The Checklist:
*Designate a room for the baby. This became our former office, my 'man-cave', and a plan was devised to clear it out, move things to the attic, garage, or garbage. Unfortunately we're running out of room in our attic and garage which led to the next item. Check!
*Build an outdoor storage shed. This was accomplished by late July, allowing the mower and various yard implements to be stored there, clearing lots of space out of our garage. Our Christmas stuff was also moved to the storage shed, creating more room in the attic.
*Clear the Man Cave. Two entertainment centers - both sold in a garage sale. A TV - stored in the new backyard shed. And the computer and desk were moved to our master bedroom. Those were the big items. The biggest pain of it all was the closet - which in itself was a spare storage space, mostly for my crap. Things were boxed and moved to the attic, thrown away, or moved to our 4th bedroom closet. Check!
*Paint the Bedroom. We had paint swabs
going for a good month or so before we finally painted. On July 30, it took me about 6 hours to do my magic and go over the Ralph Lauren "Cilantro" with a Behr "Porcelain Skin". Check!*Get Away, Just Me and Kat. Mission accomplished thanks to my mom and Kat's mom taking turns watching Kole here at the house while we went to Vegas for a weekend. We gambled, we ate bad, we laid out by the pool in 110 degree heat (not a sarcastic reference to the temp) and drank cold beverages. It was exactly what the doctor ordered (again not sarcastic - Kat's OB demanded we go). Check!
*Health Check-up. With Kathy in doctors' hands at least once a month, I decided to get myself checked out. By the grace of God, I'm really sick about once every 15 years. I may get an annual cold or flu-like something, but I can count my doctor's visits over the last decade on one hand. So, after a dentist check-up and clean bill of health on my teeth, I then went in for a physical, just last week. Blood pressure was a tad high (120/90) , but otherwise, though I know I don't appear to be the picture of glowing health, I'm as healthy as a bull. Check!
*Car Check-Up. My car has over 140,000 miles on it and it's tough to sink money into outside of routine oil changes and tune-ups. But, since I don't see a new car in the plans anytime soon, I went ahead and changed the brakes and rotors - something that needed to be done two years ago. I also had a thermostat in the housing changed out finally, which has been the source of a "Service Engine" red light on my dash for most of 2010. All that is done. I need new tires soon, but that will have to wait. I'll get Kathy's car tuned up this weekend. Check!
*Dental Check-Up. I started with a new dentist nearby and got a clean bill - no cavities, no problems, I got good chompers. Check!
*Lower Some Bills. Looking to save a few bucks here and there, I quickly determined that we didn't need AT&T U-Verse's top-tier cable package, which literally included every single channel offered on cable TV. We paid a top-tier price, but cable TV is a tax write-off for me because of work. Still, it was quickly determined that we hardly ever watched HBO and Cinemax. By getting rid of that alone, we went to U-Verse's 2nd-best tier, which they happened to be running a special. I was given the special rate for one year. The result was a savings of over $80 a month! Since we got rid of my Man Cave, I turned in another cable box, which meant another $8 a month. Then I got what amounted to a $10/month credit for 6 months because AT&T came for a service call and did not come "between 8am and noon" like they promised, but at 2:30. I was held captive in my own home. After adding it all up, our savings is more than $1000 over the course of a year. On CABLE TV!
*Decorate the Room. Done. The crib and changing table were easy, borrowed from Kole. We bought a cool dresser we got from CraigsList. The clothes were a little tougher deal, as mentioned in a previous post. Kathy got a cool pattern and theme (ladybugs, dragonflies and flowers), we got stuff on the walls, as well as a couple of shelves. Check!
*Get My First Football Show in the Can. Pardon the shop-talk. When a taped TV show is done, on tape, and complete, it's in the can. That happened today. We shot a day early accommodate the schedule of one of our analysts. The show will still air on Wednesdays. I now begin my 15th season as a reporter or producer of Big 12 Showcase on Fox Sports. Football season's sponsors pay the bills for the entire year. So, it's been weighing on my mind for a good bit of the summer, getting the first show knocked out. It's now football season. In my mind, in January, it was going to be football season when the baby got here. Well, college football season is here. Check. It's baby time!
I
don't push my sponsors down my friends and family's throats, but they are worth mentioning. If you have the option to support one of these fine companies who so generously supports the show I pour my heart and soul into it would be greatly appreciated.SportClips Haircuts (I can't support them myself, so now that's where I take Kole! This is SportClips' fifth season as a Showcase sponsor!)
STIHL Outdoor Power Tools (just in case you need a new weedeater or blower. I do have a STIHL weedeater now)
On The Border (OTB just signed on for another full season - 52-weeks! That's now two straight years as a year-round sponsor. I wish they had better salsa, but I'm so appreciative to have them.)
McDonalds (besides maybe Budweiser and Nike, one of the Granddaddies of all sports-TV advertising. Our sales girl Kristen reeled them in on a jumbo deal that involves a lot of college football programming on Fox, worth a total of nearly a half-million bucks, but Showcase got a piece of the deal!)
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