OJI Perks and Paint, Paint, Paint!

I'm not a good patient--I'm too busy to be sick, or injured, or to spend time sitting around. I'm also not good at asking for help when I need it. So, confinement to the couch just about killed me. To make matters worse, the DVD player died, then the computer mouse died.

Being on OJI brought out kindness around me, though--my friend Joe's friend Peter was out running errands and offered to bring me anything I might need. I really couldn't walk, or move, and wasn't looking forward to driving to the store for AA batteries for the computer. I also wanted a banana, but I was hurting too much to get up. So, I did what I never do--I said Yes, I'd like some help. And look what Peter brought with him!Aren't they beautiful? I'm planning to plant Sunsprite roses in front of the house--they are yellow and smell delicious. I want a swath of lavender at their feet, and these chrysanthemums will be the perfect accent in front of the lavender. Can't wait to get into the dirt! Accepting help has some nice perks, doesn't it?

Speaking of dirt, we sure got dirty today! One of my co-workers, Trish, came over to help me paint. She's going to buy her first home next month. I set her up with my realtor and mortgage guy, and she's pretty excited about her first place. She offered to help paint, so I took her up on it. We got the ceilings done, and the living room walls. We'll finish the bedrooms tomorrow.The red wall is history. I LOVE this colour--oatmeal--Odie painted Brett's room with it. All of the walls will be in this colour, except the kitchen & bathroom. Each bedroom will have an accent wall in Winter Wheat, which is about 5 shades darker.

I also chose two bathroom vanities--which do you like? This is stylish and sleek, but doesn't offer any storage. I really like the granite top, and I think I can get it on either vanity.This is a little boxier and offers more storage options, but will make the bathroom seem a little smaller. Let me know what you think, please, either with a comment or an email.This is the granite I've chosen for the kitchen--it's called Tobacco Gold.It's AMAZING--I wish the photo captured the sparkles and the colours better.The cabinets will be arriving April 10th. Electrical goes in tomorrow. Things are finally coming together.

BORED, BORED, BORED OUT OF MY MIND!!!!

I am of the opinion that one can never have too many horses. So, today, since I am trapped in the house and supposed to be on the couch, I managed to find this cutie on the BLM Internet Adoption. Fortunately for me, Ranger & Beau, bidding was closed so I couldn't adopt her. Isn't she cute, though? If I were going to get another horse, I'd like a pinto, coloured like this. Kalisha helped me look at horses. Then, she spotted something in the tree...It's that renegade squirrel!She's spent the last half-hour staring longingly at it.

Yes, I'm BORED. The DVD player died, so the Harry Potter marathon is a no-go. Now what????

Upswing, downswing, vicodenswing...and a birthday!

We went out to the Kona Grill a few weeks ago for Matt Ashburn's 30th birthday. Matt & I worked at Regal, but not at the same time, then both ended up at SkyWest. We've known about each other through mutual friends, emails and newsletters, but had never met. We finally met several months ago through Jenny, because Matt and her boyfriend James are roommates--what a SMALL WORLD!

I chose the cake, which I felt boasted appropriate subject matter for a 30-year-old.We GORGED on sushi! And beer!Matt, me and Jenny...Matt's harem...Happy Birthday!Bill helped me with the house on Tuesday, and after we finished a couple of major projects, I scooted over to Odette's to hang out and help with the kids during a showing (They are selling their house, abandoning me, and moving back to Seattle. I'm helpfully telling prospective buyers about the Ebola virus present in their carpet...)

