Slow and Productive Sunday

B and L

After good sleep I woke at 8:30 to a grey morning. I was ready for coffee on the front porch and a lazy start to the day. With the whirlwind of the past week it was nice to have a slow go. I did puzzles fairly quickly today and enjoyed the cuppa. Kev removed a few large spider webs (the spiders have been extra nuts this year) and I got clothes in the washer. I tried the Alpine Woods scent in my Mozi Wash sample pack, and it is SO good. There honestly hasn't been any that I've disliked so finding just one to buy larger will be tough. I made eggs and sourdough English muffins for breakfast. I heated a lone sausage that was left in the fridge and ended up taking a bite and giving the other bits to Kev. I think I'm over sausage. When clothes were done I washed sheets. The rain cranked up for a while so I vacuumed and cleaned out the cat bathroom. We are trying a new brand of litter that has almost no dust and today we mixed half a bag with half of their current litter to begin getting them used to it. Fingers crossed for a smooth transition. This will make a giant difference in my quality of life! 😂 Lunch was a turkey sandwich with Dots pretzels around 1:30.

PCC

The remainder of the afternoon zipped past. The litter room took quite some time as there was dumping the litter out of the giant box and completely cleaning it good, and drying it. I watered plants and then shelves were hung in our bathroom and in the guest bath upstairs. I love them so much and am giddy when I see them. I made the bed with fresh sheets and then we went out for a bit, first dropping the compost at the compost station and then heading down the hill to Whole Foods for an Amazon return. We got home around 4:30 and I started dinner, the pork chop casserole (I'm calloing it PCC) . It was done around 6:45 and we ate while watching an episode of the new season of Slow Horses. And it started out strong. We shared dark chocolate for dessert and I worked on the couch until around 9:30. Bed was around 10:30PM.  

An Old Favorite

Bagel and Bacon

After a good night's sleep I woke to rain this morning. I got up a little before 8 and got dressed. We sipped cuppas in the reading room, a preview of what's coming as the weather begins to cool down. I got bacon in the oven and made some onion cream cheese to put on bagels. Lis introduced me to this brand so I picked up Everything flavor. They were delicious with bacon, a throwback to my New Orleans days when I'd get a bagel with onion cream cheese and bacon almost every morning before work at the Aquarium. I did puzzles and it was 10ish when we left the house to go to Rent-a-Center where we reserved Dad's chair for his visit at end of month. It was a rainy drive but it was nice to be out in it. We filled up Sterling on the way back home, making it in and getting back to putting the house in order. 

Parm Thighs for Dinner

Plants went out of the house, on to the back upper deck, which seemed ok. It got stained first  on Thursday. They just needed to get some light, and some rain, and be out of this house. 😂 We moved on to hanging things. I had to finish in my office, we moved guest bedroom furniture back into place and hung art in there, hung art in bathrooms, in our bedroom, in the stairwell, and really just everywhere. I had to sweep, dust and vacuum and, at 5PM, I started dinner. Parm thighs and steamed broccoli. After dishes were cleaned up we walked to get mail and I spent the remainder of the evening finishing up the dusting of furniture. There was sheetrock dust on everything after the painters left. And they were clean for workers. I ordered some new sheets before going to bed and can't wait to try out the mix and match patterns. 

Post Painting

Afternoon Eats

Thurs Oct 1

I haven't felt so scattered as I do in full construction zone. 😂 I got up at 7 to give the kitties some time to eat, and us to sip some coffee and puzzle before the painter arrived to finish up our bathroom. It was the straggler but fortunately it wasn't much left. Our contractor arrived with his crew at the same time, 8AM, to get started on round two of deck staining. So not only was the house taken apart, but now the entire outside had to be removed and scattered in the back yard. Some outside things are added in the house temporarily and will remain inside until stain dries well enough. It was 2:30PM when I made a turkey sandwich. I did some work in the afternoon and had poblano corn soup with a slice of sourdough toast for dinner. I then got the laundry room back in working order until bed after 11. 

