Monday, April 30, 2012

Does Iron Bess Dream of Android Kitchens?

Although we still have a few things to add to the new kitchen such as lighting, backsplash, etc, I figure that we are close enough to do a "reveal" for all those who actually care.  But before I do that let me put a few of the "before" pics so you know what we have done. 

I moved all the original pictures from my laptop to a flash drive but for some inexplicable reason they are nowhere to be found so I am putting up pictures starting from the time that we started the renovations, which began with removing the head injury causing thing over the stove in the middle of the room. 


Here is the support the hubby built to hold the two hundred pound thing so he could cut it off with the reciprocating saw. 
All gone.

Please take note of the pink faux brick, the pine cabinets circa Partridge Family, and the lovely kettle on the stove. 


This is the new kitchen looking the same way as above.  You may be sad to see that the pink brick is history. 

You may notice that we did keep the kettle.  Everything else has either been recycled, used for BTUs, or has ended up in a landfill.  Not the bricks!  Yup the bricks.  Apparently somethings cannot be recycled, reused, or burnt.  Believe me I tried. 



The hubby says that my pantry has more shelving space than the Super Store.  Perhaps he exaggerates, but I do revel in the space. 


And there it is folks new window, new floors, new walls, new ceiling, new paint job, new cabinets, new countertops, new appliances, and old kettle. My kitchen on the lake.  I'm loving it. 

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Prickly Pricks

Yesterday was BRrrrrrrrr, and a tad bit chilly as well.  The skies were overcast and kept threatening to snow all day.  Thankfully that unholy event never occurred, but it could have.  I would have been tres sad.  But even without the snow it was pretty chilly, mostly because of the wind, because the temperatures hovered around the plus six mark most of the day.  Cool, but certainly not cold enough to snow. 

When I walked out the door to take the dog for her airing I immediately stepped back in the door and changed my jacket for something which would not leave me blue when I got back home.  The walk was good, for awhile, then things went down hill.  This is what happened. 

Yup, someone decided to get up close and personal and take a little sniff of a porky.  So we had to cancel the Old Shoes and Tea Society meeting and tag team her.  Have you ever tried to hold a German Shepherd down while using side cutters and needle nose pliers to snip and pull porcupine quills out of her nose?  Believe me, it isn't easy.  Maybe the underpants gnomes could do it without breaking a sweat, but the rest of us had our work cut out for us.  So a little bit of blood, sweat, and tears later the deed was done and she was quill free.  Luckily she is a pretty nice girl and isn't into taking random chomps out of things because it could have been a lot worse.  Had she got any in her mouth I think it would have been off to the vet and things may have been a lot more Cha-Ching. 

I also started my new job yesterday and began it by having some kind of cute, furry creature leap out in front of my car just as I pulled out onto the road.  I probably broke at least one of it's hind legs as I saw it drag itself into the bush.  I felt sick to my stomach but could not stop to look for it. lucky for me I had my trusty Super Hubby who went out to see if he could find it.  The shitty thing is that he couldn't which means that it is either still alive and suffering, or it died in a lot of pain.  I think it was a martin but I'm not sure. 

Speaking of jobs.  This one is probably the inanist job I have ever in my entire life experienced.  I do not claim to be an expert or anything, but in my opinion this is truly a waste of money for the company.  They are paying me to do nothing, and when I say nothing, I mean nothing.  They should hire the underpants gnomes to do this job (see how I stuck underpants gnomes in here again, that is my new favourite description, courtesy of Jim Wright). This afternoon will be day two of my do nothing job.  To be honest, even though I can easily do nothing for hours at a time, I can't see me lasting at this.  When it comes to work I have this sickening work ethic that makes me actually want to do work. Call me a radical if you want. 

Tomorrow I have a "formal interview" for another job.  This one requires lots of work, which is good, but it is full time, which is not so good.  So I am torn.  Should she, or shouldn't she, only her hair dresser knows for sure.  Hubby says that all my woes would be woeless if I would only send a few of my books in to some publishers.  Ah yes, therein lies the rub. 

Friday, April 27, 2012

Wind In The Willows

Hi there.  Welcome to Nova Scotia, the land of the noses which are blue, and the wind that is a blowin.  Holy crap has it ever been blowing today.  The lake has a permanent set of white caps just frothing up a good head.  The hubby and I have been taking turns going outside and putting the cover back on the BBQ all day.  I know.  Why are we doing that you ask.  Wouldn't it make more sense to just leave the cover off until the wind dies down.  Um.  Yeah.  So? 

