over the river and through the woods...

...to grandmother's house we go.


I'm on my way to see my grammy up in Bellingham first thing in the morning. She's 98 and fully prepared for her final crossing.  I might not make it before she goes.  But I also know she knows I am coming, and I have a hunch she is waiting for me to get there.

Only time will tell.

I have to go to sleep now because I have a very early flight. I'll be blogging from the road with the ipad, so forgive me if words are short as I only have a touch screen keypad on that device and two numb fingertips! 

uhhh....

...it's 11:35pm and I just got home from dance class followed by a quick trip to the market and the ATM machine.

I think I need to be writing blogposts earlier in the day, because this late at night isn't working for me!  Especially when I have to be up at the buttcrack o' dawn to get the kiddo off to marching band practice. Oy! 

I owe ya' one.

bzzzzt!

I've been dealing with a few physical issues lately, one being the fact that two fingers on my right (dominant) hand....the middle and the ring finger....have gone numb.  The tips of them just beyond the knuckle just feel like they're asleep.  It's been freaking me out.  Knitting feels not-so-good, and neither does most things I might do in the kitchen, like slicing and dicing.

This right arm is the same arm that was trashed during the car accident and is full of interesting metal components. I've ruled out a bunch of stuff the regular MD and a host of lab work, plus some work with a physical therapist. Today was the day for a "nerve conduction study".

NOT a fun time.

Basically 45 minutes of being electrocuted (ok, I exaggerate. 45 minutes of being "zapped").  It's quite uncomfortable (putting it mildly) and it included having needles inserted in the nerves and having the current run into them. Like I said, fun times.  At least the doc has been brushing up on his stand-up comedy routine, so he kept things light, but it still sucked.

I had to do this a few months after the car accident.  I didn't like it then, either.


No big answers.  A little puzzling information on the radial nerve between the elbow and the wrist, but he actually thinks the probably might be coming from the neck.  So now off I go for an MRI on the neck. 

At least in there I can lay down and enjoy the whirring  LOL.

my little find

Yesterday I was on the fly in the East Bay and grabbed myself a sandwich to go at Whole Foods while picking up a few hard to find groceries for the week.   The sandwich was kind of "meh".  It was a bunch of caprese ingredients on a baguette, so fresh mozzarella, tomato, and basil. There wasn't a bit of seasoning nor any balsamic vinegar, and because the sandwich was in the pre-pack "to go" area, the bread was very dense and chewy.

I was driving to my next thing, chewing away at this mass of should-be-better but aint-so-good, when I found my mind wandering to Paris.  I will never forget all the little sandwich displays on the sidewalks out front of restaurants, and how you could grab any one of them and you were guaranteed a winner. Oh, the bread. OhMyGawd, the bread in Paris.  *sigh!*

Well!  Today I had a physical therapy appointment, and when I headed for my car I went a different direction than I normally travel, I found myself right on the little patio of La Fable.  All I wanted was a little fo' real french jamon (ham) sandwich, and holy crap.  For 12 bucks I got that annnnnd...

....lobster bisque and a tuna sandwich, too!!

Oh man, it was SO. GOOD.  I ate the soup and the jamon parisienne, and I just dusted off the tuna for dinner.   I am soooo going back there. Like, ASAP.
  
Why on earth would anyone eat fast crap food?!!!

harping

I don't mean to keep harping about how great my kid is (quite frankly, it's not a quality I fully appreciate in other parents)...but what am I to do?

Oddly enough, the only thing that is really going smoothly in my life right now is my relationship with MyFavoriteKid.  Being that he's a teenager, I find that rather shocking, but I am every so appreciative.

Many other relationships in my life right now are strained or distant, mostly my own doing, I am sure. But this is one relationship that is going well, and I am so glad to not have the added stress of being at odds with a person I live with and am (on some levels) responsible for helping through life.


