Once again I have taken on another project. This past week I got a little painting done at Vivian's.

Vivian and son Jon picked colors. I had a basic idea what I wanted to do but you never know how it will turn out until it is finished. The room was all beige. Colors were picked that would go with it. This is the upstairs TV room. I used serger thread and thumb tacs to make straight lines for masking tape. I was just getting a good start at this point.

Brown is done. Funny how I thought the darker color would cover in one coat. Wishful thinking.

So onwards.

Of course the blue will not cover the way I want in just one coat.

Gives you an idea of how many string lines I ran and the amount of masking.

There you have it. Deciding on futon or sofa bed. I will likely be building some end tables and coffee table that teenage boys can't break if rough housing. It took 8 hours from start to finish.

I also painted the entryway/staircase walls.

From start. to finish.

So there you have it. 10 hours. Pretty hard on the back but I can't let a little thing like that stop me....can I??

So what about the back recovery? I have a gym very close. This will be my first summer of spending the time I want in the gym forcing recovery.
I spent close to $400 on supplements just for this first month. Of course there is protein powder, nitric oxide. Vitamins designed to support extreme exercise. Vivian and I are switching over to a mostly vegetarian diet. Still eating fish and dairy. Well... I am switching my diet. Vivian has been Vegetarian for 16 years. I will try anything. I have no compunction about eating meat and Vivian does not care. We are just trying to find a healthy diet that more closely accommodates both of us. Clearly eating a more vegetable diet won't hurt me any.

 The big expense for this month. I tried this in Thompson falls and it allowed me to build muscle in my lower back at an accelerated rate and made a big difference in how rapidly I was able to get stronger. I did it my last month there. I regretted that I did not have time for another few months in the gym to solidify my gains. It did allow me to remove, rebuild and install Mary Lee's engine by myself.  I had no mechanical means to lift it and no room for anyone else to help.. I did it myself by hand. The engine with tranny attached is about 350 pounds.

 The engine did end up a little brightly colored(long story told earlier in blog)

I am doing a cycle of legal steroids. I packed on over 20 pounds of muscle in Thompson Falls,Mt. in about 30 days. While laid up in Maryland the next winter I lost what I gained and put on some fat. I have 7 months of having a gym close and it is summer. I will regain all that can be regained(as far as fitness goes). I am heading south on or about November first this fall. So no cold winters for me anymore.

So....A summer of intense exercise in the gym along with biking and swimming laps in the pool. All the sailing I can manage on top of it. Time spent with a sweetheart of a girlfriend. Learning to appreciate high school soccer games. Vivian is a soccer mom. A switch to a mostly vegetarian diet(at least for a while). Projects galore.  Going to get a bike rack for Vivian's car and explore a few parks. Dancing lessons to continue. Can it get any better?? Sure, Sailing out to the islands. But patience, patience, patience. I am just celebrating my 8 year anniversary of falling. About 3 hours to the exact time.

I am within a few days of the one year anniversary of deciding to completely stop taking narcotic pain meds. A whole year!!! I have times where the pain gets pretty intense but I will never take narcotics for my back again.

 This is a thoughtful day for me. I have been through much in the last 8 years. I was mostly isolated for the biggest part of 5 years, while I experienced pain, frustration, and loneliness that I would wish on nobody.
I learned patience in a way I had never considered(Does not matter what you want to do when you hurt to bad to do anything).
I learned to live with myself a little better. I still contend that my world is mechanical, but I have accepted the fact that there is so much more to life than mechanics.
 
I find that other people matter to me more than myself and it makes my experiences with them a little richer. I have always liked people but I appreciate them a little more.  I am still learning patience for the little things that surface on occasion. I am certainly no saint, but I try my level best to always do the right thing.

So as I move forward from this landmark day. I am thankful for the good that has entered my life. Humbled by the realization of what can happen in a moment to change one's life and optimistic about what I still have ahead of me. I think the best is yet to come.