More Afternoon Eats

Friday Oct 2

The painters are officially done! The contractor guys are staining the lower back deck today but then they will be done too. I feel like a tornado has gone through, immediately after vacation but it was worth the push. I sipped coffee and worked on puzzles and at 10AM I left to go do some shopping. I did Walmart first, which took a while, I then hit up Aldi and the the regular grocery as the fridge was totally bare. I hadn't done any shopping since we got back, dealing with the house chaos so we've eaten out of the freezer and cans. I got home at 2PM and made a little cereal. I had island time and did zero work today. I got to organizing and then ordering more organizing stuff. I went downstairs around 5:30. Dinner was turkey sandwiches and tots. Lately it's all I've been wanting. We put some art back on the walls and watched the latest Ted lasso before bed around 10:30.

Painting Day 3

Downstairs Not in Use

Sleep last night was in a floating bed in the middle of the room, no headboard or foot board. We had pushed everything into the middle of the room for painting, which they didn't get to yesterday. We were literally on an island. I did sleep ok but woke to pee around 4AM and then dozed until 7:30. I got up, fed fur babies, got dressed, sipped half a cuppa out back, did puzzles and then the painters arrived. We wrangled the kitties upstairs to the guest bedroom, where the poor boys hid under the bed all day. They did have food and water but no litter box. Thankfully they didn't need to go. I had the chiropractor at 10, picked up all the mail from vacation at the post office, and went to get Subway for me, Kev, and the two painters. The entire downstairs, from front door to our back bathroom, was completely covered with plastic so there was no making or heating anything for lunch. It really was like I was in a Dexter episode. I had a six inch spicy Italian with Sun Chips and a chocolate chip cookie. Kev ate with me in my office.

Wed Eve

The afternoon was busy. I had a few projects I juggled and before I knew it, it was 6PM. The poor kitties were still in the guest room. The guys left around 6:15 and I fed the boys their evening wet food. Me and Kev heated last night's beef bowl leftovers. After dinner I got to cleaning. When I tell you nasty, it was like a construction site. There was sheetrock dust and hole patching white stuff everywhere. I swept, mopped and then wiped by hand to get floors cleaned. I then began putting some things back in their places but couldn't do too much, letting the walls dry more over night. While I cleaned, the Kev switched us from ATT to Mint Mobile. He'd been thinking about it and with ATT constantly raising prices, he finally took the plunge. After my cleaning binge I had some candied ginger pieces, sent September invoices out and bed was by 11:30.

Painting Day 2

Tuesday Morning

Sleep was sporadic. With our stuff everywhere, the cats were as restless as I was. I got up to pee, I think around 2AM, and slept off and on until getting up around 8. I fed the cats and got dressed and ate some cereal, while doing puzzles, and soon it was time to head out to take Kev to the orthopedic doc to get his foot checked. They took an xray and the fracture wasn't showing. They sent him home, still in walking boot, and he will have a CT scan, which shows more. The good news is that it looks like no surgery, or cast will be needed. We got home at noon and I made a turkey sandwich for lunch before going up to my office.

Ai Directed Dinner

I started The Breadwinner on Netflix, a cute family movie, and watched until I had a client call at 3PM. This is a new client within my other client's company, a third group, and the work is starting off very fun. I went downstairs around 5:45 to asy good bye to the lone painter fellah. Because we needed to start in the afternoon today only one guy came, the others went to another job for the full day. Tomorrow they will finish up the house, which is crazy. The entire house, except closets and pantry, in three days. I asked AI what to make for dinner with ingredients I had and ended up with a beef, veggie and yellow rice bowl with a caribbean flair. (Flair being cumin, oregano, garlic). We ate outside, as I needed to get away from stuff everywhere. When dishes were cleaned up I took myself up to my office to get it in as much order as I could. Some nails were removed so couldn't get all of my art back on the walls, but it felt good to get at least one space under control. I retired to the bed around 9:45.

