Final Friday

Here we are, last Friday in August and the last of summer, maybe not officially but with kids headed back to school it might as well be. 

The weather is still very much summertime weather here though as our high today may reach 104 degrees. I think we'll turn the A/C on sooner than the end of the day (which is when we usually do it). Need to stay ahead of the heat on a day like today.

This weekend the plan is to finish painting all the trim of the kitchen cabinets. I am not looking forward to detailing around the hinges but I like to do a good job.  Last time I painted it took my eyes a few days to adjust as it was a little blurry, likely because of eye strain using my reading glasses for the up close work.  I still need to make that eye doctor appointment and dental appointment.

Keeping this short, gotta get to work!

Kitchen project started!

Today we worked on the kitchen cabinets. We are painting all the trim and sides and getting someone hubby knows who does painting of cabinets and furniture for a living to do our cabinet doors.  Steve's got most of the cabinet doors off.  He still has to take some drawers out but most of them have been emptied already.  It is tons of fun figuring out just where he put things as I look for them. :)

 

Here's some photos of today. Hubby sanded while I followed his sander with a shop vac to try to get as much of the dust as I could while he sanded. It did help a lot. Then hubby taped off the areas needing tape.  I don't like to tape things but he hates painting worse than anything.  Case in point, all I needed him to do was open the paint can and he ending up pouring some on himself, his shirt and pants!  Too funny!!



First we had to clear out the cabinets!

 

Coffee table, book shelves, all got some dishes on them

 

Covered all the granite top with the mattress plastic covering from the bed we got last week (smart saver!)

Hubby used Frog tape to tape off areas. I worked around all the hinges though with a small brush

This was so funny! He opened the can and started to pour and it was dripping down the can and he over corrected spilling some onto himself and almost the floor!  Luckily we had the granite top covered in plastic!

Here I am painstakingly painting around each and every hinge!

Here I am painting trim

 

 

Here's pictures of the finished outer cabinets!

Looks nice all white!

 

 Tomorrow we're going to tackle the cabinets around the stove. Then next weekend the plan is to do all the lower cabinets.

Friday, friday!

It's Friday!  Yeah!!

I didn't write this week but not too much too happened. Although I will say that I did leave a message at my mom's dentist to make an appointment but they did NOT call me back. And of course I forgot to try again until just now.  Maybe Monday.

Here's more pictures.  The first is the spare bedroom that finally has a bed in it. It is the one that hubby laid the brushed white distressed pine laminate flooring in a few months ago.  So that room is finally 'presentable'.   Notice the circle near the left top of the dresser?  Hmm... perhaps an Orb? :))  There is nothing there because I dashed back upstairs to look and there is no spot on the dresser there.

The next few pictures are my wonderful peppers that are turning red and yellow, finally!

 

 

And the last one is the new dreaded wasp nest that is already pretty darn big (replacing the one that hubby knocked down a few weeks ago).  I've left it alone though and luckily all its occupants have left me alone too.

Sunday already?

As Sunday is drawing to a close, I did get to have some relaxation time even though I did work some. I made Beer Bread and Honey Grilled Shrimp today too. Yum!

We finally got a head board this week for our bed. Hubby was going to build one with some laminates but I was looking for an old door like the one we have in our dining room. Once again my favorite store Divine Patina, came through!  They had a great antique bi-fold door stressed painted a mint green.

Here is the photo before (when hubby finished the laminate floor back on June 5th).

 

Here is how it looks now with our new head board.

 

 

I love it and now the room is complete!

~ New Project ~

A few weeks ago I mentioned to hubby that we really should do something about our kitchen cabinets. We had the counter top , back splash, sink and stove/hood replaced already about 4 years ago.  I really want to get the cabinets replaced or at least refaced. Hubby says we shouldn't get that done because the dogs will just scratch up all the doors they can reach from the floor like they are now.  But I didn't want to wait years until we did something.  I can see his point with five dogs, but I like to LIVE, not worry about not doing stuff because the dogs may cause some damage. 

