Settling all household debts

Ok, so I make a million little promises to myself. Do something with your scarves, dedicate some space to your seedlings, finish those sad projects languishing in the knitting basket, learn to make olive relish (this is a real thing). I do this until I've amassed a list of personal and household debts long enough to wrap around our water heater. Oh, another item: get a blanket for the water heater.

At these times of mass debt list awareness, I have to set aside a day, good health or not, to get them all done in a marathon of errand running. Saturday was one of these days for me. Arduous but satisfying, I successfully settled a majority of my household debts AND managed a few crafty things that kept me from outright weeping at Trader Joe's while I stood in the world's longest line.

1. The seeds are in! In keeping with my resolution to "Grow something from seed" I'm actually growing EVERYTHING from seed. Or at least I like to think I am. We'll see what happens in real-life.
   
   
2. Part 1 of 2 of Ms. Ava's #1 birthday present is finished. In stylish green and pink (as I was complimented on at the knitting shop -- squweet!) this poncho is another funk-ay creation (courtesy of Luv to Crochet via Crochet bythehook) from the fingers of Finny . Contrasting crocheted zippered purslet (yes, every 1 year old needs a purse) with rose adornment to come shortly.
   
   
   
   
3. The abandoned project of 2005 has finally been finished. And none too soon. It's friggen freezing around here. Leg warmies -- s'bout time.
   
   
   
   
4. I started the conversion in the breakfast nook from "ordinary nook" to "Indoor Nursery". I did this by ceremoniously transplanting my gardening books from the office to the nook. To me, this is huge. To hubby, this is geography. Books here, books there. Does not matter as long as food still bursts forth from the kitchen. He's so reasonable. I am so emotional. Couldn't you just find a quiet corner and wrap your eyeballs in the "All New Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening"? Dude, yes please.
   
   
   
   
5. I purchased and filled the *promised* under bed storage boxes for all our miscellany that won't fit in our teeny SHARED closet. Yes, that's right folks. Finny and Hubby share a closet AND a bathroom. It's a wonder we're still together and he hasn't kicked me in the tooth. I'm not a good sharer, being a stubborn first born mule and all. So, now scarves are safely organized under the bed and hubby has one square inch more of space for his big man clothes. How does he do it?
   
   

In addition to all this settling of household debts, I also managed to spend some QT time with the bloodthirsty beast we call Rocket, bring some springtime into our house in the form of a billion daffodils (from the dreaded trip to TJ's) and discovered the one luminous head of cauliflower hulking out in the soon-to-be-demolished winter vegetable garden.




All in all, not too shabby for a sicky weekend (some germ has invaded my nose). And with that, I shall begin a new list of household debts.

From scraps

In the final moments before a nasty migraine took merciless control of my Sunday, I managed to get one matching wristlet through the sewing machine to complete the Nappy Bag ensemble for my friends upcoming baby shower.

Funk-ay, no?

This little guy (including the wristy part) was made from the scraps of this big guy here:

I must say, I'm awful proud. Thanks to Africankelli this bag has all the comforts of home. It's nice and durable due to the Decor fabric used in place of regular old floppy cotton and the fusible lining sewn between the layers is holding the shape all together nice. Makes ALL the diff.

Ooh, almost forgot, a few notes on the Wristy, should you want to make one of these bad boys; I got the pattern from Thimble (thanks to Caro for introducing me to it with my fab zippered pouch) and totally love the tutorial.

A few little notes:

1. Using coordinating thread to fabric for the spool and bobbin made the pouch look more pro (IMHO) instead of doing what hubby suggested, which was "Just use black thread all over". Oh silly man.
   
2. When you pull the pouch right side out, pull the lining out and top stitch the hole with matching thread
3. To make the Wristy part, cut a 2" strip of fabric from the outside material, fold in half lengthwise (right side in), press and sew along the raw open edge. Then, using a turning tool (or safety pin or miracle from above) turn right side out and press. When sewing the outside material, fold Wristy in half and pin underneath outside material just above the zipper, leaving the two raw edges sticking out and the loop part tucked safely inside the pouch where it can't be accidently sewn down. Sew only to the outside material -- not to the lining. When you turn right side out, you'll have a handy Wristy to your zippered pouch.
4. Before turning out the pouch, cut the corners off the lining and outside material and press out all the seams to make the sharpest corners on the final product. See, I learned a thing or two from Amy Butler, even though her pattern was friggen maddening.
   

Ok, I think that's it. It's hard to improve on such a great little scrap project. Don't you love when you can use up all those leftover bits? Does the cheap psycho/efficient economist in me good. I am beginning to see a lot of zippered pouches made from all the bastard fabric I have laying around taking up space on the craft shelf. Muhuhuhahahahaha!

Finny Jetson

Let me tell you a little story about Finny and how she came to hate the household tool knows as the mop.

Once upon a time Mother Finny had a chore list. She would post this list on the refrigerator for all her spawn to see. Alongside these chores were dollar amounts that would be doled out, once the chore was done. There were all manner of chores on this list.

Empty dishwasher, $.50 (I didn't say we were rich, just organized)
Weed roses, $1.00
Vacuum house, $2.00
Clean hall bathroom, $2.00
Take trash cans to the street, $1.00

And at the bottom of said list was the one chore no one would do:

Mop kitchen, $5.00

Yep, that's right, five whole bucks. Because Mother Finny hated mopping just as much as the spawn did and she was willing to pay big bucks to have someone else do it. Money was no object to Mother Finny and to this day she continues to avoid mopping by paying much more than $5 to a very nice housekeeper who will do the whole list of chores and leave her floors sparkling.
Well, not everyone can justify a housekeeper. Especially when their house (while lovely) is smaller than their first apartment.

This brings us to present day, where, having lived in a household where it was acceptable to exchange large quantities of cash for clean floors, the grown up Finny has purchased a fine mopping robot so she never has to wrestle another bucket of dirty water around the linoleum.

