New Wheels

What can I say......we are another day older and deeper in debt, like all people in the USA. Gerry and I have been discussing new cars for the last couple of years. Even though both of our vehicles are still in good running order they are 95 and 97 models. Our biggest fear is that they should both go out of commission at the same time and create a double car payment which would be impossible to deal with. We have been thinking about trading in my Caddie for a small SUV. So the last month or so we have been seriously narrowing down our choices. We looked at brand new Toyota Highlanders and Nissan Muranos and a couple other variations on the theme. We looked at the prices and I walked away with my hand on my heart repeating the Jewish comment "Oy Vay" and wondering how anyone can afford $40,000 for a new car? Well since I am not one to buy a new car we started looking at certified used cars and we found one that Gerry started drooling over and I liked the size, color, price and incentives that the dealership was offering. And guess what....is it NOT white! LOL
This is a 2004 BMW X3 with only 21,000 miles on it and the certification keeps the warranty going for another 3 years. What ya think? :)

We should be able to pick it up Monday which is also my prep for the colonoscopy day. I figure while I am sitting in the bathroom reading a book all day Gerry will be out cruising the country side.

Know anyone who is interested in buying my good old beautiful Caddie?

Roto Rooting

Well, it's official, the CT scan shows diverticulitis for sure and they promptly scheduled a colonoscopy for me on Tuesday morning, Nov 6th. I am already having nightmares about the procedure and the prep that goes with this test. I told the doctor the crap they make you drink to clean out the colon for this test makes me throw up so he has ordered pills instead of bottles of The Great Salt Lake to drink. Here is a link to what I have to look forward to: Colonoscopy Prep

I am planning on weighing myself next Sunday morning, then again Tuesday after the test to see just how full of crap I really am. Anyone wanna guess how much weight I lose? Please take note I was born with brown eyes.

Run here, Run There! Shop till I drop!

Life in this house the last month has been non stop and sleep deprived. I thought when you got older life got easier, oh was I wrong. Starting with Gerry's Mom breaking her hip 6 weeks ago kept us busy running back and forth visiting her at the hospital and therapy and baby sitting her dog for 3 weeks. She is doing well and is back home now, but the running is still going strong. Three times a week in therapy and those in-between doctor visits makes me want to trade in my gas guzzling high test eating car for a hydro/eco/electric bike with a side car. Gerry is still in Cardio Rehab and tries to get in his therapy visits three times a week and I on a rare occasion get a chance to do my pool therapy. I've been back and forth to the doctor myself the last couple of weeks with pain and a diagnosed bout of diverticulitis and have a CT Scan scheduled for Tuesday morning with a colonoscopy planned in the near future. The worst part of these tests is the prepping before they are done. I really think it is a way for the doctors to get even with their patients by making them drink undrinkable fluids that either make you upchuck in the kitchen sink while trying to swallow unpalatable crap before the tests and then after the tests either giving you uncontrollable diarrhea or constipation that requires a stick of TNT shoved you know where to release the pressure. Wish me luck that I don't embarrass myself while all this crap is going on. :)

This last week was spent cleaning the house for two days in preparation for a progressive dinner on Monday night with the neighbors. Susan made appetizers, I did the entree, (stuffed shells) and Jeanie served dessert. Tuesday evening I was out with 5 friends to a Ladies Only evening at Hartville Collectibles where they served a delicious dinner, gave out door prizes then allowed after shopping with a 20% discount throughout the gallery to entice everyone to go into debt for the Holidays early. Yep, I bought a couple Disney Jim Shore pieces to add to my growing collection. Wednesday night was dog school night. Thursday night Barb and Sharon were here for our first official Support meeting for dieters are us. Friday was double duty day in the beauty shop due to me taking the day off Saturday to get those new Jim Shore pieces signed by the artist himself. Jim Shore is an amazing artist and an even more amazing person. He is so nice and takes time visiting with every person who has come to his event. I would buy his artistry because he is so nice even if he didn't do Disney goodies. :) Here is the piece I am trying to find now. It was only sold at Disney World and I am waiting for a call back from there to see if they still have one available. Isn't it beautiful? :)

