Thursday, December 21, 2006

Blizzard of 2006!

Can you say Cabin Fever?? On the one hand, we're happy to be home safe and sound, on the other, WE'VE BEEN STUCK IN THE HOUSE FOR 36 HOURS, AND THERE'S NO END IN SIGHT. Roads are closed all over Denver, and those who try to drive on local roads are getting high-centered. Ben and I are wishing we bought each other snowshoes for Christmas.

So yesterday I didn't have work, all schools were closed. Today more of the same, all government, schools, retail, are closed. So even if you could get out, where are you going to go? We might give the grocery store another try today, just to get out of the house.

So what did we do? I made turkey stock, reorganized my kitchen pantry, cleaned, cooked, knitted, watched the news, and read. Ben worked from home and read. We napped in the afternoon and played some scrabble and hanafuda in the evening.

The day was long. How the heck am I going to keep occupied today?

Wednesday mid-day.


Wednesday evening.


Thursday morning.


Wednesday afternoon we trekked to the grocery store to get cookie ingredients (very important).




I also got brussel spouts to serve with dinner.


Wednesday afternoon we had an impressive drift in the front walkway.


Wednesday evening some workers shoveled the front walks clear. By Thursday morning it looked like this


This morning Ben shoveled our back patio for a second time.


It's light and fluffy, but DEEP! The levels shown here are non-drift snow.

Monday, December 18, 2006

Happy Holidays

December is busy! But it's all for fun. I had a cookie decorating party last night. Richard visited and we had dinner with Ben's extended family Saturday. My parents were up the weekend before, seeing the new house and shopping in the city. Mavi's visiting us en route to GJ. Tonight we're going to get hot wings at the Dark Horse in Boulder, just like old times.

All my Christmas shopping is done and wrapped up in silver paper and bows. I finally finished a little art project I've been working on for a few weeks. Pictures to come . . . sometime. Picasa is still annoying to use with this beta blogger I got roped into.

Some friends and I watched Dungeons & Dragons the movie this weekend. It was so deliciously bad. I haven't laughed so hard in ages. A couple months ago I came across this website, 64 reasons to watch Dungeons and Dragons. Lo and behold, the author was right on all accounts. I actually sort of wish I hadn't returned it so soon to Blockbuster*. Shoot, I may have to buy this one.

* What?! Blockbuster, you say? Yes, they've been running a deal where you can get a free rental by giving them your Netflix envelope flap. It's a marketing scheme to try to get people to switch to their service, but it saved us $5 so it was worth taking advantage of for this stupendously bad movie.

Thursday, November 30, 2006

Frosted trees

It looks like everything was dipped in sugar!





And it's cold. COLD cold. That sun isn't going to melt anything today.

(photos taken with camera phone at office parking lot)

Monday, November 27, 2006

Going home for Thanksgiving

I really love Thanksgiving. I love that my family converges, all sleeping in until 10, eating cheese by 10:30. This holiday we left Molly home in Lakewood instead of driving her to GJ.

Good thing, because she would have been totally upstaged by Roman.



My favorite part of the trip was shooting off rockets after dinner. But eating peppermint ice cream with hot fudge, whipped cream, and a cherry while playing a family game comes in a close second place.


Mom loaded up her three kids plenty of leftovers. I made a turkey casserole tonight (Swiss cheese, canned cream soup, egg noodles, and frozen peas and carrots) (oh the humanity! I can't believe I sunk to such conveniences!! But I had to go grocery shopping in addition to dance class tonight, and really didn't have time to make a roux and chop and blanch veggies myself) (ugh, leotards look the worst when you're working off holiday feasts).


Molly is quite a fan of turkey, even when coated in Swiss cheese (and no, I only give her plain turkey snitches. I know cheese could make her puke or die or something).



I have a problem.



