Category: Home

From the Bud Shop

Home
Media_httpstaticflick_adpaw

My brother said that this year, for my birthday, he didn’t want to give me the usual gift certificate from Amazon.com or iTunes. In looking for something different, he settled on something dear to us both, and I found myself with a gift certificate to spend at budshop.com. Check it out, it’s impressive the number of things you can buy with a beer label on it. But I found it difficult to zoom in on just which such thing to get.

We are in the midst of remodeling our home, and as a result my home office will end up in the basement, and I figured that I would decorate with something of a pub feel to it. And so I was drawn to the various pub signs and mirrors that were available. But initially nothing grabbed me. Until I saw this one. It shows a scene from April 1933, with a team of Clydesdales delivering beer to the United States Capitol at the end of Prohibition.

It appealed to me both for the local flavor of a Capitol scene, and the message of hope it shares in reminding me that in time, all dark days must pass. And so too will the current ones we find ourselves in today.

What I didn’t consider when I ordered the thing, was how large it actually is. It’s quite a specimen. Thanks Bro, it will hang proudly in my basement pub/office.

Leave a comment

Time Capsule

Diversions, Home
Media_httpstaticflick_zixoi

I like time capsules. The idea of taking some items, and stashing them away in a place where they are unlikely to be disturbed for a very long time, in the hopes that someday in the future, someone will discover them, really appeals to me. Home construction always offers good opportunities to create a time capsule. We buried one under the slab at our first home in Lake Ridge, and the sub-floor in the basement has some stuff stashed under it. And so we took the opportunity to bury another one underneath the newly poured concrete slab for the addition that we’ve putting on our house.

But the preparation of our time capsule came with some unexpected pressure to make it profound. I hold no expectation of competing with King Tut’s tomb or anything, but what if you write a letter to the future and sound like an ass? Or the treasure trove of trinkets is found to be less than museum worthy? Whatever, I’ll be dead. Then again, they might use the enclosed hair sample to resurrect me, just to mock me for my lame time capsule. We’ll see.

Update: I’ve had my first regret over something I should have included in the Time Capsule, but didn’t. A copy of The Constitution. One needs to be stashed away for safekeeping somewhere!

Here’s the whole inventory of what I included. May be it a worthy find some day…

Family photo w/Family Group Sheet
CD – The Casey Family Tree
2005 School photos of Katie, Will & Colleen
Letters from Chris, Will & Colleen Casey

Collection of Chris’ business cards
CaseyDorin Internet Productions Post-It note pad

Media_httpstaticflick_ezcwb

News Headlines compiled by Colleen, 6/19/2006
Washingtonpost.com front page, 6/20/2006
Google News front page, 6/20/2006

Sutton Impact Cartoon, 6/19/2006

Hair samples from Chris & Colleen Casey
(for future cloning. Will refused to part with any of his hair except for a single strand which is loose in the capsule. He was concerned it’s amazing powers might overwhelm the people of the future.)

Cubs ‘Believe’ wrist band
‘Support Our Troops’ wrist band

FPYC 2006 All-Star Soccer Father’s Day Tournament Patch

No ‘W’ sticker
John Kerry for President button
‘I VOTED’ sticker from 2006 Virginia Primary
‘Lefty’ a foam donkey mascot from my company, NGP Software

Two Dollar Bill – 1976
Virginia Commemorative Quarter – 2000
New Jefferson Nickel – 2005
One 1965 Penny (the year Chris was born)
One 1996 Penny (the year Colleen was born)
Three 2006 Pennies

One comment

Christmas Tree, All Grown Up

Guide to Life, Home
Media_httpstaticflick_hduif

We are the third owners of a house that was built in 1982. You can tell by the cool date brick. Earlier this year, while I was out doing some yard work, a man that looked to be in his 20s approached and told me that this had been his childhood home. He was about to head on an extended trip to central America, and since he was in the area he thought he’d come by and pay the place a visit. As one that has been know to make pilgrimiges to previous homes myself, I appreciated his desire to drop by and was glad to show him around.

I learned something very special about the large pine tree in our yard from our visitor. It has been a wonderful climbing tree for our kids, and a place to hang our bird feeder. The family we bought the home from told us they used to decorate it with Christmas lights until it grew too large.

But what I learned was that during their first Christmas in our house, they had a live Christmas tree, and following the holiday they planted that tree in the yard of their new home. I love the fact that their 1982 Christmas tree became a gift to this house, and now it’s grown so large, our house almost looks like a gift beneath it.

Leave a comment

Yard Signs & Free Speech

Home, Politics

Like one is six other Americans, I live in a community that is governed by a property owner’s association. My association’s rules explicitly prohibit the display of political yard signs on private property within the community, and that’s just wrong. So with the help and support of some like minded neighbors, we have taken the debate online in an effort to inform our community about this unjust rule, and hopefully help bring about its demise. Check us out online at http://freemontclair.us

Leave a comment
1 2