October 2008

1. Flies (bugs in general) like latex paint. Who knew! We've spent all sorts of money on fly traps, and all we need to do is paint a wall, that we don't want them on, and they'll drop like...well...flies. Don't look too closely at the barn. You will see legs and wings and even some decapitated bugs. Most were removed as we painted and I think some even got away alive with some red legs I asked my mom if she felt a dedicatory monument to "all the bugs that died in the painting of this barn" would be appropriate. We are still taking suggestions.

2. "Serious Injury or Death may occur in the use of this product. Consult your boss as to prior training before use." Not exactly what you want to read as you climb four stories of scaffolding dozens of times a day. And who's my boss? Dad? I didn't receive any prior training...is there something I should know?

3. When in doubt, choose to spray. Mom and I spent days painting the shorter north and south sides of the barn. Dad spent half a day painting the entire east side shown. The product specifications said it would need to be rolled even if it was sprayed, but we liked the way it looked with two coats of a spray finish. So if it all falls off next spring...I blame Dad.

4. Have your pets spayed or neutered...is a good motto, unless of course your pet has already been neutered. Teo took a trip to the vet to get fixed, however they called a few hours later saying she already had stitches down there and could be quite certain that she had already had the surgery. The origination of our nice, beautiful cat continues to be a mystery. Our kitten Collie caught her first mouse this past week.

As for other events, the Diabetes Education Program I've been helping develop has it's official open house this week. I continue to try to write on my thesis so I can make my December 1 deadline. Brian works very hard all day, comes home and changes, then comes out and works on the barn until dark. He tries to catch a BYU game when he can. We plan to have the entire exterior of the barn completed by the end of next week--keeping our fingers crossed!