After much deliberation on time, place and location, we finally have it all figured out. Meghan and I will be getting married on 11.4.2018. With everything settled, I got to work on some invitations…
Summer Project
Summer is upon us (well, ok, really we still have a few more days) and the housing projects are getting underway (to be fair, they haven’t really stopped)! Last summer the house got a new roof, and this summer it’s getting new siding.
I left work early on Friday to meet the delivery guy. Good thing I got home sooner than the time-frame I gave them for delivery, because they were actually there about 10 minutes early. With the stabilizers in place, it was time to unload my order.
Back in the groove
It’s been a while, but I’m finally getting back into the workout groove. Little backstory…
Since about the end of January, I’ve been battling issues with my left shoulder. I don’t recall a specific time when it started hurting. There was never a moment when I felt a tear or a pop. One night I simply tried scratching my back, and I simply couldn’t get my arm in the position I needed to…it simply wouldn’t go that far, and certainly not without a lot of pain. I’ve narrowed the cause down to either overworking it in the gym, shoveling the heavy wet snow this past winter (I have a significant length of sidewalk in my front yard), or a combination of the two. As anyone would do in 2018, I went to the internet to self-diagnose. Everything I found pointed to a rotator cuff injury, so I started doing some exercises for that. After a few months, I was still in pain, so I finally went to the doctors to discuss it. His impression was the same, and diagnosed it as a rotator cuff injury and prescribed physical therapy for it.
Memorial Day Weekend 2018
The holiday weekend had arrived, and to celebrate, Meghan and I hit up the theater to see ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’. If ever there was a movie that didn’t need to be made, this was it. It was certainly worth a viewing, it wasn’t that bad, but it didn’t add anything to the Star Wars mythos that was interesting. Our faces pretty much say it all…
More home improvement…
The home improvement projects continue…
When I purchased this house back at the end of Winter in March 2016, I knew I was going to have to (well, really I wanted to) make some improvements to this house. It’s a fantastic starter home, and since I ended up being single as I transitioned from renter to home owner, I’m glad I went with a house I could afford while still having money left to make the improvements that I wanted.
Early into owning the home, the first thing that got upgraded was the furnace. It was original to the house, and the house was built in 1967…not at all efficient. While the new furnace was great, the insulation in the attic was poor…even the home inspector told me that. At some point I knew it was going to have to be updated too (only after I had ran all of the new wiring and light boxes I wanted), and well, no time like the present! On Saturday, Meghan and I went to rent a U-Haul. Neither of us have a vehicle big enough to haul 50 bags of insulation and the blower required for the install, so it was a safe way to go. Here are all 50 bags (on 4 carts) ready to load up).
Goodbye Wilmington…Hello Dulles and Chicago?
Saturday morning/afternoon was our last day in Wilmington. We slept in a bit, no gym that day, and then got up and headed to our favorite breakfast place, the Dixie Grill.
With food in our bellies, we headed back to the Airbnb to shower and pack up, since we had to be out of there by 11am. With the Airbnb in order, and our stuff all packed up, we headed to the parking garage to dump off our bags and then set off to explore some more of downtown. There was a farmers market going on along the cape, so we decided to check that out. There was one thing we noticed however, the heat was far more extreme than it had been the entire time we were there. It was almost 90, and the humidity felt like we were underwater. Not wanting to walk around in the heat, and not wanting to drive around in the gas hog that is the Expedition, we decided we were just going to go to the airport and hangout there for the rest of the day. In hindsight, not the best of ideas, but it seemed like a good one at the time.
Continue reading “Goodbye Wilmington…Hello Dulles and Chicago?”
Wilmington Day 4
Day 4 was already upon us…man, the days were going fast. Being a big proponent of education, and having worked at two universities now, I always enjoy taking a tour of a campus if I’m in the area, and well, UNCW was right in our backyard. Oh and who could pass up getting a look at “Capeside High” from Dawson’s Creek?
When we got to campus, we were greeted with this fountain.
Wilmington Day 3
Day 3 was here, and I wanted to take Meghan to the aquarium to see some sharks, and then dip our toes into the Atlantic. We drove about 30 mins south to Fort Fisher to the North Carolina Aquarium.
As we approached the door, Meghan spotted a dinosaur in need of a rider. She hopped on and proclaimed, “Onward my trustee steed!”
Wilmington Day 2
Early on Day 2, we woke up and headed to the local Planet Fitness to get a workout in. Compared to ours in Lansing, this place was top-notch. The owner definitely takes pride in their business. Come on Lansing, get into the game.
With the workout in, we headed to breakfast at the Dixie Cafe. The inside was extremely colorful and the food was amazing. 
Wilmington, NC, we have arrived!
Early Tuesday morning, Meghan and I arrived at the Lansing airport, ready to start our North Carolina vacation. Can you tell we were tired?
We had a short flight at 6am to Chicago for about a 90 minute layover. It wasn’t bad though, we were able to grab a fantastic breakfast meal. Ok, well, it was just McDonalds, but at least it was filling. We also came across this dinosaur at the Chicago airport. We thought we had entered Jurassic Park.