Downer Day Here

It was a sad day here in our family. Our cat Ditto passed away this morning from kidney failure. I have 16 years worth of memories with Ditto, and I will miss him greatly. I put together a collage of some of my favorite Ditto pictures, and this is how I want to remember him. Even the shaved cat with the cone on his head, because the boys called him "naked Ditto" after his kidney stone surgery and we still laugh about it.

RIP Ditto.
April 1, 1993 - August 31, 2009

Rockin Out

We now have rock in the kitchen - granite and slate that is! There has actually been a lot of progress in the kitchen, yet it seems like not much to report. We got the granite counter tops in on Saturday and now have a sink. Mitch spent all day today trying to get that sink functional. I spent all day going back and forth to Home Depot.

This is the granite counter top with the new tiles that are up, but not finished. The tile is off white and the decorative strip has slate in it. The floors will be slate also. But that is later this week. I hope. I need the contractor stars to align - is that too much to ask?

Here is the new sink. Doesn't the granite look good? I hope so, cause we are now broke! Mitch installed the faucet, the sprayer and the garbage disposal. So far nothing has leaked. Or should I say nothing has leaked since he took it apart and put it back together again. And suspiciously the power is still turned off to the garbage disposal. It is a bad combination of electricity and plumbing that he messed with for way too long today. I suggested we call the plumber to do it, he said why would we waste the money. Yeah - you working for several hours on something the plumber can do in a few minutes and the co-pays at the ER when you electrocute yourself will be much cheaper than just calling the plumber.
Maybe I am just bitter about being sent to Home Depot twice today. Well technically I went through the registers there 3 times today because I got a phone call when I was leaving the second time that we needed one more thing. At least I hadn't started the car yet. And on a happy note - if anyone needs to know where anything at Home Depot is, I can probably tell you. I even know the isle numbers. Oh, oh - maybe I can even get a job there now! But I would have to check out their health plan first - you know - in case Mitch electrocutes himself.

A little closer everyday......

Well this is what the kitchen looked like when I got home from work today. It is actually starting to look like a kitchen again!

Now all we need is - well the list is long: counter-tops, floor, back splash tile, more paint and lots of other stuff.

I am wishing those lights above the glass doors were about 4 inches to the right. Frank might shoot me when he reads that. :-).

Hello Cabinets!

This morning our kitchen looked like this:

Like the color? That is Ralph Lauren Khaki. We still need some touch up work - but we had to stop last week so the walls could dry in time for the cabinets.

But what a difference a day can make! Today the cabinet guy unloaded a truck full of cabinets! Into my house! Woo Hoo!

Aren't they pretty? Don't they look good with the paint?

Apparently they need a lot of these for installation:

And a lot of these:
I can't wait to see them all go together over the next couple of days. I hope they don't mind if I snap a few pictures - wait - who am I kidding? I'll take them anyway :-).

Water Polo Time

Water Polo only lasts 4 weeks in the summer - but it is J-mans favorite sport. And today, as I watched him play, I figured out why. He is pretty darn good. He had some amazing defensive plays, was a total team player and even scored a goal. So proud of him. He is number 4 in the white hat. I still haven't figured out the hats yet......

Recognize this Kitchen?

I do not! Can you even tell it is a kitchen? Well it was and it will be again. We got it all primed last night and ready for paint.

Today the gas plumber is coming out to re-plumb the gas line into the floor and to re-plumb under the sink to give our new fridge a water line. This afternoon I hope to get the ceiling and walls painted so that it has a few days to dry before the cabinets get here.
It is coming right along! Woo Hoo!

July Wrap Up

First - remember J-man and J-dude going Draggin? Well I made sure that it made it into the scrapbook - in style. They will thank me someday, maybe when they are 40 or so, but someday.
July went by really quick. We spent a lot of time at the pool. Swim meets were every Tuesday and Thursday, and both boys had good finishes to the season - T-man even won a heat at Champs with his relay team and they got 2nd place overall - that is a medal my friends. Not bad for his rookie season!

J-man waiting for his event.

T-man at Champs.

