Welcome Underwater Nikon!

We interrupt this vacation adventure to welcome a new member to the family camera cabinet. Welcome white Nikon Coolpix with underwater photo and video capabilities good to 10 feet!

Here is my initial underwater test photography in a sink full of water with good light and household items.

Excellent quality thus far. I think it just made the Mexico packing list.

Just as I was shooting underwater I noticed this dead fish floating by. Weird. But good subject matter. We'll let new white camera stay! :)

Let's Float!

We fueled up at dad's favorite Boise breakfast diner...Merritt's. As once featured on Dave Atell Insomniac. We had a bounty of breakfast items, including their famous fair scones and dutch babies. We were fueled up for our day's adventure...

Floating the river! SUCH fun! We decided to take our lives in our own hands and take the -- gasp -- shuttle! Which was a little cramped for maybe 20 minutes, but overall made the adventure much easier.

Love the facilities at the put-in. With a little inflation, we were on our way!

Group shot of floaters....

And then we were westbound! Nothing says "testing a relationship" like putting folks in one raft, despite our abundance of single-man rafts. Mwahahahah! I kid, they did great!

Sistervisit 2012!

Guess what guess what guess what! Sister came to visit! And she brought a guest with her!

Welcome Mike to the Chicken Ranch!

First up...slightly belated birthday gifts! So few folks look good in yellow, best capitalize on that.

Sister loves perfume. A little Tom Ford, "Violet Blonde." It was a hit!

If you've ever participated in one of our family gift-opening sessions -- and many of you have -- you can appreciate Mike's tiresome expression. Naw, this was light duty, like five presents only!

I buy her birthday gifts and she looks at me like this. Hmph. I gave her Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue. "Gave" as in I can not wear this scent, it's become her signature scent and when I wear it I smell like sister. So I will wear it no more, its all yours!!

It wasn't my birthday but I got gifts too -- tiny antique chicken salt and pepper shakers! I neglected to properly photograph them here, but will get them shot soon. Welcome sister and Mike!

I Heart Golf Carts.

Deer on the driving range! Deer on the driving range! That seems about right.

For a while I held the Ladies' Longest Drive. It was a good one too. Some employee's 20-something kid took it. Seriously. If you're not even an employee, let it go, people. I'm not bitter.

I am pretty sure this is the first time I've been on the green in one shot. Yep, that's my drive right there.

John and I had this odd feeling we were being followed...hmmm....

You know I love being driven around in a golf cart. :) Happy Golf Tourney! See you next year!

Golf Tournament!

You know when you process your photos and then you think you posted them on your blog? Sure, everyone does that every once in while. Anyway, COMPANY GOLF TOURNAMENT!!!

Our All-Publications Team had a last-minute substitution when we lost Larry the copy guy but soon picked up John the architect! We went with a "Team Aloha" theme this year.

But of course, I played the Flying Lady.

Check that suh-weet practice form.

Brandy's excellent swing -- note the ball just below the tree to the left.

Cork Floor Sunday!

Sour Cream with a Little Guacamole

And then next, two coats of Kilz on everything.

Then, ceiling texture. We added this bag of sparkles to the paint, but mostly that was a ruse. No sparkles can be seen. I think I rushed downstairs after work to help with the sparkles, and hadn't changed yet, because those rings don't normally come anywhere near paint. For I, am messy.

It's kind of a low ceiling down here, so the taller of us takes care of that.

If you took a cup of sour cream and added half a cup of guacamole, you'd get the color of the new paint. It's a small rooms so it had to be light.

Doesn't show up super well in pix, but the green is "Sculpture White" and the ceiling is "December Starlight." We both love it!

We've made such progress! (Note the vent in the duct!)

Ta-da! (Same vent in duct here!)

Yay! One step closer!

A Filthy, Dusty Mess.

It's like it snowed.

I'm not afraid to admit it. Sometimes I climb all the way to the top and sit there. I have no other options.

Love wiping everything down for the 18th time.

One of our best purchases ever: the shop vac. We have abused it beyond belief and it still keeps going.

Free french manicure? Hahaha.

The. Worst. Job. Ever.

Neither of us minds doing demo, which is hard work. Neither of minds hauling bags and bags of debris up the stairs, through the backyard, to the truck. Mostly neither of us minds most remodel work. EXCEPT this. Mudding. And the subsequent sanding.

It's the WORST.

It's messy, yucky, and the dust gets just everywhere. This time i hung up wet sheets. It seemed to the best trick yet.

There's lots of these looks...is this really gonna work? And if so, when will it be done? 

But there's plenty of it to be done.

And then...plenty of it to be cleaned up.