Friday, August 28, 2009

Mini reno

We decided to update our main floor powder room in the past week. It all went smoothly in the end, but OY the problems when we first started out.

As some of you know, I don't drive. Yes, I know I need to get my license. Whatever. We had already arranged to have our plumber come over last Friday (August 21st). The PLAN was that we were going to go out the night before and get the sink and toilet, so that when he came over, it would be a reasonably simple job. Well, something funny happened on the way to the forum.

Last Thursday we were hit with a tornado. Granted, it actually hit 15 minutes away from here, but we weren't going *anywhere* in that weather.

When the plumber called the next morning to say he was on his way, he asked if we got the sink and toilet (with a knowing tone that we didn't). I explained that I didn't drive, so he offered to take me over to Home Depot to get the items in question, rather than cancelling. How awesome is that? Before you ask, no he didn't charge for the hour that we were at the store looking at items.

We bought a toilet and sink which seems fairly ordinary, but the transaction turned out to be anything but(t). Who knew there were so many choices in toilets? We saw one that could flush a bucket of golf balls...it actually said that on the package. Have any of you ever felt the urge to do that?

I didn't think so.

We ended up going with the one that can flush 150 feet of toilet paper, because you just never know when you feel like unfurling an entire roll right into the bowl. *snort*

I'm fairly picky about things, and I found a faucet I really liked but it wasn't in stock. It was a 'special order'. We asked about the faucet, but everyone we asked didn't work in that department. We ended up leaving without the faucet. I decided to take matters into my own hands.

When we got home I went online and looked at the Home Depot website and found the item I wanted, but it was discontinued. I called up their 1-800 number and was told the same thing, but was given the number to American Standard. I called them up and asked where I could purchase it and was told "just go to Home Depot". GRAH!

I explained to the automaton operator that they were no longer selling it and she said "that's news to me!" I explained to her that I didn't really care if it was newsworthy to her or not, I just wanted to find a place to buy it. :)

She gave me three numbers of places to call. I called up store A and they put me on hold for about 10 minutes they came back to me and said that all their sales reps were busy and that I should call back in half an hour so what am I? chopped liver? I called store B and he said he could order it, no problem I told him I'd call him back. I called store C and was told "we don't do small orders, we're a bath refitter, but if it's a common item we might have it." umm, screw you lady...so I went back to store B and ordered it.

The plumber told me he would install what we had purchased and would come back another day when I find a faucet that I liked. Great.

He started unpacking the toilet tank and all was going well, until he unpacked the bowl. It was a different colour. It was packaged as white, but in reality it was bone. When you buy toilets it has a little panel that you can look inside to make sure it's the right colour, but neither of us saw the difference between bone and white in the store. Ugh.

He ended up just installing the sink (without a faucet) and told me to return the toilet and get a faucet. When I had both then he would come back. No problem. It wasn't his fault and it wasn't mine.

VERY long story short, I picked up the new faucet on Wednesday, the plumber came back on Thursday...and without further adieu, I give you this...

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Skunk...of the corn

Saturday afternoon, I was going to go and water my vegetables and I found that something had attacked my corn. My prized corn. My four and a half foot tall corn. Oh woe is me. I couldn't figure out what it was, but regardless, I was really looking forward to harvesting it shortly. I had eight cobs and they were >this< close to being ready.

Late Saturday night, or more specifically, early Sunday I was up at the asscrack of dawn the wee hours of the morning and decided to look outside. I went to the back porch and turned on the light...and what should I see? A skunk was sitting on the edge of the garden, happily munching on a cob. The bugger somehow nibbled his way into the plant and he had a cob between his paws.

Needless to say, when I looked again at the crop later on Sunday, the entire crop had been nibbled at and there were ants crawling on some of the cobs. *cringe*

At least the skunk hasn't gone after my peppers or strawberries...yet. Who knew they liked fibre?

Friday, August 21, 2009

WOO HOO!

Catherine received her referral! Go and wish her congratulations! I can't wait to hear all about her sweet Hannah!

I've converted...

...to Google Reader. Thanks for the heads up, Doris.

I got sick and tired of missing blog updates. For some reason Bloglines stopped updating a lot of the blogs I follow and I finally made the switch, and I have to say that I'm *loving* it. The great thing about it is that you can just export your Bloglines feeds and import them directly into Google Reader. How awesome is that?

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Happy birthday, Dolores!

Yet another August birthday girl. :)

Go here and wish her a very happy birthday!

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Another one bites the dust...

This month I added a charm chosen over a year ago by Heather. I'd link to her other blog(s), but she has so many, I never know which one is the current one. ;)





Here's a picture of the two completed bracelets. It's a little depressing to look at it (and wear it, for that matter) seeing how many charms are on it.

The bracelet on top is our current one (with charms added by our friends), and the bottom bracelet is the 'old one', with charms that Josh and I chose WAAAAAAAAY back in 2006/2007.





I asked Josh to go and pick up a little something for this month's LIDiversary and I think he went into chocolate overload when he went into the store. You see, we have a brand new Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory in the mall by our house. In a word...dangerous.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Sunday, August 09, 2009

99 things...

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyworld
8. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Written something that was published
11. Bungee jumped or parachuted
12. Walked across the Golden Gate Bridge
13. Been in a fist fight
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Seen the Rings of Saturn with a telescope
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when not ill
24. Built a tree house or snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a marathon
28. Rode in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Fired a gun
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Visited the Leaning Tower of Pisa
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal
44. Visited Africa
45. Cried yourself to sleep
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Visited the Eiffel Tower
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Pretended you cooked something from scratch when you didn't
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie or commercial
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold something door to door
62. Gone whale or dolphin watching
64. Donated blood, marrow, etc
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Held onto a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten frog legs or caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Time Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Done something illegal
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Sang a solo
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Climbed a mountain
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had surgery
89. Directly saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Seen a loved one die
94. Given birth to a baby
95. Visited the Alamo
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Sent a text message while driving
99. Been stung by a bee

I snagged this off of K1's blog. I've only done 33 of these, how many have YOU done? I've shown you mine, now you show me yours...leave me a comment and do this yourself.

Saturday, August 08, 2009

Wednesday, August 05, 2009

More celebrations today...

...if you haven't heard the FANTASTIC news yet, head over to K1 and K2's blog and wish them congratulations! They're going to be parents very soon! I'm beyond thrilled that they're finally comfortable enough to let the (proverbial) cat out of the bag.

We wish them all the happiness and joy in the world as they embark on the wondeful journey of parenthood! *Mwah*

Triskaidekaphobia...

...does not reside in our house today, and no, this is not the name of the mouse that I found scampering through my backyard a couple nights ago *cringe*. Today marks our 13th wedding anniversary*! Holy crap, where does the time go?!

We're heading out to an Italian restaurant for dinner and probably something evil for dessert...nummy!

*...and yes, this is how Josh proposed to me in December 1995. It kind of explains why we 'celebrate' each month's LIDiversary the way we do.