Today

It has been a day full of bathroom work. I am just pausing for a bit while Jesse fits in one more pipe. Kind of a one man job, and our bathroom is small enough that I figured I should just get out of the way until he's done....then back to it! Here's a few photos of the progress...



Cleaning up so we can finally bring in the new bathtub! (What you did not see on the "before photos" were the scratches and brown stains all over the bottom and sides of the old tub.)


Yeah!! Seven water leaks and forty-two profanities later, the tub is in!


Jesse decided to take advantage of the brief thunderstorm we had. (This is day three without a shower for us.)


Thinking about tiling, with the help of Abe of course.


While Abe likes to be part of the action, Horton is a little unsure of the banging and noise. He has been hiding out by his bed all day long.

Slowly making tile progress...


Shew! It's hard work supervising all of these projects!

Bathroom Bonanza

The bathroom project is finally under way! Jesse has been working like a mad dog the last couple days. I have unfortunately not been able to partake yet, as I've been either at work or when at home, needing to work on school. I worked very hard today to get my assignments turned in so that I can have all day tomorrow to help in the bathroom and I am looking forward to it. It's been really hard to focus on school knowing that fun house projects are going on just a few feet away. Anyway, it's been going (fairly) well so far...a few glitches in the system here and there. It's usually not a good thing when you wake up in the middle of the night to the sound of gushing water, as happened last night. The hot water valve popped off, which consequently sent water spewing straight out into the bathroom...poor Jesse, I think I scared the crap out of him. I woke up first, yelling "JESSE!!! WATER!!!" and we both went flying out of bed. Thankfully, little damage was done (outside of stealing our much needed beauty rest). =)


Before Photo A.


Before Photo B.


The wonderful discovery of mold growing all over the insulation and studs.


Jesse sporting his brand new respirator (courtesy of the mold discovery) while hacking away at where the tub used to be.


Coach Abe steps in to give Jesse a pep talk.

I'm a Rat

I just finished cleaning the house and thought it would be nice to waste spend some time on the computer relaxing. I checked my e-mail, but have none. I check my e-mail way too many times a day. I'm like a rat. They have done those studies where the rats get hooked more on pressing a lever or whatever if the cheese comes not 100% of the time, but inconsistently. Thus, I'm the rat and the e-mail is my cheese.

In any case, after checking e-mail, checking to see if anyone updated their blogs, and then reading an article on msn about mothers and nannies, I decided I'd blog, even though I don't have anything in particular to say.

Another semester starts on Monday. Minority Group Relations, Theories of Personality, and I'm finally biting the bullet and taking my last gen ed math class. 9 hours in 8 weeks will make June and July go by very fast. It's all about perspective, which I am delightfully wonderful at losing....we'll see how it goes.

I got the herb bed repaired and am now trying to figure out where to plant some flower seeds. I'm running out of time, as the weather is warming up fast. I should go out there tonight and figure out a plan. We are swimming in lettuce. I pick some, we eat some, and then I go back out and double has grown in its place. I hope that happens to the tomatoes. The pea vines are finally blooming, so hopefully we can start picking them soon.

We are finally starting in on the bathroom this Tuesday. This project has been delayed and delayed for various reasons. I'm excited to finally get going on it. Not so excited about the part where we will have no toilet or shower in our house though. We'll cross that hurdle when we get there I guess.

Well, I suppose I have spent enough time on the computer for now. I should go get some yardwork done.

A Few Words Before Bed...

The last two days have been interesting, as many people have read and responded to Jesse’s blog post about his experience and feelings in regards to the US and Canada. There have been various responses from anger to indifference to agreement. While I could spout my own opinion here and explain the reasoning behind Jesse saying that I have been “deeply hurt” by this issue, that is not the intent of this post. If anyone wants to know any more about either of those, I’m an open book for the asking and would be happy to chat about it. However, in this post I only have one thing to say.

My husband is the most proud Canadian that I know. He loves his country deeply and would never ever deny it. It takes courage and great strength to live in a country that’s not your own and to walk squarely in the middle of two cultures, that while on the surface may look alike, but are in actuality, quite different. It takes even more courage to face the truth of those two cultures and see them in their entirety - flaws and strengths - and to in turn, love them both none the less. He has done this with grace and courage and I am proud of him.

Judging him for doing so is far more offensive to me than judging my country.

Good night.

Tsk Tsk Tsk...

I love our big burly Abe very much, but he sure keeps me on my toes. Saturday evening Jesse and I were winding down. As I passed the kitchen window and looked out, I noticed Abe laying outside very happy and cozy...in one of the raised beds. He had dug out a little spot in the corner for himself and was sitting on it like a king on his throne. Of course he got into big trouble, (but it also gave us a good laugh). It just had to be the bed that I had sowed all of my herbs seeds and starts into a week or so ago. Now, if anything even comes up, with his digging, I will probably have cilantro in the middle of my basil or oregano in the middle of my rosemary! Plus, the little start of lemon balm from my grandma was buried. I have it on my list to repair and resow this week. Abe is like a pouty child and he needs to feel loved. I am pretty sure the only reason he got into the bed was in rebellion to having Riley here. Not only has he had to share his attention, but Riley also walked across this very bed the day he arrived here. I yelled at him, and he learned his lesson to stay out, but I am sure Abe could smell Riley all over it. I think this was Abe's way of claiming his territory and asserting that he is the king around this house! Anyway, after Jesse got Abe out of the bed, he grabbed the camera and got a shot of his muddy little nose.

More From the Deck

I am ambivalent about doubt. I know I shouldn't doubt, but I also know that God is gracious to me and speaks louder and stronger when I do the same. I love the story of Job, even if only for the fact that he shot off his mouth and God was proud in the end. I think it gives me hope. I am a reserved person, but my opinions are strong, and I have a habit of telling God off.

A few days ago, I was in awe of what wonderful bosses God has given me. Mike (back at Zephyr) was so good to me. He not only gave me great raises, but he listened to me and did everything in his power to make sure that I woke up and wanted to come into work each day. Especially toward the end, when he knew I was considering leaving, he made it incredibly hard for me to leave. And the best thing about working for him was that he made me do things not just to shape my keyboarding skills or organizational system, but that actually shaped my character too. I know there were problems at the company and some days I wanted to walk out the door. I know it wasn't the perfect job, but I also know that few people get to experience a boss who treats them as well as Mike treated me. And now my current boss recently gave me a small raise for no real reason that I can see and overall he just pays me really high for what I do. I certainly don't deserve it, considering all I really do is answer a few phone calls, check out a few customers, and every few days, add up some numbers. I have just had bosses be really good to me and the last few days I've been very thankful for that.

