Party Rock

Well, we never ended up tearing up the carpet. Maybe we’ll leave it on until the drywall is installed in dad’s old workroom.

A good time was had by all, even though there were two significant injuries. Doug and Marty were horsing around and Doug’s head met our brick steps. I’m surprised that he didn’t break the bricks! He could’ve used some stitches, but he said he’d be fine without them. The second injury was to Beth, who slipped with the oyster knife and stabbed herself in the hand. Fortunately first aid supplies were close at hand after Doug’s injury, so we got her patched up without too much trouble. The cat knocked over our dessert & Arnold Palmer table, which made a huge mess… and the cops cruised by after one of our guests decided to set off some fireworks late in the night. They stayed around the corner for a few hours to make sure it didn’t happen again.

We’re still trying to count the number of people that came, but I think it was around 45. Definitely a huge crowd.

I wish that I’d had time to take more photos, but I was too busy running around. It took me 4 hours before I was able to eat and grab a drink… then it still took me another 2 hours to eat my plate of food and finish my drink. Hopefully I lost some weight with all of my running around and lack of food!

Here is the night in photos (and a texting fail)

Farewell Blackberry and weekend activities

I've had my Blackberry for close to three years. I've used and abused it and it is now held together by tape.

Lately I've had to reset it multiple times a day. I get no reception at work and my calls constantly cut out.

I've been drooling over the iphone 4S that my friends and family own, but I decided I'd wait for the iphone 5 to be released before I pulled the trigger and made the switch. I couldn't warrant paying $200 for a phone, but I decided that $100 was reasonable. The iphone 5 is an impressive piece of technology, but it's not worth the extra $100 to me. I'll just be happy to not have to carry a separate ipod with me to listen to my music and audiobooks. I've left my ipod at work a few times and haven't been able to listen to my music/audiobooks, but I don't foresee that happening with an iphone.

All of that said, yesterday I ordered the 4S. I love having a keyboard, so we'll see how I do with a touchscreen. Here's hoping for an easy adjustment. The cool thing is that the website said that the 4S wouldn't ship out for 3-5 business days, but I got a notification yesterday saying that it shipped. It should be here Monday!

So farewell, Blackberry. This will be our last weekend together. I suppose that I can take you with me tubing tomorrow, since I'll have Siri arriving on Monday. I have to admit that I'm a little bit tempted to drop you in the water and go off the grid for a few days. 

So as I mentioned, tomorrow I'll be Tubing on the Choptank. Then I'll be heading directly (late) to my arts council retreat. After that, I'll be attending the Denton VFC crab feast. Crazy busy weekend... not to mention that the Alpaca Festival is also happening this weekend, which I'm hoping to find some time to check out. 

Next weekend is more of the same, but it should be a little more relaxed. Black Anchor is doing their annual March of Dimes fundraiser, so I'll be getting the (Carl Sagan) quote around my tattoo - "We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it is forever." Then we'll be attending Harry's goes to the dogs - a wine tasting for the Humane Society.

I have more to post about the house... we are on the home stretch. We rented another dumpster and are finishing the clean-out of my dad's workroom. We should be getting drywall up in there soon. The kitchen is pretty much done, Jay surprised me by putting up slate around the chimney. Our friend Jared had slate leftover from one of his jobs, so he came over last weekend and they worked on that, as well as beginning the workroom clean-out. 

Coming soon!

There will be many updates coming soon... things are really coming along in the kitchen, so I've been a cooking fool lately. I'm planning to post a quiche recipe as well as an incredibly simple recipe for biscuits and sausage gravy.

The kitchen is looking fantastic with the new countertops. I think that we did an incredible job considering that we were working with second-hand cabinets and sink. We're in the process of deciding what to do with the old chimney that's been covered with drywall (although it's unfinished drywall). Leaning towards tiling the chimney with a smaller tile or even glass mosaic.

For now, here are some photos from the past few weeks

I can't get this photo to post correctly and it's driving me nuts!

Look for more photos and updates soon. :)

Our kitchen is coming along!

We are getting close on the kitchen. The hand-me-down cabinets from Airslie have been installed, and things look a bit hodge-podge at the moment. We had to install the cabinets wherever they fit, since they were originally in someone else's kitchen. There are two different cabinet variations, but I think it will end up looking okay, as they are a pretty close color match. As time goes on, we may refinish the doors and cabinet fronts for a more uniform look.

Originally, we planned to use tile over plywood for our countertops. We debated the merits of using smaller tiles (mosaic to 4") or using 12" square tiles. Then we considered butcher block countertops... we have a friend who has a great connection in Baltimore for inexpensive butcher block. Then Jay talked to one of his DCFD buddies. It turns out that said friend used to install laminate countertops, and that it is quite simple. This new stuff ain't your grandma's laminate. Gone are the old blah plasticky countertops with sparkles and weirdness on them.

I give you Formica's Golden Mascarello!

Once you touch it, I'm certain you're going to know that it's plastic. However, it's durable, stain-resistant, looks great and best of all it is CHEAP! Golden Mascarello is the color that we ordered.

We estimate that we'll spend about $400 on the countertops including all of the materials we need. I'm not sure how many square feet that will end up being, but I know that it is far less per square foot than granite would cost! One day we will have a dream kitchen with granite countertops and cabinets designed specifically for our kitchen. For now, I will be thrilled to have a functioning kitchen! I don't need a designer kitchen to bake bread or make other delicious creations.

Hopefully all will go well with the installation and we will have a finished kitchen by next week.

After that, it's on to cleaning out my dad's old workroom, then getting the drywall up in there and get that room completed with flooring and whatnot. I placed an ad on Craigslist in hopes that someone would come clean it out for me, but haven't had any takers yet.

Of course there are lots of other projects that need to be completed, but there is light at the end of the tunnel.