We're still alive here...

...just in case you were wondering.  Just a few days ago my doctor even assured me he expects us to stay that way.  I have not (intentionally) abandoned blogging; I even have a few partially written posts waiting.  2012 has just been a bit of a challenge so far. 

The overriding factor in life has been the plague we have been dealing with since New Year's.  Then there was the loss of our beloved 15 year old cat.  Intermixed with all of this, my house has seemed to be on a self destruct mission lately. 

First there was the washing machine.  That was followed closely by our heater.  We had the important parts of our central air and heat replaced a few months back.  It all seemed to be working hunky dory, until about a month ago, when every time it dipped towards freezing, the heat would kick out.  After numerous attempts, they finally got the problem traced out and fixed.  (All under warranty, YAY!)  It was a bit chilly around here for awhile though. 

On the upside, I have been doing a lot of reorganizing lately.  When my daughter moved into her own place last month, I was left with a whole new room at my disposal, plus a significant amount of extra space in various part of the house, as she took all of her belongings with her.  Her former bedroom/now the den is a fairly small room, but it has an entire wall of built-in shelves.  I have been having a ball loading them up with books that have been living in boxes and such.  I have also been rather inordinately excited about having a Whole! Extra! Closet!  I put a set of shelves in it and have been moving loads of things (primarily craft stuff) (and books) out of my way too full bedroom.  I was making so much progress!  (In between all the coughing, wheezing, and medicine taking)  I was starting to really whip things into shape and organize things in a muuuuch more efficient manner.  Oh happy day!

Then - cue dramatic music - Monday night, a week ago, we noticed a wet spot on the carpet in my bedroom.  A really wet spot.  Tracing it out, it was coming from my closet.  My very full, lots of stuff stored in there, closet.  My, oh crap, there are things stored in there in cardboard boxes!!! closet.  Oh yay, the dining room on the other side of the wall is wet too.  Oh the joys of living in an almost 50 year old house!  Our plumber has a website, so I went and filled out a service request, while my son pulled stuff out of the closet, turned fans on blowing at it, and started wet vaccing. 

To make a very long story a little less long, in tracing out the problem, they found multiple issues.  They got the major leak capped off, but we ended up having to have my bathroom shower torn out.  The tile people have done the tear down and replaced some wood and the plumbers will come back on Monday to do the rest of the plumbing repairs.  Then the tile people will come retile it.  Then some sheetrock will have to be replaced.  And painted.  The insurance guy came out and checked it all out and they are covering a significant amount of it, including replacing my carpet!  (Yay!!!)

I had felt like I was making so much progress on organization and that things were looking soooo much better around my house before all of this happened.  Now there are various boxes and strange things sitting all around the house that have been moved from my closet and bedroom.  Then there is the layer of construction dust.  Lovely.  When it is all over though, I will have new carpet and a refurbished shower, so there is a net win.

So, what have you been up to lately?

Wassup?

More wheezing, more coughing, more feeling like crap.  Doctor's visit, diagnosis of bronchiolitis.  More antibiotics, more steroids.  Beginning to wonder if this crud is ever going to end.  Seven weeks now.  Never heard of bronchiolitis, googled it.  Like bronchitis, but in the small tubes of the lungs, not just the big ones.  Something babies get.  Seriously?  (I had croup as a teenager too.)  My mother's comment when I said told her that, apparently I am a baby:  "Well, at least you get to whine a lot."  Oh, I got that down.

My Wonderful Valentine's Day!

My washing machine went down for the count awhile back.  I have a warranty on it, so I called repair service.  They set up an appointment, but couldn't get to it for almost 3 weeks.  Today, finally, was the day!  Happiness! Hearts!  Flowers!  I have my washer back!!!  I am washing clothes - in my own house!  Thank you Washer Repair Guy, I loooooooove you.

Goodbye Sweet BJ Kitty

BJ in 2006.

Today we said goodbye to our beautiful BJ.  He would have turned 15 next month.

BJ's mother was my sister Whozat's cat.  He, his sister, and two brothers were born on March 28, 1997, on Good Friday.  His sister and one of his brothers stayed with Whozat and Mama Cat.  BJ and his other brother, Joey, became our kitties. 
 

BJ and his litter mates, with their mama, in 1997.

Lo these many years later, there were only two of the little family left, Whozat's Ringeaux and BJ.  Last month Whozat got the bad news that Ringeaux had kidney disease and was failing fast.  He died on January 23th.  Almost simultaneously, we discovered that BJ was also suffering from kidney disease.  His blood work showed him to be in the very early stages though, so our vet thought we might have a little while longer with him, maybe even another year.  Sadly, it was not to be so.  His health declined rapidly and we said our final goodbyes today.  

Goodbye BJ; you were a sweet, sweet kitty.  We will miss you.

Adventures in Organizing: Pantry Edition

After my daughter moved out and took everything that was hers from the panty, I was left with lots of glorious room in there, so I took the opportunity to reorganize it.  Part of that was going through the whole thing and trashing anything that had expired.  We really need to be a bit more vigilent about rotating items.  As often we use cream of mushroom soup, on the bottom of the stack of cans, I found one that expired in 2010.  Oops.

Here is what I started with:


Before

Here is the new and improved version:


After

Me likey.

Any Way You Dice It

Google Related keeps popping up and offering me a tutorial on how to dice a carrot.  Apparently they do not approve of my pre-diced carrots.  :D 

FYI Google, I do know how to dice a carrot.  I just like my nifty little carrot cups.


{{{Carrot Cups}}}

P.S. Ha!  Now Google wants to teach me how to make homemade cream of mushroom soup.  Like that would happen!  :D

Big Day!

Today is a big day around our house.  My daughter will be moving out and into her first place.  She signed her lease a few days ago and today is moving day!

I'm excited for her; she has been wanting to get her own place for awhile.  I haven't seen it yet, but it sounds great.  She and a roommate will be sharing a 2 bedroom, 1-1/2 bath town home. This place is going to be much more convenient for her.  It's a lot closer to both her school and church  - and most of the other places she goes and things she does.

I'm also looking forward to a bit of reorganization around here, once she gets everything moved.  I have full plans to expand into the space she is vacating.  Her bedroom is going to become a den/office/craft room.  It's a small room, but one wall consists entirely of built-in shelves that I look forward to having at my disposal.  :)  And a whole extra closet...  ahhhhh...

I plan to take lots of pictures and keep you updated on the process, so stay tuned!