Ray's House of Love (Volume II)

'Mornin, HOLers. Another hot one today--high 90s with humidity and a temperature equivalent of 108 degrees. I might as well be back in the Phoenix Valley.

I'm finally working on the story I had you guys critique at the HOLer get-together at the Finger Lakes. Thank you all again for all of the comments and suggestions. The story is coming together.

Where and when is the next meeting of the minds (and bodies)?

Morning House

I read yesterday that at the end of two weeks of missing an hour or two of sleep at night you feel equivilant to missing 48 consecutive hours of sleep. I think I read that right anyway. Who knows? I'm ****ing tired!

But the good news is we started putting both dogs together in the kitchen and the puppy doesn't whine in the middle of the night. The older dog, well she has opinions about the arrangement and barked about 1am- but we'll work on that.

Afternoon House
Very hot here today and to top it off I've got the head cold to rival all head colds. Feels like I'm at the bottom of a swimming pool with a cold..ya know..with the pressure and the ow*...so..it is over 100 degrees and I have a cold. How wrong is that?
Glad to hear 'bout the doggies sass.

that is pretty wrong pandora. Hope you feel better soon.

I just wanted to say, for the record, I DO like broccoli.
From another thread in another forum...

Well, eventually it should get cool enough to grow it. A local garden center tells me it hates heat. So do lettuce and celery. I might try to grow them if it ever gets cool enough.

I like broccoli and cauliflower!

Alessandra Kelley said:

I love broccoli and cauliflower, and so does 50% of my children.

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Same here. The other two don't like it at all. I have 3 kids. All grown.

flea23 said:

Same here. The other two don't like it at all. I have 3 kids. All grown.

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Then, clearly you are BAD at math! Unless only 1/2 of your middle child likes them. ??? I'm confused. (-:

Maryn said:

When I was The Kid's age, I used to have broccoli--just broccoli, no butter or sauce or anything--for dinner at least once a week.

You will not be surprised to learn I was somewhat thinner in those days.

Maryn, who now has an entree with her broccoli

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Speaking of THINNER...you'd be surprised to learn that I AM NOT. I weighed myself last night. I gained ***cough cough*** 40lbs this year! ARGH! I now weigh 205. I don't know what happened. )-:

KTC said:

Then, clearly you are BAD at math! Unless only 1/2 of your middle child likes them. ??? I'm confused. (-:

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This is the preponderosity of it. It was one of those non sequitor jokes. (Don't know what that means.) but the kind that don't make sense, like the old joke that says "I'm half white, half this, and half crazy" It's the other half I'm worried about.

Welcome to the 205 club, Kevin. It's not a bad weight if it comes with an active lifesyle, and I think you are taller than my 6'1", so you should wear that weight well. Weight tends to go up with age, so you may want to balance your activity level to match that change. You seem to be a high-energy guy, so look back to see if you have changed your activity schedule recently.

A new decorating question for the HOLers. How important is it for y'all to have a formal dining room in your house? I have a beautiful dining room (tray ceiling, hardwood floor, arched doorways and nice wainscoting all around). In the time before the divorce, we used that room only two or three times in 6+ years, and now that I'm on my own in the house, I envision even less formal meal-type entertaining. Also, I don't have a table and chairs for it right now. I'm thinking about getting a nice middle-of-the-room desk and making the room more of a den/office (and a good place to write). Besides, I could keep a better eye on the kids when they go web surfing if the computer is downstairs (instead of upstairs in the play room). How much do y'all use your dining room (if you have one)? How important is it to the overall use plan for your house? I have a nice sized eating area between the kitchen and the family room that has a decent sized table plus three adjacent seats at a large kitchen counter. Next question...is it just a guy thing to see a formal dining room as a waste of useable space?

Maryn said:

How old are you, Kevin? For me, becoming 44 was it. Despite efforts, occasionally brutally hard efforts, I haven't been able to lose more than about five pounds since that age, when it went on effortlessly, without lifestyle changes. I think there really is a metabolism change.

Mr. Maryn never struggled with his weight until about three years ago. Suddenly he gets it, how you can deny yourself all kinds of stuff you want to eat, exercise several times a week, and still not lose anything at all. Which sucks.

Maryn, well-rounded

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How weird! I'm 44. Will be 45 in September. Gained it all this year. ;-)

I'm 6'2", Rich. I've remained active this year...but not AS active. I think I'm joining a gym in the fall with my wife. Community centre type. They have family membership...my son would use it too. I know I eat more...can't seem to stop myself.

When we moved into our house it was new. It had a livingroom/diningroom. It was slightly split and a chandelier was in the diningroom. We made it one room and changed out the chandelier to a pot light. Presto chango...no dining room. I know that if we would have kept it, it would not be formal. I consider dining rooms a waste a space. If we didn't have an eat in kitchen & a breakfast bar, we would of had to keep the diningroom...but we would still just have our wicker furniture with the glass tabletop. Very informal.

It's your house Fizz. I say do with the room whatever you want and throw convention out the winda'. The den/office sounds like a good idea to me. Not just a guy thing a'tall. I think, unless you use them, formal dining rooms are a waste of space.

Pandora, who has no use for formal dining rooms, since when she dines formally she's paying someone else to do all the cooking and cleaning etc.