Then, today it was all confirmed that I really have had the privilege of working for great guys (my feminist heart is waiting for the day I work under a great gal - or better yet, get to be that great gal!). My boss is giving me 35 bucks bonus on my next paycheck to "go out to eat with your husband because I know it can be hard" (meaning trying to get financial things in line when you are young). I am a very blessed person to have a boss who even considers things like that. It meant so much to me, not only the extra cash and being able to have a nice dinner out, but just with doubting and worrying over money, it just confirmed that God does take care of His own, and made me want to well up in tears at how much I have in my life. But of course, I can't cry at work, so I smiled and said thank you and then spent the next four hours worrying over whether I had expressed enough gratitude or not in trying to suppress my true emotion of wanting to cry and dramatically say "You don't know how much this means!". I just didn't know what to say and even now, I worry that I somehow failed to get across my gratitude.

Anyway, then I got home and got the mail, and we got a (small) dividend check from our insurance company. Now, the dividend won't magically make the checkbook show black instead of red, and going out for a nice dinner won't suddenly make the upcoming vet bill smaller, but they both sure do go a long way in making my heart feel very full today. And in the stubborn and sarcastic way that I relate to God, I can just picture that this was His way of telling me off for doubting His provisions.

Okay I need to come back to this blogging because it's starting to thunder and Abe is getting scared and slobbering all over the keyboard. Mmmm. Time to go inside.

Thoughts from The Back Deck

We are dog-sitting for my mom while she is on vacation. I love her dog. Riley is a border collie, and as a pre-psychology professional, I have officially diagnosed him with obsessive compulsive disorder. The obsession being frisbees and balls, and the compulsion being tossing them at my feet every three seconds. As I type this, he is pushing the frisbee nearer and nearer my feet (which are now covered in slobber), and he has grass blades hanging off of his head and spit bubbles all over his eyebrows (don't know how he managed that one). He is the most loveable misfit ever created and no matter how I am feeling, Riley can always make me smile and let me know that everything is going to be just fine. Today it is a welcome reminder.

The last few days have thrown a lot of financial hurdles at us, and I know money doesn't buy happiness, but at times like this, I do feel there is an awful lot to be said for it! The crowning glory of all of these little mishaps here and there was yesterday when one of our tires blew out. Great. Add that to the list of ever growing unexpected expenses! Oh well, the very fact that I have to pay for a new tire means that I own a car which means that this problem is a luxury. All of them are actually...health care costs mean I have access to what I need to keep myself and my family (dogs included!) healthy, vehicle expenses mean I can go where I want when I want, electric, gas and water bills means I have a clean, safe place to sleep at night. All of which are things to be very thankful for. And I am. But the problem is, I don't only feel thankful. I also feel sad. I also wonder if we will ever get ahead financially. I also wonder if we are doing something wrong.

The thing is, I don't regret my life, and I am pretty confident Jesse doesn't either. We both know that had we gone to college straight out of high school, we'd probably be in a lot better place financially, but who would we be as people? The experiences I had in lieu of college shaped me deeper than any curriculum, and I would never, have never, wished that I'd done something differently. There is such a warm place of deep, deep satisfaction in my heart when I remember the Philippines, or Kona, or Israel.... I'll never forget how proud I was of Jesse seeing him lead the team in Nicaragua, and I'll always laugh when I remember the night that the bat flew into our room and "tried to kill him".

But where does all of this leave us now, and how does our past fit into our present? It's not just the money - that's the most tangible way it all comes out, but it's much more than that. It's all been on my mind a lot lately, and although I enjoy my life now, I wonder if I have missed something along the way. The thing is, I am not even sure what I want. I used to know so clearly, but now I haven't really the slightest idea...but sometimes, like now, I feel like I am closer to knowing than I ever was when I "knew" - does that make sense?

Does the Painting Ever End?

Sherwin Williams was having a 30% off sale yesterday, so Jesse and I decided to go ahead and buy the paint that we will need for the bathroom. I also recently decided that we should paint the kitchen cabinets. I have never really liked them, but they are nice, custom cabinets and I felt bad messing with them. Then I figured, what does it even matter if they are nice if I don't like them and it's my house? Might as well change them to how I like them. That painting project will happen after the bathroom remodel, and hopefully all of the painting will be done after that. We should have invested in a paint sprayer long, long ago. It would have well paid off by now. Anyway, for the kitchen cabinets, we chose "biscuit" (middle color). The bathroom, we are painting the vanity "french roast" (bottom left) and the walls will be "jalapeno" (bottom right). Tiles are all neutral beigey-whitish colors. At first I thought about just painting the walls a cream color and then doing the ceiling in jalapeno for a little change, but I don't know if I'd like the cream on the walls up against all of our white trim, so we'll just stick with keeping the color on the walls. Although, I am hoping to possibly redo our bedroom a bit, and I'd really like to put the color on the ceiling in there.



Anyway, other than house projects, it's mainly just work and school. I am at that plateau with school. No longer new and novel, but still a ways to go. Struggling with what I want out of it, what my goals are and where I'm heading. For now, all I know to do is just keep doing what I'm doing now and hopefully one day I will know more specifically what I want. I've definitely narrowed it down since I started, which is good, but I'm almost afraid I'm narrowed it out too much, which makes me question my path all together. Work is work...I'm trying to pick up some extra shifts, especially during my break between semesters and keep hoping we can catch up enough to start throwing pennies at our vacation fund. Guess that's where the faith and trust part comes in. Last Sunday, our pastor (and I use that term very loosely), mentioned something along the lines of not being able to have faith without doubt and struggle, meaning being sure doesn't take much faith; it really comes when the most doubt is there, yet acting despite it is what truly constitutes faith....at least that's how I interpreted it, and now that I think about it, what he said really didn't even go like that at all, so who knows what he was really trying to say, but what I gathered was just that - being sure doesn't take faith...being full of doubt does... Who knows. Maybe I just twisted it to make myself feel better. This year has been very full of doubt for me, in every arena....my purpose and path, my beliefs, Christ, God - you name it, I am probably doubting it this very second!

In any case, I will wrap this up and try to start winding down. We try our best to go to bed early since Jesse leaves for work well before the crack of dawn now. It's awfully hard in the summer when the sun is out shining, just calling us to be outdoors though!

The Swing

We've been getting a lot of use out of our anniversary present. A couple weeks ago, Horton discovered that it's a very comfy spot to curl up on. He won't go onto it if we aren't on it, because he has figured out that it moves and isn't too sure how to work with it unless we hold it steady for him. However, the minute one of us sits down, he very happily trots over and jumps right up. Abe just discovered the comfy swing yesterday (with a wee bit of coaxing). He didn't want to get off of it when it was time to go inside. We had to bribe him with some treats.

