Bob had a Birthday

Hey all!  Hit a bit of a dry patch with the old blog, but I am going to try to catch you up on all the things. 

I flew into Nashville last week to visit the family and celebrate Bob's birthday. He turned 78! My sweet sister, The Nice One, met me at the airport with an iced spiced chai (new favorite drink) and a Poke Bowl and chauffeured me about 70 miles south to my parents house in Alabama. That is service! 

As per usual, we almost peed our pants laughing in the driveway before we even got into their house. We unloaded our car, got all caught up with Bob and Lana and started looking at some old photos. My parents actually found some pictures of me as a child. Poor middle child has zero pictures in the albums, and certainly don't have any of me by myself!  The Nice One is that curly headed blonde that is next to me in these pictures! But let's just look at that wild hair I have had from birth and know that not much has changed. It also probably won't be long before I am back in rubber pants over a diaper! I was quizzing my mom about what was in that giant bottle in the picture. What did they feed babies back in the day...Pet milk and Karo Syrup was the answer. Yikes! Throw in some pecans and we are drinking a pecan pie for nourishment. 

Me and my sister get to have a slumber party when we stay at my parent's house. Sharing a room, just like old times!  

The next day we got up and did a few things around the house and then started cooking for the birthday boy. Lana helped with food prep and we even got Bob involved with the breading station for the schnitzel. He did a great job, for a novice, only slowing down when he got busy chatting. 

It was a great day and we were all in bed by 9:00 pm.  We do not do late in this house and that is fine by me! We do, however do early and Bob makes coffee and gives you refills until you have the jitters! 

On the way back to Nashville we stopped at The Bad Farm for a visit with this darling boy and the people that love him.  My niece said when they saw our car pull up they said goodbye to Elvi and told him they would see him in a few hours.  I was so happy to get my hands on him and smell his sweet head.  I mean, is he not the most precious thing? I can answer that for you...HE IS! 

The weather was spectacular and we sat outside and rocked and chatted and tried to make Elvi smile.          It was blissful!  

We also ate blueberry pancakes and made pizza in Callie's new outdoor pizza oven and it was delicious!  I was a big fan. 

After a thorough baby fix (my arms were sore for two days!) and some planning for our upcoming girls trip to New York, it was back to Nashville to fly back to Texas. It was a lovely weekend and I already have a flight booked to do it again soon.  

On the home front, the bathroom renovation is coming along!  Today the tile was all grouted and I LOVE IT!!  

Next up, shower glass and paint!  It has been so fun seeing my choices alive and in person! Can't wait to see the rest of the of it come together!  

Hope you have a great night! 

Hit a Glitch

Hello all.  It has been a dreary, rainy, gross Monday and I am feeling it. Been a little mopey all day. I had to make a doctor's appointment with a new endocrinologist today because my favorite doctor moved away. I don't look forward to meeting new doctors and luckily I haven't had to do it very often. On the website she looks like she is 18. I am sure she is smart as a whip, but what can she know about being a 55 year old gal?  They did tell me that if I have an appointment with her, that there is no changing inside the practice to another doctor so I needed to be sure who I wanted to see.  How? How do I know who I want to see when I haven't met any of them? Is that a common practice or is that weird? Do I need to try and stalk her on Facebook or Instagram to see if she seems nice and loves middle aged ladies? 

Also bringing me down is that my sweet co-worker had a death in the family and it makes me so sad. Her sister-in-law was only 39 years old. Awful. 

To make matters even worse, my poor dog will not do his business in the back yard (because it is raining). I am waiting patiently for a little break in the weather so I can take him for a quick walk. In the meantime, he is a farting machine and it is causing me to have to light candles, y'all. Not for the faint of heart! Or for anyone with a working nose. Dreadful.

In the plus column, the yucky weather did not impact progress on the bathroom!  They were here today putting down the subfloor and doing more waterproofing. There is a loud fan up there now doing its best to dry everything before tomorrow when they start tiling!  So exciting! 

Back in the sucky column, we opened up the shipping crate with my counter top to check out the exact color for purposes of picking out some coordinating backsplash tile. When they unscrewed the wooden crate it was obvious right away the dumb thing is cracked. Ugh! I called customer service and they said they could ship me another one, but it won't ship until March 18th. I have followed up with pictures of the crack and a request for them to give me a partial reimbursement for the counter top only so I can pick one out locally and finish the bathroom as scheduled. Not sure that is going to work or that the schedule won't be impacted. My contractor was super calm about the whole thing.  He said "Don't worry, we will figure it out." I said "Well, let's keep in mind that I am the cheapest girl in the world and I really don't want to have to spend any more money."  I am a treasure to work with.  It is going to be fine.