Let us all welcome Scooba. The newest member of the FinnyKnits household.

The hodgepodge of my mind

This past week has been a whirling dirvish of random activities, travel and inappropriate levels of spending.

So quickly whirling, in fact, that I haven't had a moment to blog about any of it for you, my loyal blog reader(s).

I tried to blog about all of it in a bulleted list (because bulleting a list is one of the finest joys in life) but, alas, it created a mess of mind numbing mini-stories that I thought might be more easy/interesting to wrap one's mind around if I made a collage of some type. And so, I bring you an e-collage of the weeks activities.



And because I can't resist a summary in the form of a run-on sentence: (from top right to bottom left)
-trip to AZ to see college friends, Nappy bag for pregnant college friend (featured in bottom row), inside of bag, the bag again, shoes I bought, AfricanKelli and me in AZ, fish button on baby bib, baby bib I knitted, second wave of Vtines flowers from hubby, first wave of Vtines flowers from hubby, SCOOBA (more on this later), lettuce from the garden, Walk the Line, Walk the Line (it's there twice cuz I saw it twice), pregnant college friend, amaryllis blooming in my living room, hubby scrutinizing most recent carrot harvest from the garden.

Ok, phew! Now that the past week's activities have been summarized (however inefficiently) we can move on to more pressing things like;

• Super engineering Pumpkinzilla in Poison Ivy's newest habitat
• Surrendering housekeeping to a robot
• Closing the book on the @#*&%# kitchen project
• Opening the book on the rest of the @#&^% house projects
• Hybridizing (this is a word, so put your eyebrows down)
• Xeriscaping (ok, this is totally a word. Look it up.)

Plus, I'm sure a million more random topics from my favorite categories; gardening, crafts, books, travel, everyday life, cooking, talking shit about people/things, lamely attempting to accomplish any of my resolutions, my ongoing relationship with Gime/Gym, how I want to be a farmer, etc.

Have a favorite or preference? Comment away, please.

Goldilocks and the Six Carrots

Ok, so remember the bizarre dialogue I incorporated into my last post about the perfectly formed carrot pulled fresh from my backyard earth? Turns out that was something of an anomaly and I'm even more annoyed now that "Me" won out over "FinnyKnits" and chomped down the Miracle Carrot before it could be photographed and eventually bronzed for its utter perfection.

I went out to the garden this morning with the simple task of harvesting another perfect specimen, this time with camera in hand and mouth full of vanilla scone, to feature here as a testament to my impressive gardening prowess. However, it is likely that it was precisely this type of boastful attitude that caused me to have the experience that I did. A way for Mother Nature (and maybe the Burpee people) to say, "Hey lady, this isn't amateur hour around here.", if you will. Because when I pulled my first seemingly ideal candidate from the earth, it was obviously imperfect.

"A runt!" I dismissed with disgust.

Then another oddly shaped carrot was pulled.

"Heh?" I grunted, confused.

Then another, mostly undeveloped and misshapen specimen unearthed.

"What the F?!" I declared.

As it turns out, that pesky activity the gardening people like to call, "Thinning", is actually important. And, if ignored, can result in some inconsistent (I'm using this term extremely loosely) results.

Let's take a lesson from Finny on what happens when we don't thin our seeds properly.

(From left to right)
Specimen #1: Too young. Pulled too soon.
specimen #2: Too skinny. Allowed to grow too close to its neighbor.
specimen #3: Too lewdly formed. Allowed to grow to close to its neighbor, although appears to have won out at some point because it did start to develop after passing up its friends on its trip to the earths core.
specimen #4: Too nasty. Planted to close (read: ON) the sprinkler and was thus deprived of all nutrients.
specimen #5: Too rotund. Planted above something solid and forced to grow round instead of long.
Specimen #6: Just right.
Specimen #7: A lemon.

And so, when I return to the garden this winter (ew), I will remember this historic moment in time when I, as my dad would like to say, "learned something", and will spread the seeds evenly and take the time to properly thin them when they start to sprout instead of doing what I did this time. Which was to say, nothing.

Apparently applying the Darwin theory to gardening isn't always effective. So, from here on out (or at least with carrots as they've blatantly proved me wrong), I will apply the Goldilocks method. Which is that I shall thin them before they sleep shoulder to shoulder in my (vegetable) bed and emerge deformed.

And they lived happily ever after. The End.

Spring Fever anyone?

So, anyone else ready to abandon their cars on the side of the road when they see the first blossoming cherry tree of spring? Yeah, I nearly tore the bumper off a nice Volvo when I veered into a nearby parking lot to admire/bow before/photograph/covet/lust after a glorious cherry tree bursting with the first fluffy pink blossoms of the season.

I stalk this tree every year. Well, not this exact tree, but you know. I try to spy with my little eye through all the dreary dead looking branches of every bit of landscaping on every freeway, highway divide, office park, front yard, back yard, wild meadow, apartment complex until I'm nearly ready to get out my markers and draw one in myself. Because the moment I see the first bloom, I know spring is not that far off and then I can start my evil plotting of the vegetable garden, amongst a million other spring related activities that make me insane with retarded excitement.

Here's The First Tree of the Season:




Now, forget about spring, because the best part of spring is knowing that summer is right around the corner, and that's the real deal. Don't let it ever be said that I do not LOVE summer. I do. Granted, I hated it when I lived in Phoenix, because it was always over 105 degrees, even at night, and my tires melted to the pavement. But here, in sunny CA, I LOVE SUMMER.