I'm absolutely addicted to the salsa from a certain Mexican restaurant in Centennial. It's a nondescript strip mall family restaurant. But one day last summer Julia brought us some take-out salsa and it was HEAVEN. I CRAVE this stuff. It comes in a pint sized Styrofoam cup for $5. I eat half of it in one sitting. I fantasize about taking it in my purse to 3 Margaritas, where they serve the best hot, salty, slightly oily thin tortilla chips. (Sadly, the makers of the mighty salsa proved very poor in their chip department)

I had Ben pick up salsa for me twice in the last two weeks. This is a very bad habit to start. By itself, the salsa isn't a bad thing. Fresh and natural veggies are good. But I eat it with fried chips, and those calories add up fast. Not to mention it's kind of pricey. Actually, I could eat this stuff on cardboard. Or Styrofoam - hey, I might try that! Sounds like a good way to get every last drop.

Monday, November 20, 2006

22 days later

Want to see what pumpkin rind looks like after hiding for 22 days in the base of your fingernail?



Gross! I'm scared the nail is going to get caught on something and tear off from the side. I guess I should start wearing a bandage again.

Sunday, November 19, 2006

Quail Street House Tour

Despite beta blogger not working with picasa, and not finding this out until after I switched, and then finding out you cannot switch back, I have spent the past hour acquiring and uploading pictures to satisfy your curiosity. Click on any picture to see it full sized.

Master Bedroom


Obviously unfinished. I have purchased ("Enchanting" and "Feldspar") paint but haven't had the time or gumption to slap it on yet. That's my closet on the right.


My dresser on the left, Ben's on the right, and his closet in the picture on the right.

Master Bath


Square-shaped, wallpapered (ugh) and no storage space. We fixed that as much as possible with cabinets. There are two doors to the bath - one from the hall and one from the second bedroom (not the master). Behind the hall door is a mirrored medicine cabinet, opposite of the sink mirror. It's nice for checking the back of your hairdo or looking at yourself to infinity. (Also note in the right hand picture the holes left in the wall from a former towel rack. We were unsuccessful at mounting anything there, because the drywall is paper thin.)


Spare Bedroom


This is sort of my room, I guess. My sewing and crafts are in here, and my new vanity, where I get ready each day.


It's been relegated to a junk room for now. I'd like to do something really funky with it eventually. There's also a walk-in closet, but it's completely disorganized with fabric in piles on the floor and half finished craft projects strewn about, so you don't get a picture.

Upper Hall and Stairs


This is Molly's main base. From here we can topple toys at maximum chasing velocity.

Main Floor - Living and Dining Room


You can see our new couch, and Molly's new favorite resting place. I recently pinned up the curtains (picture on right side). Do you like that better than full length (picture on left)? It shows more dark blue, which I like. The floor doesn't feel so sloppy either. But once I cut I can't go back. This weekend I painted the desk to match "chester" the bureau I repainted last year.


I also got a cheap bookshelf from Target to house my cookbooks. Sorry about all that clutter, I haven't reorganized since finished the desk.


AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!



I still have a couple shelves, knickknacks, and pictures to hang on the walls, so this room is not done, but it's a heck of a lot closer to feeling complete.

Kitchen


I painted this wall yellow, in addition to the green above the kitchen cart I've already posted. I need more artwork for this area. On the right are the curtains I sewed.


Action shot (applesauce from last weekend)

Main Floor Half Bath


Sorry, bad lighting made this picture yellow. It's really just plain white. We added the oval mirror to this bare room, but otherwise all the decor is temporary. I think someday I'll do some rich oranges and yellows, like the box of guest soaps on top of the toilet. For now I just had to put something on the walls so it doesn't feel like a plain white box.

second set of stairs . . .


Den


Our entertainment room: it's FREEZING, but fun. I have some Star Wars fabric to make curtains or pillow covers out of, but otherwise this room is done. The den is divided into two sections, TV side and reading side.


Our old couches are down here with a plethora of pillows and blankets (Ben is demonstrating his frequent practice of stealing all the pillows.


This is where I've banished the ugly orange chair. All along the walls are video game characters, arranged chronologically. Here's a close-up. I'm on the search for nice labels for their name and year, something small with a metal frame, like on the end of photo storage boxes. Let me know if you come across something suitable.

Laundry Room


Finally, the laundry room, with cat litter and excess storage. Nothing really to point out except that I hope to have this more organized one day and please, marvel at how spacious it is! It's the same size as my kitchen. We have a second washer in there now (see previous post about my plumbing), hopefully it will be removed in December.

That's it! As you can see, I have a long way to go. It's a lot of work but I love it, and all three of us adore our new home.