Christmastime Is Here

Good morning everyone (good morning, that is, if you're still reading). I hope that my recent absence hasn't cause you all to stop checking up on the blog. I had no idea when I started it that this thing would be so popular. In any case, my trusty photographer sent over some nice pictures this morning. The house is completely painted on the outside, and nearly completely p[ainted inside. The green-blue walls you see on the third picture are in the upstairs bedrooms, I believe. The downstairs is different shades of yellow. Crown-molding will go up everywhere at some point.

I hope that all of my dedicated readers are hvaing a happy Christmas. I know we're still ten days away from the actual Christmas Day, but I know I'm already in full-fledged Christmas mode. A couple weeks ago my mom brought me a bunch of old Christmas snapshot from the first 626. Maybe I can scan in some of those at some point. We always put our tree in the living room on the east side in front of the window so that we could see our lights from outside. Back when I was pretty little we would cut our tree at a farm somewhere out in Harrison county, I think. Those were great trees, Leland Cypress, and we'd tag it around Halloween. Dad and I would always race through the rows of trees.

Next Christmas, we will resume our 626 celebrating. I consider these Pine Avenue Years as a short hiatus of the Cassady family. I can't wait till we get back to Second Street. I miss it this time of year more than ever.

Fridays Aren't What They Used to Be

December 1. Can you believe it? I cna't seems like just yesterday I was showing you pictures of the SLAB. The house is coming along quite nicely. But Now we have some sheetrock going in. They "float" it a lot. Keeps it nice and smooth and level. The roof is all on, too, if you can see it in the picture. We'll be getting some nice afternoon sunshine on the front porch. Isn't that great?

Friday. TGIF. Remember how awesome Fridays were when you were little? Slumber parties. Eating out at a restaurant. Staying up late watching TV. No homework. No getting up early on Saturday. Ah. That was the life. If I had known then what I know now....

Anyway, I know I promised I would give you all the answers for the "blue" quiz, but I lost the key and now I have to figure it out again. Oopsie.

Everyone have a happy weekend and don't forget your mittens, 'cause baby, it's COLD outside!

Day Before the Day Before Thanksgiving

Well folks, before I embark on a cross-country (well, cross-the-Southeast) trip for a well-deserved break from the working world, I thought I'd leave you all with some Turkey humor and the latest pictures from 626. The roof's all finished and the insulation and sheetrock are next on the agenda. I will judge the Blue Quiz upon my return to the Magnolia State, so don't fret.

For now, let's all take a minute and be thankful. For old houses and new. For family and friends. Auf Wiedersehen! So long! Sianara! Adios! Ciao! See you Monday!

Fish Tales

Hola mi amigos. Hope you all enjoyed my latest two posts. So far, only one person has been brave enough to accept the Quiz Challenge. Tut tut tut. I won't give the answers away until we have at least two more participants.

Today's pictures are pretty great. The pain is up on the south and north sides of the house. We can now see the "fish scales" we heard so much about. The new 626 is going to have people talking, that's for sure. Sources tell me the porch will be green and the garage--yes, I said garage--will be stripes. Yipes! I can't wait. And those dots on the fish-scale part are copper. Yes indeedy, little copper pennies from heaven. It's all very special and elegant. Nothing but the best for ol' 626.

Okay I need to do some real work. Catch y'all on the flip side.

For Your Consideration

Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to present 626: The Movie.



BIG THANKS to "Best Boy" Dennis McKay for the YouTube assistance.

The Blues

Hello fans. I know you've all been wondering where in tarnation I've been. Well, I've been here, but we haven't had any new pictures come in recently. We had a movie that came in but I don't know how to put a movie on my blog, so I couldn't do it. Hopefully I'll get some new pictures soon. I just wanted to let you all know so you wouldn't give up on me.

I hope everyone's having a killer fall. The leaves are crazy here. You just wouldn't believe it.

Oh, the reason I'm blue today is this is a preview of the color of the new 626. We'll be able to say, "The Cassady's house, you know, the BLUE one." It is blue like you've never seen, folks.

Here's a quiz. Can you match the blue to its language? Good Luck, boys and girls! The first person who gives me the correct answers on the comments section wins a million dollars. You're on the honor system. No dictionaries or asking foreign friends for the answers. No trickery allowed. A shout-out to Dennis for helping me with a couple of these. More to come...

A) Blue.
B) Lazur
C) Bleu.
D) Al Lajward
E) Blau.
F) Lazourion
G) Blu.
H) Azul (2)
I) Luebay

1) German
2) English
3) Portugese
4) Spanish
5) Greek
6) French
7) Arabic
8) Italian
9) Pig Latin
10) Real Latin

Ghoulies and Ghosties and Long-leggity Beasties

Happy Halloween everybody! Hope you are all surviving the week so far. The house at 6262 Second Street is getting really close! Well, obviously we have a long way to go, but I really can't believe how far we've come in just a few months. Seems like yesterday we were looking at a slab. The siding is almost all up. I'm told by my insiders that the middle section will be fish-scale siding. Muy interesante. Can't wait to see what that looks like. I'm guessing kind of a scallop-edged sort of thing....