Switching gears again to some good news, the plant in my office is having a baby! It is precious and new and I can't wait to check on it in the morning! 

Finally, I tried to fix my bad attitude today with a smoothie. I put everything but the kitchen sink in it and drank it all.  So interesting how different a smoothie tastes from a green juice.  I put way more fruit in this smoothie than I do my normal juice, so it was sweeter.  I didn't hate it, but it didn't have a chance at fixing my attitude. If I had to chose, I think I would pick green juice over a smoothie. But a fun change of pace and really nice to be able to add in the chia seeds, flax seeds, hemp seeds, moringa powder for a bunch of plants for the plant list.  

That is all I have for now.  Rain is supposed to let up in 15 minutes or so - going to go find my galoshes and raincoat and get this dog out to do his business! 

Here's to hoping the sun comes out tomorrow, before the next winter storm hits this week! Stay dry out there! 

More Progress

We have lights! The electrician came and made a mess!  Just kidding, he cleaned everything up, but he did have to cut several holes in the sheetrock to install the new can lights, move the outlets and the prep for the two new lights that will go above the mirrors. I am so happy to get better lighting in the bathroom. 

I have a new eyeball can light over the shower area! 

He moved an old outlet over that will be on the left of the vanity. All the plug and light switches will be replaced once the painting is done.

Installed this new outlet around the corner by the window, so that I can keep my blow dryer plugged in all the time and just hang it on a hook around the corner and out of sight. Real happy about that. 

He installed the two blue circle things (I know so much about wiring!) where the new vanity lights will go. 

I don't have a picture, but I also got an eyeball can light over the bathtub that is on a separate dimmer switch. 

The tile guys also came yesterday and framed the new shower pan and installed the dry pan mixture. 

They came back again today and installed the shower pan tarp thing and sloped the shower pan and added more waterproofing. They will be back on Monday to do another coat of waterproofing and then we tile the shower!  Going to have a little niche for the shampoo and conditioner bottles! Yay! 

After tiling the shower, the sheetrock gets repaired or replaced, then we paint walls and ceilings, then install the main tile floor, baseboards and board and batten are next, install the sliding barn door and then the tub, cabinet, toilet and glass shower enclosure go in. It is so exciting and something happens every day.  

I celebrated making it to Friday by having an afternoon Nespresso and a warm sour cherry puff pastry.  It was delicious! I baked the frozen cherries in the oven with a light sprinkling of corn starch, lemon juice, lemon zest, sugar, cinnamon and vanilla.  When it got all thick and yummy I put it on top of some puff pastry and baked it in the oven. Made a little sugar glaze that basically melted when I put it on the hot pastry.  It was so good.  I really love warm fruit in any form or fashion, but warm fruit on a pastry is right at the top of my favorites list. 

All in all, it has been a good week. Boys are doing great and that always makes a momma happy. Harry did have a little fender bender where a girl hit him from behind. She was super upset and he handled it like a pro. After they exchanged insurance information, the girl said "I know this might be weird, but can you give me a hug? Thank you for being so nice." 

Chip called today to tell me about a workout he did and we cracked up about how sore he is going to be tomorrow! He has been running and doing core work for a good long while, but today he went to the gym with a friend and  lifted weights for the first time in a long time. He said he had a couple personal bests...and my first thought was uh oh, you are going to be so sore! He said he already was! You know if you are sore the day of that tomorrow is going to be a whole different level of sore! Poor kid!  Take some Motrin! Listen to your mother! 

I manage to get in four early morning walks with Martha this week. I am talking primo physical and emotional well-being in those early morning hours! Apple Watch tells me I have covered 26 miles so far this week with a couple more days to go. Most evenings I got a walk in with Coop and Judy. I also had two fun friend outings this week: Brunch on Sunday with Beth and dinner last night with Nancy. I think the weekend is going to be gorgeous, so I am hoping to get out and do some yard work. Pick up the last of the leaves. The Queen is coming to hang out with me on Sunday afternoon and I have another dinner with friends on Sunday.  I am living the good life and I am grateful! 

