Jason??? More Like Mason!

So everyone has a calling in life right? I think, at the ripe old age of 31, I may have just found mine. We finished 75% of the retaining wall in front of the house, so I thought I'd post some pictures. Apparently I'm pretty good at this masonry thing. You can judge for yourself...


This is the before. Notice the tiny beautiful woman in the corner wearing leather gloves. Yes, the day we started she thought it was chilly out so she wore her leather gloves to work outside, not her work gloves. I think she just wanted an excuse to buy new gloves next winter.
We started by the stairs and curved it along the front of the house. It took forever to dig out the trench and level it. But if that's level, then everything else will slide right into place.
The pallets of stone blocks were at the top of the driveway. So we took turns setting the stones and getting them. The wife did two at a time, I did six, but that's just cuz I'm wicked strong like that.
And here's the final picture, taken today. The wall curves by the stairs and fades into the hilly driveway. We're going to extend it another five feet or so up the driveway and extend it 14 feet off the other side of the stairs. After its done, we have a top stone that sits on top to give it that finished look. We're thinking of going one brick higher, but we haven't decided yet. Eventually, when there are plants/flowers, etc. planted there, it'll give the outside a more finished look. I'm actually quite proud of the job we did. Perfect, no, but for our first time doing this I think we did a really great job. In person, it really looks great. (you can't really tell in the picture, but the wall is about 20 inches high. The bottom of the porch is about 26 inches high, so if we add one more block, that'll bring the wall up to 24 inches. we'll see)

On an entirely unrelated note... good win for the Celtics last night. Neither team really deserved to win though. Very tough defensive battle and it seemed like the refs called a lot of fouls, never allowing a rhythm to set in during the game, which I think contributed to the low score. Although he shot well, I'm not a fan of how much Cassell played last night. I'd look for James, Pierce and Allen to all bounce back tomorrow night and for both teams to score another 20 points each, easily.

Anyone out there like the Ellen Show? Even if you don't, you have to watch this clip of Sean Combs on her show the other day. Hysterical stuff...

Good article about how they're upgrading one of the local courses. This is the one that my uncle and I have been playing. Wide open, only two water hazards, but there are bunkers everywhere, which is no fun for me. Overall a very nice course though (or at least it will be when its done)

And finally, the wife asked me to post picture she took the other day, in honor of Cinco de Mayo.. or as she now calls it, Cinco de Meow.

Look at the ashamed look on her face, like she knows she shouldn't be in the liquor cabinet (ok, in our case, the liquor closet). She's only like nine months old, they start so young now, don't they. And right next to her, yeah, that's the wine fridge. Apparently the tequila didn't quite do the trick so she had to move on to the good stuff...