4TH OF JULY HNT!

First, I want to apologize for not posting regularly the last few weeks. My life has been on the fast track and either I just couldn’t find the time, or I was too tired. Let me give you a quick rundown of what I’ve been up to.

About June 10th, I started cleaning up around the outside of my house. I wanted to get the place in condition for a 4th of July BBQ/Pool Party for Lori and her kids. Here are a bunch of pictures from the July 4TH BBQ/Pool Party.


It took many hours of hard work to get the place in shape for the party. Here is what my swimming pool looked like last fall.

Here’s what it looked like right after I trimmed the bushes and pumped the water off of the winter cover in June.

Here’s what the pool (and my girlfriend Lori) looked like yesterday at the BBQ.

I started the yard work, like I said, on June 10th.

I went to Rhode Island on June 23rd for the weekend with Lori and her kids. Lori's mom brought us a pancake and coffee breakfast in bed Saturday morning.
Sunday after the graduation party, we all sat up for a while talking. Lori's mom climbed in bed next to Lori while we talked.
My computer hard drive crashed a few days after I got back from Rhode Island. I took it to someone for repair and got it back on June 29th. This set me back on my posts a few days.
Then I spent all day, everyday, working outside. This is a shot of me taking a gin & tonic break from raking.
Lori cleaned the pool, which was no small task. There were tons of leaves and other crap that got in it when the cover was removed and from cleaning up around the pool.
Lori was the first one to christen to pool.
I power washed the deck and part of the back of the house. This is a picture I took today.
Mission accomplished! I finished up about ten minutes before they arrived yesterday for the party. I am proud of how the place is turning out.
I’m not done by a long shot. I still have a lot of things to do. Some of them are:

• Cut down a small tree
• Get the landscaper to take away that pile of trimmings in my driveway
• Finish power washing the rest of my house
• Power wash the stepping stones around to pool
• Putting treatment on my deck to keep it looking nice
• Buy a shed to put away all that stuff my son removed from the garage when he turned it into a clubhouse
• Get an updated estimate to replace my driveway
• Get the sprinkler system up and running
• But before most of that, THE BOAT! This coming weekend Lori and I have to start unloading my boat. I am selling it and need to get it in shape before I put it on the market. Anybody in the New York City metropolitan area want to buy the B.T. Express? (Not me silly, my boat) It’s a 1986, 39” Sea Ray Express Cruiser. One big selling point, the gas tanks are full of gas. With marine full selling for around $4.00 a gallon, those 300 gallons of gas will save the buyer about $1,200! The book price is about $55,000, so make me an offer and I’ll give you a good deal.

Now before I close this post, I want to thank two people. One is my son Brian. Brian has yelled at me a few times, which helped get my mind back on track and start to focus how crappy the place was looking. He also begrudgingly helped me a couple of days outside cleaning up the yard. The second person, and the most important and the most help, is my girlfriend Lori. She has been such a big help to me. She has encouraged me, offered her help and then pitched in and helped me with everything that’s needed to be done everyday she has been here since I started these projects. I could have never accomplished nearly as much without her. So let me say this, “Lori sweetheart! Thank you for all your help and encouragement. I love you baby!”