New Countertops!

What a saga.

I was told they were supposed to be in the warehouse on Monday and installation would be on Tuesday.

On Monday night, we (A-hem. I mean, Zuddy.) unhooked the plumbing, took off the other tops (again), and moved the appliances.

No countertops.

After work I call the kitchen designer, Tina (we are "girlfriends" now.) and tell her I have no tops. She finds out they just got to the warehouse and they will be installed Wednesday.

Oh - and by the way.....I'm working this week. So my Mom was there yesterday when they were installed. On Tuesday, when everything was ripped apart, the Noodle had my cousin babysitting her in a house with no kitchen.

So here they are:

Oooooooo. Aaaaaahhhhhhh.

The sink area. Duh. I'll bet you already knew that, huh?

Because there's a sink there.

Yeah.



But here's the bummer:
I saw it right away. The kitchen designer called to see how everything went and I told her about it, but I wasn't sure if it bothered me yet. She said if it bothers me to call her.

So I scrubbed down the kitchen, moved the appliances back and........it bugged me. Maybe it wouldn't bug me if I had this:

But I don't. So it bothered me.



a before and not-quite-after shot.




And, hey. I just want to thank all yous who write a comment. I'm sure you know that nothing makes a blogger happier than someone commenting on their blog! I promise on Friday I will catch up on my friends' blogs....except for my new best friend, Dawnie.
Who needs to start blogging again.
Pleeeeeaaaaase? It's only fair.

Oh - and Oprah's trainer dude, Bob Green, is coming the test kitchens where I'm working today. With Oprah's filming crew.

He'll probably take one look at me and make me his new pet project.

SIGH.........

What a Day!

Such a great day!!!!

We started our day at the pool for the commercial shoot. Gretchen invited us and a bunch of other kids to be extras in a commercial shoot. I picked up our neighbor's children (Patti and Ricardo - I talked about them here.) and a couple of their friends and we went to the pool:

If you click on this picture, you can see the two boys, W and M. They're Gretchen and Bob's boys.

They must have cranked up the heater because the water was sooooo warm - I didn't bring my suit, so I just dipped my feet in - but it was nice! I wish I would've had my suit. The kids had a BALL. They could do whatever they wanted and even though it was cold outside, the sun was shining and they were playing like crazy, which is exactly what Producer Bob wanted. Here's a picture of Producer Bob and my beloved pal, Gretchen:

Isn't Gretchen pretty? She just got a sassy new haircut.

I got to invite my friend Carrie and her little ones to the shoot. I met Carrie at the pool last year. She's sooooo nice and her husband (Corey) is the one who will be doing our kitchen floor! Carrie and Corey have 3 beautiful wonderful children. Here they all are:
Carrie. Isn't she beautiful?

This is A. She's going to be a star someday. I just know it.

Sweet little A and boy J. Baby A is two. Sooooooo cute!
This little family is so nice. Carrie is such a great Mom. I'm constantly impressed with her kids. If they are eating a snack, they immediately ask the Noodle if she'd like to share with them. Amazing. And that's with no prompting from Carrie.

Here are our fabulous neighbor kids:

This is D. So pretty and smart and polite! What a great kid. She's Patti and Ricardo's youngest. She and the Noodle had a playdate after the shoot.

This is E, Patti and Ricardo's boy. He's a little older than D. Great kid.

This is R and R. The R on the left is Patti and Ricardo's older boy. Such a great kid. The other "R". is his buddy from school. So polite and friendly. I can't say enough about these kids. I love them and I'm totally impressed by them.

This is J and I. Such good boys - I have a feeling J (The older one.) will be visible in the commercial. The Director just loved him and he loved being there! He's such a good boy. I'm sad because he and R. will be going to Jr. High this year, so I won't see them at the bus stop every day anymore. They were always making sure the younger kids were taken care of.

One time, when the Noodle and Gretchen's boy, W., were in kindergarten, Gretchen and I were waiting for the school bus and it came to a different corner 4 blocks away (There was a lot of construction in the neighborhood at the time.). J. walked the Noodle home and made sure she was safely in the house while R. took care of W. and walked him home. J. and R. were in the 5th grade at the time. How many 5th graders would think to do that? These are two well brought-up boys.

In other news, J's dad, Jose, and Ricardo are good friends and they just opened a Mexican Restaurant in our neighborhood!!!! I took the Noodle, D., and the Noodle's pal, Ana, there for lunch yesterday.
Ohmygosh.
It was soooooo good! Their tacos were very authentic - unfried fresh corn tortilla with seasoned steak and onions, Cojito cheese, cilantro, lettuce, onion, tomato. Yummy. I ordered some "to go" for Zuddy and brought them to his work. He LOVED them. We've both decided it's our new favorite place to eat. I can't wait to go back. It might be a weekly thing for us.

