House updates!

Wow, the house is totally coming along! The last month has totally changed the look of the place; it's gone from a rundown crackhouse to a beautiful place to raise a family!

Windows and siding are completely done!

We even sided the workshop!

Front porch is finished!

Back porch added and finished! (never mind the temporary risers or ugly bulkhead, both have been replaced!)

Our beautiful front door

All the wiring is updated. We had to do the WHOLE house, but the extra outlets and having them all be 3 prong will come in handy!

Next month I should have updates on the kitchen, bath and bedrooms- we're getting really close, and can't wait to have you all over for a big BBQ!

My Sprint / Samsung Android 2.1 Laundry List

In full disclosure, I had installed 2.1 about 3 weeks ago from one of the leaked ROMs, so the "shiny new-ness" that some of you are probably experiencing after flashing 2.1 is long gone for me. I lived with some of the bugs because it was a broken, non-official build, but after 3/4 of a day with the official build, I'm not overly impressed.


Here's what I've seen with DE03 so far, coming from dd03:

DISAPPOINTMENTS
*NO live wallpapers
*Old gallery
*turned phone on at 6:30, at 10:23 I'm at 30% with light use, running only beautiful widgets small home, so battery life is still an issue. UPDATE at 11:47 I'm still at 30%, so maybe it's just a battery curve issue.
*NO multi-touch
*NO Nexus One style launcher


UNRESOLVED
*Still can't connect facebook account under accounts after installing the official facebook app, but can connect twitter.
*Google Search widget still "sticks" to the top of the screen, but you long touch on the bottom to delete it & reinstall

NEW ISSUES
*EV lockups, airplane mode doesn't resolve them and you have to reboot to get out of airplane mode
*put phone on charger last night, woke up (late because I use my phone as my alarm) to a phone in complete shutoff and as hot as hades. I will monitor this and post further on it.
*Had a strange DL from www6.sprint.com that failed last night
*Market errors- I keep getting "A problem has occurred, hit ok to go back to the last screen" (a total paraphrase, can't reproduce right now)
*will not connect to my unprotected wireless router, can't rule out the crapbox router though.


All in all I think sprint got it wrong. When the Nexus one came out, and it was announced that the Moment would be going to 2.1, I think that all of us thought "Oh wow, we're gonna get that cool new gallery" and "Sweet, that launcher is awesome" and on and on with live wallpapers, multi-touch and more. I feel like this upgrade / band-aid version of 2.1 is a big let down because all of the cool parts of 2.1 aren't part of it.  I would have preferred to see something roll out that was more complete, and if it wasn't complete, I would have liked to been able to read a developer's blog that chronicled "live wallpapers just take more horsepower than the Moment is capable of, we tried our asses off but just couldn't get it done." Luckily, there's a place for us to turn, if you're somewhat savvy and willing to root your phone, the development community at sdx-developers.com have a ROM with all of the stuff that should be in there. I'll be rooting shortly and letting you know what 2.1 on the Moment really should be.

Finally some good news!

The house is underway!

Since my last post,

• the kitchen is ripped down to studs
• the bathroom is ripped down to studs
• the front and back doors are  in
• the little breezeway is gone
• The cabinets are ordered and delivered

and yesterday I got the best treat of all; The windows are all in, and the siding is underway!

I can't even put into words what a big relief this is for me!

After a slow start, my Father's really kicked some ass getting this house done. Uh oh, I'm "not supposed to say his name on the internet, ever" Tough luck, Buddy, I'll thank you wherever I want.

I appreciate everything Jen's folks have done for us, but I'm dying to get out of this house! 7 months of living with people shows you all of their idiosyncrasies, and brings out all of yours.

Victoria is getting so big, and progressing at a rate that's almost too hard to keep up with. Just when I'm amazed at the fact that she's starting to scoot backwards, she pulls herself up in the crib. Just when she begins to really babble, 2 teeth pop out. Just when I think she's as cute as she can possibly be, she learns how to wave goodbye! As I type this, she's mimicking what the guy is doing on TV!

Everything is a wonder to this little girl

On a side note, I want to wish a Happy Birthday to my sister Katie, and thank her for this wonderful photoset!

I guess i'm lucky.

I've made it through 31 years of my life without losing a close family member. I lost both my paternal grandparents when I was in high school, but didn't really develop a relationship with them before they passed. Sorry if it sounds harsh, but I feel like that's why we have grandparents, to soften our experience with death at an early age.

I got the call at 6:30 this morning; my uncle Al had passed away at age 58. Of all the family I have, i'd say he was the closest to me, or at least the one I've had the most interaction with  on my father's side. He has 2 sons that are close to my age and a daughter who is just a bit older. Aside from his obvious physical likeness to my father, they were nothing alike. My father was the strict teetotaler, with rules and punishment whereas Al, for better or worse let his kids experiment and make their own mistakes. He was blunt, candid and wasn't afraid to tell me that "I better stop fucking up" and I appreciated his ability to say it without any anger or resentment; maybe that was just the inherent disconnect that comes from being an uncle.

It's amazing to me that after all of the friends I've lost, all of these people that I've shared way more moments with, this one is getting to me more. Maybe it's because I've got to watch family members grieve. Maybe it's because he's family. Maybe it's because he's my father's younger brother and this makes me think of my own father's mortality. Maybe it's just that he's one of the few people in my family that I actually liked. I don't know maybe it's a combination of all of that.

I'm scared to see how this affects my dad's family. He was the baby. The baby isn't supposed to go first. We all thought we had more time with him; 2 weeks ago they said 3-6 months. A week ago they said 1-2 weeks. Yesterday they said a day or two. It just goes to show how fast things can go when they go bad. I'm going to regret that I didn't get over to see him before he died for a long time. I thought I had more time.