Today I spent a bunch more time in the basement doing sorting and organizing.  I'm not exactly sure what is up with me but I just can't seem to get properly focused on the job.  I keep moving stuff from one box to another, and keep rearranging until I get tired of it and wander away.  It's almost as if my OCD is broken or something.  GaH-K!  Tell me that ain't so!  Can a person truly lose their ability to organize just because they've lived in squalor for twelve months?  What a horrible thought. 

On the up side the weather smartened up for a brief period of time which allowed me to go out for a walk with the hubby and the hell hound.  The dog ran pell-mell through the bush picking up another dozen or so ticks.  Yes, alas, it is tick season here at Kitpu Estates.  There's nothing I like better than a good old fashioned tick picking session with the dog.  Luckily the hubby has been a lot more diligent than I about taking those little blood suckers off her.  Did I mention that I get pretty girlie and squeamish about ticks.  Hard to believe but true.  The hubby was vigilantly looking for worms.  After a big rainfall those suckers come out of the ground and hang out having coffee until it dries up enough for them to go back down.  In the meantime my hubby seems to fight the robins for the best ones.  Ah yes, my life is wondrous and eventful.  Isn't it obvious. 

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Pictures and Puppies

Okay so I really have nothing to report, other than the fact that I didn't attend an Old Shoes and Tea Society meeting today.  Unfortunately only the hubby and the dog could go as I was otherwise occupied and they failed to take any notes.  They also failed to catch any fish but that is another story.  So in honour of the dog taking my place at the meeting I thought I would put a picture of her in her favourite position while the meeting takes place. 

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Considering the Merits of Working

Over the past few months I've been applying for jobs here and there, mostly the kind where you only work a few hours a week, but occasionally ones which have full time hours.  What I learned was that it is not a great idea to send in a resume which is geared for a high management position when you are applying for jobs which require little or no education or experience.  No one will even consider looking at you.  So I spent a little time researching how to "dumb down" the resume.  And when I say dumb I don't me stupid I mean more suited for the position I am applying for.  For example, if the position is to work as a floor sweeper I would not highlight the fact that I used to have a staff of twelve with a 500 million dollar budget, instead I would write that when I worked in the warehouse one of my jobs was to ensure that I swept the floors in order to keep it clean and tidy.  The process has worked and consequently I was just offered a job at Walmart which I start tomorrow. 

The odd thing about it is that when I tell people about it I am greeted by incredulous gasps.  "How can someone with your education and experience go and work at Walmart?"  It's as if somehow my taking a menial job should be beneath me.  If I truly thought that way I would be a pretty serious hypocrite because I always used to tell my staff that just because someone happens to have a better paying position doesn't make them a better person, better boss, or more worthy of respect.  And I truly believe that.  Jobs are jobs are jobs.  Over the years I have worked with a lot of different people, some of them were awesome, some of them should never have been allowed in the gene pool let alone in the work force. 

I've worked with people who hadn't finished grade eight to those who have had their PhDs, and many somewhere in between, and sometimes the people who only had a few years of schooling were smarter, better workers, and a lot more pleasant to work with then those with so called higher educations.  Many times I used to say that if a person ever wanted to know anything about the company all they had to do was ask the janitors what was going on.  In my experience people at the lower levels of the company typically do a lot more work and have a better understanding of how the company works than those at the top.  I used to find it really strange that even those who had worked their way up through the ranks when they finally reach the top of an organization ended up losing touch with what was going on.  Whether it's because they end up surrounded by a bunch of toadies who feed them misleading information, or if they really think they know everything now, is beyond me. 

Unbelievable!  As I was writing this post I received another phone call and was interviewed for another position, this one full time, but one that is up my alley in a big way.  So now my dilemma, if I am offered the job, is whether or not I will take it.  On the downside it is full time, but on the positive side it is something which appeals to the OCD in me.  Don't think for one minute I am not grateful for the fact that I can consider being offered a full time job as being on the downside.  The fact of the matter is that the only reason I am in the position I am today is because I have always worked no matter what the job entailed.  I truly believe that you have to make your fate in this world, you cannot sit on your ass waiting for the perfect job to land in your lap, it just doesn't work that way.  And believe me when I say that it is a hell of a lot easier to find a job when you are already working even if you are working a crap job.

