Summer at Last!

So, I haven't written for a while. Sorry. Get over it!

School's out for summer and we're enjoying having some time to be together as a family. We've been trying to catch up with some of you, and avoiding some of you - oh, I mean trying to arrange the time to get together with some of you.

We've got two pretty big jobs off of our summer list now. We spent last weekend cutting a hole in the side of our house. Now, for some of you this isn't a big deal, but for those of us that are challenged when it comes to the repairing holes in the side of the house - or in the side of a paper box for that matter - this is a big deal. Only those of us that struggle in this category can imagine the stress that was going through my head when I too the cutters and snipped through, then ripped out the first big chunk of aluminum siding on our 70 year old house. I learned a few things cutting the holes in the sides of our house.

1 - metal shavings make your throat not so happy, it usually coughs a lot to get even with you

2- having the right tools make a job a lot easier. it is easier to cut a hole in aluminum with a metal cutting saw blade, then with a pair of metal shears

3- not only does it rain every time you wash your car, it rains every time you cut a hole in the side of your house

4- it gets really hot up in an attic in the middle of July, even when it is an abnormally cool July and raining

5- there are two ways to put a rectangle vent on the side of your house, if you put it on upside down the first time - you have to take it off and put it the other way to get experience doing it both ways

6- having a hole in the side of the house with a fan on the other side cools down the attic dramatically - we hope it will also lower the cooling bill dramatically as well

7- 120 volts can shock you, make you yell, laugh and tingle all at the same time - this is usually followed by random mutterings of words that you try not to say most of the time

8- it is smart to turn off the power before you cut a wire with wire snips, especially after your wife has told you to turn the power off 5 or 6 times, there is no sympathy after that

We also had some great help from our nephew Forrest this past weekend who is visiting this summer from Japan. He helped us put some shelves in one of our closets, pull some weeds out of our flower beds, cook three excellent meals and make some great popsicles. I think anywhere else this would be called exploiting child labor - but he seemed to enjoy it. All for the price of a campout in the backyard, a movie in the basement and some great stories to tell about our fun weekend. He's a great little kid that is extremely well mannered.

One more adventure, then I'll hit the post button. A few weeks ago we started hearing a lot of cat fighting at night. These weren't your average cat fights. It sounded like one of the cats was losing by death. If we would have recorded it, it could have been the sound track for one of Stephen King's cat horror movies. Anyway, after a few discussions with the neighbor we decided a few cats have moved in to the vacant lot behind our yard that is growing all kinds of vermin (that is the word we use when we don't know what could be back there, but we assume the worst). So, a few days ago we were praying in Ivin's room with the window open and we get startled by this cat meow that sounds like it's on our lap. We both take away from the reverence of the situation and look over and there is a cat head peering through the window screen meowing at us.

Upon ending the prayer, which came quite soon after the situation arose, we put Ivin down quick and went outside. We had heard a cat meowing around the neighborhood all evening now it was on our doorstep. We thought that it might be a new mommy cat that needed some help with some babies or something the way it was wondering around. So we went outside to assess the situation. We followed the cat across the street and into the neighbors backyard, only to have the cat hop over to the next neighbors yard and then around again. After following the cat in some loops we gave up and went back in the house. That night we heard cat's meowing all night long. I believe we put some water out on the doorstep that night.

The next morning we were hearing the cat again. And wanting to hear less meowing in our lives, we opened up a can a SPAM that we've had around the house for some time and put it on the doorstep. No cats came a running for the SPAM despite the prolific odor that it was putting around the neighborhood. So, I went to work and Kelly went to work around the house with Ivin. Later that morning Kelly called me to tell me that the cat had come to the doorstep to have a little snack. She had spent some time out on the doorstep with the cat and it was a nice cat with good manners.

This for now, is what has brought Sully into our lives. We just watched Monsters, Inc a few days ago and the little girl calls Sullivan "kitty" throughout the show. This is where the name comes from. We'll see if he sticks around, or if we can handle him around. He's quite loud. But, we love him. I'd bet most of my family never thought they'd hear me say that.

Have an excellent week. Hope to hear from some of you.