Another Adventure

I used to think getting the bathroom done was the next priority for us in house projects, but I think the fence may have been bumped up. Horton found his way out yet again this morning. That's 3 times in the last month, despite Jesse having put in metal bars where the fence was loose and he got out the last 2 times. There must be a new spot that he found. So, this round, I was inside making toast. I carried it to the back deck to eat outside with the dogs, who were already out there. There's Abe...but where's Horton?? I run back inside and through the front door to get into the Passport to drive around. As I'm opening the car door, a neighbor who lives a few doors down yells to me..."I think your dog is out. He's over there playing with that German Shepard." and points. So I yell thanks and take off in that direction. I pass the German Shepard, and Horton has moved on to another spot. I turn down another road and suddenly hear dogs barking behind me, so I put it in reverse slowly looking to see if they are barking because Horton is running loose. Then 2 women come out of their houses and yell "Are you looking for your dog? He's over there." and point. I look over, and there he is...yet another neighbor comes out, sees me panicky as I yell "My dog got out!" and then she sees Horton, so she kindly walks toward him talking nicely, and he trots over to sniff her. I notice he's behind a fence though, so the lady tells me the fence is open on the other side of the house. She kept talking nice to Horton to keep his attention until I was able to run around the house to call him. I get him loaded back up, and as I'm driving back up to our house, there is the first neighbor that helped me out, now mowing his yard, and as I drive by I see him smile as he yells "Ah! You got him!" triumphantly. Thankfully Horton is safe and sound (although he has lost all of his "go outside alone" privileges!)....and I do say, today reinforced the fact that I do like our neighborhood. Everyone seems to know the "2 big golden dogs" and just who they belong with! It was very sweet, especially to see the 2 different women who ran out their front doors when they saw me drive by, just to help me locate one of the hairy loves of my life! I hope I at least yelled "thank you" somewhere in there!

The Yard

I finally got some photos to post!

You would think the grass would make a softer pillow than the rock...


My favorite flowers in our yard are almost in bloom.


This is another area we filled with rock...not too interesting, but it was hard work!


Jesse is building yet another raised bed for me.

We'll have 4 total raised beds and I still don't know where I will plant everything! (Notice the back left bed is nice and green...that's peas, radishes, and lettuce!)

Abe likes to supervise our projects for quality control. He is SO helpful.

Nothing In Particular

I mowed the yard and as I was coming in, I thought it would be nice to take some photos of the other landscape stuff we've done, and the dogs, and of course my garden (just because it inflates my ego). However, I grabbed the camera and the battery was dead. So I dug through Jesse's photo bag and found another. It was dead. I repeated that twice, and finally gave up. Time to charge the batteries and then I will try to get some photos on here.

Speaking of garden, this year I have been thinking about how it relates to my faith. As I was planting the seeds a month or however long ago, looking at them I realized how much faith is in them. That probably doesn't make sense. I just mean that if we didn't know anything about science or how stuff works, and someone came up to us and handed us one seed and said "Here. Take this. This is going to feed you for the rest of your life", we'd think they were nuts. How could a thing like that feed us? It looks as if it wouldn't even make a dent in our tummy one time, yet somehow, it has the capacity to feed us for as long as we live. I guess since we know how seeds grow and work, it kind of takes the faith out of it, but still, it's just interesting to me how easily we overlook small miracles like that.

I've also been thinking about how even in death, things have a purpose. With the compost for example, the slow decaying of once living matter is what in turns feeds the now living matter. Everything has a purpose and fits into this grand plan. Even bugs and worms, I have just fallen in love with them. Without them, I couldn't grow anything in the soil. In that way, we're somehow intertwined and dependent on these little things that we so easily smush. But the worm and the bugs work the soil and give it nutrition in a way that I will never be able to. It's very fascinating to me. It just reminds me that God knows what He's doing and that everything truly does work together for a plan and a purpose, even in death...I forget that really often.

Anyway, it's been a fun garden season so far, much better than last year, when I got a whopping one tomato, and two midget bell peppers. I'm glad it's spring and am looking forward to the summer, and would actually love if it just stuck around all year, but I do have one thing I am looking forward to when fall comes. I thought about this a lot last winter, but never did it, and decided I definitely should this fall. I want to have a "take it bake it" or a "soup swap". (The idea's not mine. Comes from Not Martha, and I think she got the idea somewhere else too.) In any case, the deal is that you spend one day making a lot of soup - then you divide it up into 6 or so 2 quart containers. You bring it to the party, and then everyone goes in rounds picking soups that they want to go home with. So you spend one day cooking one thing, and go home with however many different soups that you can just pop on the stove when you having a busy night and can't cook. The "take it bake it" party is the same idea, only you aren't limited to soups. You could make anything that freezes well - pies, lasagna, whatever. I think the take it bake it might be more interesting. I think it sounds really fun and very practical as well. Cook one night and get a week's worth of food. However, I don't know how well it will go over or who exactly I would invite that would also think it's fun. I imagine some people wouldn't think it's fun to cook that much one day. Plus, I'll have to think wisely about freeze space. We have a deep freeze, so it would be no problem for us, but I guess it may be hard for those who only have a regular freeze. I'll try and see...worst case no one comes and we have a lot of soup or lasagna or something!

Well, anyway all this food talk is making me hungry!

For the Love

Today Horton got out of the yard and gave me a freak out attack. This is the first time he's ever gotten out in this house, and it's been our big fear, because we live not too far off of a major road. The few times he got out in Colorado, he always came trotting back to the house within an hour, so I tried to tell myself not to worry. That doesn't really work though, because I keep thinking about how fast cars go on that road, and about this couple who lost their dog in our neighborhood last fall, and the poor little lost dog signs are still up today. I want to drive around the neighborhood and see if I can find him, but I am car-less today (another story for another day). So I grab Abe, and we trot down to the end of the street by the major road. Thankfully, no dead dog in sight...but still no live dog either. So we head back up toward the house, and I'm starting to cry, wondering what I will ever do if I never see my little Horton again. This lady out in her yard tries to start up a conversation with me and I probably seemed rude, but at the time I didn't care because my little doggie is missing. So Abe and I make it back to the house. (I was encouraging him to pee on everything in site so that Horton would catch Abe's smell and it would be easier for him to find his way home.) So I'm resigned that I just have to stay in the house and wait, but in the meantime, I am worried. So I call Jesse and start leaving him this hysterical ridiculous voicemail. Then, as I'm looking out the window, a few blocks over, I see a glimpse of golden. I hang up the phone, and go sprinting outside running that direction. I'm totally out of breath, have little tears on my face and am trying my best to yell and whistle as I run...talk about a freak show. I get to the spot where I thought I saw the furball, and can't see the little pooch anywhere, so I decide might as well keep running toward the direction that I hear dogs barking. I figured maybe they were barking at Horton...so run run I go...finally, I stop, feeling like my jello jiggler legs are just going to collapse, and I see little happy Horton come trotting around the side of someone's house. I yell out his name and he puts on his big smile and comes sprinting over to me and I give him big hugs. Holding his collar, we both run back to the house, and as we are approaching, I can hear Abe just barking away, feeling so left out of this little adventure. Haaaa...that was about two hours ago, and the two dogs have been sleeping ever since.