I had my first hint of summer this weekend when I found 10 minutes to myself and sat on my back patio in my adirondack chair and felt the sun on my face for the first time in months. There was the hum of lawnmowers, tiny tweets of a baby bird in my avocado tree, the smell of cut grass, the sting of sunshine on my cheeks and arms. It was like that Campbell's soup commercial where the snowman comes inside and starts to eat a bowl of soup and then the snow melts away and he's a boy underneath. So, I'm not a boy and there was no soup, but it was the same thing. I felt my icy shell melting off and my sunshiney self ready to jump up and hug everything in sight. I think I was actually quoted as saying to hubby, "I want to hug our yard right now!" Which is ridiculous, but it was either that or cry. The emergence of spring/summer makes me that happy.

So, after much blessed weed pulling, mowing, pruning, etc I took some photos to give a high five to the few things growing in my yard/garden right now:



Not a great showing from the broccoli, but that's probably my fault. I'll definitely try this again next winter (ew-winter). The carrots look awesome and unfortuanetly I ate the big ass carrot that I pulled from the garden before I could get to the camera to get a photo. This was me in the yard,

Me: "Hello delicious carrot. Look how big and beautiful you are just right out of the garden. I shall rinse you off with the hose and chomp you down!"

FinnyKnits: "But wait, shouldn't I photograph this perfectly shaped beauty? Won't there be many disappointed peeps in blogland when they hear that I devoured the carrot before he could be featured on Finnyknits!?"

Me: "Shuddup bitch and munch the carrot -- Finnyknits readers know what carrots look like."

FinnyKnits: "But lookit how beootiful this one is! It is perfect! I must show it to...hey wait! Stop munching! You cow!"

Me: "HA! I win. Dee-lish."

The onions look fair to ok, I'm not holding out a lot of hope. The lettuce is actually growing now, but thanks to an unwelcomed invasion of nasty bugs, I've had to add a sticky trap (big sticky piece of paper that sticks in the ground near the lettuce to catch the flying lettuce crunchers) to get rid of them and await the next set of leaves to sprout without big gnarly holes in them. Then I will make a multi-colored salad with the aforementioned carrots. See lettuce and it's holes:


So after all the drama with the winter garden (ew-winter) I'm SO ready to rip the sucker out and start on the big veggies. It will likely get as out of hand as last summer when I had pumpkins and melons running across the yard to one neighbor while our tomato plants leaned over into our other neighbors yard searching for more acreage. I have no restraint and seem to wildy underestimate the staggering growing power of the mighty vegetable plant.

Soon my pretties...soon.

Resolution Update

Ok folks, this might not happen on a monthly basis, but since I am thinking about my "progress" toward my resolutions and it just happens to be the end of the first month of the resolving year, I figured I would blog on it and see how big of a dent I've made in them so far. Let's just say, I don't have high hopes. Join me will you?

Let's see...

1. Swear Less.
   Yeah, this isn't going well. It doesn't help that Our Hero, the contractor, was still missing for the first half of this month and I spent most of my weekends in the same work clothes covered in Orange Peel texture.
   
2. Lose Weight.
   Ok, so technically I weigh the same as when I originally had the bad idea to lock myself into this resolution. However, I am halfway through the first week of my trial membership at The Gym to Remain Nameless and I'm feeling hopeful. Refer to previous post for details.
   
3. Run more often.
   So, slight change of plans. I'm going to re-interpret this as I "run more often" on the treadmill before and after my workouts rather than every morning through the neighborhood at the crack of dawn. Semantics...
   
4. Start back up with weight training before I get scary grandma arms.
   Uh-huh, this is what I was talking about in #3 when I said "workouts". I did chest and tri's the other day and it was suh-weet. Don't get close though, I'm still very sore.
   
5. Be a better niece and cousin.
   I'm more likely to be a better cousin than niece, I think. With the kitchen done (Ack! I'll stop saying that soon, I promise.) I still plan to invite my cousin over for monthly dinners. However, I've not made it to my aunt and uncle's place yet. And for that, I should be ashamed.
6. Save more $$.
   Well, last time I bought shoes I only got one pair...and a bag. Progress? Yes. Yes I said!


7. Grow some plants from seed.
   Well, it's still winter despite all my fist shaking at the dripping sky. However, my broccoli, carrot and lettuce plants are growing nicely and those were grown from seed. Good start.
   
   
8. Read something from hubby's book pile.
   No progress here. I've started and abandoned two non-fiction books since I did my resolutions. A fact of which I am not proud. So shoot me, I got three magazines last week and chose to read about making handmade Valentines instead.
   
   
   
9. Fix the bathroom ceiling.
   Natch. Maybe once the other fucked up room is finished.
10. Start the bedroom makeover.
    I think I saw an armoire that I like. But it's at a store I hate, so I'm dealing with that. I also drew some sketches on my notepad while I was on a conference call. That counts. Progress!
11. Stain the living room table a good color.
    I got samples! Progress! Maybe once the food room is done.
12. Remember as many birthdays as possible.
    I got one email from you folks out there. It's a start. That means I must be awesome at this remembering birthdays thing, right? Yeah, I'm sure that's it. For the record, I did remember to send a few birthday cards this month and I did just successfully celebrate hubby's birthday last week. I RULE AT THIS!
13. Knit myself that sweater.
    Yeah, no movement on this yet. I still remember the color though. It's orange. See, I know what I'm doing here.
14. Deal with the work thing.
    Uh, I wish this was getting worked out. Not after the recent minor hand-slapping. I'm starring in a Paula Abdul video. You know the one where she is following the cartoon cat up the stairs. Sing it with me: "I take one step forward you take two steps back..." or something like that.
    
15. Start research for the book.
    Check! I'm sort of, inadvertently, casually doing some light research. Ok, so make that a check minus.
    
