Remodel Update

So exciting. The bathroom remodel is just about done and we can't wait to kick the boy out of our bathroom. He was very considerate and didn't really get in our way, but we're not used to sharing. The pictures show the new flooring (travertine), counters (tumbled marble), shower accent (travertine that matches both the floor and the counter backsplash), and paint (Broome by Ralph Lauren). Pat did all the plumbing last night so the sinks and toilet are back in service. I caulked the bathtub and sinks (still need to do the toilet). Only a few things left to do: towel bars and tp holder; hang the mirrors (yes, two); touch up the wood trim; caulk the toilet; install the shower curtain rod; and optionally, paint or antique the cabinets and install the knobs. That's it!! So, here are a few preliminary pictures:


You can see the new trim and the paint color in this picture.


Here are the new faucets and sinks and one of the mirrors. Not sure we want to leave the cabinets white.


You can see the floor here. The old floor was gray and pink linoleum Vast improvement.

Girls' Weekend

We tried to take a long walk every morning with a stop at the coffee shop. It was SO cold and windy we couldn't bring ourselves to go out on the last day. You can see the snow on Darla's back in this picture.


We each brought a project to work on. This is Darla's quilt. She cut and sewed the entire top. Judy finished a quilt top too and sewed binding on another. Rhonda finished a pair of socks she was knitting for her son and worked on the coolest Christmas stockings for the twins. Stephanie worked on a sweater for her grandson and I finished my first pair of toe-up socks.


This is what the weather looked like the entire weekend. What the heck...snow in April.


The socks.

In addition to our projects, we ate really, really well. Each of us was responsible for a meal. We had homemade scones, granola, and croque monsieur for our breakfasts. Dinners were spinach and cheese in croissant dough and chicken curry. Of course, girlie appetizers were plentiful as well.

On our last day we went into Bend and had a lovely birthday lunch at Chow. The food was terrific; we shared 5 entrees and dessert and our tab was only $60 including tip. Especially yummy was the chickpea and barley salad.

We also hit the BJs Quilt Basket and a great new quilt shop Sew Many Quilts. After lunch, we went to Juniper Fiberworks to play with the yarn. I found a several skeins I 'had' to have.

The Last Crossing - Guy Vanderhaeghe

Another great book selection from Sunriver Books and Music. This was March's book selection and is the story of three British brothers, two of them have been sent by their father to the U.S. to locate their missing sibling. Lots of character development, a little love story, adventure and some history. Really enjoyed it.

Race for the Roses

Half Marathon. 13.1 Miles. Surprisingly fun (except miles 10-12). Great Finish. Lovely breakfast at an old favorite, Zell's Cafe. (Gingerbread Waffle, avocado omelet & fantastic potatoes). All in all - a great day.

The Outlander - Diana Gabaldon

Another book I've started to read several times. It came highly recommended and was a quick, fun read. I'm not sure I would recommend it as great fiction, but the Scottish history is interesting. It was a little to much like a romance novel for me to really give it a thumbs up...maybe thumbs sideways?

The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

Classic book about the '20's. Goes to show that people are the same almost 100 years later.

The Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell

Very interesting book about what causes something to become popular or 'epidemic'. I especially enjoyed the sections on teen smoking and Blues Clues.

Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith

I really wanted to like this book, but the author seemed way too depressed and worried all the time. I can not relate.

Grandmas

Portland Trailblazers vs. Wizards

On our way home from Sunriver, we made a stop at the Blazer Game. Must have been our good luck, they won!

Sunriver Weekend

We had a fantastic long weekend with Jill, Nathan, Bill and Darla. Of course the focus was eating, spending time outdoors and hanging out with each other.

A special treat was Easter lunch at McDonald's. No, not that McDonald's, our friends who live in Bend. They put on a fantastic spread of bouillabaisse, salad, vegies and dessert. We had a great time visiting with them and reconnecting with their kids and seeing the hoard of grandkids for the first time.

Monday was spent skiing/snowboarding. The weather was nice and the snow was great, except on Outback. For the first time, we packed a lunch. Must say our 'sack lunch' was far superior to the food offered at the Mountain.

Sweetness in the Belly - Camilla Gibb

This is the second book we received from Sunriver Books as part of the Book of the Month club. I loved it, Pat wasn't quite as enthusiastic.

The setting goes back and forth between Ethiopia in the '70's and England in the 80-90's. The main character is a European white female Muslim who was raised in a mosque in Morocco after her parents are killed in an accident. She is forced to leave and ends up with a family in Ethiopia. I've never read a book about Ethiopia before, so it was new information, but also familiar to other books related to Muslim nations.

Lilly, the main character, is then forced to leave Ethiopia and ends up in England helping refugees find their friends and family, all the while, looking for her lover's name to appear on one of the lists of refugees.

Great book!

What Got You Here Won't Get You There - Marshall Goldsmith

I've been on a reading plan lately. Each day at the gym, Pat and I read our self-help books, shared spiritual book, and novel of our choice.

I recently finished this great business related book. The author is an executive coach and the premise is that even though you may be successful, there could be flaws in your character that keep you from moving to the next level. He starts with a list of 20 common flaws. One I'm working on is listening without interrupting or rebutting. It's interesting to be aware of other people's behavior in this regard. Some people just can't help disagreeing with everything. It's not a pleasant personality trait.