Break from the paper!

Alright, I'm 12 pages into my paper on the reliability and validity of the MBTI test. It's simply enthralling. I don't think I can handle anymore of that excitement today.

So Jesse finally knows his new part time schedule. He will have Thursday and Friday off. Whoo hoo! That is the closest to the "real weekend" of Saturday and Sunday that he's ever been. I can't imagine actually being able to do social things again...wow! Plus, we actually have the same days off!! I can't believe it. And with the morning schedule, that means we can take N on Wednesdays, since the both of us will be done with work by afternoon, which means Jesse and I are actually going to have two full days off together with no other commitments! I can't even believe it. That has pretty much not happened since he started United. I am one happy girl.

It's raining here and chilly. I am so tempted to turn on the heater, but I feel terribly bad doing that, since we just had the a/c on yesterday. It's supposed to be 80 this weekend, so I hate to pump the house full of heat only to have to pump it full of cold tomorrow. I am all wrapped up and will try to think of something to bake instead to get some heat in here!

So for our little marriage mentoring deal, we had to take these tests separately. I guess it's to help your mentor see where you are coming from, and identify the strengths and weaknesses in your marriage. Anyway, so we both took our test, and now it's driving my control-freak self crazy. See, you take the test, and the scores go to the church, not back to us. Someone else knows our test scores. Someone else can see all of the areas we matched up in and all of the areas we didn't, which means someone else knows our issues potentially before we do. Jesse wasn't bothered by this at all, but I am really curious to see the results, plus knowing that someone else already has makes it much worse.

Anyway, I am starting to shiver in here now, so I better go turn on the oven and find a hoodie...

Not Much

Ah, a quiet moment. I've got some blueberry buckle baking and am not sure where to go from here. There are plenty of things I could (and probably should) do - start on my final paper for test and measures, haul some more rock to the backyard, or balance the checkbook. For now though, I think I'll just wait for the timer to ding and anticipate some yummy food.

On the vacation front, we needed to make reservations for our sit down dinners, which again seems so odd to us to be planning so far ahead when and what time we will eat each day. But, we don't want to not make reservations and then have to wait for hours to eat. Disney accepts dining reservations 6 months in advance - crazy! Anyway, we finally narrowed in on 3 of the places we want to eat our nice dinners (our meal plan gives one snack, one counter service meal, and one sit down meal each day). The three we decided on are Boma at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, Planet Hollywood at Downtown Disney, and Marrakesh at Epcot. Marrakesh is in "Morocco" and has belly dancers!! That will be too funny. Anyway, the 4th night we plan to leave open, and just see how we feel. If we have to wait, so be it. We got all of our confirmation papers in the mail, which made me very excited. I know it's still nearly 4 months away, but in my mind, it's just around the corner. Oh well, the anticipation makes it more fun anyway, kind of like Christmas - you just look forward to it for weeks and it makes you happy every time you think of it.

There really isn't too much going on for us right now. We have both been quite busy with work, which should slow down for the both of us soon. I am finally done with all of my trades at work, and Jesse finally got news about going part time, which will begin in just 2 weeks for him. Plus, we only have 3 weeks left this semester, so we will be getting even more relief when that wraps up. Jesse is looking at going to another school this summer, which is less than half the tuition of the one we are both at right now. That would make the student-loan-debt-o-meter very happy.

Jesse keeps making comments about "ripping", "destroying","tearing up" the bathroom. I am trying my best to hold him back until we are finished hauling the rock outside, but he is quite eager, and I imagine we just might have a big mess in the bathroom in just a few short days. I'm anxious to get going on it too. That is our last big project (at least that we can afford right now). We already have dreams for next year's tax refund that include adding another garage, putting a porch on the front of the house, extending the roof out, and....

Well, that timer should be dinging soon, and I guess I don't have much to blog about anyway so I will wrap this one up.

Rocks and Stuff

It's break time! I have 2 big papers due in just over a week and have started in on them today. It's been incredibly difficult to stay indoors, as the weather is just insanely nice. Plus, there is plenty I could be doing outside.

We had 4 tons of rock delivered here on Sunday and have been slowly moving it to its permanent home. Jesse has done the majority of the work, since it was his "weekend" and I was at work all day, but I did at least shovel and haul a few of the loads. We got the back corner done, as you can see below. The photo isn't the greatest...but at least it gives you the general gist. There are many "baby plants" around the swing, which will hopefully be strong and tall this summer, making it a cozy little corner.



I should probably find something to make for dinner soon. I have been living on bananas and cheese slices for most of the day. After that, I imagine I should probably get back to the books...ho hum....

My Boys

AABBBBEEEEE!

Abe also gives Boca Chicken Patties 2 thumbs up. He just ate mine. (Saw it sitting on the edge of the counter, and decided to help himself to the entire thing - pickles, mustard and all.)

I'm Scared

Okay, so I just booked our Disney vacation and I'm totally freaked out. I never plan this far in advance and it makes me nervous. (Plan is to go late August-early September). Last time we went, we pretty much planned it 1-2 weeks before. The only reason I booked this early is because they have a special deal where you can get the free dining plan if you book right now for the dates that we are looking at, and I figured planning in advance is well worth getting free food for our entire stay there. I've heard when they offer this, it sells out really fast, so I wanted to be sure that we could get the deal still. And I booked trip insurance, which I am debating if I should call back and cancel, because I always viewed trip insurance as such a scam that only rich paranoid people would do, but the only reason I booked was because someone told me we are going during hurricane season, so if our trip gets messed up because of that, we won't be out a thousand bucks. Speaking of a thousand bucks, what if we don't get enough saved up in time when our balance is due? Oh my. This planning ahead stuff is just too much....

But the fun part is....we are booked at the Caribbean Beach Resort. Check it out. We won't have to rent a car since we are staying on property. We got a 3 day park hopper pass. I can't wait!!!!

What Did I Do?!