I hope this is the end of bad news for a while, but so far 2010 has just been a big pile of suck.

A rough month

It's been a real rough month over here, with lots of sad news and surgeries, and a few bright points as well.

My sister lost her pregnancy, and I've got to say I think she's the strongest person I've ever met because she wrote about it here. WARNING: this letter is HEART WRENCHING, even if you don't have any emotional attachment. At a time when anyone else would be a complete wreck, she had the ability to pull it together and get her feelings out and I totally applaud her for that. She's a strong strong woman and one of the best moms I've ever met. Some day soon you guys will be blessed with another child and I know you'll love it more than anyone possibly could.

My family had its share of health scares this month. One of my aunts went in for knee surgery, another got her permanent implant after recovering from breast cancer, my uncle had a biopsy on his prostate that we're awaiting word on, and another uncle went into the hospital with what were thought to be mini strokes and they discovered he has terminal liver cancer and is short on months left to live. I hope he takes these last months and lives life to the fullest; he's a great guy and if I was asked who I relate to best I'd say it's probably him, so we'll see how I do with all of this too.

There have been a few bright spots this month that have helped even things out a bit- the house is FINALLY under way; pulling up the driveway and seeing the dumpster there was such a great feeling. It seems to be progressing at a lightning pace now; the breeezeway is off the house the windows that are not being replaced are pulled and boarded up, the kitchen is down to studs; all great signs of progress. I can't wait to see it with new windows and siding, it's going to be great!

Little miss Victoria just keeps getting bigger and bigger; she is sitting up all by herself now, and that's all she wants to do! We went through a couple of weeks where she would scream bloody murder before bed, but it looks like that has passed. She's doing great on solid foods, and aside from applesauce we haven't really found anything she doesn't like. She got a "cadillac" walker (I don't have the heart to tell Jen it's not a Caddy) that she's starting to cruise around in, it's very cute. My little munchkin is starting to vocalize a lot more; whether it's laughing uncontrollably when I eat her belly (it's called the Tori sandwich, lol) or just looking at me and going HMMMMMMUUGHHHHH, that's my name I guess. I must sound like a grunt to her or something . She's the sweetest little girl, and the smile to cry ratio still amazes me, it's nothing I've ever seen before!

Nick came over for a weekend this month; it's odd to watch him get older, have plans and not be around as much. It seems like last year he was just a baby, spending every weekend with us, now he's a guy, not a boy and we can talk on the phone for 20 minutes 3 times a week. I do like that as he gets older, he still calls me "Dada" I think it's the cutest thing!

You Look Fabulous Hair Design's website is now live!

Hi guys!

I just wanted to let you know that You Look Fabulous Hair design's website is now live! I had a ton of fun on this project and Cristina was a BLAST to work with. You can check them out at www.youlookfabuloussalon.com they're one of the best hair salons on the south shore!

Kevin

An introduction to the money pit... er, house

Hi! I'm Kevin's ugly house, very nice to meet you. I was born in 1939, and the folks that made me did a great job! I've got strong bones, good lines, and a great floor plan for a first home.

The people who lived in me weren't so great at keeping me up. I'm falling apart on the outside, but I assure you it's just cosmetic.  It sure is chilly in here; no one's bothered to change my windows or blow in some insulation and some nights it's all I can do to keep Kevin and Jen warm. I came with wonderful shag carpeting covering my 70 year old hardwood that's in great shape, save the few spots where the dog thought I was the lawn; with all that shag it's an honest mistake. Although I love tiffany blue, I don't feel like it should be EVERYWHERE. 2 of my bedrooms, the stairway, kitchen and dining room were covered in the stuff! Kevin's done a pretty good job so far of covering it, but there's still some rooms that need a little attention.

While we're on attention, there are some things that I'd really like Kevin to change. I'm not a big fan of my all pink bathroom, or the window in its shower. I'd like to get get rid of my view of my neighbor; he's a bit of a close talker and we all know how annoying that can be.

Like anything that's 70 years old I've got some sags, and we need to take a look at those. My aging, leaky boiler burns through oil like an uncapped well, and it's shocking (get it? Shocking? That's a little house humor for you) how much you could do with my electrical system if you wanted to.

All in all, I'm a great house with good bones and tons of charm. I'm very happy with the changes Kevin and Jen have made so far, and now we've got Kevin's father on the scene so he's going to help fix me up real good! I'll keep on top of Kevin to update this as things progress, I hope you'll join me on this wonderful trip from broken to beautiful!

See you soon,

House

I started this blog 10 months ago

and I haven't done anything with it. I guess it's time to get on the horse and start writing again!

Things are going good right now. Jen and I had Victoria 4 months ago, and she's been an absolute angel. She sleeps through the night, and has since the very beginning; I can hear the collective hiss of a million parents as I type this!

I have a 10 year old son (Nick) that I didn't have the pleasure of waking up with every morning and now that I have Tori, I feel like I really missed out. Watching her wake up, and getting the BIG smile when she realizes you're right there waiting for her is just precious.

I've started to Freelance for the first time in years. Originally the plan was for me to open a sign shop right away, but I've decided to keep my 40 hour job and freelance the other 128. It provides the stability we need with the new baby, and also allows me to work towards paying all of those big bills that opening a business brings.

The Weymouth house... We're 5 months into renovation, and IT HASN'T BEEN STARTED! We were supposed to move back around the 6 month mark; I think I need to fire the contractor. Oh wait, it's my father, I can't! I'll make sure to update as things progress!

Enjoy!

K