(PS - And if the hubby actually ever reads this, Happy Birthday to You!)

Monday, April 23, 2012

Top O' The Week To You

I woke up this morning to fog and drizzle.  Yup, more moisture.  But today was one of those days where a body feels motivated to do "indoor stuff" that needs doing but won't actually do it when it is nice out.  A couple of days ago I took the closet shelves out which the hubby had made to temporarily store our food stuff while waiting for the kitchen, so the wood he had used were just odds and sods and not very nice.  So I dragged them outside and set up some saw horses then took a sander to them and smoothed one side down a bit, then I took some fill and filled the worst of the holes and cracks and let that dry, then I sanded them all down again and then gave them three coats of paint.  The end product is that they look amazingly, spectacularly, marginally better.  But seeing as they are going to be used in a linen closet and consequently not, in your face, they will do for now.  If sometime in the future I run out of things to do, or come into some money, or decide to sell the place, I will perhaps change them out, or put that paper stuff down that people put in their drawers.  But for now I have a usable linen closet (even if the wall paper in it is orange striped) which means that some of the stuff which has been pining away in the basement got to come upstairs and get thrown into the laundry, then folded up in a way where if it had stripes they all matched, if they were of a size they were all piled nice and neat, and it was all put away onto the newly minted shelves.  All is right with the world. 

Well actually I still have quite a bit of stuff downstairs so the towels and linens residing in their new place of honour will probably be moved once the new stuff gets sorted and washed.  And of course when I do my Costco run I will need a place to store TP and PT so things may get changed even more. 

The hubby had a fire in the fireplace upstairs and coffee on when I got up, and the best thing was that he had gone outside to do a little fishing so I had the place to myself for awhile.  I love that.  I can do stuff at my own leisure, and at my own pace, so I enjoyed a cup of coffee and read for awhile then I puttered around doing laundry, sweeping, making breakfast, reading, and arranging stuff.  Kinda awesome.  I was planning on doing a lot of that today my mistake was mentioning to the hubby when he came in that I had to run into town sometime before the bank closed because I had to do some banking for the kid.  If you knew my hubby you would know that he and I have a completely different version of, "one of these days we should..."  Because in his mind, "one of these days" means this afternoon.  This afternoon means five minutes from now.  Five minutes from now means yesterday.  I bet you think I am exaggerating.  I'm not. 

Hubby: So what do you have planned for today?

Me: A little laundry, some putzing around, doing some writing, and unfortunately I have to go into town sometime before the bank closes today. 

Hubby: Oh when you go into town I'll come with you I need to take some of that junk I have in the garage to the scrap yard.  I'll go put it in the truck. 

Me: Okay.  (Hubby goes outside and I throw a load of laundry into the dryer.)

Hubby: (Five minutes later) Okay are you ready to go?

Me: What? Now? 

Hubby: Yeah, I thought we were going into town?

Me: Um yeah.  Like sometime later today.  I'm not even dressed yet. 

Hubby: Didn't I tell you that I was putting the stuff in the truck?

Me:  Um, yeah....but...

Hubby: Well hurry up let's go. 

Me: Sigh.  (When will I ever learn?)

We were back home well before noon. 

Let me tell you that the next meeting of the Old Shoes and Tea Society we will be passing a new rule which states in Paragraph 1, Section II, Where the party of the first says to the party of the second, "This afternoon...etc" "This afternoon" will be defined as, a time after the clocks on the premises agree that it is AFTER noon.  And that doesn't mean 12:01 or any immediate time after that, it means at some vague time after the clock strikes twelve like perhaps two or even three in the afternoon, or even later. 

Oh and note to self, I don't like millet.  Perhaps it is overdone millet that sucks, but my first experience with millet tonight proved yucky.  Well not yucky per se, the taste was okay, but the texture sucked ass.  I will make it again but I will mix it with quinoa and rice then I will decide. 



Sunday, April 22, 2012

Rain Day But Not In Spain

So today was a rainy day just as predicted by the weather wizards.  Hey they have to be right at least once a year. I puttered around the palace that is, mine shack, (not to be confused with Mein Kempf) and did a little laundry, did a little dishes, made some lunch, choked on a fish bone, went to the back forty and cut some shrubbery then was told by a fisherman that he was going to call the police because I was squatting on his best friend's property.  Yup, just a regular day here at Kitpu Estates. 

