On the deck
Progress continues on the deck. This weekend I finished up the arbor and began cutting and installing the spindles. At this point, with approximately 70% of the deck railing in place, I’d say I have about 70% of that with spindles installed. I need to pick up more wood to complete the spindles. Then… it’s on to the dreaded task of putting up the final 4 or 5 railing posts and then finish it all off. My brother is expected to visit us in September while on a business trip. At my current pace, I should be able to wrap it up and even have it painted before his arrival.
On barbecuing
Last weekend we invited some good friends over for dinner on Saturday. I was grilling my first ever roast on the grill and wasn’t sure how long it might take. Once we determined that it was going much faster than I had expected, the wife invited our friends over. Now, knowing we were fixing to have company I began getting things ready – seating, cleaning tables, etc. Before I knew it, I look at the digital thermometer and my roast was up to 167 degrees! I meant to pull it at 150. I then open up the lid to the grill and I was horrified by a charred, black ball that was supposed to be my roast.
I wanted redemption, so I took another shot at grilling a roast today. I watched over this one like a hawk! Well, maybe not THAT close, but I certainly did check on it often. I also made a change and wrapped it in foil to then unwrap it once it got to 130 degrees, and finally to pull it off the grill at 140 degrees. AH… PERFECT! Redemption was mine. 
On church
Lately, Daniel has been curious about church. We’re spiritual, but I wouldn’t consider ourselves religious. We attended a church back when we lived in California, but not since we moved up here to the Seattle area over 11 years ago. Some good friends of ours have been attempting to get us to visit their church for years now, so with Daniel’s curiosity and our friends’ nudging, we decided to attend today. Daniel loved it! He had numerous questions and we’re answering them one at a time. Undoubtedly, we’ll be attending for next several Sundays. Mel and I both enjoyed it too. Initially, it felt a little intimidating, it’s a larger church than what we’re used to, but it did feel welcoming and we were comfortable. We’ll see how it goes. There’s another, smaller church a couple of blocks from the house that we’re interested in checking out too.
So that’s it… that was the weekend. This week is going to be a busy one. I’m going to shoot for a 4-day commute by bike this week. For sure, 3 days, but I’m thinking I may shoot for 4.
OH… and for you SysAdmins out there… Happy Belated SysAdmin Appreciation Day! I hope your users were nice too you. I made it a point to thank ours.
Hope you all have a great week!