So at work, we are still interviewing for another office person. When they come in, I can kind of tell how much my boss likes them based on how many tasks they have to do. If they make it through the intial first few questions, then he'll ask them to add up some numbers on an adding machine (you'd be surprised, but most people fail this task). If they pass, then they figure up some sales tax. If they get that far, then they type a paragraph. So, someone is in and she makes it this far, so my boss tells me to have her type something up. We just use whatever is laying around. In this case, I was reading my psychology book and had just flipped to a new page when this deal came up. So I just point to some random paragraph and tell her to type it. She does and prints it out, and off she goes with my boss for more interview. When they leave, I go back to my reading....and realize that I was about to begin a section on a sex study and had pointed to one of the paragraphs in it for her to type! I turn red and start laughing, pondering, Should I go over there and bring it up, make a joke? But maybe my boss didn't read it. It's not as big of a deal if the interviewee thinks I'm nuts...I can explain this ordeal if she gets the job, but I don't want my boss to think poorly of me...please don't let him read the paragraph, especially out of context like this..." In the end, I decide to just leave it alone. Thankfully, of all the paragraphs that I could have pointed to in that section, this one was the best. It really at most mentioned the "secondary sexual behaviors of the lower animals". Anyway, lesson learned: do not choose paragraphs from the psychology book for the interviewee to type.

Little Horton

Woops, I had saved this post as a draft for some reason, and never actually published it! Oh well....two weeks late is better than never!


It's been calling for rain for days here, but the rain just never seems to come, so I decided this morning to actually water the garden. Horton is just nuts about the hose. He goes crazy trying to jump in it, chase it, eat it, and if you keep him away from it, he cries and cries. Jesse was holding him back while I was watering the garden, and eventually we gave in to Horton's plea, and sprayed him with the hose for a few minutes. Meanwhile, Abe was hunkered down inside, for fear that we might spray him with the hose too. He hates being wet. So this little episode ends, and we go about our business in the yard. As we look up, there's Horton rolling in the freshly dug up dirt, just as happy as can be. I went to grab the camera, but by the time I got back out there, he had rolled in the wet grass and cleaned himself considerably. He was still cute enough to deserve a photo though!

Well Said.

Check this out. (And it was even a CNN headliner!)

I'm Not The Only One

I thought this was interesting, as I had just posted about seeing myself in a swimsuit in a mirror....there was a psychology study done in which men and women were both given 2 math tests that they had to take in front of a mirror. On one of the tests, they were issued sweaters to wear. On the other test, they were issued swimsuits to wear. The scores for men didn't change at all based upon what they were wearing, but the scores for women dropped drastically when they were wearing a swimsuit.

This Is Not A Post

In realizing that my blog is becoming all about house projects/lawn/garden stuff lately, I told myself a couple days ago that my next post would be about something different, and that I'd give the house and garden stuff a rest. I told myself I'd maybe take a photo of Jesse and post it, or maybe of Horton playing the hose. As such, I am not going to post and tell you that my radishes and lettuce are up. And I'm definitely not going to tell you all about how hot my compost pile is now. I'm not going to say that it's really cooking and when I was turning it two days ago, I could feel the heat coming off like a little mini fire. I'm not going to tell you that my peonies are bursting through the ground now, and that the plants somebody on my garden forum sent me last fall actually survived and are beginning to bloom! I will not tell you that yesterday I spent a few hours mulching all of the beds. I won't mention that I totally fell in love with mulch and realized yesterday that it makes a really shabby looking bed suddenly look all nice, neat and well cared for and that now I plan to invest in it annually. I won't say that Jesse bought timbers for another raised bed and that we are hoping to have rock delivered next weekend to finish the backyard landscape project, which means that we can finally put up the swing that we bought for our anniversary. No sir, I will not bore you with these garden and yard rambles that only interest me.

Yay for Burger King!

They've gone a little granola!

Passing A Few Minutes

I am waiting for my lasagna noodles to cook and figure there is no better way to pass a couple minutes than blogging! I got the garden planted today (finally!). I put in my lettuce, peas, and radishes. In a few weeks, I'll be able to add the rest. Today, when I walked out back, the snow fountain cherry was in full bloom. I didn't get to see it last year in bloom, since we didn't move in until late spring.



It's quite nice. I wonder how long the blooms will stick around for. Probably not more than a week, but maybe by then, something else will be in bloom! Well, I've got 1 minute and 53 seconds left on the timer. Better go check those noodles.

The Chopper Doodle Do

I had my hair appointment yesterday. I used to go to (and I use that term very loosely, seeing as I visit a salon maybe 2 times a year at most) this girl in Weston. I just walked in one day, and happened to get her, and she was really good, so I've made it a point to go to her ever since. Well, last fall, she changed salons. Her new salon is in a new development, in a pretty expensive part of town. Jesse knew that I really liked this girl, but wasn't too sure about the new salon, as I knew it was going to be a bit more costly. After hearing me whine and complain one day that I couldn't afford a hair cut, he (very thoughtfully) bought me a gift card to this new salon. That was actually way back in December. Anyway, I finally decided it was time to redeem the card. So my mom and I walk in (she took me shopping yesterday and spoiled both Jesse and I - thanks mom!!) - we walk in, and sit down. Shortly after, someone comes over and asks if we'd like any wine, coffee, etc. It was that moment that I knew I was out of my normal social class. Anyway, then my hair girl comes out and walks me over to this "consultation bar", and offers me some pastries while we talk about what I want for my hair. Then I go back and get my hair washed. She puts on conditioner and then wraps my head in a heated towel, and begins to give me a hand massage as the conditioner is soaking in. So that goes on for a bit, then I got to the chair, and as I'm getting the cut, 2 other people check on me just to make sure that I had been offered some wine or beer. All in all, it was the longest hair appointment I have ever been to, and also the nicest one. And actually, considering the luxury treatment, wasn't even that much more expensive than other salons. Anyway, so that was my big enjoyable splurge yesterday. As you can see, I decided to go for the bangs. I am still figuring out how to style this and what to do with bangs. I really like the back, but I am still figuring out how to do the front.

The Final Kitchen Update

As you may have gathered, by the "how to install a floor" post, the kitchen is finally completed. It's not a terribly drastic change from the before, but it's just enough to update it and make it look a little less bleck.

I Don't Know if I Could Ever Be a Stay-At-Home Parent

Today, Abe has been driving me INSANE. He caught a glimpse of the mailman across the street, which set off a crazy barking spree, which set off a power battle between the two of us which has gone on for the last thirty minutes. Somewhere in the middle of it all, feeling tired and exhausted and frustrated at this furry thing that I love so dearly, it struck me - stay at home parents have to deal with stuff like this every day. Except of course, instead of a 100 some pound hairy beast barking, it's a 40lb adorable child disobeying or crying incessantly because you walked up the green stairs at the park instead of the coveted orange stairs (whoa, babysitting flashback). And after this power struggle, you know you still need to do some grocery shopping, and catch up your checkbook, and get some cleaning done, but you are so fried over this little incident, that you just don't want to do anything but take a long hot bath. Anyway, the responsibility is obviously much greater for the stay-at-home parent, and I'm not trying to say that taking care of a dog can be even comparable to caring for a child, who you can't grab by the collar, snap your fingers at, and push down on their bum while yelling "I said SIT" without getting charged for child abuse. (Sigh...Cesar Milan would be so disappointed in me this morning.) Anyway, all I'm saying is that I don't know how any parent (male or female) keeps their sanity while dealing with various power struggles all day long over the simplest of things, such as a mail delivery or which set of steps at the park you walk up, and then still manages to run a house successfully. So, today I salute all you stay at home parents!!!! You are amazing!! And now it's time for me to resume my power struggle, as I can hear Abe barking non-stop outside and it's giving me a headache inside.

