The Sandwich Life

Not Bad....Just Off-kilter.....

I was kind of out of sorts this weekend....for some reason I just felt off kilter.  I don't know why.  Lots of little things I guess.  Saturday was going fine until both boys managed to hurt my feelings.  Owen told me my teeth were yellow.  I know, I know...go ahead and laugh.  But even knowing that I was not blessed with the best of teeth (I shouldn't write this now everyone will start looking at my teeth) it hurt my feelings.  Then Leo was cross with me and for whatever reason they threw me into a funk.  A neighbor and friend is moving and the whole situation has me tasting a mixture of sadness, frustration and anger in my mouth.  And I can't find bi-fold doors that I like.  I hate bi-fold doors.  I'm trying to get over it....kind of like with snakes.  Although I'm not SCARED of bi-fold doors.  Eh, I don't know.  I woke up yesterday sleepy and couldn't get over it.  Puttered and did some stuff and then laid down on the couch to read a book I'm in the midst of....only to wake up a few hours later....just in time to figure out what to wear to a dinner we had to go to last night.  Bleh...although the dinner was nice.

I mean all is fine.  The boys apologized sweetly (Owen pointed out that his day was being ruined to because Dad was mad at him.  I pointed out that this wasn't about him.  He thought a bit and agreed) and Leo gave me hugs and kisses without being asked....and they both did some extra yardwork...ha! I can't do anything about my friend's situation and bi-fold doors....well...sigh....I just don't know.  Any bi-fold door solutions/suggestions/alternatives out there?

Here is Leo getting ready for the ceremonial first shower of the bathroom.  You can imagine how pleased he was about me taking pictures.

Here is Owen standing up for his brother and saying, "Can't Leo just take a shower in peace?"

Here are my mother's 19th c yelloware bowls that I am using to hold our detergent etc.  I showed them delightedly to the boys and they just blinked at me.  Ernie took pity on me and said, "come on guys....look how happy she is" so they politely said it looked good.  And yes I still need something on the window so the gutter on the garage isn't staring in at us.

It's Monday and I have to work through Saturday...BUT I get to have lunch with one of my favorite people today.  So onward I guess....onward.

 

 

 

The BATHROOM and Our Beloved Todd Benting

The bathroom is pretty much done.  We're still waiting for the tin ceiling on backorder and we're switching out the closet doors....but basically....it's pretty much done.....and might I say....UTTERLY GORGEOUS!!!

The last step was getting the washer and dryer installed.  I don't think it went quite as smoothly as Todd had hoped and as he was battling with it and Friday evening was coming on I stopped to say, "you know Todd...it's fine if this doesn't get done today."  He looked up at me and said, "Oh...IT'S getting done today."  I believe it had become personal....

We stood and admired it once he'd finished up....and even got Todd to partake of a cheap beer....  Look at my gorgeous guys:

I love it SO much....and Todd as well.  The funny thing is that usually if we have someone doing some work in our house I never relax and always feel like I should look as though I'm doing something productive and maybe even the house should be clean....  Somehow with Todd it was no time before I was leaving my bras on the floor everywhere as I am wont to do and lying on the couch commenting on how incredibly comfortable it was as I lay there while poor Todd just ignored the disaster, chatted to the boys and kept on working.  If anyone needs a recommendation for a WONDERFUL (and charming and affordable) contractor near C-U just let me know.  But don't keep him TOO busy....we might need him back....

 

Tired Eyes and Mood Rings of Color

Yesterday was just one of those days.  Minor irritations piling on minor irritations...work, trying to leave work, evening...  They WERE minor irritations however so I can't really complain.....but GEESH.  Today started with frantic searching for items that Leo could take with him for his speech class since we realized the printer was out of ink after I got up 20 minutes late.

However....  Everyone seems to be healthy, it is Thursday and I am going to see Justin Townes Earle tonight.

YES.

Last night I got home feeling frazzled.  My eyes were watery from allergies and tired from being on the computer all day.  I greeted the boys, said hello to Leo's friend who was hanging out with him.  I wandered into the bathroom to admire it and stood there kind of lost in end of the day tiredness.  Ernie walked into the bathroom and stood in the little nook where the stacked washer and dryer are going.  He looked at me seriously and then he started pivoting and making washer sounds.  I laughed and laughed.  I love him so.

He said he'd get me a glass of wine so I wandered outside and sat in the yard.  He came out, we talked a minute and then he said, "come see something."  I obediently followed and as we went upstairs I got excited because I knew he'd said he was going to get the bedroom ready to be painted.  I walked in and he'd ALREADY PAINTED IT!  I was so overwhelmed with happiness!

And Peggy Matusiak Johnson...you were right!  Silver Fox by Benjamin Moore.  It's like a mood ring of a color....kind of changes with the light and the colors by it....from grey to green to taupe back to grey.....it's LOVELY.

