26th May 2007

Posted May 26, 2007

In the morning we hung out and talked with my parents. They got to meet Nokes and he was very good again around them. He did some jumping up, but he was quiet (which he normally is) and didn’t go tearing around through the house. He may have if they had carpet, but this was the first time that we saw their new wood flooring and it did look pretty fantastic. Nice and smooth, I was really impressed. I keep thinking it was nice to see it as it was done, because waiting for it to be finished and to have that much of the house torn up must have been extremely difficult. Mom Sarah and I took the dog on a short walk around the block just before lunchtime.

Then about noon we went over to her parents and took the puppy with us. For the first hour and a half all the siblings just sat there and tried to keep the two dogs off of each other. Hunter kept trying to pin Nokes down to sniff him, and Nokes kept darting around him, sniffing and playing. We had Nokes on a leash, which I think was confusing for him. It was funny to watch them, but stressful because you just wanted them to chill out. Andy was up for the weekend, so it was a full house. Amanda was working, but everyone else was there for lunch. We seperated the two dogs, and after lunch was over we let Nokes out and they just walked right past each other not at all interested. I think there is a good chance they could end up looking similar at some point. Hunter is a Lab German Shepherd mix that is about 75 lbs, so Nokes would be smaller but will probably have that long lanky frame.

Dad, Mom and I went up to Muskegon right at the end of lunch to look at some items that would soon be in an estate sale. A guy was selling a riding lawn mower, bought new for $1400, he wanted $500. It was a good deal, but not a steal, so we passed. The guy was not the most friendly for a couple of people up there looking to buy stuff. He seemed protective of what he wanted to sell. I asked about a couple of things and got some weird body language, so I stop asking. There was a stepladder, but figured it wasn’t worth my trouble.

We came back, Sarah and I left the dog with the Chapman girls and we headed out to Jessica and Ryan’s.

Mom and Dad were already there, so for a little bit we all hung out. Then Ryan took me out to the car and within 20 minutes he had put in this FM modulator. I couldn’t believe how fast it went, and overall, how simple it was, and it worked like a charm. Having this put in was one of the reasons we came up for the weekend, and now I can rest a little easier. After getting the Zune last Christmas with intentions of using it in the car on long trips, a number of long trips have come and gone without a good solution for using it. Now I can play crystal clear music through the stereo without any problems, just a simple cord to plug in and I am ready to go. I am really glad Ryan helped me out with that.

After we finished we all sat down and had some dinner. Then Sarah and I taught our family how to play dice. It was fun, but not nearly as aggressive as the way we play with friends. Everyone was so nice to each other, but whatever, still a good time with the six of us. Ryan and Jessica showed some of the stuff they were working on for the house and for their bathroom, sounds like they are going to be doing a major project there in the near future. There sitting with that stuff in the basement were the monsterous 21″ monitors for me. Excited, but unsure how I was going to get them both home, we tested them out and then I packed them up. They took up the whole back seat, so more than likely one will stay with Mom and Dad for awhile.

The parents left to go to a play and then the four of us sat around for awhile and told stories about foot injuries and other stuff. Then we finished off the night there by playing a whole bunch of Mario Cart on the game cube. I loved that game on Nintendo 64, so it was cool to play it again, but embarrassing that my sister wasted all of us. I used to be so good. One of those games where you memorize the courses.

We came back to the Chapman house and spent a little time there. Apparently Nokes didn’t sleep at all while we were gone, but he did alright for them.