Day 11 of the floor project and things are starting to come back together. I've loaded my dishwasher, cleaned my stove (it was covered with garage dust) and am on my 3rd load of laundry. You should see my overflowing hampers after 7 days with no washer/dryer access (well, of course, except for a couple emergency loads Maria let me come over to do--thanks!).
So what's the best way to rearrange your dryer exhaust tube while everything is still hooked up? I smelled the dryer getting HOT and looked behind to see that I'd scrunched up the tube when I was scooting the dryer over to be just where I like it...I don't think any heat was escaping...glad I found it before letting it run and catch fire. There is JUST ENOUGH space in my laundry room for me to ALMOST squeeze between the wall to get back there to arrange it correctly...but not quite. So, I hung over the top of the dryer---ooof---and did the best possible with most of my blood flooding my head & feeling like the top of the dryer was going to cut me in two. I was glad no one was there with a camera--and glad I didn't get stuck! And, yes, I did try to pull it out then hook it up, but we keep the tube too short for that to work. Anyway...it's running again and maybe Eric can help me figure something out...we had it fine before!
So Eric finished tiling the entry way last night...only the coat closet and a small corner by the front door left! I sealed most of the grout in the kitchen...just have to do the dining area and then all the grouting in the entry once it's adhered properly. Oh...and I figured out how to get the kids to pick up all the spacers: set the timer for three minutes and offer a quarter to anyone who could fill up a paper cup...they had it done in no time flat!
I'll post more pix soon....
Monday, October 22, 2007
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Get Ready...
Get set...GO! Oh, guess it's not a race...the tile project is moving along...here are pictures:
Eric started by laying the backer board and fixing all the squeaks in the floor...yahoo!
Kai has been really excited that he is 'helping' Daddy with the tools. Elena just heard me taking pictures and quickly ran in from her puzzle-doing to add a funny face.
Travis (Eric's bro) came up on Saturday to get us started. He's building houses now for a living and just laid a tile floor in his own new house. Between him and I we convinced Eric to go for a 45 degree offset pattern rather than straight offset. Good deal pickles.
The kids' job has been to pick up the spacers. Uuummm...ya, right. They do a few and then quickly get distracted.
Here's the second go at grouting. We did some the first night, only to find the color two shades lighter than what the sample card displayed. So Eric dug out what was still soft and then drilled the rest out with a drimmel (sp?) tool. This is the CORRECT color while it's wet...it dries to blend in with the tile color--pictures of that in the next post.
Eric started by laying the backer board and fixing all the squeaks in the floor...yahoo!
Kai has been really excited that he is 'helping' Daddy with the tools. Elena just heard me taking pictures and quickly ran in from her puzzle-doing to add a funny face.
Travis (Eric's bro) came up on Saturday to get us started. He's building houses now for a living and just laid a tile floor in his own new house. Between him and I we convinced Eric to go for a 45 degree offset pattern rather than straight offset. Good deal pickles.
The kids' job has been to pick up the spacers. Uuummm...ya, right. They do a few and then quickly get distracted.
Here's the second go at grouting. We did some the first night, only to find the color two shades lighter than what the sample card displayed. So Eric dug out what was still soft and then drilled the rest out with a drimmel (sp?) tool. This is the CORRECT color while it's wet...it dries to blend in with the tile color--pictures of that in the next post.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Goodbye Vinyl!
YAY!!! These are the very last pictures of my vinyl kitchen/entry/1/2 bath/laundry room floor!!!
It is now where it belongs...in the trash dumpster. (Yuk...can you tell I move my fridge to clean under it often?--it's usually where that nasty spot is in the bottom right of the picture). If you're not familiar with my obsession about trying to keep this floor clean you can read this just for kicks.
And so begins the huge project of laying our new porcelain tile. Surely a task we do-it-yourselfers can tackle...though I wish we had some experience before diving into a 300+ sq. ft. project. No dishwasher, washer/dryer or stove/oven for us for a while...do you think I'll survive?
It is now where it belongs...in the trash dumpster. (Yuk...can you tell I move my fridge to clean under it often?--it's usually where that nasty spot is in the bottom right of the picture). If you're not familiar with my obsession about trying to keep this floor clean you can read this just for kicks.
And so begins the huge project of laying our new porcelain tile. Surely a task we do-it-yourselfers can tackle...though I wish we had some experience before diving into a 300+ sq. ft. project. No dishwasher, washer/dryer or stove/oven for us for a while...do you think I'll survive?
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Best Grilled Chicken!
