Wow! And this ain't a Halloween costume . . .

Some SERIOUS bling?!?!?  "Piercing" doesn't begin to describe what this person has done to him/herself.  Although I try to avoid making judgments on a person's appearance, I think I might actually pass out if I saw this man(?) on the street. 

Don't you have to clean these things from time to time???? Mama mia!

My "inquiring mind" goes into action when I see something like this. How does he sleep?  How does he brush his teeth? Shave? (That question makes me question gender.) Is that eye makeup?  If so, how does he/she remove it? (Or even apply it?) What happens if there is an infection?  What do security metal detectors do when he comes near them?  Has he ever shut down an airport? Does he have no nerve endings in his face? If someone were to slap his face, who would feel it the most--slapper or slappee?

Happy Halloweenie!!!

Heidi, I posted this costume suggestion for your consideration, knowing how much you LOVE weiners!!!  If the Gobles and Templetons all wore one of these, you could go as a full 8-pack. That would be so cool! 

Ikea and Me . . . Pillow Talk

Yep, it's 3:28 a.m.  Went to bed around 10; Mother Nature called at 3, and then my brain started thinking about the coming weekend: Drama team performs a 6 minute sketch that requires TWO sets!!! So, I've been looking at the Ikea website for some ideas on how to dress two sets on a shoestring budget.  Now maybe I can go back to sleep.

Five Years Ago Today . . .

October 26, 2003

First Christian Church, Huntington Beach

Okay, so I'm posting this REALLY on Monday the 27th, but I pre-dated it so it would say October 26.  Hard to believe that it's been five years since Jennifer and Brian joined their lives together.  The 26th was also on Sunday in 2003 (there have been 2 leap years since--including this one), and the church building was full of smoke on the morning of the wedding.  Real smoke--from all the Santa Ana fires.  (Jimmy Cheesman actually played "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" during the ceremony!)

Lyn and I are so happy for Jen and Brian--and glad they got to have a great get-away weekend together. We had fun with the littlest Johnson (below) while they were away. Congratulations, Brian and Jennifer!  Here's to 55 more! (Anniversaries.  Not children.)

Emily loved the little ferris wheel toy

that Jennifer used to play with as a baby.

Cabinet Install - Day 2

Well, it's been another productive day in the kitchen business! I'm so happy with the great work our contractor and his team are doing. ZERO complaints. We're actually about to enter a week or week-and-a-half of waiting. Tomorrow the granite "master" will come and prepare a template for the countertops and backsplashes.  It will take him several days to cut and polish the stone. At some point the tile guy will be coming to lay the flooring.  I have to paint the crown molding for the light box. So, by election day or a little after, the job should be complete. 

A full view of the "sink end" of the kitchen.

The sink will wind up in the area by 

the window.  On left, oven in the hole, 

cooktop over the oven. The dishwasher

will go in the hole on the right side.

These two pictures show my pride and joy:

the light box.  (That's what really got the

whole project started--wanting to get away

from the low flourescent grid.  The microwave

will go in the "hole" to the right (above).

I will be painting the crown molding on Monday

(unless I decide to do it Sunday).  The bright

semi-gloss white (Swiss Coffee) will make the 

whole light box look so great.

A look at the pantry.  It will be neat

having the pull-outs AND shelves.

Should give us a LOT more room.

Our dining room is now the staging area

for the new appliances.  And no, the fridge

is NOT blue!

The next job--other than my painting--is the

flooring.  It should really make everything "pop!"

Cabinets Going In - Day 1

Installation Day!  These platforms were

the bases for the cabinet units.  

Barry and Jose laid them out and

got things leveled up.

Barry and Jose had to haul the large pantry cabinet

up the ouside steps, because it was

too large to go up the garage steps.

Jose is checking the basic fit of the pantry

box--the first cabinet unit installed.

Jose demonstrating that he can fit in the

pantry with room to spare--well, not much.

Pantry on right, refrigerator space (center) ,

microwave cabinet to left.

Measure and level, measure and level.  

They do this a lot!

Barry and Jose getting ready to

start installing doors an d drawers

The basic layout.

Barry working on drawers, Jose on cabinet 

doors.

Barry screwing in drawer mechanism.

Jose finishing the doors on the new

overhead cabinet.

Yeah!!!! The cabinets are here!

Hot diggety-dog!  The cabinets arrived yesterday afternoon about 3:00.  As you can see, they basically filled up our garage. The install is scheduled for tomorrow (but it COULD happen today).  They're moving so fast, I won't be surprised if we cook Sunday dinner this weekend.  (Just kidding.  I KNOW that can't happen!)  Anyway, just thought I'd share some of the pics.