Anyway, the other three pictures are for your Halloween viewing pleasure. The kid with the pumpkin is yours truly, about 20 years ago if you can believe it. Love that severed-hand necklace I'm sporting. I think it was glow-in-the-dark. The other pictures come straight to you from Second Street circa 2006. The Barrett family is known around the globe for their unwavering Halloween spirit. This year, they've gone Spider Crazy. I think a Spider was one of their very first designs, so maybe this one is a little throw-back. The Beam Me Up Ghosts are also a Barrett creation. Kind of remind me of the Peanuts gang from the Great Pumpkin (which I missed this year. Rats.).

Everyone out there in Halloween land be safe. Look both ways before crossing the street.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch Changes

Well, it's Wednesday. We're having a runny-nose type rainy day here in Oxford. For those of you not fmailiar with this term, a runny-nose rain is the kind that is drippy and never stops. Gets on your nerves. Not really enough rain to do any good, but definitely wet and messy. In other words: gross. Because of the weather, I was thrilled to get a few more pictures of 626 to share with my fans. Up top you see lots of pipes and wires. Then we have a nice exterior shot of the house from across the street. My photographer parked her ambulance right in front. Safety first! Last we have another interior shot in what I think is the kitchen, looking through the walls toward the hall and weird slanty-wall study. That's not a fireman's pole in the foreground people. Just a pipe. Don't get too excited. I know having a fireman's pole in the kitchen of your house would be totally awesome (hint! hint!), but it's not likely.

Hope everyone has a nice rest of the afternoon (evening, I guess,for you East-Coastians). Next time I'm in the Puerto, I'd like to shoot some video so that we can take 626 to the latest Internet fad: YouTube. It's pretty much a poor man's Hollywood, people, so send me your ideas and we'll go Tubing together.

Till next time.

Duct, Duct, Goose

Hello readers of the blog. It's Thursday and I think I might make it through this week relatively unscathed. Had a pizza for lunch so I'm feeling pretty awesome. Wish I could sneak out of here for a minute and get a Sonic slushee... Hmmm. Maybe I will.

Today's pictures include some fancy ductwork and what appears to be trim around one of the front windows. I figure that when those windows are open (well, if they didn't have screens) you could walk through them. Like a giant cat flap.

Speaking of cats, this huge white tomcat has taken up residence in the Dumpster area of the building where I work on the glorious Ole Miss campus. He looks a little weathered and war torn. Has rips in his ears like Azriel (Gargamel's orange cat) on the Smurfs. Anyway, "Whitey" is a good cat to watch. He loves Groving after football games. Lil' Smokies, Abner's chicken tenders, all kinds of goodies for him to munch on.

Okay, everyone have a nice afternoon and evening. I can't wait to go home and snuggle up on the couch to watch The Office. Cold front came through here just in time. Adios, muchachos.

Holy Sheet (rock)

Good afternoon and welcome to another exciting episode of blogspot. It's been one of those days for me. One of those days when nothing seems to be going right. You know, you wake up with a zit the size of Madagascar. You bite your lip while eating toast. You spill coffee all over your shoes. You accidentally somehow schedule two extra Southern Studies classes for the spring semester, causing a professor to have to be in three different classes at once and you e-mail the registrar about the problem but she's really really too busy to deal with you right now.

But then you open your e-mail and there are more 626 Second Street pictures and you feel a little better. You see the front porch being built and you can imagine all the lovely springtime evenings you and your loved ones will someday spend in rocking chairs on that porch, waving at the neighbors. You see the sheetrock being loaded through a second-floor window and find yourself suddenly Googling "paint chips."

Ah. Just when you think your day is the worst it can possibly be, the thought of the new house makes you smile.

:)

Doors and Windows and Schnauzers, Oh My!

Good Morning dedicated fans. I don't know about y'all, but I am s-l-e-e-p-y. Price to be paid for going to the most incredible Wilco show ever. For those who aren't aware, Wilco is my favorite band. They played here in Oxford last night and I had FRONT ROW seats. Saw up all their noses. THAT close. Ah. However, I dragged my weary self to work this morning. That is dedication, friends.

Moving along. We have windows and doors! Can you believe it? I can't. Looks pretty classy to me. My photographer is really excited, I can tell. She used lots of exclamation points in her e-mail about the windows. They are good looking, I think. Nice choice. I'm diggin' it. My favorite picture is of that sweetheart Annie Rooney, though. She should be in pictures.

A special treat for every one this morning. The house at 626 made it's small-screen debut last night on the NEWS. WLOX's Brad Kessie came to Second Street and you just won't believe it. To watch, click on this link:

http://www.wlox.com/Global/SearchResults.asp?qu=second+street

Then click on the first option "Brad Kessie Looks At The Coast Housing Shortage." Enjoy!

