New island and cabinets in... countertop ready for tiling.

We had a busy and productive weekend :D And ended up wondering how the hell we did this stuff for 8 months straight because we were TIRED by Sunday night.

We: hung cabinets in the laundry room and got it all spiffed up; moved the gas line in the kitchen; moved a giant pile of windows and fest stuff from storage out to the place; bult the island wall in the kitchen; wired it; drywalled it; set the new cabinets; cut and installed the plywood countertops so that they can be tiled later on; did laundry; and Crys* even got a good bit of fiber work done.
Oh and there was even a night of having Autum over and a dog to watch and a Sunday afternoon rescue mission.

We're bushed!

HIIIIIIIIIII!!!!

Denny and Autum at the Art Thing meeting. We had fun and the food was FAB!!!!!

We brought back an alien

So the trip to Roswell went pretty good. We left at 5:30 AM on Saturday morning and got back about 6 PM Sunday night to haul stuff in and settle for the evening.

The trip down was nice, we got a little turned around in Sante Fe looking for Sante Fe Clay because not only do streets in Sante Fe curve around and rejoin the same road they left but nearly all the other streets are named different things depending on which side of the road they're on. It was a bit..... frustrating.

BUT the drive was nice, Sante Fe Clay was cool, they didn't have the black clay we were looking for but there was some other stuff.Then it was down hill all the way to Roswell. Literally. We made it from Alamosa to Roswell on one tank of gas. (It took a tank and a half to get back but that's another story).

Once there we toured through town, got settled at the hotel, went to get dinner and shopped for some alien artifacts along the way. Oh yeah, first thing we did was stop at K-Mart for bathing suits for the hotel pool and then to Mc Coy's for our cabinets since that's the whole reason we went in the first place.

One rather, should I say..... HIGH, dude in a curio store spent a L O N G time telling us all about the fancy dolls they had there. It was fun, and we got this and that stuff.... well Crys* did since she didn't get her discover card ripped off 2 days before we left like I did.....

Then we went swimming. That was a hoot. And while Autum got ready for bed I went to Walgreens for snacks and water. We went to bed early and got up early and headed home.

Autum was a really good trip partner. None of the usual annoying kid stuff. I like having her along. She's fun.

So now the cabinets are home and ready to go in. OK like most things it's not that easy, there's a gas line to move, a wall to build wire and drywall and then the cabinets can be placed and wait for their tile job counter top.

But it's the LAST big inside thing. We're pretty excited about that.

Roswell?

Cool. Really fun place. I hear the real time to go is over the 4th of July.

Break after a loooooong drive

The cute little guys... they're growing so fast

On a small plane like this one, headed out of houston now :) be home in a few hours

I love that she said yes

In a little store in Ybor City we found the engagement ring we'd been looking for.

I'm very much in love with this woman. She totally does it for me and I'm completely shameless about it.

G'nite.

For those who think Denny doesn't know how to relax...

tampa brewed stout, hand rolled nichavana cigar...by the pool...

so BITE me you super critical jack asses!

It's been a good and enjoyable vacation. Relaxing and fun.

It's a good life.

I need more of these cigars for down by the creek.....

Tampa Bay Brewing Company

We tried 3 brews here: the barley wine, the porter and a stout. It was all good. we even got a bomber of the stout to drink by the pool later on. :D

Trolly ride to Ybor City... a local recommended it for fun

So at the Potters jam the other night, just before the guy did the headed down the escalator the bar tender told us we HAD to go to Ybor City (Pronounced E-boar city).

Today after the closing lecture by Robyn Hopper and the 2nd business meeting we were walking back to the hotel and saw the trolley that the fella said to take to Ebor.

We ran across the street and asked the trolley operator woman if she sold tickets and she said yes, so we took our $5 each and piled onto the bright yellow trolley car. A few minutes later it dropped us off at the local mecca of shopping and funky everything.

We made several purchases, some of them gifts, got a lovely lunch of pizza and beer and then almost left but decided that we should try the brew pub. It was great. Then we headed back, got gelato at Jackson's restaurant, came home and laid by the pool for a while as I smoked a cigar and we drank the fancy microbrew we brought with us from the Tampa Brewing Company and relaxed.

Following that we packed up for the trip home EARLY tomorrow, ate pizza and got all silly.

We're showered and ready for bed now. Vacation almost over. It's been good.

Crystal and the italian repast

Yet another lovely meal. Today was a good day.

Today included the annual NCECA Cup Sale, it's starts at 8 AM and folks typically line up hour and hours in advance to be first in line for the best pic of the pots. There was a brandy flask and cup that we loved and it was still there even though we didn't get in line until 8:10. We both found some treasures and that was a good start to the day. After that we wandered back to get some breakfast (which was good) and back to the room to drop our load off and be lighter for a while. Then back to the conference for a while, mostly for the 2 PM drawings for stuff, and during that visit we found some more stuff for the studio to pick up. Then back to the hotel to get stuff together for FedEx because that's lots easier than trying to carry every damed thing all over the place :D.

So we got stuff mailed and then it was time to head down to the pool. Crys* swam a bit, and I sat in the shade and visited and relaxed.

It's a tough life damn it.

After the swimming/relaxing (during which there were dolphins swimming past) we wandered a bit until we found some dinner.

It was a wonderful Italian place and we met some new friends. Thomas and Ashley who hail from near my original home town. They might pop out this summer to help with kiln building.

Now it's TV and internet and who knows what after that.

We really need some chocolate.

Hah... posted a pic of denny before he posted one of me!

yeah yeah yeah..... she's just all over the phone with the pictures......

FANCY italian on the sidewalk

We found our way to this lovely joint by a route past the original pizza place we were headed towards, through a Mediterranean place, and just short of the Jerk Chicken stand.