I just need it to be noted that I am grateful.

a waste of a day

Dang, it just drives me nuts when I lose a day to a migraine.  I woke up with a headache, and by the early afternoon I was full blown migraine status.  I'd swear on my grave that it was caused by some roadside fruitstand snacks we picked up yesterday on the way to Sacramento.  As I sat here today with my head splitting open and feeling super-duper thirsty, I realized that those little asian peanuts and wasabi-everythings were probably loaded with msg (even though the label didn't indicate msg or even any "natural flavorings").

After a ton of water and bit of rest, I was able to get myself out of migraine mode and down to just a plain ol' headache.  I went out and got some fresh air by around 5pm by way of taking the dogs to the dog park.

Even with the migraine, I did manage to clean up the dishes stacked up in the kitchen (which is good because I was dangerously close to having the health department show up LOL), and I was able to do a couple of loads of laundry and vacuum the house.   All in all, not so bad.

I'm hoping that is my medical issue for the week, right there.  I need to have a smooth sailing week this week! I have a crap-ton of stuff going on every day this week, including a few extra appointments and quite a bit of driving.  There will be no time for feelin' bad!!

nighty-night....

snaps on saturday

Scene from niece's 18th birthday party :-)

tomorrow...the beginning of the end

I'm just exhausted.  This 5:30am wake-up thing to get MyFavoriteKid off to Zero-Period band practice (before school) is really a challenge for me, especially on Fridays because I have dance class so late on Thursday nights.  I'm just wiped!   

Last night was extra special.  It's been so hot here at YeOldeHaus I've needed to sleep with the windows open, and since I'm basically butted up against a field here, that means the nighttime critters are audible.  Last night there was a skunk in the yard, which I first heard, and then smelled...in the middle of the night...and then the dog went nuts barking out the window at him/her for a bit.  My six hours of sleep was reduced substantially.

I'm hoping to get a bit more rest tonight.  I get to "sleep in" (?!) until a luxurious 7am tomorrow, but at 8am I have to meet the painter over at TheNewDiggs to settle up on THE FINAL PHASE OF REMODELING there.  Next week the hallway and all its many doors and closets gets painted out, as well as the stairwell and railings, and the newly sanded and stained stairs will get a few final coats of sealer. 

And then, my friends...we are DONE.  

There may be a few more tasks we do ourselves, and we may have our handyman friend friend in for a little bit of this and that as things turn up, but once the paint dries next week, we are officially done with contractors for a mighty long while.

Now I just need to decide how to celebrate.  After 2 years of remodeling, this really truly does need to be commemorated!!


(pardon typos and errors if there are any. it's 11pm and I'm going straight to bed without even proofing I'm so beat. hope it made some sense! LOL)

da band

Because I am exhausted, I'm skipping the writing and posting another pic of MyFavoriteKid.

that's him dead center

Okay, okay.

I'm not just posting this pic because I'm tired.

I'm also posting it because I am proud :-)

 

busy day, busy night!

Bright and early, another friggin' doctor's appointment (there have been a lot lately).  Today's was just a check in my regular MD, but that was followed by a visit to the lab and then the injection clinic to boost my tetanus. 

Finished that and did a bunch of running around to a couple of big box hardware stores, then straight from there over the high school because it was the first open meeting of the campus knitting club!

They did a presentation about upcoming projects where they knit for charity, they were all prepared with hand outs and yarn, and earlier in the day the sold headbands as a fundraiser. Cool, right?? (that grey one mighta came home with me LOL)

Then back home for just a quick pitstop, then on to a City Council meeting....where I spoke at the little podium! 

I dont think I've ever done that before!!  It was a meeting about a new business going in on the corner near TheNewDiggs. The best I can tell from the corporate website, it going to be sort of a glorified Dollar Store or mini-Walmart-ish type of thing, with mosty processed and packaged and frozen foods and very little of anything fresh.  Oh, and the big deal is that they want a license to sell beer and wine, even though our neighborhood has already been deemed over-saturated with liquor licenses. 