Sara is learning how to drink from a water bottle. Notice the raincoat...it was definitely necessary! Who knew it took so much talent and coordination to drink from a water bottle--which means that I must be talented and coordinated, since I don't usually drench myself while drinking! :-)Sara makes the best FISHY faces!After we dried her off, she decided to don Odie's shoes and walk around.Here are some of the improvements at the house--Bill finished off the limbs that I couldn't reach. The juniper is now FREE--nothing is touching it! Or the sidewalk, or the roof, or the people walking up the sidewalk! Check out how big the pile of branches is NOW (the pile I cut is in the blog before this one)! If the City asks...YES, we hired an arborist! :-)I hacked down the clematis, which was growing up the back wall, gouging the brick, invading the electrical box, winding behind the gutters and twisting into the attic. I'll dig it up later and move it to the fence, where it can't damage the structure. Check out that pile of old clematis!We got the subfloor installed! Doesn't it look great? No more mold! Jose will set the flange tomorrow, and I'll tile at some point in the near future, although those plans might be a little awry...I also ordered the kitchen cabinets today. Things are looking up at the house!Do you see anything odd in this photo? Compare the second gauges. Each "stack" represents an engine--the left stack is the left engine, and the right stack is the right engine. The right engine shows 496*C ITT, which is normal engine temperature in flight. The left engine shows 270*C, which is abnormal in flight. "Abnormal in flight" is not a good phrase, especially when you are actually flying, which we were.This is something you DON'T want to see. Unfortunately, we saw it. Anytime anything turns RED in the airplane, you are having a BAD DAY! This was a bad day. Don't even ask about the rest of the day, because it was worse. Yes, sadly, this was the best part of the BAD DAY.Below is the result of the BAD DAY. That is generic Vicoden. I ended the BAD DAY by slipping on ice on the jet-bridge adapter while carrying my heavy flight bag last night, and really screwing up my back. Today, I spent the afternoon at the doctor. He says the worst is yet to come, because it takes about 72 hours for everything to settle down enough so that he can assess the damage to my back. I'm grounded with an OJI for at least a week.So, off to Target to get my Rx, and a big copper piggy bank, and some ice cream. Ben & Jerry's Imagine Whirled Peace, to be precise. So, this little piggy is assigned to the couch for the next two or three days, eating ice cream and Vicoden. Want to join me? I have all of the Harry Potter movies lined up, ready to go!
Stay off of ice, thick or thin, and have a GOOD DAY, OK?

Play Day!

Today was PLAY DAY! Look at my new toy:Yup, it's a super-duper pruning saw on a 12' extension! I got busy on the obnoxious tree that the city actually owns, but apparently I am responsible for...so I cut off everything hanging over my house! Look at that PILE! Do you remember the earlier outside view--the branches were hanging over the walkway and touching the roof? No more!
Jose got to the house bright and early and got started on the toilet. This is what it's SUPPOSED to look like! No flange yet, that's to come.I had forgotten my cell phone and needed to make a Home Depot run, so while I was gone, Jose scraped up all of the mold and cleaned the floor. Wow, thanks Jose! That wasn't in the job description--again, that kind of above & beyond service earns my business forever! Don't forget, he's doing this on a SUNDAY morning! All of the mold, and the flooring, is GONE! That's the inner workings of the jetted tub, by the way. My next project is to lay the new subfloor. Jose will come back at that time and install the flange and bolts, then I'll lay tile. He'll come back one more time and set the toilet.Today was play-day at the barn. It was sunny and 70*. Beau and Ned, the two old guys, were acting like young studs. Later, I discovered a couple of very attactive mares turned out in the next pasture. No wonder they were acting like spring chickens!Ranger dropped in to see what they were doing. I don't think he was welcome.Mom, he's bothering me!!!The llamas got into it as well. Salvadore likes to grab the other llama by the halter and lead him around.Wrasslin'!What a GORGEOUS mustang! :-)
I hope you had a spring-like day! It's not going to last for long--we're supposed to get SNOW tonight!

More surprises...

