My life right now

This is my new kitchen floor. It looks like tile but it is linoleum. I like it. This is what my kitchen looks like right now. I don't like it. In order to keep this new linoleum in place, we need an additional bit of wood trim to be nailed down in front of the existing molding. I guess if we had pulled up the existing molding before the workman had begun, then this additional step to keep the floor edges from curling up would not have been necessary. No one told us this. And here we are. The trim is already cut and will be stained tomorrow so Bob, our repairman, can nail it down on Thursday. AND, since we already have to pull out the appliances to accomplish this task, it seemed like as good a time as any to strip off the 16-year old wall paper and paint the kitchen (since that was an already-planned project for this year, anyway).

As you can see, I pulled off the top layer of wallpaper this afternoon. Tomorrow I will apply the liquid stripper to peel off the bottom paper. Then fix the holes. And wash the walls. Finally, paint. Hooray for 1-coat Glidden. Speaking of painting, I also get to paint a door frame downstairs. The above-mentioned Bob installed laminate flooring on the downstairs hallway. You can see just a teensy bit of it in the picture below. When we moved into this house, there was a door at the bottom of the stairs and we didn't want it so we just removed the door and hardly even noticed the hinge hardware for the next 16 years. But, when Bob removed all the molding to install the floor, he did. And took the door jam off. And put up a new wood frame to be painted. By me. THEN he will re-apply the molding around the door.

Below is a picture of our new entryway. Bob put in lovely tile. The long cylinder to the left is a roll of low-pile carpet for the stairs. Bob really doesn't want to do this job (and I don't blame him. He is in his 70's and I felt REALLY badly when he was down on his hands and knees putting in the hallway flooring). So, I need to call and find someone to install this. And, since we have so much left-over kitchen linoleum, they can use it up in the downstairs bathroom.


This is the Noah's Ark room where the 10-year old, blind, incontinent Coco-the-rabbit lives and noisy Howard and Eunice-the-finches live. And that is my craft/sewing closet. I need to relocate all of the above so Beckie can move in for two months. Her lease expires the end of May and she needs a place to live until she leaves for more schooling. (she still hasn't decided between Atlanta or Hawaii. It's a no-brainer to me! Just kidding, Beckie.) We will do most of the moving on Memorial Day.



I am delighted to report that we have air conditioning again. BUT, we also have the programmable thermostat that would take an engineer to figure out. I need to sit down with the manual and maybe a help-desk person on the phone to guide me through the steps. Thankfully, Tamara was able to figure out how to set it on a cooler temperature than 85 degrees!






So, that is my life right now. So many things to think about and to do. And I have not even mentioned the WEDDING that is coming up in two and a half months!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here is Kirsti with Ryan. Aren't they a cute couple? Steve and I are so please with this news. Kirsti is so happy and Ryan is a fine young man. And this summer is going to be a wild one - dress, cake, photos, invitations, where to have a reception, buying plane tickets to Utah........just a few of the things buzzing around in my head.

If April showers bring May flowers....what do May flowers bring????

May flowers bring Pilgrims, but they also bring joy to the eyes. The native iris have already come and gone (those are the pale purple ones) and the hybrid ones are now in their glory. Here are the ones I get to enjoy in my yard:

I call the one above the Kewpie iris because it is in Hickman colors

Right next to this pale yellow iris is a deep purple (almost black) iris getting ready to bloom

And, there are lots of other kinds of flowers blooming right now.................

columbine

purple clemantis and pink peonies

daisies

not sure what this is called. Looks kind of like honeysuckle. Hummingbirds love it!

phlox

Sadie got a much-needed haircut
(as you could probably noticed from her photo taken in St. Louis.)

Here is Trissy peeking out from the gate we had Bob build on our deck. It is intended to keep her from pawing at our new patio door.


But, as you can see, it did not deter her last night during our tremendous thunder storm when both Steve and I were gone and she was left alone in the back yard. I have no idea how she managed to get over the gate but she did and tried to get into our kitchen window (she actually accomplished that feat a year or so ago). You can see the destroyed screen and the wild bird- seed bucket she has knocked over. I called the vet today and she is going back on the prescription sedatives when the weather gets bad. Benedryl is just not doing the job.


