I'm all done turning 30, summer is winding down, the nighttime breeze is heralding the coming of fall, and it's been nearly one year since I've owned my house.

And the living room is still a work in progress.

So I am getting back to work this weekend. Luckily I have a four-day weekend. So Friday morning I will be re-sealing the living room and attacking the wood trim and built-ins once again with the sander. My goal is to be done by Halloween, just shy of the one-year anniversary of home ownership.

This living room has been quite the project. We haven't done anything major. We are just restoring it back to a more original state. Of course we won't be punching out the wall to replace the window that once overlooked the front porch. And we had to cover up, rather than restore, the termite-eaten wood floors.

But we have stripped away decades of paint from all of the wood trim and built-ins, patched cracked plaster on the walls, painted the walls a vibrant yellow-orange and installed brand new hardwood floors.

Now I just need to finish sanding the trim and built-ins, stain and seal it. Then I have a list of small finishing projects, like installing new crown molding, re-caulking all the trim, installing a second base molding to cover up the floor seams, and installing new window treatments and screens.

I will just have one major project left after that, which I am not including in my Halloween deadline. That is re-tiling the fireplace with a mosaic. But I am not going to wait for that to finally buy furniture for the empty room. I want to sit on a couch in my living room for the first time!

I'll add some pictures soon of the progress. But hopefully this blog will help me adhere to my deadlines!

OK, now you all know I do not eat at Burger King. Ever.

And that I am disgusted by the Quad Stacker and the awful commercial trivializing the lives of dwarves, aka little people.

But BK has redeemed itself in the commercial world with the new one for chicken fries in which it spoofs NASCAR. Maybe it's the trend right now, to spoof NASCAR. I have not yet  seen the Will Ferrell movie "Talledega Nights." But that is the same idea ...

Anyway, I laugh my ass off whenever this new BK commercial comes on. The eras look so realistic, with the long hair and mustaches and older car models ... and here the guys are trying to feed drivers with chicken on a stick, a drum stick, a chicken sandwich -- all with bad luck. The best part is when the driver sucks the the chicken fry through the mouth hole in his helmet. I love it! And the commentaries by the old timers. "First we tried the chicken on a stick. We'd stick it in the window and hope he could pull it off. We weren't very successful."

Oh my god, genius.

But I still won't eat the crap.

So I rarely watch TV after work. But yesterday I turned on my TV and caught one of the most disgraceful attempts at journalism I have ever seen. CNN has lost its marbles. Apparently they've decided that this lady named Nancy Grace is a draw for viewers???

Her show disgusted me. But I was so fascinated by her awful journalism that I watched the whole show just to see what other fouls she would make.

Here is a description of her show from her Web site:
"Nancy Grace" is television's only justice themed/interview/debate show, designed for those interested in the justice stories of the day. Grace challenges guests on the most controversial and high-profile legal issues of the day by drawing on her unique perspective as a former violent crimes prosecutor and as a crime victim herself. Nancy Grace provides viewers with a clear understanding of not only the top trials, but also the cases often overlooked.

Here is my description her show:
"Nancy Disgrace" is television's second-worst interview/debate show, designed for those who love Jerry Springer but would rather see the guests yell at each other from different TV studios rather than share a stage lest they throw chairs at each other. Disgrace yells at her guests and only plays the sympathetic Barbara Walters role when she interviews the victim or victim's family member on the show. Disgrace herself is a victim -- a victim of too much eye makeup. Nancy Disgrace provides viewers with tabloid journalism and has no understanding of what real reporting is like.

The topic of her show last night? OJ Simpson. She replayed a stupid video of him getting a lap dance by three ugly women over, and over, and over again. Then tried to make Nicole Brown Simpson's sister cry. It was awful.

The only thing worse is that I attempted to watch the next show with Glenn Beck who said World War III is around the corner and it's all Iran's fault. I was so scared I had to turn off the TV.

No wonder I don't watch TV!!!!!!

Someone sent this to me and it's hilarious! I have no idea how long it's been floating around on e-mails, but if you haven't seen it before it's worth watching .. enjoy!