I have always been disappointed in my poor grilling skills. I'd either burn meat to a crisp or have it so dry and bland that it tasted like chewy cardboard. A couple months ago, though, I came across a marinade recipe that has turned my attempts into success!
It's called Pretty Chicken Marinade and is from allrecipes.com by user TaraNicole:
INGREDIENTS
2/3 cup olive oil
2/3 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons liquid smoke flavoring
2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
2 teaspoons garlic powder
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
DIRECTIONS
-In a large bowl, mix the olive oil, soy sauce, lemon juice, liquid smoke, mustard, pepper, and garlic powder. Place chicken in the bowl, and coat with the marinade. Cover, and allow chicken to marinate a maximum of 4 hours in the refrigerator.
-Preheat the grill for high heat.
-Oil grill grate. Discard marinade, and place chicken on grate. Cook 6 to 8 minutes on each side, until juices run clear. (I always check w/a meat thermometer)
I made it again yesterday for boneless pork chops and yumm-O! If you click on the title above it will take you to the recipe on allrecipes.com and you can print it in whatever format you want. Happy Grilling--while there is still time!
It's called Pretty Chicken Marinade and is from allrecipes.com by user TaraNicole:
INGREDIENTS
2/3 cup olive oil
2/3 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons liquid smoke flavoring
2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
2 teaspoons garlic powder
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
DIRECTIONS
-In a large bowl, mix the olive oil, soy sauce, lemon juice, liquid smoke, mustard, pepper, and garlic powder. Place chicken in the bowl, and coat with the marinade. Cover, and allow chicken to marinate a maximum of 4 hours in the refrigerator.
-Preheat the grill for high heat.
-Oil grill grate. Discard marinade, and place chicken on grate. Cook 6 to 8 minutes on each side, until juices run clear. (I always check w/a meat thermometer)
I made it again yesterday for boneless pork chops and yumm-O! If you click on the title above it will take you to the recipe on allrecipes.com and you can print it in whatever format you want. Happy Grilling--while there is still time!
Monday, October 08, 2007
Philosophical Wanderings
Defined on dictionary.com: shallow: adj. lacking depth of intellect or knowledge; concerned only with what is obvious.
I've been thinking a lot about the different eras of my life. My own personal history as it is. Unfortunately, I often come to the conclusion that I've lived the majority of my years steeped in shallowness. Several of these trains of thought have been triggered by seeing someone from my past on the lovely myspace. It's complex & I'm not so hot at translating all those thought processes to blog-format...and, dear reader, you probably don't want to be bored by my circular musings! Anywhoo...below are a couple engines to my trains...
For instance, a college acquaintance who has gone on to be a force in the marketing world who just bought a time-share on some isle off the West coast...but it's still being BUILT & showcases limo rides and pictures of herself on the red carpet. Holy crap-o! That one made me really think about my career path & what I did-didnot 'do' or 'accomplish'! I even questioned the validity of the importance of being a full-time wife and mother---a thought I NEVER thought would enter my mind! (I've gotten over that now--go mommies! Let's change the world one child at a time!).
Then last night I ran across a girl from high school...didn't particularly like her then, and certainly would avoid her now. Trying to decide if it's pity I should feel towards her or what, but here is a semi-quote from her page "I believe life is about looking good and staying that way...I plan to be plastic in my old age...those who differ are entitled to their opinions". She looked like a Barbie who proudly spends 23 1/2 hours a day in front of a mirror.
The environment of an 'information age' culture seems to bring up lots of thoughts that maybe wouldn't be there otherwise. I mean, really, would I EVER hear about that girl from high school again if I weren't online? Should I pray for her poor soul? What is the purpose of re-establishing contacts that otherwise would have stayed broken? Molly, are you sure we shouldn't long for a life on the open prairie 150 years ago?
Maybe it's all just a part of life...you change, you grow, you move on, relationships change, morph, some die. All of it just meshes together to form your journey...for some they always stay close to where they started. For me, I feel like I've lived kind of a segmented life, because, so far once I've left a place I've never gone back to stay: "Denver Life" "Cheney Life" "P-burg Life #1 (party girl)" "P-burg Life #2 (Jesus girl)" "Knoxville Life" "KC Life"...what's next?????
And will I look back on my current life in another 5-10 years and think "Man, I was so shallow then!"? Hmmmmmm.....
I've been thinking a lot about the different eras of my life. My own personal history as it is. Unfortunately, I often come to the conclusion that I've lived the majority of my years steeped in shallowness. Several of these trains of thought have been triggered by seeing someone from my past on the lovely myspace. It's complex & I'm not so hot at translating all those thought processes to blog-format...and, dear reader, you probably don't want to be bored by my circular musings! Anywhoo...below are a couple engines to my trains...