How to Install A Kitchen Floor

Step One - Try to think of any project that would help you avoid cleaning the house.
Step Two - Decide installing kitchen floors counts.
Step Three - Begin removing wood reducer between dining area and kitchen.
Step Four - Realize using a screwdriver to pry is only cracking the reducer.
Step Five - Rummage through husband's tool chest and decide a chisel is the closest thing to a pry bar that you own.
Step Six - Remove dog's butt from reducer.
Step Seven - Grunt while trying to pry up reducer and cheer loudly when it finally plucks up and makes you fall onto your bum.
Step Eight - Stare at fridge, wondering where you can move it to that will allow it to stay plugged in.
Step Nine - Grab an extension cord to use to plug in the fridge.
Step Ten - Realize you are stupid for using an extension cord on a large appliance.
Step Eleven - Unplug extension cord and move fridge into new spot.
Step Twelve - Vacuum and sweep floor.
Step Thirteen - Grab mop bucket and realize it still has dirt in it from when you were using it to pull weeds. Decide kitchen sink will do.
Step Fourteen - Begin mopping floor. Move oven to mop under it. Regret that you were so messy when installing a new back splash and begin picking up chunks of grout and mastic.
Step Fifteen - Wait for the floor to dry and wonder what the heck you were thinking in beginning this project alone. Wish your dogs knew how to administer Swedish massage.
Step Sixteen - Realize you forgot to remove baseboard trim. Refrain from cursing when you break it in the middle.
Step Seventeen - Mop floor again after dogs have walked across it with muddy paws.
Step Eighteen - Begin with first tile. Realize you put it on slightly crooked and desperately try to straighten it despite the strong adhesive.
Step Nineteen - Continue until you need to score. Dig through garage looking for utility knife. Give up and decide kitchen shears will do just as well.
Step Twenty - Bend your fingernail back as you are trying to break a tile where you scored. Pause and cringe face.
Step Twenty One - Reach behind you to grab a new tile and realize the dog is standing on your pile. Kick dogs outside.
Step Twenty Two - Finish laying tiles and nail trim back in.
Step Twenty Three - Grunt loudly lifting the edge of the fridge back onto the slight incline you've created with the tiles.
Step Twenty Four - Sit in the corner admiring your hard work.
Step Twenty Five - Realize the house still needs to be cleaned.

Color!

I feel tired and already sore from pushing the 400 pound cart and should be winding down for bed, but now that we have everything picked out for the bathroom, there is just one problem - I still haven't picked out the paint colors! As such, I'm flipping through my booklet and am thinking about going with "autumnal" on the walls, and "terra brun" for the vanity. (It's ugly 80's oak stain right now.) Autumnal is the 3rd one up from the bottom on the orange swatch, and terra brun is bottom on the browns. We bought a mirror with a pewter edging, and the faucets and such are silver. I don't want it to be too cold in there with all the silvers and the white tub and such, so that is one reason I'm leaning toward the orange and brown. The terra brun might have too much purple in it though....maybe a new brown is in order. I don't know. Maybe I should take my swatch book to work in the morning and analyze it there.

Life Lately

Jesse is now on his new work schedule, which means we no longer have any days off together. I am slightly worried about how we will deal with the shift. One of my bigger concerns is scheduling with N. I won't spell out the boring details of each of our daily schedules, but I will say that there are now only two very tight windows in which we could see N each week. The next few months will be a lot of trial and error with time and priorities. Starting Monday, Jesse is an official student, which means an adjustment for him in balancing work and school, along with the adjustment for us in balancing time together, and figuring out when to see N. It's odd really, because we aren't terribly busy involved in a million activities or anything like that. It's just that we run on a very weird schedule, which makes lining up with the rest of the world a bit challenging. Oh well, we will survive! Besides that, if Jesse decides to pursue his degree (which I am already pretty convinced he will), then he will probably go back to part time at work and would be able to get a better schedule that route.

Anyway, over in the "house projects" area, we are making slow progress. The tax refund check arrived yesterday (and I jumped up and down). I think we will go shopping at Lowe's on Tuesday or Wednesday evening. We have a "10% off entire purchase" coupon, so we have this huge list of everything we will need for all the projects, hopefully down to every last detail if we've done our planning right (which I'm sure we haven't). The plan is to finish the kitchen floors, then do the backyard, then the bathroom.


I spent last weekend digging. We are hoping to make the corner of the backyard a cozy little spot for the swing that we bought on our anniversary. We want to put in some pea gravel and then plant some ornamental grasses along the fence to gain some privacy. So far, I have only managed to dig up the perimeter of the area. I also spent some time digging out the raised bed. I have yet to get my seeds planted...ho hum. Definitely this week. (I hope.)

Jesse surprised me a few days ago with a weed hound that I have been wanting. This thing is a total back saver and it does get somewhat addicting. It cuts weeding time easily in half, and I can actually get those weeds that I couldn't pull up by hand. It is my recommended luxury product of the week.


We also bought yet more seeds for the garden. Abe inspected each packet, and gave them the thumbs up.


Horton has been loving the weather. He sits outside for hours now. He likes to play this certain game. Here's how you play: You want Horton to come inside, so you call his name. He comes trotting happily to you and stops about a foot away, then gives you this mischievous look. You reach your hand out to grab his collar and escort him in, but as soon as you do, he jumps back just out of your reach and wags his tail. You step closer and reach again (much to his delight). He again jumps back. You get serious and tell him you mean business, so he gives in a little by taking a step toward you. You reach out your hand, and he sprints away, wagging his tail and looking back at you. It's a real fun game, especially when you need to leave for work right away. =)

Anyway, I recently decided that I need to start getting more adventurous during meal time. I have this problem of food cycles. I find one food that I like, and then latch onto it and eat insane amounts until I burn out and never want to eat it again. Recently, the cycle is toast with butter and parmesan cheese on top. I am going through about 2 loaves of bread and 1 cannister of parmesan a week all by myself. Probably not quite a "balanced diet". Anyway, so I have been on a search to branch out and break this vicious cycle! This week the new recipe is tasty lentil tacos. Definitely out of our norm. I am hoping they are a success.


