Margo's Blog

We are starting Week #5 of the bathroom remodeling process. It should have only been a 2 week project, but things aren’t always what they seem. Coordinating efforts between the trades was a nightmare, even though it was all planned out and timelined. It should have worked out… in a perfect world. The painter was sick and that held up the electrician and plumber for a week, and he’s still not done yet. The master bath is still missing the toilet, sink and shower hardware and doors. The lighting is not installed, but should be tomorrow (hopefully), so the room is still not usable and to be honest, I’m rather pissed. That proverbial last straw happened last week when we discovered that the water main to the house was cracked and water was leaking.. fortunately it wasn’t leaking IN the house, but outside at the sidewalk. In any case, the front yard needed to be dug up and trees, bushes and plants removed so they could replace the pipes. In addition to a huge plumbing bill, now we’re looking at a major landscaping bill come spring. I’m depressed over the chaos that reigns in this house. I just want everything back in working order. I just want to be able to wake at a normal hour to wait for tradesmen to come in…. and for them to actually show up. I want my bathroom back. This certainly makes me think long and hard about renovating the kitchen. However the thought of eating out every day is enticing.

We’re into Day 4 of the bathroom remodeling and I’ve had to move out of my bath in search of one that has all necessary pieces functioning. Yesterday the shower/tub was taken out with a Saws-all and lots of sweat, leaving a big hole. More work to be done on that today… taking out the rest of the insulation, building the framework for the shower, and possibly putting up the cement board. The guest bath is all tiled and grouted, and electrical boxes have been moved, next is the rebuilding of the vanity. Just need to survive through the pounding and the mess….. did I mention the layer of dust that lies on everything in my bedroom? It’s going to need thorough cleaning in the end.

The workmen including tile guys, electrician and plumber all descended on the house this morning to begin the two week long process of the renovation of 3 of our 4 bathrooms. Good thing we have that 4th bathroom that won’t get touched so we have a workable toilet and shower during the process. We spent the afternoon yesterday emptying cabinets and closets and boxing up all the contents while keeping aside the essentials we will need day to day.

This is what will get done:
Master bath: new granite counter, new vessel sink, heated ceramic tile floor, new tiled shower, all fixtures and lighting.
Guest bath: granite counters, heated tile floors, new sinks, fixtures and lighting.
Basement bath: new granite counter and tiled floor.

and now a couple of “before” pictures of the master bath….

I’m just hoping that the drywall dust and the tile dust doesn’t mess with my sinuses, otherwise, I’ll be checking into the nearby Holiday Inn with my knitting basket and laptop. Will report back with updates.

My new wheels. Starting off the New Year riding in style. The week before Christmas we went up to Grand Rapids to look at cars. This was to be my Christmas present, however since I was getting one this spring, I don’t really count it as a Christmas gift.. anyway, we checked out the new Jags, but I wasn’t really impressed and on we moved to Cadillac where we went to look at the CTS. While it was a comfy fit, it was smaller than I had hoped and I do like lots of room around me. The DTS was in the showroom and I fell in automotive love. The first color we chose, Bob’s choice, Tuscan Bronze, had a greenish tint to it. They found one sitting in West Virginia, but the dealer there wouldn’t play nice, a second one was located in Boston, but because of the bad snowy weather that hit the east coast, that transport company said they wouldn’t drive in it. It was all a good thing, because we went back to the dealer and I decided that the first color wasn’t what I wanted….. what I wanted was the Grey Flannel… a very dark grey with a hint of blue in the right light… and a black interior. So nice. It arrived yesterday morning from Missouri and today we went and signed the paperwork, handed over a check with way too many numbers on it and drove it home. Parked on my side of the garage is my 2010 Cadillac DTS.

Christmas always used to be so special for me, having the whole family together and just enjoying each others company. In years past, with everyone spread across the country, it wasn’t so easy to be together so those times when we did gather were even more important. This year my sister and her family came here and of course Alex was home too. Although our time together was only a day and a half, we made use of every minute together. I loved it.
Next year we’re planning something special, someplace warm, someplace without snow, someplace all 7 of us will be in the same place for more than a day and a half.

