Since you've been gone...

Allow me to channel my inner Kelly Clarkson. A couple weeks back, the wife and kids were visiting my sister Heidi and her conveniently-aged kids in Colorado Springs. When I'm home alone for a few days, I always try to find a way to surprise my wife upon her return; I believe last time I did some painting around the house. This time, I wanted to be a little more aggressive, so I decided to completely renovate our laundry room. I enlisted the help of some of my wonderful friends and family whom you will see depicted below.

The first step was to rip out the awful shelving solutions we had been using for years, which left a great many (otherwise known as THIRTY) pencil-diameter-to-dime-sized holes in the drywall. I also ripped out the baseboards and the existing drain pan for the washing machine, for reasons explained in excruciating detail here. Here is a shot of the room in its most destroyed state - the before picture:



The impetus for getting all of this done was our defunct washing machine, which had decided it no longer wished to fully expel water used during the washing process, thanks to a faulty drain pump. While I figured this repair would constitute the most difficult task in the renovation, it turned out to be one of the easiest - 10 minutes to diagnose, 20 minutes to fix - though it did look pretty scary in the process:



While I was busy fixing the washing machine (and after repairing all of that drywall destruction), my friend Gretta Hansen was painting like it was going out of style, using a periwinkle hue chosen by Rachel herself:



Next up was flooring. The existing linoleum was very, very sad indeed, and needed an overhaul. Rachel and I have a dream of someday owning a house with its flooring entirely consisting of wood and/or laminate, so I figured this would be a good trial of my installation skills. My partner in crime was my brother Eric, with whom I often trade labor for household projects. It went in relatively easily once we figured out what we were doing:



The baseboards were probably the trickiest bit to figure out; for some reason they weren't terribly interested in adhering to the wall properly. So, we resorted to adhesive caulk in a couple places that (hopefully) will never again be beheld by human eyes. Eric spent nearly an hour making the only visible corner just right:



The next night my excellent father stopped by to lend his IKEA furniture assembling expertise. We carefully built two massive wardrobe frames in the tiny laundry room itself, as they were too large to build outside and then maneuver them into place. Action shot:



Post-assembly:



Meanwhile, my wonderful mother was laundering all of our disgusting clothing that had been sitting for, well, a bit, while our washing machine was out of commission:



Next up was the brand new, never-been-inhabited-by-cockroaches-swimming-in-laundry-detergent, washing machine drain pan, this laundry room being on the second floor and all:



It was then time for the moment of truth - installing the newly-repaired washing machine and (gasp) turning it on. It's worth mentioning that this particular model washing machine is of roughly the same girth and heft as a small Mongolian yak. After a bit of groaning and heavy breathing from my father and I, thankfully everything went perfectly on the very first try. And there was much rejoicing (yay). I installed some very nice wire baskets in the wardrobe frames, and the project was complete - at 11:00p, approximately eight hours before I left on a business trip to Orlando. (Of course it had to be done before I left because Rachel and our trio of children would return home before I would.)

The finished product:



I would like to again thank all of my helpers for their assistance - I could never have done this without you. Rachel absolutely loves it - and she was extremely surprised. Just how I wanted it. :)

It's that time again...

Time to make a bunch of New Year's Resolutions. I made only one resolution last year - to lose 36 lbs. and thereby get down to 200. Despite some ridiculous-yet-fantastic holiday binging, I ended the year at just over 180. I think that's officially the first one of these little goals I've ever accomplished. Go me. ;) That's cool and all, but I'm still not quite where I want to be. So with that in mind, here are my resolutions for this year:

Hit 170 pounds by April 1st
I haven't been able to break 174 yet despite several close encounters, but I'm going to do it, and I vow to never see 175+ again. Ever. After that, I'll probably give the P90X program a shot, if only because I'm getting pretty bored with my current weightlifting regimen.

Complete Associate's Degree
It has always been a goal of mine to complete my Bachelor's degree, but in focusing on my career after high school, I ended up dropping out of school halfway through my third semester at Arizona State University. Last year I started taking classes at Mesa Community College in hopes of a) finally making some educational progress and b) figuring out what sort of education I want. I have decided to pursue a B.S. in Political Science. It will provide little-to-no benefit to my career, but I find politics endlessly interesting, and I can do it entirely online through ASU once I finish my generals at MCC. I have three classes remaining to finish up my Associate's Degree in Something Or Other, and darn it, I'm going to do it, if only by inertia. That will be a nice milestone before the real work (and interesting classes) begin next decade.

Read 1 book per month
I read two books during my family's annual jaunt to Santa Barbara - Liar's Poker by Michael Lewis, and Cool It by Bjorn Lomborg. Both were excellent and eye-opening, and they reminded me how much I enjoy learning by reading; for some reason I only seem to consume non-fiction (insert super-funny joke from Dad disqualifying books by liberal authors). I will attempt to read one book per month, and I plan to alternate secular and sacred. First up is Freakonomics, a gift from my friend and then boss Dave Waxberg two Christmi (yes, that's the plural of "Christmas") ago; after that will be Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage.

Magnify my Church callings
This year I plan to give extra attention to my Church duties as Sunday School Presidency Second Counselor, Elder's Quorum Instructor, and especially Home Teacher. I have unfortunately been known to slack in this area more than would be prudent.

Magnify my more important callings...
...those of husband and father. I have been blessed with a lovely and wonderful wife, and three beautiful and fantastic children. Time for me to step up and be the husband and father they deserve. Not that I am abusive or derelict, but certainly I am occasionally less-than-optimally-enthusiastic when I arrive home from the office to find three tired-and-therefore-nutty kidlets and a wife understandably at the end of her rope. Honey, I'm going to work on it.

Blog once a week
We'll see about this one. It's a goal. :)

Golf once a month
Well, except maybe when it's 115 degrees outside. I really enjoy golfing in Santa Barbara every year, but I'd like to not completely suck by next winter.

Readers, have a wonderful and prosperous 2009, and hopefully I will too. I've got my work cut out for me.