One last random bit of information. Remember the annoying stop sign on Blue Ridge right at Skylane? Well, it is no longer there. And it was not knocked down due to an accident. This is on purpose. The posts are removed, the cross walk has been painted over. Boy, I am just waiting for the rear-end or t-bone accident when some neighbor forgets it is gone and tries to stop or pull out.

HOT!

Our house is HOT! In more ways than one. Yes, it has a beautiful new tile entryway. And the kitchen has a new linoleum floor. There is a roll of dark green-ish carpet waiting for Bob to install on the stairs and two boxes of laminate flooring for the downstairs hall (curse you little dogs and your never-ending pee spots!) But, that is really not the hot I mean. The compressor on the heat pump died sometime Monday night and we woke up to a 83-degree house in the week of a record-bumping heat wave. Thankfully, a repairman came Tuesday noon. He quoted a new compressor at $1300.00. But, our heat pump is 15 years old (with a 20-year life expectancy), so he appropriately advised a new heat pump for $3700.00! Hey, considering we paid $3400.00 fifteen years ago for what we currently have, that is not too bad. With the original, we got a low-interest loan from the city of Columbia so I figured we would do that again. Only, this time, one of the qualifying steps is an energy audit. So, for $125.00 we had that done last night where their main procedure was to close all the windows to seal the house (to make our already hot house hotter!) and suck out air to find leaks around the windows and doors with a little smoke wand (kind of like a wizard). This company also installs heat pumps so we got an estimate from them as well. I have not received their report yet as to what they recommend we do to make our house more energy efficient. I am sure they will want to add more insulation and fix our old windows (at least they said we shouldn’t have to replace them – yikes, that would be another HUGE expense). Sigh. So much work will have to be done, I am sure. And still we sit in a hot house. But, thankfully, the weather breaking tomorrow and all next week looks nice (in the 60’s and 70’s). And, hopefully, by the end of that week, we will have jumped through all the hoops and be the owners of a new heat pump.

I AM grateful all this didn’t happen last week when I was preparing for the stake Relief Society workshop Saturday held on the 7^th. Whew – so glad that event is over. Being in the presidency, I, of course, was involved the planning and preparing. But, I think we all had a few brain cells missing when we decided that both Edith (the other counselor) and I would also each teach a workshop! More planning and preparation. I co-taught a 45-minute class on how to make a family history or photo book on the computer with software downloaded from an on-line book-making program. It is something I am pretty enthusiastic about these days so I was kind of the logical person to teach the class, but still! What was I thinking????

When I wasn’t focusing on the workshop, I was finishing a dress for Lucy to be blessed in on Mother’s Day. I completed it at about midnight Saturday night. We really enjoyed the Mother’s Day in St. Louis. Beckie and Steven (Tamara stayed in Columbia to be with her mother) rode with Steve and me. Julina and Elise drove in from Indiana. And, Vicki (Joe’s mom) had arrived from Korea.

Here she is with a frosting-lipped Noah

We got to Emily’s house in time to dress Lucy before driving to the meetinghouse and that proved to be a mistake as sometime between getting in her car seat and getting out, she had a major blow-out in her diaper and, of course, all over her long white dress. And, she was not happy. Not a good setting for a father’s blessing. Fortunately, Joe was given the option of blessing her after the sacrament and by then, Lucy was calmed and sleeping peacefully. Yes, her dress had yellow stains but that was OK. She received a beautiful blessing and all was good. (Emily washed the dress Monday and it is as good as new – can’t wait to see a formal photo of Lucy wearing it). We all enjoyed a potluck meal after church meetings and then spent the afternoon just sitting around and visiting. It was the perfect coda to a very hectic week.