Painting Day 1

Monday Breakfast and Lunch

I was awake at 2AM to pee and to do research on the Bird of Paradise plant that we dragged outside while the painting was happening. I was worried that it may be a little too chilly for it, but it is fine. It can actually handle freeze, if protected. The more you know...it then took forever to get back to sleep but I'd guess that it happened around 4AM. I got up around 7:30, dressed, fed kitties, sipped some coffee, did puzzles, had some cereal with banana, and around 10, the painters arrived, we did a walk through, and they got going. They are serious business and I was impressed. I worked at the kitchen table and Kev took the back porch, because it was such a beautiful day. Lunch was a can of Chicken and Wild Rice soup. 

Quick and Easy Dinner

There were a couple question throughout the day, mostly I was generally distracted with all the commotion upstairs, cats hiding under the bed, stuff everywhere etc. I was able to get some work done but I definitely was not focused, and likely won't be until things are back in order. The four guys left around 6:30. They got the entire upstairs completed today, as well as the stairwell. Kev had leftover sausage and peppers for dinner and I made some quick scrambled eggs (3), and a slice of sourdough toast. When done and dishes were cleaned up, we took apart the bed frame, hauled it to the garage, and then cleaned out the laundry room. The downstairs is ready for painting. With everything in disarray, and unplugged, there was no TV so we got into bed-as-couch, and onto our devices. I did a little more work before bed by 10PM.

 

Taking the House Down

Sun Morn

Ooooh weee sleep was good. We got up after 8:30 this morning to fall! It was in the 50s outside so windows and door was flung open while Kev made coffee. The pet/house sitter left some organic coffee in the container, which Kev brewed, but I was having none of it. I made myself a two cuppa of our regular coffee since it had been over a week without. As little as I drink these days I wanted our good coffee. I fixed up my wee cup and sipped out back with the kitties as I did puzzles. It was 10:30 by the time I was done. I ate a bowl of cereal with banana and then got to work. Today would be busy as I took the house apart. 😂 Everything off the walls and furniture moved away from edges. Tomorrow the crew would begin the full interior house painting. It's taken over four years to finally add some color to them white walls but I'm finally ready. I heated a Lean Cuisine for lunch. It had no flavor. I used to love Lean Cuisines back in the day and don't remember them being this bland. Maybe it was just this one?

Sun Eve

After lunch I took a little break and went out back on the deck couch to listen to my new book, The Correspondent. After about N hour I got back up and we finished up the removal of things, all except the laundry room, which I am dreading, and will do when I absolutely have to. Around 4PM I went out to mow. I put my book in my ears and got to it, wrapping up around 7PM. It was a beautiful day to be out and I got in just under 8 miles walking. Kev made a lovely dinner of sausage with onion and peppers, and tots. I was finishing up the yard as he finished dinner and we enjoyed our meal outside. The kitties lounged until I brought them in for the evening. I took a shower, got in PJs, and then into bed-as-couch until bed around 10PM.

 

Construction, Tailgaters, and Home

Early Tastes, Smiley Truck, Home Dinner

I didn't sleep much last night. I woke at 2:30AM to pee and couldn't get back to sleep fully. It was 4:30 when I checked the time on my phone, and Kev was awake. We decided to get on the road, which we were, by 5AM. There was no one in the hotel office so Kev checked out online. We stopped at a QT for coffee, and Kev picked up a few donuts. I had three bites of a cinnamon bun, one bite of a sour cream cake donut, and one bite of a blueberry cake donut, and I was done. Those bites gave me a bit of weird stomach for a while. I laid my seat back and took a snooze, very thankful that Kev could drive on cruise control while it was dark and traffic was sparse. I desperately needed that nap and was ready to make the switch around 8AM for the remainder of the drive. We stopped at Love's when we needed to fill up, gas was consistently around $4.19/gal. There was constant construction and constant tailgaters, which was so annoying. We made it home around 5:30, after popping into Aldi for dinner fixins. Kev cranked up The Chug for burgers, I got Brussels cookin', and we enjoyed a home-cooked meal after quite some time without. I unpacked and took a shower after dinner , cuddling up with Ted on the couch when done. Bed was by 9:30.