I also tried my hand at making whole wheat pitas. They turned out pretty well, except I had trouble getting them to balloon out through the entire pita. The bubbles are in random spots. I think I may have rolled them too thin. (Don't ask me why I took a photo of the pitas...I'm being influenced too much by a blog that I check called Not Martha and she always takes photos of her entire baking process. It always seems so nice and lovely.)

Anyway, this is our life recently....

How to Love Well

The other day at work a man in his 70's came in, and mentioned to me that he is getting a divorce. Last week, a woman, who was also older came in, and was in the same situation. In fact, a lot of people come in buying furniture and volunteer to me that they are in the middle of a divorce. Surprisingly, a lot of them are older, and have been married for years. This combined with some other things have made me wonder a lot recently - why do some relationships last and others don't? One of the simplest answers I've ever received regarding this was from my work study supervisor in Kona. He told me, very simply that "Any problem in any relationship can be traced back to one thing - at least one person is not right with God." I see his point and agree, yet in the "messiness" that is life, what does that actually mean and look like? Why has a man in his 70's not yet learned to be loved and to love well? Why do relationships ever end? And for that matter, what even makes them begin with select people? I personally don't believe in "soul mates" and I think "chemistry" means nothing. So is it just commitment? Surely it can't be, because even then, how many relationships are virtually "broken up", but just legally called "married"? What makes a relationship "good" or "bad" and who decides this?

Spring Has Sprung!

Last fall, Jesse and I planted an Autumn Blaze Maple together. It's always hard to tell whether or not plants make it through the winter when there are no signs of life. As such, I was pleasantly surprised as I was leaving for work a couple days ago, and saw new growth on our little tree. I have more to blog, but I thought this photo was so pretty that it deserved its own post. More later.

Fun Things

Our grass is starting to turn green.

I made an appointment to get my hair cut. (Still 2 weeks out...ho hum...)

I took my finals yesterday and turned in my last big paper of the semester today.

We buckled down and bought an air purifier.

We tracked our tax refund check online and it's supposed to be mailed next Friday.

I re-stained our deck in anticipation for another summer of heavy use.

Horton got to go roller blading with Jesse yesterday. (Abe and I walked.)

Next weekend is officially far enough into March to sow snap peas and lettuce.

Innova has released a new line of grain-free dog treats - yay for Horton!

Some Stuff...

Well, obviously Jesse and I didn't make it to BC for our anniversary as we were originally hoping. We are now hoping that maybe we can go there for a few days this summer, then hop over to Alberta to say hello to all of our very cute nieces and nephews for a few days. We will have to see how work schedules and money are. Jesse just went through a shift bid at work and now has Monday/Tuesday as his "weekends". Unfortunately, I work both of those days, but I'm trying to see if I can get on a new work schedule that will give me at least one of those days off as well.

Otherwise, we are still eagerly anticipating our tax refund check. We have bumped "air purifier" to the top of our list. This was aided by two discoveries. One would be the mold growing all over the bedroom windows. We have them covered with curtains, and then we also hung up fabric across the entire wall, covering the windows. It makes for better sleeping since the windows are on the east side of the house, and it also balances out the room aesthically (or so I tell myself). Anyway, Jesse just happened to look behind them one day, and discovered mold just happily creeping up the window. The condensation from the windows never dries out since we have the fabric up. Anyway, we lysol'ed and cleaned it off, and told ourselves we'd have to start wiping the condensation off every couple days from here on out to prevent another mold attack. Our other realization regarding air quality in our home (besides the two big doggie dander creators) comes from the top. In our bedroom and the office, there is the infamous "popcorn" ceiling. In our case, it's cracking and peeling off everywhere. We noticed one huge chunk looking like it would fall down any day, and decided we better pull it off before it falls on top of Horton and traumatizes him even more than he already is. (He is scared of things up high, or anytime you touch something up high.) In any case, Jesse pulled it off, no big deal. A few days later, however, he had the epiphany that there is a good chance our ceiling has abestos in it. The popcorn celing was obviously sprayed on sometime after the house was built, but definitely sprayed pre-80's, jugding by the shape it's in, so we google'd it and our suspicions were confirmed that it is likely. We've decided we should send a chunk to a lab and have it tested so we know for sure. If it does, we will start taking a lot more precaution when we are ripping down these pieces. We may even make it a big project and just get it all out of there, in which case, we would get to wear those astronaut looking white suits and big masks. Not so much fun. I am just hoping that maybe we are clear after all. Regardless, I have decided that I am very happy that I have not been pregnant during our time thus far in this house. Lead paint, mold, abestos...all the makings of a healthy fetus!

Next week I am going to plant my sugar snap peas. This is very exciting for me. I am working on figuring out what I will plant, and where. I have 5 big pots, which I think will be taken up mainly by herbs. Then, my bed, which will have the snap peas, tomatoes somewhere, watermelon, peppers, radishes, lettuce...and maybe some other stuff. Hm. I might need another bed.

I am at work right now, which means I am on dial up, so I am not going to spell check this and wait it out. However, my disclaimer is that there were a lot of words that I was unsure how to spell in this particular post. My other disclaimer is that my boss doesn't care what I do at work, so it is okay that I am using comany time to blog. (He even told me on my first day to bring in some books or magazines to read for when it's slow!) Obviously, this is a great job for a student like myself, who can study and do homework, and still get paid for it.

Well, I guess that is about all I have to say for now....it's almost time for lunch anyway.

Spring Fever

A week or so ago the weather reached about 60 (Canadian translation = 15 or so). It only lasted about a day, but it made me convinced that summer is just around the corner. As such, I've been going nuts reading gardening books and looking at seeds and plants online. Last year, we put up a dinky white picket fence around my garden, which Horton happily jumps almost daily, and Abe nearly impales himself on when he tries to follow. Needless to say, it didn't quite work out. Anyway, so this year, a raised bed is the solution. Jesse has been looking for a project, so I happily asked him to do this one. He had it up within an hour or so and now I've got new plans for him to build me a compost bin too. =) Here's the handy guy in action.

5 years!

At this time 5 years ago, we were at the Loretto eating some yummy food and I was wearing a big white dress. Now I'm just wearing jeans, and I have to say, I am much more comfortable...lol! Jesse and I went out for lunch and then spent about 3 hours at Lowe's. That may not seem like much fun or romance to anyone, but for us, it was a very good time. We purchased this swing for our anniversary present. It's still a bit too chilly/rainy to set it up, but give us four weeks or so and I will be beaming in our backyard while sitting on it. Last summer, I don't know how many times we said "If we only had a hammock or swing back here..." The cool thing is, this swing folds down flat, so we could both nap on it, which we definitely plan to do this spring. Now, Jesse is out picking up a movie and the ingredients for banana cream pie. Yum. It's pajama pant, veg out time!

