How I spent (the second week) of my summer vacation

1. I went to Amarillo to help Amy paint her master bedroom, do a few little projects there, and entertain her children. Amy chose a great paint color called "Linen" which is a nice taupe color--not too gray, not too tan (and not at all like my house paint, Amy--apparently, I'm color-blind as to what color I've been living with for 2 years). It looks wonderful with the new bedding she picked out. Then, in a burst of creativity, we created a "no-sew" headboard for her bed. Batting, fabric, quarter-inch plywood, and the staple gun (with a whole bunch of staples). I didn't have my camera but maybe she'll pass along a few pictures of the finished project.

I also created a new game with 20-month-old Benjamin. I was playing with him and "dropping him on his head" (holding him upside down and touching his head to the floor). I would tell him to "give me your feet" and he'd lie down and put his legs up in the air so I could pick him up by the ankles. A few times, he'd do it unprompted--just lie down in front of me with his feet up. I know he'll have forgotten about this little game the next time I see him but it was fun while it lasted.

2. I drove home in fierce wind yesterday with gusts of 50+ mph between Amarillo and Albuquerque. Outside one town, I saw an RV that had rolled a few times and was lying on its side 100 feet or so off the road. Thankfully most drivers were being smart and trucks weren't speeding so it wasn't too bad. Just had to hang on and drive. But I had to be home so I could hang out at the house today because...

3. Paul's parents were super-generous last year for his birthday and gave us money to upgrade from evaporative air (a.k.a. the swamp cooler) to refrigerated air. And today, we're getting the new air conditioner. Of course, it's cooler today so there's really no need to even turn it on once it's hooked up. We decided to upgrade our furnace at this time (that's the new one near the ladder; our old one is in the right of the picture). We now have a 2-stage furnace which I'm not entirely sure what it does or why it's fantastic but it was recommended by both my brother who does HVAC work and the sales rep. from the A/C company. But come winter we'll be rocking the 2-stage furnace.

That's it--our new air conditioner. I have to admit I was expecting something a little more, I dunno, more. I don't think I knew what an A/C is supposed to look like. I don't think I didn't realize that the condenser unit wasn't the actual air conditioner. I swear I don't know why I've been allowed to own a house for seven years.
Now for the fun part--the crane came to remove the swamp unit and place the new condenser on the roof. Here they're hooking up the condenser to the crane.
The new unit being lowered into place--when we'd done the remodel, we left this strip of roof so we'd have easier access to the 2nd story and the swamp cooler. It was also the perfect size for the new condenser. Who knew?
The really fun part--swinging the old unit down. It's wasn't too windy during this part but it did get to swinging. And it brought out several neighbors to inspect what was happening.
4. Dance lesson #2 tonight.