The early bird gets the truck...

Well, quick post before I head to bed, following my successful completion of the Walk & Roll 50-mile bike ride today (from which I'm beat, obviously).

Yesterday, I got an early start and headed out the Home Depot to get a "load" of topsoil, peat moss and manure to make another veggie bed and finish filling the second one. When I walked in, I decided to see if they happened to have one of those nice rental trucks available. When they said they did, I decided to get 30 bags of topsoil, and enough peat moss and manure to fill up (hopefully) the last two, yet-unbuilt veggie beds.

Got home, and with the help of my bro, tossed all these bags over the fence. I felt vindicated that, for once, I was there early enough to get what I wanted and get out, knowing full well that yesterday's beautiful weather coupled with the technical passing of the frost date spelled doom for any gardeners trying to shop there after, say, 10 a.m. I was right. It was fine when I got the truck, but already a madhouse when I returned it.

I filled the remainder of the second bed and decided to plant seeds instead of start building the third bed, given I didn't want to do too much hard work given today's bike ride.

I planted a row of beans along the wall of the garage (will string up some wires at some point to carry the beans), and then several rows of Chioggia (sp?) beets and several rows of carrots. All seeds, of course. I also bought a Big Bertha pepper plant and put that in one of my freestanding pots near the deck.

Today was the bike ride, and I'm way too tired to go on...it was a beautiful day, and a beautiful ride -- but next year, we'll probably do a shorter run. We missed out on a lot of the fun at the end, because we weren't speed-demons. Ah well, live and learn...the most important thing was that we raised a great amount of money to help fight the battle against cancer. I think you can donate after the event, so if you want to, go ahead...otherwise, wait till next year!

Donate to fight cancer...

OK, well, this is the first blatant solicitation you've seen here, but I'm making it for a good cause. On the left, there, you see the American Cancer Society's logo, and a link. I'm riding my bike in this year's Walk & Roll North Shore in order to help raise money to fight cancer. I've had tons of relatives and some friends diagnosed from cancer -- some won the battle, some did not.

Doctors found cancer in my Dad's prostate last year, and fortunately they caught it early enough -- he had the prostate removed, and life has gone on. Thankfully, he's a good news story. Not everyone comes out on the positive side.

Anyway, I'm riding in two days (this Sunday), and although I don't expect anything from any of my loyal readers, I did want to offer up the chance to donate. My team and I will ride 50 miles, from Skokie north to Lake Forest, down to Evanston and back over to Skokie. (We didn't pick the route, of course.) I feel very prepared, even though this is the most I'll have ridden my bike in one "sitting" since college. I've gotten some good riding in lately in preparation, so as long as the bike doesn't break (knock on wood) somehow, I should be fine.

Please consider donating to the cause -- if you don't want to click on the link, then find the Walk & Roll official page, find the Walk & Roll North Shore (Skokie, Ill.), then you can find my team, the Whammy Ka-Blammies, and find me (Andy)...(I just don't want to post my last name here...paranoia and all).

Thanks for listening...and, amidst all the biking prep, I've done some housework and yardwork, and I promise to have photos and updates very soon!

Words are very, unnecessary...

The title is taken from "Enjoy the Silence" by Depeche Mode...and that's what I've been doing, at least in the realm of home improvement, for the moment.

A.J.'s first birthday party went very well. We had loads and loads of people, and when he wasn't overwhelmed, A.J. had a very good time. Thanks to everyone who came out, brought gifts or themselves and joined us for our son's big day!

The basement family room walls and ceiling got done, as did the electrical work. We cleaned the floor about 3-4 times and got it decent enough. The fireplace works and definitely warms it up down there, and overall, it's just a nicer room to be in.

We still have plenty of post-party cleaning to do (the garbage men don't come until tomorrow, and there's full trash bags all over that need to be shed). But we're getting there. Work is kicking me in the ass right now; but at least I'll get back to it soon enough. I now have motivation, and something I didn't have before the party: TIME. :)

Merry Christmas to all, especially Target...

