Those who follow along know that we're in the midst of a bathroom remodel. Those who know me also know why it's taking so long (which I really don't want to go into detail about). But we've reached a pretty big milestone... we set the tub!
I, for one, had no idea how much went into this. And the fact that we had to go backwards at points made it that much sweeter to reach. You don't think about it much, but a tub has to be pretty level in order for it to drain. That's harder than you'd expect in an old house! But we did it. After a lot of swearing and cursing the contractor who left us in this position, we got it done.
To get here, though, we replumbed the entire bathroom, reframed half the bathroom, and had an incident with a light fixture already installed. I never thought I'd learn how to frame, or plumb, or set a tub... a whole new world for me.
Okay, people... it's time to fess up! Who pissed off Mother Nature?? She is PISSED right now!
While I admit I haven't fully been paying attention to anything not local (I've been busy, dammit!), I am aware enough that it's chaos on the weather front!
But may awareness does start local. Can we say severe drought??? We've only gotten 0.5" of rainthis month, with not signs of any rain and time soon. It's hot, it's dry, and it's hot. Did I mention it's hot? We have 100d being forcasted for the upcoming week. And it's only June! While we've hit 100d before, I don't recall it being this early. I guess we should've known it was coming after the warmer than usual winter we had.
Now lets head south. Florida is bening dumped on with rain, STILL, as I write this. Areas have had well over 2' of rain, thanks to Debby. How can it be the Sunshine State if the sun stays hidden for so long?? If only there was a way to pipe that rain up here...
Or if we could get it out west, where the wild fires are raging because it's so dry! Have you seen the latest pictures of full subdivisions in Colorado Springs going up in flames?? It's devastating huge areas out west, both rural and suburban alike. Flames don't care what they burn... they just want to burn.
So seriously... whoever it was that pissed her off needs to make peace with Mother Nature. Maybe we all need to - maybe that's the problem. If's only the beginning of the summer, and the weather's brutal in many forms already... what's the rest of the summer going tobe like??
I so missed going to a Dave Matthews Band concert last year! I know he still did some caravan stops, but they just weren't anywhere I could get to. But he was back this year, in full force!
I went both Friday and Saturday nights, which I like to do since he never has a suplicate show. I love that he really doesn't go into a show with a set-list. You end up with some dead spots between songs, but you also end up with som great jam sessions! And being a jam band, they do have some great jam sessions!
Both nights were great, though I think I liked Saturday night a little more - there were better jam sessions! There were a lot on 'non-radio hits' played both nights, making a unfamiliar scene if you didn't listen to much Dave. Which was the case for Eric. I think he enjoyed Friday night a little more since there were a few more songs he recognized. All in all, though, I did love both. It was just great to see him in concert again!
On a side note, I did practically have to drag Eric kicking and screaming to TWO shows. One show is his limit, I think, which made me not able to fully enjoy it since he looked so bummed to be there the second night. I still had fun, but it would've been more fun to be there with someone who wanted to be there. So on that note, if anyone else out there wants to do a show with me next year, Eric would be thrilled! It'll likely be the only way I get to go both nights - I need someone to go with me at least one of the nights!
And for your listening (more so than viewing) pleasure... some classic DMB... "Satellite"...
The more I get involved with CrowdTap, the more I love it! Why? Because the more points you get, the more fun things like this you get to do! Not that I need a reason to get together with my girls, but when you throw FREE STUFF in, it makes it that much more fun!
So this time (last night), it was another trip to Old Navy for a Beach Bum Party. All that means is you get some free beach themes items... which is actually a lot! Our free swag included a beach tote, beach towel, sunglasses and flip-flops, Score!
Just as we did last time, though, we had a little more fun with it - we didn't just hop in and grab the free stuff and leave. We grabbed some carts, filled them up, and then tried lots of stuff on! And while Jen G. couldn't find much for herself this time around, Jen H. was surprised when she found as much as she did. Wendy always finds a boatload of stuff and I contained myself to an outfit suitable for a summer BBQ. And yes, this is stuff on top of the free stuff.
After we were through with our shenanigans in the dressing rooms, we checked-out and headed over to PF Chang's for some dinner. Best decision we could've made (thanks to Wendy finally making the decision). It SO hit the spot! All the food was awesome (did you know they had lamb??) and the company was even better. We caught up a bunch more and before we knew it, it was 9:30pm. Either we need to get together more often, or we need to plan for more time on these outings!
Time sure flies when you're having fun! But then I always have a blast with the girls!
Today is the Summer Solstice! The longest day of the year... well, the most amount of daylight, anyway. And what better way to start it that with temperatures in the 90's and no rain in sight!
Blah!
Yep... no rain. Been nearly 2 weeks since we had ANY rain! It's dry. Things are dying. But every so often, we get a teaser front that *might* bring us rain... but it only brings us humidity instead.
wah-wah!
Today may be the first official day of summer, but it's been summer here for awhile. We had a warm winter, and we're definitely looking at a HOT summer ahead!! Hence, the reason getting my A/C fixed in my Xterra was actually on the critical list!
But summer's not all bad... there's a lot to look forward to this year! Dave Matthews concerts are this weekend. Eric and I are going to Chicago the following weekend. And weekend after that, my niece is coming to visit for a week! Yay! Then, it's my birthday (woot woot)! After that, though... I'm not sure. There's are some things that have been talked about, but keep getting shifted, cancelled, or just never come to fruition.
I have no doubt that the rest of the summer will pan out to be a fun one, though. It may be hot, but there's always a light vibe in the air that makes everything that much more fun!
