EXERCISE

Why is it so hard to take the time to exercise? I have a really nice treadmill on the porch and the porch can be heated in the winter and air conditioned in the summer. It's not like we normally do that much after supper each night. I think it's because we always come upstairs after supper each night and become "couch potatoes." I had an easier time a few years back when handyman was working in Glasgow and no one was home when I got off from work. I would come home and change clothes and go straight to the park and walk. Tonight I did convince myself to walk a mile. I watched NCIS while walking. It wasn't that bad. So why do I have such a hard time? Well, I'm going to try again to start walking --- wish me luck (I'm going to need it).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATE

It's hard to believe that 4 years ago today we became grandparents. Kate has filled our lives with so much joy and laughter. I had heard so many friends gush over their grandchildren and I just didn't have a clue what all the excitment was over. Now I know. As much as I have loved my girls, having grandchildren has touched me in ways that I never could have imagined. I only wish they were closer so I could spend more time with these amazing kids. Hopefully one day we'll get to spend birthdays together. But for now, hope you've had a great birthday Kate. We love you.

CAMPFIRE

We decided we'd better get one last camping trip in before we ran out of time. The next two Friday nights, Handyman Husband will be keeping the clock and scoreboard for the local high school team. By then most of the parks around here will be closing for the winter. Also, we'll be on stand-by for our trip to Kansas when our 3rd grandchild arrives. The weather wasn't great -- gray and cloudy a lot of the time -- a little rain at other times. Handyman built this fire on Saturday evening. It hadn't been going too long when we had a nice shower, but the fire had built up enough that it didn't go out. Then we had another shower a little later, but we stayed out by the fire and under the awning until about 9:30. It was really enjoyable. I wished that I had gotten some hotdogs ---they would have tasted really good. I'm already looking forward to next year when we can buy a National Parks pass and camp for half price!!

FINISHING TOUCHES

While Handyman Husband is still trying to finish the final plumbing connections for the powder room I've been trying to finish up the accessorizing. I'm about finished. I found the perfect towels and trash can at Tuesday Morning last week. I had been agonizing over storage in the powder room. I was at WalMart on Saturday and saw a nice cabinet that would work just fine. It was only $42 and I decided that I had spent way too much time trying to find that "perfect" cabinet. It was a little hard to get a good picture of it because the room is so small. I also bought the towel bar and toilet paper holder while I was there. Who is really going to pay that much attention to them anyway? In keeping with my seashell theme, I have ordered a wreath to go over the towel bar that's over the toilet. I can't wait until it gets here and we'll be finished!!

FIXTURES HAVE BEEN SET!!!

We're getting close. The fixtures were all bolted into place today. The water and sewer lines aren't connected yet, so we can't use it, but it won't be long now. I've been looking at either a shelf or cabinet to go over the toilet OR a floor cabinet to go across from the sink. We don't need much storage, just a place for clean towels and t.p. I've about worn my internet browser out looking online. I ordered a couple of prints that we'll have to frame. They'll go on the wall opposite the sink. I'm also looking at a wreath with sea grass and shells,. but it depends on the storage that we end up getting whether this will go or not. We are definately in the "home stretch" on this remodeling project!!

TILE IS DOWN

The tile floor is down! Handyman finished laying the tile in the powder room today. I think laying it on the diagonal made it a little more complicated, but he did a great job with it. Tomorrow he will grout it. It will be another day on his knees.

OUR WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

It hardly seems possible that it’s been 37 years since I married the love of my life. Then other times, I can hardly remember when we weren’t together. We met when I was 19 and he was 23. I was a sophomore in college and he had returned from Vietnam and was working at the local Fiat dealership. Our first date was to a Carpenter’s concert at Western Kentucky University. I fell madly in love with this person. After a few weeks I went to spend the weekend with my parents in Murfreesboro, TN. On Saturday afternoon I made a quick trip to the grocery for my mother. On returning, as I drove down the street, I saw this little red convertible in the driveway. I thought it was a friend of my brother, who had a similar car. What a surprise when I walked into the living room and found my handyman sitting there talking with my parents. Plans were for me to move back to my parents for the summer, but I couldn’t stand to leave him. My roommate and I moved out of the dorm into a mobile home and got jobs as waitresses at one of the nicer restaurants in town. I worked mornings (breakfast & lunch) and she worked evenings and nights (dinner). We didn’t see much of each other except for our one day off a week. Most evenings, handyman would come over after work and we would watch TV (the fellow who lived next door had an extra one and loaned it to us for the summer). It must have been around the first of July that Handyman went on a camping trip with some of the guys who lived next door to us. About the time he left I got sick. He called (long distance-this was before cell phones) to check in with me and when he found out I was sick, he cut his trip short and came back early. He knew I wanted to be with my mother, so he drove the 100 miles to get me there. I think this is when I really knew that I wanted to spend my life with him. Toward the end of July, handyman came in one night and asked me if I wanted to marry him ---- on September 9th (just 6 weeks away)! Of course, I said “yes!” We called my parents and told them the news and that we were just going to have a simple ceremony but wanted them to attend. An hour later my mother called back. She said that she knew I had always wanted a church wedding and that’s what I was going to have. It was a mad dash to get everything together in six weeks for a church wedding. Since my parents lived out of state most of the arrangements were left to me. My mother did request that we pick out my dress together (I know she was afraid that I would pick out something AWFUL). I went ahead and “window” shopped for a dress and found one that I just loved. My mother came up that weekend and she was surprised that she liked it as well. I ordered printed invitations, napkins, and the wedding cake. I picked out the tuxedos (I never did like bow ties, so I found a tux that came with a regular tie.), made arrangements with the church, organist and photographer, and bought my trousseau. We were married on a beautiful fall day in the church I had joined when I was in middle school. It was in this church that we raised our daughters and where our oldest daughter married her husband before the same altar where we were wed. We vowed to be together “Till death do us part.” I pray that we still have a long life ahead of us to enjoy our family ---daughters, son-in-law(s), grandchildren and hopefully, one day great grandchildren. We have been blessed!
Happy Anniversary to my Handyman!

PROGRESS ON THE POWDER ROOM

Handyman has been plugging right along on the powder room. Of course, to me, it seems like it's taking forever. I guess he has to pace himself on this project because we don't have another in the wings when this one is finished. The plumbing is roughed in and most of the wiring is done. Both of the existing doors have been turned around so they open into the powder room. The wallboard has all been finished except for just a couple of places that need patching. The ceiling in the closet was textured but the ceiling in the old laundry room was smooth so he had to work on getting those to match. The bead board has been put up and painted. The light fixture has been installed. Next on the list is to put the trim above the beadboard, on the corners and the baseboard. We picked out the tile last weekend so installing it comes next. Then he'll get to install the sink and toilet and connect all of the plumbing. We have a white framed mirror to go over the sink and I had ordered a 3" wide shelf from Pottery Barn to go over the sink and under the mirror. It arrived yesterday. It's an off white, so it will be painted before it's installed. I ordered a cabinet to hang over the toilet from Overstock.Com but today I got an "I'm sorry" email. Their inventory was wrong and they didn't have any more. So now I have to go looking again and I guess while I'm shopping I'll go looking at linens and see if I can find towels to match the paint. Hopefully in a week or so it'll be complete and then I can start the task of cleaning all of the dust from our house. All of the upholstery needs to be vacuumed and everything else needs to be dusted.