DSC_0006
Originally uploaded by southsideandy

So, OK, this picture isn't of the tree I'm about to discuss...the picture is our tree, tonight, on Christmas Eve. Merry Christmas to everyone out there!

Here's a tip for all of you though...at least my local Target is doing this. I was at Target during the day Christmas Eve, picking up a few things. I noticed that they were selling the floor model pre-lit Christmas trees for 75% off! Gina and I thought about getting one this year, but just decided that it wouldn't be a good move at the moment, especially since the trees I liked were all regularly $250 and up.

But holy cow, 75 percent off for a floor model tree? If it was something else, I might hesitate, but here's something that has been a floor model for only about three months and is up high where people can't just grab at it and poke at it and drag it.

So I bought it. Furthering my discount was the fact that the employee gave me an incorrect tag for a tree that was $200 regularly priced (compared to my tree, which would have been $275 regularly). So I got a great, great deal, and all that's missing is the box!

I'm excited for next year!

Everyone have a great holiday!

Legs like jelly...

What a busy weekend! Unfortunately, little was done in and around the house. My little bro graduated with his Master's degree Saturday, so we drove out to the boondocks to have a family celebratory dinner. That was fun, but it pretty much shot Saturday in the foot.

Today was also shot mostly in the foot, in that, I decided it was high time to get back on the bike and do what I once did semi-regularly for a couple years back in high school and college. And that is ride my bike on long, organized event-type rides.

Today, I rode 25 miles on my new bike in the Prairie Pedal event up in Grayslake, Ill., sponsored by the Liberty Prairie Conservatory. My friends live up there in the "subdivision" that hosts the event, and it was really nice. Obviously, though, my legs and rear-end are not used to all that work. It was chilly, but nice bike-riding weather, except for the ever-present wind, of course.

I was happy with how I rode -- I rarely felt truly winded, which made me feel really good. My legs just didn't have the stamina in them to keep up the pace beyond the 25 miles we did.

Of course, my friends are big-time gardeners in the same mold as me -- buy something, preferably native, regional or perennial, stick it in the ground and see what happens. So, we went to a couple of Lake County's finest garden centers. I was impressed, more or less...though they didn't have a ton of what I was looking for (which I didn't even know what I was "looking for" either anyway), I came away with some good ideas. And, my friends gave me a FANTASTIC idea for one of my tall shrubs out front. Now, if I can just find it to buy it, we'll be good to go!

Hope all your weekends went well...

What lurks in the gangway...

My blogging compadre, Fred, over at One Project Closer is hosting a giveaway for a set of two solar lamps, so you should head on over and check out his blog, and maybe enter -- but don't put forth too good of an argument, I want to win! ;) Just kidding...good luck to all, of course. Here's a link directly to the post I'm talking about.

Anyway, as promised in my "entry" for that contest, here's a picture of the unlighted gangway and the back of the house. It's a photo at night during the winter that shows the stark contrast between the lighted backyard and the dark, "scary" gangway (on the right of the photo). As you can see, it's not the safest setup in the world. And although I've been thinking about getting some solar lamps, I'd of course love to try some out for free and give them a great review, if indeed they deserve it. :)

I should mention that I have not messed with the brightness or contrast of this photo. This is the real deal. Besides, if I went to all that trouble for two free solar lamps, what kind of nutso would I be? :) I mean, free is free, but I'm not that competitive or insane. :)

Going out of business sale...

Anyone who might need a couple reproduction stone/cast planters for their front porch in the Chicagoland area, head on over to http://stores.ebay.com/BUNGALOW-AVENUE, as they're having a going out of business sale. I feel bad for them. Really, I do...it's a shame, you know?

But I feel good for me, as I've been looking (not really ACTIVELY) for a deal on the old-fashioned stone planters for our bungalow. So you all can head over there and pick through what's left. I got what I wanted, and I'll be sure to share pics with you once they're delivered (since they're 110 pounds apiece!).

