"what are you doing this weekend? " Topic

I seem to have gotten to the age where among my friends "working on the house" has replaced "going to the mall", or 'hanging out with ____', or just about any other weekend activity.

New wiring for the master bedroom for us. Friends are finishing the remodel on their bathroom. Another is putting in a new water heater.

Sigh. I feel so old.

Good news! You are old.

Finishing the unpacking and cleaningthe garage so my wife can start parking in it!

Crown molding for the new tin ceiling in the dining room for me!

Installation of kitchen counter. Maybe some light plumbing.

Beer near friend's swimming pool as well.

You young people. Any of those tasks and I'd meet with a chorus of "You shouldn't be doing that at your age".

Installing drip irrigation in the front yard for me this weekend.

Framing the basement at the townhouse in DC. We are turning the basement into an apartment.

I'm teaching a Western Martial Arts class on 19th century military sabre.

It seems that I'm the "weird one" even amongst gamers…

With my girlsfriend…she getting back from holiday…deal.

Beer drinking on Sat. Go to the range on Sunday, bust some caps and help my buddy celebrate Father's day. His kid got back from Iraq safe and sound. Should be good times. :)

Well, I was going to mow the lawn since he grass is way too tall, but it looks like I may have to pick up my new horse, so I'll either be real busy, or I'll just get lazy work with the new horse.

Oh, and as always there will be at least 8 hours of work in the shop – Many molds to make and much stock to run, the work never ends.

Work Saturday, Install 4 babygates around the house on Sunday.

laying bricks and pulling wiring to electrify my backyard (wish it could be the fence).

If I'd known what home ownership was like, I'd have paid a LOT more attention in shop class!

And I'm playing at a summer ball gig with the 13-piece band I play in…

:-)

Mike

Rebuilding the back porch. Started out as a roof repair, ended up with almost a total rebuild. Don't mind the work so much as the $1,000 USD it took away from gaming and conventions this summer. Easy come, easy go.

Continue weeding, and clean-out one of our smaller fountains.

Dinner with friends then D&D tonight.

Lawn mowing tomorrow AM before it gets too hot.

Maybe painting on some goblins in the PM,

Sunday preparing for a class and hopefully some more painting.

Somewhere in there I want to read through the "Gloire" and "Under the Black Flag" rulebooks.

Gaming Borodino using Grand Armee.

Massive backyard bamboo cut-back tomorrow, DRM 6mm SciFi on Sunday.

Was going to play WWII but wasn't feeling well and decided to keep my germs to myself.

My wife felt this would be a grand opportunity to re-grout her shower. No rest for the wicked.

mjc

For Saturday, I'm off to the Durham Wargames Show for some wargaming retail therapy. :-)

And on Sunday, I'm wargaming at two clubs. "All day wargaming" – you can't beat it! :-)

Sunday I have a table(or 2) at the Bristol Table-top sale, to get rid of my unfinished projects and masses of unopened blisters!

Dad'S taxi, wife to market, son to tennis.

Saturday: Going to a barbie with some mates to do some painting and eating.

Try to clean the house on Sunday after lunch with some mates up at the local cafe…. (Moving from a four bedroom house to a one bedroom apartment doesn't help with the clutter).

Monday (long weekend here), playing an All Things Zombie game with a mate and then perhaps going off to watch '28 Weeks Later' (Zombie flick), time permitting.

Where to start….mostly done with remodeling the kitchen, new everything there, and the 1/2 bath, and laundry room. Just finished the fireplace, new mantle, tile etc. Mostly just small stuff left. A few pieces of molding here and there and a few places to touch up the paint. I still need to lay the carpet on the basement steps and re-paint that area. Also have to patch the wall where the busted water pipe was. Mud jacked the back patio today, that was kinda messy. Lots of yard work to do. Getting 10 yards of dirt for landscaping, that comes in tomorrow. Gotta move the wood pile. Chimney needs cleaning and the bricks need to be re-sealed. The garden is good to go, just weeded that yesterday. Next month Im redoing the upstairs bath, new floor, vanity, tub, fixtures, the works. Probably some new plumbing along with that project. Roof needs to be replaced too but it can wait and I'm not sure I can do it by myself.

It kind of stinks being handy, the honey-do list keeps getting longer.

Ill probably spend the day moving the woodpile so I can lay the dirt.

Rented a Bobcat tractor, and spent two days moving 24 cubic yards of dirt and pea gravel around, so my yard around my new house doesn't look like a bomb went off in it.

Now it just looks like all the grass died and someone drove a tractor around in it.

And tomorrow and Sunday, I'm GAMING, damn them all!!!

Kayak + Lake = Fishing

Hah ! Enjoy the house work – I'll be thinking of you as I haul bass from the lake :-)

I had my "break" between semesters this week, spent most of it on some fairly ambitious garden projects. I've got a few more perennials to plant in the morning, but then my garden is all in, and so am I. I plan to take it easy tomorrow, then drive downstate on Sunday to visit my favorite cousin, her middle daughter is having a HS graduation party.

Mow the lawn, fix a toilet, download my daughter's dance recital, dinner with friends – and hopefully what I really want to do – paint my 6mm Austrian SYW figures. And if the order from Baccus is delivered tomorrow – dance a happy dance.

Working til Sunday then off on 3 weeks of vacation. I'm driving to Oregon with the parents to visit relatives.

I just got back at 2 a.m. from drawing caricatures at a wedding rehearsal dinner that took place three hours away up in the NC mountains. Saturday I have two caricature jobs, and Sunday is our local club's monthly game day. I'm REALLY looking forard to that after all this drawing time!

Weather permitting, mowing my parents lawn this morning, then attending a surprise 50th birthday party for the lady neighbor next door.

Sunday I have my nephew's graduation ceremony and party to attend.

Trying to paint some old GW orcs that have been laying around since the early 90s.

A little freshwater fishing. It's been years since I'd done any, but my wife's dad was forced into retirement and expressed an interest in it, so we're picking it up again. I took my kids out Friday afternoon and taught all three how to cast since we're within a stone's throw of a few decent ponds. Dad sprang for my license and two rods for the boys so it's a free venture for me. It's definitely a good low budget hobby, and as they say a bad day fishing trumps the best day at work.

Off down to the PO to pick up a mystery parcel (Is it those ebay reaper figures or not)? Meander around the shops, and then onto the pub for some afternoon cheer.
A quiet day Sunday, doing the chores, then continuing with our D&D game in the evening.

Ugh! Rest today after a hard nights work,taking the little one to a balloon festival this evening. Tonight work on my Xyston Thracians. Tommorrow,its lawnmowing and weeding!

Digging out my Hobby Bench, mowing the lawn, "Honey Do's"

Put up a patio deck off the master bedroom overlooking the lake. Had the 4x4 verticals up and the 4"x12"x12' beams in place inside of 90 minutes. Then we hung the headboard on the house and attached stringers. During this, we applied a partial coat of paint (so I wouldn't have to spend hours cutting in the corners with a brush after we laid the deck. Got three rows of planking (a plastic/wood composite) laid before us old guys called it quits for the day.

The difference between being a young pup and an old fart when doing home improvement projects is that the geezers have generally gone out and bought the power tools. Between the framing nailer and impact wrench plus two compressors, the actual frame assembly was done in no time.

Wyatt