**FRUSTRATING** As i went to post my "novel" (translation excrutiatingly long post) there was an error and my over an hours worth of witty banter was lost. Here is the start - then - i had to restart all over w/ #2 and so on. UGHHHH.
It's been a crazy week. What with trying to get everything ready for our 5 visitors and finding things to do....whew! No time for blogging - it went something like this-
1. Go to the Big City to pick up my cheap vanity Friday afternoon, only to find out it wont work for our 2 sink set up. There was no other 60" option locally in a pinch at a price we can manage. Husband decides heck, lets just put in 2 pedestal sinks that cost $50 bucks a piece and return the double sink countertop i paid $299. for thus solving problem AND saving us money! Marital discourse begins right then & there in the Lowes store in front of Michael W. (Who was ever so patient & should get a gold star in diffusing fights between husb & wife!) I, in a not so submissive tone, explain that there is no way in HELL he is turning any bathroom in MY HOME into an Exxon station. (No offense meant Exxon) -It's just sinks on the wall belong in Gas stations ONLY - not in 13 ft long bathrooms In My Opinion. A smaller vanity would show the pipes in the bathroom that was already plumbed for two sinks, not to mention look ridiculous. So, in the spirit of compromise, i look at what i consider an appropriate compromise that is NOT a pedestal and still affords me SOME storage (why else HAVE a 13 ft long bathroom?) The solution : Two semi-contemporary looking base cabinets with built in cool looking sinks in the same Java color i was supposed to be getting. Hubby does not like price (as they arent $50.00 ea.) so we "discuss" some more in the aisle until Michael W., bless his heart, shows us a clearance option which he can lower the CLEARANCE price by about $300.00 more if we just take both with the mirrors and get the heck out of his store (my take on it-though he did the whole thing with patience and a smile on his face). He even went so far as to travel with us to the Tile Dept. to grab a piece of the tile we put in our bathroom (also purchased at Lowe's) and set it on the floor next to these lovely beach cottage style vanities with salt/pepper granite tops. It does not even remotely "go" so we all unanimously decide that is not going to happen. Back we go to the option #2 tiny vanities. If we purchase two this will cover and thus solve the issue of it being plumbed for two sinks as well as fill the cavernous space. Where are the linens going to go? Where do our "guests" using this Guest Bathroom set their blow dryer or curling iron? (There is NO Countertop space) Men do not care nor understand the need for storage options. Who on Earth has a 13 ft long bathroom with absolutely no storage? Ahem, ok you can fit two towels under each of these sink/vanity combos. So he caves in, and we get the vanities with the matching mirrors. Should be a victory for me. Not so much! This is a temporary solution until we can afford a 60" or 72" inch real vanity and top. We grab them, all the required plumbing parts and head home where we proceed to stay up until 1am putting it all together. My beef being that i REALLY needed to be cleaning - and instead nearly every part required me to hold something, measure something or fetch a tool.
#2. Wake up at the crack of dawn (literally) and begin clean up. Derell heads to town for errands then leaves to pick up our guests from the airport. Flight delayed by 20 minutes, and i am still in frantic cleaning mode. They decide to go out to dinner at our local Mexican restaurant so i load up the kids and leave the freshly mopped floors and rugs still in the dryer. We had a nice meal, then i ran to the local K-mapart to get a sprinkler and some much needed room fans!