We finished the siding on the front of the property, you know, now that the kitchen window has been replaced.  Well it was replaced awhile ago but it was winter out there and we had scads of things to do in here. It took some effort to get motivated to go and actually finish it, but we finally did it.  It wasn't a long job but you could tell that neither of our hearts were in it.  The hubby actually did the majority of work but I did get to use the new saw, it cut like butter. 

Here is a picture of what happens when you try to open the fridge in my house.  I wonder what they want? 



Friday, April 20, 2012

Warm But Cold

Today the sun was a shining and it was pretty darn warmish, but the wind was a blowin and was pretty darn coolish, so the day was kinda, sorta, inbetweenish.  We started working on the last bit of siding yesterday and the hubby continued on his own today as I went to visit the parental unit and do a few odds and sods for her.  It's a good thing too otherwise I may have ended up as red as the hubby, and boy there isn't anything I like me better than to roast some of the flesh from my bones.  Wait!  Maybe having a tick attached to my flesh beats the roasting skin?  Hmmm, that's a tough one.  Either way I missed out on the opportunity.  I guess it's a good thing too as I've been a trifle sore that last two days, slipping on rocks and injuring oneself can do that to an unsuspecting person.  I thought I would add a picture of one of my bruises so you didn't think I was just a big wuss bucket who spends all of her time complaining away the time. 



Okay so maybe I do spend a lot of my time complaining but it's mostly about my cabinets and countertops not getting here when I thought they should.  But now I am over that because me and Basil are kinda having a love-in.  She is purdy.  She will be completely purdy when the four remaining cabinet doors get installed this week.  Once that happens I will put up a couple of pictures of that, unless of course one of my other bruises feel lonely and left out and need more attention then I may take a few pictures of them as well.  Boy the bloggesphere is in for a treat eh. 

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

OCD Heaven

I thought I would do a very quick post just so I can get it out of my system...MY COUNTERTOPS ARE INSTALLED...WOO-FRIKKIN-HOO! 

I've been spending the last couple of days just futzing around trying to get things organized (wow, just the fact that I can try to get things organized is out of this world) so I am pretty happy.  Tired but happy. I've been putting stuff into cupboards and drawers and leaving them there for awhile to see if they are happy or feel the need to live somewhere else.  So consequently I've been moving lots of crap around because they seem sad and forlorn and lonely. Maybe its because they miss living on the floor, or on the spare bed, or in the laundry room, or on the fireplace hearth, or in the entry way closet, or in the basement, or under the bed, or on the couch, or outside, or on the roof, or in the garage...or...or...or...

Hopefully tomorrow I will waken all refreshed and ready to type something witty but heart breakingly insightful and wonderful.  But right now I just don't have it in me.  Most especially because after supper we had a serious meeting of the Old Shoes and Tea Society while sitting in the living room watching the fire. 

Me: Did I tell you today how thrilled I am that the countertops are here?

Hubby: Yes.  I caught two fish tonight.

Me:  And I put stuff away, and cleaned stuff, and organized things, and watched my kitchen for awhile. 

Hubby: You watched your kitchen?

Me: Yes.  I made me some decaf coffee and sat in my glide rocker and watched my kitchen.  It is way better than TV.  I think I'm in love with my kitchen.  I want to marry my kitchen.  Did I mention that I love my kitchen.

Hubby: Did you hear the part about the two fish? 

Me: Hmmm...my kitchen...my precious, I will call her Basil. 

Hubby: Isn't Basil a boy's name.

Me: Don't insult Basil she can be pretty sensitive. 

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Sunny Saturday

I am sitting in the living room writing on my laptop with the screen door wide open and listening to the cooing sounds of doves floating in on the breeze.  Despite the fact that I still don't have any countertops it is a beautiful day.  (Ha betcha thought you were going to get away without having to hear about my countertops eh?)  I woke up to a sunny day, cold but sunny, and had to throw a few logs on the fire in order to warm up the joint, but as the day progressed it got warmer and nicer until it could just be considered beautiful. 