When I was finished playing with Jim Shore and his goodies I went upstairs to the Thomas Kinkade Gallery to see the just released Disney World painting entitled, "A New Day at the Cinderella Castle". Only one word comes to mind when seeing this painting. WOW!!! For Disney lovers like myself....well....only time will tell if this shows up in our house. Gerry has not seen this painting up close yet but the day he saw Disneyland's 50th Anniversary painting by Thomas Kinkade he shouted, "I gotta have it!". As you see from the earlier posts, 'We Got It'. I do hope my nieces and nephews take note of all the collectibles they are going to be stuck with when we are gone. Course you have to take any dogs we have at that time too or the deal is off. ;)

That's all I have to report for this go round. Please keep me in your thoughts this next couple of weeks as I go through these test and that whatever is wrong with me a simple pill can fix it. :)

Everything is done but the details! :)

Gerry finished painting the walls in the living room last weekend. His day off this week he got the floor almost done. A few more pieces in the bottom of the closet and the rest of the shoe molding applied, and a few nails to cover and this project will be done. He thinks one more day off will be enough to finish the job. Hows it look to you? :)
The walls are painted Butte Rock, a nice taupe color that goes well next to the dark furniture and the pretty wood floor. The accent colors, the burgundy above the angled fireplace wall and on the two smaller walls along with the everygreen wall around the door blend with the colors in the furniture and the window treatments. Take a look around.....

Yeppers, you do see Mickey. We debated on putting him back up but since our entire house is Disney decorated and we love Mickey and even more important seeing him makes us smile, we hung him back up...to look over all of us. :)

A decorator friend of mine told me anywhere the walls meet in a corner you can change colors. As you can see we made the dramatic choice and have a really bold area on the inside of our front door. The one wall looks a bit redder then it is due to the sun coming in the window but my photography is not as good as Tammi's so when she visits next I'll have her do her magic and take some true color photos for me. :::Hint, hint, Tammi::::

As the room moves around you can see we tried to keep the same theme going to tie the entire space together but yet still designate the different areas. Living room, hallway, dining room which you can't see in these photos, kitchen, and sun nook.

And back again to the French doors that lead out to the back yard. Sundance lounging on the floor watches me taking pictures and is waiting patiently for her supper.

Gerry put felt on the bottom of all the furniture so it would not scratch the new floor. Tis nice when I sweep cause the furniture slides easily out of the way but when Sundance and Winston come tearing into the house from outside and fly across the floor to jump on the couch, I am glad there is a wall to prevent the couch from landing on our front porch. The best part of this is the ease in cleaning. Ten minutes and I have the entire area of hard floors sweep and if any of the wood needs mopped, that can also be done in 10 minutes. The only bad thing to this hard wood flooring is the fact there isn't any carpet to catch the hairs and now we can see just how much Sundance sheds. Well at least all the hairs amass along the edges from them running through the house creating a breeze.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing Gerry's handiwork. Wonder what project Gerry will do next? :)

A Quick Flooring Update

Well, the floor isn't done yet and the painting is still unfinished. Since Gerry's vacation ended without the floor being finished he is having a very hard time finding the time to work on this project. The Post Office rules our lives and with Gerry working 6 days a week, it doesn't leave much time to complete the job. But we still have hope it will be done within the next couple of weeks. Gerry is still cutting wood and fitting it all together and once that is done he will rent the nail gun and install the rest of the flooring. After that...the walls will get their coat of color and the furniture will finally be moved back into the living room.

The dogs are sliding all over the place. Do you think they will eventually learn to stop running in the house and 'Take It Outside'? :)

Phew, here we are 10 days after the start of redoing the floor. A week ago Monday, August 27th, Gerry took up the old carpet and pad. The carpet came up quickly and easily. The pad was held down with thousands of staples that Gerry had to hand pull each one out of the floor. Here is Sundance wondering, "Where did the soft stuff go?" A rude awakening is coming to the 4-legged kids cause now they have nothing to give them traction while chasing each other through and around the house.

