For the love of television

Mike and I sped through season 3 of LOST. It is still as good as season 1, where after each episode we look at each other and say, "What?!?" We always have to recap..."so, wait a minute...so and so did this, and it led to that..." My favorite characters are (in order): Sayid, Kate, Sawyer, Jack, Desmond, Hurley, Sun, Jin. The new characters we met in season 3 (Juliet, Tom) are growing on me. We sped through season 3 so fast that we are ready to actually follow the season on television. Mike and I don't watch a ton of tv shows or series. We like Monday nights-How I Met Your Mother, etc.-but even those have been repeats because of the writers' strike. Typically TV in our house is just a lot of channel flipping...And What Not to Wear Friday nights...And all the HGTV shows. So, I am really looking forward to actually following a TV show. This Thursday, the network is touting this at the 2 hour LOST Event. Wow, an event. I really hope LOST doesn't get lame like Alias did (really? a pregnant field officer doing karate kicks? Doubt it) or how lame 24 can be. I really hope it maintains its same level of interest, of strangeness, of character development and of good storytelling. I am ready for Thursday-pajamas, wine, dinner and all!

Sleepyhead

What to write about?

Hmmm...I am feeling not very blog friendly lately. Perhaps it is the lack of activities in my life since we work on the kitchen almost every weekend. Well, here is a topic. My birthday is coming up so I am hoping to have some variety. I think I will go shopping with my mom...I want pajamas and work out clothes. Maybe have the family over for dinner, to admire our handiwork over hot slices of pizza? To show everyone how well behaved the boys are after our few weeks of making them sit and lay down and stay. Yes, I will be 32. It will be 14 years since I graduated high school, and 9 years since I graduated college. Ugh. I have crows feet and laugh lines. My back hurts in one place consistently, and I have a bunyon on my right foot. Since we laid the floor tile, I can't sit cross legged on the floor without leg pain. Am I 32 or 82? Okay, let's switch this around a bit. I will have lived 32 glorious years. My family is wonderful, and my in-laws are the best anyone can ask for. I have long term friendships-I have known Jen for over 26 years, and Meg for over 17 years (sorry to date you my dears). I have traveled to many different places, and am married to my soul mate. I own a home, have a good job and career, and have my future in front of me in case little ones are in the picture. My hubby is so far in good health. I am so far in good health. The dogs bring so much love to my life. My 32 years have served me well and are the platform to which greater things will come. Okay, I like all that a whole lot better. I guess I did have something to write about.

Time for before and during pictures

Even though we are not yet done, I thought I should post a before picture and the current state of the kitchen. It is really looking nice. Both of us are off today for the MLK holiday and Mike is a bit burnt out-he's worked since Friday morning on this. So, I don't know what the afternoon has in store but relaxation is definitely in the cards.

Fun and blood at the dog park

Yesterday I took Chester and Stan for a good romp at the Jason street dog park. It has been a tough week for the dogs...I haven't had time to run Ches in the morning, and both Mike and I have gotten home late from work so an evening walk hasn't been in the cards much this week. We met Jen, Jason, their pups, and ran into our neighbor with her two dogs, so the boys had plenty of friends to run around with. We were there almost an hour when I noticed Stan was limping. Then, I noticed his paw was bleeding. Somehow, the crazy guy managed to split his nail past the "quick"-the most sensitive part of a dog's nail. His "quick" was exposed, bloody and I am sure very painful. But looking at Stan, you wouldn't know it. He had a big grin and had just finished chasing Chester. Maybe the snow made it numb. We had to be the lame family who has to leave a play date early because the dorky one gets hurt. Oh well, it gives me a reason to pamper him more than I already do.

We started tiling the backsplash today. Mike finished tiling the counter on Friday. It looks really good. The backsplash does, too. I am not looking forward to grouting. There are so many small pieces of tile that cleaning grout off tile will be a pain in the rear. Oh well, this kitchen is looking so good it will be worth it in the end.

We still have to: Paint the cabinet doors, touch up paint, put on the door hardware, paint the back mud room, clean the basement...etc...etc...but after the bulk of the kitchen is done, these are things that will come in time. For a while I wondered why we chose to do this. Today, I am seeing enough progress to know why.

Awaiting the countertop

I am anxiously sitting here at work, waiting for the end of the day to come so I can get home and see how the tiled countertop turns out. Mike took today off to work at setting the tile, and I hope it is going okay for him. I haven't spoken to him yet, I hate to call when I know he is elbow deep in mortar. So I can't wait to see how it looks! After this is done, we have to tile the backsplash and then we can move the fridge in, turn the stove on, and have a functioning kitchen! We still have cosmetic things to do...cabinet doors and paint the back mud room...but all that is manageable when I know we can eat foods other than Chipotle, Pasquini's and frozen lasagna. Yay!