After finishing painting some more trim and doing a bit of sweeping and laundry and other exciting indoor tasks I decided to go out and take the dog for a walk to the back forty and beyond.  As you may remember we recently allowed some acquaintances to spread the ashes of their son in the back forty, and as I was walking by the spot I realized that the hill going down to the lake was pretty steep especially for someone in her seventies.  Someone who is having issues with coming to grips with her loss and comes out often to visit her son.  So instead of the things I had planned to do today I went back home and grabbed a shovel, an axe, some snippers and returned to the spot.  I cut about a half dozen steps into the bank then went in search of some flat rocks, in a relatively short period of time I managed to have a pretty decent stairway going down to where the footing was a lot more level.  Then I took the axe and went to town on all the dead limbs on the trees blocking the way to the lake.  Then using my snippers I managed to cut back on the brush blocking the way at the very end.  Finally I dragged all the dead limbs, trees, brush, and rocks off the trail.  I was pretty satisfied with how the whole thing turned out, it looks almost park like down there now.  I chatted a bit with the "dearly departed" and told him that all this work was for his mother.  He didn't have any issues with what I was doing, least wise he didn't object to any of it.

Friday, April 13, 2012

Happy Friday The 13th

Here at the Old Shoes and Tea Society we have a saying, "There's nothing like winning the lottery on Friday the 13th!"  So being the president, and CEO, of the society I feel it is my duty to win the lottery tonight.  I think it is up to 10 million dollars which I believe is plenty o' cash for this cowgirl.  Ten million would be plenty enough for me to do whatever my little heart desires and still have money left over to spread some of the wealth to family and friends.  And maybe even have a big blowout party. 

Sadly the countertops did not make it in this week.  Very sadly.  So sad in fact that I had to drown my sorrow in junk food.  Of course my little three kilometer walk did zero to counter act the effects of that indulgence.  So it looks like we have to wait until Monday now.  Did I mention how sad I am about that? 

The good news is that according to the weather wizards tomorrow looks to be a sunny and warmish type day.  Which means that I will drag the old mountain bike out of hibernation, dust it off, oil it up, put some air in the tires and take it for a little spin.  My butt is hurting already.  I think I will also take the kayak out and maybe get it a little wet.  We have a couple of Canadian geese hanging out on the island across from Kitpu Manor who came to visit us this afternoon so tomorrow I may return the favour.  Those geese can get a little pissy sometimes, I don't understand why, after all they are Canadian so shouldn't they be all friendly like?  Hopefully I won't have to use my paddle as an anti-goose shield.  But if I have to I will and there would be a very good chance that I would have to change the name of the place to Dead Goose Estates.  Or, The Floating Goose Palace.  Or, Have Paddle Will Destroy Lake.  Look at me being all prepared. 

I went to a really weird job interview today, the entire interview was them trying to talk me into taking the job.  I know I've been out of the work force for a year now but I'm pretty sure it isn't supposed to be like that. Least wise when I was hiring staff to work for me I had a whole different set of questions I usually asked.  Namely, "So tell me why you would make a good addition to my team?"  Or, "Come on gang how can we solve this problem?  Lets think outside the box."  Or even, "Let's not throw him under the bus just because his idea didn't pan out."  Yeah I used to say dumb ass things like that.  Thankfully I never really believed any of the crap coming out of my mouth.  I felt a LOT better when I started saying stuff like "WTF?  Who shit the bed on this one!" 

Oh how I miss the poetry of business vernacular.  You know that whole catch phrase crap that means absolutely nothing to anyone but everyone pretends that it does. 

Typical Discussion During Another Meaningless Meeting:

The Douche Who Thinks He's Gods Gift To The Company, AKA Bob -  "In order to make us more competitive in the world we need to ensure that the synergistic upward-trending extranet has been peppered with our total needs-based analyzer and mixed with a balanced full-range hub portfolio.  Why don't we pull out the stand-alone foreground model and crunch the numbers." 

Me - "Good idea Bob but it wouldn't hurt if we had a well balanced operative pricing structure so we can use the polarized eco-centric protocol baffle before they realign the zero tolerance motivator with the flexibility automated mission critical conglomeration filter.  Either that or everyone could just get off their fat asses and do some actual work." 

Bob - "Good point Iron Bess, but don't you think that if we fine tune the eco-centric protocol to encompass a face to face multimedia parallelism then the synergistic zero administration portal will generate money out of thin air?" 

Me - "You could be right Bob that is if your ego would allow you to take your head out of your asshole that is." 