We had to move the big furniture from one side of the living room to the other because it was too big to move anywhere else and too heavy to move far.

On with the show! The first couple of rows are installed. The corners next to the fireplace took a couple of hours or measuring and cutting and gluing till they were right. As you can see Gerry is laying the wood on a bias, parallel with the fireplace. He has to lay out the wood before cutting and installing so the joints don't run into each other and for the variance in color to be mixed nicely. Gerry also painted the end wall where the big furniture goes, the rest of the walls will be painted when the floor is finished and we are not on a time limit in returning the rented nail gun.

Proof Gerry is installing..... Can you imagine a man who in April had a heart attack and a double by-pass surgery now, just a few months later, installing 650 sq. ft. of hard wood floor? He is amazing!!

The living room is done....here is the front door showing where Gerry took up the old wood and replaced it with the new. Looking Good!!!

Gerry had to go back to work today. His week vacation ended and the floor is not done. He has the front hall almost done and started on the 45 degree turn to the next hallway. His plan is to cut and fit all the boards in place then rent the nail gun one more time on his next day off and complete installing the floor. Neither of us had any idea this was going to take so long or be so back breaking for Gerry.

Amid all this construction, last Friday Gerry's mom was at the grocery store picking out an onion when her hip bone broke and down she went. Ambulance took her to the hospital, surgery to replace her hip happened on Saturday. She will be moved to a therapy facility either today or tomorrow for two weeks. We are baby sitting her dog Jackie so now we have 6 dogs having nervous break downs from all the noise and disruption. I am growing more gray hair and tripping over an additional dog as I walk around the house....but such is life and it comes at you fast. :)

Major Remodeling

The one thing I learned in the last 5 years is.....5 dogs and light carpet do not mix! The last two years we have had a contract with Stanley Steamer to come 5 times a year to clean my living room carpet. Usually within a week of the cleaning we have a rain storm or a snow storm which creates mud. Mud then accumulates on the feet of 5 dogs. 5 x 4 = 20 wet and dirty paws running in the dog door usually dragging a tree limb or clumps of grass with them.

Gerry and I have been in our dream home for 5 years come this November. Take a look at our home inside and out at this web site. This is our builders site who sent a photographer to claim his rights to the building of our home. Even though Gerry and I designed our home with a $50.00 software program and supervised every day what was happening with the construction of our home, the builder wants his share of the credit. I think I saw Nathan at our house 3 times during those six months. http://www.glickconstruction.com/ranchmodel1.htm (The last picture in that group of 12 is not our house...someone stuck in a ringer. ) The photos on this site were taken about a year after the house was finished, since then we have painted, wallpapered and highlighted with our personal touches. I will take some pictures to show you the latest in our decorating in my next posting.

Last week Gerry and I were walking through a store clearance area at Hartville Hardware where we found 15 boxes of butterscotch colored solid oak flooring with a 25 year warranty on the finish. I looked at Gerry with puppy dog pleading eyes and asked if it was possible to rip up all that light carpet and put down hard wood floors that I could just sweep or mop up any dirt that gets carried in from our 4 legged kids. This has been something we have talked about for the last couple of years and with the 1/2 price sale it looked like the time was right to step up to the plate and ripe out a credit card. Alas there was not enough wood for the entire job, but the store was also having a sale on ordered wood so another 13 boxes and we are ready to make a major change.

So are a couple of photos of the before....

This coming week will be trying to find places to move the furniture to while we redo the floors and the following week will be painting the walls, taking up the old carpet and putting down the new hard wood floors. The wood you see in front of the door will be replaced so it matches the rest of the room but the natural maple floor in the kitchen and dinning room will remain the same.

So, wish us luck in our remodeling and say a little prayer that I don't need to take any of my dogs to doggie psychiatrists to over come the fear they develop from listening to a week of a power nail gun going off constantly. I already warned the neighbors that it would not be Gerry shooting bullets at his adoring wife. ;)

New photos coming soon.......