's trailer with most of the required lumber. I saw most since we ended up going back to Lowe's several times. Most was because of a big design change yesterday.

How the deck used to look. Plain 12'x12'.

After Ashton & I removed the guardrail. Just before the rain storm that put down the digital camera for two days while it dried out. oops!

Mia kept a close eye on the work progress her dad & both grandad's were making.

This was today after I got the guardrails on the new addition. 8' out from the old deck. 28' wide & 12 ' out from the side of the house that had no deck. The front has no guardrail yet because I'm making the guardrail into benches. If you look closely you can see the pattern I made.

We decided the deck needed flow to the yard so I added 8' wide stairs in the center of it. Lucky likes his new place to chill out. I'll post pics of the actual construction once my mom emails them too me. Then you can see my dad, my dad in law Rick, & myself in full construction mode. As soon as I get the deck finished off we'll be sure to have a deck warming party.