16. Try out some new recipes from all my cookbooks.
    Dudes! I have tried TWO new recipies! Lemon-Artichoke Chicken (sans whipping cream and parmesan cheese. Remember resolution #2.) and Salmon with Lemon Caper Sauce from the South Beach Diet cookbook. You laugh, but there's good stuff in there. Evidence? Hubby ate nearly the entire filet. Oh yeah. And he's a red meat guy. Some more favorites to come: Lemon Wafters (hubby favorite) and meatballs.
17. Backtack 3
    Dude, just bring it already.
18. Be neighborly and throw a summer bbq
    I reserve the right to ignore this resolution in full until the summer gets here.
19. Go Hybrid and carpool.
    Like I said on #17, just bring it already. For godssake I'm friggen 126th on the list and I ordered this car last October. They told me another two months, so I prolly won't have it till March. I'm just guzzling gas until then. Glorious.
20. Tame the List Monster.
    Ack!! It's got me!! It's on a monthly rampage!! Someone, help me! The call's coming from inside the house!!

Well, I've obviously lost it. I do, however find some solace in doing a monthly check in on these things. Who knows, I might actually get some of these things done. Oh, and did I tell you that I've also signed myself up to make roman shades for our whole house? Oh yeah, I did. I'm retardo. I saw a pattern, I said to myself, "Hell, Self, you can make these! Why are you paying so much for these?" And then before I knew it I had spilled the new idea to hubby and now I can't turn back. So, with any luck I'll be cooking, sewing and getting all domestic and shit in no time. Plus we have a new book for book club that I've already ordered because, you guessed it, I'm a BIG FAT DORK.

Cheers all -- Finny

A proud moment

Before you think me insane, please remember that I've not done cooking of any real kind since last October. Yes, that's nearly three months without baking a cookie, sauteing a chicken breast, reducing a sauce, etc. I mean, come on people, that meant NO HOLIDAY BAKING either! Gah!

And no one has suffered more than hubby who has gone without his precious lemon wafers and coveted Winter Blackberry Pie like a true champ, barely shedding a tear over the loss. (Not to say anything about the whimpering, however.)

And so, as we bring this monster of a project to a close, I just could not resist the nearly-doneness (yep, a word, so shuddup) of the kitchen this past Sunday night and broke down, went grocery shopping (Glory be!) and cooked us up a little thing we like to call Sunday Dinna. I hope you're hearing the angels sing right now, because I sure was.

After nearly losing our lives at the grocery store (FYI: Sunday evening is no time to go grocery shopping unless you are packin') I pulled out the lonely pots and pans and made us up my good old fashioned lasagna, a big 'ol salad, some garlic-parm bread with plenty of toasty goodness and a nice bottle of wine.

What an event! I had to photograph it. And so, here we have Sunday Lasagna Dinna a la Exposed Outlets (I said it was nearly done, member?)


Oh, and let's not forget the Fresh Green Salad Featuring One Baby Carrot Fresh From the Garden a la Other Exposed Outlet:

And to finish it off just right, I filthied up/broke in the fabulous apron AfricanKelli gave me for the holidays. You see the smudge of marinara right there on the corner? Just one of many to come, I assure you.
I'll be sure to make a big fancy mess and post photos once the kitchen is actually done so you I can show off fully grouted and sealed tile, properly installed moldings, fully functional water faucets and lights on top of lights on top of lights.

Oh the lights! It is a kitchen any Jew could love. I mean, come on, who needs a Menorah when you've got a kitchen with so many bulbs! It's like the eighth night of fricken Hanukkah in here. Does anyone else feel like a jelly donut?

L'chaim!

My old boyfriend is back!

His name is Jim. Or more properly, Gym. Hubby calls him, Gime (like Time with a G) reminiscent of the Simpson's Powersauce episode*. Don't roll your eyes, you've seen it. Yes you haaaaaaaaaave.

I loved Gym long time when I was in high school, particularly my senior year when I broke all rules of high school convention and went single like the independent butterfly that I was. I saw Gym at least 6 days a week, even after cheating on him with the lap pool at my place of work (I was a lifeguard back then-oh the tan lines).

Nothing could lure me from his grasp. I loved everything about Gym. The step classes, the free weights, the cardio equipment. It was love at first sight. Kimo, my "personal trainer" (I use quotes here because he was assigned to me for my introductory evaluation "courtesy" of 24 Hour Fitness**. Who knows if he was even certified.) was a big tall drink of Mai Tai -- a hawaiian body builder with an adorable accent that always called my skinny little arms, "Big Guns" when he saw me on the machines. What can I say, I'm a sucker for obviously misplaced but still sweet comments on my physique. Oh yes, I was in amazing shape back then and I owed it all to Gym. The most loyal boyfriend a girl could want. Available 24 hours a day for pushing, pulling, sweating and screaming. Yeah, we screamed in step class, what of it?

So what happened to Gym, you ask? We had a falling out when I moved away to college and dumped him for my new friends Beer and Parties. I mean, it didn't happen all at once. I strung it out for most of my freshman year, seeing him 3 or 4 times a week and pretending everything was the same. My pants still fit the same, I still wore a thong bikini on Spring Break ***. I did a good job acting like we were still on track, even with the bags under my eyes at my 6am workouts and the weight on the scale (before we had fancy digital scales people) slowly inching its way to the right. I held on! I still loved Gym!

But it was not to be. Beer and Parties proved to be too strong a force to compete with. I lost touch with Gym to the tune of 1 to 2 days per week at best. I buried my size 4s at the bottom of thr drawer so that they'd not see me ignoring them for the, ahem, other clothes. Also to the bottom of the drawer went the thong bikini. No, it would not want me where I was going.

So, why am I writing about this long lost relationship? Because he's back, people! Gym is back! And I'm pretty sure it's for real this time. Yeah, yeah, you hear that all the time, but I swear! I mean, I'll admit, I pussy-footed around with some similar characters, but those were just half-assed attempts to regain what I had with Gym back in the day. No, this is the real thing.

