The above sunrise was provided to me on 12/07. What a gift. Totally unexpected. This is the time of year when the sun rises almost directly behind Mt. Hood. This view is about 30 minutes before the sun becomes visible, taking all the color away in a slow fade. I’m always amazed at how vivid the colors are before the transition to various shades of gray on a blue background. Or, more often, various shades of gray everywhere. So, the early morning color is special and I’m happy I can share it with you.

I know, Hawaii has sunrises and sunsets equally stunning, but over there it’s a “ho hum” event. Happens all the time. Here in the Great Northwest it seems to be a little more special.

The day of this sunrise, Diane bowed to my wishes and gave me a haircut. I offered the job to all of the kids but they declined. Before she started, I asked her to “make me look like Jim.” I sat down to watch TV and took a picture for you …

The head band, by the way, is used to keep the hair out of my eyes while I work. It doesn’t get used much because I don’t work much. It’ll be more useful if my hair grows back.

Speaking of work … Jeff and I did some work in the master bathroom recently to fix a leak that just sprang up out of nowhere. Actually, it sprang down into the basement. It was the toilet, but it was clean water causing the problem. That work is still in progress because we had to replace some of the underlayment which involved shopping, measuring, and cutting of wood. Diane found the linoleum at the Restore Store for $8. It’s been a fun project but is taking far too long for Diane’s liking. She watches a lot of HGTV shows where those guys do a simple little job like this in a couple of hours which just isn’t in the cards for us. There is a lot of learning involved for us to do the same thing in 2 weeks.

During this process Jeff commented to his Mom that he and I worked together all day and didn’t fight even one time. We’ve both learned tolerance, I guess. I think we both enjoy working together now. Before it was a battle of wills as to who knew what and how things should be done. Now it’s all about me just stepping out of the way while he lifts all the heavy stuff and makes decisions. I’ve learned that if his decisions are bad ones, I’m in the clear because I didn’t do it. So far he’s been making really good decisions.

The toilet job involved removing and replacing wood, and making a template for the sheet linoleum to ensure it’s semi-straight. It’s to the point now where I need to remove all dust from the surface so I can put down the adhesive and pin the linoleum down forever. Then I’ll have to procure some baseboard and shoe molding to finish it.

Going slow has revealed that doing so results in a safer work environment and I don’t bleed nearly as often. Lately, I’ve only bled a little when I bump my hand on something. my skin is so thin that it’s pretty easy for me to breach my water-proof barrier. They are easily sealed with a small piece of duct tape.

Gonna quit, now, and get that floor finished.