Joe, Lucy, Steven, Beckie in the Southerland front room

Beckie, Emily, Steve, Elise (yes, that is Sadie on Steve's lap)

Sadie (who needs a haircut and is at the groomers today)

Max in his favorite top-of-the-couch perch

Lucy Charlotte chillin' out

Tonight is the CIS orchestra concert. I confess I am a bit worried as to how we will sound since some members have not been very regular in their attendance. The CIS string quartet played for Candlelight Lodge Mother’s Day Tea last Friday and we were kind of a disaster. When I say this, I mean that we all knew there were blaring mistakes but probably to the untrained ear, we were just fine and blessedly, not many were really listening to us anyway. My adult string group – the Da Capo Strings – had their final meeting last Thursday and now we are on hiatus until mid-June. And, Tuesday night, I got to play that fabulous cello part in the Beatle’s Eleanor Rigby up at the Moberly High School choir concert. That was pretty fun (and, I was in air conditioning!)

I am sure there are plenty of details of the last three weeks of my life that I have left out. But, then, this blog is already too long. Until next entry…..

Hello and Good-bye

Say hello to Lucy Charlotte – our beautiful little granddaughter born Tuesday, April 12^th.

Steve and I went to St. Louis on Friday and got to hold and love her. Here is the happy grandpa.

And here is the whole family. Not a really "beautiful" photo - they were trying to get Emily and Lucy out the door to the doctor for a check-up and so things were kind of rushed.

It is such a blessing to live so close-by. Joe had to return to work a week after she was born so we offered to have Noah for a few days to allow mom and daughter to continue to get to know to each other. Last Wednesday night, at the half-way point of Jonesburg, Joe and Steve met for the Noah exchange. And, for the next three nights and two days, we got to enjoy our energizer bunny grandson. He was so good. He started to get weepy Wednesday night when it was time for bed but all I had to say was, “would you like me to read you a story?” and the tears just vanished. He LOVES his books (like everybody else in the family). We really didn’t do anything exciting. He roared at Alfred every chance he could get and then giggled as the poor terrorized cat raced away. He was sweet and gentle with Sadie and loved to pet Trissy. He ate well, slept well, let me wash his hair and brush his teeth (singing the “Hot Tamales” song – cha cha cha). He went visiting teaching with me Friday morning and played with three-year old Ike. And, thanks to his favorite DVD, Wall-e, he didn’t disturb me as I taught a few cello students. I am certainly out of Easter bunny mode, however, because it was Beckie who remembered to bring some eggs to hunt on Saturday morning. Here he is – I couldn’t get him to stay still long enough for a photo.

Of the three I took, this one had his face in the best focus. A moving target all the time. Here he is opening up his egg treasures.

And here is the gang for Saturday morning breakfast before Steve and Tamara left to take Noah back to St. Louis and to have their own Lucy visit.

Two Sundays ago, we said good-bye to our good friend and "adopted son", Jason Bell. He is now counting cows and pigs in Washington D.C. Well, I don’t know exactly what type of statistics he is doing for the FDA in his new office but hopefully, he will enjoy his new position and living in D.C. We will miss him for our Sunday dinners and games. Steven will miss a video-gaming partner and Beckie a companion for going to the movies.

Steve and I attended two concerts last weekend. Friday was the annual stake Easter Cantata and it really felt strange to not be involved with it (besides baking 4 dozen gluten-free cookies for refreshments). Saturday night was the final CCO concert for the season. We performed a night of Spanish music and, although some of it was rather tricky to play and/or count, it was quite fun to play. I love playing in CCO but I am ready to enjoy having Tuesday nights free for a few months.

At this point in the academic year, it becomes count-down time. Three more trips to Central Methodist University. Two more adult string classes. Six more CIS orchestra mornings. Four more weeks of Music Appreciation classes. Good-bye 2010-11 school year. Hello summer!

Traveling through spring break.............

Well, so many days have elapsed since we went on our spring break trip that it seems almost anti-climactic to blog about it now. And, yet, I will because it is a great story that all began by driving east to Indiana the last weekend in March. Elise was performing with the Indianapolis Symphonic Choir Saturday evening so we drove as far as Lafayette Friday night and stayed with Julina. She is so busy with her studies that she could only spare Saturday morning to be with us so we went together to downtown Lafayette to visit a favorite candy story and walk around the town square. Here is Julina and Steve at the county courthouse.