We had our first date this morning. It was 6am, I was groggy, I was disoriented by the bright lights and my misbehaving iPod, but he was there, ready for me to come on in and hop on a treadmill. I ran my warm up mile with a spring in my 6.3 mph step and we happily watched SportsCenter just like in the old days. The chest and tricep machines welcomed me as though I'd never strayed. My fingers went right back to their old spots, finding the weights and grips like we'd never skipped a day. I began to wonder what had been keeping me away from Gym all this time.

After a full round of chest and tricep exercises, some abs and a cool down mile (with a Big Finish****, I might add) I felt a swell in my chest and a smile appear on my face. Gym was back and I was getting a good feeling about our future together.

I'll continue to keep you updated with the progress of our relationship, although I am not making any concrete promises about the outcome. I'm taking it one day at a time and hoping that we can make it work this time. The true test will be getting back into that thong. Oh yeah, it's still at the bottom of my drawer, waiting to emerge in all it's neon yellow glory, no matter what the styles of the moment might dictate.

*Homer goes out walking in the middle of the night after an embarrasing game of Capture the Flag that leaves him heaving. He sees an illuminated sign that reads, "Gym" and he reads it out loud as, "Gime". Later he is recruited by the Powersauce company to climb the Murderhorn.

**Back then it was 24 Hour Natilus. I have the sweatshirt to prove it.

***This thong is a bit of lore for those who know me well. Some people have their 15 minutes of fame on camera, I had mine strolling down a South Florida beach topless in my yellow thong bikini. It might be sad to tout this as my own personal Everest, but hey, have you ever worn a thong and looked good? It's liberating.

****"Big Finish" was created by Hubby one day as we were hiking back from a particularly productive day of climbing. At the end of the trail there is a fork and you can choose either the aggressive uphill grade or the mostly flat stroll back to the main road. Hubby declared "Big Finish" which meant that not only were we going to take the aggressive uphill trail, but we were going to do it fast -- as fast as we could -- to end our day triumphantly. And ever since and forever this tactic is known to us as "Big Finish".

The end is near, finally

When we last left our hero, he'd just hung the cabinets and the wiring was hanging lewdly from the walls. We were basking in the glow of our brilliant plan and filling our imaginations with dreams of gas ranges and perfectly laid tile.

Then he vanished. No contact or speck of dust for a month. Eeek!

And then we were scrambling, trying to piece together the skills between hubby and I so we could set out game plan for finishing the long overdue project. We were getting REAL sick of eating out, nearly in tears trying to decide, once again, where in HELL we should go for dinner when all we really wanted was a salad and maybe a nice slice of homemade lasagna in front of the tube.

We wouldn't hire another contractor, oh no, we were twice shy! But install appliances? Texture walls? Plumbing? Painting? Electricity? How does one put up crown molding? What does this black wire do? And for that matter, what are all these other wires for? It was all too much.

But sit idly on the couch and contemplate our navels? Despite what my mom-in-law might think, we would not -- in fact COULD NOT -- do this. No, we would have to pull together. So we donned our dusty long-lost DIY capes and did just that.

Queue the triumphant music -- Ta Da! -- And so appeared the dynamic husband and wife remodeling duo!

I won't rehash all the nitty gritty details of the DIY fantastic-ness (you can read the recent posts if you like, it's all in there), but if we do say so ourselves, we did a fine job picking up where Our Hero left off. Of course we had some help from talented cameo appearances (my dad for the texture FAQ and a trusty plumber for the sink), but all in all, we were feeling a bit heroic ourselves until we realized that the only projects left were those we didn't know how to do.

In all our DIY time, we've learned to draw the line at a few things -- originally just tile and plumbing, we now added crown molding to our list. It seemed like a lot of measuring and math and precisely cut angles -- things we don't necessarily excel in. However, just as we were about to stride naively yet determindely into the lumberyard in search of crown molding, I got a miraculous call.

Our Hero lives! Hooray!
He is in one piece! Hooray!
He will start laying tile tomorrow? Yes! Hooray!

There was much Hooray-ing going on both verbally and mentally. This meant we didn't have to find a new tile guy. This meant we didn't have to fuck up a hundred yards of crown molding trying to get the angles right. This meant we didn't have to file for divorce halfway through trying to build the custom cabinet that had only lived in the mind of Our Hero. Oh blessed be.

And after all this, I'm finally able to post this:

Tile backsplash (sans grout--coming soon)

Fancy Schmancy crown molding with up-lighting


Also coming this week: Cookbook cabinet, switch covers and (if I can get my act together) painted drawers and cabinet doors!

All my praying, hoping, finger crossing, voodoo doll stabbing, star wishing, penny tossing and four leaf clover collecting finally paid off and our finished kitchen (gah! I hate this word) is nearly a reality.

I can practically smell the lasagna baking...

Totally different subject

How sick am I of the word, "kitchen"? Let me count the ways...

In lieu of anymore remodel (AH! I hate that word too, now!) talk, I'd like to perhaps discuss something else. Books perhaps? Ok, books it is.

So, I'm about to start down a road which I anticipate will cause a small amount of uprising amongst my family members, namely my mom. It's also likely that at some point I'll get a talking to from most of the women in my family, my mother in law and anyone else who has opinions on the topic. So, what does this have to do with books, you ask? I finally broke down and ordered a book on a topic I've long been pondering.

Women Without Children

I decided to take the approach that so many of my mom friends did when they decided to have kids, and bought a book to educate myself on the topic of children. Only diff is that the list of books I'm looking through could fill a shoebox and the ones they're sifting through could fill a container truck. But, I figured that a decision in either direction couldn't hurt for some varied POV and maybe a little guidance. So, as I get ready to crack the spine on the first "childfree" book, I'm interested to see if there is any insight out there in the blog world on the subject. And insight in either direction is good.

I realize this is a pretty grand departure from my usual blogging topics, but I figured that the blog world might be just as good a place (if not entirely better) to get information as a book, and would likely yield more plentiful results.

