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Camping out in my Own Townhouse

13 Sunday Oct 2013

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AKA…”celebrating” a decade (errr, now almost 11 years, eesh) in the townhouse.  Part trois.

Remember when this first got started?  If not, feel free to peruse here.  Yes, it was February 2012…Super Bowl Sunday actually.  Man oh man, what a journey it’s been.  And I think a “fuck this shitty goddamn mess of a ceiling already” was one of the outbursts along the way.  And then things with the ceiling work went dark. And, thank goodness, it will resume on Tuesday.

This project has been so goddamned delayed it’s turned into a punch line.  Co-workers, friends, even my hairdresser and manicurist ask every time I see them how “that ceiling project” is coming along.  I just have to laugh off all the delays.  It was way more than I could chew and while the Man Help early on meant well, between schedules and the workload/skills involved it was way over our heads.

Now…squee!  This week my plumber, R, will pick up where he left off this week, getting my bedroom, master vanity and the walk-in closet all finished up.  THEN it’s time to paint.  This is exactly the motivator I’ve needed to do lots of things:  get the walls repainted (I love the bright turquoise walls, but the green I chose for the others in the big open space is too minty next to the bright blue and never quite felt right.  I may just cover it all up with a nice, rich taupe.  I have some beautiful giclee prints of outdoor Mediterranean café scenes in gorgeous wood frames that I purchased.  In 2005.  And never hung on the wall due to wanting to repaint the mint green wall prior.  Errgh…am I the only who takes YEARS to get silly projects like this done?

J was amazing getting me motivated and helped out this weekend, and it’s wonderful to tell and show him how appreciated he is.  But first, we had to relax on Saturday!  Ugh, U of W Huskies had a tough loss to Oregon, but we enjoyed watching the game at a local sports bar in walking distance from my house.  Indulging in a pitcher of Mac & Jack’s on a beautiful, sunny fall day…hey, why not?  It’s football season, after all!  We then made yummy chili in the crock pot…ground turkey, grilled chicken breasts, black beans, garlic, spices onions and tomatoes.  Fantastic…and spot on healthy “comfort food.”

Then we saw Gravity in 3D on Saturday night.  If you haven’t already seen it, RUN don’t walk and see it on the big screen.  For this movie it’s an absolute must.  Sandra Bullock and George Clooney are fantastic together.  All thumbs up!

Today we tackled the not-so-fun chore of getting my bedroom cleared out for the ceiling work.  Moving my box spring and mattress and dismantling the wrought iron frame and getting it around tight corners to the spare 3rd bedroom (also on the upper level) was not fun but WE DID IT!  Now I’ll be camped out in that room for I’m guessing at least a week, depending on how long it takes R to finish the ceiling scraping, mudding and texturing and for J’s schedule to help me get everything back in the bedroom.  Which we’ll probably paint prior to that…

I’m so glad I’d already spent a bunch of time clearing out my walk-in closet.  It’s not super big, but it does hold a ton (and could use a major California Closets-like update to replace the single hanger bar around all sides.  There was a lot more cleaning out to do and J and I chuckled at how much stuff I’ve accumulated.  Trust me, I didn’t used to be this way!  I moved a ton of clothes downstairs save for what I’ll need for work and the gym this week.  And I have a MAJOR clean out project now of sorting through all of these clothes…what should I keep?  What’s in a smaller size I might be back in someday soon…and hopefully still in style to keep wearing?  What’s a definite tosser?  More to follow on that.

So over brunch and an ugly game but a win by the Seahawks, it was another glorious day.  I savor the fall sunshine, for soon the rains and chilly winds will kick in.  But I love the sensuality of the changing seasons.

I’m feeling happy, blessed and content.  This home improvement work WILL happen…and the ceilings are just the beginning.

Random Tuesday Ramblings

08 Tuesday Oct 2013

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Surprise!  It’s fivenineteen here rambling away on a Tuesday night, not Sunday afternoon!  One of my followers (who is a dear friend, check’s in the mail) teased me a little that it’s been awhile since I last posted!  Yikes, she’s right!

I had probably one of the most blissful weekends I’ve had in probably a year.  Just basking in the glow of a glorious sunny weekend in October (yes, even in Seattle), which is as rare as white tigers.

What a wonderful surprise last Friday to hear from J…typically we each just chill out separately on Friday nights as we’re pretty pooped from the workweek.  I go to the gym, come home, shower and cook a light dinner.  Wow, what a far cry from my hard partying college years…am I turning into ‘that person’ we all swore as 21-year-olds we’d NEVER be?  Yep, I guess so.  So for a very cool change of pace, he offered to come over and cook us dinner after I got home from the gym!  WOW!  Color me happy!

And what did he bring?  Boneless, skinless chicken breasts he’d been marinating all day, a sweet potato to make fries with, and some frozen peppers for a side dish!  I couldn’t believe it. I hadn’t ever even dropped a hint as to what I’d like to try eating, and he nailed it!  This is EXACTLY an example of a meal we would be encouraged to try in the Lean Eating for Women program I’m nearly 90 days into.  No meal plans, no calorie counting, no forbidden foods…rather, food can be plotted on a spectrum from Better to Worse.  And we’re encouraged to add things to our food, not take away.  As in adding more veggies and trying other alternate sources of carbs, for example.  Voila…here it was!  We peeled the sweet potato, sliced it up into French fry-shaped pieces, sprinkled some spices on top and baked until crispy!  And grilled the chicken and sautéed the pepper medley!  YUM!

On Saturday we headed over to an Oktoberfest party.  The consulting agency I was with prior to the one I’m currently with has a food palooza of sorts every year, and all of the staff cook incredible meals from scratch and serve up to their current and alum consultants!  One of the big advantages of working with a boutique agency for sure!  Normally it’s a summertime seafood theme, but this year they changed it up and did Oktoberfest. They had tons of brauts, streudel, salads, sauerkraut, handmade pretzels, mustards made from scratch, desserts and of course lots of beer for tasting in custom-made steins we got to take home as party favors!  Even some quinoa-stuffed mushrooms for a veggie/vegan option and a kale salad – I need these recipes!

Then we went home, changed our clothes and tackled more of my Garage.  Which is now the most organized room in my house thanks to J’s help.  Yes, the popcorn ceiling scraping continues in the master bedroom/vanity next week…after a major delay which is fodder for another post.  Most of my garage is below ground level and there are some problems with drainage….whenever it rains water seeps through small cracks in the concrete.  Lots of fun being at the bottom of a super steep hill.  J mixed up some concrete (we used a spoon I sacrificed and some plastic keg cups as you have to do it in small batches) and patched up a few of the cracks, after first drilling out the loose concrete where the leaks are coming from.  We’ve got more to do, but it’s a great start and has provided HUGE peace of mind for me…I’m worried about the water seepage and the damage it might be causing elsewhere.  We’ll check and see how it’s working and continue with the rest of the wall later.  This concrete mix is so powerful you can even use it under water!

Tough football weekend here…U of W Huskies lost a hard fight against Stanford, and the Seahawks’ 4-0 winning streak got snapped in Indianapolis last Sunday.  UGH.  The boys were playing the refs as well as their opponents much of each of these games, I swear!  The chitter chatter in the gym locker room tonight was still going strong!

And hockey season is underway…yes! Go Canucks!  A FULL length season this year with no Lockout!  I’m still enjoying my own personal hockey sabbatical, which could definitely become permanent but that’s OK – 9 years was a great run.

And I have other fitness goals now which have my full focus…and they’re working!