Our Next Big Project

The next thing we're working on doing is setting up a new playroom for Trina.  Her current playroom is in the smallest of our 4 bedrooms upstairs.  We learned this summer that if you have more than two kids in that room it starts to get a little crowded.  Also, she's already starting to outgrow it...either that or she just has too much stuff :)

Regardless, I think I've convinced Ryan that we should have it pretty much done by the time Trina gets here for the summer.  Currently, our basement is already divided in half.  On one half is the furnace, laundry tub, cat litter boxes, and wall-to-wall shelving for storage.  This side we're going to leave the storage/mechanical side.  The other side is currently one big room, but we did create a walk in closet under the stairs on this side.  As it stands now, this half has our office, book shelves, and a bunch of crap.  I am totally embarrassed to post this picture on here, but, here's what it looks like:

I can't get the whole area into one shot, but you get the picture.  It's currently messy...a catch all area of things in our house that we haven't found a home for.  There is a full sized kitchen table to the right (not pictured) that we use for Trina to do all of her arts and crafts.  It's a lot easier to clean up spills on a concrete floor than wood floors!  Also, to the left of the desk is more floor space with book shelves as well as the walk in closet under the stairs. 

Our plan at this point is to frame out a wall with doorway where left had wall terminates at the stairs.  That is roughly 2/3 of the length of the room.  That will give us a walled off office portion with a locking door, and then a separate room that opens to the stairs where the playroom will be.  This room is nearly triple the size of the currently playroom and will offer space for more than 2 kids to hang out.

Oh!  And, here's the new organizer we picked up at Meijer for the new playroom:

We Quit!

That's right.  Ryan and I just had our last cigarette.

Wish us luck!

Thanks Jenny!

I know this is super late, but I've had a bit of a busy February so far!  I just wanted to give Jen a HUGE thank you for my wonderful birthday present.  The girl knows me too well, but I suppose that's what happens when you live with someone for 4 years!  I cannot WAIT for it to warm up a little more into some spring weather so I can wear it!!!

She got me the cutest polka-dot and flower scarf as well as a matching bracelet:

So, thank you so much J for the wonderful birthday present!  I can't wait to start wearing it!!!

Also, stay tuned for my write-up about Friday...it was quite an interesting day...

Shamrock Shake!

First of the year, and it's sooooo good!

Happy Birthday Mary!

I had to throw out a birthday shout-out to my birthday buddy, Mary!  I hope you have a great day darling!  I hope Matt is waiting on you hand and foot tonight (and all weekend) :)  Love you!

I couldn't resist using this picture!  Love it!

AHR Show

Well, we are finally done with the show.  It was an arduous journey, as always, but it was great.  The show was one of the biggest I have ever been to, there were 1900 exhibitors.  It was HUGE, and initial numbers say over 50,000 people showed up this year.  I think I need a new pair of feet though, any one have an extra set I can borrow for a while?!? 

Everyone was VERY interested in Jack (my grandpa).  The first show he went to was in 1937 at the fresh age of 17.  Since then, he has made it to every show except for one.  On the first day of the show, we participated in a press conference for Tecumseh.  The VP mentioned Jack specifically because of the length he has been in the industry.  After the press conference was over, a journalist for the AHR News (the big industry paper) came over and asked Jack if she could do a piece on him.  He seemed surprised, but humbly accepted. 

Today, as we were walking down one of the aisles, we had two men approach us.  They said they were taking exit interviews about the show, and no offense to my dad and grandpa, but they were interested in interviewing me because I am a woman.  For those who may not know, a woman in the HVAC&R industry is actually pretty rare.  It is definitely a male dominated field.  The men explained that they were the promoters for the show, and have been for over 20 years, and they would like to video tape an interview.  I accepted, and during the interview I discussed our family business.  The men were ecstatic that we were a family business in our 3rd generation, and that Jack has been to every show since 1937 (minus one), my dad has been to over 35, and I'm currently on my 7th.  They explained to us that the AHR Show is actually privately owned and operated by a family on their 3rd generation as well.  They want us to meet the president of the show when we get back home.  They also asked if they could write a piece not only on Jack, but also on our family business.    They said the story would appear in multiple publications.

It was pretty mind boggling to me that there is so much interest in our family and business.  However, I do supposed it makes sense when you think about it.  Jack has been in the industry for 74 years.  The family business is currently being operated by all three generations.  And, I am of the female gender.  Those three things are pretty rare in our industry, and I would suppose the first two are pretty rare in general.  I'm incredibly lucky to be a part of the business and a member of my family.  Having so many people impressed by us really drove that home.