So I brought up just getting them painted for now.  Hubby knows a guy who does the painting of cabinets, etc., for a living. We are going to tackle the trim and sides of the cabinets ourselves. The plan is to paint them all white and get new hardware.  I'm excited and it won't cost a ton of money. Then in the future we can get the cabinets refaced or replaced if we want.

Here's some before pictures. Hubby has already started removing and labeling doors. He's going to work on taping off most of it by next weekend and we will sand and paint the trim hopefully next weekend.  We don't want to be pressed to get it done so we're not getting the doors done until we've got the rest all ready.  Below are some before pictures.  The cabinets don't look too bad in the pictures but there are some that are. The ones below the kitchen sink have quite a bit of the varnish layer chipped off and some are scratched from the dogs.

Here's some pictures just taken today with most of the doors off.. See all my Gourmet Cupboard in the one cupboard above my canisters? :-)

Good news Letter or is it?

Yippee! I got a letter today that my results of my mammogram shows no signs of breast cancer.  But the next line indicates my breast tissue is considered dense. Then another paragraph was after that indicating that dense breast tissue could hide abnormalities. Wonderful!  After the paragraph in parenthesis was Henda's Law.  So I looked that up. There was a woman who had dense breast tissue and turns out to have had breast cancer that was not showing up in the mammogram due to dense breast tissue. While I appreciate she wants to make everyone aware of this condition, it is not all that comforting.  So great, I could have breast cancer but not know it because it wouldn't show up?!  Ugh!

I have probably have dense breasts all my life so I am not going to get worked up over it. Just wondered why that letter was different than others I've gotten and now I know.  As far as I'm concerned, clear mammogram! :)

 Glad hump day is over....is it Friday yet?  It has been that sort of week. I already can't wait for this week to be over.  We are getting our kitchen cabinets painted white.  I think it will really spruce up the kitchen and brighten up the area too. Other than replacing the oven/microwave they are really the last thing to get done. We already had the rest done 3-4 years ago.  We'll take some before and after photos.  We are going to paint the trim parts and having just the doors and draws painted by someone that hubby knows in the business to do that sort of thing.  We are taking our time and will take a few weeks to get it all done.  At least that is something to look forward too.

Happy Ending

Remember how I said I like happy endings?  Well the lost dog dilemma from yesterday has a happy ending!!

Remember the nice neighbor who took this little dog in?  Luckily they did too because shortly after I got home it started pouring rain!  It didn't last long but it was really coming down for a little while. Well I called her around 11:30 this morning to see if the little guy ate or drank anything and to check if the local animal control had picked him up. My neighbor was happy to tell me that he ate more than a cup of dog food and drank a lot of water. Great! She was expecting to hear from animal control at any time that they were on their way to pick up the dog.   I told my neighbor that I had checked on craigslist last night to see if anyone posting a missing small dog but no one had.  Feeling good that the little guy was being well taken care of, I said goodbye and hung up.

I thought why not check Craigslist another time.  Well there was an ad posed around 10:30 this morning for a lost black and white rat terrier, 10 + years old not too far from my area.  That must be the dog!!  I called my neighbor back and gave her the contact phone numbers listed.  I then replied to that Craigslist and wrote that the dog was spotted yesterday and is being cared for by someone that would call them shortly.  Sure enough it was there missing dog, and by noon they were reunited!  Turns out the dog is 16 or 17 years old and was missing since Saturday.  I was sure glad that all ended well, although if I lost one of ours I wouldn't wait until Monday to post it on the Lost & Found.  Of course animal control would have picked him up but then he'd go through more trauma being stuck in a shelter and if the owners would check out the shelter it would cost them to get him back.  So glad our dogs barked at the little fellow last evening. Otherwise who knows what would have happened. Cheers to my neighbor and us!

Warm Weekend

Okay so it was downright hot!  But it was a nice weekend with the youngest.  We just got done helping a poor little black and white terrier type dog that was wandering the neighborhood.  I tried calling animal control and we tried to give it a treat but it wouldn't come to us and animal control was closed for the evening.  I was hesitant to try to pick it up in case it was sick and may bite.  But I tried to take it some water, although it wouldn't come to the little bowl I set down on the sidewalk for it.

