San Diego Roll Marathon weekend...so much good. My #1 memory of this weekend will be seeing my mentees enter the Pasta Party (if you've done TNT you know what I'm talking about). A very close second will be seeing them cross the finish line and wearing their finishers' medals. This season has been tough since I've been hobbled by injuries, but was all so worth it to see my teammates reach their goal. I'm a little hoarse from cheering for people all day.
My personal race got ugly at mile 8ish. My calves were miserable, but Dr. Chad had warned me that it might be a particularly uncomfortable race for me. I'm lucky I got as far as I did before the pain forced me to walk to the finish. Ah well.
Cheers to Steve who was a rock star supporter all weekend. Steve, thanks for hauling us to the starting line at 5 a.m and for putting up with the driving/parking nightmare of reaching three locations on the course when every road in town seemed to be closed for the marathon. You're a rock star - for reals!
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Fresh Paint and Counter Depth Appliances
Every once and again, you'll see a house that needs a bit of work. It's not a ramshackle, but it needs some care, maybe a bit of landscaping or a bit trim paint. If you don't own a house, you probably wonder why doesn't the owner take a few minutes and do the repairs. A few minutes - Ha! House maintenance is complex and interwoven especially if you own an old house as I do. I adore my 1920's casita except when something needs to be fixed, because there isn't a stock item in the hardware store that's going to fit.
I wanted to get my house painted. I'll do a lot of jobs on my own, but I do not paint. Before the painters could start, I needed to get some extra cabinets hung in the bathroom. Ran to Lowe's, picked out a selection of cabinets and called the handy man to have them hung. We sorted through the cabinet options and made some compromises. Then I needed to do a little wood putty fill on the cabinet seams, sand, drill holes for the handles, and paint on the primer coat. That meant digging in the garage for 40 minutes trying to find my wood putty, power sander, drill, paint rollers and the extra primer. Dear Heavens, I need to get that garage in some sort of order.
While the painter was putting the test colors on the wall, the plumbing peeps were still trying to fix my blocked drain lines. My favorite moment might have been asking the drain guy, "Hey, should that drain snake be coming out of my roof? Because it is." Of course, this drain stuff must be done before the painters start the kitchen. You don't want a flood on the fresh paint.
In other pre-paint prep, I wanted to get my new refrigerator into the house before the painters started. My house is old; my doorways are narrow. You know damn well when they remove the old fridge and put in the new one they're going to smack into any freshly painted wall. Nothing is easy in an old house. When I took the measurements, I found out that I currently have a counter depth fridge and a full size won't fit. I spent 3 hours and Lowe's measuring every single fridge to find one that the doors could open without smacking the counter. It was supposed to be delivered on Monday before the painters started. Unfortunately, it arrived from the warehouse with a big dent in the door. Now they are going to have to deliver it after the painting is complete.
Add to the bathroom cabinets, the fridge and the drain issues, the general taking down of pictures and putting away stuff so that the painters can work. In other words, it took me roughly 4 days of work and heaps of money before I could pay someone else heaps of money to paint. That's home ownership. You've got gobs to do before you start doing what you want to get done.
It was all summed up for me at Lowe's. There was a young woman there looking for a 21 inch deep dishwasher for her 1920's home. Modern counters are a standard 24 inches. That's why there's something called counter depth, because it's the standard. But her house was built back when houses were built by renegades who wouldn't be contained by standards. Poor thing, she still thought that she'd be able to put stock items in a new home and she was refusing to have her hopes crushed. She was insistent that she's find that 21 inch dishwasher.
Ah, newbies.
I wanted to get my house painted. I'll do a lot of jobs on my own, but I do not paint. Before the painters could start, I needed to get some extra cabinets hung in the bathroom. Ran to Lowe's, picked out a selection of cabinets and called the handy man to have them hung. We sorted through the cabinet options and made some compromises. Then I needed to do a little wood putty fill on the cabinet seams, sand, drill holes for the handles, and paint on the primer coat. That meant digging in the garage for 40 minutes trying to find my wood putty, power sander, drill, paint rollers and the extra primer. Dear Heavens, I need to get that garage in some sort of order.
While the painter was putting the test colors on the wall, the plumbing peeps were still trying to fix my blocked drain lines. My favorite moment might have been asking the drain guy, "Hey, should that drain snake be coming out of my roof? Because it is." Of course, this drain stuff must be done before the painters start the kitchen. You don't want a flood on the fresh paint.
In other pre-paint prep, I wanted to get my new refrigerator into the house before the painters started. My house is old; my doorways are narrow. You know damn well when they remove the old fridge and put in the new one they're going to smack into any freshly painted wall. Nothing is easy in an old house. When I took the measurements, I found out that I currently have a counter depth fridge and a full size won't fit. I spent 3 hours and Lowe's measuring every single fridge to find one that the doors could open without smacking the counter. It was supposed to be delivered on Monday before the painters started. Unfortunately, it arrived from the warehouse with a big dent in the door. Now they are going to have to deliver it after the painting is complete.
Add to the bathroom cabinets, the fridge and the drain issues, the general taking down of pictures and putting away stuff so that the painters can work. In other words, it took me roughly 4 days of work and heaps of money before I could pay someone else heaps of money to paint. That's home ownership. You've got gobs to do before you start doing what you want to get done.