Woohoo!

Almost there...

feb10 nursery 1
Originally uploaded by southsideandy

Well, we're 16 days from the baby's supposed due date, so it could be any day now. We've got a couple things left to do in the nursery, but here are some pictures of it during the day, since most of my pics have come at night. These pictures also have the benefit of Chicagoland's first day of sun in about one full week (seriously...that's not an exaggeration). Makes the room look much nicer, honestly.

Things will likely slow down on here for a few weeks after the baby is born -- just a warning. Those of you who are parents or have been I'm sure can understand (and are probably saying, "He doesn't even have a CLUE how quiet this blog will get!"). But I hope you'll all check in every now and then and see how things are going. The basement's half-demolished, there's plenty of painting and other remedies that need to be taken care of, and we'll have plenty to keep us busy with the house, aside from taking care of Baby.

As I go along, I'll be sure to keep this updated. Also, I'm getting a nice new camera Wednesday, so as I snap pics of the house/garden/yard/etc., I'll be sure to post them here. So, thanks all, for reading...and I hope you'll keep on reading, even when the posts get fewer and farther between at times. Or seem groggily written, at least. :)

Expo greatness, and some work finally done...I hope...

First of all, the Chicago Bungalow and Green Home Expo was FANTASTIC. If you did not attend, you missed out, seriously. They said there were something like 10,000 people there, and it sure seemed like they weren't lying. The exhibitors were wonderful, and we got some great leads and even some coupons and stuff on furniture, gardening places, tankless water heaters, stained glass windows, etc., etc.

One of the seminars we sat in on was a landscaping seminar, describing how they landscaped the front and side yards with a prairie replica and a rain garden with a french drain between the houses. This is, more or less, what I wanted to do with the area between my house and the neighbor to the west. Not all the way along the houses, but definitely where our downspout comes out into the grass. Hopefully, she will be keen on the idea, or I'll just have to dig on my side of the property line. Either way, I got some great guidance for that project, so I'm psyched about it. All in all, it was really, really good. I even got some serious interest on the side "business" I was thinking of starting with a coworker. I didn't walk around promoting it, but I did bounce the idea off folks who seemed as though they might be interested, and they were. So, I'm excited about those prospects now too.

After the Expo, we had a Halloween party to attend...everyone voted me the party winner for my excellent White Goodman (from the movie Dodgeball) costume. I cobbled it together, drew and constructed the chest plate and belt "buckle," (Gina sewed the shoulder pads to the shirt...thanks honey!) and generally did a great job, honestly. Thanks, Luis, for the boots...they were perfect! Here's a picture of me and Gina, who played Kate Veach, the chick from the same movie:

This morning I woke up and decided today was the day to patch the concrete around the stairs and the wing walls as best as I could. So I went to Home Depot and bought some simple Portland Cement and filled in the cracks and attempted to rebuild the crumbled portions of the wing wall foundation. Here's a pic of my haphazard attempts at holding the concrete in place...also, obviously, I don't care if the cement matches the concrete or not. I just care that it is solid and doesn't let anymore seepage into the basement room underneath the stairs. We don't get much, but if water gets in these cracks and freezes, it'll get worse before it gets better.

So we'll see tomorrow how it holds up...if it holds up at all. :) Oh, and last but not least...Gina learned a hard lesson about why you don't leave a real pumpkin out on the porch before Halloween...at least the squirrels got to it before the neighborhood kids did. That may have ended up being worse.

I don't think I've ever seen or read a worse book...

Preface: 1. I'm a journalist, so I'm a little biased as to what good writing is (but still, this is brutal--to put it in perspective, fellow bloggers, you'd probably never read a blog written this poorly). 2. I also understand how tough it is to write, or to be a fledgling writer, particularly today. 3. I applaud the self-publish movement, when it's done right--this book would be Exhibit A if someone were to argue (for some reason) against self-publishing services. 4. I'm mostly angered by the promoters of the book, for doing a great selling job and allowing me to assume this was a fine piece of writing. It wasn't.