We then drove to Indianapolis where we picked up Elise and went to lunch at a little French café in downtown Carmel (where they serve gluten-free crepes!) Then we took a tour of Miniature Museum that had dozens of dollhouses that were just incredible in their detail. The photo below is one of them on display outside. Here is Elise and Steve just before her performance that evening. The concert was a tribute to Hollywood and Broadway and was very enjoyable.

After attending Sunday meetings with Elise, we returned to Columbia via a quick detour through St. Louis to visit Emily, Joe, and Noah.

Next morning, bright and early, we headed west for Utah. We drove all day, avoiding snow in Nebraska by taking the Kansas route. And, surprise surprise (not really) we found a Russell Stover factory outlet along the way. And, it really was at a factory, too. Here is Steve helping out with the chocolate.

The roads and weather were great until we got to Wyoming when we dealt with rain that was trying to turn wintry on the roads. So, going got pretty slow and we didn’t pull into American Fork until after 2:00 a.m. Tuesday morning. We stayed in Steve’s mom’s house the whole week – just turned the fridge on & set the thermostat up higher since Iola has been either in the hospital or rehab facility since Christmas. This was one of the main reasons to go to Utah – so Steve could visit with his mother and help his brothers and sisters determine the best course of action for her care since her stroke has rendered her left arm and leg pretty useless and has also had an effect upon her mental state. She is mostly in the present but will often have lapses into non-reality. Here is a photo of one of the visits with her at the care center in Bountiful.

back row: Michelle, Maureen front row: Cal, Iola, Steve

Ultimately, it was determined that neither Michelle nor Maureen could care for her long-term so she has been moved into a home where a husband and wife specialize in caring for the elderly. It is actually their home, they only have four residents and they treat them more like grandparents than patients. They are from Tonga – Pita and Latu – and Pita (husband) is an RN and Latu is a CNA. Michelle’s father-in-law has advanced Alzheimers and has been living there for about a year. Steve, Michelle, Maureen with her husband Cal, drove up to visit this home on Friday and everyone was very impressed that this was the best course of action.

It was great to see all of Steve’s brothers and sisters during the week. Here is a photo of them the last night we were there.

back row: Jeff, Dave, Steve front row: Michelle and Maureen

During the last part of the week, Michelle, Maureen and Cal, and Steve and I started to do some sorting/pitching/distributing of Iola’s many, many things. We worked hard and got a lot done but there is still much more to do. While going through kitchen cupboards, below is what Steve found!

Iola heard somewhere that eating one or two gin-soaked raisins a day would help with arthritis. I think it is funny to have two stake presidency members with the bottle.

We got to make a short visit with Jamilyn and Kason Haban (my sister Juli's daughter and grandson) since she lives in Lehi, right next door to American Fork.

Of course, another big reason was to visit Kirsti. She had an orchestra concert Tuesday night and here is a photo of her and Steve just before the performance.

Being in Salt Lake during conference week was another plus. Cindy Layton, the stake Relief Society president, and I (her first counselor) attended some training by the General Relief Society Presidency Tuesday afternoon at the tabernacle. Here we are on Temple Square after the meeting.And, we got tickets for the Saturday morning session of general conference –

Kirsti and her boyfriend, Ryan Merrill, joined us in attendance. Here is a picture of the four of us after the session in front of our favorite temple.........

Sadly, it was time to head back to Columbia so we drove Saturday afternoon as far as Castle Rock, Colorado (via Wyoming with better road conditions this go-around but lots of wind gusts. You should have seen Steve’s white shirt after the wind whipped his tie into his Little America chocolate ice cream cone then flipped it around his shirt). Kendra Kabel (my sister Judy’s oldest granddaughter) and family live in Castle Rock (a Denver suburb) and they graciously let us crash there for the night. Kendra has four beautiful kids – here is a photo of them (dad James was not available at the time).

left to right: Claire, Noah, Ethan, Kendra, Ashton

We drove as far as Strasburg, Colorado (just east of Denver) and stopped at an LDS meetinghouse to catch the morning session of conference. Then, back through Kansas and into a horrendous storm from Topeka all the way back to Columbia. Before we drove into it, this is what it looked like – have to admit it was pretty impressive.

So, back home early Monday morning and we hit the week running and haven’t stopped since. Boy, what a ridiculously busy life we have……………