Is that a Halloween Chicken?

Advertising to the nth degree

This is a picture taken in the Century City mall bathrooms. This is taking advertising to the nth degree. The stall was completely done up like something out of pottery barn. It was advertising for Charmin. Very well done actually. I felt right at home.....

Kitchen Remodel - And We Wait

The kitchen remodel has come to a screeching halt. It seems that someone used our stool to reach high places and put half moon type divots all over our brand new oak floor. It will all have to be resanded and refinished. The careless idiot is not fessing up to it. Everyone says it was everyone else's fault. I supposed it is immaterial although it would be nice to have one neck to choke. Since resanding is required, moving in is out of the question. That fine wood dust will be everywhere so there is not much point.

We are also waiting on Tino the cabinet guy to finish. Over 50% of the doors are unbalanced or have some issue with them, the other 50% the self closing mechanism is too tight or too loose or too something. Then there are a few doors he forgot or were the wrong size.

We are also waiting on Sears to deliver our replacement fridge. We purchased a top of the line Kenmore Elite french door, bottom freezer fridge. Nice unit. too bad it has so many issue that I had to demand a whole new fridge. It sits in our kitchen making ice in places where ice should not be. We have to wait for November 7th for that. I'm sure they'll scratch the floor all up.

It's so frustrating as we are almost done. Absolutely nothing happened all last week. The kitchen beckoned to us, calling.... cook with me, saute with me.....but alas, we could not.

Kitchen Remodel - And on and on it goes.....

I think it looks spectacular. The handles that I stressed over go very well with all the colors, the stain is a good match for the granite and tile and the lights that seemed like a difficult choice, go perfectly. However, and isn't there always something?? Our cabinet guy has a long way to go to be finished. There are obviously a few doors missing and almost half the doors have some issue or another. Saturday is another day. Sears will be here to take another crack at fixing the fridge. I'm happy to report however, that all the crap is out of our backyard.

Words to Live By

This poem was read this morning on Michael Josephson's Character Counts segment on KNX1070. His segments get me thinking, perhaps too much at 6:45 am but I suppose a little self examination is never a bad thing. I am very guilty of rushing through life and it's only been in the last six months that I've slowed down some. Perhaps that is just age or perhaps I've realized that I'm half way through my life (hopefully) and I need to start smelling the roses a little more. Dena will probably disagree about my slowing down but I have. I used to be at a social event and be thinking about when it was over so I could get to the next event or task. That is definitely not living in the moment, that is just racing through life and not experiencing it.

So here is the poem from this morning,

Have you ever watched kids on a merry-go-round,
or listened to rain slapping the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight,
or gazed at the sun fading into the night?

You better slow down, don't dance so fast,
time is short, the music won't last.

Do you run through each day on the fly,
when you ask "How are you?", do you hear the reply?

When the day is done, do you lie in your bed,
with the next hundred chores running through your head?

You better slow down, don't dance so fast,
time is short, the music won't last.

Ever told your child, we'll do it tomorrow,
and in your haste, not see his sorrow?

Ever lost touch, let a friendship die,
'cause you never had time to call and say hi?

You better slow down, don't dance so fast,
time is short, the music won't last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere,
you miss half the fun of getting there.

When you worry and hurry through your day,
it's like an unopened gift thrown away.

Life isn't a race, so take it slower,
hear the music before your song is over.

About the Author
David L. Weatherford is a child psychologist with published poems in "Chicken Soup for the Soul". If you want to enjoy more of David's beautiful writings, please visit www.davidlweatherford.com

Kitchen Remodel - Almost there

Kitchen Remodel - End of Week 9

I know you were all expecting some exciting pictures today....but alas, the kitchen is covered in tarp, paper and the new stove and hood is all covered over by a "bridge" that they made out of wood for installing the new hood. I can tell you that it looks fantastic though.

Sears repair is here today to fix the new fridge. Yes, it was installed improperly. Now he's blaming my contractor for not clearing the water line for the ice maker and that the filter is clogged. Filters are not covered - $ 50 down the drain, literally. The freezer has frozen condensation in it because the door doesn't seal properly on the left side and they neglected to drop the feet down, so every time I pull open the french doors the fridge slides out 12". Nothing irritates me more than incompetence.

They are finishing the grout, moving in the washer/dryer, finishing the plumbing, installing the under cabinet water filter, and the list goes on. I have high hopes that I'll be making dinner Friday on our new stove, washing dishes in our new dishwasher and drinking a bottle of wine chilled in our new wine cooler. Hope springs eternal....

Kitchen Remodel - Day 4 Week 9 or something...

An Exciting statement emanated from the mouth of our contractor today..... he proclaimed he would be done with the kitchen Tuesday October 13th. Perhaps he should have picked a better day. In true Dawn (reads....pessimistic) fashion it will probably be more like Friday the 16th, but hey, that means one week from now we'll have our kitchen back. That has got me all whipped up into a frenzy for sure.

Kitchen Remodel - The Lizard

This is the behind the stove back splash. It's done in a herring bone pattern and has taken our contractor 4 days to complete. It is quite a detailed pattern, especially using smaller 1" x 4" Japanese tiles. As you can see the cuts on the sides are quite small, combine that with the fact that the cabinets are not perfectly straight or the wall or something is not straight, perhaps the owners, and you get minute differences in lots of cuts. It's a shame really that the hood will cover a portion of this pattern. Our contractor has taken to calling this the "lizard". It fits.

We look forward to tomorrow which will hopefully mark the end of the tile as Thursday is granite repair day and Friday the stove arrives.

Kitchen Remodel - Delays and More Delays....

No project is immune from delays. The current delay is that the floor has been re-sanded and the second and third coats of varnish put on but it will take 48 hours to cure. This was unexpected as we were originally told that it would be available after 24 hours. This has the effect of pushing all the trades out. Granite repair had to be moved from today until next Thursday, tile will hopefully begin today, appliances are still being delivered Friday but the stove was pushed out until Friday the 9th.

Oh well, I suppose after 9 weeks of no sink and living in a state of chaos, what's one more week? I vacillate from complete frustration (which normally occurs when I have to kneel in front of the bathtub and wash dishes) to just surrendering to it all. Dena and I both wander the house each day looking for something that we've moved and can no longer find. Nothing is where it was or where it should be. At various times throughout these 9 weeks we've even had to change doors we come in and out of.

Humans are creatures of habit and I find great comfort in my habits. Think about it. How lost would you be if you had to put your keys, cell phone, garage door opener, etc in a completely different spot every other day. You wouldn't be able to find anything. It puts a small but constant level of stress on your mind. We rely on these small but very consistent habits so that we can function at our higher human level. Please......give me my consistency back!!!!