Bob - "Ha-ha, Iron Bess you are so funny."

Me - "Bite me Bob."   

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Waiting Ever So Patiently

Typically I am a pretty patient person, in comparison to the hubby I would be considered a guru who meditates on a question for twenty years before answering, but not this week.  This week I have the patience of a two year old waiting for a piece of chocolate.  I want my countertops, I want a working sink, I want to be able to put all my stuff away. The countertop guy said that if things went right we would either see it installed today or tomorrow. Worst case scenario, Monday. Nooooooooooooooo not Monday! Like George Carlin said, your house is just a place where you keep all your stuff.  Well I want places to keep my stuff.  I want to be able to organize my stuff in neat rows and lines.  I want to be able to turn the freakin tap on without making sure that the bucket under the sink is empty.  I want to put dishes into a dishwasher and just walk away.  Oh baby that would be sweet.  Kind of tingly all over if you know what I mean. 

Yesterday I dragged out the ladder, a bucket, and rags then pulled all the screens out of the windows and took them outside to hose and wipe them off. They all had about a half inch layer of construction dust stuck to them. Then as they were drying in the sun I washed all the windows, inside and out. This accomplished two things, 1) I finally got my windows cleaned, and 2) it kept me busy enough where I wasn't fretting about the kitchen. The dog thought it was the best of times, she spent the majority of the time trying to get sprayed by the hose, trying to lick the vinegar/soapy water bucket contents, and jumping on the ladder when I was standing on it. Believe me when I say that German Shepherds are not very helpful when it comes to washing windows.

It's been just over a year since we started our renovations and boy what a year it's been.  I was looking back at some of the pictures I took while things were in progress, and even though I was part of the effort and saw what things were like before, I have a hard time believing it is the same place.  So far we have changed all the windows, put in two new doors, ripped out all the outside walls and most of the inside ones, redid a lot of the ceilings, laid hardwood flooring throughout the whole house, demolished the old bathroom and built two new ones, built a new laundry room, redid the fireplace, ripped out the kitchen and rebuilt it, demolished the "sun room" and built a new master bedroom and ensuite, ripped off reams of wall paper, gave every room at least three coats of paint including the ceilings, ripped off old vinyl siding and replaced it with wood. Not to mention adding at least another 20 R factor to the insulation to the whole house. 

All in all it's been a busy, busy year.  And we are by no means finished, the master bedroom still needs the hardwood flooring laid, the ensuite still needs...well everything, we still need to buy, paint, and install most of the trim around windows, doors, and floors, we need to upgrade our power (well the electrician needs to do that) then finish the siding where the mast is, add insulation to the attic, rip down and build a new deck around the house, clean up the basement (that is a whole other story) then redo the Wookie Cave.  AND I still need my countertops! 

Monday, April 9, 2012

Happy Frikking Easter

In the annals of Kitpu Estates and the Old Shoes and Tea Society yesterday was crap-o-rama.  The weather was dark, dreary, windy, cold, wet, and snowy.  It was an all around crap fest for sure.  Of course to make it worse I have stuff strewn from one end of the house to the other.  When someone is a touch anal that does not make for fun times at the ranch.  And to top things off the hubby and I had a blow up at each other over the stupidest thing.  We are definitely spending wayyyyyyyy too much time together.  I sometimes really miss those days where we were both working shift work and sometimes an entire month would go by before we had a couple of days off together.  Absence does make the heart grow fonder.  Most especially for someone like me who needs my space on a regular basis.  I am certainly looking forward to the Wookie Cave being finished so I have somewhere to go to be alone. 

Anyway as I write this the cabinet guy is finishing the installation of the doors etc, the counter top guy is taking measurements, and I am just excited to be another day closer to getting organized.  Yippee! 

Oh and I did manage to go for a walk late yesterday and saw the Easter Bunny running for his life while the hell houndicus snuffled around looking for him.  The dog isn't exactly Bwana of the Jungle and her hunting skills leave a bit to be desired.  So the Easter Bunny will live to leave bodyosz all around for another day. 

