Thursday, May 29, 2008

An HD TV

Since I have been remodeling, I was thinking of adding an HD flat screen TV to the list. I have been saving up money for awhile and didn't know what I was going to use it for. All my neighbors have Direct TV. We are the last holdouts. I know there would be a lot of advantages to having satellite TV like getting shows on home improvement and some of the movie channels.

My son Andy has been begging for it as he wants to watch his hero Bear Grylls from Man Vs. Wild. Right now he has to watch his shows on the computer. Directtv seems to be the rage as all of his friends have it. In fact, I don't know anyone who doesn't have direc TV in their home.

Unfortunately, I was starting to have problems with my printer. I found out my warranty had expired so I can't replace it. I spent my morning researching new printers and just ordered a Canon two days ago. Now my reserve fund is $250.00 poorer so the HD Tv is going to have to wait.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Remodeling at a Standstill

Not much progress has been made in the remodeling department. Still waiting for the contractor. He did come and put my French doors in but that was all. He was supposed to come Tuesday and was a no show. I told my husband, he needs to keep calling him. All we need done is the plumbing and the drywall and texture. My husband ended doing a lot of the work these last 6 weeks so there really isn't that much left to do. If the contractor doesn't show up, I guess we will have to do the rest ourselves. We are going to put in the laminated wood floors and the tile for the bathroom floor and shower ourselves. There is still a lot of work to do but can't do anything until the contractor shows up.



Meanwhile, I would like to buy plane tickets for my in-laws soon since the fuel costs are rising but I can't because we have no end date for this project to be done. My small bathroom is 1/2 way ripped up but can't finish it until the master bathroom is done. It's all very frustrating.

Friday, May 23, 2008

No More Babies

I am coming to the stage in life where my kids are almost grown and I am looking forward to retirement. Imagine my shock when I learned my 46 year old friend was pregnant. She had just remarried about 3 years ago and her new husband had never had a child. It was a high risk pregnancy but things went smoothly and she ended up having a beautiful baby girl.

My friends and I got together and threw her a shower. It was so much fun. I wished I had known about a site called Mutsy.com . One of their products, Mutsy Stroller called the 4 rider next converts into many options. One is a rolling bassinet, a forward push stroller, has a car seat adapter,leather handle and more. Also there are many colors to choose from. This is a really neat innovative interchangeable product and I wished it was around when my kids were born.



However, I definitely do not want anymore babies. To my friend I say, better she than me!

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Bloggerwave.com

I have been signing up for various paid to blog sites and bloggerwave.com is the latest. I have already gotten a couple of opportunities so far, both paying $10.00 so we will see how it goes. All you need is a blog, the higher your PR ranking the more chances to make money.

Friday, May 16, 2008

Soccer or Not ?

My youngest son will enter high school next fall and I would love to see him play soccer again. He was a pretty good midfielder and sweeper when he played last year. He had been playing since he was 5 years old with dad coaching all of his teams until 7th grade. Unfortunately, he was forced to sit out this season because of his stomach troubles.

I know in Europe, soccer is big or football as it is called there. I came across http://www.ticketsolutions.co.uk where they sell premiership football tickets. Manchester United is really the only team I was familiar with and that is because I knew David Beckham started with them. Now he is with the Los Angeles Galaxy trying to increase the popularity of the sport here.

Soccer in the U.S., is more popular than it used to be but I think American football and baseball still reign supreme and it's too bad. I really enjoyed watching both my sons play the sport. It was exciting, fun to watch and it does take a lot of finesse, skill and strategy.

I don't know if I can convince Andy to play, he seems to be gravitating toward golf. I guess that is fine. At least he wants to be involved with sports again.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Star Magnolias Painting

I was at the University of Washington campus and they had beautiful flowering cherry and magnolia trees, rhododendrons,and azaleas in bloom. I took some pictures and this is my latest original painting, "Star Magnolias."


Monday, May 5, 2008

New Watercolor Cards

I just put some new watercolor cards on my etsy site. With the remodeling, it has been hard to spend time doing artwork but I am hoping once the master bedroom is done, I can move my drawing table in there and set up a mini studio where I can work on projects. Right now, I am lucky to be able to find anything because it is all buried under a mountain of things in the living room.

Today, I just sanded down my cabinets and am getting them ready to prime. My kids are pretty hard on furniture so I hope these bathroom cabinets will hold up over time.