Why does it seem like winter is just dragging??? There is no question about how the cold affects my back anymore. Cold and rainy seems just about as bad as cold and snowy. I work out and rebuild muscle and stamina the best I can all summer. Winter comes around and beats me up. By the time summer comes around again, I have lost enough to make it feel like starting over. Truly, if I ever expect to regain what I have lost I need to be where it is warm year around.

 I still have projects going. The work bench is coming along.

It started with a stack of 2x6 boards ripped down the middle.

Almost there.

Time for legs.

Stands alone.

Planing by hand.

Getting closer. I still have to add side panels to close it in and mount vises. Yes, I am going to paint it. Side panels hunter green and the top and legs will get a stain sealer that is cedar colored. Soon as this wet weather lets up it will be finished. I am getting anxious to build some cabinets. I also have a dinghy build that I want to start.

I have used one of those aluminum wallets, you may have seen the commercials on tv, for a few years now. They don't hold as much as I would like but they also don't tend to leave everything in my wallet soaked if it is a hot sweaty day. I had the standard size one. Was not happy with the cargo space. A few dollars along with needed cards and licenses was about it.. I got the bigger one. It held a lot more. Got about a year out of the bigger one before breaking it. Smashed it somehow.

 I was unable to find the larger size to replace the broken one, so bought another standard size. I Was getting something out of my shower bag one day and noticed my soap holder was just about the right size for a good hard cased wallet. Took folder out of large wallet and with a little contact cement, I have a great wallet. They cost .97 cents at walmart.

Not impressed yet? Check this out!

And opened up.

If I could still carry a wallet in my back pocket this might not have ever happened. I do tend to get funny looks when I pull it out.  Fortunately I never have gone along with the status quo.  Will I ever use a leather wallet again (even if I can sit down with a lump in my back pocket) ? No!!! I always was busy with projects and a sweat soaked wallet was almost as bad as running one through the washer to me. Still needed drying out. Since I started using a hard wallet? Nothing gets wet. Certainly not from sweat.

Can you believe I spent so much time writing about turning a soap container into a wallet?? :-) About as much time as it took to make it.

Last project for this post. Vivian has really nice big furniture in the bedroom and when I started staying here she let me use the side of the bed that works best for me. I still cannot lay on my left hip as it,and my back flair up shortly if I do. Pretty much means no sleep. Her stuff is so big that there is no room for a second night stand. There were two black footstools that she had stored in closet. I stacked them on the other side of the bed and build this box to set over the top.

Baking the finish in the sun.

Finished. I even routed the edges. I used ,hammered finish, paint. It turned out well.

 Okay...I can be a bit of a  do-it-yourselfer when it comes to such things. I believe in doing things myself and why spend the money on something someone else came up with. The night stand will likely retire when I head south. The wallet works for me. The engine in Mary Lee still runs. The splices I am putting in new running rigging for Mary Lee will work just like the ones I could pay someone else to make. The list goes on.

Bought a better book for Vivian. We need to know the same nomenclature when it comes to sailboat and sailing terms. This will help.

Did I mention we started dance lessons last week? Latin dance. The Bachota is the first dance we are learning. We had fun.

 Vivian has access to several different learn Spanish at home programs from the University. We have to research a little and see which one sounds like the best to start with. Spanish does seem to be the best second language to learn. Especially for traveling.

Last for this post. Vivian's mother was packing up. The house was sold. I went along to help. Talk about two camera shy individuals. I thought a few pictures of the occasion was in order. They were more concerned with not being doodled up for a photo shoot ;-) I got plenty of pictures by being persistent.
   I decided that this one would at least meet with a modicum of approval. Since it really does not show much of either one of them.
 How funny. I never have cared much about such things. Even my worst pictures were only indicative of how I looked at that moment.

I truly enjoy spending time with Vivian. She is a high energy gal who is game for just about anything I can come up with. Cake decorating, Dance lessons, whatever. There seems to be no end to my ideas or her desire to share new experiences. She says she is excited to go fishing this summer!! She is certainly going sailing. She is also my "expert" sewer for making new canvas.

What next?? Wrapping up this post. No secret that I will go to Florida this fall. Vivian?? I politely refrain from putting her desires on this blog.  Time will tell ;-)