Welcome White Lightning!

 Derek has been ready for a new vehicle for years.  His truck was a 2009 and he has been looking at (and occasionally showing me) options for quite awhile.  I wasn't ready.  But since he is hitting 15 years on the department he will be getting a raise this month.  And let's be honest, it's also because I drove his truck recently in the rain and saw Libby experience the puddle that develops on the floor of the passenger side I was also ready.  

So we looked on a day when school was cancelled for power, and there was no inventory anywhere around.  Then, exactly a week later, on a school night--White Lightning (as it is now known) showed up at a dealership about 30 minutes north.  We headed up to "drive" (which in our language means "buy") it.

When we were test driving, we turned down a random side street and ended up turning into a Mormon church parking lot to turn around.  A sign...haha.  So we did the deal.  I didn't bring the checkbook.  But they let us sign all the papers and bring the check up the next day.  Of course I had to bring the check up because Derek ended up having a call that took 13 hours of overtime or something like that. 

They gave us a good deal on Derek's truck trade.  And this Yukon is smooth.  So smooth.  I'm jealous.  He deserves it.  He's always had the less nice vehicle.  I'm a little worried about not having a truck in the family--but I guess we will rent a trailer if we really need to haul anything.

We have WINDOWS!

Things are moving along.  The windows look SO good!  I am very excited for the natural light to be flooding in again.  We have 1/2 the cabinets installed including the pulls.  (I love the pulls I chose--see closeup below--and what is funny is they are the exact shape of the pulls in all the bathrooms here.  I didn't even realize it until I had bought them. The bathroom pulls have fancy designs in them, so they aren't exact.  But similar.)

This side is just waiting for the new oven cabinet and new lower cabinet that were the wrong size.  They are supposed to arrive tomorrow.  Yes! 

Closer look at the cabinets.  So pretty! 

One of the things I am most looking forward to!  I am trying to figure out a way to make this hands free so that it opens with a push of a knee or the wave of a foot.  Stay tuned for that next week. 

 

Kitchen Update!

 Some good news!  And some less good news today on the kitchen progress.

Good news: Cabinets are going in!  And they are more than 1/2 way up!

Bad news: The oven cabinet is too small.  So they have to rebuild it.  That's going to take about a week.  Ugh.  This means they have to rebuild one of the cabinets on the bottom too, to adjust for the oven cabinet change.  Also, my broom cabinet is TINY. So tiny.  (There was an original measurement issue that resulted in this problem.). But I've decided that I can fit a broom in it.  So I'll either use it for that or make it into a tower of cookie sheet cabinets.  It'll be okay.

Windows probably go in on Monday.  PROGRESS!!!  

Word of the Year

 So last year, my word of the year was SPACE.  Well--I certianly got that in ways I never expected.  I was ready to throw in the towel on the word of the year thing. 

But then I read Brene Brown's Gifts of Imperfection...which led me to a book she talks about called Play by Stuart Brown.  And I realized that what I really need is to take it easy more often.  I need to play. Play just to play.

So that's my word. Play.  Play the guitar.  Play the piano.  And just play!  Puzzle (which I have rediscovered how much I love).  Play games with the kids.  Get more down time.  My body and mind need it.  They are telling me in no uncertain terms. 

Ben's souvenir from my trip was this game--Suspend.  So fun!  

We all have a good time when we play.  (I've played it with him twice now!) Go me! 

I've got a new puzzle going downstairs too! 

Happy Birthday to ME!

 COVID derailed my normal birthday trip with my long distance friends Jen & Emmi.  So my quarantine community stepped up.  Whitney and Maren and I had a little getaway to Whidbey Island. It was a top notch ladies trip!  

We explored Fort Casey

We shopped Coupeville! 

We did some fine dining--takeout anyone? 

Pampering.  

We actually got to "dine in" outside at a restaurant.  Remember how at a restaurant they bring you chips and salsa?  I forgot about that!  It was chilly--(they gave me the seat by the heater) but it was awesome. 

