My weekend

Tue, 21 Feb 2006 15:01:58 GMT

Weekend Recap
Get the coffee going and pour yourself a cup. It’s time for a weekend recap with the bear....

Well I had my two sons for a 5 day weekend. I seem to be constantly saying to myself that I had it “more together” than my kids at this age, but who knows??? I am getting older, and the signs are becoming more evident daily..

Enter Dave
So this is the part where I tell you that Dave is my Partner of 8 years and when you add it all up you come up with the fact that we are a gay couple. I prefer to say “Sexually Challenged”. It sounds so much more “Clinical” that way. Hahaha Now for those of you that have a really difficult time with my relationship, then pretend I never said that and we will go with the “He is my roommate” thing and we are both waiting for Mrs. Right, but please know that at this point it seems that is going to be a long wait.

Back to the story…
This was a “projects” weekend for us. We planned on replacing the closet doors in the master bedroom and constructing a valance for the double windows in the Living room. After Dave repainted the master bedroom and closet doors, we realized that the paint on the doors was a wasted effort as they needed to be replaced. It never ceases to amaze me some of the junky products that were made in the past. The design on the door assembly was just ridiculous.

On Friday my oldest son had a basketball game in a town about an hour from home. Unfortunately the game was at 4:00PM and I did not get off of work till 4:00PM. So I missed the game. (I hated missing it, but I have this thing called a JOB that pays for the bills. Even at 15, I believe he thinks it is like a camp I go to everyday and play on my computer.) It was the beginning of their tournament and if they won that game, we would then have to return the next day to compete in the semi finals. I had a million things I wanted to get done, but honestly I love going to his games, and it was tournament time. They won this game which put them in the semi-finals!

Saturday Road Trip
Now you must keep in mind that we live in Lexington, Kentucky which I also affectionately refer to as “Seattle of the South”. The doomy/gloomy weather conditions here from November till April can be a real downer. Fortunately for us, this has been a very sunny winter. Unfortunately, the weathermen can NOT predict weather here. If they call for sunshine, there will be clouds. If they call for snow, it will rain, if they call for clouds it will snow. Saturday Morning we awoke to 2-3 inches of snow. Now to northerners that is not a big deal, and honestly it is usually not the end of the world here, but… no one was expecting it.. and it was a mess. Thus the 1 hour road trip became a 2.5 hour trip. There were many cars off the road in the brush and against guard rails. We even saw one car flipped in a ditch. It was nerve wracking.

After the first hour discussing the weather and wrecks with my son, I popped in my homemade CD Titled “the 70s”…. I then went on to tell my son that they just do not make music like this anymore. I said there were no songs about “ho’s” and “popping cops” and all the garbage that exists today. Now I am sure my Dad said all of that to me, but the difference is I am right! (Someone back me up here!)

Well we finally made it to the game, and sadly they lost in the end. My son played extremely well, and I was very proud of him. During the one hour ride home we planned a Pizza dinner for him and his brother. Fortunately the roads were cleared.

Saturday night
When I got home I slipped off to the bedroom and took a nap. Dave and I had plans on meeting a friend for dinner. So I took a well needed 1 hour nap. The snowy drive took a lot out of me. Unfortunately, my son and I had spoiled my dinner on the way home as I rediscovered junk food. Dr Atkins is yelling at me from heaven right now! Thus, I was not hungry at dinner. So I ended up not eating my meal and getting a “to go” box for the following day’s lunch. We picked up the kids Pizza on the way home. Of course as I entered the house there was sign of life. The boys were on their computers playing video games. I could have walked in with Charles Manson, Ted Bundy, and Jason from Friday the 13th and they would not have come out… but mention Pizza and my children encounter a religious experience and their entire demeanor changes. I am greeted with hugs, and “I love you dad” and “thanks so much”. Of course all of that changes as we start the same debate, “No you can not take your Pizza and drink into your room…”. For a brief moment you can see the battle raging within them.. “play game.. Vs. eat pizza…” Finally the Pizza wins.

Planning
After cleaning up from the Pizza party Dave and I planned our next day to get back on to our projects. I knew that I had to take the kids to their grandparents on Sunday for lunch so we decided to start the living room valance after I got back. Now you must keep in mind we have NEVER constructed a valance before and though the assumption is that all gay men are decorators and floral designers, we are not. Now if you need a deck constructed or a wall taken out, we are your guys.

Dave had gone out Sunday morning and gathered all the materials for the valance as well as new closet doors for the master bedroom. I had to take the kids over to their grandparent’s house for Sunday lunch. While driving over I saw the “dummy light” on the van pop on. It indicated a tire was low. I thought “ Oh great…”. Next thing I know some guy in a uniform as waving at me to lower my window.. and tells me my back left tire is low. On top of that my other dummy light comes on screaming “You are LOW ON GAS LOSER!” sigh… So I pull in to the closest gas station fill up on air and gas, drop off the kids and make my way to Wal-mart to get the tire repaired.. of course there is a 4 hour wait. Umm… I I don’t wait!! Yes it is true, I am NOT a patient person so I head home and we change the tire.. well Dave changed the tire and I held the flashlight. Did I mention it was 6 degrees?? *fake smile*

Okay so we go into “Valance Construction” mode. Keep in mind we have this Funky Retro décor in the living room. See.. I wanted my living room to look “alive” and not like the neighborhood morgue. I wanted it to be a room that was “used” as well as “seen”. So we are slowly giving it a face lift. Initially we had these old funky couch and chairs we had re-upholstered. We bought some fun lamps, and it has slowly come together, but the window needed to be addressed.. thus the valance. We had been shopping for a material that would not be too busy, but still had that fun look without dressing down the room too much. I found this cool retro fabric at Hancock’s Fabric on their 2.99 a yard rack. It was perfect! Take a look at the pictures when you can.

Making the valance was much easier than I anticipated, but took time as you have to layer the material and address folds etc. I still need to acquire some side “mock” drapes for each side of the window, but I think it has progressed very nicely.

FIRE!
So the kids are upstairs playing their computer games, and Dave and I are down in the office. Dave says he smells something burning. (Which is amazing because I am usually the one that says that) Of course I am up and running. We both agree it smells like electrical burning, and we are freaking out. The smell is extra strong in the downstairs bathroom… I reach for the light switch and it is EXTREMELY hot. I said “Oh God it is this light switch!”. Dave shuts off the electric downstairs at the electrical box and races back with a screwdriver and flashlight. I get the chore of holding the flashlight. Wasn’t this my role with the tire change?? It seems to be the story of my life.. Well Dave gets the light switch plate off and out comes smoke. I am FREAKING out. So I call the fire department. They show up a few minutes later. I am feeling so guilty as I do not “think” the fire has spread into the walls, but believe just the wiring arc’d and melted, but we just had to know. Of course the firemen came in all their glory sirens, flashing lights etc..3 trucks total. In my mind the neighbors are formulating stories like “what have the gay guys” gotten into now!

The firemen came and we took them to the spot. They said it was good that we called and that if we were not home when this happened that the house would have caught on fire, and that the switch was bad blah blah blah .. Did I mention the really handsome fireman? *enter gay moment* Why is it that all firemen are so handsome? I swear there is a genetic code that says “If you are handsome then you must desire to be a fireman or drive a pickup.. or both!”. *exit gay moment* Of course I ask Dave later that night if he saw how cute this fireman was?? Dave was oblivious. I realize then that Dave will lay awake all night worrying that the house will burn down. After they left he had his “replace every battery in the smoke detectors” moment and installed an additional smoke detector.

So this is the life I live and as you can see there is NEVER a dull moment in my life.

BigBearJeff

My weekend