#3 Sunday we got up and did not go out to breakfast as i had planned and instead i am pretty sure everyone ate cereal or bagels (i am the worlds greatest hostess eh?) The kids played in the sprinkler, jumped on the trampoline and basically Sis & Kaitlyn (she is 6) bonded and did a good job of excluding little brother in everything. So i played Chess and board games with him while they destroyed Sis' room. We decided it might be fun to beat the heat (it was 95 outside and 80 degrees INSIDE) by going to the river or the local lake. We proceeded to pack up some snacks and drinks when i noticed a cloud out of the kitchen window. But it wasn't a cloud, it was SMOKE from a Forest fire. A VERY CLOSE Forest Fire on the hill/range behind our property. It's probably 4-5 mi away as the crow flies, but 10-15 miles if we had to walk it. Either way, Forest Fires here burn Hot and Long - plus we have strong winds up here which could make it reach us in no time flat. I was a bit unsettled. (Understatement)
#4 We proceeed to spend the next hour plus watching the huge flames (along with about a dozen or more of my adjacent neighbors) through binoculars, a spotting scope, and my zoom on the camera. The kids (and our visitors) found it facinating. The only neighbors behind us before Forest Service Land begins (thus closest to the fire) started sprinklers all around their property. DeRell insisted it wouldn't make a lick of difference. I started mental inventory of what i was going to need to start packing up. I even asked hubby if we should start removing all the solid core wood dorrs we just spent a fortune on...to which he replied "That's what Insurance is for". Ughhh, MEN! All i could see was all our blood, sweat, tears and REAL MONEY that we earned, (and re-spent) to build this house going up in flames. Thankfully though it was flaming high on the top, the wind was calm and the fire started to move down the back side of the Mtn. At this point we decided to go ahead and head out to the Lake - their Chinese parents stayed behind. We had fun boating, sun bathing and visiting. I managed to not get even one picture as i had left my camera on the front deck. We got home late and ate leftovers (again, i'm the hostess with the most-ess) is this not the most thrilling post you have ever read? Are you still there?
5. Monday i got up early to redeem myself as a host and cut some fresh fruit and made French Toast. I even managed to make some homemade soup with a whopping 5 ingredients that the Chinese parrents actuall enjoyed. *score* Then had to hurry and take Sis to town for a friends birthday present, come home and work for a few hours, then take sis to her friends party. D had to go to work. Bubba got to finaly play with Kaitlyn and they hit it off! After all, they are the same age. Our friends did laundry and re-packed to head out on Tues to Yellowstone for a few days. The maraton swimming/birthday party went till 5:30 then a long drive to pick her up everyone decided to meet in town for dinner. I was looking forward to some pizza, but they decided on Chinese. LOL. Eating at our local chinese restaurant is laughable to be able to even be called chinese. It's like going to China in search of a great Angus Hamburger. The highlight of the evening is when our guests asked if the menu was available in Chinese and they got the owner/cook to come out and have a nice long conversation in Chinese about the food. It must have been facinating to the other 3 patrons. I think the owner enjoyed being able to speak in his native tongue, but that didn't make the food any better. It was marginal at best. We had fun, and went home in the pouring rain and watched a little movie..you may have heard of it...AVATAR. For the 18th time (literally) i got to enjoy it and fell asleep on the couch fully clothed where i remained until morning.
6. I awoke, wiped the drool, and wondered "what the heck?!" just in time to see my guests off at about 7am. My new Chinese friends (grandma & Grandpa) even gave me a "Morning" greeting. It must have been my soup skillz that won them over! They borrowed our Camry for the drive, and when D talked to them at noon they were loving it and considering possibly taking it off our hands ( its been for sale for almost 6 months) It's cloudy a little rainy and we are due for some more thunder storms. Joyous. It's either smoking hot or humid & stormy. I can't decide which i prefer.
The good though has come in waves. We found out DeRell and Jon have been friends for over 40 years (LOL older than i am!!!), we got to learn all kinds of facinating things about China and Chinese culture from Jon's wife Julie who is Chinese -though fluent in English. We all managed with the parents who spoke not a lick of English and the kids each bonded (seperately) with Kaitlyn -Jon & Julie's daughter. Lots of my house got finished in prepartion of their visit. The Lord granted us an answer to prayer when the fire moved down and away from houses - ours in particular. It is currently raining like the dickens here right now, which is good...as long as the lightning doesnt start anymore fires and i don't lose my internet connection before i can post this. I've already had to retype it all once. So i better sign off quickly before we lose power.
I would post pics - but i havent taken any and now our friends are borrowing my camera since they left theirs at home! Next time there is something facinating to post i'll let you know. It may be a while. LOL. Thanks for hanging in there. Photos soon
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
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