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Weekend Project: Put Together That Pergola

i (finally) finished putting on a new fresh coat of deck paint down on my back deck the other weekend… and man, what a shitload of work that ended up being — seriously, hopefully i’m good for the next 5-7 years because i really don’t want to do that again anytime soon…

for this past weekend, i had the company BBQ on saturday, and then really wanted to get this pergola i bought at Lowe’s put together… so i enticed a couple friends to come over and gimme a hand with some beer/pizzas, and got this badboy assembled.

took the above pic today, and since it was almost dark by the time we finished yesterday, here’s a couple snaps i took last night.

have to say, the whole thing came together really damn nicely… took quite a bit longer to assemble, not to mention running the lights around the top edging… drilling and installing an ibolt to hang the outdoor fan from, and running the extension cords — ended up drilling two holes in the deck and running it underneath, along with installing a new “bubble” outlet with a cover so it’s protected from the weather and doesn’t short out all the effin time, etc…

lots of work, mang!

…but g’damn, it was worth it :)

#SuperHappy #OutdoorChilling

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Food Porn

now that looks like some tasty fucking ramen :)

i’m not even a vegetarian, and that looks pretty damn good to me.

#ramen #yummy

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The Artechouse

speaking of our little fieldtrip yesterday, here’s a few quick snaps…

we usually bounce outta the office and head into DC to checkout some art exhibit or whatever, every couple months or so, which i think is pretty cool.

#thumbsup

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C’mon Girl, Whatchu Ya Got

for all the dad’s out there, hope ya had a great Father’s Day yesterday :)

i got a lot of text messages and a few calls from family & friends wishing me a happy father’s day, which is all i really wanted or care about to be perfectly honest… but i was happily surprised when my son showed up at my house and wanted to take me out to the Outback for lunch, remembering that i’d mentioned it a few weeks ago… feels like it’s been forever since i went there, and forgot how much i like their steaks / bloom’n onion! g’damn, talk about hitting the spot.

kinda wished my dad could’ve joined us, so it always trips me out to have all three (generations) out… used to go hit the movies together every now and then, and i do miss that… but my dad’s still recovering from the neck/back surgeries, so totally understandable… after lunch, jayden and i headed over to his place and hung out with him for awhile which i could tell he was happy about.

anywho, hope it was a good one m’friends ;)

PS. time to settle into “work” mode and get this week started…

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Weekend Project: Back Deck

i’ve been thinking about cleaning and putting on a fresh coat of paint to my back deck for awhile now, and finally got around to it this past weekend… probably should’ve taken the plunge earlier, since it ended up being hot as shit and i pretty much sweated my balls off… but whatever, it’s all good… it’s been at least 5 years since i stained my back deck and it definitely needed a bit of a refresh.

here it is after pressure washing it.

starting with the top railing since it’s super easy and i was curious how this “chocolate brown” color looked.

i got up early and stared with the deck painting around 8am on saturday… pretty much spent the entire effin day working on it, and really wanted to at least finish up the railing… but alas, i still didn’t manage to get it all done… man, i forgot what a collosal pain in the ass it is! here’s a pic of where i was at yesterday afternoon.

i did manage to get at least one coat of deck paint down on the floor boards and it’s looking pretty good… still have some stairs and a little landing on the side to do, which shouldn’t take too long… but damned if i’m not sore and tired, and finding it really hard to work up any ambition towards going back out there and working on it.

i will, but g’damn it’s gonna be rough… especially with this mini-heat wave we seem to be having this week.

after i finish this up, i’d like to do the front porch.

#whew #gdamn #paintingsucks

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Food Porn

oh hell yeah, do those look like some perfect little waffles or what?!

…or maybe i’m just really hungry.

PS. i love waffles.

#yummy

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Happy Memorial Day

just wanted to drop a quick note to wish everybody a Happy Memorial Day Weekend :)

hopefully everybody enjoys the 3-day weekend and enjoys some good eat’n with family & friends… it’s been raining a lot lately, so i’m really hoping for some nice weather… it’s also usually the first time of the year that i get pretty down ‘n dirty with the grill.

was talking to my neighbor last night and he’s already got some serious meats all ready for some serious smoke’n and grilling this weekend… he makes some insanely good homemade marinades and sauces that blow my effin mind, mang.

#AwesomeSauce #SomeGoodShit

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Dinner Last Night

speaking of food, i went ahead and cooked up a batch of bacon-wrapped pork tenderloins last night… it’s been too long since i cooked some up, that’s for damn sure!

used to make this probably once a week back when jayden was living here, but now that he’s moved out i think i’ve only made it once… and yeah, not sure what my arteries think about it, but sometimes you just gotta say “fuck it”, y’know?

soooooooo good.