For instance, a college acquaintance who has gone on to be a force in the marketing world who just bought a time-share on some isle off the West coast...but it's still being BUILT & showcases limo rides and pictures of herself on the red carpet. Holy crap-o! That one made me really think about my career path & what I did-didnot 'do' or 'accomplish'! I even questioned the validity of the importance of being a full-time wife and mother---a thought I NEVER thought would enter my mind! (I've gotten over that now--go mommies! Let's change the world one child at a time!).
Then last night I ran across a girl from high school...didn't particularly like her then, and certainly would avoid her now. Trying to decide if it's pity I should feel towards her or what, but here is a semi-quote from her page "I believe life is about looking good and staying that way...I plan to be plastic in my old age...those who differ are entitled to their opinions". She looked like a Barbie who proudly spends 23 1/2 hours a day in front of a mirror.
The environment of an 'information age' culture seems to bring up lots of thoughts that maybe wouldn't be there otherwise. I mean, really, would I EVER hear about that girl from high school again if I weren't online? Should I pray for her poor soul? What is the purpose of re-establishing contacts that otherwise would have stayed broken? Molly, are you sure we shouldn't long for a life on the open prairie 150 years ago?
Whenever I catch up with someone from "way back" as my Grandma would say, I so want to say "Wait! God has changed me from who I used to be!" and just pray they don't remember some parts of how I was.
Maybe it's all just a part of life...you change, you grow, you move on, relationships change, morph, some die. All of it just meshes together to form your journey...for some they always stay close to where they started. For me, I feel like I've lived kind of a segmented life, because, so far once I've left a place I've never gone back to stay: "Denver Life" "Cheney Life" "P-burg Life #1 (party girl)" "P-burg Life #2 (Jesus girl)" "Knoxville Life" "KC Life"...what's next?????
And will I look back on my current life in another 5-10 years and think "Man, I was so shallow then!"? Hmmmmmm.....
Monday, October 01, 2007
How to pass it on...
This weekend we had the pleasure of spending it in Wichita visiting friends and family. My niece, Stella, is turning one year old tomorrow so we celebrated that momentous event and just enjoyed being with everyone!
Whenever I'm in Wichita on Sunday I get to go to River and worship...always a treat! My bro-in-law is the worship pastor and their band does such a great job at making it all about praising & honoring God while putting out some awesome performances at the same time. The message this week had a couple themes: 'heroes' and 'connecting your faith to everyday life'. Terry, River's pastor, always lays it out in a very methodical and easy to digest format...so now I'm trying to apply some of it...
The big question: "How to give grace and show God's love to my 2-year-old who will NOT go to sleep this afternoon?" This is the same boy who everyday sleeps away 3 hours of the afternoon. Also the same boy who has a nasty respiratory cold and who's body certainly could use some major down time. It may seem a trivial question, but his not submitting to my desire for his sleep is making me have a knot in my stomach!
He has now made his way down from his room saying "I sleeped GOOD Mommy! I not sick ANYMORE!" and is on my lap wanting to play computer games. AAARRRGGGHHH! Well, I guess the battle is over for now and I will graciously show him love and pray tonight isn't an evening of meltdowns. I leave now with hoping this one day of demonstrating grace will add on to many others in order to pass on a heart for living out life as perhaps Christ would! BTW, I sure could use your prayers for patience!
Whenever I'm in Wichita on Sunday I get to go to River and worship...always a treat! My bro-in-law is the worship pastor and their band does such a great job at making it all about praising & honoring God while putting out some awesome performances at the same time. The message this week had a couple themes: 'heroes' and 'connecting your faith to everyday life'. Terry, River's pastor, always lays it out in a very methodical and easy to digest format...so now I'm trying to apply some of it...
The big question: "How to give grace and show God's love to my 2-year-old who will NOT go to sleep this afternoon?" This is the same boy who everyday sleeps away 3 hours of the afternoon. Also the same boy who has a nasty respiratory cold and who's body certainly could use some major down time. It may seem a trivial question, but his not submitting to my desire for his sleep is making me have a knot in my stomach!
He has now made his way down from his room saying "I sleeped GOOD Mommy! I not sick ANYMORE!" and is on my lap wanting to play computer games. AAARRRGGGHHH! Well, I guess the battle is over for now and I will graciously show him love and pray tonight isn't an evening of meltdowns. I leave now with hoping this one day of demonstrating grace will add on to many others in order to pass on a heart for living out life as perhaps Christ would! BTW, I sure could use your prayers for patience!
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