Steve's Desk Project

Many months ago, Steve purchased some old redwood siding from the Habitat for Humanity ReStore here in Santa Cruz. He spent hours stripping paint, sanding and cutting the boards to size.

Left board shows result after use of paint strippers, right board shows result after additional sanding:

The large, swoop-y lines on the boards are blade marks from the sawmill. Close-up view:

We transported the boards down to my parents' house over Thanksgiving break to take advantage of my dad's help in joining three of the boards together to form the main desktop.

Once home, Steve treated the boards with coats of Danish Oil. We got rid of the old desk and mounted the new desktop directly to the wall (using aluminum angle irons to prevent bowing in the boards over time). We then spent half an hour in the hardware store sorting through plumbing parts to decide on support structure for the monitor shelf.

Who needs a shopping cart or basket when you have Lisa?

Steve runs cables through the wall, from the computer below the desk up to the desktop and shelf:

Completed desk:

Steve will be building a smaller computer in the coming months, allowing the computer to stack on top of the subwoofer. We'll also be cleaning up the cord clutter under the desk with covers to prevent rabbit nibbling.

Closer look at the desk surface:

I'm really pleased with how everything has turned out. It's a much cleaner look than the old desk and yet another excellent example of Steve's obsessive dedication to quality craftsmanship. Now if I could only get him to get rid of that old chair...

The End of 2014

I've been away from the blog for awhile. Decorating for Christmas and then taking down said ornamentation took a surprising amount of time and energy. Having successfully wrangled strings of lights and such things, the blog is back! (Try to contain your excitement.)

Over the past year, Steve and I have had the pleasure to get to know Brooke, my brother's friend of about a decade who became his girlfriend. We've had a lot of great food and done a lot of fun activities together. For example (pictures stolen from Brooke's blog because I'm terrible at remembering to take photos)...

Corn maze (with Jim and Brooke's friend Patrick):

 Me and my little brother at aforementioned corn maze:

Glow Festival at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History (our facepaint glowing under blacklight - I have a rainbow across my forehead with a sun on one cheek and a pot of gold on the other):

Decorating mini-pumpkins (and a lemon and banana):

Dickens Faire:

Yes, I wore a fancy dress (that was actually my grandma's prom dress), a bonnet and the whole bit. I felt horribly self-conscious and weird (as I feel in any dress). But it was a lot of fun. Steve also looks awesome in a giant red bow (tied expertly by Brooke) and a festive vest that belonged to my grandpa.

Steve and I were delighted when Jim said Brooke would be joining him to celebrate Christmas with the Pools/Loveridges (or, Poolridges, as I like to call us). What we didn't expect was for her to show up with some shiny new hardware (of which I don't have a picture). The crazy kids got engaged a few days before Christmas. We are thrilled for them and look forward to a beautiful wedding and a lifetime of happiness. 

Now, to wrap up 2014 with a few Christmas pictures...

Decorating the tree:

Adding sprinkles to the traditional spritz cookies:

 My mom and brother play piano together:

Everything went well. Steve made delicious food for us all and I completely failed to take pictures, so everything was normal and wonderful.

On to 2015...