So yesterday I am mowing the lawn, which is jolly good fun when you have a cordless electric mower from Crappy Tire (except when the battery lasts only long enough to get halfway done ... wait, that is always), and I get to the middle section of our lawn by our mayberry tree.  This tree has been feeling lethargic or super expansive lately and has been stretching its branches down towards the lawn around it.  So I am mowing under the branches (some at which are eye level, others below that, others right at the level that you don't see them when wearing a hat and meet with unexpectedly), and I move them out of my way as I go by so they don't catch on my nostrils and cause pain.  Ironically, in avoiding pain, I ended up causing more.  See, one branch had clever hidden a small hornet's nest right on the end of it at face level.

 

I managed to escape with only one sting, but it was right on the cheek (the one below my eye.  I have learned to make sure my rumpus is covered when I mow the lawn).  So that hurt.  I was expecting to swell up all sweet and look like a bloated victim of a beating (see Will Smith in Hitch when he has an allergic reaction), but I haven't even swollen a little.  I guess that saves me having to tell everyone that looks at me what happened to make me look like I am slowly turning into a pufferfish.

 

So yes, getting stung in the face is the butt, but at least it is not a swollen and ugly butt.

It is hot out.

 

Funny story - the gang was at the local Boston Pizza for wing Wednesday, as had become tradition.  An affiliate of the gang named Simon was also at the restaurant, with a gang of junior high age students, mostly women, that he was working with from church.  He was on his way to the bathroom, and stopped in to say hello to the gang.

 

"Hey guys."

 

"Hey Simon, how are the wings?"

 

"Hot, hot, so hot, my lips are burning."

 

Not really a funny story ... yet.  My brother Corey was a part of the gang, and for some reason, thought that the question asked was "Hey Simon, how are the ladies?"  His response being somewhat atypical of Simon's character, Corey responded with a shocked "Simon!"  Everyone was a little surprised at his reaction to a comment about hot wings. 

 

Anyhow, I laughed.

Earlier in life, I believe I blogged something about working on a bathroom.  Now I can blog about our driveway experience.  My wife and I bought our place in April of last year, and when we asked about the basement ever leaking, were told that it had happened once in 25 years.  So we think; "good."  Then that spring and summer we get more rain than our area has had in a very long time, and our basement gets wet twice.  Not an ideal situation.  It didn't flood like the dickens, but our two bedrooms in the basement had a fair bit of damp carpet, and if that is not attended to it becomes a musty, moldy mess.  The problem is all because our driveway is right against the house on the north side, and it has sunken over the years.  So when it rains, the water pools up against the house and has nowhere to go but down into the basement instead of draining away like well-behaved water.

 

So, a couple weeks ago we decided it was time to do something about it.  We rented a jackhammer that mounts on the front of a bobcat, and set to work.  By the end of the day, no driveway left, and much less substance in wallet.  Hauling cement away is no cheap business. 

 

Now we wait to smooth out the dirt and prep for the pouring of a new driveway.  But it rains.  Then it almost dries up, and then it rains.  Repeat cycle. 

 

It has been pretty handy to have dads and dad-in-laws in the area to help with this project.  I look forward to the day when it will be done. 

 

Side note - the jackhammering effect on our house was not so good.  A wall in our enclosed deck area off the back entryway decided that it didn't like to be suspended five inches off the ground, and promptly came crashing down.  Now why someone would build a brick wall five inches off the ground is beyond me, but now we cannot get our door to close.  Frustrating.  I am hopeful that fixing it is only a matter of lifting the wall back up and putting something under it to hold it in place.  Perhaps we will have to re-mortar it or something.  Bah.

 

On a more upbeat note, we have been doing small upgrades in the bathroom, and I am pleased to announce that we now have towel racks!  Yay!  Also a far more trendy TP dispenser.  The old one was far less trendy and was the type that is mounted into the wall.  So removing that means big hole in the wall.  So I am learning to put large patches of drywall in.  I put a little paint on it this morning, so we will see how it turns out when I head home.

 

Peace

I now have another new cousin, one Samuel Kenneth Thiele, pictured below:

 

It is a phenomenon of large families that have a few previous generations of large families to have age gaps that go haywire.  My dad has a first cousin that is five years older than me, so he seems much more like my cousin than my dad's.  And now, me being 23 and having first cousins born will only continue that trend.

 

Anyhow, this is a pretty exciting baby for my aunt and uncle, their first, so they are tickled.

 

It is funny.  Wesley always says he has a brand new cousin whenever a baby is born.  Well now I can too.

So, I have ordered a few things online before.  One might say I am no bumbling internet oaf.  But I have to say I was impressed with a recent order on Amazon.ca.  In past when I ordered something from them, I often would click on the "new & used" section for other vendors that might save me $2.  But this time, I ordered The Importance of Being Earnest straight from Amazon.  So I order and promptly forget about it.  But within a week, it arrives.  Which I was pumped about.  Usually those crap-lousy other vendors take at least three weeks to deliver.  A few times I have had to wait more than a month (all worth it for those $2 I saved).  Sadly, when we opened it, the DVD had popped out of its holding compartment, and was scratched beyond repair.  But hang on!  Part two of impressed coming up:

 

...

 

Part two:  So I relunctantly trudge back to my computer to see how many hoops I will have to jump through to return this item.  Turns out, one.  I go online and click a few buttons, and they print out a label for me to put on the box that covers the postage and gives me the choice of refund or replacement.  I was fully expecting to have to pay at least half of what the stupid thing cost me to send it back to them.  I officially give Amazon.ca the thumbs up.

 

Likely some of you already have experienced all this, and if that is the case, try to return to that moment of releif and ecstacy you had when you found out just how easy it was.  I don't know if I will ever go back to crumb-nugget save $2 mode.

 

On another note, more like an ending note, it has been interesting to be a part of the whole "blog revolution" taking place online.  Emailing seems to happen less when we can all catch up on life by visiting someone's posts.  I wonder what's next...  My guess: hamcakes.

 

Noting that it is the first day of June, I at first thought that it was the halfway point in the year.  Then I realized that this would only be the case if the year started in December.  For some, perhaps it does.  But for the rest of us, we are still a month away.  Maybe that is why Canada Day is such a larf.  Not only is it a celebration of our country's annual fooferah, it marks the halfway point in the year.  Another grand day is Jeremy Thompson's birthday, as it falls on June 25th.  This of course marks the halfway point from presents day, I mean Christmas.

 

It is a good practice every now and then to stop and look forward and back, think about what life has been like.  I usually get pretty wrapped up in what I am doing and often forget to take some reflecting and pondering time.  I think time with God can help us to reflect, rather than be stuck in the moment.  To myself I would have to say "you've got to get yourself together, you got stuck in a moment, and you can' t get out of it."  Hopefully after this I will transition into elevation, where I can "whoo-oooo!" with the best of them.  Thanks U2!