It finally laid down in a neighbor's yard two doors down.  I decided to go knock on their door because I know they have 2 small dogs and maybe they just didn't know that one got loose.  It wasn't their dog but the kind lady offered to get her husband and try to get it and keep it in the garage overnight until animal control could be contacted tomorrow.  Her hubby didn't have a hard time getting it to come to him at all.  He was so gentle with it.  I didn't expect them to offer to help it out but the wife said she had seen it outside earlier in the afternoon.  Wow, I didn't see until a short while ago when our dogs started to bark again.  

I was grateful the neighbors agreed to take it in as the woman remembered that we had at least 2 dogs . I told her we have more than that! :)  So anyway, I feel so much better for that poor little boy.  I am going to call or go over there sometime tomorrow to ask how it went. I just hope his owner misses him and contacts the animal shelter.

Stac and I saw Elysium today. It has Matt Damon in it. It was good but I didn't like the ending. I always like happy endings!

Yesterday we hit a lot of garage sales and she was able to gets some books and school supplies for her classroom. She starts teaching Kindergarten in a few weeks.  She is excited and I can't believe my youngest is all grown up with a grown up job. 

We tried to call my oldest earlier to just catch up on her life since Stac is here too but I had to leave a voice mail.  She's probably having some fun somewhere out with her fiance'.

Almost here...

Tomorrow is Friday. Yes!  Youngest is coming home for a visit too.  That will be nice. 

I ate two of  my red peppers from my balcony garden tonight with dinner but forgot to take a picture. Oh well.  They were pretty good.  Things seem to taste a little better knowing I grew them myself! :)

I'm sitting here watching Wheel of Fortune eating my left over sonic blast from last evening. The dogs are antsy to play ball outside but I want to wait at least an hour as it is still 100 degrees out (at 6:37PM)!

Not much new.  I keep forgetting to start calling some places about getting our bathroom remodeled. I need to just get the ball rolling because I have no clue how much it will cost and need to at least see if it is within what we think it can be done for.  And still need to make that dental appointment. 

Well when the day gets rolling it just goes along until before I know it the end of the day is here and it is time for Wheel of Fortune! :) 

Mammo Monday

This morning I got my annual mammogram, well that is not so annual for me. I still think that all the exposure to the radiation and squeezing of breast tissue to the point of pain, may just be harmful to the breasts and can quite possibly contribute to getting cancer. I read an article a while ago about this exact thing (I am not promoting anything that is being sold at this website just linking to the article for anyone wishing to read it). So between my own botched up needle biopsy that was oh 8 years ago and things I have read lately, I have been going about every 2 years since 2009, not every single year.

When I got to the radiologist office, there were lots of other people there waiting for their various exposure to radiation, I mean their testing. Some were there for bone density, others for CT Scans or MRIs or other specialty testing, likely there because they were convinced it was necessary by their doctors.  It was fairly busy even though I got there at 7:35AM for my 7:55AM appointment. There were at least 10 if not 15 people already waiting.  I sort of felt like we were just being churned in and out.  Many came and went before I had my mammogram close to 8:30AM (finally). 

When I was filling out the paperwork I was so tempted to write glib answers to questions as I have gone to this same place for at least 5 years.  They ask "Have any of your relatives had breast cancer? If so, age of diagnosis."  I wanted to write, Yes my sister had breast cancer just like I indicated last time and the time before that and the age she was diagnosed was oh I don't remember as it was years ago, and as the years pass I can't remember how old she was.  Can't you just look that up in your records?  The good news is she is very much alive, though. I can tell you that much!

And they ask "Have you ever had a mammogram?  If so, when was your last one?"  As I was trying to remember the exact date of my last one and finally was satisfied with May 2011 and wrote that down, when I got to the last page there was a form with all my history on it and my last mammogram was on May 20, 2011.  I should have put, You have the records in your system!  But instead I added a little caret after May and wrote in 20.

