Back home.

Posted on by David Maxwell

This morning I ate ice cream for breakfast then ran a few errands around Monteagle. Next I drove down to Huntsville because the Home Depot there supposedly had some hooks that Liz wanted in stock. Well, emphasis on supposedly. I took the scenic route home through Pulaski. Liz and Luke were finishing up an aborted nap attempt when I arrived. I played with him while Liz went to the grocery store. He was mostly well behaved but got frustrated when I took away his little horse barn after he threw it. We read a lot once Liz returned and started working on dinner. He did well at dinner and bath time. Liz is putting him to bed now.

2020 – looking backwards.

Posted on by David Maxwell

Wow, what a year. A year ago I never could have imagined how things would turn out. It has been challenging to say the least but also full of blessings. That’s what I’ll focus on.

The big thing was the continued joy that Luke brings. He is so much fun and full of life. His speaking has greatly improved thanks to therapy and his continued hard work. He loves reading, building with Legos, pushing the stroller on walks, eating, and helping Mama bake. He has gotten a little challenging over the past several weeks in terms of attitude and obedience, but is overall very well behaved.

Another item of note is finishing and selling the house in Monteagle. The virus really threw that off track, but it the end it was completed and I feel like it looked pretty good. Fortunately so did the buyer, and we closed nearly two months ago. It was a mostly fun project and a great learning experience. I am ready to start the next two houses.

Speaking of houses, we made incremental improvements on our own. The closets are now pretty much complete, the garage is coming along, and we are trying to get the yard under control. Still a ton of little things yet to do, but overall I am happy with the situation.

Our families continue to be healthy and that is a real blessing. Liz and Luke spent a bit of time in Michigan so that I could work on the house.

Liz’s work continues to go well. She really likes her team and her tasks. She was already working from home so the virus didn’t affect her too much. Another nice thing is that she will carry a number of vacation days over into next year.

So overall it was a good year despite the issues. Looking forward to what this next one brings.

Getting it done on the Mountain.

Posted on by David Maxwell

This morning Liz took Luke to the doctor. She thought he might have an ear infection that was causing him not to nap and to misbehave. Turns out he is just naughty. I left about the same time that they did and drove up to Monteagle with stops at the Goodwill stores in Tullahoma and Manchester. Apparently folks don’t read much in either town, or at least don’t donate their used books. My dad was waiting for me at the cottage and we installed the two new doors that I got them for Christmas. That was a little challenging but I feel like they look pretty good. For dinner we got pizza to go from Papa Ron’s and ice cream from Piggly Wiggly. I want to go take pictures by the light of the full moon, but it’s pretty chilly out so I’m sure I won’t.

Trying to be active.

Posted on by David Maxwell

We all picked up sticks in the yard this morning. Luke kind of enjoyed it and Liz was happy that we made good progress. I added them all to the fire pit. Luke didn’t want to nap again so we went on another car ride, this time to the other side of Spring Hill. We ended up at Home Depot where we bought some stuff to organize the garage. Luke and I read until dinner time. He was very naughty during bath and bed time. Hopefully he will do better in the morning.

Burnin’ and mowin’.

Posted on by David Maxwell

After breakfast I took trash to the dump and picked up a battery for my new lawn mower at the Kubota dealer. That was just what we needed and the mower started right up. I briefly tested it then set my burn pile alight. I also went next door and helped Jerry with his burn pile. Next I mowed the back field, nd the mower did a great job despite the grass being very long and thick. I will probably give it one more pass tomorrow. It is exciting to have such a nice mower. It also feels good to have the burn pile burned, although Liz has a bunch of sticks in the front yard that she wants me to burn tomorrow. Luke got a toy leaf blower in the mail today from Uncle Matt, so we did a video call with him this afternoon to say thanks. I spent a bit of time reading to him before dinner which he really enjoyed. He was a little wild before bed, but eventually went down okay.