August 5: All Along the Watchtower

After we nailed, glued, and clamped the midsection of the deck, we started sanding our seats to prepare them for painting. Earlier this morning we stopped and bought some paint and I have a design in mind. While we were sanding, a car pulled into the driveway and 2 women got out and approached the house. We emerged from the darkness of the garage all covered in sawdust and in our grundge-wear - I think we may have startled them. Anyway, they were curious about what we were up to so we showed them the boat. They seemed appropriately impressed. One woman kept saying it gave her goosebumps - which is quite a feat on such a hot day. In fact, they asked if they could let their "boys" out of the car to see also. I think Mike and I both expected kids - we said sure, thinking she meant her children. Not that it made any difference but the "boys" were two full grown men with briefcases. I had already guessed that they were missionaries, out working the neighborhood on a warm Saturday morning.

Everyone introduced themselves and there were a lot of questions about the boat. It was funny, they assumed that Mike was the boat builder and I just sat around and admired him. Or maybe cleaned up after him. They asked what he does for a living but never asked me. Their comments and questions suggested a very lopsided relationship ("Oh, and what does he have you doing?" *wink wink nudge nudge* was followed by mild shock when Mike made it clear that we are equal partners on this thing) but as we stood and talked, they seemed to grasp that we were having a great time working together on our crazy boat and dreaming about our launch date when we put it into the water and cast both of our fates as one to the waves. They never identified what group they were from or asked us about our religious persuasion or delivered any sort of message or anything like that but, as they were leaving, one of the women came back and gave us a pamphlet as an afterthought: "You two probably don't really need this," she said as she handed me a Watchtower magazine on the topic of trying to find happiness as a married couple and as a family.
Mike and I have been grinning at each other ever since.

August 5: Summertime is waning

Well, the HEAT isn't really letting up but the end of summer and beginning of all things fall ... it is creeping up on us. We are beginning to wonder if we will successfully launch this thing before the waters turn cold and the snow starts to fly.
This week we didn't get a lot done. Fist of all, the heat and humidity were RIDICULOUS and by the time we get home from work and are ready to work on it the sun is shining directly into the garage, absolutely baking us to a crisp. So we opted to take Monday off (besides, Monday afternoon I got fitted for a pirate tooth, ARRRRRRRGGHHHHHHH - it's all silvery and scary looking. But I only get to keep it for a couple of weeks until my permanent crown (a normal dingy tooth color) is ready to put in. On Tuesday, Eric came through on his way to Urbana so we opted to spend some time with him rather than on the boat.
On Wednesday morning, Mike left for a 3 day fishing (yah right) trip. I looked at the boat a lot but didn't do anything to it. So today we are back at it and feeling the pressure to get it done! So we finished putting the deck on - it is nailed into the shear clamps and glued to the carlins (that's why there are so many clamps). The deck really has a beautiful bow to it. The picture doesn't do it justice. 

The Bean!

I took this photo with my cell phone when we went to the Art Institute (me and Mike and Susan and Kim) on July 24th. Look for us in the reflections (we appear multiple times). I am wearing a peach-colored blouse. Mike is near me with white shorts and a black shirt. See if you can find Kim (bluish skirt and top) and Susan (green pants white shirt) nearby. Want to know more about the Bean and Chicago's Millenium Park? Go to http://www.millenniumpark.org/