Just a Couple of Random Notes....

Ohhhh...the weeds, the weeds, the weeds.....  We've been making gardening/yard plans.  We need to buy a boatload of topsoil and compost....and we're planning to tear up some of the patio we don't use and put 4 small raised beds in there....that's where the tomatoes and peppers will go....lots of sun.

Some of our strawberries already have teeny, tiny little baby strawberries on them!

And on an inside note....our bathroom is looking great!!!

Dark Grout, White Grout?

o.k....it's time....here's my tile without grout....dark grout to preserve the geometrical lines?  Or white grout?  I need to know ASAP!

Random Pictures from the Sandwich Life

 

the latest version of the GERKING wall!

gravel being delivered for the greenhouse at Sola Gratia Farm

Bob showing me stacks of seed for Sola Gratia!

I love seeing the bright green of the new Carle building under construction....I kinda wish they'd keep it....

sunlight on pine needles by Bob's church

I can't wait til my bathroom is done but I'm going to miss Todd.....

 

A New Old Door

We trundled off to PACA this morning to see if we could find a new old door for our  bathroom.  The doors on our bathroom and media room are both newer doors and while they're not horrible I don't particularly care for them.  So since our bathroom is in the works we decided to see if we could get one similar to all the original doors in our house.

We found one the right size, right style but the finish was much, much darker so we passed.  We did find one that is in great shape for our media room however.  I picked out some pretty Bennington doorknobs and the brass plates and lock mechanism..  The door was $20 and with all the hardware the whole thing came to $40.  What kind of quality would get trying to buy something new for $40?  I am SO happy. 

Of course when we came home with it Owen was put out.  But I LOVE our door he protested.....  Leo, on the other hand, was quite enthusiastic.  You just never know.....

Our bathroom is coming along.  Our beloved Todd is working away----yesterday he replicated the window trim throughout the rest of the house for the window in there----very exciting!

Random Notes from the Week of Sleep

1.  Well, if you ask me what I did over break I guess I will say, "I slept and I slept and I slept...."  I managed to come down with whatever Leo had over Christmas.  Nothing horrific...just headaches and fever and aches....and sleepiness.  I missed a dinner with friends that I had been looking forward to but other than that it just knocked me out at a time when I had the free time to be knocked out so I can't really complain.  I had weird, weird dreams.....I feel as though my mind was kind of emptied of everyday worries and it was interesting what ended up popping up in my dreams.  Some unnverving things but it made me think about what I've pushed aside.  Hmmm.

2.  Our contractor has started working on our downstairs bathroom.  YAY!  So although I have not been at all productive this week I've been able to at least WATCh somebody else being productive.  We are WAY excited.  To have a washer and dryer again....sigh.....and not have to run upstairs to the bathroom upstairs that I dislike.  We are indeed spoiled but I can't wait for this to be finished.  I've been dreaming about paint colors.  I had been thinking chartreuse as per my beloved Sasha.  Oh, a funny aside:  one day I asked for suggestions for paint colors here on the blog---and I also posted a Clash video.  One of the responses was from Mel and she commented on the Clash video and then said, "definitely something yellow in the bathroom."  And I just sat there reading it over and over thinking, "what does she MEAN 'something yellow in the bathroom?"  I thought it was some phrase I didn't know.  I went so far as to google "something yellow in the bathroom" and of course came up with nothing helpful.  FINALLY I realized she was talking about our bathroom paint colors instead of using some unknown idiom to describe the Clash.....

However yesterday I sat down some of the various paint/room viewers and decided against the chartreuse, as much as I like the color.  I find myself drawn to quieter blue grays...  Something to happily obsess about....

3.  I love the sunny side up egg snowflakes on Merry Ann's diner!

4.  One of my best dicoveries of the holiday season: chocolate covered beer nuts!  I will admit that I discovered that at Boltini.  I tracked them down at GFS and Good GOD they are good!

5.  And last but not least....a couple of pictures from an afternoon drive a day or two before Christmas....

Happy New Year all!

Stomachs, Owen, and the Mark Gerking Tribute Wall

It's been an odd day.  I woke up around 6:00 this morning convinced I had the stomach flu---with all the unpleasantness that goes along with that.  As well as being miserable I was panicking thinking that if I get this now and the family drops one by one then what shape will we be in by Friday?  After several hours of misery and some weird drugged-feeling/weird-dreams sleep I am feeling cautiously optimistic.  Later in the morning Ernie was also feeling pretty sick so now I'm wondering whether it was something we ate although we can't come up with what it might be.  So for now I have attempted some toast and although my stomach feels beat up I think we (my stomach and I, that is) are doing better.

Whew.

