Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Weekend Warrior - Ask Anna

  So while surfing around today and clicking on any and every blog I come on, I found INSPIRATION! (Not Pinspiration.) I'd like to introduce my very first Link-Up! Ask Anna: Weekend Warrior Link Up has inspired me to start blogging weekly on my accomplishments as a new widow.

  Since Michael died, I have had lots of help from my wonderful parents but their lives go on and they must return to their home. So I'm learning to do things that would shock my dear husband! We have had a door issue around the house - actually a few door issues. 

      1. Locking the storage building - fixed easily with a combination lock
     2. Locking the shop which actually has 2 doors - I bought some supplies to fix one door but wasn't able to make it work. :(
     3. Locking the utility room door which had 2 screws holding the door closed (a little redneck engineering!)

  Also, we had more redneck engineering covering up our broken attic fan. Michael had taken 2 strips of insulation and hung them from the ceiling with some strapping rope. Yes, that would be the Pink Panther insulation hanging from my ceiling. He had intentions of fixing the attic fan and recaulking but life got in the way.

  So, Dad and I headed to Home Depot while Mom and Bobby headed to Wal-Mart. With a new door knob and latch in hand, we headed to the insulation. Dad showed me some Thinsulate that could be easily cut to fit over the attic fan and we got some caulking replacement to fill any possible gaps. (Thinsulate is like an insulated drywall and comes in various thicknesses) We had it cut in half so that it would fit in their Mountaineer. (BTW – in case you are wondering, a 4’x4’ piece of anything will not fit comfortably in a Mountaineer if you have backseat passengers!)

  Now the Thinsulate is cut and attached to the ceiling (not hanging) which is so much better! We chose to hang it with the silver side down so that I wouldn't have to paint the other side that was white with a HUGE letter R. Now you wouldn’t even notice the difference if it wasn’t pointed out. Next project, please…

Ahh yes, that silly utility room screw lock problem. That’s easy, just take out the old doorknob and insert the new one! Done! Oops, wait a minute the door still didn’t stay shut. A strong wind could blow it open. The latch was misaligned with the strike plate which meant moving the strike plate. Dad taught me how to fill the old holes with toothpicks and wood glue. Then we waited for the glue to dry. Once the glue was dry, I drilled two new holes and replaced the strike plate. Voila – one locking door please.


  So that was the end of my exciting Weekend Warrior Roundup, Week 1. And now for my newest theme song... I Am Woman by Helen Reddy

To celebrate our Weekend Warrior-ness, Bobby and I drove the 1975 Toyota Landcruiser FJ40 that was Michael’s favorite toy of all to church!





P.S. If you are wondering about the shop doors, Dad did that. He figured out a different way to attach the hasp I bought and attached the latch on the screen door so that it too could lock.

P.P.S Sorry no before pictures! I'll try to do better next weekend.