Thursday, February 12, 2009

A perfect Storm

Literally and figuratively. We've also been getting a minor amount of work done on the house. And I'll get to that in a second. First I'll explain the storms...

Literally speaking, the weather's been really crazy; I didn't get any sleep two nights ago while the dog panted, paced and shivered through the same series of storms that caused those terrible tornadoes in Oklahoma. The storm system had stretched out by the time it reached us, so it wasn't quite as nasty, but Simon still shivered and panicked every time it thundered. Poor pup.

Figuratively speaking, the time became right to plan a trip to London later this year. I won't get into too many details except to say that we've been saving for this for years, the exchange rate is at a decade low, and airfare plummeted. We'll be tightening our belts big time when we get back. I used to live there and like to go periodically. The kiddo's never been. So a lot of time has been dedicated to planning for that. One little nice bit of info I will share, though, is that some airlines will continue to "rebook" your flight at lower fares if you ask without charge. We booked our tickets thinking they couldn't possibly go lower; then they did go lower on the same flights, same airline. So I looked into it a bit and found that they allow changes up to the first day of the trip. You are charged the difference if there is one, or credited with the overage if there is one. Pretty sweet.

So, on to house issues. Notice anything different?


Besides being a messy counter, it is now a counter with trim! But it's a pretty thick trim. We had to cover up the area over the dishwasher, due to accidents removing the cabinets when we gutted. I think I like it, but I'm not sure. For that reason, we only installed that piece and haven't sunk the nails or caulked. I'd also still like to sand the doors and bottom cabinet bases to make them a bit more natural and a little less yellow. It's a pretty piece of wood-- we decided on a chamfered profile:


I think I'm happy...

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Just a lazy afternoon

This is pretty much how we spent the entirety of last week:


Fayetteville, where I work, got the brunt of that mega ice storm-- so much so that the university closed for 4 straight days, and the day before saw a lot of people heading home early to avoid getting caught in the ice. Fort Smith on the other hand, got 4 inches of rain in 24 hours. Which then turned to ice. So we stayed at home inside all week. The puppy decided that maybe this inside thing isn't so bad after all...