It was all summed up for me at Lowe's. There was a young woman there looking for a 21 inch deep dishwasher for her 1920's home. Modern counters are a standard 24 inches. That's why there's something called counter depth, because it's the standard. But her house was built back when houses were built by renegades who wouldn't be contained by standards. Poor thing, she still thought that she'd be able to put stock items in a new home and she was refusing to have her hopes crushed. She was insistent that she's find that 21 inch dishwasher.
Ah, newbies.
Friday, May 22, 2009
If Happens Again Saturday, We'll Build An Ark
- On Wednesday, the world's most amazing shower head sprung a leak and water starting shooting out to the ceiling.
- On Thursday, the washing machine overflowed and flooded the washroom, kitchen and dining room.
- On Friday (today), the sink, garbage disposal and dishwasher backed up reflooding the kitchen.
I'm headed to Lowe's for a new shower head. The appliance guy is coming on June 10th to fix the washer. Thankfully, I have a backup washing machine in the garage. Rescue Rooter is on the way to handle the world most revolving job of cleaning the sewer line. (For real. It's a horror. I have no idea how that man can ever feel clean.)
Oh, the fun of home ownership never ends.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Butter Me Up
I collect cookbooks and other books on nutrition. If someone's church or Junior League is selling a cookbook I Must Buy It. In the big move from Texas a crate of 20 cookbooks when AWOL. I still miss them.
This weekend Steve and I hit one of my favorite used book stores. I like this store because the books are arranged by price. When I get to the dollar cookbooks, I can barely contain my excitement.
Frankly, I'm not that discriminating with the dollar cookbooks. It's strictly me grabbing them and shoving them in the basket. When I got home I realized I bought Easy Diabetic Cooking with 4 Ingredients despite the fact that neither of us is diabetic; I think I bought it because it was spiral bound, as all cookbooks should be.
In this cookbook I found one of the most ridiculous recipes I've ever seen.
Good Morning Grapefruit
Ingredients: Grapefruit, Smart Balance margarine, cinnamon and Splenda.
Instructions: Halve grapefruit. Melt margarine. Add cinnamon and Splenda. Put on grapefruit.
Yuck - how's about a nice, buttery grapefruit?
This weekend Steve and I hit one of my favorite used book stores. I like this store because the books are arranged by price. When I get to the dollar cookbooks, I can barely contain my excitement.
Frankly, I'm not that discriminating with the dollar cookbooks. It's strictly me grabbing them and shoving them in the basket. When I got home I realized I bought Easy Diabetic Cooking with 4 Ingredients despite the fact that neither of us is diabetic; I think I bought it because it was spiral bound, as all cookbooks should be.
In this cookbook I found one of the most ridiculous recipes I've ever seen.
Good Morning Grapefruit
Ingredients: Grapefruit, Smart Balance margarine, cinnamon and Splenda.
Instructions: Halve grapefruit. Melt margarine. Add cinnamon and Splenda. Put on grapefruit.
Yuck - how's about a nice, buttery grapefruit?
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Welcome Home Baby
For the last two weeks, I'm been obsessively following the Briant Rodriguez abduction case. I've been checking Google news almost hourly. It's been most frustrating when there was no new news for a few hours. A missing child is a ticking clock.
The case has been a bit personal for me. First, I worked with victims of violent crime for two years. I've never really gotten over it; I check all my door locks several times before going to bed . Second, Briant looks a lot like my beloved nephew - same age, same big brown eyes, same long curls. My family commented on the resemblance too and we were all a bit freaked by it.
Hey, I'm not stupid. I know that there is something hinky in this case. There's a motive that we don't know about yet. I don't care. Briant is safely home, thank Heavens. Hopefully, he's not too traumatized. Hopefully, he was well cared for during the last two weeks.
Here is the thing that I found funny in the post-recovery press questions. Someone asked if Briant escaped or if he was released. I reiterate - HE'S THREE. Yes, he definitely escaped. He managed to disarm and incapacitate two armed criminals and slip off into Mexicali. Hey, when they picked him up, he was trying to decide if he was going to hitchhike or get a bus home to San Bernardino.
Center for Missing and Exploited Children
The case has been a bit personal for me. First, I worked with victims of violent crime for two years. I've never really gotten over it; I check all my door locks several times before going to bed . Second, Briant looks a lot like my beloved nephew - same age, same big brown eyes, same long curls. My family commented on the resemblance too and we were all a bit freaked by it.
Hey, I'm not stupid. I know that there is something hinky in this case. There's a motive that we don't know about yet. I don't care. Briant is safely home, thank Heavens. Hopefully, he's not too traumatized. Hopefully, he was well cared for during the last two weeks.
Here is the thing that I found funny in the post-recovery press questions. Someone asked if Briant escaped or if he was released. I reiterate - HE'S THREE. Yes, he definitely escaped. He managed to disarm and incapacitate two armed criminals and slip off into Mexicali. Hey, when they picked him up, he was trying to decide if he was going to hitchhike or get a bus home to San Bernardino.
Center for Missing and Exploited Children
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