MoreCheese

Birthday Patter

Sunday, November 8, was my father's birthday.  Happy Birthday, Dad!!!

The Rockstar and I went over to their house for dinner on Saturday night to celebrate.  Also invited were two other couples, friends of my parents.  M, one of the women, was also celebrating her birthday this weekend.  Hanging out with a group of people in their 60s and 70s was quite entertaining.  

Most surprising bit of conversation:  they almost unanimously agreed that marijuana should be legalized and sold and taxed by the government.  Now mind you, my parents are not aged hippies. In fact, they were probably the opposite of a hippy back when hippies existed.  But reducing crime and raising revenue and being able to offer care and supervision to an addicted population made sense to this group, after their decades of observation.  What do you think?

* * *

The most entertaining bits of conversation (that I can remember) came from M and K, the two women guests.  They kept a great patter going the whole night.

Examples:

M:  "I saw a friend the other day and we were complimenting each other on how good we look.  Then we put on our glasses."

K:  "Oh please, it takes me a month to recover after I use the close-up mirror to pluck my eyebrows."

* * * 

M to her hubby:  "Remember I broke my favorite earrings?"

Hubby:  "What?"

M:  "I BROKE MY FAVORITE EARRINGS."

Hubby:  "Oh, I thought you said I broke your HEARING."

* * * 

K's birthday card to M:  "You're not old as long as you can still bend down and touch your toes."

M:  "Oh, I can't do that."

Inside of card:  "Using your boobs doesn't count."

M:  "Oh, maybe I could do that."

* * *

K and her husband's card to my Dad:  "I didn't want to get one of those ridiculous silly cards for your birthday."

Inside of card:  "I know how easily people your age pee their pants when they laugh."

* * *

We had a great time, Mom and Dad!  Thanks for inviting us over!

And one more time -- Happy Birthday, Dad!  We love you!

Farmer's Almanac

If its true what they say - the more berries on the trees in the fall, the colder a winter it'll be....

                

Then its time to dig out the wool sweaters, my friends.

Saturday Morning Farmer's Market

One of my favorite things about our neighborhood...

Love Friday: Autumn Leaves

One day late, here's a little love I spotted on the street:

A little tree full of heart-shaped leaves.  Have a great Friday, everyone!

 

The Great Kitchen Renovation of 2009

So....  NaBloPoMo...  oh boy.  It did not get off to such a good start.  I'm posting at 8:00 at night because, well, I slept all day.  I must have picked up a cold while waiting in line for the flu vaccine (sigh).  So I woke up this morning, showered, put on some make-up, ate some breakfast, and was done.  As in DONE.  Back to bed I went, with Puppykins next to me, warming the length of my lower half.  I'm happy to report that a day of napping and reading and sipping on hot liquids seems to have done the trick, though.  I feel about a million times better than I did this morning, and I think I'll be all patched up by tomorrow.  

Thank you all for the enthusiastic responses you had to NaBloPoMo!  I might be feeling a teeny bit of  pressure (ahem, Lif), but really, I'm excited.  Its so nice to have blog readers like you all.

To kick things off -- here are my pictures of our kitchen renovation!  Our original kitchen fixtures were probably from the 1950s.  We lacked a dishwasher, storage space, counter space, and did I mention space?  Things were a little crammed in there.

I did kind of like the sunny yellow formica counters and the retro metal cabinets.  We had tried to decorate it and make it sort of, well, charming, if that's possible.

But honestly, it was just old and cramped and not really meeting our needs.  Especially with a little one on the way -- Momma was gonna need a dishwasher and more cabinet space or she was going to be VERY NOT HAPPY.  And you know how that old saying goes:  if Momma ain't happy, ain't no one happy.

We were fortunate to find an awesome local contractor who was willing to work on our little kitchen and stay within our little budget.  Unlike all the others we met, he didn't try to upsell us on using designer materials or hiring an architect (yes, someone actually suggested that with a straight face).  When we told him we were expecting a bambino and were on a budget, he just sat down and started outlining ways we could save a few hundred dollars here and there.  Then he gave us a quote, and gave us his word that that number would not change, no matter what he encountered as he renovated our 1928 house.  (I know, I thought that was very brave, too.)  So we emptied out our shelves and took down all my little vintage postcards and cleared out of the house for a week.  Which is when this happened:

    And this:  

(that's our ceiling)

That's our friend, Adrienne, who put us up for a whole week while all this was going on.

Then the drywall went up:

And then, a short 8 days after it all started, we had this:

   

See that?  That is a MOUNTED microwave!!!  And that on the floor?  REAL tile, not peel-n-stick linoleum squares.  And that countertop in the foreground?  Its 22 inches wide and it has CABINETS underneath.  In its former life, it was a useless wall with a cruddy, narrow, useless countertop.  

We have what are fairly standard 21st century amenities, but having lived without them for the past few years, I have to say that having things like a dishwasher and a deep sink and counterspace is HEAVEN.

                           

Even though having the larger counters meant giving up a bit of floor space in that narrow little kitchen, the space overall feels larger and wider.  We were able to get rid of all that clutter, and now the whole room and the adjoining dining room just feel wider and cleaner and...  it is good.  It is very, very good.

So, to recap, we went from this: To this:

And Momma is very, very happy.

Our contractor is Ahmed El Ghoraiby of MAG Remodeling.  Thank you, Ahmed!