I can see the point of all these questions at a first time visit, but if it isn't a new patient scenario can't they just give you a form asking, "Has anything in your health changed or has anyone developed breast cancer since your last visit?"  I suppose one might spend too much time trying to decide when the last visit actually was, so okay, maybe that wouldn't be a good solution either.

I do have to say that the technician that took my mammogram was very nice and polite and obliged my request when I asked for the little lead apron to cover my thyroid area (as that is subject to possible radiation as well, did you know that?). So hopefully it will be a nothing found letter that I'll get in the next week or so.

When I went to my gyno back in April, she gave me a script to get a bone density test next year too. Wait a minute.  I had one of those 3 years ago to get a good 'base line' reading.  I agreed to get that done back then. But I have read more than one article indicating they are not really necessary until age 60 or 65, and I had one done at 52!  So no thanks.  I will wait until it has been at least 5 years, maybe not until I'm 60.  I take care of myself, eat plenty of calcium rich foods, get vitamin D, eat my Kale, flax seed, f & v (fruits & vegetables), exercise, am at a great weight, etc.  And so no, I do not plan to get exposed to radiation via testing anyway again until at least 2 years from now.

Next appointment will be a dentist.  I have been chewing with my left side of my teeth mostly because when I chew on my right, I get pain shooting up one of my teeth. I think it is one that is cracked and has been that way for about 10 years. It is just worse now, so guess I need to get something done about it. Hey, can't rush these things.... ;-)

Think I'll switch to my mom's dentist because she really likes hers and if my mom likes a doctor/dentist they must be super nice!  Trust me! 
 

Randomness

So as I wrote days ago, my hubby knocked down the wasp nest that was in the corner of the front balcony.  And by the next day they were back busily building another wasp nest. He said he will just knock it down again when it is a little bigger.  Okay, but do these buggers have a memory? Because when I went out to water yesterday there was just one up at the new nest but out from a nearby tree I saw another one coming straight toward me.  I thought it was my imagination but as I went back to watering my garden, I felt something lightly brushing my forearm. It was that friggin wasp!  OMG! Is it a scout, there to pester me whenever I am out on the balcony now?  Are they that intelligent?  Ugh!

I am glad it didn't sting me but seriously am I going to have to be even more careful every time I go out to water than before?  I am starting to think I should just have just left the first nest, but it was getting pretty big and I didn't want to risk getting stung every time I was at that corner of the balcony garden.  I also don't want to feel rushed to get that area done just because of them.  We'll see how things go. I didn't water this morning but I will this evening. Have to water every day in this heat!

Okay the picture below is what's left of my zucchini plants that I finally laid to rest, well gave up on. They were pretty well dead and the tiny zucchini I was holding out hope for had turned yellow and dried up already.

The next picture is the only remaining thing in that container, the bean plant that I did NOT plant this year. It is still green enough so I'm hoping maybe it will provide me with even a few beans to add to a stir fry.

The next picture hubby took. He thought it looked like Ditzy was climbing up the wall. Not so much, by the way her paws are positioned, but hey I thought I'd post it anyway.

And here she is, looking up at Dad thinking, "don't you have enough pictures of me, pa?"

Patience is a virtue

Patience is a virtue...right?  Well I am happy to say I actually am getting a red bell pepper finally (they were just not turning before they were starting to get spots on them), and all my vines are finally showing something which I just happened to see yesterday. Yes the leaves around it are very dry (brown) so not sure if it will even mature enough to find out exactly what this is, I just have no clue what it is?  I thought it was cucumbers I planted there but so far it looks like a green eggplant?!  And one of the jalapeno peppers is getting to be a nice size too! 

No clue what this is?  Thought this was either Mellon or Cucumber



Here's my partly red pepper

Proud of my big (ish) jalapeno

Well TGIT...it is Friday tomorrow once again.  Looking forward to the weekend. We may see a movie this weekend, perhaps the one with Denzel.