The house we rented was a former officers quarter house.  It was cute and SO clean.  (I know how clean the floor is because I spilled an entire giant cup of water on kitchen floor.  We had to mop it up with white bath towels it was so much.  And the towels came away clean.  I shudder to think what would happen if you ran a white bath towel along my kitchen floor--in good times. Side note, the water spilling happened at 6 am.  Sorry Whit.)  But the house was super fun.  A favorite decor piece was the cross stitch that said: This took forever. 

I will say the top bunk was almost falling into the bottom when I slept on it...but I didn't crush Maren's face, so it worked out okay.  

I got to pick the movie.  Had to educate Whitney.  She had never seen this gem! 

Happy birthday girl! 

Fort Casey guard duty. 

So this puzzle was the real story of the weekend.  We probably spent 10 hours on it.  I 'm looking at my watch because it was 4 minutes past checkout and we were still trying.  I hate to leave unfinished business, but this was a tough puzzle!  Seriously.  And 1000 pieces in 2.5 days?  Not gonna happen.  So next time, we take a 500 piecer! 

We did a little hiking around Deception Pass. #workitpnw

YES!  I love this view.  But it feel super scary at the same time.  Cars rushing past right next to you! 

The "dine in" and final shopping was in lovely Mt. Vernon.  Seriously--the PNW rocks, and so does my community.  I am ready to start a new year--thankful for what this last year brought me.  

Hip/Glute Update

 I had my 4 week check-up on my hip this week.  It was great news.  As I suspected (since I started walking my morning walks again this week with much less pain) the tendons are healing really nicely.  Two of the tears are almost totally healed.  One is still healing.  The socket issue looks better to him too.  But I still have a lot of pain.  So we will see.  I am going back in a few weeks because he thinks the healing and reduction in inflammation will continue.  Hooray!  

Kitchen Update

This was a big week for the kitchen!  The gas is done.  The electrical is almost done.  The wood floors are patched.  The walls are insulated.  The sheetrock is up.  I peeled the wallpaper on the adjacent dining room wall so that the mud and tape from the new dining room entrance won't have to overlap the wallpaper walls.  Whew!  I think the cabinets are arriving this upcoming week.   I'm looking forward to the finished product.  But I will say--with our temporary kitchen--it's been okay.  I can't complain.  

Did you think this would be a project that didn't involve me peeling any wall paper?  Me too!  Ha!  Not in this house!  I peeled this whole wall between Tuesday and Friday evenings.  And did I get a headache--yes indeed.  But it's done.  

 

Happy New Year! Bring on 2021

 I started to blog last week--then had to teach Relief Society.  (I really enjoyed preparing for teaching the lesson--but really have a hard time teaching spiritual things on zoom...in the way I feel like I can teach secular things...but I digress). Then we had a great family goal setting meeting.  Then Maren hurt her hand when she fell in her driveway and I spent the rest of the afternoon with her at urgent care.  It was a pretty intense wound.  

Anyway, before that--yes, 2021 got off to an intense start--we have a fun and typical NYE.  We always stay home and fondue.  And Derek always works.  So, things felt relatively normal.  (Derek was driving the paddy wagon for a protest instead of guarding the Space Needle--so that was new and so perfect for 2020.) Maren and the Hardies joined us--so it was pretty perfect to welcome in 2021 with the people that made 2020 doable.  

I made fondue with real Swiss cheeses and it was scrumptious!  The chocolate fountain was a mix of chocolate wafers we bought for Maren's kid entertainment day (where they made stir sticks) and chocolate chips with coconut oil to make it really liquid.  It was so yummy.

Libby worked some magic and got all the kids dressed and beautiful.  (I was still in sweats, don't worry.) 

After eating we played charades and then the "strips of paper" game where you put in famous people and then do 3 rounds of guessing them.  Then the kids ran off and the adults played a 30 second mystery game.  I don't want to toot my own horn...but I got 13 and the other adults playing each got 12.  So I eked out a narrow victory.  We rang in the NY at about 10:00.  Lots of confetti and horn blowing.  

When we did our toasts to the New Year, there is a lot to look forward to.  And a lot to be thankful for.  Cheers to our immunity community.  Cheers to the vaccine.  Cheers to online learning working--pretty well.  Cheers to our health so far through this pandemic.  And cheers to fresh starts (and to no Martinelli's explosions in the temporary kitchen).