Bits & Pieces

Slowly progressing...

Something seems different here... can't quite put my finger on it

So I walk in the door tonight around 9:30, flip on the light and see... hmmm. This is strange? This looks different than it has in the past 3 & 1/2 years I've been walking through this door.

[Quick mental scan] Nope, I didn't do that. Did Mr. Price take to redecorating the house today? ...Wait a second. Where the hell is the thing that's usually there??? [Eyes scan to the floor] DAMNIT!!!

First day in a while I haven't worked from home while the workers are in and out... and *somehow* something gets jacked. Strange how that happens. Funny the coincidence.

Can you find the slight difference?

BEFORE (the new look):

AFTER (reverting to what WAS there when I left this morning)

Guess the workers decided they'd take a turn at redecorating for me. So -ahem- sweet.

The frame got fairly beat up - which makes me growl a bit. But at least the glass isn't broken.

On a not-so-irritated note: the floor has been prepped for the marble to be laid tomorrow and though it is currently 96 degrees outside (yep, at 9:45 at night) it is 71 degrees upstairs. Brrrrr. It's like a freezing blizzard up there.

The Best of the Worst

Once again, I worked through lunch today. In order to counterbalance the resulting bitterness, I decided I would go to Zorba's for some baba ghanoush and hummus (among other things) for my 3:30 lunch. Pulled up and ...that cracking sound you heard about an hour ago was my heard... because they close at 2:15, which I never realized before today. Heart wrenching, I know.

Despair not, dear reader - I made lemonade! (Figuratively, obviously, since it was late in the afternoon and I was sans any food in sight). I did not panic. Nearby was a handy selection of fast food restaurants I usually don't even see for the fact that I rarely -if ever- eat there.

I quickly determined to gather my favorites as a consolation prize. And with each stop, I was tempted to just finish out my list and head back to the office, but ultimately, I stayed the course.

(1)Driving though first at Chick-fil-a for an 'Original' chicken sandwich
(2)Next driving through McDonald (yes, I went to McD's!) and got my since-high-school favorite combo of fries and their hot mustard sauce --got to give props to Sarah's mom for teaching me that little gem.
(3)Pulling into Sonic for a Cherry Limeade.

Chipotle!!

This was too much fun to not share. www.chipotlefan.com lets you descirbe what you order at Chipotle (I always get the same thing) and it gives you this handy dandy Nutritional label!

Anyway, this was my lunch today.

Clever, huh?

Nutrition Facts
Amount Per Serving
Calories 1000	Cal from Fat 570
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 62g	95%
Saturated Fat 19g 93% Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 70mg	23%
Sodium 2550mg	106%
Total Carbs 91g	30%
Dietary Fiber 22g 88% Sugars 25g
Protein 26g
Vitamin A 0% • Vitamin C 0% Calcium 0% • Iron 0%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
INGREDIENTS: Sour Cream,Guacamole (4oz),Fajita Veggies,Corn Salsa,Tomato Salsa,Rice,Black Beans,Cheese,Chipotle Vinaigrette

Click'>http://www.chipotlefan.com/index.php?nutritionId=17:18:7:13:12:4:5:16:21:">Click Here to view

Don't know what all that really means, but it's fun to see things add up as you click items.

What it doesn't reflect is the "extra sour cream" I always get. Mmmmmmmmmm.........

Motivation & Marble

Clearly blogging makes me a better version of myself: apparently griping about my own inadequacies works as a call-to-action. (Oh, wait, only on occasion. See any references to 'excercising') After seeing in black-and-white text yesterday and realizing that "my lack of decision making with regard to the flooring was soon to become the bottleneck" (I believe those were my exact words... at least, that's what is blazoned in my mind) ... I actually did something about it.

In fact, not only did I MAKE a decision on the flooring, I already located and purchased the lovely carerra marble which will be picked up this weekend and installed starting next Wednesday. Whoo-hoo!

Meanwhile, the wood will be placed upstairs Monday so that it can 'acclimate' to the room for at least a week prior to them starting installation. Who knew?

For those always asking for pictures... here's a visual, albeit a not-very-good one (from my phone) Don't know why the center of this picture turned out reddish. Maybe that's a special feature of the camera. =) Anyway, it is a white & grey marble. ta-da!

In Living Color

Where have I been? Busy making the million-and-two decisions to finish out the bloody upstairs. =) My lack of decision making with regard to the floors has officially become the bottleneck. I have gone back and forth a dozen times between marble and porcelain hexagons so many times I can't count. Then with the hexagons: glazed or unglazed? White, light grey, dark grey or black grout? if black, then should there be a black & white design...so then not all white (or off white, TBD) but then i think: soccer ball. nope, not in this oasis of a bathroom. back to marble! but what if it's too slippery? and will the weight of the 4 points of pressure from the 300 lb clawfoot tub (+200 lbs with water in it) crack the marble? whoa- wouldn't i be pissed then and wishing i had gone with the 1 inch hexagons!

enough to make a girls' head spin

but we did finally land on a decision for the bedroom, after much concern - we ended up with an option that has never even been on my short list for the bedroom. [don't laugh:] we're going with 3 inch red oak hardwood floors. not the wide planks i thought for awhile, no sisal/seagrass carpet which might have better muffled footsteps heard from the downstairs. Yep, we are going with exactly what matches the original floors downstairs. Novel idea, eh? Don't know why I was originally so hell-bent on having a different floor up there. Oh, well.

