A Season for Remembering

One year tomorrow... still miss you, mom.

Church Face!

Mom had a "church face" that was characteristic enough to bear special mentioning by Steve when we all got together last year. I always thought it was something she'd picked up from all those years in church meetings, but I came across this photo (circa 1953) as I was cropping a bunch of scans I'd made of popo's photo albums:

In case you couldn't tell, mom's the kid in the back -- hello, church face!

Um... WHAT kind of honey was that again?

As I was working out downstairs today, I happened to glance over at the storage shelves, and what should meet my eye but this shocking sight:

Gross!! I mean, I didn't even know this kind of honey existed! One thing's for certain -- no self-respecting Chinese family should ever consider patronizing this brand. I'm going to have to have a little chat with Wifey about this...

Open Sesame!!

If only it were that easy! So, you already know about the trench that I made Ethan and Isaac dig for me over July, August, and September. Finished the trench and *poof!* went all my motivation to proceed further, until... free labor arrived on Sept. 26!

"Why certainly, Andrew, you are welcome to stay at my place for as long as you want... as long as..."

Work harder slave!

What's that? Afraid of a little glass, you say? You wimp, keep working! Faster!

Okay, fine, so I did work a bit too -- introducing brothers Dai Pig Pen and Sai Pig Pen. (That concrete saw sure creates a lot of dust!) Unfortunately, we didn't isolate the work area very well and the concrete dust got all over the basement, so all we managed to get done that day was to knock out windows and make a few cuts in the concrete block. Then, Andrew and I spent the rest of the evening vacuuming pretty much the whole basement. I think we spent more time cleaning than we did working!

A couple of weeks after Andrew left, I started knocking out the concrete block one evening after work. A scarily easy task, to be honest, considering this is what is supporting the entire house!

Hello, daylight!

If it weren't for that silly grin, I'd say that coolie's pretty hot...

...especially when he strikes a pose.

Last weekend (Oct. 10) we finally had a dry Saturday, which I promptly took advantage of to cut out the second window opening (much faster this time -- Sai Pig Pen must have been slowing me down, haha).

Had enough time to frame the opening and install the windows that same day (night?). Ta-da!!

Outside view!

Panoramic view of the basement bedroom, window and all!

Now, to finish the window well... I'm thinking of waiting until spring, what do you think?

And Then There Were Two

I even wiggled this one out on my own!! Dad and mom both offered to help, but (and how do I say this tactfully?) I guess I'd have to say they pretty much suck at pulling out teeth painlessly.

"Dad, dad, take a picture of my teeth, too!!"