In keeping with the tradition of snapping a photo each year on our anniversary, here is what year 5 looks like for us...

Just Some Thoughts While I Eat my GrapeNuts

I blogged this a couple days ago and forgot to post it.

Why is it called GrapeNuts anyway?

I am thinking about cutting bangs. Do you (meaning the cosmic void that is cyberspace) think this would be a bad move? My problem is, I have had the same hair cycle since, oh 1995. Let it grow out, cut short layers, repeat. Over Christmas, I met up with friends from camp - some I hadn't seen since high school. They all said "You look exactly like I remember you." Which at first, I thought was a compliment, but then I realized, if ten years have gone by and I haven't changed at all, am I doomed to become one of those women who wears "mom jeans" that are washed out and skinny at the ankles, with an elastic waistband, who seem completely oblivious to the fact that not only are those pants really out of style, but they also make your stomach look perpetually ponchy and your bum look wider than your car? I mean, I am no fashion diva, and most fashion trends just seem sort of ridiculous to me, but perhaps in being this way, I teeter on the edge of becoming a "mom jeans" wearer.

We have N Thursday night and I am trying to brainstorm ideas. Anyone know of good, cheap kids activities? I am always caught off guard when we are with him and people think I am his mom. I suppose it's possible that I could have given birth at age 15, but still, it gets me every time. Funny too how kids have no real sense of age. They just know if you are over 20, you are "old". Jesse said something about age, and N said "You're 45?" with complete sincerity. I just laughed.

I painted some over the weekend. I hung up some painting as we were cleaning out the garage, mainly to get them out of there and into the house. They aren't exactly "hang up" worthy, but with a tiny house, sometimes the best storage is on the wall. Anyway, it's actually kind of nice, because I can just whip out the paint and go for it on the canvas, without having to set up an easel or clear off the table. Now that they are so easy to paint on, the wall of paintings may be perpetually changing until I can get at least one good one out of it. Sometimes it's nice to have paintings that you don't really care about anyway. It's so much easier to paint that way. When I have something that I actually like (rare!), I get nervous working on it, for fear I'll mess up the good things I've done. That makes it hard to complete a piece.

Well, my brother's girlfriend will be here in about 30 minutes and I need to put in a pizza for dinner. The GrapeNuts were my appetizer I guess. Oh! Speaking of pizza, exciting news - Freshcetta is now also making wheat crusts!! That is probably only exciting to me, but still I will share.

Brad Nailers and Air Compressors

Today I got my first taste of using a brad nailer. I think it's my new favorite tool, surpassing the hand sander. We put up some trim in the bedroom to finish framing out a block of paint that I had done a few months ago, then we also finished up some kitchen trim. Here's a pic of my handywork (the white trim around the edge):

Jesse's mom doesn't know this yet, but she bought him an air compressor for his birthday. Too bad the brad nailer isn't ours...

Horton wasn't too sure what to think of the brad nailer. He did, however, enjoy his time snuggling with his "cow cow". When we very first got him, our friends bought Horton some presents, one of which was this little stuffed cow. He likes to keep it on his bed and sometimes snuggles up with it. It's cute to see him chew on it, because he is so gentle with it.

And since I can't leave Abe out, this is a photo of him from a few weeks ago when we got a good snow. He was happy to just lay around in it.

Calling All Canadians!

So one of my classes this semester is "adult development and aging" and I'm working on my big final paper. Part of the requirement is to compare cultural values/public policies, etc. So, if any Canadian would like to give their opinion on any of the following questions, I would not be sad. (If you do give it, know that I may quote you in my paper.)

Ahem, here we go:

Do you like/agree with your government's policy regarding "social security" (i.e. Canada Pension Plan, stuff like that)?

Do you ever worry about having enough financially after you are retired?

Overall, how much does your culture value (or not value) its elderly population? Why?

Anything else you want to tell me (related to aging that is!)?

Wanting

I always kind of think that there are just a few things that I want, and once I have them, I'll just be done wanting. Tax season has made me realize that is not so much. We are actually getting a good sized refund this year, and have been planning what to do with it. Funny how a month ago, I mainly just wanted the kitchen and bathroom redone, and I was willing to wait to finish both of them, as I knew it would take a good amount of time to save up the money. However, now that this refund is coming, I want the kitchen finished, the bathroom finished, a little covered parking spot addition next to the garage, more landscaping, a new little patio spot out back, a chiminea, a swing, crown molding in the living room, and gee, it would be nice to have a little point and shoot digital camera too. Oh yea, and since Jesse is going to start school now too, it would be great to have another computer. And wouldn't it be nice to put some into savings too, say for a vacation down the road? Funny how this chunk of money, big to me, small to others, makes me suddenly long for things that I had never even considered wanting a month ago. It has made me see an ugly core thought in myself - I want life to be easier for me, and once it is and I have everything I want, then I guess I'll help others too. I struggle so much with what it means to be generous, and how wealth should look. I know I'm far from "Western wealth", but compare me to the entire world, and I'm sort of loaded. I've got a house, 2 vehicles, 2 dogs, and I can buy whatever kind of food my little taste buds desire. So why in the world would I need more? The answer is I don't. But I want more. And I just plain don't know what to do about it, if anything.

Highlight of the Mailbox

One thing that not many people know about me (don't get too excited - it's nothing deep) is that I have a very profound love and appreciation for good advertising. If I was a collector, this would definitely be what I would choose to collect. It's an art that few seem to succeed at, thus I take note when I see something quality. Today, I was cleaning and started going through the mail, expecting junk to throw away (minus the birthday card for Jesse from my Grandpa), when I was so pleasantly delighted to open this:

This is the single best piece of advertising I have seen in ages. It's from our bank. All banks down here are going nuts competing for business, and I've seen gimmick after gimmick. This, however, is just genius. It's a "Best Friends Forever" kit, a great 80's throwback reinvented. It comes complete with friendship bracelets (just like the ones I had in 3rd grade!!), fake tattoos, and "BFF cards" such as "Free ride to the airport", "1 Free Day of Moving" or "Free Kidney". The actual gimmick of course, is just the same as all the other banks - you refer a friend that opens an account and you both get 50 bucks - but the packaging is amazing!! I hope the person that worked on this campaign got a raise.

Back to the Kitchen

Well, Jesse and I got the kitchen about 90% finished (except the floor, which hasn't even begun) before he left on his trip. I meant to post these photos before he left, but in the rush, never got around to it.

Jesse's cutting the new counters to fit.Hooking the plumbing back up.
The grout kind of looked like baby poo when we were smearing it on. Thankfully, it dried much nicer/lighter.
The finished product!

Thanks Jesse!