How long do you keep a car/truck? Do you get the itch for a new vehicle every 2-3 years? Do you only buy one when it's 'needed' or at least justified somehow? Do you buy new or used, based on the intended ownership time?
I grew up in a family that kept their vehicles until the wheels fell off. Okay... not really... but 10 years wasn't unheard of. And even then, there had to be a reason. It's not that we were cheap... we just took care of our cars. At least that's what my Dad taught me to do. To this day, I'm amazed at the amount of people I meet that don't know anything about taking care of their cars! If you take care of your car, believe me, it'll take care of you!
My Baby Bleu is a perfect example. Might actually need to call her Ol' Bleu, now... I bought her 12 years ago today. She had less than 20 miles on her and I had every intention of keeping her for as long as humanly possible. She now has over 192k miles on her. I always took care of all the regular preventative maintenance and she's always taken care of me, in return, and never left me stranded. We've come close... but it wasn't her fault. It was my stupidity in those few cases (I won't go into them, here). Most of those years were spent with her being garage kept, and I do account a lot of the well being she's has due to that. It wasn't until she was no longer a garage vehicle that she started having issues... but I think that was more due to age than the elements. She didn't have her first major malfunction until about 2 years ago. But she didn't leave me stranded. She got me home the nearly 100 miles we had to go, where I took her directly to the mechanic and dropped her off.
It wasn't until the past few months that more issues are popping up. Eric and I have started justifying repairs... you know how it goes..."That repair is less than a car payment" or "It just means we'll drive her for two more months before we get another car." Just last Friday, she got four new tires (was going to just get two, but I'm good about rotation and, quite frankly, they were all worn the same and needed replacing). Tomorrow she goes in to get her A/C fixed (leaking hose I was told about during her last check-up). But it'll still balance out to be less than a couple of car payments and keep me happy with her for more than a couple of months.
But it definitely gets me thinking... when will it be time? She's a Nissan... she'll go forever if I keep up with these little bits of maintenance. Eric was ready last year and I talked him out of it... which I don't regret one bit! But 12 years is quite the life for a 'new' car.
My goal is to get to 200k miles. Just because it'd be cool to say I drove a car that many miles. Not that I bought a car with some-thousand miles on it and hit that milestone... but that *I* drove it that many miles... all those miles are mine! Should be doable. Maybe then it'll be time for a new car.
I can't believe Eric and I have been married for two years already! How time flies... too bad he couldn't be here today to celebrate with me!
In all fairness, we celebrated over the weekend because he knew work would have him out of town on the actual day. So we took a day trip down to Louisville , KY. We started out early and hit a couple of salvage stores/antique shop, just because. We did find a couple of trim pieces for the house, actually. But those places are always fun to browse.
Next, breakfast. We found this little area of town near the shops we visited and asked Siri for recommendations. Well, the top place she recommended wasn't open yet, but there was a place right next door that was slammed! It was called Toast on Market, and after a quick peak at the menu, we decided to try it out. Wow! It was so awesome! I had these Lemon Souffle pancakes that were just amazing and Eric found the staff favorite, Toast and Eggs. Both dishes were beyond good! Ended up being a great find!
From here, we decided to go to Churchill Downs and watch some horse races. No betting - just for fun. It was just a nice day to go to the track. Besides, the Belmont Stakes were later that day, so we knew there'd be some good action to watch since they want to have a crowd on that day, 'just because', I guess. It was kind of nice to go there when it wasn't overcrowded, like it gets for the Derby in May. You could actually enjoy walking around a bit. Which we did, before grabbing a couple of drinks and a snack and finding a place to sit in the shade to watch a few races. !Last time I went to Derby I was in the infield... it's a much different perspective on the outside of the track
As the crowd grew bigger (as it got closer to the Belmont Stakes start time), we decided to take a drive down to Bardstown. Eric had gone many years ago and remembered a quaint little town that would be nice to walk around. Which it was... but there wasn't much else to it! So we found a local place and had a little food and a quick drink. At this point, we figured instead of wandering much more, we'd head back into Louisville for some dinner.
Siri made some recommendations, again, and this one place kept popping up as the top place on her list. It was called Seviche. Quite frankly, it sounded like our type of place, so since we were heading up Bardstown Road anyway, we figured it was worth a shot. Well, another 'wow factor' restaurant for us in Louisville! We created our own little tapas style meal, ordering a few plates, which we shared. Of course, seviche (ceviche) was in the mix. All of it - awesome! Great find by Siri, once again!
With that, we decided to head home. Just a nice relaxing day trip was what we wanted, and that's what we got. A very happy anniversary, indeed!
One of the downfalls of being in the civil engineering industry is when the busy time of the year is... which in concurrent with when it's nice outside.
Sure, we do some design in the cold months in preparation for the construction season, but more often than not, the developer or municipality seems to forget they have things they want to build until that first pre-spring warm day. And then they want it yesterday. So it's crunch time for us in order to get permits so construction can still happen this year!
So I see some busy days/weeks ahead. Days/Weeks stuck inside when I'm much rather be outside. My FL roots make me yearn to be in the sunshine, not stuck inside at a desk!
Granted, there will be those uber hot days that I'm glad I'm inside, but I still like to be in the sun. I just need to be near a body of water on those days!
Which brings up another thing... when am I going to get my beach time in this year?? I have no planned trips.... bummer.
I, for one, had no idea how much went into this. And the fact that we had to go backwards at points made it that much sweeter to reach. You don't think about it much, but a tub has to be pretty level in order for it to drain. That's harder than you'd expect in an old house! But we did it. After a lot of swearing and cursing the contractor who left us in this position, we got it done.
