I’m asking the question as I attempt to train our cat to sleep at night and prowl during the day. The reason is nothing short of sleep. For the last 4 weeks I have not been getting very much sleep due to the cats insistence on climbing on everything she knows she’s not supposed to be climbing on, scratching on surfaces that should not be scratched on like mirrors and pouncing on the dogs as they sleep causing them to wake up startled and barking at the top of their lungs.

I have tried to lock her out of the bedroom where she sits and whines at the top of her lungs and spraying her with water so that she now watches for me to wake up and then runs and hides under something before I can even reach the water spray. My next attempt will be crating her at night and placing the crate in the farthest reaches of the house so she can cry and whine all she wants while the rest of us sleep. My wife, who sleeps soundly through the ruckus every night, is afraid she might hurt herself. If I don’t get some sleep, I may hurt more than her!

I don’t know about you but watching TV before there were so many channels was more fun. Now you surf through them endlessly trying to find something you have never seen before and end up on the Discover Channel or watching another lame movie for the umpteenth time. When the kids join us, there are so many choices that it ends up being a chore to get them to agree on what they are going to watch together. They want separate televisions and I’m just not prepared for that. I find TV watching is just not what it once was.

I remember when the entire family would gather around the tube and “tune in” our favorite program every night. We would beg mom and dad to let us stay up just a little bit longer and felt like kings when they would give in. Today, we just tell them we’ll tape it for you and you can watch it later. The problem is, we have to watch it again as well or end up in another room watching something else. It’s just not as much fun for the entire family; or at least the dad of the family.

When I think about building something new I start with the materials and normally think about the raw materials such as wood, hardware, etc. I have recently learned to think a little differently in terms of recycling or reusing a material for something new. One idea that I had actually seen in an office was to use an old door for the top of a table or desk. In this case the door was smooth so it worked well.

When I went to find a door I liked, I choose and old style solid door with beautiful sculptured indentions that look great on a hung door but you can’t write on it very well. The fix was a piece of glass that fits over the door. I used galvanized pipe for the legs and braces and it works perfectly! The total cost was about $233 and it took me less than a day to put it together and paint it. I also attached a custom keyboard drawer underneath that cost me less then $25 since I picked the sliding brackets up at a garage sale.

I have recently been asked a lot about using organic building materials to do the types of fix me up jobs around the old homestead. I, not knowing all that much about what “organic” means, went out to do a little research and what I found was interesting. I had thought that if something was labeled organic that it meant someone was watching to make sure that product met certain guidelines set up be some agency to protect us all. Not only is this not true, there are company’s that are using the term to sell you their stuff. I guess this shouldn’t surprise me!

Another term that is similar to organic is sustainable. Sustainability actually makes more since in terms of building materials as it means the material itself is not used up in the process of making the product. A good example of this is the use of bamboo for products such as hard wood floors, furniture, cooking utensils and other products such as sheets and towels. Bamboo grows and replenishes itself at such a high rate that we are not taking away from the source in order to make the products. But again, buyers beware; just because something is marked sustainable doesn’t mean it is so.

Recently my sister-in-law decided to redo a spare bedroom and turn it into a playroom for her two small children. To the dismay of their mother, one of the things these two like to do is draw on the walls so I suggested we paint at least one wall with chalkboard paint and let them have that wall to express their creativity. She was delighted at the suggestion and I even had some chalkboard paint left over from another project in our kitchen this past spring to donate to the cause.

My wife convinced me to help them pain since I was “so experienced”. I was actually pleased to do it because I wanted to see how my idea turned out. After we got the paint on I decided to make it into a giant chalkboard and lined the borders of the wall with some stained wood trim and fastened a wider piece on the bottom for the tray. I surprised the kids with those big fat pieces of chalk and the largest eraser I could find and they went to town on that wall. The excitement and joy was thanks enough but I sure did enjoy those lemon bars my sister-in-law made just for me!

I recently asked my lovely wife what she wanted for her birthday. I was expecting a romantic weekend getaway or a nice evening out for dinner and a movie; you know something that you would see in a movie. What I got was a request to paint the interior of the house. Of course this has turned into more than just the interior of the house because when you change colors you also have to change the bedding in the bedroom as well as the dressers and tables, curtains, pillows, etc.

Now, two weeks later, I can truly say that the house looks great! It was my wife’s birthday gift and I did most of the labor, which I really like to do anyway and I also get to enjoy the new look and fresh look of the house. I was so inspired that I went ahead and painted the outside doors and porch that we had been talking about for the last year. The bottom line is, for the price of a weekend getaway, we put a fresh coat of paint on the walls that we will be able to enjoy for years! Happy Birthday baby.

I know that sounds a bit weird; that you get some kind of power surge from cleaning out a closet but it’s true! There is something quite cathartic when you are able to step away from yourself and look at your stuff from a different point of view and purge that which you no longer need even though you may think you want it. It was this kind of feeling that I recently experienced when going through my side of the closet I share with my wife. I thought I was the one who kept up with ridding me of all the stuff I could no longer wear but that was not what I discovered.

As I pulled my pants out of the closet I realized that I actually wore only a couple of these in the last year. I work from home so I have very little need for dress pants anymore. Yet there they were all 7 pairs. Same with the shoes in my closet and then the shirts that I hardly touch much less wear. It was an eye opening experience indeed and I found out that I have about fifteen things that I wear over and over again until they loose a button or get a tear and then they hang in my closet waiting for the repair that will never come.

Our families are taking some time off to enjoy the 4th of July Celebration this year in high style. We are forging downtown to have a wonderful evening of music and meriment, topped off with music and fireworks to cap off a wonderful fun filled day.

We wish the same thing for your family and friends. Take time to remember America and celebrate all she has done for you and your family. She may not be perfect but we can’t think of anywhere else we would rather be. Happy 4th of July!

Everyone is talking about going green and wondering what they can do. One easy transition to a greener home is reducing your energy consumption by changing out your traditional incandescent light bulbs for compact fluorescent ones, or CFLs. CFLs use about a quarter of power to operate. If you have a fixture that you would use a 60w incandescent in you would use a 14w CFL. However, unlike incandescent bulbs that put out a warm color temperature, CFLs come in different temperatures such as daylight, bright white, and soft light. Daylight is similar in color temperature the bright, bluish light that enters your window first thing in the morning. Bright white gives off a clean, crisp illumination ideal for kitchens, bathrooms, reading and working. Soft white gives off a warm full glow ideal for living rooms, dining rooms, bedrooms and recreation rooms.

The impact of this change is huge. If every home in America replaced just a single traditional incandescent bulb for an Energy Star rated CFL, enough energy would be saved to light more than 3 million homes and cut the greenhouse gas emissions as much as 800,000 cars! Some people are concerned with the mercury in CFLs, however no mercury is released with the bulbs are intact or in use, and if recycled properly will not end up in the environment. In addition, because CFLs use less electricity than incandescent ones, and reduce the demand of electricity, it also reduces the amount of mercury emitted into the atmosphere by power plants.