Fare thee well 1980s kitchen

Published on by Casey Category: Household, Photos

In April, we started a full-fledged kitchen remodel. Complete with new paint, cabinets, counter tops, sink/faucet, range and microwave. Whew! Six months later we finally selected a back splash tile and still don’t have a matching dishwasher. All in good time.That said, I absolutely love my new kitchen – the double range, the large center island, and of course, the granite counter tops!

Here’s a bit of what the kitchen looked like before: peachy-colored walls, white cabinets, white appliances (except for my fridge) and formica counter tops. Our house was designed with an eat-in kitchen, but we have and addition that serves as a dining space, thus we added an island from Big Lots. Don’t know how I ever managed without an island!

Here’s Logan showcasing the island and sidewall cabinets, before the counter tops and baseboards were installed. The sidewall previously did not have any cabinets, but we kept a buffet there for storage instead.

And finally, one of the “finished” images that shows the counters, cabinets, and appliances (just ignore the mess. If you have ever done a remodel, you’ll understand). 🙂

Once the back splash is installed (hopefully later this month) I’ll post some pictures of that. There are also a couple areas that still need baseboards re-installed and trim placed at the top of a couple cabinets. We also still need to buy the exhaust filter for the microwave. One day…I never need to use the exhaust fan anyway.

It’s fantastic to have the extra storage and the large island workspace. And Logan enjoys hiding in one of the sidewall cabinets we kept empty for him.

A Trip to CA

Published on by Casey Category: Family, Photos, Travel

The plan was for Noah to travel to California to refinish the floors in my parents house. I had some time off work, so Logan and I hitched along and made a vacation out of it. Not only did Logan get to spend time with both sets of grandparents, his aunt and uncles, he also had his inaugural trip to the beach!

With any luck you can view pictures here. If I need to give you permission, let me know. I can’t recall how I set up the site.

Celebrating 30 Years

Published on by Casey Category: Family

Memorial Day was Noah’s 30th birthday. Every time I would ask him what he wanted to do, he would tell me, “nothing”. That’s a bit boring for a milestone birthday. It works out nicely that friends of ours host an annual Memorial Day BBQ at their house that we always attend. So this year, I was in cahoots with them to add in a surprise birthday party element for Noah. I even arranged for a pastry chef friend to make a cake (since I obviously could not make one undetected) and had a friend lined up to get the cake and take it to the party. Well, the day before the party that friend’s family all came down with strept and were no longer going to be able to go to the BBQ, so Joe, Noah’s brother, got some frantic texts from me to see if he could pick up the cake. Thankfully he was able and the surprise went off without a hitch. I had meant to take a camera to the party, but the surprise was yelled while I was still unloading Logan’s diaper bag and Noah had already made it outside. *sigh*.

Instead of bringing traditional gifts for Noah, I suggested people give him 30 random items (an idea Gretna gave to me). He ended up with:

  •  30 rocks
  • 30 Q-tips
  • 30 songs (iTunes gift cards)
  • $30 in gift cards to Coldstone and AMC
  • 30 blueberries
  • 30 pine cones
  • 30 sips of beer
  • 30 bottles of water – each with a This Day in History Fact

Technically there are 31 bottles, and they are from Joe. I like the effort that he went into with the gift. So, here are news headlines from Noah’s last 30 years on Noah’s birthday:

1982 – “The Escape Artist” movie was released
1983 – Flashdance theme song “What A Feeling” hits #1 on the pop charts
1984 – USSR tested nuclear bomb
1985 – David Jacobsen is taken hostage in Lebanon
1986 – Pepsi stock splits
1987 – Mathais Rust lands his airplane in Red Square
1988 – Genie Francis marries Jonathan Frakes
1989 – Emerson Fittipaldi wins the Indianapolis 50
1990 – Dave Thomas comedy show debuts on CBS
1991 – Ted Turner is named the Man of the Year by Time Magazine
1992 – Amanda Goad wins the 65th National Spelling Bee by spelling “lyceum”
1993 – Polish government of Suchocka falls
1994 – Cafe American airs last show
1995 – Earthquake in Russia kills 2000 people
1996 – President Clinton’s pals are committed of fraud
1997 – 600 Taliban troops are killed
1998 – Comedian Phil Hartman is killed by his wife
1999 – Boring…
2000 – Small earthquake in the Sierra Nevadas
2001 – NATO ratifies treaty with Russia
2002 – Cosmonaut Oleg Makarov dies
2003 – OSHA announces ergonomic guidelines
2004 – Donald Voight is accused of fraud
2005 – Boring…
2006 – The winning lottery numbers were: 5-11-16-27-43
2007 – Hubble sends pictures back to NASA
2008 – Red Wings play Penguins in game 3…whatever!
2009 – National Museum of Natural History turns 100
2010 – BP oil spill is confirmed as the worst in US history
2011 – Jewish Holiday. Shabbat.
2012 – Joe put: Make your own history. Boring…so I looked one up: Asteroid KP24 nearly misses earth by 32,000 miles