Wood is waiting in the cabana and after three different bids, the floor guys start on Monday. Which means I'd better get my arse in gear over the tiles because ideally, the tiles should be done first because if they have to move the tub out of the bathroom, I don't want my precious tub or my brand new wood floors getting jacked.

And as of today: The upstairs has been painted! =) whoo-hooooooo. Silver Sage in the bathroom and Twine in the bedroom... at the last minute, I moved away from the slate grey color for the bedroom. The trim won't go up until after the floors are done (wainscoting, crown, etc) but they have primed and painted the first coat so it will just need touch up after being nailed into place and a final coat.

Bored out of your mind with construction-talk? Me too. Ready for a nap? Me too.

Sounds of Summer

Horrible recording, but kinda captures the essence of the sound of the secadas echoing in the trees. I absolutely LOVE hearing this sound- it is the unmistakable sign of summertime.

I stepped into the front yard and recorded this withy phone. Hope it posts.

'No' How

Last weekend I was delighted to have a precious old friend in town! And by 'old' I mean that we've been friends since age 8; this is not am admission of being old. Anyhow- Gilbert stayed with me and we had a fantastic time.

Since sister Sarah now lives in Oman, it isn't easy for her to swing by and say hello. As such, she hadn't had the chance to meet mademoiselle Madeleine so we proMptly fixed that.

While we were visiting the little curly haired monster, she of course looked up and asked me for "oh oh oh" (yes, I still shamelessly dole out beyonce songs and other iPhone entertainment on demand) so I regaled little miss with her favorite song and she effortlessly completed her repetoire of related tricks. Once interest was waining, I hit pause and got the predicted "uh-oh!!". But didn't restart it.

You see, it's about 50/50 that she'll insist it turn back on vs losing interest all together. Oh, she wanted to still hear it alright and I was bombarded with the sweet question: "oh oh oh". And again with expressive eyebrows and a little sadder: "oh oh oh..."?

So I say to Sarah, "i mean, really? How can I say no to that?". Thankfully, Madeleine quickly let me know by responding "oh oh oh, no-no. oh oh oh, no-no." and repeating it a dozen more times, waving her finger before laying her head down and giving up.

So apparently THAT is how you tell a 20-month old "no"

Sent from my iPhone

Big Day

The moment you've all been waiting for (well, not really, but just go along with me on this one). Today we got sheet rock upstairs and it finally looks like a 'real' room. You could walk around up there and not have to be told: "and this area is the bedroom..."

So for your viewing enjoyment... (because you asked and i'm not one to want to disappoint)... pictures!!

From entering (on the landing) you can see the balcony doors at the back of the bedroom and reflections from the pool glowing on the ceiling (that was a lovely surprise... one I didn't realize before today). A couple steps ahead of him, Mr Price is about to turn into the bathroom door:

From the far corner of the room looking back at the door/landing. The french doors to the right lead to Mr. Price's closet and to the far right of the picture, the door to the bathroom:

A better view looking into the bathroom, and past Mr. Price is the shower:

The shower in the center, to the left is the door to my closet and just out of view to the right of the shower is the door to the potty closet:

From inside my closet and looking out, you can see the two windows that are over the tub (which is currently draped in an old comforter and covered in sheet rock to protect my shiny new tub from dents, dings and other mishaps from construction) and the speaker wires dangling down from the ceiling. To the right, the protruding box is the backside of my linen closet, just to the right of my sink:

YAY.

It's as if it is no longer just an idea or concept... today made it feel real.

Yawn

...Before I bore myself off this blog... it's time to spruce it up.

and it's almost the SECOND half of the year. which means one thing: time for a new playlist! (woohoo). so there are a few songs i just couldn't get enough of so they'll show up again, but i tried to refresh it. The Asia songs: China & Japan references... gone. All the French songs... well, [almost] gone.

What's still around? Can't seem to get enough of Lauryn Hill beatboxin to the 70's remake, hopeful songs like Ohh La La and Wagon Wheel, the hottest song ever: Desire, sprinkled in with wake-me-up songs, close-your-eyes-and-pretend-it's-Friday-afternoon songs and some pull-the-shades-after-the-sun-went-down-and-slip-away songs.

Anyway, the playlist is my modern mix tape replacement; now that mix tapes are merely a relic of our memories, maybe found in a shoebox somewhere. Sorry you can't pop it in as you drive down the road, but go on and pretend there was a some block letters on the case dedicating it to you. =)