It all passed, it's going in...but it was really nice to hear the planning commission peeps recognize our concerns about garbage and traffic, etc. And it was nice to make our faces known to the guy who is in charge of rolling out new stores ('cuz now he knows I'll be bringing any garbage I find in my yard to his manager).

It's sad we aren't getting a real little mom and pop grocery store in there (that's what used to be there in the 50's and 60's), but such is life.  At least I'll be able to buy a roll of emergency toilet paper without getting in the car, I suppose.  And at least the corner will have a little landscaping and wont be a target for graffiti anymore!


I'm super whooped. Off to bed! 5:30am wake up times in BandMomMode are sorta ruling my nightlife! 

while you were out....

While we wait for proper bathroom pics, I probably have enough blog fodder saved up from "the long dry summer" to keep us all busy here for awhile.

One big deal that happened while I was gone was that MyFavoriteKid finally got his learner's permit. Somewhere there is a pic of me in the backseat of the Driver's Training Vehicle crapping my pants (the instructor insists parents ride along for the first one so you can see how he teaches, and then hopefully become a better teacher yourself).

I cant find that pic, but in its place, here's a pic of MyFK on registration day and then on the first day of school.

I can hardly believe he's 16 and a high school junior this year.
YIKES!!! 
Where. Does. The time go?!!

He's a really good kid. A couple of weeks ago when the bathroom remodel was spinning out of control, he came in the house and said, "Do you need anything? Just a hug, maybe? "  I said, "I don't even know what I need anymore."  He said, "Well, I think you need a hug and you don't even know it. Here. I'll give you one. I'm worried about you."

Dang! Compassionate, smart, funny...and ten times less impulsive then his mother, often opting to sleep on something and reassess things in the morning.  I don't know where he gets that from, but it sure 'aint from me...and his dad says it 'aint from him either.   I think it might come from being in drumline?? (a very disciplined practice)

Anyhow, I love him bunches.
And 16 feels a lot closer to 18 than 15 was.

a little detour

I totally forgot to take more bathroom shots today. Why? Because I spent the day with my new best friend:

ohhh, how I love thee (let me count the ways!)

I bought this baby a couple of weekends ago.  I've been looking at something like this for years.  It's a gas grill on one side, charcoal on the other, and there is a smoker attached that can also be used like a mini sized grill, like a hibachi or something.  Normally barbeques like this that I have seen are just gargantuan....and quite a chunk of change to boot. Being that I had just built the kitchen of my dreams, it seemed silly to be spending so much money on something that would take me out of my beloved kitchen after all that effort.

But a month or so ago, I ran into this little number. It's smaller than the other ones like it I'd had my eye on.  It didn't have the gas side burner off to the side (just a little flip up tray table instead), making it less expensive, and that was just fine by me, because most people have told me they rarely use their side burners anyhow.  Still, I resisted and walked away from it. Then a couple of weeks ago, it went on sale.  They'd knocked fifty bucks off.  And then they also allowed me to use a 20% off coupon towards the sale price...woohoo!  It went from $300 to $200 just like that, and I could no longer resist.
 I love grilling. Love LOVE  LOVE grilling.  I love using charcoal whenever I have the time, but I also loves me the speed of a gas grill when I don't the time (easy clean up! yay!).

So this morning I woke up, got on the ipad and picked out a few recipes I'd seen on a cooking show recently.  I dashed out of bed. I didn't even make a cup of coffee. I went straight to the store (coffee shop next door), bright and early before the crowds could get in there. Then I texted and called people to see who was available last minute to come over and join us.  And then I started cooking (forgetting all about the bathroom).