Then we had the wedding......my cousin, Angie was the bride. SO beautiful. Really. Probably the most gorgeous bride I've ever seen. I had my camera, but forgot to take any pictures. Maybe someone else in the family took some. I've got to share her beauty with you all.

Also, the Noodle, Lulu, Schmackie and Sweet Angel were tooooooooooo cute!
Lulu caught a ride with us to the reception and we were cracking up at the conversation between her and the Noodle. Those two are best pals. First of all, they were making a date to get online at the same time and play with their Webkinz together. All of this talk about setting alarm clocks and what their alarm clocks look like, etc. Soooo funny.
Then the Noodle said something that didn't make much sense and Lulu says, "Uhhhhhhh, O-kay?" Just like a teenager. My Mom was in the front of the car with me and Zuddy was in the middle row of seats and we were all just laughing. Kids are just pure entertainment, aren't they??

The reception was at the Science Museum of Minnesota and so the kids were even MORE excited (even though we didn't go see the exhibits). They were running up and down the musical steps and twirling and dancing around.

At dinner Noodle and Lulu were very impressed with the chicken nuggets. VERY impressed. Apparently the most delectable nuggets EVAH! They were comparing them to other nuggets they've eaten in the past.....like two little wine connoisseurs comparing their favorite vintages. What a hoot!

And the CAKE!!! I'm so picky about cake and this one was really good. I need to find out who made it. Really nice french buttercream. Mmmmmmm.

That's my day. I included the Noodle and Lulu chicken nugget talk as a shout-out to my sis-in-law, Myrna. I know she reads this blog and I didn't get to talk to her about the cute things the girls were talking about.

I'm very thankful for my family, friends and neighbors today.

Retail Therapy.......

Well, I'm feeling a little less crabby today (just a little).

The Noodle and I buzzed around town yesterday and did a little shopping. We (Of course. Seriously. Happens all of the time, I swear.) ran into somebody I knew at one of the stores. Gosh....for a metropolitan area, this sure is a small town!

I used to work with a woman named Mary at Dayton's department store while I was in college. I run into her all of the time....she lives pretty close to us, but I was nowhere near our house yesterday! Last year I promised that I would have a little get-together with her and a couple of others I used to work with, but I never did set it up.....so now I need to just do it.

Oh! Guess what else? I ran into my old roommate, Mary, at swimming lessons last week! She also worked at Dayton's and we keep in touch, but not enough. We used to live in a great apartment in a great neighborhood and we had all sorts of fun. Ahhhh.....to be 20 again......... Well, Mary now has the cutest 2 year old named Ian. Sooooooo cute!

So, anyway, we were shopping and I got a really great mirror at Home Goods! I've been wanting this one from Pottery Barn:

It's $400. So I've been on the hunt for something more reasonably priced. The one I found is very similar, but I even like it better! It's not hung yet, so as soon as I hang it, I will snap a picture and post it. My low-cost version was $50! Yay!

What else?

Oh.....! My friend Gretchen's husband (Bob) is a film producer. He does commercials, music videos, movies, etc....... Well, he's shooting a commercial at our little neighborhood pool today! So the Noodle and all of our pals from the pool and the neighborhood get to be extras! Cool, huh? Well......it's very cold here (60 degrees. Brrrr...) to be swimming outdoors, so the kids are all being paid $20 apiece for showing up.

Remember Gretchen? She just moved a month or so ago to the other side of St. Paul. It's just starting to hit me and I'm getting bummed. It was great to have a friend with kids the same age living so close. We would help each other out with childcare.....especially in the mornings or afternoons when we needed help for that 1/2 hour before or after the school bus came. Now she won't be here for that! We still go for a walk 1 or 2 times a week, but it's not really the same because we have to drive to meet somewhere. Before, we could call each other up and walk 1 block to meet for an impromptu exercise session.

My cousin, Angie, is getting married tonight...so that should be fun! I'll try and take some pictures...if I can remember the camera.

Have a great day!

SIGH.........

Ummmmmmm.........yeah.

Here's a picture of the countertops right after the installer brought them in the house. I was soooooooo excited!


Click on the photo to see it close-up. Try and look at it around the Noodle (who ran into the kitchen and right in front of me.)
I wanted to get a picture speedy-quick before the installer took them away............................because they weren't what I ordered :(

See that backsplash? Didn't want it.

See the edges? They're all wrong, too.

Story of my life. Way deep down, I knew it wouldn't be right. I called Zuddy at work and told him and laughed about it, but later on in the day I got pretty crabby about it.

I've been sooooooooo patient and easy-going about the fact that the kitchen's not done! Now I'm just irritated!!! I mean, did you see that picture of my diningroom yesterday? What a mess! And poor Zuddy had to re-attach all of the plumbing and old countertops and move the appliances back. And now he has to do it all again on Tuesday when they come back to install the correct countertops. Humph.

Okay...I quit crabbing about it now.

