Cabinet Fairy

The Cabinet Fairy arrived today, and wow, did she ever deliver great bundles!  The cabinets for the study, laundry room and kitchen were delivered.  I opened all the doors and drawers just to check and see how they all worked!  Guess what -- they all work!

Mr. Fixit decided to install the laundry room cabinets first, because they are all base cabinets.  This makes it easier for one person to install, since they set on the floor.  So, tomorrow, Mr. Fixit's friend, BW will come and help install the upper cabinets.  Then I can start filling them with all of our awesome kitchen stuff!  Some of the kitchen stuff has been hanging out since the wedding -- just waiting for its home spot!

Mr. Fixit commented on the sugar cookies he got yesterday from my friend BH.  I had to reassure him that I would bake once again -- when the kitchen has been assembled!  So, in the meantime -- we will have to dream about those delicious cookies!

Friends

Some days are quite unbearable -- but then -- a friend comes along, and it all fades away!  Pretty soon you are laughing through stories, jokes and tv commercials.  Life is great again!

I was blessed with visits from two fabulous out of town friends this weekend and week.  One traveled from afar, and another from not so far, but it was awesome to have them here.  Thanks EM and BH!!  We shared some delicious meals and caught up too.  Here's wishing you a safe journey to your next destination!

Volleyball Views

Volleyball was never one of my better sports -- in P.E. -- that is.  You see, the net was so tall, and the balls were quite painful.  I would always end up with bruises on my wrist and forearm from serving.  I just decided that this was not the sport for me.

Well, the world of volleyball has changed!  My friend EM and I went to watch nine-year-old niece #1 play a match today.  No mercy for the kids, by golly -- the nets were as tall as they could be!  They did awesome though!  I learned about rally scoring and that games go to 25 points.  It was amazing how well these kids did.  Very cool!

I snapped an after game shot, because, how does one photograph volleyball when it is happening?  I think you could get either the net or the back of kids's heads.  Not good photos, I would say -- but a terrific job first year volley girls!!

Big Surprise

I love it when a surprise works!  Surprises are hard though, because it seems like it is F-O-R-E-V-E-R until the big moment arrives!  This weekend was the best surprise ever!

A partnership with a very good friend's family and some friends both near and far, resulted in the most fun 50th birthday celebration.  We roasted hot dogs, ate homemade donuts, had a hayrack ride, made smores, shared some laughs and caught up over carmel apples and sugar cookies.  The day was simply yummy, and made for the best memories!  I wish I could rewind and enjoy it again and again!

The best part of the day was seeing the shocked face of the birthday girl, as more guests arrived for the festivities.  Thanks EM for coming from DC to totally seal the surprise deal!  Happy Birthday DM!!!

A Bit Melancholy

Some days are just, "one of those days!"  I think this was one for me.  It seems that things just went wacky right from the start.  Ever have a day like that? 

Today is a busy time in the world of youth development - awards, re-enrollment, entries to return to youth from the State Fair, officer elections, upcoming achievement celebrations, new club leaders, reporting and a few other odds and ends that always come up this time of year.  I always say every year -- I can do this -- I will survive!!  Then I get a day when, I think, "Oh my, whatever have I gotten myself into?"

Today I have also been thinking about my Secretary.  Well, she is not my Secretary anymore, because she retired in January.  Today, though, I have really been missing her.  She was my right hand girl, I tell ya.  She helped me battle the end-of-the-year and the beginning-of-the-year stuff, because it all came at us at the same time.  I definitely feel the void, and wish we could hire another person, but we can't.  So, I just want to say - that I miss her - that JB!  And, I do hope she is enjoying all the fabulous fun that retirement can offer!

State Fair

Mr. Fixit and I took a break from the house -- for one day -- to visit the Kansas State Fair. Ok, so it wasn't only for visiting, I just had about 100 exhibits or so to haul back!