It is a long weekend-we have MLK day off. So, on the agenda is the kitchen, the dog park, and some Lost episodes.

Atonement

What I am up to:
1. I am in the middle of reading Atonement by Ian McEwan and I love it. I haven't seen the movie yet and don't want to until I am done with my book. So far, it is a compelling story.
2. Mike and I are into Season 3 of Lost. That show still has the magic from before.
3. I am in class 2 of my certificate in adult education at Regis. My instructor is wonderful as is the reading.
4. My confirmundi Jane will be confirmed this Sunday. I got her a little gift and we are having dinner with her family afterward.
5. I just had to buy 4 new tires. Bummer. But a good thing-the others were old.
6. Still LOVE my job.
7. I am attempting to run every morning with Chester by my side. This week I was unsuccessful but will try harder next week.
8. Mike and I are going to sunny San Diego in February. I have a conference for two days and then he and I are destined to have some well deserved FUN.
9. We renewed our Guys Night Out package for baseball. Is it time yet?
10. I have been waiting a long time for KT Tunstall and Ingrid Michaelson CD's to come in from the library. I guess they are popular.

How will you greet the day?

I had one of those moments early this morning that, if I let it, will define my day. The moment itself is not the topic of this posting, but how I let it affect me is. I used to scoff at those pollyanna happy people that say those quotes like, "Only you can decide what kind of day you are going to have..." I used to think, "really? What if this bad thing or that bad thing happens? How can I stay even tempered and positive"? But the longer I keep my feet on this earth, the more I realize that I agree with this statement. Not to be pollyannaish, I don't want to fake or falsely happy. But when I think of my true nature, I think I am a relatively happy person. For the most part, I am pretty easy to get along with. I find very few things irritate me, and when they do I try to not take it too seriously. Like, last night at Blockbuster, I got irritated at the cashier and then apologized, realizing that he isn't the CEO of Blockbuster. Or, my little car incident...I could have completely freaked out on the lady whose bumper wedged into my tire, but I didn't. I just accepted the situation and took the steps to work through it. So this morning, after shedding a few frustrated tears, and muttering to myself all through my morning routine, I think about the sentiment that I am in control of how I face my day. And instead of facing my day feeling bad about myself, or feeling bad about the situation, I choose to feel good about myself and realize that I can't always control the things that happen to me. I have a quote on an artpiece by my front door...Be Where You Are. And I am here, getting centered again and choosing to return to my happy self.

Step by step

We are getting there. Mike created the countertop surface last weekend. This weekend he is measuring and cutting the granite tile for the countertop. We have to take the front pieces to World of Tile so they can "bullnose" the pieces, which will give a nice rounded edge for along the front edge of the countertop. Once that is set, we will do the tile backsplash. After that, we need to finish the cabinet doors and some details-minor paint touch ups, etc. So, we just need to take it step by step!

Good news!

I feel like I am on cloud 9. I have been a bit giddy the past two days. Yesterday Mike had his follow up to the recent PET/CT scan appointment with his oncologist. The news was good! Everything looked normal and he doesn't have to go back for another scan for 6 months! We were both so happy, we came home, walked the boys and then went to Osaka for Sushi. We capped the celebration off with the first episode of season 3 of Lost. No matter how long in between, or how good the scans turned out the last time, each appointment wracks the nerves.

We always stop and chat with the nurses when we are there. One nurse introduced us to this couple, and both Mike and I thought we were looking in the mirror(they were even sitting in our favorite corner, the one most private and cozy with a table to play games on...). M, the wife, was 31 and A, the husband and patient, was 33. He had been diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer, so he had a major surgery and then into cancer treatment. We had the most intimate conversation with this couple, these people we just met. We talked about how scary the situation is, how it changed our perspectives on life, and the certain and uncertain future. The more days I spend on this earth, the more my heart opens up to the struggles people have...but it is also exposed to the joyousness of life as well!

A funny thing happened on the way out of Sunflower

I had a strange situation yesterday. On my lunch break, I contemplated going to Sunflower or Safeway to find food for dinner, and decided on Sunflower. I didn't find what I was looking for, so I left to go to Safeway. When I came out, there was a woman whose front bumper was wedged in between my back wheel and back bumper. She was trying to back up and I saw my bumper looking as though it was going to snap off. I ran up to her car telling her to stop...I asked her what happened. She said she was backing up, and the car behind her was backing up as well. She pulled forward and somehow got wedged in. Her car is a Mercury, one of those old cars, and the bumper protrudes out. Anyway, so as to not rip the bumper off I called AAA and they sent someone to help. He came, looked a bit perplexed, and talked her out of the situation. She was the nicest lady, we talked while waiting for AAA. I told her where I worked and it ended up that she even knew my old boss. I found it to be a very odd way to start 2008. I hope this isn't an indication of what this year is going to be!