So -- if you're feeling like giving me your two cents (and really, isn't that why we're all here) I'd be interested to hear your thoughts. If you don't have kids for whatever reason, have experiences with childfree folks, have an opinion on the topic in general or just want to air your ideas, I'm hear to absorb. If you'd rather not post comments for whatever reason, feel free to email me.

And don't worry, I'll get back to less life-changing topics in no time. I mean, I did add a Bachelor Recaps link to my list afterall---------->

Almost back in business

After a long productive, sometimes frustrating, but in the end wholly satisfying weekend, we are nearly back in business with a practically fully functional kitchen.

Note the perfectly hung microwave over the perfectly installed and functioning oven next to the fully loaded with ice and water fridge:

Not pictured, but truly amazing are my fully functioning faucets and the hot water dispenser. My husband was busy making his first (of many) cup of coffee from the hot water machine when I was leaving Monday evening, and it was a sight to be seen. I'll likely photograph and post the running sink photos soon to continue my kitchen remodel obsession.

Next - cabinet doors, tile, crown molding and under cabinet lights. Weeeeeeeee!

The moment has arrived

...to welcome new countertops into our home. We have now have the mirage of a semi-functional kitchen. Of course I've staged the faucets so that I can imagine what it will be like to fill a pot with the main faucet, wash my hands using the soap dispenser or make tea from the hot water machine and I hope that one day soon it will be true.

For now though, let us marvel at the miracle that is Silestone:




On the docket for the weekend: Paint the cabinet doors, reinstall the cabinet hardware, hook up the faucets and sink, mount the microwave, connect the oven, move the fridge and pipe the water for it, paint.

So, basically, I'm wearing my work clothes all weekend and I won't be seen out of a ponytail and do-rag until Monday. I sure hope hubby likes orange gingham.

Happy Weekend Projects to you!

IYWID, DIY, AIYASH, CSWKHTDIASITSYBYFTWTU

If you want it done, do it yourself, and if you aren't sure how, call someone who knows how to do it and see if they'll show you before you fuck the whole thing up.

So much for my simple matra, eh? Either way, the restart of the kitchen remodel is off to a strong start.

We got up Saturday morning with pocket-fulls of naive enthusiasm and launched straight into the sanding, texturing and painting of the walls, cabinets and ceiling. Oh the fun that is had after inhaling a couple cubic feet of drywall dust. By noon we had successfully covered our faces with suspicious white dust, and had the ceiling and cabinets satisfactorily sanded, so we headed off to lunch to regroup and strategize for the afternoon over cajun style pulled pork and root beer.

Returning to our post, we set up for the texturing. Per the previous post, we realized that we needed to make a distiction regarding the texture (Knockdown vs Orange Peel) and went with the Knockdown variety to match the rest of the house. Bored yet? Yeah, I was too. Until I started to read the directions on the can. This had me running for the Internet, in my dust covered shoes. After making numerous tracks to and from the office trying to find a reliable DIY example of texturing methods, I decided to call the one man I knew would know the answers. Dad. I mean, the man did do sheetrocking for years and does own a construction company afterall. I'm fairly certain he could do this in his sleep. Well, major coincidence, he was going to be traveling through our neck of the woods for business THAT afternoon and offered to come by and give us a live demo. Freakishly awesome, no? Rather than do it in his sleep, he did it in his socks. What a pro!


With the texturing done (look how lovely) we were ready to start painting.


As of right now, we have the ceiling and cabinet boxes (doors to come this weekend) painted and ready to roll. This week we'll likely get the walls painted and be ready to receive our countertops on Friday. JOYOUS MOMENT!!!

I have to admit one small thing though, painting these lovely wood cabinets was a little painful. Why oh why did the previous owner have white cabinets? Ah well.

I think my garden heard me wildly yelping with excitement over the countertops and the forthcoming finishing of the kitchen because look what I saw when I made it out to the vegetable beds:



Yes folks, that is a tiny head of broccoli! I can nearly hear it calling out, "Get that kitchen ready! I won't sit out here forever!"

Oh the blessed day when this project is finished. I can hardly wait.

If you want it done, do it yourself

I've long lived by this mantra, thanks to my parents who both repeated it with great frequency while I was growing up. It helped me a lot when I moved away for college to a state/city/town/school where I didn't know a single person. It helped me when I decided to live alone. It helped me when I decided to pack up my car and move back to Norcal for a job. I could go on and on. Now the mantra that has been nagging at me for the past month will get it's satisfaction as I don my work clothes, pull my hair back and prepare to work on the aforementioned Fucking Kitchen.

As you've likely figured, if you've read my blog at all, is that I'm redoing my kitchen. And so far, I haven't done any of the work. No, I treated myself (and my overworked hubby) to the luxury of a contractor who could work the long days while we were at work, getting much more done in eight hour shifts M-F than we could during our shrimpy weekends. However, it's starting to look like our contractor has performed a disappearing act, and our kitchen hasn't budged for three weeks.

In an effort to A. Get some progress made, B. Not hold a grudge and C. Heed the mantra, I am going to dedicate this coming weekend to some good 'ol housework. I'll admit, the entire time this project has been underway, I've felt a little uncomfortable with someone else doing our household projects for us, since we've spent the last five years doing anything and everything that needed to be done around the house ourselves. However, faced with demolition, cabinet hanging, electricity, drywall mud and the like, I decided to hand it over to the professionals. But what do you do when the professionals cease to exist? You dig up your coveralls and figure out what to do first. Yourself. Myself.

So, this weekend, I will be launching into the next step (as far as I can see it) in the kitchen remodel - sanding and texturing. Luckily all the "hard" stuff (again, as I see it) is done -- electricity, gas, drywall, cabinets, scary demo, etc and I figure my college educated mind and able body can manage to handle a sanding block and a can of texture. If not, well, maybe Contractor Supreme will show back up and take back the reigns.

