Chapter 165: Making Room(s)

Tuesday night we went to the Seattle Thunderbirds hockey game at ShowWare Center  for Ryan’s birthday. After dinner at Azteca, we found our seats in the arena and sat expectantly waiting for the fights we had come to see. I felt like I was in the Coliseum waiting for the lions to be released. Ok, that might be a bit dramatic, but I was waiting for some action.

Yessss…shortly after the game started someone crossed an invisible threshold followed by gloves and sticks tossed aside and our blood thirst had begun to be quenched.

There are three 20 minute periods to a game and two 20 minute “half-times” (I don’t know what they are called). I’m quite sure that if the break time is two-thirds the length of the playing time, the game was invented by the government. Who the heck else would try to get away with a 2:3 work-to-break ratio but the government? 

To entertain us as well as refinish the ice for the players, giant ice-grooming machines painted like the garbage trucks from the garbage company that sponsors them take a turn on the ice. These machines are called Zamboni's and are a one-of-a-kind machine invented by Frank Zamboni to groom ice rinks . These particular Zamboni's have cute little eyes painted onto them to make them part of the entertainment.

Cool Bird, the Seattle Thunderbirds mascot, came out to play with us spectators several times. Although he was all over the stadium, it was fortunate for Ryan that Cool didn’t make it to our section. I wanted to get a birthday picture of Kyanne and Ryan with Cool since my pictures of them are limited and outdated. Maybe next time.

Although there were disappointingly few ice fights, there was a good one right in front of us. Even without helmets and gloves, all players left each fight intact taking their teeth and scalps with them. :-(

We spent the weekend with Carissa and Chris helping them build a wall in their “bonus” room. The “bonus” part had turned out to be that the ununused space had become a stuff-magnet that collected boxes, clothing, and musical instruments. Chris and Bob divided the room to create a closet and office from this nebulous space. It’s much more usable now that there are two defined rooms and should greatly help with the resale when the time comes. Here granddog, Bear, contemplates the destruction of the only room in the house he is allowed to wrestle and rough house in.

Since Sunday is to be dedicated to football playoffs, preferably with the Seahawks and Patriots winning in this household, we went to Carissa’s Friday night so the guys could get a head start on the wall construction. We are used to a king-sized bed so getting through the night in a full-sized bed is a challenge in the first place without the Incredible Blanket Wars. Several times during the night I woke up cold but could not pry even the smallest corner of blanket from Bob’s iron grip. Finally, survival required I get up and put my sweatshirt on.  Since a sweatshirt wasn't enough, I went to the living room to get another blanket when I saw what the problem was:

Carissa loves to watch the surgeons drill into the patients at work, so she got really excited when Bob busted out his 1/2" drill motor for some real drillig power. Roo wanted to take a shot at drilling holes with a “real” drill. After Bob got her set up, Carissa drilled a nice 1 1/2" hole in her own home.

And Roo victoriously posing with her super drill. Ready to murder another 1 1/2" circle of wood at a moments notice.

Bob showed Chris how to tape the new sheetrock joints and here’s Chris practicing his craft. In the background you can see their new closet that is larger than most people’s “back” bedroom.

While Chris taped the closet wall, Bob worked on the electrical in the newly minted office. Bob was wearing his headlamp so he could see where to connect the wires that would create the most arcs and cause the lights to flash throughout the house during the process.

After a busy day of room dividing, we all went to dinner at an Irish pub in Poulsbo then went back to the house and did some power-lounging afterwards. Good old Gatsby was really getting into the spirit of the evening between Chris and I.

Once the relaxing evening rolled into sagging eyelids, we went to bed. Bear sleeps on our bed at our house and decided he should do the same here. So we all squeezed into a not-a-king-sized bed and tried to mold around each other. It was a leeetle tight, but we finally managed. I just chalked him up as a 90-pound blanket anchor that had been installed to keep the blankets away from Bob.

After a snug night of sleep, I went outside to put our stuff in the car. These amazing ice crystals were in the driveway gravel. They are about 1" x 3/4" in little columns and were very fascinating.

I rounded several of these crystals up and played with them in the driveway while Bear checked out what had happened in his yard overnight.

Other frosty images I found in their yard were this hen 'n chicks...

...and this cool frost on Chris' truck window. It looks like it's peeling off the glass like old paint. Frost is sooo fascinating.

After some last-minute taping and texturing instructions from Bob, Chris was going to be on his own to finish the wall. Good luck, Chris!

Have a good week, Everyone!