T-h-a-n-k-s G-u-y-s is the title of the book. Do NOT buy it if you are expecting a good read or any kind of depth to any stories within. It is basically the poorly recorded, poorly executed and poorly written memoirs of a former Southwest Sider and his failed attempts to really qualify and quantify the wonderful friendship he and his buddies growing up have maintained. Very cool concept (because it IS rare), but about the worst execution you could imagine.

So I'm done with the book...I basically skimmed about 15 of the remaining 40 pages I had and got the idea. It still sucked.

Anyway, sorry to rant and drag this book down...it's not usually like me. On to bigger and better things...thinking about writing my own book that does a better job than the previously mentioned book does, and dreaming about house projects (oh, and working my ass off at a convention in town this week...our biggest of the year, every two years).

I'm trying to figure out what I need to keep on my mind while walking the Bungalow Expo...for once, I'm a buyer, or at least a prospective buyer, and I'm psyched about that. It'll be nice to look at exhibitors and think, "that's cool for our place," or "that totally is a waste of money," or "hey, we already have that, and that's OK."

It's gonna be fun...but, before that, I have work...and tomorrow I have to be at McCormick at 5:30 a.m., so I'm calling it an early night tonight!

Reading, and waiting for the Bungalow Expo...

I've been spending most of the last week or so creating my Halloween costume, and thus not working on the house much. Although, chalk up a small victory, I was able to replace the burned out lightbulb on the back of the house with the straight ladder we "inherited" from my aunt. So thanks, Auntie Rose! :) Small victories.

Really, I'm kind of in a holding pattern at the moment, because this Saturday is the Chicago Bungalow (and Green Home...whatever) Expo at Merchandise Mart. Gina and I will definitely be there--it's our first Bungalow Expo, and we're hoping we'll be able to get some good leads and good ideas and just take it all in. Ought to be fun, or at least, applicable--this would be the first home show I've ever gone to while actually owning a home, so it becomes immediately applicable. :)

In the meantime, I bought a book on a recommendation from an acquaintance (who is not a journalist, so I shouldn't have trusted his judgment) who also grew up on the South Side (or something like that). It promotes itself as a story about six decades of friendship on the Southwest Side. I've read 40 pages of this thing...was excited to find out it was centered around a neighborhood about a mile from my house (and my dad's house, as he grew up in the same house as I did). But the writing is TERRIBLE. I assumed it would be solid, since it was available on Amazon.com and in Barnes & Noble, Borders, etc. But silly, silly me forgot about the "self-publishing" services out there nowadays. I took a look, and lo and behold, this one was obviously self-published (and not edited...or edited REALLY poorly...REALLY). Furthermore, it pitches itself as telling much more of a story than it actually has told so far. Now, in longer books (this one is short-ish), 40 pages often is the setup...but I'm already through about three chapters in 40 pages, so the setup is long gone.

As of now, I'm pretty highly disappointed...but also ENCOURAGED. Why? I told a friend I was eyeballing this book, and she said, "Why do you want to read that, if you lived it?" I answered with a three-fold reason: 1. The events in this book took place from the 1950s on, 2. It's always nice to read about something you can relate to, and 3. if it sucked, and I think I can do better, then I have motivation.

As of now, I'm motivated. Further fanning the flames...there's been talk of an impromptu grammar school class "reunion" of sorts. That, and this book, have helped some of the memories come rushing back...with the proper "research" amongst my old and current friends, this could be good--but obviously a major work-in-progress. Maybe when the baby comes and I'm up all night with it crying, I can jot down notes. :)

Motivation is one thing, of course...actual execution, on the other hand, is another. Just look at the paint job in the baby's room for an example. ;)