I made:
Apricot Mint Gin Sours (huge hit...made it just as is, but then we added fizzy water to it)
Honey Glazed Grilled Fig Salad (subbed arugula for the mizuna), and...
Grilled Pizza with Shaved Asparagus

 me 'n mom in the kitchen...photo compliments of Kimberly

The pizza recipe, I tweaked a bit. First, I didn't bother making my own dough. I love to cook, but I'm still a slacker. I bought the pizza dough.  I used truffle salt on the pizza dough instead of kosher salt.  I blanched the asparagus tips and used them as a topping in addition to the asparagus shavings. I couldn't find the cheeses called for so I tried the "featured cheese of the month" at Trader Joes called an "Elderflower Tomme", and I used parmeseano reggiano instead of romano.  I shredded the cheeses rather than using slices.  I tossed the parsely and the lemon zest together so the zest would spread would distribute more evenly, and I sprinkled that mixture on after grilling along with the asparagus shavings. Let me tell ya'...the lemon was an amazing addition (my new favorite thing on a veggie pizza) not nearly as odd as it sounds.

these two pics are also compliments of Kimberly

the first is the crust being grilled getting ready for toppings...

the second is the crust topped with the asparagus tips and cheeses on a sheet pan in the barbeque getting all nice and metly!  It was then pulled off the heat and topped with the asparagus shavings, parsely, and lemon zest

Oh, and then I grilled a NY strip for MyFavoriteKid to have alongside a caeser salad, as there is no way in hell he's an adventurous of an eater to eat figs, arugula, or pizza without red sauce ;-)

Kimberly and Sandy came over, as well as my parents.  We stuffed ourselves, then we sat with our cocktails and let our legs dangling in the pool. Pretty great day :-)


Except that in all the hubbub I forgot bathroom photos!!  Gah.  I'm not sure what day this week I'm back over there again, but they will indeed be coming soon!

if it looks like a bathroom....

and it smells like a bathroom (ewww! LOL).....

well....
then it's probably a new bathroom!!!

FINALLY. 
Today, after 14 weeks of mess and stress, we have finally achieved a completed bathroom!!!  The crowing elements when on today...the mirror, the towel rings, etc. It's stunning. I wish you all could come see it.

More pictures tomorrow in the light of day, but as for tonight, I am relishing in my first ever soak in my vintage cast-iron tub (it's original to the house, and in the most amazing condition).  Special thanks to TheMostImportantGuy who washed the last contractor's bootprints out the tub for me so I can enjoy this tonight!

Calgon.....take me away!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

a public announcement (so that it sticks)

I hereby proclaim that I will be back and blogging daily, come rain come shine, come highs come lows, come suckass contractors come beautiful bathroom (but please oh please, let it be a beautiful bathroom, already...sheesh!)....

Sunday September 1st.


You can hold me to it ;-)

something like an update

Long time, no blog...eh?

Hello, friends (and hello, blog! I almost forgot how to log in. Sheesh!)

I left rather unceremoniously, didn't I.  Sorry about that. I really didn't mean to freak anyone out.  I stopped due to problems with the blogging service, and then I kept away day after day for different reasons at different times. The list is long.

Over the last week or so I'd been thinking I'd start back up again Aug 1, but to be honest, I'm still not quite there yet.  I have a couple more weeks left of a hectic summer before MyFavoriteKid goes back to school, and I have a couple more weeks left of this danged bathroom renovation at TheNewDiggs.   The damn thing was supposed to be a 4-weeks-or-so project (maybe a bit longer as our sub-contractors have been on summer schedule with their families) but this is now week 10, and it will probably be 12 weeks in total before we're done.  Quite frankly, there's been so much drama and stress around this renovation at times, I even get sick of hearing myself even thinking about it, let alone talking about it, and there is no way I have wanted to reinforce my angst by typing it up.  And you can thank me for sparing you. Truly.

A couple more weeks. I'm giving myself that. It's a good thing. For all of us.
Look for me mid month or so ;-)

X's & O's to all of you, and thanks so much for the notes checking in on me. Love you guys :-)

snaps on Saturday

Crappy camera phone shot at the end of the day, once realizing I didn't take a pic of anything else. Sheesh!

That is Teeny pestering poor Riley to death right before bedtime. She does it every night.
Mi fiesta en la noche!

testing...testing..,.

Let's see if this sticks, shall we??

Freshly planted Dahlias...

poolside, NewDiggs

Now to hit publish and then visit my own blog to see if it's working!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Very nice day today. A few friends over at TheNewDiggs for mimosas, pan au chocolate, coffee, etc....