Notice the end panel in the top picture.  That gives you a sense of the wood color and design.  I think it's so pretty.  It's a satin-finish cherry. The craftsmanship is sooooooo nice!  

Another end panel at the left.  Hmm, I need

to hang up those clothes!

Some more views of that rich cherry finish! 

Golly, I don't think I'll miss those old whitewash

cabinets after all!  (JK)

That's our "old" cooktop on top of our 

dishwasher.  We're keeping the dishwasher, but

going with a 36" cooktop.  Anybody need an

almost-new 30" GE Profile gas cooktop?

A final view...our dining room chairs

look pretty good next to the cherry

cabs, huh?

Finishing my part on the kitchen

Doing the trim work...

I didn't really HAVE to paint

a couple of these walls--they'll

be hidden by counters, cabinets, and

appliances.  But I decided to paint them

anyway.

Cutting in around the windows

Me posing cheesily for the 10 second timer

on my camera.  The light box is

 really gonna look great when the

crown molding is installed.

Another cheesy pose.  This is

one of the walls I didn't really need to paint.

Everything finished . . . the floor

guy comes tomorrow!

Painting the Ceiling (Not exactly "dancing on the ceiling!")

This was how I spent a big chunk of my Sunday afternoon.  (At least we enjoyed a nice picnic in the park between church and the paint job.)  It wasn't a hard job but, as you can see, it required a lot of "scrunching" of the neck and shoulders.  No, we're not going with purple ceilings.  This particular white ceiling paint goes on lavender so you can make sure that you're getting thorough coverage.  Pretty cool, actually.  Note the gummy grimace in the pic below.

Some Before and After Shots of the Kitchen Remodel- Days 2 & 3

Thursday was primarily "electrical" day.

Wiring was installed, the can lights were placed,

the range hood bracing and electrical hookups

were installed.  The flooring and "johnny wall"

were made level--this took a lot of creative 

and imaginative effort.  This is a picture

of the "johnny wall" which will separate the

family room from the kitchen.  Cabinets and countertop

(with cooktop and oven) will connect to this wall.

Overhead will be a 36-inch island hood.  I really like

the two can lights that will cast a LOT of light down

on the counter.  

Today (Friday) was drywall day.  The two-man

drywall team arrived around 7:15 this morning.

They had the room looking like a real

kitchen by 3:30 when they left.

After it dries, I will be doing the paining--that

will be Monday.  Hard to believe all

this work has been done in only 3 days.

The contractor says the whole job will wind

up taking only 2 weeks.  I think he's

right if everything keeps going at this pace!

This is how things looked after the electrical

work was finished yesterday.

Here's the same wall after the drywall guys

did their thing.

This is looking down the johnny wall toward

the end wall of the kitchen.  New wall cabinets

will be installed on the far wall.  There

will be no cabinets over the johnny wall--only

the range hood and can lights.

Another view of the south wall of the kitchen

The sink will go in front of the windows;

the dishwasher to the right of sink; cabinets (over

and under), microwave, refrigerator, and

pantry will be along that wall.

This is the lighting bank--where those

yucky florescent fixtures were.  This

really opens up beautifully.  Eight

can lights will flood the whole room with

great light (and they will be rheostat-controlled for 

setting "mood" in the kitchen.  Sweet!)

After the drywall guys did their part today!

The over-the-counter lighting and 

range hood space.  Removing the

overhead cabinets REALLY opens up

the room.  It will make the whole

family room/kitchen run together

much better.  

Another view of the johnny wall looking

into the family room.

And another angle of that same view.

Needless to say, we're very excited about the next phase.  That would be me, actually--I paint Monday.

Love this . . .

I was wishing a FaceBook friend a happy birthday and saw this on his page.  Had to share!

First Day In Kitchen Remodel - October 15 - DEMO!!

Last look at the old kitchen

John Clark (left) is our contractor.

The guy is amazing.  We've seen his work and

trust him completely.  The guy to the right is

Jose.  John's brother Barry is his other assistant.

Lyn and John going over some last

minute details.

One of the things we appreciate about

John and his team is their professionalism

and thoroughness.  They made sure every

possible surface was carefully protected 

before starting demolition.

Plywood and plastic everywhere

Even the living room got protection

This is how things were looking mid-day.

Kinda pathetic, huh?

They parked the trucks under the family room

and kitchen windows so they could toss

things down.  I'm sure it was noisy--but

very time-saving.

The original builders were very sloppy in

 the construction.  Nothing was level.

There was a 1.5 inch incline in the floor

itself.  The ceiling wasn't much better.

(Note Jose's fingers sticking through the gap 

between the bottom of the ceiling 

and the top of the level. 

 Sad.  :(

Demo complete.  I suppose it's too

late to change our minds now!

Behold, all the old things have passed

away...all things become new.