Three Steps Closer!

Despite what many have said and even a few of my own doubts, I have actually been making forward progress with the basement window!  If you remember (HERE) about a month ago I got the sheetrock taped and the first coat of mud put on.  Since then I have accomplished the following:

- Sand the first coat of mud
- Apply and sand the second coat of mud
- Apply a third "touch up" coat of mud in a few small areas
- Paint the wall around the window (it didn't make sense to edge against the trim when I could just paint the wall with it not even up there!)
- Reinstall the brick ledge shelf

After getting all the above things done, the wall actually is started to look close to being finished!  I know I am happy at least that brick ledge shelf is back down, so I don't have to look at the ratty insulation all the time!  It was also suggested that I should have painted the other wall going around the corner....I totally agree, but I didn't think of it at the time and the suggestion occurred after I got the paint brush and rollers cleaned up!  I will save the rest of the painting for this winter.

Without looking real closely, it would almost look finished.  I do have some trim work to do still and that is what I am currently working on.  I need to custom make what I am going to call "window jamb extensions" to trim out the visible 2 x 6's.  After those are cut and installed I just need to cut and install the window casing and the window project will be done!  As I am typing, the jamb extensions and casing are in the garage, stained, and drying from the first coat of polyurethane.

I am really hoping that the next time I post about this window that it will be done.  This project has gone on WAY to long!

The Trans Am is Awake!

Mileage: 87,904

I never thought that I would have the Trans Am out of winter storage in early April, but this year has had a very mild spring so far.  April 1, 2010 was the very first ride of the year.  Along with us having a mild spring, the city and county have got a head start on getting the gravel off the roads from the winter.  We also had about a week straight of rain, so I wasn't worried about any salt being around.  I didn't go anywhere special this year for my first ride, I just drive around the lake with Maeve and then to work, but it was awesome being able to drive this fine machine again and sharing this ride with my daughter!

Other than driving to work a few times, I haven't really gone anywhere to exciting yet.  I still need to do the yearly once-over on it before I set out on any major trips.  I did take a ride up to my parent's house one day when we had some family down from Fargo.  My cousin had never seen the car before, so I had to show him, since he is a car guy too!  My aunt, who is an amazing photographer, was taking some pictures of Will in the grass, but check out the awesome background!  Very cool picture!

I do have a few projects planned for the Trans Am this summer.  Well, maybe a couple more than a few, but in all honesty, I didn't really get a chance to do anything with it last summer, so maybe with some planning, I can get some of these parts I have collected installed!  I don't want to give to many of the Trans Am projects away, because I'm sure half my blog posts this summer will be about said projects and I don't want to spoil it for all three of my readers!

I am planning on entering at least two car shows again this year.  They are actually the same two as last year, the Jefferson High School Car Show and the Mt. Olivet Motorheads Car Show.  I really enjoyed both of these shows and they are both very family friendly.  I am considering entering one more, the Car Craft Summer Nationals, which is held at the State Fair Grounds.  I say considering because it is a very large show and I have never even been to it before.  It also consumes an entire weekend, and I don't think Shannon and I would be able to keep two kids occupied at a car show for the entire weekend.  I might just take a day and attend the show, checking it out for a possible 2011 entry!

Spring has Sprung!

In keeping with my "always behind and playing catch up" theme to my posts, I am finally getting around to officially calling winter done and spring here!  I would say this has been one of the earliest end of winter, beginning of spring that I can remember.  I would say pretty much April 1st, maybe even a few days before, was the beginning of spring.  The weather has been mild, still kind of cool at night, but we have had high temperatures in the 70's and 60's on a regular basis.  To make it official, here are the last front and back yard shots of the year:

So far I have been VERY happy with how the lawn looks.  It has greened up pretty quick and only has minimal weeds.  I think that having TruGreen is starting to pay off!  We have also had a nice balance of sunny days and rainy ones.  I think the biggest fall back with my lawn is watering when it is needed, so I have no problem taking a little free watering from Mother Nature!

Since the lawn has done so well this spring, I needed to get the outdoor equipment switched over a little sooner also.  About two weeks ago, I had to get the gas drained out of the snowblower, get it started, run dry, and put away.  I then got the push mower going (one pull as always!) and the battery put back in the tractor and got it started.  I think I was the first one on my block to mow this year and the lawn looked great.  I even got a chance to take Maeve on her annual and Will on his very first tractor ride!

Along with getting the lawn equipment out, I also got the hoses out, water turned on, and garage swept out.  I am really going to try and make an effort to keep the lawn looking a nice as possible this year.  I would really hate to spend all of last summer making improvements to the yard and have it look like crap the next year!  We will see what happens!  I have a couple "clean up" style projects planned for the yard this summer, but no major projects outside.  We will be installing a wood swing set for the kids soon to, so I guess that might be a kind of bog project depending on how the assembly goes!

Tinted!

So far Shannon's Altima has been a great car.  We have had no problems with it at all and we both love it.  One of the things that I mentioned I wanted to do after we purchased it, was get the window tinted.  The main reason we wanted the windows tinted was for the kids.  In both my Suburban and Shannon's old Jeep, the rear door windows were tinted and kept of ton of light out of the back seat and the kid's faces.  So, for Shannon's birthday this year I went and got her windows tinted.  A company located across the street from my work came highly recommended, so I got a quote and scheduled an appointment.  I went with the 50% tint since that is the legal limit in the State of Minnesota, and I didn't want it to be too dark.  The total cost for all four doors and the rear window was $200 installed and took about two hours to install.

Shannon and I were both very happy with how it turned out.  The quality of the tint and the installation was top notch.  It seriously looks professionally installed!  Along with keeping the sun out of the kid's faces, it keeps the interior cooler, and it really makes the entire car look really good.  I would also highly recommend Show Car Supply if you want to get your windows tinted too!

Another thing that was added to the Altima last month were new license plates.  Typically a car uses a set of license plates for seven years before it gets issued new ones.  So normally, since the Altima is a 2008 it shouldn't need license plates for a while.  However, since I have firefighter license plates on both of our cars, the license plates get replaced every seven years, but it has nothing to due with the age of the vehicle that they are on. 

When I installed the new license plates, I also installed a set of chrome license plate frame.  I typically NEVER install anything over or around license plates on my vehicles.  It is one of my biggest pet peeves when I am working having someone with a "I LOVE MY DOG" license plate frame that covers up everything (state name, license tab year, license tab month) but the actual numbers and letters.  The reason I installed the frame in the first place is because of the way the front license plate is mounted on the bumper.  The bottom of the plate doesn't have anything behind it, so when you go through an automated car wash, the washing brushes bend the license plate up and over making it unreadable.  So I needed to give the license plates a little more support!

I ended up installed the frames on both the front and rear license plates so they at least look the same.  I think they actually look pretty good and are a nice compliment to the color of the car.