Of course, hubby was immediately thrilled with the idea of working the project ourselves. He is definitely from the school of "IYWID, DIY" and has prolly felt a little weird having someone else manning the power tools in our house. However, where he has already developed a mental image of our kitchen completed by our own capable hands, I on the other hand, am only able to envision the next few steps and will likely exert a lot of energy suppressing the ever present anxiety of screwing something up. Especially something that will be expensive to fix. Perhaps it's time for a new mantra?

"Doing something is better than doing nothing." "Don't look the mitre saw directly in the eye." "Don't be too proud to sit down and cry."

Any ideas?

Either way, I'm stopping off at Home Depot on the way home to stock up on sanding blocks and the Sirius is set to Channel 17, Jam On, for the weekend ahead.

Photo for inspiration

To resolve or not to resolve

The evil List Monster in my soul is poised and finally ready to attack the list of New Years resolutions/hopes/dreams/unattainable goals that have so far been stifled by the lazy Donut-hole (see below) Monster so mightily inflated by holiday indulging.

Hanukkah deliciousness :)

I was going to refer to AfricanKelli's format for putting finger to keyboard on the topic of New Years resolutions, but alas, I find this method too freeform for my anal retentive mind. If only I could be so fantastically liberated. Instead, I think I gotta do it longhand in order to fully unshackle my brain. Or, as my old friend Jeff used to say when asked about his unruly hairdo and lack of ballcap, "I'm no longer restricting my hair." And so, friends, I am no longer restricting the List Monster.

1. Swear less (Old resolution, I always fail to achieve this one)
2. Lose weight (See #1). This time I want 10 lbs gone by 8/29. Feel free to check in with me to see how I'm doing with this. Forgive me if I give you the finger.
   
3. Run more often. I'm pretty sure that 2x/week is not cutting it.
   
4. Start back up with weight training before I get scary grandma arms.
   
5. Be a better niece and cousin. I've worked on being a better friend, daughter and sister. Now for the rest of the blessed family that I have neglected. For starters, I need to make it to my Aunt and Uncle's place without my parents to escort me and I should really start a monthly dinner tradition with my cousin as soon as our fucking kitchen is done. Oops, already failed at #1.
   
6. Save more $. Repeat to self, "Don't buy shoes three pairs at a time."
7. Grow some plants from seed. I guess buying seedlings from the nursery isn't exactly cheating, but is it as fulfilling when someone else starts your plants for you? No, probably not. I have a head start on this one though -- the Better Boy Tomato seeds are already on the potting bench.
   
8. Read something from hubby's book pile. I feel a little dwarfed by his braininess. Where I read 95% fiction he reads 95% non-fiction. I feel like I should be better informed about current events, and despite listening to NPR for a couple hours a day (resolution from 2004), I could be better informed. I doubt that leprosy is a topic pressing on today's society even though it makes for a damn good book. Oops, sorry #1.
   
9. Fix the bathroom ceiling. This means learning to create a texture known as "Orange Peel Knockdown". I know no other profession with more random nomenclature than construction.
   
10. Start making the bedroom livable. This means getting a new mattress, finding an armoire to accomodate my ever expanding wardrobe, getting seasonal storage worked out, buying a rug to keep my heel marks from ruining the wood floors forever, etc.
11. Stain the dining room table an acceptable color. The naked wood thing we've had going is just no good.
    
12. Remember as many birthdays as possible. I've already moved birthdays from my 05 calendar to my 06 calendar, so that's a start. Must fill in with everyone elses birthdays. Did I forget yours last year? Shoot me an email - Subject: My birthday. Text: Hey ass, my birthday is xx/xx. Don't forget again, k? Love always, (your name here)
13. Knit myself the sweater from Knitted Gifts. I must have this, in the orange fiber used in the example photo. I covet this sweater.
14. Deal with the work thing. Keeping this one brief for reasons relating to professional suicide.
15. Start research for my newest hair-brained idea, a book.
    
16. Try out some new recipies from the load of cookbooks I've amassed. Once the fucking kitchen is done. I'm sorry #1, the kitchen can really only be referred to in this manner for the moment.
17. Take part in Backtack 3 since Backtack 2 was so fun and I got to meet such insanely talented people.
    
18. Be neighborly and throw another summer bbq. With any luck our neighbors kids will have grown out of their dunking-our-heads-in-the-drink-bucket phase. This is dependent on having the fucking kitchen done. I am no longer apologizing to #1, it'll just have to deal.
    
19. Go hybrid AND carpool more often with hubby. Since we in CA get to drive alone in the carpool lane in our hybrids (coming soon), I almost feel like I'm cheating. So, I was thinking it'd be doubly fancy to actually carpool in my hybrid with another human. That means prolly making some compromises, but it might be worth it if it felt like we were taking TWO cars off the road instead of just one.
    
20. Tame the List Monster.

Ok, I think that's all I can semi-commit to for now. Perhaps I'll get serious and put up a Status in the right frame of this blog to keep track. Ya know, kind like how I have for my crafty WIPs? Wouldn't that be wildly anal retentive and boring for everyone except me? We'll see. For now, Happy New Year and Happy Resolving.

I'm making no promises.

Oh Finny, how does your garden grow?

Sloooooooooooooowly.

Ok, I admit it, I have precious little patience with most things in life, and that includes my garden. Now, in the spring, when I plant my vegetable garden, I tend to use *gasp* seedling plants to start out, instead of seeds. But for my winter garden, I used seeds and they are taking FOREVER. For someone used to seeing dramatic growth spurts and practically listening to the plants sprout blossoms and new leaves, I'm having a hard time with this winter gardening.