Happy 30th birthday, Noah! Glad you enjoyed your surprise party (and were genuinely surprised)! 😀

On the Tracks…

Published on by Casey Category: Colorado, Family, Photos

This weekend we headed up the hills to Georgetown to take a ride on the Georgetown Loop Railroad. Logan loves trains but had yet to actually ride on one. Not too shabby for his first train ride to be with a coal-fueled steam engine. 🙂

Logan loved the train ride and watching the cars move along the track. The weather was pretty nice for late May, which in Colorado is pretty unpredictable. It was warm, a bit smokey (from fires in New Mexico) but got increasingly WINDY as the day progressed. By the time we left, there were 70 mph gusts blowing through the canyon!

Our excursion was also newsworthy! A fault of the wind, a small-ish pine tree (5″ diameter / 20′ tall) was uprooted and hit a passenger sitting in one of the open air cars on the head. The ride came to a very abrupt emergency stop and rumors of what happened began to pass through the cars. I think we originally heard there was a deer on the tracks, then we heard a tree fell on the train or the tracks, and finally that a tree had hit a person. It was like a one-sided version of telephone. The person who was hit, was in a car three or four ahead of ours, but by the time the train stopped, the tree was just past our car. I got a photo of it being moved, but it’s not very easy to see, so I won’t post it.

The person was not seriously injured yet when the train stopped in Silver Plume, paramedics were brought aboard and the individual was taken off on a stretcher as a precaution. We were glad we chose to ride in one of the enclosed cars.

After our ride, we had lunch at a great Euro restaurant (German food for the win!) and checked out the donkey race. Bet you didn’t know that donkey racing is the official indigenous sport of Colorado? All of the donkeys were adorned with mining or other frontier supplies:

 

Not According to Plan

Published on by Casey Category: Family

If I had my way, this year for Mother’s Day the weather would have been warm, sunny and we would have spent some time up in the mountains. Instead, it was cold (40s), gloomy, cloudy and threatening rain (although barely a drop fell). Even in Colorado, I didn’t want to be outside in it for long.

If I had my way, I would have gotten the chance to sleep in past 6 am. I asked Logan if he got them memo that he was supposed to sleep in, and he said yes. I guess he just decided to ignore it. 🙂

If I had my way, I would not have needed to scrub poo out of a onesie. At least it was a small amount and easy to clean.

If I had my way, I would not have gotten puked on. Twice.

Poor Logan ate something on Saturday that did not settle well with his belly. Every one was up, pretty much all night, even Lava as she was concerned for her brother. Logan first got sick around 11 pm on Saturday and did not finish puking until around 3:30 am Sunday morning. We went through three sheets, three blankets, and a towel. I personally went through about 3 shirts and a pair of pants. I was thankful that Logan had not yet transitioned to sleeping in his big bed, as that would not have been as easy to change so many times.

After the boy was cleaned up, he and I would rock in the chair while Noah scrubbed the laundry. It was a pretty good routine. And thankfully, I did not add to the vomit. That’s always a plus.

Yesterday morning, Logan rose around 6 am and was acting like himself. One of his first goals of the day was to come find me. That was sweet. 🙂 We all took naps, except for maybe Noah. I definitley felt I needed the two-hour doze on the couch. I’m not used to only receiving 3 hours of consecutive sleep, some of which occured sitting in the rocker, anymore.

Aside from all the gloom, puke and poo, I did have a fabulous Mother’s Day playing cars and choo choo train with Logan, and relaxing and reading (in-between loads of laundry). My men also gave me a bouquet of tulips, a new set of pots/pans for the new kitchen (something I wanted), and a card that Logan picked-out (it plays music and has a dancing snoopy inside).

It may not have been a “dream” celebration, but I would not have traded the cuddles I got from Logan in-between bouts of sickness for anything. 🙂

Living with Syndromes

Published on by Casey Category: Whatever

I’m not quite 30, and yet I have already been diagnosed with two syndromes: patellofemoral and cubital tunnel. The good news about these is that they are treatable with physical therapy and lifestyle changes.

With the patellofemoral, my kneecaps like to slide off course and grind into my femur. Sounds lovely, no? I started PT this month and have a daily regimen of various exercises to strengthen specific areas of my legs. The good part is that my legs are already quite strong from spinning, so that’s helpful. Today the therapist showed me how to tape my knee.  It feels a bit awkward but it is helpful. Looks like I’ll be buying some fancy tape in the near future. The therapy is helpful, but it’s extremely slow-going. This is not going to be an overnight quick fix. But I will be ever so happy to have normal knees again! Feeling like I’m 80 with arthritis is no walk in the park (pun intended).