Friday, April 6, 2012

The Waiting Game

Grrrr...arrrggggghhhhhhhhhh....eeyow.  Yep that is how I feel right now.  The cabinet installation is at about 75 - 80% complete, but because today is a stat, or holy day, or some crap like that the rest of the installation will not be done until Monday.  AND, the counter top guys won't be here until Monday so that means that they will be at least a week before it is completely installed.  At this stage of the game I am done.  Done like dinner.  Yes I know it is only a week away but you have to understand how long a road its been to this point.  We started the renovations a year ago!  I'm just so tired of dragging stuff out of rooms, then back into rooms, then from one spot in the room to another spot in the room, then back out of the room and then back into the room.  I have shit in boxes, in drawers without cabinets, on the floor, on beds, under beds, in the laundry room, in the basement, in hallways, in closets, and in garages.  So I've finally hit the wall.  I just want it to be over already. 


This was the conversation between hubby and I this morning as we took the hellhoundicus for a walk. 

Me: God when is this project going to be finished?

Hubby: A week.  Quit whining. 

Me: I'm done.  I just want it over.  When is it going to be over?

Hubby: I'm sick of moving shit from here to there and back again. 

Me: I'm sick of not knowing where shit is.

Hubby: I'm sick of having stuff in my garage.

Me: I'm sick of having to move shit just to get to shit. 

Hubby: I hear ya. 

Me: You do?

Hubby: I'm done.  I just want this project to be over.

Me: Hmmm, that sounds familiar.  Perhaps we shouldn't hang out with each other for the rest of the day?

Hubby: Deal. 

Thursday, April 5, 2012

D Day, or Actually C Day

Just taking a quick opportunity to write a quick note because in about thirty minutes my new kitchen cabinets will be here!  Yippee!  Then the rest of the day will be spent attaching them to the various walls in the kitchen.  Happy days are here again...

It's like the Sword of Damocles has been hanging over my head for the past month or so.  This is not to say that the kitchen wasn't functionable for that long, far from it.  In fact it has been more than adequate to meet the everyday needs of the household as far as kitchens go.  The hubby is a frakin genius when it comes to stuff like that, but the whole waiting thing was starting to get to me.  Knowing that there would have to be an upheaval and having to find a place to store all my shit until the cabinets could be installed.  For Ms OCD that kind of thing is a little hard on the nerves.  But after today I should be able to put stuff away into to their "forever" homes.  What's that noise you ask?  Oh it's just me tap dancing a little sea shanty and singing, If Your Happy And You Know It.  Oh and part of the noise could also be because the hell cat has been locked into the basement for the day and she is not happy.  There is some serious meowing going on, and some serious beating on the cat flap.  Sucks to be her, but that is the life of a house cat. 

The only down side of the whole process is that by the time the kitchen is completed we will officially be out of money for renovations.  Crap-o-rama!  We have two projects left to go.  Sigh.  The worst thing about it is that so far I haven't been able to sell any of my "dog hair" art.  I just can't imagine why anyone would not want to take the opportunity to purchase a lovely page of old newspaper with some dog hair taped to it.  Maybe it's my marketing ideas?  So far I think that I offered it to all my friends on FB.  Perhaps I should also offer some cat hair as well?  Maybe I should create a web page and start selling it there?  I guess that is one of those things I can think about while we are installing cabinetry today! 

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Brrrrr

Today is a little chilly.  Mostly because of the cold wind blowing from the north.  I haven't stepped outside yet but it is just a matter of time because I need to take someone out to do her business.  No not me. 

I figured I would put a quick "after" picture up of the rose bushes which I hacked down from "Sleeping Beauty cursed" version.  I know it doesn't look like anything, but believe me, this is a serious improvement. 

There are several off shoots where the bush has expanded it's territory so I am in the process of trying to decide where I want to plant them in the yard.  I still have to decide where I want to move the lilac tree from where it sits directly in front of the big bay window impeding the view of the lake. I also need to locate some suitable trees which will be replanted in the big field by the road leading up to the house.  I want to use them as a natural snow fence to help keep the worst of the snow off the road, and possibly as a bit of a privacy screen.  Ha-ha, who the hell am I kidding?  Of course it is more for privacy than snow fence-ness.  I am still running on full "stay the hell away from me" mode and would love nothing more than to buy everyone out within a two kilometer radius so I don't have any neighbours.  My antisocialness is still running pretty high.  Hopefully in a couple of years you won't find me sitting in a cave, mumbling to myself, and toting a shotgun.  (Oh I forgot about growing a long beard...ha, I'm already doing that if you count the stray chin hairs sprouting on my chinny, chin, chin.) 

