Kevin Minnis

Well, I’m finally done finishing the floor. I started out thinking I’d sand the whole floor which included removing all the old finish with a hand held orbital sander last Thursday. It looked as though it would take a week to finish at the rate I was going so I rented a finishing sander from Menards last Friday and had the floor sanded down by Saturday Morning. It’s a time consuming process, but well worth it in the end. Here’s what the floor looked like be fore (Old Floor 1) and (Old Floor 2) and here’s what it looks like now (New Floor 1) and (New Floor 2). I one coat of finish on Saturday and put two down on Sunday. It’s good to be done making a mess.

We got pounded with about 2 inches of rain yesterday in about a half an hour. Man, talk about crazy. We drove around to see what else we could find, but didn’t really come across any life threatening events. So that was uneventful.

Wood floors can be expensive to refinish. I’m in the process of getting everything around to refinish our Great Room” and dining area. Let’s just say that by the time it’s done we could have gone to some exotic island. Okay, so maybe not that expensive, but it’s still takes a few Benjamins to get the job done.

Kim had another baby-2-be checkup on Monday. Everything’s looking and sounding “A-OK”. She gained an additional 6 ponds in a month and a week so she’s right on schedule.

So, today is Chad Kraus’s last day at Pioneer. He’s going to join up with his Dad’s family business (Dairy Queen). We decided yesterday to give him one last hurrah before today so we filled his cube with some moving stuff to help him out. Here’re some pictures of the results. His desk is usually the most organized of those I work with. We’ll miss ya, Chad. Good luck and stop in and see us sometime when you’re in town.

So, Kim’s Dad, Dale, has a steam powered toy tractor that’s been passed down through the family. We got to watch it running yesterday while at her parents place. It runs on solid fuel that looks like paraffin wax. He’s running out of the “true” fuel so Kim’s brothers put some sterno in it to see if that would work. It worked and was hotter as the steam engine ran faster. The name of the tractor is the 1313 Mamod Steam Tractor and here’s a picture. I can’t believe that you can actually buy these things yet. They’re made in England and it lists for around $150.

Well, it’s been a very busy and fun weekend. Friday I took the day off to do some odds and ends around the house and built and sealed a picnic table. Friday night Kim’s parents, niece and nephew came up to stay the night and then we all went to a bunch of garage sales around Ankeny on Saturday. We found a lot more baby clothes. Then in the afternoon I got 2 more sides of the deck sealed. This morning I applied a weed and feed mix for the lawn before we headed off to church. It was cool going to church today as I met one of my classmates from the ISU Iowa State Singers. Then this afternoon we drove to Creston to surprise Kim’s Mom for Mother’s Day. All of her brothers and sister were there. Her Mom and Dad were pleased and surprised to see us all there…mission accomplished.