Work is creeping in. Struggling to sleep. I am still trying to suck at work, but I may have to work a bit Saturday morning just to get a few things off my to do list so next week is not terrible. Lots to do and I am trying my best to keep it between the hours of 8 and 5! 

I hope you had a lovely week and are looking forward to a wonderful weekend! 

In Other News....

So, what else has been going on around here....besides watching some excellent NFL football this weekend!  Seriously, I cannot get over how good the football has been in the playoffs. 

I have been cooking like a....(blank stare)

Like a what? A chef? A short order cook? A mother? 

How about...cooking like a middle aged woman, trying to eat more plants. That seems to sum it up pretty well! 

Here are some fun things I made this weekend. A veggie noodle dish.  Lots of slicing and dicing which I love. I took some pictures. 

I also made polenta cakes with some lentil bolognese from the freezer. Super quick and very delicious. 

A vegan Alfredo with mushroom and peas. This picture is terrible and it seems a little weird, right? Also weird was the recipe called for lemon zest and red pepper flakes to finish the dish and it really gave it some pizazz! I want to put lemon zest on everything now! 

How about this for an odd ball recipe to try...Carrot Ginger Soup with croutons made from the leftover bread I made earlier in the week. So many croutons.  This is why we can't wear small pants.  But the soup was scrumptious and I have leftovers in the freezer. Why do I love ginger so much?   

I also made this veggie egg scramble with blackberries for breakfast one morning. 

My friend Sheri sent me this sticker. It is so perfect for me. I put it directly on my laptop! 

                               

Lastly, a few pictures of progress made in the bathroom yesterday.  The electrician came by to see what needed to be done and he will be back today to do the drilling, wire running, and other electrician things. 

The subfloor was also repaired yesterday and the holes where the old plumbing used to be are now covered! 

I got a walk in with Martha this morning and I swear it is therapy in motion. No better way to start the day.   

Today is also my niece Malarie's birthday. I have photo albums all over my house because I am going through and pulling out pictures of us and her in the pre-cell phone days.  A walk down memory lane with one of my favorite people!  This is me holding her the first day she came home from the hospital. I was 18 years old. I have loved her a long time and I can't wait to love her even longer.

Hope things are great in your world! 

Progress

I have a bathtub in the middle of my bedroom!  And I couldn't be happier about it! 

Last week, the plumber came and finished plumbing the bathroom in and getting the bathtub ready for installation.  

Then I started second guessing every design decision I have made in the eight months leading up to this point. Especially about the back wall behind the tub.  It was originally supposed to be all tile, but seeing it empty it felt like that would just be way too much white and it would feel cold. I was waffling between tiling half the wall, three quarters of the wall, struggling with the paint color, ugh! So much money to spend and I really, really, really want to love it when it is done.

So, I called in a lifeline and second opinions and great ideas showed up at my door on Saturday morning in the form of my darling, talented friend Jillynn. She spent an hour in this room with me on Saturday and we drug out everything I have picked, laid down sample tile and tape and looked at paint samples and she solved the hard problem. Board and batten for behind the tub area.  Genius! 

As soon as she suggested it - the light bulbs went off - bells started ringing and it was EXACTLY what my brain was envisioning but I just couldn't break away from thinking about tile. My Contractor came by this morning and he said it was an easy change and would be no problem!  HOORAY!! 

Please see blue tape below for a vision! Also, please look at that stunning floor tile sample in the middle of the room.  I am obsessed and love it so much! 

Jillynn is a photographer and took some great pictures of our morning in my demoed bathroom and I am just so appreciative. Her opinions and validation of what I had already chosen made me feel so much more confident in my choices.  I am now full steam ahead and ready to see it all come together. 

This black hexagon tile below is going to be the shower floor. 

White subway tile for the walls in the shower. 

This is a chunky towel bar...that will double as a handicap bar because old people need help getting out of bathtubs. 

Could I hang it like this and just put a hand towel on it? 

Here is a picture of a stand alone tub with board and batten behind it that will be very similar to what I am going for. 

Anyway, the electrician came by today and we talked about my choices and he will be back tomorrow to rough in the electricity.  Look at me using all the construction words. 

It has been a long, but really fun process (all except the check writing part....not so fun) and I am really happy with how things are going.  I will keep the pictures coming so you can enjoy the process with me!