SquidRoad

It's a miracle we even shop at IKEA anymore

First, it was our kitchen cabinets. Three years ago, we go in to buy the other half our kitchen, only to find that collection has been discontinued. "Going in," by the way, was. All. The way. To DALLAS. By the time we finished the project, about 4 trips to Dallas. From Colorado.

Okay, so we made it an excuse to see family too. But I digress.

So now we're trying to get some patio furniture, and this is what I get from IKEA's lady-on-the-phone after learning a) I can't buy it online, and b) it's almost out of stock at the stores nearest to where we live.

LOTP: "Well, do you want to check another store--perhaps, one closer to you?"

Me: "Well, I live in IKEA-no-man's-land-Colorado. Utah or Texas are the closest IKEA locations to us."

LOTP: Nothing
(like she can't believe there's a HUGE HOLE in the middle of the country, the exact shape of an IKEA!)

Me: "We pretty much always have to make a trip for anything IKEA."

LOTP: Quiet...then: "Well, how about we check one of the four franchisee locations that can ship this to you? Would you like me to check inventory there?"

Me: (in my head, Is it me? Am I stupid? Or is she assuming I know what she's talking about?) "Oh. OK. I didn't know there was that option. Sure, let's check the other stores."

(on hold...)

LOTP: "Seattle seems to have plenty of inventory, as does Houston. Perhaps you'd like to call them directly, if I give you their numbers, so that they can ship to you?"

She gives me the numbers.

LOTP: "And IKEA-Centennial" (Denver) "should be opening in the next 2-3 years." (Like this will help me.)

Me: (chuckling) "Yeah, they keep telling us that."

LOTP: Silence, then: "Is there anything else I can help you with tonight?"

Uh, newwww. But thank you.

I love the letter "J"

Jesus.
Jehovah.
Janitors.
Co-workers.
Teammates.
List makers.
Get-it-done types.

I love Js. Where would the world be without them?

Today I'm especially thankful, because here I am w/my eyelids dropping on this post like there's no tomorrow. I can hardly type, even, because I'm so near REM w/my eyes wide open.

And still, my hubby and his friend Chris are working. I just wanted to do a little reading/studying before I went to bed, but they're still at it...and it's nearly 12:30am!

We thought we'd be farther along by the time Chris arrived Thursday AM, but alas, life got the best of us, and we're more thankful than ever that he is here now. Thing is, he's a finisher. Mikey and I--we're mostly starters. Mike is a much better finisher than but Chris, well, he's better than both of us put together! He doesn't stop till he can't go anymore. Us...we stop when we're tired.

Maybe Chris doesn't need sleep. Maybe he's superhuman! Tomorrow, I will check.

It'll be our little secret

horsetail (sssssshhhhhh)
Originally uploaded by amorcitos

I've got this thing about gardens now.

First, I've never in my life had a thing for gardens. But now that we've grown up to be homeowners and we have this blank slate to work from, I can't stop looking at water and bog plants.

Why water plants? you ask. If there's anything we lack in the lower elevations of Colorado, it's water. But water gardens/bogs are actually a resource-conserving way to a low-maintenance garden.

My idea is a simple garden w/some Asian influence (guess you can call it Zen-like), so rocks play a large part. We have to take the cheap route for now, because the Mexican Beach Pebble is a little pricey (that sounds Asian, doesn't it?). Probably a top layer of it is all we need.

Our house a long horizontal footprint, and its blond brick facade makes for a nice blank slate for a garden. I just am not a huge frilly-flower person, so it's gonna be simple and mostly green w/a few punches of color here and there.

The two windows at the near end will basically flank the targeted horsetail, a water "weed" that we fully understand can take over the neighborhood. But if managed well it can be a beautiful screen against an otherwise plain backdrop.

I'll post a pic soon of what this area looks like now. We recently added Egyptian papyrus, and it's taking off like crazy.

Suck it up. It's time to write

OK, it's been far too long since I've written here, so it's time to get back into the swing of things and express myself like there's no tomorrow.

Well, something like that.

Trouble is, most days haven't been a "good day" to start. And then tells you something re: how rusty I am at blogging. That's what it's all about--expressing yourself, good or bad. Just keep it consistent. If anyone gives a rip about what you write about, they'll follow. If not, well it makes a good diary in any case.

So we're nearing the end our kitchen project, and by "end" I mean we're within 8 weeks (I think...I hope...I pray) of having a kitchen we can cook in and move our food back into. Not sure we'll be able to sit in it till, oh, Christmas. Those things just take that long.

Here's the kitchen just 2 weekends ago. See that corner at the left end of the photo? That's going to be our seating area...a cozy little banquette where folks can come to hang out and eat, drink and...well, just hang. Ahhh...I can't wait.