Monday, April 2, 2012

Chainsaws and Ticks

Sadly with the warmer weather come the advent of the blood sucking tick kind around here.  Eww.  I hate me some ticks.  Luckily, so far, it is only the hellhound who is picking them up.  Mostly because she goes galumphing through the tall grass and that is where the little beggers like to hide out.  Wood ticks should be renamed Grass Ticks.  Of course not all of us hate tick season I think the hellhound loves it because every night we run our hands over her fur looking for ticks so she thinks she is getting this prolonged session of loving attention.  The wagging tail and the happy, happy panting is a real clue to how much she loves it.  What was it that Mark Twain said?  I wish I was as nice as my dog thinks I am. 

I've been feeling a little out of sorts this past week or so, not exactly sure why, I'm relatively healthy, I'm not hurt or achy, I'm not stressed, all seems to be right with the world.  Typically I'm a relatively well balanced, happy kind of girl, but every once in awhile I can get into a bit of a funk.  So I guess it's time for me to snap out of it.  One of the charters of the Old Shoes and Tea Society allows only a week of funky blueness in its members.  Coincidentally that is the charter I just drafted this morning.  Actually as I was writing this I realized what my problem may be, I think it's because I need a hair cut.  My hair is so long that it is driving me nutty.  I hate it when it hangs in my eyes and drapes itself over my ears.  Maybe I'm like a reverse Samson?  My super powers only manifest themselves when I am well groomed.  I guess I shouldn't mess with the natural laws of nature, time to get it hacked.  (I love how I can write "super powers" and "natural laws of nature" into the same thoughts.  It's so cognitive dissonance-y.)

Yesterday I decided to tackle a rose bush back behind the new garage (how do you like that segue).  Anyway this bush has been allowed to go unimpeded and grow like a crazy thing since I moved here.  And boy oh boy has it ever taken advantage of it.  Last year it had about a million bright pink blossoms on it but they seemed kind of sad and stunted.  I had zero time to spend on any grooming efforts so it turned into a science experiment gone awry.  So taking my trusty cutter snipper thingy, two rakes, a long handled snipper, and the quad and trailer, I straightened my back, squared my shoulders and marched towards it.  It fought back, quite valiantly I might add.  The thorns easily penetrated my gloves, and my clothes, and the long tendrils stuck to me like Velcro.  But I gritted my teeth and went to town on it.  Three trailer loads of snipped vines and accumulated leaves later I had won the war.  (Man!  I just realized I should have taken a before and after.  Dam, that would have made a good picture. Seeing as the parental unit hinted that she does not like the whole writing, writing, stuff and is only interested in updated pics.)  Now it looks like a rose bush with a Mohawk.  I did mange to find a menagerie of detritus under the leaves.  Along with a baseball, I found plastic dishes, plastic bags, and even fake silk green leaves.  WTF?  I mean really, who would put fake silk leaves on a rose bush?  Especially one which grows like a scifi creature which would require major military action to destroy it?  I think the word here is...anyway. 

After my last trip out to dispose of the evidence of my butchery I decided that it was the kind of day that required me to go and work on my birch grove project.  Mainly this involves cutting the alders out from between the birches which line the entry to the back forty trail.  Speaking of a science project gone crazy...those alders are like big tree weeds.  They have no redeeming qualities.  They don't get big enough to use as firewood.  They grow in stands that seems to fall onto the ground in clumps for no apparent reason.  They use up space and nutrients that real trees need.  They shed gross green pollen all over.  They make it almost impossible to get around in the bush.  So along with my cutter snipper thingy I grabbed my trusty Lulu, a rake, and an ax and headed out back.  Along the way I got a little distracted and decided to put in a new cross cut trail to the new back road development, lucky for me it went like butter, and I soon had a decent trail which will be quite usable even if we wanted to take the quad through.  Then I started on the alders.  Yeesh.  The good news is that I finally managed to punch a walkable trail through to the burning pile.  The bad news is that Lulu needs a new chain.  The bottom shark's teeth thingies that slide along in the bar slot got damaged when the chain came off.  That sucks on all kinds of levels.  (Okay now I'm wondering how much eye rolling would go on if a "for real" lumberjack guy read my description of my chainsaw. LOL) 

Well time for me to head to town and buy a faucet, get a haircut, and buy some grocks.