#yummy

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Dinner Last Night

nothing like picking up a few things at the store on the way home and cooking up something fresh for dinner… i tend to go with some kinda pasta most of the time — went with some sweet/hot sausage over fettuccine with a spicy cajun sauce.

never mad it before, but turned out pretty tasty ;)

#yummy

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It’s Lunch Time!

you really can’t go wrong with some delicious burgers on a beautifoo tuesday afternoon, now can ya?

just need a nice summer ale to wash it down.

#thumbsup

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Happy Easter

for whatever reason, i almost completely forgot/missed the fact that today was easter… thank goodness somebody mentioned it yesterday and i had one of those “oh shit” moments, then ran out and got a bunch of easter eggs & various chocolates for my nieces.

so happy easter! hope everybody’s having a good time and enjoying this ~~fucking hot~~ summer weather we’re having right now… fired up the grill yesterday and cooked up some BBQ chicken (south carolina style, super yummy) and sweated my ass off.

hell, think i lost 5 pounds just cooking.

PS. speaking of hell, my allergies have been killing me.

#FuckPollen #BBQ #WorthIt

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Good Morning

got a call early yesterday morning that my dad was being taken to the ER… so half-awake, i threw on some clothes, dropped a quick message to let the peeps at work know, then ran out the door… spent most of the day there keeping him company until he was finally moved to a regular hospital room — man, what a day.

speaking of days, that’s one helluva nice view to wake up to doncha think?

emmmm… coffee…..

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The Green In Spring

i spent a good 4-5 hours yesterday doing yard work… made a couple runs to home depot on saturday with my neighbor to pickup some black mulch (16 bags), then spent sunday de-weeding the front before dropping a nice layer of fresh mulch — think it looks pretty damn good :)

snapped this pic real quick, right before i broke out the lawnmower… cut it last weekend, and kinda crazy how fast it’s growing… can’t really complain though, since i’m just tickled to have some decently thick green grass actually growing.

it’s definitely spring, as my allergies can attest too… the tree in my front yard started blooming this past week or so, and i love it… too bad it only seems to last a week or two before all the pink petal things drop and cover half my yard.

oh well, enjoy it while you can, right?

#ThumbsUp

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Excited Over… Grass?!

yeah man, can’t believe how excited i am over… grass… but all that work back in the fall aerating both the front and back yards, and the herculean bullshit that was that thatching machine from hell i rented… then dropping something like $200 or so on fucking grass seed etc — well, spring has finally come and it’s actually starting to look pretty damn nice!

it was kinda sunny outside yesterday, so tried to take a quick snap… would be much better if i had a “before & after” shot, but guess i didn’t think that far ahead… either way, trust me, this looks a helluva lot better than it did before.

silly getting all excited over grass, but g’damn… just getting in some nice green grass can be a serious pain the ass.

hell, i’m actually kinda excited to go cut my grass for the first time, since it’s getting so tall… yeah i know, that’s something i honestly don’t think i’ve ever said before.

ever.

#blink #chuckle

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Let’s Get Personal

oh man, my very first set of personalized license plates came in today! naturally i grabbed a philips screwdriver and put it on right away.

i think i’ve had the same plates on my car(s) for the past 15 years or so… i’ve often thought of getting personalized plates, but never really got around to it… then i found myself sitting in the ~~fucking~~ DMV for a couple hours a few weeks back and went ahead and ordered them while i was there, figure’n why the hell not.

i can’t help but crack a goofy smile everytime i walk up to my car now…

gotta luv it :)

#chuckle

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Getting Pummeled Tonight

friend of mine tweeted this last night…

i’m a lot further south, so i’m really hoping i wake up in the morning and only see a couple inches of snow… though it sure looked like it was mostly freezing rain / sleet when i stepped out on my front porch last night to take a peek, and to be honest, i’d rather have snow than that shit.

#UGH

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Dinner Last Night

speaking of food, i whipped up some hibachi style stir-fry with shrimp and yum yum sauce… first time making it, and have to say, it came out pretty damn delicious.

if this nice weather holds, i’m thinking it’d be great to breakin the grill a bit with some BBQ chicken or steaks… hmmmm.

PS. g’damn it’s gorgeous outside today!

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Food Porn

emmmm… oh yeah, i could totally go for some sushi right about now.

damnit, now i’m hungry.

again.

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Sexy Red Carbon Fiber

i don’t really have any plans to go crazy on the car accessories or pimp it out too much, but i just had to order these sexy red carbon fiber round vent covers when i saw them.

oh hell yeahhhhhhhhh…

…me likey!

#ThumbsUp #Schweeeet

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Operation Chili Tonight

got all the basic ingredients ready, mixed up, and slow cook’n…

had to run back out to the store to pickup some shredded cheese, sour cream, and of course… cornbread :)

also cut up and deseeded some jalapeños for a little extra kick, so will see how it turns out later tonight.

#thumbsup #hungry

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