And here's what it looks like now. Actually, it's a little better since most of the mudding is done. But we hope to have painted it all by the time we leave next week on vacation.

There will be more photos, oh yes. There will be more, probably on my Flickr stream...which I also need to update. Hmmmph.

S.N.O.W.: It's a four-letter word

I've been itching to write of late, but since again I have nothing nice to say, I haven't written anything at all. Until now.

Every Coloradan knows that even though snow is great for a good ride in the mountains, avalanches, chained tires and frostbite make crappy by-products of winter fun. I wonder how many people actually are in the mountains today skiing or snowboarding. Let me go check.

Um, nope. No one home. Then again, the lifts just opened at Vail (you can check the live cam yourself):

Ok, then there's Breckenridge...and the half-pipe on Peak 8. I think someone died here yesterday.

But you see what I mean? We just need a sense of hope that springtime will one day come. Yesterday was kind of that, except for the 6 inches of snow still in our yard. Today it's about 15F, or -11C. Brrrrrr.

If we're going to stay inside, we have plenty of work to do: work on the kitchen, work for work and some homework on stuff I'm thinking of studying.

There are only so many hours in Martin Luther King Day, but I'm a big girl. I think I can sort it out.

There's the rumba, and then there's the Roomba

Of course, I dig both.

But the little robot that scoots around (especially) wood floors and vacuums up all the dirt balls and dust? For the moment at least, that's my favorite.

MacGyver (aka Mikey) has been researching this little beast for about 2 yrs now, trying to get the best tool for the job at the best price. I think he did pretty well, considering this suits our needs well and given most of our flooring is wood.

In fact, dating back to my knee-rehab days last year, the bathroom is the only place where there's carpet on the upper level. So this little guy, left, can roam free, even running into carpet/rugs, and still do a great job. At least, greater than we would have done (avid housecleaners that we are).

And that frees us up to do other things like plant gardens, fix cars (oy!), build walls, etc. Oh, and do freelance jobs that overcommit us. (I'm a dork.)

The wandering stool

I don't know why this bugs me so much, but it does. And no, that's not a mushroom. More on that later.

I love Overstock.com, and because their service is typically excellent and inexpensive, it's not hard for me to pursue good deals from them. If it's something worthwhile, of course.

Since we're looking for versatile and fun seating, we thought buying two of these stools would give us flexibility for various dining space needs--one in our dining room, the other in our not-yet kitchen.

One stool arrived quickly--in less than a week. The other, however, is on a tour of the eastern seaboard. Every time I go online for a live chat with the Overstock folks, they don't acknowledge that this thing took a left turn when it should've gone right. They just say, "Wait it out, please, ma'am. It's coming to ya." Spent two days, in fact, in Keasbey, NJ, where their online chat staff must be from (is it the accent or the attitude that's the dead giveaway?).

Now the FedEx tracker says the delivery should take place tomorrow...all the way from Jersey. Right.

I married MacGyver

...and this is a problem.

Mikey is the King o' Projects, and there is no shortage of them at our house. I'm blessed by being married to a man who can fix anything and build just about anything. And so we are attracted to things that require work and building. Well...he is, anyway.

(At left: Is that an uber-gadget or Juicy Juice box on the belt loop?)

To wit: our car lot (two more not shown; btw, none of them is for sale)

And then there's our house stuff. (Photo coming...I think. It's waaaay past my bedtime.)

Suffice it to say that, is a lot of work to do...and only one Mr. Fix-it! Maybe I could be the female clone? Maybe one day, when I'm big, I can be worthy of the title...Mrs. MacGyver.

It's Friday and I don't know what to do

I think I'm numb.

After sitting for 3 days straight in the same room with the same group  (very nice group mind you) of people cranking out job descriptions for our organization's restructure, my brain is just plain numb. It's time to hit the pillow, but I've got a log in the fireplace and don't want the house to burn down just because I fell asleep. There would be major Mikey trouble.

All jetlagged and no place to come from

I'm jetlagged..again. Thing is, I haven't gone anywhere.

Well, since July anyway. I mean, I tried to go to bed about 2 hrs ago. Guess I shouldn't have fallen asleep at 8:30 last night. Oy.

At least it's the weekend. But it's the wrong weekend--the only weekend I have left to shop for Christmas! And believe me, I have gotten ZEE-ROH shopping done. Zilch. Nada. Rien. None. Well, ok--one thing for MIkey. We're going low-key for Christmas this year (thank God), since we bought the house and all. That's the best gift we've ever given or gotten!

So sleep still needs to happen between now and 10am Sat. Hope it does...But my brain's racing. I'd really like it to doze off now. Might mean a visit to the cereal bowl.