The other syndrome involves the ulnar nerve in my left arm getting pinched by my elbow and making a couple fingers in my hand go numb. At this point, treating this deals with lifestyle changes. I am not supposed to carry Logan (or anything heavy) with my left arm. I have mostly curbed this habit, but it takes a conscious effort as I’m right-handed and carrying items with my left arm is just natural. It also helps that Logan wants to walk everywhere, but there are times when I need to pick him up. I also need to not keep my arm bend for long periods of time: hold my Nook with my right hand, hold the steering wheel of my car towards the bottom, and move my computer keyboard from atop my desk to my lap.

This last step has proven a challenge so far. My desk is a behemoth piece of oak furniture, which has a leg opening that is narrower than my chair. I also need to remove the arms from my chair, so I an not tempted to lean on them, putting pressure on the nerve. I tried putting my keyboard on my lap, but I can’t keep my legs bent for long periods of time, and when I straightened them the keyboard would slide. Nice catch 22, no? Plus, the cords made movement a challenge. Now, I’m on the hunt for a good lap table. I have a laptop desk, which I may bring into work, and I just ordered a wireless mouse and keyboard. My work is only spending freeze, so I know there’s no way they would provide them for me. And I’m pretty sure that cubital-tunnel syndrome doesn’t qualify as a disability. 😉

If the lifestyle changes do not help the nerve, the next step would be to put my elbow in a brace to prevent it from being severely bent. That doesn’t exactly sound comfortable.

Well see how this all progresses. At least, I have a doctor’s and a therapist’s order to continue spinning. 🙂

Egg-Extravaganza! – Part Two and Three

Published on by Casey Category: Colorado, Family, Photos

Logan was not limited to one egg hunt this year, but three (or four if you count the two we had in our yards…more on that later).

Our church holds a community egg hunt each year, but one that teaches the resurrection story. Logan was pretty cranky and uncooperative during most of it. Again eggs were thrown and tantrums were had. For his sake, he was very ready for a nap and was entering meltdown stage. Pretty sure he didn’t absorb much of the lesson this year, but thank goodness the volunteers had LOTS of patience!

Also, do to the various stages of 2-year old shenanigans, I didn’t get to take any pictures. Oh well.

On Easter, we had hosted our potluck dinner/egg hunt. When we started this tradition there were only a couple of children. This year we had seven!

Because of that we held two egg hunts, a small one in the front yard just for the children with age-appropriate prizes in the eggs, and then one in the backyard for the adults. We also try to do something different with the adult hunt each year. We’ve done a treasure hunt into the open space (on a very wet and rainy Easter), special golden eggs, camouflage eggs and this year we did a giant egg

The weather was great this year, too – near 70! No chance of tracks in snow leading up to the hidden eggs!

Before all of our friends came over, Logan opened his Easter basket. Crackers, a new Veggie Tales DVD, a stuffed lamb from Gramma, and his favorite item – blueberries!

 

 Wishing you a happy Easter from our family to yours. A day to remember the Ultimate Sacrifice made for us by our Lord and Savior!

Egg-Extravaganza! – Part One

Published on by Casey Category: Colorado, Family, Photos

Have I mentioned how much I love living in a small town? Things are much more quaint and activities are free! The city puts on an annual Easter egg hunt. One at the lake for the older kids, and one in Old Town for the younger. This year Logan was up to the challenge, so we walked to the downtown hunt with the Feiglands (Noah was at work). There were probably 100 children (guessing), half of which were in line for the opportunity to seat on the Easter Bunny’s lap!

Logan was very excited to see the bunny – until it was actually our turn to meet him. I had to pick up Logan and carry him over to the bunny.

Shortly thereafter everyone circled around the lawn as the volunteers/city employees tossed out hundreds of eggs, packages of  animal crackers, gold fish, Rice Krispie treats, etc. It was nice that there were options offered other than candy! We were initially expecting the kids to only grab three or four eggs, but both Logan and Jocelyn filled their baskets to the brim!

And, of course, Logan had to have a two-year old meltdown during the hunt. He overturned his basket and pulled away from him. That then led to a massive scramble on my part of righting the basket and trying to find my child in a sea of other children! That is a panic I would like to never experience again. Thankfully, I found him a minute or less later, making his way to the bunny! Apparently he had regained his courage, but I was not about to reward his behavior by allowing him to see the bunny again, let alone by cutting in front of other children!

It was also 85° on the last day of March! That’s unheard of here! March is typically the snowiest month, and yet, we did not receive any measurable snow!

Since I was in single mom mode, I didn’t take a lot of photos and must rely on Larry for the one’s he took. When I get those from him, I’ll upload them here, along with the pictures I did manage to take.