We're rounding the last corner

Hi Dee Ho Peeps!

Well, last night we got you guys mostly caught up with the shenanigans around here in a rather lengthy post.  We'll try to keep it down today but no promises, I tend to ramble!

The ginormous refrigerator/freezer is in and we are using it! Woohoo!!!

(There she goes with those ding dang exclamation marks again!)

The stairwell is all done and all those little blue tape scratches have been repaired now.

Our new sofa got delivered....in a box!  Who knew??!!

Hubster got the new light fixture installed in the garage entry area.

It's so much brighter than the "boob" light it replaced.

It's reading yellow in this pic but it was getting dark so the lighting was wonky.

I had another fixture to put here outside the Merebear and Abogg's rooms but it didn't work so we just added a can light.  It's still brighter so that's good. 

We have cabinet doors here too!!

We got cabinet doors on Monday!  Woohoo and my stove is just still so lovely. 

Now I just need to figure out how to use it!

The microwave station is all set up and waiting on knobs/pulls.  That's what is in that box by the way.

Dry bar just needs the glass shelves installed.

New furniture!  We moved the furniture in and put it all together last night.

You'll see the full pics tomorrow...hopefully!  We covered it up before they arrived this morning just in case any painting got done in that area today. 

That was the State of Union on Monday evening.  Today has been hardware installation, final paint touch-ups, and attempting to fix my precious stove that the propane company messed up when they came to do a leak check.  grrrrrrrr   Hector is on it and is bound and determined to find a way to repair the leg they messed up.   

Alright, let's finish out dinner and such from the past weekend

Friday evening:  We headed out to dinner with our amazing neighbors at BoomerJacks

I'm telling you, our neighbors always call just when we need them to!

Saturday:  Hubster and I tried to obtain heat stroke levels while working in the yard all day long.  He mowed and trimmed, and I weeded the entire garden.   We cleaned up and headed to Costco to replenish the depleted stock around here.   Roberto wandered over and we had Salad w/ Sirloin beef strips for dinner.     Costco pound cake with berries finished off the meal then we waited on Court and MattC to arrive.   They got in at about 11 and we fell exhausted into bed. 

Sunday:  We had some breakfast then hung out in the pool with them for a bit.  PennPenn is scheduled for surgery in mid-July so she and Reggie Roni didn't get to play.   Reggie was not happy about that at all. 

After they headed out we installed light fixtures, moved stuff into the refrigerator and freezer, and all around pretended we could continue to live in that part of the house.  We had chips & salsa for dinner with some ice cream.   We were tired!

Monday evening:  After everyone left we headed to Lowe's to pick up a few things we needed so we grabbed a quick bite to eat at Braum's.   We keep saying it's the last time we have to eat out in the middle of the week, and then there we go again! haha 

Let's do some gratitude and get you people out of here for the day!

1) Light at the end of the tunnel- I can see it, it's coming!

2) Air conditioning - people it's hot here in Texas, like really hot

3) Contractors who care and don't say "That's not my problem".  Hector is doing everything he can to fix something the gas company broke.

4) A sofa to sit on and watch TV- those camping chairs were getting to be hard on the back.  I ain't no spring chicken no more!

5)  Seeing all the kids in the past 3 weeks!  Plus my niece, it fills my heart to see all of them and get that visual that they are all good!

See ya tomorrow and here's to hoping an end date is set!

 

Peace, Love, & Stay Cool

Still here....Still chugging along

Well, Hellooooo Peeps!!! I've been away for far too long but don't worry, you haven't missed much!

Yes, tomorrow, June 25 will indeed mark the beginning of Week 11 of this never-ending kitchen renovation.  However, the next few days should be the end but shhhhhh, we're trying not to get our hopes up.

Let's go back 10 days and get you guys all caught up shall we?

Thursday, June 13 and this is what it looked like, not much had changed in the last few weeks.

Painters tape up, so they must have been painting the crown molding.

Yep, it was time to paint the trim work. 

And a taller ladder was in order. 

The next day was the day Hubster and I left for Chicago.  Leaving with the hopes, dreams, and promises of a completed kitchen when we return the following Tuesday evening.  

Friday evening our flight was delayed so we had plenty of time for a bite to eat at Shake Shack.

I had a burger & fries and I cannot complain, it was tasty.

We arrived quite late in Chicago and Abogg so graciously picked us up at the airport.  We finally got in bed after midnight so we could hit the ground running Saturday morning. 

We headed out for an early lunch at Minghin and then shopped the afternoon away.  I picked myself up a little something, something at the LV store at Nordstrom.  We had some delightful afternoon cocktails and the Starbucks Reserve.   Abogg and AprilMayJune were surprised there wasn't a line waiting to get in.  It was still packed but we wandered through the entire 4 stories and grabbed drinks at the top floor.  More shopping before we headed back home.   It was a long, tiring day so we munched on leftovers and watched some comedians on TV before we turned in early.     