Are you ready? I’m not. Not yet anyway. I could use another month to get prepared, to make cards, to decorate, to shop, to bake, to do all the things necessary. I haven’t even started to shop because I’m basically clueless as to what to get my family. I was hoping that our shopping trip in Chicago over Thanksgiving would give me some clues to what they’re liking these days, but the trip never happened. My nieces are selective and label conscious and other than gift cards I don’t think they’d really like anything else… not very exciting I know, but I’m stuck. My sister and brother-in-law never seem to appreciate anything we get them, so there again, I’m stuck. The shopping part of my brain just hasn’t kicked into high gear yet. I keep waiting…. until then I’m knitting a few things. The Christmas cards which should be on their way to the post office are still in various stages of completion. I need to get them done pronto!

The only Christmas thing that has happened is Bob singing in the Holiday Pops Concerts with the Grand Rapids Symphony. It was five performances over a 4 day span. I attended on the opening night concert and it was quite a push into getting into the spirit of the season. Oh yes, the lights are up on the porches… we string them on evergreen branches and drape them on the front porches and tie up with red bows… it does look pretty. The tree will go up next week sometime, usually taking one day for the two of us to get up and another 3 or 4 days to put on the decorations.

Eventually Christmas will get here.

Two weekends ago Bob and I took off for Chicago and for a taping of the NPR radio show, “Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me”. We listen to it every Saturday and play along with the news quizzes and I was excited to be able to get tickets. Since we were half way to Milwaukee, my sister said to come up for the rest of the weekend and spend some time with them.

The show was taped on Thursday night so we got in early, had a nice leisurely late lunch and then got in line for the show. It takes an hour and a half to make a one hour show.. the other half hour gets cut in the editing. It was way cool. Pictured here is the host of the show, Peter Sagal doing his thing.

On Friday night in Milwaukee, we went to a really trendy steak restaurant called, ‘Carnivore’, and had oh so yummy Kobe steak… so tender, it didn’t need a knife. Our art entertainment for the evening was with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra as they performed Bartok’s ‘Bluebeard’s Castle’ which was more of an opera for two. It was sung in Hungarian and the set design were glass sculptures by Dale Chihuly. Imagine. This photograph is from the local Milwaukee newspaper.

Sunday we went to the Art Museum to an exhibit of Andy Warhol… his later work, and I was surprised at some of his pieces. He was quite religious toward the end of his life incorporating his beliefs into his work. I couldn’t photograph any of the pieces in this exhibit, but there are permanent works in the museum that I was able to capture. We strolled through other exhibits as well including native daughter Georgia O’Keefe. So between the radio show, the symphony and the art museum, it really was an artful weekend.

Last weekend was devoted to knitting and new knitting friends as I attended a locally sponsored Fiber Retreat here in Holland. Four days of knitting, talking, shopping, and spinning. It was great and I can’t wait to go to another. This pic shows just some of the women who were knitting, purling and frogging.

A few weeks ago we took the ferry across Lake Michigan to Wisconsin to visit my sister and the family. Even though we are a short boat ride across the lake, or a bit longer car ride through Chicago, it’s been six months since I’ve seen them. Of course its not like there hasn’t been good reason… like me being sick and all, and them being busy.  During our visit they took us to a garden nursery where they were going to pick up some day lilies for their yard. This place was lovely.. such a natural garden setting and I loved walking through the pots of flowers, exploring the greenhouse filled to the brim with exotics and pottery and finding feathered friends… roaming chickens and peacocks. So many picture taking opportunities…..

That was a song by Perry Como that I used to sing to when I was a kid, about 3 or 4 years old, and amazingly still remember the words, most of them anyway.

“Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket,
Never let it fade away!
Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket,
Save it for a rainy day!

For love may come and tap you on the shoulder,
Some star-less night!
Just in case you feel you wanna hold her,
You’ll have a pocketful of starlight!”

Even though we didn’t catch any falling stars this morning, we did go out and watch them.  We were up at 4am, drove out into the country away from the city lights to watch the Perseid Meteor Shower.  This annual shower brings meteors from the area around the constellation Perseus, hence the name.  While we didn’t lie down in the middle of the road or field, we opened the sunroof and looked up.  We may go out again tonight for a second look-see.

Dog Days refer to the hottest, most sultry days of summer. It can also define a time period or event that is very hot or stagnant, or marked by dull lack of progress. This coming from Wikipedia. While we haven’t had the sultry hot days the description claims, but one of the coolest summers in a long time, these pups aren’t acting like it.