Weekend Forecast

Busy, with a slight chance of chaos.

My brother and nephew are flying in tomorrow. I'm so excited to finally get to visit with them again. It's been more than a year since the last time we saw each other, and that visit was under less-than-desirable condiditons, so it'll to great to get to have some fun time together. And the kids are at an age where I think they'll really enjoy each other's company.

The reason for their visit is that they have tickets to the shuttle launch on Friday. Originally, I planned to work that day since I didn't have tickets myself, but Dad called me yesterday to let me know that there was one extra adult ticket, and that J-man gets in free since he's 2. Super cool! J's incredible stoked about getting to see the astronauts, and watch the shuttle launch. He ran around the house all evening saying things like "Roger" and "blast off!" and singing the Backyardigans "We're going to Mars" song.

Cute!

And I believe that Saturday plans are in the works for a trip to one of the theme parks.

But honestly, even if we were just sitting on the porch watching the kids run circles around us, it would be a great time.

In other news, the brand new gazebo lasted all of 4 days before toppling to it's death. We had a little bit of rain and wind from tropical storm/depression/whatever Barry over the weekend. Not enough that we felt it imperative to take the beast apart. I mean, we get worse rains and winds on any given day. But, sure enough, about 1:30 on Saturday afternoon, down it came, bending and twisiting every pole. Furthermore, with the very first drop of rain, some of the parts began rusting. What a piece of crap! I called the store we bought it from, and they told me that they wouldn't take it back, even though it was less than a week old, and that I should contact the manufacturer. Manufacturer wants over $200 to send some replacement parts, and so I'm going to have to do things the dirty way, it seems.

I refuse to be put out the amount of money we spent on that gazebo simply because it can't stand up to a 15 mph gust of wind. So, we'll go buy another one, take the needed parts, put the damaged parts into the new box, and return it that way. Yeah, it's dirty, but I don't feel like I'm being given any sort of feasible options. If the structure can't hold up to the elements (and by that, I don't mean hurricane force winds and torrential downpours) then it should not be labled for outdoor use.

Of course, with the new one, we will only place the canopy on it when it's actually in use. Sounds like a pain in the ass, doesn't it? Note to readers: When considering outdoor structures, choose one that is better designed than this thing. You see, the canopy has no vent in the top, which essentially turns it into a kite when the wind gets beneath it. Stake it however you want, a 10x10 kite is going to fly!

J just stumbled out of bed, so time to get the day started.