Fernando and I got a Radio Flyer several weeks ago to carry our blanket and food when we walk to Miller Outdoor Theatre.  Its been so hot that we haven’t really had a chance to use it until this weekend.  But when our good friends asked us to watch little Clark, we didn’t hesitate. Plus it gave me an excuse to use Fernando’s new lens and attempt using the manual mode for the first time.

He loved our stairs even after falling down them twice (while Fernando was watching).

Ok, so it was only the last step.

He sat like a big kid at our table with a napkin stuffed in his shirt

(guess I need to make more bibs)

You’re welcome back anytime, little man

Made ya smile.

It has taken me one year, but I finally decided to tackle my first handyman project around the house: the built-in home theater system. For a few months, I have been thinking about doing this. I even called a local A/V company to come over and give me a quote on how much it would cost. While it was not astronomical by any means, I wondered if it was really worth $600 to pay somebody to do what I considered a relatively easy job. After doing some research online, I finally decided to tackle the project. Did I mention that I started this a few days before leaving for Nigeria? Anyway, I learned a few things along the way.

Look out for studs. Otherwise, you end up cutting a second hole.

Learned that wall plates are nailed to studs. I initially thought that they were *magically* suspended, so I drew a circle around the wall plate rather than on one side of the wall plate.

A Little Giant ladder is the way to go

Pre-mess photo

Diane never complained about my mess

My pathetic attempt to keep dust off the furniture

Lived like this for a one or two nights

In the end, I installed 4 speakers in the ceiling, bought a new amp, a new subwoofer, and am still currently borrowing my friend’s center channel speaker. Once I save a little money, I’ll buy a center channel speaker and install additional speakers in the office and master bedroom. This past weekend, we watched LOTR and The Blind Side–both excellent movies.

[This was written while in Nigeria, but I'm finally getting around to posting it.]

If you have been following Diane’s posts recently, you’ll know that I have been away on a business trip for the past week. I’m currently sitting here in my hotel in Lagos trying to keep myself entertained. My company has a very strict policy on employee safety here, so I haven’t had much opportunity to venture anywhere. In fact, I have to travel with security escorts–something which is not exclusive to my company. The security trucks have a unique horn. My co-worker, Greg, and I call it the “get out of my way or I’m gonna shoot you” horn. They don’t stop for anything.

Lagos is huge city and is not somewhere I’d like to drive around, especially during rush hour. That said, its road infrastructure is fairly good according to others who have lived in various parts of West Africa. Like many developing nations, motorcycles are everywhere. I’m not talking a few dozen or even a couple of hundred. I’m talking about thousands of bikes.

My opinion of Lagos is based upon my few drives from the airport to the hotel, so I can’t really say that I’ve truly seen the city. Flying in from Eket, I’ve seen huge groups of home w/ tin roofs and lots of poverty. Victoria Island and nearby areas have larger concentrations of wealth. This will not be my last trip to Nigeria, so I’ll be interested to see how my opinion changes over time. Some of the ex-pats who live here really enjoy the city and their spouses do as well.

One thing that I experience more in Eket than is Lagos is power outages. It’s a way of life. My workshop was held at a “hotel” neighboring the housing compound and it wasn’t uncommon to have the power go out once per hour or so. The housing compound was better–the power only went out a couple of times per day (in the morning/evening) when I was around. Even in this 5-star hotel in Lagos, I’ve experienced a few power outages. Fortunately, these power outages never last more than 30 seconds.

One perk of business class is ice cream sundaes

2nd perk: Chairs that recline much further

Although, I still didn’t get to try a bed-style seat

Life on the compound

Getting parts into Nigeria take months

A welcome respite in Lagos

A nice bathroom to go along with the room

The most amazing coconut rice that I’ve ever had

Salmon. Maybe I just really enjoyed the meal since I hadn’t had a good meal in a week.

Creme Brulee. Looked better than it tasted.

In the distance, you can see a line of shacks along the beach.

Pre-Hip Hop World Awards

Not quite the red carpet…

Hanging around the HHWA by the pool

More prep work. A British friend paid security $10 to get into the actual awards show.

What are they? Bags that you can put wet things in to keep your unwet things dry. I originally stumbled upon wet bags on some cloth diapering blog and thought they could have multiple uses, and they wouldn’t be too hard to make. Actually, once I figured out how to do a zipper that actually zipped, it only took 30 minutes! A personal best.

I found a great free tutorial here at Little Birdie Secrets. I’m pretty proud of doing my first zipper. It really wasn’t too hard.  The key was to use a walking foot instead of the zipper foot, so the vinyl didn’t get caught.

The vinyl on the inside of these bags has a little bit of insulation to help keep cold things cool and warm things warm.  They are perfect for holding snacks and drinks, or wet swimsuits. I’m sure anyone with a kid would not have a hard time thinking of things to put inside. They might even be good for holding your liquids when traveling. The best part is that they are washable and reusable.  Go green.

It took me the longest time to figure out what quilt to make with my Arcadia fabric, but in the end I decided to keep it simple and do my favorite, a simple patchwork quilt. The size is 37″ by 44″, perfect size for a crib.

Remember those hexagons I made while Fernando was gone?

I bedazzled the back by appliqueing some hexagons to add a splash of color. The idea came from Ashley from Film in the Fridge and her gorgeous hexagon pillows.

The Buttercup Bag

I ran into my friend Crystal who made me jealous by sporting a Buttercup Bag, so I decided to make one for myself.  Although I will admit that I was VERY nervous about this since it was my first bag attempt EVER! (or maybe I should say my first completed bag.  Several attempts have already been started and pushed into the corner of projects to be completed.) I stumbled upon this tutorial several weeks ago and added it to my To Do list. The Tutorial is free, thanks to the fantastic Rae by Made by Rae. The best part is that this bag can be made from a mere fat quarter (plus liner).

Our pint sized garden during happier times

(note: all of the homes are now sold so that huge sign should be removed from our yard any day now.)

I thought the caterpillar was our worst enemy, so I made an all natural citrus solution to drive them away. It worked.

Then last week I noticed that the cilantro was practically dead and covered with aphids! yuck! So I purchased an herbal pesticide. Our tomato and zucchini (on the left) were out of control, so we Velcroed them to some stakes for support.

That same night we had a Texas sized storm which practically blew in our french doors of our bedroom as we were sleeping. We however, not being used to having to care for anybody other than ourselves, didn’t even think of the garden as it was being slapped silly by the storm. I regret to say I made the discovery after coming home from work. Branches and leaves were violently snapped and all plants were in a sad and hunched over state. (pictures were not posted due to the graphic nature of their content).

Poor tomato is easily half as large as it was pre-storm. Dr. Nancy (my mom who is wise in all things natural) informed me earlier in the week to not snap the branches as it would make tomato flavorless. I informed her that I would keep tomato safe…

Not all discoveries were sad though. Since the plants were bending over, their “jewels” were exposed!

Meet green pepper. (approx 2 in)

Zucchini

and Strawberry