Of course, we couldn't make it out of July unscathed. T-man slipped while climbing onto the diving board and smacked his face up. Real good. He was sore for a few days and lost a baby tooth, but he was excited that he was on a "diet" of Popsicles and soft foods (rx'd by the dentist). He told EVERYONE about his "diet". Until he got sick of it and wanted some real food again!

We had a fun 4th of July - just stuck around the neighborhood to enjoy the picnic in the park, 50th Anniversary celebration at the pool and Fireworks over the lake. We had a nice visit with Aunt Kelly and her new boyfriend that weekend too.

The boys decided that they wanted to march in the River Days Parade with Cub Scouts. It was a hot, muggy July day, with a long wait to even start marching in the parade, but they thought it was a great time. And can't wait to do it again next year.

Gotta love a cute little man in uniform!

J-man carried the Pack Flag the entire length of the parade. All the other boys carrying flags took turns and passed them around. Our Cub Master kept checking on J-man to see if he wanted to give up the flag carrying - but he refused and proudly carried it all the way to the end of the parade. The Cub Master said he is one determined boy. I say he is stubborn like his dad, but determined sounds better, huh?

We also had a few dive meets in July. T-man did pretty good - going from being too scared to jump off the diving board - to can't stop jumping off the diving board - in a matter of a few weeks. He got the diving basics down this year. Look out next year!
J-man had an awesome dive season. He was diving great this year. Mitch took a bunch of videos of his dives, I have to figure out how to put them all together into one video. I can just learn some new software in my spare time, no problem!

And we got a family hike in during July too. It was a nice hot day, and we headed up to the Alpine Lakes Wilderness area first thing in the morning and had a nice 5 mile hike with a 1200 ft elevation gain. This was Mitch and J-man's training hike for Mt. Si in August.

And there it is - The July wrap up.
Maybe now I can get back to some regular posting.
Maybe.

Light Rail - It makes people happy

In July a monumental thing happened in Seattle - we finally got light rail. Working, people moving light rail.
We voted on it waaaay back in the 1990's (1995 I think?, 1998?) and it seems like it took forever to get built. So when they announced that on Saturday July 18th they were having the inaugural rides - and that it would be free to ride - I knew I was going to go. I have been excited about this! Light Rail! In Seattle! It only goes from Tukwila to Westlake right now, but they are adding on in multiple directions, and linking to Seatac airport in September.
So on July 18th I took my boys, and niece and nephews to Tukwila and we rode the new Sound Transit Light Rail on its opening day into Seattle.
Sound Transit threw a party on that day - and they were expecting the big crowds. The lines were long, but the wait was short - and we were entertained while we waited to get on board.
This was a magician that had the kids help him with his magic tricks, and it seemed like only a few minutes had passed and it was our turn to board the light rail cars.
The ride was nice and smooth, and very scenic. We had a great view of Mt. Rainier! And as we got close to Boeing Field, a plane was landing and seemed oh so close. And at every stop along the way there was people waving to each other. When we arrived in Seattle the kids all got Inaugural ride stickers. I am so glad that we went and took that inaugural ride - and I hope the kids remember it and when we have light rail all over Puget sound they can say they rode it on the first day, way back when it only went from Tukwila to Westlake.



Today - while I was in the bus tunnel waiting for my bus I was approached by an older Asian gentleman. He asked me if this is where he catches the light rail to go South. I told him that yes, he was in the right spot.
He got a big smile on his face and said - "This is my first time." He was so excited it was cute.
I clapped my hands and said "How exciting!"
He even got out his transit pass to show it to me - it was brand new and shiny - he was so proud. A few minutes later I heard the light rail coming, so I told him where to go stand so that he would be able to board. Right before he boarded he turned back to me and waved. I waved back. Then after he had gotten his seat, and the light rail cars started to pull away - he waved again. I love that he was so excited to ride the new light rail, just like I was super excited 3 1/2 weeks ago to ride for the first time. And waved - just like everybody did on that first day.

Light Rail makes me happy - and I am glad that I am not the only one. Smile.