It has been utterly wonderful to hear all the responses to my post about Owen getting called a 'fag' for singing along to a song.  Thought provoking and helpful----so thank you all!  I'm not inclined to get involved at this point.  I don't know the family whatsoever---never met them----and I don't expect Owen to have further interaction with this kid's brother.  If he does, and it continued, then Owen and Ernie and I would have to talk about how to handle it.  Owen's friend, whose party it was, did apologize to Owen, although the brother did not.  As much as it made me livid that someone cruely, however ineptly, made fun of him, I feel that Owen, at this point, has to deal with it on his own.  As I said, if it were an ongoing issue we'd react differently, or if the kids involved were younger, but I think Owen has to figure out how to put up with assholes as, well....they're out there, huh?  We'll talk about it some more with him but he had some wise things to say yesterday about believing in yourself and ignoring what others think.  That will always be a challenge for him as he does get his feelings hurt terribly easily, but then again, that is what makes him so sensitive to others so it's a good thing as well.  Of course then there are the times when he's a manipulative little tyrant but hopefully it all balances out.  My theory is that things balance out in life....I'm still looking for absolute proof however!

Now....BACK to the post already in progress:

We are all quite delighted with how comfortable our 'new' media room is.  We've had various combinations of furniture crowded in there....the last was a truly uncomfortable couch (which I always hoped meant it would last a long time but not the case...although we're hard on furniture to be fair) and an armchair plus assorted shelves, tv and turntables.

We've now moved the turntables up to what is destined to become the 'music room.'  One shelf got cut down and turned into a tv/game shelf and an end table as well.  The new couch is WONDERFUL.  It feels incredibly comfortable for all of us at once, cozy as well as spacious, oddly enough. 

We've also begun the Mark Gerking Tribute Wall.  We were going to call it the Mark Gerking Memorial Wall but given that he's alive we switched it to Tribute Wall.  Next time you're at our house Mark we will be asking you so sign the wall, o.k?  Just two posters up so far, still need a frame for the Tommy Womack and the Rod and Amanda posters, and I'm hoping the very busy Mark will be able to squeeze a Fats Kaplin/Kristi Rose Christmas poster in (see what you've started Mark?  And you've only yourself to blame lol).  Then next year we have Eric Brace/Peter Cooper, Audrey Auld and then of course next summer we have CynthiaFest which will celebrate a major birthday (ahem) of mine.  Music still to be determined......

We even have room for some of our 19th century glass on top of the shelves and Judi's urn with the Obama sticker on it.  An old toolbox of Ernie's dad for the coffee table.  Of course it's already covered with Lego...

 

Random Notes from a Sandwich Life Weekend

1.  A fast weekend.  I worked all day Saturday and between that and still not feeling good from whatever bug I had I was utterly exhausted that night.  We had tickets for Elizabeth Cook but didn't go.  Usually if I do that I am mad at myself the next day but not this time.  Ernie picked me up from work and I curled up on our new couch for the evening, annoucing periodically, "oh good Lord I am tired."  We ate leftovers and the boys played with Lego while Ernie and I watched a corny two star movie and enjoyed it thoroughly.  We were in exactly the right mood.  It was an utterly lovely and comforting evening.

2.  So I completely missed the Folk and Roots festival.  Oh well.  On Sunday we attempted to figure out how to get all our shelves back in the media room with the new couch.  Eventually I had Ernie sawing an Ikea shelf into pieces which was rather satisfying.  And I watched fearfully as he attempted to move the tv, dvd player, cable box, playstation and wii all into their new home.  Amazingly enough...everything worked!!! CONGRATS Ernie!

3.  We do have to get rid of the coffeetable looking thing that we were using.  It's just too wide with our new configuration.  Does anybody want it?  It's from Ikea, it's grey, has black glass (?) sliding doors on both sides.  We had four or five various electronic items in there and it's not bad looking.  It has some wear but is fine.  It's in our garage and up for grabs.  I think the top is about 24 x 38ish inches.  If you need more info let me know.  Free to a good home:

4.  Owen had a great time at his party and we marveled at how QUIET the house is without him.  He came home and talked nonstop until he literally collapsed mid sentence into sleep.

5.  Here are some pictures of the gingko trees for Annette, although it doesn't really do them justice.

6.  Oh, and I must say I made a delightfully simple dinner last night.  I made a batch of sesame noodles (1/3 cup each soy sauce, sesame oil and honey, with a teaspoon of red pepper flakes, to a pound of pasta) and then tossed some gorgeous fall broccoli and some boneless country style pork ribs in a roasting pan.  Roasted them at 450 for about 20 minutes, then drizzled the pork with a bit of soy sauce and a tiny bit of honey....roasted them five more minutes and that was it.  A nice totally simple fall dish....and the leftover noodles are great and last forever.

 

7.  The last greens of fall....red Russian kale, lacinato kale and parsley....won't be around too much longer I suppose....

8.  When I muttered to Ernie about the number of cds he has in our media room he actually tried to convince me it was good he had so many because they act as insulation in our drafty old house.  Yeah.  Insulation.