New Kitchen

We've lived in our current residence for over 28 years now. As we all know, over time styles change and things get old. So it is with our house. Ann has been wanting to upgrade the kitchen for a long time. Sure we've made some changes over the years. We've replaced the old drop down ceiling that had these 4 ft long fluorescent bulbs. We've replaced the flooring once before, but it was still linoleum. We've also have replaced the appliances once before. It should be said that Ann watches HGTV endlessly so it's no surprise the remodel bug hit her big time.

This is what our kitchen looked like before the remodel began. The kitchen is pretty empty as we had to empty everything out so the Contractor could begin the demolition.

After Day 1 our kitchen was pretty much gutted. All the cabinets were gone as were our appliances. The flooring was also torn up.

Day 2 saw the start of the cabinet installation. It was a slow process. Apparently our walls are no where close to square which required a lot of adjustment.

Meanwhile our garage became our storage area. It held the new and old cabinets as well as the new appliances.

Leading into our kitchen is the foyer area. We are going to retile that area along with the kitchen. Day 2 saw the start of the tile removal. I was surprised how easy it came up.

Done in almost no time.

Days 3 and 4 saw further progress on the cabinet installation. I was somewhat surprised they installed the new microwave early in Day 3.

By Friday the work on the cabinet installation was done. We're waiting on the counter tops now. They also took pity on us and put in our appliances so we had a somewhat functional kitchen for the weekend. We really needed the refrigerator. We still don't have a sink so we're really don't have a way to clean up if we tried cooking our own meals and we're not really into washing dishes in the tub, etc. Needless to say we've been eating out for all our meals.

We were also told on Day 5 (Friday) that due to the wonky outside wall, they needed to come remeasure for the counter tops. This time they brought this amazing looking measuring device.

He had it hooked up to a laptop and right after he finished measuring, he sent the measurements electronically to the factory in Maryland. All in all it was pretty cool.

We still have to pick out tile for the kitchen and foyer areas. We've tried. Oh we have tried, but our counter tops have this unique coloring and for whatever reason we can't hold the color in our heads long enough to pick out a tile. Not to mention we have no sense of style whatsoever. The counter tops are due to be installed on Thursday along with a new sink and by the end of the day we should have a fully functional kitchen once again. The plan going forward is to get a piece of the actual counter top and take it to the tile store with us. Hopefully that will allow the tile "design expert" to pick out a few styles/colors that will work and allow us to pick one.

I will say, this remodel has gone better then I expected. The crew has been super nice and have cleaned up everything after wrapping up every day. That's not to say there hasn't been noise and dust and chaos. There's been plenty, but its all been bearable. Even the dogs have pretty much gone with the flow. I figured they would be barking all day long, but again not so. They've just settled into our bedroom and chilled out. Even taking them out for walks, they've pretty much accepted the crew and not gone after them like the crazy maniacs they can be. But truly I'm ready for this all to be done.

Of This and That

Its been quite a while since I have posted anything. I'd like to say I've been so busy that I've just not had the time. Alas that would be a lie. It's more due to pure laziness. That being said, lets do some catch up. The most exciting news is that Daughter#1's husband has finally found a job in the Old Dominion State and has rejoined his bride after 9 months of being separated. He has given up his sales job to work in a rehabilitation clinic out in Warrenton. He eventually wants to work in Occupational Therapy. This job is a good foundation while he completes the educational requirements. Speaking of Daughter#1, she began a new job this past Monday working at Fairfax Hospital doing some sort of meeting planning work. So far she seems to like it. The added income doesn't hurt either. She has also been named the Head Coach for the Prince William Rowing Club's women program. She was the assistant coach last year and is looking forward to taking over the program and keeping the women as one of the top women Masters programs in the country. The Son is currently between jobs - again. He has a job offer but is waiting for the necessary security clearances to come through. It's for more money then his old job so he's excited about that, but the commute will be a little tougher. He doesn't do well with a lot of free time on his hands so we are all hoping that the necessary paperwork comes through quickly. No new news from Daughter#2 and her husband. They are still renovating the farm house they are living in and renting out their old house in Harrisonburg. She was really excited when they managed to finagle high speed Internet in their remote cableless location. She is also close to completing her masters degree with the University of Florida. I told her she had to go down to Gainesville to do the graduation walk. She has put in a lot of work in getting this degree and she should be able to take the bows for it. A vacation to Florida wouldn't hurt us either. Ann has sold and had closing on her Aunt's house in Cape Coral, FL. Ann inherited the house when her Aunt passed away in August. We toyed with the idea of keeping the house and using it for vacations and winter times especially with Ann and I approaching retirement In the end we decided that we wouldn't get that much use out of it and none of the kids were interested in using it for vacations either. The upside is it will make our retirement easier as it has allowed us to significantly reduce our debt load. As for me, it has been a tough winter. We haven't had much snow, but its been brutally cold for Virginia. I have also been inflicted with an upper respiratory infection. After getting over that, I broke one of my toes in January. Now again I seem to be fighting some sort of respiratory ailment. All to say that that combination has severely limited by off season conditioning to get ready for this year's rowing. I can get out on the water starting tomorrow (although the weather will be crap so I won't actually row, but I could!). My aerobic condition is sucky to say the least. I hope our spring is really nice to allow me to spend a lot of time rowing on my own to get me ready for the competitive season, which starts in early June. Looking forward to getting my first blisters of the season.

A Big Thanks

Holidailies has come to a close for the year (actually I thought today was the last day - instead it finished up on Wednesday). I started a few days late and trailed off a little at the end, but for the most part, I updated fairly regularly. It gave me what I needed most though and thats to start writing again so that was the definite upside. Thanks to Jette and Chip for hosting. Thanks also to you who stopped by for a read and a special thank you to those you left me a note. Comments are always appreciated.