Highly recommended.

Book Group: Then We Came to the End - Joshua Ferris

Thank goodness I'm done. This was definitely not one of my favorite books. I do not need to read about people who work in an office and about all their gossiping and peculiarities. None of the characters was likable, which doesn't help matters.

Not recommended.

Sacred Romance - John Eldridge

I've been thinking about how to write this review. I loved the book (Thanks Nathan!!). As I looked it up on Amazon to provide the link, I read through some of the reviews and copied part of one. This is why I liked it so much:

"The authors guide the reader to remember that God is up to something big. He is working out in history His own big story. Each of our lives is a little story within that big story. However, so many people get caught up in their own little story, that they forget that God has a role for them in His big story. This causes us to lose heart along the way. Our problems overwhelm us when we forget God's big story.
Okay, but why is this book so good at reminding us of that?
The authors paint the picture of a wild God - the Lover of our souls who pursues us restlessly. They look thoroughly at both the Old Testament and the New Testament. But, this book isn't preachy. The authors go beyond Scripture, while staying Scriptural. They look at Literature and Cinema, old and new. What is this longing presented to us throughout history - why all the stories of the lost love pursued by her lover? Because, deep down inside, we all want to be loved and pursued. The authors show us that the Bible presents us with the story of the Lover of our souls pursuing us. God longs to meet our deepest needs."

Another bathroom remodel

We've demolished another bathroom! The upstairs bathroom had lovely white tile with rose accent on the counter and shower and pink and gray linoleum. We ripped out the counter, linoleum and the pink tiles from the shower.

Before....







So far, we've laid the counter and backsplash with tumbled stone and travertine. The floor will be 16" travertine tiles and the accent in the shower will be the same as the piece we used for the top of the backsplash.

Almost after...

Poor Sassy

The girls got into a fight last Friday and we didn't provide the proper first aid to poor Sassy's leg, Rosie's usually biting spot. By Monday, it was quite swollen and required a trip to the vet. She was given antibiotic pills and shots and the vet said to put hot packs on it so it would drain (yuk!) Sassy has a heart murmur and the doctor felt uncomfortable anesthetizing her for surgery. Well, no sooner did we put on the hot pack than a bunch of icky fluid drained out and a huge crater opened. A call to the vet told us to leave it alone, they would look at it again on Thursday. In the meantime, the swelling went down and the redness went away, but the gaping hole in Sassy's leg remained. Back to the vet on Thursday and Friday and Saturday. Poor girl has to have it bandaged every day to every 2 days until it heals.

Joel's birthday

We had a nice birthday dinner for Joel a few weeks ago, where we served the yummy lasagna I showed on an earlier post. Here are a few pictures from the event.

Spring Has Sprung!!!

Daffodil in the backyard.

Family Photos

My parents shortly after they were married.


My older brother and sister.


Me

Roasted-Vegetable Lasagne Recipe at Epicurious.com

Great recipe. We had our usual family dinner on Saturday and Pat and I made this luscious lasagna and a traditional meat one too. Highly recommend this recipe, but add mushrooms. Also, awesome using no-boil noodles. So much easier

Wild Fire - Nelson DeMille

I've always enjoyed Nelson DeMille's books, but this was lame. Don't bother unless you don't have anything else to read.

To Do List

To do list:
Coat closet
Taxes
Hem mom's pants
Make Vet appointment
Call mom's health insurance re Dental
Polish/refinish double bed, dresser
Replace lightbulb in kitchen
Clean out closet under staircase
Reshelf books
Go to brew supply shop: sanitizer, beer kit
Clean out closet in bonus room
Box up Jill’s stuff
Joel’s address to mom
Plan family dinner
Look for mom’s recipe books
Paint, etc bathroom
Mail Nike watch
Mammogram appointment
Unplug back up power box in 3rd car garage

Little Women - Louisa May Alcott & March - Geraldine Brooks

Little Women - Louisa May Alcott

March - Geraldine Brooks

I've been wanting to read March for a long time and started it a couple weeks ago. It's the story of the father of the Little Women. As I read the first few pages, I realized that I should probably to back and read Little Women first. Luckily, we had a copy of Little Women and I got right to work.

I'd highly recommend it to adolescent girls and newlywed women. It is such a sweet story full of excellent advice on how to get along in a family and with a spouse. Such a sweet story.

I was disappointed with March; the author represented the father much differently than Louisa May Alcott did. It was Brooks' intention to 'humanize' him and show his flaws (and his wife's), but the original author chose not to show that side of him. For me, it took away from the sweet lessons in Little Women. Yes, people are complex and we don't always show what we are thinking, but I didn't want to know about that side of the Marches. Read this review.

Well written, but Little Women was tarnished.

Painting weekend

I visited Jill & Nathan last weekend. We had a fantastic time, as usual...eating, visiting, talking Jackie for walks, golfing, and an all day painting adventure. Wish I'd taken some pictures, but we painted the kitchen yellow, bathroom a retro blue-green, and a nice tan for the bedroom.


I can't believe I encouraged Jill to marry this guy.

Where's Sassy....Where's Rosie

Can you find the 'real' dog.