Sunday, Father's Day, got us up bright and early.  Hopped on the bus to Wrigleyville.  Grabbed a late breakfast at Chicago Bagel Authority.   We all had something different and they were all absolutely delicious!      We walked towards the stadium and made a pit stop for some pre-game drinks at a little bar called Sheffield's   We didn't eat but the food looked amazing.  Time to head over to Wrigley Field, game time 12:05 p.m.  

The Cubbies didn't win but they were playing St. Louis so I was secretly happy.

Seeing a game at those old stadiums is really what baseball is all about!  However, it was H_O_T, Hot!

After the game, we made our way home, grabbed showers, and a little power nap.  My sweet princess of a niece came over and we all walked to dinner at a lovely place called Gretel.  E, AprilMayJune, and I all had the Lobster roll served hot with butter and we were not disappointed.  We left stuffed and had leftovers aplenty for Hubster to nosh on the next day.   On our walk back we went to E's fave bar and then called it a night.  

On Monday, AprilMayJune had to work so Abogg walked us all over Chicago!  We had a great time even with it being warmer there than Texas!   

We made it down to the Riverwalk

Hubster taking all the pictures.

This time we got to see Buckingham Fountain. 

Grabbed some lunch at Luke's and then picked up some incredible doughnuts over at Do-Rite Donuts in Willis Tower.  We tried to go to a couple of different museums and other tourist things but lots of things are closed on Monday.  It was ridiculously hot so we headed home for another mid-day shower and to get ready for an early dinner.     We strolled over to Thattu hoping to snag a table.  It's been named on several best restaurant lists and we arrived just after they opened for dinner.  Opted to sit at the bar but a reservation that was booked didn't show so they kindly allowed us to take the table.   This food is from the Southwest region of India called Kerala.  This was very different than any Indian food we'd eaten before but it was DIVINE.   I highly recommend attempting a reservation if you are in the area.  It's a small restaurant but worth it.   We left with full bellies for a slow walk home.   Princess E. came over to see us one last time before we had to head home the next day.       On Tuesday morning, Abogg had to leave at 7 am for a required jump seat flight so we spent the morning with AprilMayJune in between her work meetings.  We ordered a favorite delivery from Ramen-San for lunch before Hubster and I rolled our little luggage down to the train station and hopped on for a quick trip to the airport.  Of course, I had to grab a bag of Garrett mix popcorn at  Garrett Popcorn just after getting through security.   After a bit of a delay waiting for the plane to be fueled, we were on our way home.  Our amazing neighbors had chicken kabobs waiting on us when we got home.......to our not-finished kitchen! 

This is getting long so we're gonna speed through the pics!

They did get the lights in the bar installed but the shelves still haven't gone in.

New carpet on the stairs and they rehung our really, heavy clock.

Wednesday, Big Leo came over and hung the ginormous television over the fireplace.

Little bit better pic of the stairs in the daylight.

Bar area lights and new wine refrigerator installed. 

Apparently I'm like super in love with the stairs. haha

And you can see, no cabinet doors still.

Hubster's ginormous refrigerator and freezer are installed and working!

Reggie's station is ready for him.

Microwave is in as well.

I'm so ready to add my new toaster to this section and actully use my kitchen!

The ice gods cometh and have blessed us with a working ice machine again.  The dishwasher is all hooked up and working too.

My stove!!!!💕

She's beautiful !!!  

All the trim has been painted too!

That brings us to Friday of last week and we're gonna put the brakes on for tonight.  It's after midnight and the workers will be back bright and early in the morning so I should hit the sack.

Let's finish up with food and gratitude.   

Wednesday evening our neighbors brought over some Mama's pizza and we all 4 sat out on the porch and ate pizza straight out of the box.   Good pizza, good friends!

Thursday evening Hubster and I worked around the house very late and we ended up eating Chicken strips for dinner.  Nothing else, just air-fried some chicken strips and we were both exhausted still from the trip, didn't sleep well Wednesday night so it was an early to-bed night.  

Let's get our gratitude on now!

1) Getting to see my baby boy and his sweet wife - it was an excellent trip

2) Friends who feed us time and time again, we owe these guys so many dinners.

3) Getting to see Princess E. - I don't get to see my niece often but now that she's also in Chicago I'll get to see her more.  Maybe one day, she'll finally come visit us!

4) New appliances installed, the kitchen isn't done but I can pretend it is and I'm grateful.

5) Airplanes, they allow us to visit our family, employ our son, and give us so much more time to visit instead of driving.    Air travel can be frustrating but not nearly as frustrating as 13+ hours in a car. 

Bonus:

My neglected garden, it always blesses me even when I neglect to give it proper care.

Time for bed peeps, back tomorrow to fully catch you up!

Peace, Love, & Tomatoes

The Ice gods taketh away

Good Evening Peeps!!

Long time no chat, I wish I could tell you it's because things have moved so swiftly that I haven't had time to keep up.  Alas, that is quite the opposite.  It's been a very frustrating week, to say the least and we started out on Monday voicing those concerns to Hector.  In case you've lost track we are currently in week 9 of this 6-8 week project.     There have been days where workers were here for 4 or 5 hours and days where no one worked. F-R-U-S-T-R-A-T-I-N-G for sure!