I miss the holidays already even though my Christmas lights outside are still burning bright and our tree is still up. Both will come down this weekend. I find that a most depressing job.

Things to look forward to over the next few weeks:

• My alma mater Auburn plays for the BCS Championship on Monday night
• a couple trips to the west coast for business
• holidays and three day weekends
• hopefully a snow storm or two - just don't go overboard like last year
• a nice bonus from work
• good friends and a wonderful family

Oh No - Work

Today was my first day back in the office in about 2 1/2 weeks. Which is not to say I haven't been working. I have, but from home or at least on the days I wasn't off due to the holidays. Today it was back to the normal grind. My 80 mile commute and the 1 1/2 hours in the Vanpool. Oddly it wasn't that hard getting up at 3:30 this morning to get ready. Maybe it was the anticipation of heading back to work. I was even able to easily fall back into my routine of sleeping most of the way to the base. It was a busy day and I'm definitely behind. I got a lot done today, unfortunately it wasn't on the things that really needed working on. Tomorrow and Thursday are reserved for that. I've been assigned an intern to help train and groom to replace me if I choose to retire this year. She seems eager enough so thats good. I also had my end of year review today. It went well. No pay raise this year though as the President has frozen cost of living adjustments for all Federal workers. I'd like to say I'm bitter about it, but I'm not really. There are millions that are literally a lot worse off then I am. My wife and I both have jobs we enjoy and while the pay isn't the same as our private sector counterparts, the jobs still pay well enough. A 2.0% pay raise or lack thereof isn't going to break us as a family one way or another. After a 2 hour and fifteen minute commute home, I can tell I'm feeling the effects of the long day. I'm exhausted and all I want to do is go to bed, which I plan to do right after I post this.

In case I missed saying it, a Happy New Year and I wish everyone the best for 2011 . May happiness be in all your hearts throughout the year. Good night.

New Years Day = Football

If it's one thing New Years Day has always meant to me is college football. All day long. In the old days, a good part of the day might have been spent recovering from the night before. So parking myself in front of the TV was more a necessity then anything else. These days I'm a lot smarter not to mention older. The thought of going out partying on New Years eve has long lost its appeal. My stomach and head are much better off as a result. I was hoping to plop down in front of a fire and enjoy the games, but it actually was too warm here today to even consider having a fire going in the fireplace. So I settled for chips and dip with a turkey sandwich.

The first round of games turned out to be pretty uninteresting for the most part. Blowouts for the most part. I started off watching Michigan State vs Alabama. I was hoping to watch Alabama go down, which is always a treat for me. No such luck. I finished up the first round watching the Florida vs Penn State. At least it was a game for the most part. I was looking forward to the Rose Bowl to see how TCU would do. They didn't disappoint beating Wisconsin. It was a good game, but TCU and by extension other nonBCS teams, showed that they can play with the big boys. So good for them. Oh and the Big 10 Conference - 0 for 5 today. Me thinks that's a conference a tad overrated this year

As entertaining as the bowl games are, the fact that Div 1 football is the only NCAA sport without a Championship is a travesty. I think we will eventually have one, it's just a question of when. This whole BCS thing is just a crock.

Fender Bender

It's been relatively quiet since Christmas. That goes for home cooking too. We've barely have had any food in the house to cook. We've been going out a lot lately. Apparently so is everyone else. Last night we decided to go out for dinner and the first three places we went to all had 50 minutes to an hour wait. What? On a Thursday night? What is wrong with you people.

I did finalyl make it to the grocery store and frankly I wished I hadn't. I ran in and did my shopping. Came out and got in my van. Looked left and right and in my rear view mirror. All was clear or so I thought and started to back out - right into the side of a pick-up truck. Somehow the driver had managed to pull in behind me after I had checked right and left and the way she had pulled behind me when I checked my rear view mirror, the cab of the truck was out of my line of sight and the bed of her pickup was below my rear window level so I couldn't see it. She was quite upset and crying. It was her husband's truck and she said he didn't want her to take it to the store, Why she did then I have no idea. The damage to both vehicles was minor, but needs to be fixed. More so on her truck then my van. This is what the rear bumper on my van is suppose to look like:

This is what the damaged side now looks like. At first I wasn't going to have it repaired. It's more cosmetic damage then anything. After talking to my insurance company though, I've decided to get it repaired. Parking lots are such a pain in the ass.

A Follow Up and Things

In a follow up to yesterday's post, Maryland gave Coach Friedgen a proper send off by beating East Carolina 51-20. I was happy to see plenty of Maryland fans had brought along "Thanks Ralph" signs. I'm glad his team was able to send him out on a high note. The team has a lot of young talent. Ralph didn't leave the cupboard bare for the next coach. Things should be bright for next year if the new coach is any good at all. Maryland has said they want to name a new coach by January 4 - the official start of recruiting. Lets hope they stay on schedule.

Given the name of this blog you would think I would mention rowing every once in a while. Well it is winter and the temperatures have been below freezing for an unimaginable time for Virginia. For sure on water rowing is done until 1 April, weather permitting. So it's time for that all so popular winter conditioning. Like in most years past once our last race is over (1st weekend in November), I fall off the wagon during the rest of November and most of December only to try and drag myself back out of the fitness abyss. I have dug my erg out of Daughter#2's old bedroom put on a new handle and did my first 5,000 meter indoor row yesterday. It was painfully slow, but not unexpected given the long layoff. It's just about getting a bit faster and stronger with each workout. I'll be doing another 5,000 meter row tomorrow. If I manage anything close to respectability for my age, I will certainly post it here.

Today was also my last workday for the year. I'm off until Monday and low is the work backed up. That first week back is going to be pure hell. Retirement is sounding better all the time.