Change of Plan...

So I’ve decided to change blogs. If you haven’t heard by now, there is no more Scott and Megan. We have been officially divorced since the end of July. I don’t want to go into detail since this is a public forum but if you have questions about it feel free to email me. I’m not afraid to talk about it. Scottrtaylor1@gmail.com


In an effort to turn over a new leaf and move on, I have started a new blog to replace this one. If you’d like to keep updated on what I’m up to, check out my new blog at www.lifeofaTaylor.blogspot.com.

For those of you that have listened, given advice, a hug, or just cared during this difficult time I sincerely thank you.

Changes... Plus a New Roof

I have been going through some huge changes in my life recently. Some of you have no doubt heard. It has been extremely difficult but I am hanging in there. I have debated on whether of not I would keep this blog and haven't been posting much because of that. I decided for now I would keep it up and maybe switch to a new address sometime in the future.


This last week I had the roof replaced. Johnny (My sister's brother-in-law) needed a car and I needed a roof. I traded him Megan's old Honda Accord that was sitting in my garage for his labor. I bought all the materials and he went to work. The project ended up being much more work than we originally thought. Almost all of the plywood had to be replaced (50 sheets) because it was de-laminated. There was also some rot where there were leaks in the roof. It took a little longer than planned and Johnny got some help from my brother, My dad, his brother (my bro-in-law) and me.

Before the roof was black and had a lot of soft spots. I chose a color I thought would look good with the color of the house. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. (Yes I know my yard need some attention. One thing at a time.)

Tribute to Brindy

Here are some of my favorite pictures of Brindy.

Brindy as a little puppy.

Attacking her little football. She loved to rip the stuffing out of toys like that.

Yogurt cup.

Pinned down.

Striking a pose.

Sit..... stay....

Big Smile!

Brindy loved the snow. She would run with her head down and mouth open so she could eat it.

She also loved the beach.
And water...
And Sticks.
Then she got a new playmate.
And they became best Friends.

Goodbye to Brindy

Friday I went backpacking with my brother and some of his friends. Megan helped her friend move so she took the dogs down to Corvallis for the night. I got home Saturday evening and 15 minutes later, Megan showed up to drop off the dogs before she was going to go help her friend unload the truck.

I heard Brindy barking so I came outside and saw Megan standing in the middle of the street and Brindy lying next to her. I ran out there and grabbed Karma and put her in her crate inside. Then I got a piece of wood to put Brindy on. Some guy (He might be our neighbor across the street) helped me put Brindy on the board and into the back of the Escape. We were both shaking. One of Brindy’s eyes was really red and swollen and she wasn’t really moving or making much noise.

As we drove to the vet, Megan told me that she had treats in her hand and let both dogs out of the crate. (Every other time they are so excited to get home, they run to the front door.) Across the street a girl was running. Brindy saw the runner and bolted out into the street after her. Brindy got hit by a white mini-van. The van pulled over and it had a “student driver” sign on the back. The runner was shaken up and apologizing and the instructor from the van ran out and apologized.

We got to our vet who isn’t very far away. It was closed so I called the number on the door. The message said if it was an emergency to go to the emergency vet clinic in Tualatin. I called to get directions and tell them we were coming. While we were driving, Megan sat in the back seat and petted Brindy. Brindy moved a little and was having some trouble breathing. We pulled up to the emergency vet and as we opened the back of the Escape, they came out with a cart and took Brindy inside.

They took an x-ray and the vet said it didn’t look like there were any broken bones but there was trauma to her head and one of her lungs and her diaphragm didn’t look normal. We said goodnight to her and went home. The vet called several times that night to give us updates. Her brain was swelling so the vet said she didn’t know if Brindy would make it through the night. At 8:45 am the vet called to let us know Brindy was in cardiac arrest and they were doing CPR. They asked if we wanted them to keep trying and Megan said they could stop. The vet said that there was probably too much trauma to the brain and she wasn’t able to control her breathing and heart beat anymore. We picked her up around noon and I buried her in the back yard behind the shed.

It was a tough day. Brindy was my first dog even though she was more Megan’s dog than mine. Before Brindy, I never liked dogs. I was bit by a dog when I was in middle school. She did bark a lot but she was always happy and really loved us. It was so fun how excited she would get when we came home from a trip and she hadn’t seen us in a while. Or when she’d work her way onto our laps and try and get us to pet her. She was 2 and a half years old and she will be greatly missed.

Paint

With the help of family and a friend, we painted the house this weekend. It really needed it and it looks so much better! Here are some before and after pictures. The pictures were taken at a different time of year so you may notice the tree isn't green in the "before" picture and we trimmed the rhododendron in front of the door.

Before

After

It still needs some touch up but we got so much done the last two days. It was very hot so the paint dried quickly. Originally I was going to go with a green color with white trim but the Khaki complements the brick much better and it was free. (My brother-in-law started to use it on his house and he didn't like it. So I got over 10 gallons for free!)

I posted pictures of the green and brown paint options of Facebook and I got an overwhelming response to go with the brown. I was also told to go with a bold color for the front door. So it's red. I think I like it so far.

Brand New Mazda!

Well new to us anyway...

Megan has been looking for a Mazda3 to replace her 1991 Honda Accord. The Honda has over 170,000 miles and has seen better days. After test drives and lots of research, Megan found a good deal on a Mazda at a dealership in Vancouver Washington. We drove up Saturday and bought it.

The new car is a 2009 Mazda3 with less than 7000 miles. It is pre-owned. I guess someone bought it in October of last year and traded it in a few months ago. It's fun to drive and Megan loves it. I was going to try to take a picture of it last night but I was really busy.

The ad is still on Craigslist so I took these pictures from the ad.

Brand New Honda!

We got a brand new Honda to replace our old one. The old one was getting pretty rusty and wasn't running that well. I used the new one today and it was nice!

It's a lawn mower by the way...

The self propel function of the old one didn't work so it was a lot of work to mow the lawn. Now it's a piece of cake.