I am not a "Uniform Nazi," but I do think that pilots should look professional. We were parked next to Lynx, which does contract flying for Frontier, and spotted this Captain. Look closely--he's wearing a baseball cap. And he wore his baseball cap when he did the walk-around prior to flight, where any passenger looking out the window could see him. He wore the baseball cap to greet the passengers when they boarded. He was wearing the baseball cap when they taxied out...I think he just wanted to look cool for his FO, but still, a baseball cap has no place in a professional pilot's work wardrobe.I like to start my day with a nutritious breakfast. Below is the Breakfast of Champions--Starbuck's Oatmeal with nuts (almonds, pecans & walnuts), dried fruit (cherries, cranberries, and golden raisins), and brown sugar, followed by a non-fat latte. It's hard to eat well on the road, but as you can tell, I manage! The thing in the middle is the tiller in my airplane--that's how we drive it on the ground. We also have a nice, deeply recessed cup holder because liquids and electronics in an airplane don't mix.My pilot friends will get a kick out of this! For the rest of you, that is airport weather with a small faux paus.Today's terrific surprise came when I took out the tile floor in the bathroom. The toilet couldn't be set unless the tile around it was removed, so that was today's project. Of course, the former owner set the tile in such a way that I couldn't just take it out around the toilet--nope, the entire floor had to come out. And of course, they set the tub on top of the tile, too, just to make it a little more exciting. So, guess what's under the tile?That's right--MOLD! Yippeee... Off to Home Depot to buy a respirator. I'm pretty sure that I got mold spores up my nose, though. I hope they aren't fatal. I'm already sneezing. What are the signs of mold poisoning? So, tomorrow's project is to meet Jose, the plumber, at 8a. He came over tonight for the estimate, and checked out the mold. Being a plumber, he's seen a lot of it. He said that it's not active, since there's no moisture, but it will have to be cleaned up. I'm going to take out the last of the tile, spray the entire area with bleach, let it dry, then scour out the mold. He's going to redo the pipe so that a flange can be set and the toilet can be secured. Guess we're going to have a busy day! Would you like to join me for the burning of the moldy clothing?

Oh, and did I mention that I have lead pipes? Just for the waste system, I think. Still...

I got to spend most of the afternoon with Sue yesterday, riding her "new" horse Diore. She's had Diore almost two years, but I hadn't met him yet. What a NICE horse! He's got some good, solid dressage training and was delightful to ride. He & Ranger would make a hilarious pair--Diore is gray, but the almost-white kind of gray. He's HUGE--at least 16.3HH. I'd love to see them paired up, because Ranger is little and black.

Sue & I caught up and had a terrific time, despite our headaches. I wish we lived closer so that we could have more horse-time and friends-time.

Red, Red, Go Away...

Now you see it....Now you DON'T!!! Yippee! Hooray! It took TWO coats of primer, but the red wall is now white. It will be a sand/tan colour before long, with white trim. One small problem...the former owner may have used oil-based paint. If so, the primer won't stick, and I'll have a disaster on my hands. Keep your fingers and your paintbrushes crossed!

Speaking of disasters, take a look at this. Yes, it's where the toilet sat (NO--that's WAX to the left! I'm not THAT bad! And no, the plastic bags weren't clogging the pipe--I put them there to keep sewer gas out)...do you see bolts? Do you see a flange, which you need between the toilet and the sewer pipe? NO.

ARGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

So, I'll be taking out the tile floor so that the toilet can be set properly, with bolts and a flange. I guess that's OK. I'm not crazy about the tile, nor the crud in the grout, nor whatever might be growing in the crud in the grout. The tile surrounding the tub is coming out too, so I guess I can pick my own colours to match the new vanity. Still...YUK!

On to more tasteful decisions! The ceiling in the dining area is lower than the other rooms, in order to create some ambience, I guess. Thus, I need a very low profile light fixture. I saw this in a store--it's silver tract lighting with bare bulbs. They strung crystals on fishing line and looped them over the fixture. I LOVE IT, don't you???My last trip started with a grin--when is the last time you saw a gentleman wearing a fedora? Especially a YOUNG man? :-)Are hats making a comeback? I hope so--didn't that bring a smile to your face?

On a more somber note, I want to send my most heartfelt condolences to my friend Baze, to Kim, and Baze's family. Baze's father died unexpectedly yesterday morning after falling during a walk the day before. I'm so sorry, Baze, for your loss.