Apologies

hello dear readers. please accept my apology for taking FOREVER to update this blog... things have been nuts here in O-Town. what with all the bad football not to mention preparing for houseguests, vacuuming cat-fur-filled rugs, unspeakable excitement over an upcoming Wilco (aka best band in america) concert... then there's all of the time i have spent coming up with killer ideas for Halloween costumes and Christmas card designs.... enough drivel. here are pictures. we have a roof. we have walls. we have a wee little man in the window. i hope they suffice for a couple days. it BE CRAZY here.

okay. here you go. OH. and the picture of the funny-looking man in a tie? everyone: Meet Paps. his birthday was yesterday. i hear he had a fine time.

Step Aerobics

Well, it's official. The first 2-story house EVER built on 626 soil. Like the view? Jealous that you don't have that view where you live? Well, folks, watch what you wish for... You just might get it.

Sort of slammed here at work today. Short on words. But if a picture's worth a thousand words, then this blog is 2000 words.

See you later, roller skater.

Who Dat!

Who Dat Say Dey Gonna Beat Dem Saints? The old song I grew up singing. Ah. The Saints, the Aints, whatever you call them, they seem to be here to stay. I hope everyone was able to watch Monday Night Football last night because it was beautiful. I've never seen an NFL team as celebrated as the New Orleans Saints. And not just last night. Through thick and thin people have stuck with that team. It's something to behold. I've only been to one Saints game. They lost to the Steelers. Last night, though, the whole world got to have a taste of the experience. MOSES was even there. Didja see him? Parting the waters. The best part, I think, besides U2 of course, was the fact that the Saints beat their arch-rivals, the Dirty Birds. The Atlanta Falcons. Boo hiss.

If these walls could talk, they wouldn't have much to say. But they WILL have plenty to say. Here's to the new walls of 626. May they stand there forever. And may many more Saints games be watched within them. Amen.

Total Studs

Hey there sports fans, it's me, 626. Welcome back, I've missed you. You might not recognize me now since I'm a Total Stud. Make that Total Studs. Plural. We are officially walls now, not just empty lot. Remind me to update my profile.

Pictures. Okay, from the top:

Paps gave our friend, neighbor, local celeb Billy Barrett a tour of the new crib. They are standing in the dining room. Pay close attention to the saw-horse table. We're thinking of making it permanent. We're kind of into the whole "construction chic" trend.


We love you Gulfport! Mom and Paps on the front porch. It's kinda like they're on a stage. I tried to talk Paps into using the house as-is as a venue for a U2 concert, since Bono and the boys will be in Nola playing the Superdome in a few weeks, but he didn't think that was such a good idea...

Aw. Sal & Paps. 2 cool 2 B 4-gotten.


Paps give Sal a tour of the new-and-improved 626. "This is where the new range will be," Paps says. Or dishwasher. Or robot. Or Super Computer. Can't remember exactly. Something kitcheny.

Have a swell Thurs. I'll be driving back to Ox in the AM B-and-E. Later skaters.

Pac-Man and Mom

Pac-Man. That is exactly what I thought when I first opened these photographs on my desktop. The Slab has been turned into a life-size Pac-Man game. Level 1? Not sure. Does this make Paps the Pac-Man or a Ghost Monster? What about Annie Rooney? Power Pellet? Waka waka waka. For those unfamiliar with Pac-Man--or Atari games in general--"waka" was the sound Pac made as he ate his way from world to world. I've never been much of a Pac-Man player, to be honest. My game was always Super Mario Bros. on the long-lost orignial Nintendo console. Back in junior high school I beat that game--saved the Mushroom Princess--on a borrowed box. I'll never forget the day because as excited as I was there was no one to share my thrills with. I was in the laundry room on our old side porch. We were the only family I ever knew who had a TV in the laundry room.

Well, anyway, the current State of the Slab is unique, to say the very least. The 2x4's sort of provide a blueprint of the first story of the new 626 Second St. Paps is reclining where the bed in the master bedroom will ultimately be located. On the left, is a sort of view from the front door, I think. Straight ahead will be a staircase; to the right a dining room and behind that a kitchen. Living room on the other side. Stay tuned as those flat boards become walls, the Slab a floor, etc.

PS: Today as I downloaded the pictures from my Gmail, I thought about my dear old photographer who tirelessly and selflessly goes out and snaps the pictures of 626 for me day in and day out. My photographer--AKA "Mom"--has only made an appearance on the blog ONCE, if you can believe it. So, I dug into my shoebox archives and discovered what just might be my favorite picture of Mom yet. It is currently gracing the top of today's blog. My mom's got the look. If they read this blog, I'm sure those glasses will be the envy of every Hollywood starlet. And that tan! Let's hear it for Sue.

So long, Sammy.

Slab Happy

Hello fine readers. Well, this is the day for which we have all been anxiously awaiting. Drum roll please! I'd like to introduce you to the 626 Second Street Slab. Welcome to the world, Slab. You have no idea how much we love having you hear to protect us from centuries of stormage. And you, PVC pipes! Welcome.

As you can tell, we have Slab shots from the north and the south. Once again, check out the luxurious views afforded us by Katrina. I hope you all are all enjoying this moment. I have goosebumps. In the days and weeks and months following, we will see some real house being built. But the foundation is complete.

A wise family built its house upon a slab. That wise family is Cassady.