We visited some of my favorite fair sites, like the butter sculpture. This year the 756 pound sculpture was of two sheep. They were jumping and having quite the time in their butter pasture. I snapped a shot for you to enjoy. The sculpture is in this little refrigerated viewing room. There is plexi-glass on three sides -- so it is pretty incredible. People come every year to see this fair tradition. Did you know that there has been a sculpture at the Kansas State Fair every year except 1997? Quite amazing! I think they re-use the butter each year too, but don't quote me on that fact!

I love the Pride of Kansas Building -- I think it is my favorite building of the whole fair -- well, except the 4-H building, of course! The Pride of Kansas Building has large pumpkins, watermelons, cool looking gourds, wheat, milo and all kinds of Kansas Agriculture products there. It is an awesome way to experience Kansas -- in one building! I couldn't resist taking a picture of this cool pumpkin that someone transformed into a jar of Jif peanut butter. Yummy!

Mr. Fixit enjoyed visiting with some businesses about building stuff and seeing the classic car show. We even rode on the fair ski lift ride, and saw the entire fairgrounds from the sky. Super fun! Then it was back to work, taking exhibits down, loading them in the van and trekking home. The fair is officially over for another year!

Mountain Mist in Progress

The painting thing is totally progressing! I bit off a big part of the painting pizza this weekend. The laundry room is done. Check! After a day's worth of ladder exercises and 4 gallons later, the kitchen and dining area is done too! Mountain Mist is the color - which is a light gray. Mr. Fixit and I both thing that it has a hint of blue or purple in the gray. Whatever the case, we decided that we like it!

The first room of tiled floor has been completely laid and grouted. So, here is a sneak peek of that floor. This floor was laid in the office area. The floor color is several shades of gray and a hit of white -- kind of a marbled effect. The grout color is called "Mushroom." I wonder who gets to name all these things? That would definitely be a job I could get into!

Painting & Carpet

The flooring folks moved the front room carpet to the two new bedrooms. The yellow "Moon Dance" paint looks quite fun against the dark blue carpet. The green "Palm Breeze" also looks lovely against the dark blue carpet. So, Mr. Fixit is diligently working to finish up the window trim, closet trim and wall outlet details. New carpet will then be installed in the front room, as the final flooring project.

My goal is to get at least one room close to liveable, so we can start having guests visit! I think in another two or three weeks -- we should be ready!

Enjoy some "almost" finished room pix! I still have quite the amount of walls to paint yet - so more painting is yet to come!

"X" Marks the Spot

The flooring process has officially commenced. Ok, so the project began on Tuesday -- which, by the way, has caused me to unhook all of my lifelines to the outside world, aka -- internet! So, it has taken me a bit to find some time, and internet, to get you updated on the flooring adventures.

Mr. Fixit and I selected a kind of tile, but it is not ceramic tile. It is a composite-type called Alterna. It is lovely, in that it is always room temperature, and that it is quite durable. Which, I believe is a plus, especially since I seem to keep dropping things lately!

Anyway, this is the the subfloor. It goes down first, before the tile happens. So, this is what most of our house is filled with right now. The carpetting from the front room has been divided, and moved to the new bedrooms. More on this in a later post. Until then, enjoy these pix of the subfloor progress!

More Painting

My intentions were to get home a bit early and have maybe an extra hour of painting. The sun is simply setting too fast these days -- so it makes it difficult to paint. We are still waiting for some lights to be hooked up in the new part. So, until then, we are relying on Mother Nature. Speaking of Mother Nature, she sure supplied some storm excitement tonight. So, that stole a bit of daylight from us.

Tonight we (EB and I) did get the yellow, "Moon Dance," room painted. Hooray! Practically three gallons later. Which, by the way, new walls take ENORMOUS amounts of paint. So, just beware. I am wondering if I don't need a giant tank of paint waiting in the back yard!

