Mr. Project

Last weekend I was Mr. Project, working alongside my Dad to finish a bunch of projects that have grown stale. I had to replace the bathroom sink at the rental, only the vanity top that was installed was an odd shape, and my trusty Home Depot and Lowe's didn't stock that size. So it was up to us to cook up some crazy scheme to build a new vanity top. In the end we did it for less than half the cost of a custom piece, and I think it looks pretty darn good:

"Custom" vanity top made from common kitchen laminate

We had a ball. We also investigated some of the options for installing a new garage door in the shop. I bought a new 8x7 door that was on clearance over Labor Day, since that's the size of the rough opening. Only the door instructions call for a flat 2x6 trim around the door opening, which my funky 100-year old garage just didn't come with. But we worked out a scheme where we can forego the manufacturer's clever little aluminum brackets and just bolt the new door's track to the existing door jamb. Yeah!

Another project was finishing the trim on the inside of the new closet upstairs. I bought some cheap 1x6 pine to use, figuring I could stain it to match now that I've found the perfect Minwax color. But coat after coat that I rubbed on with a little foam brush, then diligently wiped off afterwards left the wood far too light and the rings and veins in far too stark contrast. As I applied the stain, the color was perfect - deep, rich reddish-brown that masked most of the variegation in the wood. But no matter how long I waited for the stain to sink in, it would always wipe off and ruin the look. I realized somehow I had to leave the stain on permanently. I figured out that by brushing it on with a normal paintbrush, I could maintain the desired color, but keep the stain coat thin enough that it would dry evenly and smoothly. Once again I probably have the saving graces of Colorado's wicked dry climate to thank, at least in part. The technique worked like a charm, and now I have the perfect stain, ready for a glossy urethane coat as soon as I get a few minutes alone in the garage.

Meanwhile my Mom taught me how to sew on the new sewing machine she bought us (another Labor Day clearance sale find!). This little machine is easily the most complex mechanical device I've ever used - it makes modern oscilloscopes and table saws look like kids' toys! But she patiently walked me through the setup of the thread and bobbin, and helped me to repair the pocket in my fleece jacket, which has been torn open for the past 4 years. Now it's as good as new, and I finally mastered the total mystery of mechanized sewing.

On the Alex front, Mr. Monkey Man has begun to develop a taste for rice cereal.

Grandma helping Alex with the mechanics of eating

I think the majority of the cereal went onto his bib, but he certainly had a fun time trying it.

Alex loves to half-crawl too!

Alex has taken to crawling -- sort of. He's perfected a kind of wheelbarrow stance: With his legs stretched out behind him, he'll start out on his elbows, but rapidly these give out and his forehead takes over. He pushes himself along on his forehead like it was a caster. As he inches along, he'll stop every other push or so, drop his legs back down, and lift his head up to look around, presumably to determine how much progress he's made and how far off course he's getting. Once he has his bearings, it's right back down to push on from there.

I do think he's getting close to crawling for real. When he's on his hands and knees, in a "proper" crawling position, he will rock himself forwards and backwards, as if testing out all his limbs to find out if they can handle the job. From this starting point, he nearly goes into a crawl, but rapidly degrades into the inchworm mode described above.

Alex, taking a break in one of his many lighter moments

Over the weekend we had the distinct pleasure of attending the wedding of two good friends, Julie and Chad. I've worked with both of them since they started, and have really enjoyed my friendship with each, and watching them grow closer together. It's said a lot, but these two were made for each other. They couldn't have picked a more beautiful evening in the mountains, and they couldn't have picked better partners.

And as if there weren't enough signs that Fall is arriving, the grapes out back are alllllmost ready:
The cooler nights are obviously having their effect on our thriving vines. Last year I tried my hand at making grape jelly, thanks to some recipes my Grandma gave me, but I let my intuition get the better of me and over-boiled the compote. Once it had cooled in the jars, what I had was more of a stiff grape taffy than anything resembling jelly. Plus, the recipe I used had way too much orange in it, mostly overpowering the subtle grape flavor. If I do it again (and that's a big IF) I'll try a different recipe and just go with the boiling time that it recommends. Out of all of our grapes, I ended up with about 6 jars of the aforementioned taffy goo, so it hardly seems worth it...

Oh, before I forget: GO BEARS!!! Starting off a Cal football season 2-0 is still very, very foreign to my late-1990s sensibilities. My tolerance for horrendous, humiliating losses has certainly waned a bit, but I still keep expecting the Bears to just toss up their hands at the half and say, "Well, that was a good quarter, now let's get back to sucking ass." They've hinted at crapulence a couple of times, but it's just a tease to keep the fans from changing the channel over to re-runs of Hogan's Heroes on cable.