Let's start the recap because this is how it begins:

Remember my ice from the ice machine that made me oh so very happy?

Yeah, well, somewhere along the way wires were crossed and we ended up with a gravity drain and not a pump on the ice maker so the water was just sitting in the bin.  We had to turn it off and order a pump, the pump is in but it's still not installed and I am sad once again.    However, MereBear and Reygun stopped by last weekend for some early Father's Day frolicking and we turned that sucker back on.  I just got the ole' turkey baster and sucked the water out twice a day.  Small price to pay for the joy of ice in my beverages!

\

Every morning we get up and by 7:30 we've got the house opened up, the lights turned on and usually, one car moved to the street.  Typically, the Hubster's car moves out to the street so he can go swimming at the health club.  This day we must have both needed to go somewhere and I'd like to formally apologize to my neighbors.   I know you are sick of the cars being on the street and believe me, we are equally ready to not have to play car shuffle every day. 

This is the face of a happy girl who has her washer and dryer back in the laundry room.

Nothing else is back in that room but the washer and dryer and I can assure you, they've been getting a workout.  Laundromat days were no fun at all!

Looks like the big doors have some trim around them in this picture. It feels like a lifetime ago that I took this but it's really only been a week.

I've lost track of the number of times this has been taped over and covered up.   This is exactly what it still looks like a week later, they still haven't gotten to painting that hood vent yet. 

And there's my little ice machine just pining for his pump to be installed.  

Oh wait, that's me just crying because I really do want to have ice again. 

But this is a glorious site indeed!

Francisco the Magnificent came back Monday to add the tile around the fireplace because of CODES.

Anywho, he'll be back in a few days to grout.

Reggie has the right idea, let's just sleep through this project. Those pillows will have to be tossed, he's wallowed them to death.  

We're up-to-date and the fireplace has been grouted, and the trim painted.

The stairs are up and ready for paint.  The walls could use some paint too!

One of the kitchen windows has the first coat of white but the other is still blue.

You can also see exactly how far they can paint with the current ladder.  

That's it folks, you see what has been done in a week and I think you can understand our frustration.  We've been promised that when we return from Chicago we should be 95% done.   I'm not believing it until I see it!   In case you needed a reminder, when we return Tuesday evening it will be the start of week 10 so quite frankly, we better be ding dang close to wrapping things up! If not, it may look like this.

Let's talk dinners, shall we?

Thurs., June 6:  I made some Barramundi and a big salad.  Tasteeeeey!

Everything in the salad except the lettuce and carrots came from the garden.

Tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, & green beans all fresh!

Got my plate all ready!

The stuff on the top left is the squash that was leftover from the salad, I cooked it with the fish.

Poured me a glass of wine and off to the patio for dinner.

Fri. June 7:  We had Rotisserie chicken and potato salad from the grocery.  It was tasty, believe it or not.

Sat., June 8: The girls were here and we snacked most of the day while in the pool then later that evening we headed over to BoomerJacks for some dinner.   No one knew what they felt like eating and BoomerJacks has a little of everything.

Sun., June 9: We grilled hot dogs and they were delicious, end of story.   I forgot pics or I was starving, could go either way since we'd all been in the pool most of the afternoon.

Mon., June 10:  I whipped up some Chicken Quesadillas with the leftover Rotisserie chicken.

We just piled the plate high, poured some salsa into a bowl, and sat on the couch with the plate between us.

That is more cucumber water in my glass and the reason I'm getting up to go to the bathroom about 4 times a night now!

Tues., June 11: Hubster had a big salad and I had PB on crackers.  I started taking a new supplement that I apparently do not need but I've felt like death warmed over this week.  Dinner had no interest for me.

Wed., June 12:  We did a rare thing and went to a concert last night.  I drug the poor Hubster to see SilverSun Pickup at Tannahill's down in the FW Stockyards.  We had dinner at the restaurant prior to the show.  I had fish tacos and Hubster had the ribs.  They were quite tasty and the show was awesome!

Thurs., June 13: I air fried some of the Bare chicken patties and we ate those. No kidding, there were 3 left in the bag and that's what we had for dinner.   Then we had some ice cream.   We leave tomorrow evening for Chicago and we didn't want any leftovers.   Plus we'll be eating good in the Windy City with Abogg and AprilMayJune! 

Let's get to the Gratitudes because ya girl needs to hit the hay!

1) My washer & dryer: I will never take those for granted

2) Weekend with MereBear & Reygun: it was a chill weekend and what we needed

3) Quick trip to the nail salon- off with those fake nails for good

4) A fun mid-week date night with the Hubster, we need to do things like that more often

5) Kim, my acupuncturist because she rocks!!!  

Bonus: House of Dragons returns this weekend!!

Here's to hoping next Wednesday you see an almost finished kitchen!

Peace, Love, & Dragons!