Here are a couple of pictures of a cute kitchen in a house that's for sale near us:


I don't love the floor, but the rest of it is pretty cute, huh?

Countertops Are Coming Today!

Yeeeeeeeee Haaaaaaaaaaw!!

I never, ever thought when I started this blog that I'd still be blogging about the kitchen at the end of summer. I thought it all would've been done by now.....but that's the way it goes sometimes, huh? I think if I wouldn't have been able to cook in the kitchen I would've been freaking out - but really, it's just ugly. Not all torn up or anything.

So I've got that going for me.

Which is nice.......... (Caddyshack)

So....it's a total mess in here today. Here are some pictures:
Dining Room. Do you see the cat? She's large and in charge, friends!!! Her name is Quinn and she's deathly afraid her food will be displaced.



You can see I still haven't painted the end panels of the cabinets (it's the primed beaded board that Zuddy installed). I'm going to do it as soon as the countertops are in, I think. I was going to wait until the floor was installed so I could paint the new baseboard the same color as the base cabinets and not make the gray paint mess more than once, but it will be a while before the floors are completed. I think they will be done sometime this winter.

Did I tell you about that? One of the Mommies we know from the pool lives in our neighborhood and her husband lays floors for a living!!!!
How convenient! My little kitchen will be a nice side job for him.

I went and got a new sink and faucet, too. I know this is absolutely boring, but here they are:





So! That's that, people!

But I have so much more to talk about!!! I just don't have time right now because my Cousin moved a few blocks away from us and we want to go and visit her before the countertop installers get here!

Swimming Lessons Stink!

Yeah, that's the general consensus here.

I was thinking I was so smart for scheduling them in Mid-August. I remember having lessons in an outdoor pool as a little one. I loved it. And I also remember them being much earlier in the morning (Noodle's are at 11 am.).

Well.....we are having a little "cold snap" here. It's about 65 degrees right now.

And guess what else? I made a big mistake and put her in a class that is a level or two below her abilities. So here is this lanky 7 year old with a bunch of preschool-kindergardners. I'm not very popular around here right now.

One day, I had niece LuLu with us for a day or two and we tried to go swimming at our regular pool. But Noodle not only crabbed about going swimming, she also fell asleep! In public! She's never done that....even as a baby!


Here's Lulu!



Here's Noodle cuddling with......a folder and pencil?? I guess she really loves those new school supplies, huh?

The garden is lookin' good right now (even though it could use a good weeding. But I got a shot sans the weeds for you:



Not much else going on here. Oh! The dishwasher is fixed. Dammit. And finally.

My new counter tops are finally ready to be installed. I just need to coordinate the installation and we'll be all set! Yay! The only problem is I have a few days of work lined up in the next two weeks, so I'll have to work around that.

Tomorrow I'm working at the Minnesota Garlic Festival!! I think it will be fun and I just got off the phone with my friend, MJ, who I'll be working with. She spent 3 days peeling 30 pounds of garlic. Holy Moly. I feel bad I wasn't there to help her, but I'm a little relieved I didn't have to do that. Is that bad of me?
Yes. It is. Sorry MJ, but I'm just keepin' it real, sister.

This One's For Heather.......

This is what I've been doing lately! Ha ha. The dishwasher repair person comes tomorrow. Because Zuddy couldn't fix it.

Now......here's the plan: Everybody reading this needs to cross their fingers and chant, "please be unfixable, please be unfixable." (It might work best if you close your eyes during the chant-fest.)

Thank you for your support :)



Noodle and I have the crud again, poor Noodle was at a sleep-over and threw up there and then she continued for two more days at home. She probably has a strep infection and I'm bringing her in to see Dr. Beth today. We were supposed to go camping, but we had to cancel. Poor girl.

What else? Oh - Heather J. asked me if I finished painting my hutch yet. HA!!
Two things: first of all.....what color to paint it? As much as I love the look of "shabby chic" all white furniture, it's not really my style. I like black, but I'm not sure I will be able to accomplish the look I want - distressed, etc.

See, the hutch isn't just one material.....no SIR! It's laminate, wood and plastic. Total junk. So it's not like I can sand down to the wood and distress it like that. I don't know......HELP ME!

Also, I'm not getting out the paint again until I can finish painting the cabinets. I still need to caulk, and Zuddy needs to do some trim work. After that's done, I will break out the paint again. And I think I will wait until the Noodle goes back to school. Although, I'll bet I'll change my mind when the counter tops go in. That'll get me going, I'm sure!

So......here's another picture of the beast. Please tell me your thoughts on color!



So, that's about it here.....we're going to the doctor today and I really need to get out into the garden.

Oh my gosh!!! How could I almost forget to mention the bridge collapse in Minneapolis???? Luckily, nobody I know was affected by this tragedy, but there are many people I've heard of that were around there when it happened.....my Mom included. What a scary freak accident. A friend of mine sent me some pictures:




There were many survivors, miraculously.