Lots of chit chat, lots of knitting, then a litttle "nacho bar" for lunch (really good chips from the mexican market, and various toppings).

One of the nicest things I've heard in awhile was when Kimberly came in and said, "Every time I come here, the place just makes me so happy!"

:-) yay :-)

not exactly how i prefer to spend independence day

Seven hours spent driving in 103F degree valley heat to bring MyFavoriteKid to his friend's grandparents farm.

Almost five hours spent doing a deep cleaning the house I don't even live in full time (TheNewDiggs), which hasn't been cleaned in weeks because I'm having a hard time finding a way to stay there with no accessible bathroom.... right?  And all that construction dust? Lordy!

One missed invitation to join potential new friends at a fireworks watching party because I wasn't advised there was even an invitation until 8:30 (dusk).

Maybe twelve seconds of fireworks which I saw from the car as I drove between the two houses. 

An hour or so trying to calm the dogs down (going hysterical over fireworks).

Another good hour trying to roll the garbage can down the steep driveway on crutches (resulting in tipping it over and dumping all of its contents into the street), at YeOldeHouse, because I forgot to make sure it was done when help might have been available earlier in the day, and by this point, I was alone.

And then a good chunk of time building a "dog house" (not literally, and not for the dogs, if you catch my drift).

~ ~ ~


For some reason it's been a number of years since I have spent the 4th of July actually celebrating.  I miss the barbeques and the hanging for the day with friends or family and the ice cold beer and the laughter. I miss watching a real fireworks show and perhaps lighting a few sparklers.

For some reason, it's important to me.
There aren't too many holidays I'm into, but the 4th is one of them, as is Halloween, as are birthdays.

The only real 4th of July-ish thing I did today was to hear the Declaration of Independence read on NPR by a mixed bag of folks while on the seven hour drive. It was very very cool, I have to admit...definitely a "reason for the season" sort of thing....but it was not enough for me to have felt like I had enjoyed a national holiday.

Note to self:
Next year. A proper celebration!!

when all else fails, time for bullets

Blogger/blogspot is having issues with uploading photos. I thought it was user error (as it usually is), but it aint.  And I have photo heavy posts holding up the train over here. 

Meanwhile, so I dont shoot Blogger, here's the bullets:

* One post in the wings is about the synchronized swimming national competition I went to while killing time in Riverside. Freakin' awesome.

* The other photo heavy post in waiting (so heavy it might need to be multiple posts) is the trip I took to Big Bear on one of the Riverside days while MyFavoriteKid had a 13 hour camp day.  Going to Big Bear was not just a little day trip, no.  Why? I grew up there! Toootal trip down memory lane. Lots o' pics of old haunts.

* Bathroom remodel is going sloooow.  Our crew is amazing, but they are all guys with kids, and all are working short days due to childcare or are taking summer trips.  This is gonna take foreverrrr. And it's going to be lovely :-)

* MyFK lectured me today about not knowing how to handle stress, and perhaps he could teach me how to breathe through things. (hmm)

* I didn't realize until today that it was Day 5 of Le Tour de France. I never miss it. How did I miss it?!!

* I am knitting a bit again, hands are hurting less.

* But I lost one of my Signature Needle Arts dpn's (for the non-knitter, that translates into: ~kachink!!~)

* The peaches on my tree went from super firm to super soft over the few days we were gone and the temps were in the hundreds.  I have to get busy canning!

* MyFK was supposed to go up to his friend's grandparent's farm on Tuesday, but there was a call for early season high school drumline rehearsals Tuesday and Wednesday. Damn, they are starting early, and damn this means I have to drive him up to the farm (3 hours each way) tomorrow, on the fourth of July holiday. Gah.

* I am out of bullets now, I think.

* Good, right?

 

all is ok

Problem with blogger and publishing photo heavy posts. Might need to divide all the pics from my trip into chunks.
Here. Ok. Working on a fix!