The green, "Palm Breeze," room is a work in progress. One coat of the edging is complete, and a partial coat of the roller part is accomplished. Still lots to do, so maybe tomorrow?? I just hope I can get it accomplished before the carpet comes. Mr. Fixit is instructing the flooring people to lay the kitchen floor first. Yeah, maybe I can get another day to paint the green room!

To Paint or No?

So, the sheetrocking is officially finished! Yeah, that house chapter has come to a close, but another has just begun my friends. The painting chapter! I arrived home from two days of Kansas State Fair work excitement to discover that the flooring folks will be arriving on Tuesday. Yup, a few short days aways.

The painting must commence! I painted a second coat on the office, and we both painted the master bedroom walk-in closet. Then my good friend EB came over and we painted the guest bedroom yellow. Actually, "Moon Dance" to be exact =)!

Mr. Fixit and Construction Friend installed some closet door frames. So, here are a couple of shots of the progress. We have been busy, so I have been a little lax on the blog!

Books with Babes

Our recent visit to home, brought some time with my little nieces. They love -- absolutely adore -- books! So, Mr. Fixit succumbed to the cute brown and blue eyed sweeties, and read them their book choice. Actually, my youngest niece enjoyed her book being read to her 4 times before the night ended!

I snapped some shots of Sister #5 reading to one of my nieces and Mr. Fixit reading to another. We had quite the fun! I do think that even though they are ages 5 and 3, that they still seem like young, little babes. Hard to believe that the oldest has started kindergarten this year!

Adventurous Boys

Sister #2 and I were doing supper dishes with Mom last night, and her two boys -- age 5 and 3 -- were outside having some fun. The guys (my Dad, Uncle J. and Mr. Fixit) were sipping some tea on the porch and swapping stories about who knows what.

Anyway, us gals were enjoying some great conversation and catching up without little people interruptions for a bit. I peeked out the window to discover that both boys had somehow scrambled up the propane tank. They were standing on top of the tank, looking mighty proud of themselves!

The boys slid down and went racing after each other. Dad soon was tipped off to some mischief, as both boys were covered in white paint. He brought them indoors for a little scrub, and these photos were taken during the clean up process =)

There's a Hole in My Wall

Have you ever heard that song, "There's a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza. There's a hole in my bucket, dear Liza a hole."? Well, by golly, there is a hole in our wall -- actually two holes!

You see, the new part of the house has been joined to the old part. So now instead of having to go outside and around to get inside the new house addition - we can just walk through the wall. Because -- there is a hole in our wall!

Mr. Fixit cut the main opening which joins the living room to the kitchen. He also cut a smaller opening for the hallway, which will lead to our bedroom. The sheetrock folks will be working next week to tie the new and old parts together. Then you will never know that they were two separate house pieces. Quite miraculous!

Enjoy the progress pix!

Car Conundrum

It all started last week Thursday. The engine light illuminated the dash as I headed to work that morning. Fantastic! I just had the car in for an oil change less than two weeks ago.

I called the service department and reported the situation. I dropped the car off for a Friday morning appointment. A diagnosis was made, and the part was ordered. I could take my car home for the weekend, but would need to bring it back on Monday for the repair.

Monday morning I dropped my car off at 7:30 a.m. The morning flew by and soon the afternoon too. I still had not heard about my car, so I called. Nope the car would not be done today. The part did not fix the problem. They would need another day to diagnose.

*Sigh* really? Ok, I could live without a car for another day. Tuesday came and went, and I called them again. Nope the car would not be ready on Tuesday either. They figured out the problem, and had to order more parts. So, the car would be done on Wednesday.

Wednesday is here. I had not heard from the service shop, so I thought I would call, around 2:30. Nope, the car is not done -- but it will be done by 5:00 today. Yeah! So, I am excited to go pay that $450 bill to reclaim my wheels.

In the meanwhile, I must give a shout out to my co-workers who have been very gracious chauffers. I think I will be buying them an ice cream or a pop as a thank you!