Busy few weeks….

After some thinking, Dad decided the Jetta wasn’t going to work out for him as much as he hoped. He still needs a truck far too often not to have one. So the Jetta was sold (quickly I might add) and we took the proceeds from that and turned it into a super clean 2003 Ford F150. Truck is in ridicioulsy good shape. After a quick quirk (dead alternator) we’re hopeful it will give him years of service. Funny thing is after years not understanding why I lower my trucks, I think he wishes it was lower. Harder to throw that lawn mower up into the bed of a full size.

He’s not the only one with new wheels! With the Sonoma nearing its end of life with us and the Jetta going to it’s new owner, I needed to finally buy something that I can hold onto for a while. At the very least till Shannons jeep is paid of in 2 years. After some hunting around, I finally settled on a 2010 Subaru WRX. Previous owner spent some serious cash on the car. Full coilover suspension, sway bars and nearly every go-fast bolt on you can do for the car. All good quality parts with no cheap knock offs. Dynoed out the car puts down 300 horsepower at all 4 wheels and about 350lbs-ft of torque. It’s silly quick. Kids and I have dubbed the car Captain Rex – after our favorite clone trooper from Star Wars-Clone Wars. More information on the Subaru HERE.

Bikes doing pretty good still. Haven’t ridden nearly as much as i’d hoped by this point, but still getting on fairly regularily. The new handle bar setup is working out well. Love the look and feels very natural. With any luck I’ll be ordering my exhaust for it soon finishing this years plans for it. Can’t wait to hear it roar!

Jeep is also getting some love. With some help from a buddy of mine – Aaron- at 4 Wheel Parts in Burlington, we have a brand new set of 15×8″ wheels and and 33×12.50×15 tires sitting ready to get mounted to the jeep this weekend. Should finally sit the way Shannon wants it to, and get rid of those more then worn tires shes currently running.

During my holidays in the month of May I spent some time in my bedroom building a new closet and an overhead storage bulkhead/closest. One thing our house needs is more storage so with some help from Dad and Shannon we’ve got it nearly all built. Need to do a bit more wood work this week and we can finally hang the doors and paint and prime them. Going to be nice to get the bedroom out of construction mode.

Work has been absolute chaos the last couple weeks and looks to stay like this right till the end of the school year. So many projects coming to an end I’ve basically had to alot one day per school to try and get as much of the tasks ironed out as possible before the teaching staff starts their summer break. Once they go, hopefully the work will slow and it will be an easier summer. Can’t keep this pace going for much longer.

After some hard work and creative financing over the last year, Shannon and I are finally out from under the thumb of credit cards. Between the wedding, building the house, two mat-leaves and all sorts of other excuses we’ve always seemed to have a big CC debt sitting over our heads. I’m happy to say – we no longer do. Now time to see how big of a saving account we can build. Never really had one of them before 😉

Kids are growing like weeds. Joe is in the early stages of his second baseball season and Abby has started a sewing class that she is loving. Funny to see them have hobbies they are passionate about. Can’t wait to see what they get into next. Love you guys both so very much.

Speaking of which, TODAY is Joe’s 6th Birthday! Love you buddy! Have a great day!

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A bit of a hiatus…

Well, its been about 3 months since my last post…

I needed some time to get my head clear and hopefully get this race we call life back on track.

I never posted anything here, but March 30th was my 38th birthday. I have never been so grateful to grow a year older. Thirty-seven was not a good year for me. In fact, i’d say it was the worst year I’ve ever had. My Grandfather passed away, my freshly built truck was stolen, finances seemed to be getting away from me, chronic daily back and neck pain and a pile of other things which frankly I just need to leave in the past. There surely were glimmers of good, but the shitty stuff really has taken it’s tole on me. I’m still not sure I will ever fully recover. But I am trying. Every single day I am trying to make myself a better person, a better father, and a better husband.

 

Thankfully, so far, thirty-eight has been an improvement – but then that isn’t saying much.  I’m not going to go into any more details, or dwell on the previous year, but I will say that things are moving forward and so far, the destination seems promising.

 

 

Oh, and Lucy the cat did actually come home!

 

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In Like a Lion….

Winter showed up. Now it can piss off 😉

My bike is home! Running and beautiful. After an hour or so at the shop, we got it all assembled, fresh oil and ready to run. It was a beauty day so I just rode it home. Felt great being on the bike if even for just a few km’s. Since it’s been home i’ve been busy ripping it back apart to do the clip on installation. Everything is stripped down now. Once the mirror brackets come home from powder coating, it will get the final assembly and be ready for when spring officially shows up. Hopefully in time for a nice long ride on my birthday at the end of the month. If you are curious about my build log click HERE. Or if you want to see the plans you can click HERE.

Still driving Jetta. Pretty good for a cheap VW. It burns a bit of oil, which I fully anticipated being a 2L 8v engine. Hopefully she continues to run as well for a long time to come – under my Dad’s supervision. Goal is to get ahead this spring/summer and then look at something a bit more “me”. Small running list of cars to consider. Time will tell.

Finally a couple sad updates. Hopefully this is the end of the trend. Katie and Brians kitten “Lucy” has gone missing. Little bugger ran out the door and disapeared. We are still hopeful they she comes home safe and sound soon. If you see a little kitty in the Hagersville area with no tags on it, please let me know.  And if that wasn’t enough bad news, Mom and Dads other dog has now passed away as well. Not so much as a month since Karmin’s passing we have now lost Nash as well. He hasn’t been well for quite some time and with Karmin passing he seemed to give up. Rest in Peace Nashy.

 

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