What a fun whirlwind our trip has been. Wrapping up nine days on the road, traveling through ten states along the route.  

Homeward Bound

Land and Sky and Fri Food

After nice sleep I woke around 5AM, got up to pee and decided that I was ready to get on the road. With Kev not being able to drive I wasn't going to linger and hit Denver's nutty traffic, or taking a chance and getting in after dark. We loaded up Sterling and were off by 5:30. There was loads of traffic already on the road and when we finally got out of city limits the fog was so thick it was like we were in a short-sighted tunnel. You couldn't see any lights of other cars, or truck stops/buildings on the side of the road. I had to slow to about 50mph. We made it to a Love's to fill up and grab some breakfast, me getting a bacon scramble bowl, which was yummy. It had eggs, potatoes, peppers, cheese and plenty of bacon. 

Kev ended up getting a little test drive in, while it was still dark out. There was no one on the road, and he could put the cruise control on and just steer, no boot on of course, just his sandals. He drove until light out, pulling into a rest area, and then we switched back, with me driving the remainder of the day. We made it to Kansas City MO around 4PM, check into our hotel room and then went back out to get our favorite Thai food for dinner. We pulled up and dang it they were closed due to a gas leak. We ended up across the parking lot at Qdoba where I had a steak bowl. Got back to the hotel for a shower, got in PJs and we watched Ted Lasso. Bed was around 9ish.

 

 

More Eating and Visiting

A Breakfast Visit

It didn't take long to get into a nice sleep last night, and I needed it. I did wake a couple times but overall slept well. I got up at 7AM and did puzzles before getting up and dressed. We were out the door before 8, making it to our breakfast spot called Eat! Food and Drink, where we were meeting friends for a nice catch up. I got a regular breakfast with scrambled eggs, which I finished, bacon, which I had one slice of, sourdough toast, which I almost finished, and hashbrowns, which I did not finish. We went back to the hotel and I did a little work before it was time to leave for my hair trim with my ol favorite hair dresser. Oh it was wonderful to see her and catch up on her life. She had just had a baby and got married when I was leaving so there was a lot to learn. 

Ol Fave

I left the salon at 12:15PM and went to my friend E's house where I'd spend the afternoon. She ordered small Italian sandwiches from Snarf's, a favorite Boulder shop, which we ate around 1PM out by her pool. Another friend was there for a little while and when she left I got a bit of work done before it was time to go pick up E's kids from middle school. When we got them back to the house E took me for a spin in her husband's new truck. It's a Ford Lightning, the all electric one. I didn't have any expectations since I don't know anything about trucks but y'all. OMG. It is SO fast. She stepped on it at one point and the force was so crazy it pulled me into the seat and threw her purse way to the back of the cab. It is nutty fast. 

Soup and Sammich

When we finished show-n-tell time we left to go over to our friend A's house, my old across the street neighbor that we danced with.We hung there until it was time to pick up a couple pizzas for the Kev, then pick up Kev, then take him over to his buddy's house where the three guys would have gaming night. Me and E went in to see their new home and then invited Kev's friend's wife to go with us for dinner. Us three girls went to the Relish, the food court place I went to lunch at yesterday, and we all got something different, the beauty of that model. I opted for the soup and sandwich shop, getting a cup of tomato soup and a grilled cheese. I gave half my grilled cheese to E and we had a great time just chatting and people watching. When done eating, we dropped S off then went back to A's house for some visiting until around 8:45. I dropped E off at her house and cruised back to the hotel. I was ready for PJs, tooth brushing and bed by 10:30.