However, I am trying to be patient and here's some new photos of the "progress" I found when I ventured out into the garden between rain storms:

Broccoli, taking it's sweet ass time:


Lettuce, now rescued from snacking squirrels, making a second attempt at production:


And the mighty carrots, showing the most promising growth. Especially the one with such a strong will to live that it's sprouted up between the sprinkler manifold, brick and wire fence. I did not have the heart to thin this little fella.


So, as you can see, it's slow going in the vegetable beds in the winter time. I mean, this far into the spring veg garden and I had harvested the first of my tomatoes and was already ogling watermelons and canteloupes. Perhaps we'll have a head of broccoli by the time our kitchen is done. Maybe it's a blessing in disguise that the garden is coming along slowly, since we all know how *quickly* our kitchen is progressing. *Sigh*

A sneak peek at the other hangers-on in the Finny garden: (Meyer Lemon, Black Rose, Tree Aloe cutting, mixed succulents)



Not to be ungrateful for the winter "bounty" I have going on here, but I have already picked out the seeds for my spring garden. That's right, I said seeds. I am going to attempt to start seeds for our Big Boy tomatoes, canteloupe, watermelon and cukes in my sunny nook window this spring.

I know you're all riveted. What's worse, for you all that is, is that my mom-in-law gave me a book on worm composting for Christmas and I plan to use it to build my own worm composting farm. Gross? Yes! Beneficial? Yes! Likely to come to fruition in my house? We'll see.

And we're back.

Back from our Midwestern Christmas, that is. And let me tell you, my waistline is telling the tale. If nothing else, those folks know their food. The BEST bbq hands down, great burgers (Have you ever been to Winsteads? Oh yum.), bars, etc. Between all that and the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day feasts my mom-in-law put together -- I'm just plain rotund.

I was regretting not bringing my running shoes the moment we stepped off the plane. See, it was supposed to be five degrees and snowing, which for me meant no outside activities, so I left my NB's and running stuff at home and instead brought big wooly sweaters. As it turned out, it was 50 degrees and sunny -- perfect weather for a trot through my hubby's darling childhood neighborhood. Sadly, no running was to be done in my fleece-lined hiking boots and wool peacoat, so I had to opt for long walks instead, which weren't nearly cardiovascular enough to counteract all the KC fare I was putting into my body. So now I must run. Run like the wind. And hope that all that bbq doesn't get too comfortable around my midsection.

Another highlight of our trip -- a new collection of Christmas decorations. Oh folks, if I thought the decorating insanity was localized in NorCal, KC did a good job of proving me wrong. My new theory is, the farther you move east, the crazier it gets.

A few highlights (forgive the blurry nature of these photos -- again, taken from a moving vehicle).


I like it when the ghosts and goblins can set aside their daily spooky activities to decorate their house for the holidays. I suspect that any other time of the year this is just your run-of-the-mill haunted house, minding it's own business on the corner of this tree-lined street. However, at Christmastime, they choose to draw festive attention to it's position in the neighborhood by placing themed spotlights on the facade and stringing bulbs in a circus-like manner from tree to shrub to lightpost as if to say, "Look over here! Even haunted houses expect a visit from Santa!"


The true detail of this photo is hard to discern from this sunroof shot, but let me give you a short description -- One million plywood cutouts. Oh, and don't let me forget the picture windows emptied of their day-to-day contents and filled with Christmas puppet shows. Oh, and the foyer turned Santa's Workshop. The scary thing is, things that normally get my eyes rolling, like illuminated nativity scenes, animated wilderness creatures and horrifically strung lights, flew totally under my radar as I stretched the limits of my sensory abilities to comprehend this bohemoth of Christmas lunacy.

Again, my apologies for the blurriness. However, this is the best photo I got of the newest craze in string lighting -- The Spiderman. He leaps from tree to shrub to lightpost to drainage pipe with the greatest of ease leaving behind strings of holiday merriment for all to enjoy. Unfortunately, Spiderman has forgotten his oath that with great power comes great responsibility. People of Kansas City -- repeat this phrase, "Just because I can, doesn't mean I should." Thank you.

And after all that, we've returned to the relatively safe haven of our Norcal home where NO PROGRESS has been made in our kitchen, despite the promises of our contractor prior to our departure. Perhaps this is fate's way of saying, "That's what you get for eating so much bbq."

For the love of Nyquil

With all the super frantic messiness of the holidays and entertaining, I managed to come down with a nasty bugger of a cold. Sure, it probably didn't help that hubby was sneezing with great enthusiasm throughout our teeny house and usually without covering his sneeze holes, but I try not to hold grudges. Instead I take Nyquil without hesitation and no one asks any questions.

So, in an effort to get over my cooties before heading to the mom-in-laws for Chrimmas, I took the weekend off from any holiday activities (save for the Friday night Merriment party I'd already RSVP'd for) and sat my ass right there on the couch cushion closest to the roaring fireplace and within sight of the TV all weekend for some much needed R&R.

Low and behold, it worked. I feel so much better! Who knew that actually resting when you felt sick would make you feel better? I guess in the day and age when calling in sick really means working from home in your pajamas in front of a laptop, I have not actually experienced resting when sick, more just not getting fully dressed when sick.

Either way, with my resty-resty weekend, I also got to knit, which is what makes the Finny ultimately happy and I made another OSW with all my heaps of resty time. See, sometimes, cooties can do good while doing evil:

Knitted with Rowan Tweed-Front

Back

Oh, and for the record, this also took more than the one fabled skein to complete.

As for the rest of the weekend, I watched some horrific football (Being a Niner and Chiefs fan does not lend well to a satisfying NFL experience), wrapped some last minute gifts and read a very good book-"Moloka'i". Good story about the effects of leprosy on turn of the century Hawaiian families. I highly recommend it.

Next on the docket -- Mermaid Chair and Outwitting History while I'm buried in snow for Christmas. I'll also be heading to my newest discovery -- Commuknity-- this great looking knitting shop in my new hood. I have high hopes.

Happy knitting and Happy Holidays to all!