Bugs Palace!

For the first time since I was a student in high school, I have officially had a March break off. The weather was incredible. Shannon was also lucky enough to get the week off.  We did a whole bunch of nothing, but it was nice having the week to just hang out together with Abby and have some fun together.

Shannon’s baby belly is coming along nicely. She will be 27 weeks along come Monday.  13 weeks to go. More or less.  We sill have lots to do to get ready. Thankfully there won’t be any painting this time. A lovely shade of green was good enough for Abigail, it will be good enough for baby #2.

Warmer weather also allowed me some time to install my new rear sway bar and exhaust on the WRX.  With some help from Kevin to get the downpipe off, the swap went fairly smoothly. One bolt was a major pain in the ass. But eventually it gave up, and we won.  Sounds deeeeep. And the power difference is immediately noticeable. Typically this upgrade is good for about 285hp or so. Not bad seeing as the car started with 227hp. I almost forgot how good stage 2 felt 🙂

Aside from seriously jonesing for a motorcycle, and looking forward to getting the bug on the road, there isn’t much else on the go right now.

Happy be-lated Christmas/New Years to the 3-4 people who actually check this site. Things have been a touch busy since Christmas, so I have fallen behind in my updates.  This happens when you pull your house apart 4 days before Christmas… More on that in a bit.

First off: Christmas. It was an awesome holiday once again. Things were a tiny bit different though. Basically, the one big change was Christmas morning. For the past 31 years, I have celebrated Christmas morning at my Grandma/Grandpa Armstrongs, and later on the Shoup’s house. (Same house, but Grandparents live upstairs now). It has always been crazy and awesome all rolled into one. This year however, we started our day with my family at my Parents place. Was it a bit strange? Yes. Did I miss the normal holiday crazyness of all my aunts/uncles/cousins/grandparents together? Of course.  Would I have it any other way? No.  Although it was a bit of a change, I feel it was a good one. It was very nice to be with just my parents, my sisters and their signifigant others, and Shannon/Abby. It was the start of a NEW tradition.  We still spent Christmas Eve, and Christmas night with the extended family. There is no way I’d give that up. We have a very close extended family, and I simply couldn’t imagine not getting together for at least some of the festivities. Thank you EVERYONE for great holidays and wonderful gifts. 

Other then the change in Christmas morning venue, everything else pretty much went to plan. Christmas Eve at the Shoups for snacks and finger foods, and Christmas dinners started at Shannons Dads place on the 25th and continued back at the Shoups in the evening.  Thanks again for everything! 

Next up: Abby growing like crazy. This kid is growing like a weed.  Shes now talking up a storm. Starting to sing! and string words together in sentances. Everytime I hear “what’s that noise?” I laugh.  She just wants to know what everything is, and what everything does.  I also can’t help but laugh at how tightly she has her uncles wound around her baby finger. Grant, Brian and Alex can’t come over without getting suckered into tea parties, or playing dolls. Her aunts don’t seem to be able to say no to her either. I think they inherited that trait from my Mom and Dad. A bunch of pushovers…. the whole lot of ya!

Baby #2 halfway there! Shannon is just past the half way mark. So far, so good. Baby is measuring perfectly, and momma is as well.  We had the first ultra sound recently, and got to see the wiggly little bugger flipping around and doing gymnastics in Shannons belly. Nothing better then watching your baby play. Even when they are on the inside 😉

Finally the basement reno’s part 1 is nearly done. The main recreation room/living room/man cave is nearing completion. Still a handfull of small tasks to do such as carpetting the stairs, painting the handrail, etc. But the room is useable. Tv is now setup and being used on a daily basis. Still seems odd to be using the basement after all these years of the room being a grey concrete bunker, but we’re getting use to it. Stage2 for the basement will be finishing the bathroom (already framed in, and roughed in, just needs to be finished) and also the small hallway between the bathroom and main room. Thank you SO much to my Dad and Alex and Grandpa for all their help. There is no way this room would have ever got finished if it wasn’t for you guys. Thanks again!

Picture updates will be coming soon. They have all been sorted and uploaded, I just need to put them on the web page. Check back this weekend.

After toying with the idea, a couple really close sales and some test fitting, I have decided to hold onto the Subaru for now.  I would prefer a hatch, but in the long run, it makes more sense to hold onto this car for a while. I still owe more then most people are selling them for, and financially, I’d rather not have to pay to sell a car. 

So, I’m going to re-kindle my love afair with the WRX. Odds are, once Shannon goes back to work from her maternity leave, I will be more then ready to move onto something newer.  At this point, i’d hazard to guess an 04 Golf R32 or a 08+ WRX. (both hatches, both manual trans AWD, both sound awesome). But for now, time to put some go fast goodies back on the old gal, and tighten up the suspension again.