It’s not really a fair “before” picture because the cabinet doors and the fridge had already been removed, which makes it look even worse, but I think it would win an Ugliest Kitchen contest hands down. Notice the different linoleum in the laundry? Klassy. The one thing this kitchen had going for it was that it was bright despite being painted in early American dingy. You can’t really tell, but those countertops are gen-u-ine faux wood grain Formica, circa 1973.

What you can’t see are the ceiling and floor patches in the laundry room. When we moved in we replaced the furnace and water heater that lived in there with new models, both of which now live in the attic freeing up a lot of space. The furnace left huge holes in the floor and ceiling, which we just patched temporarily because we knew we’d be remodeling the kitchen. We just didn’t plan on it taking six years.

There’s always something better to do than tear your kitchen apart until suddenly you can’t look at it one more day and next thing you know you find yourself looking at this:

What started off as a quick facelift (paint the cabinets and walls, new countertop and linoleum) turned into a full remodel with new cabinets, countertops, and sink, a dishwasher that the house never had before, and a beautiful tile floor. The difference is amazing. I keep walking in just to look at it.

It took me forever to find cabinet knobs I liked but I finally did, I just have to order them. All 28 of them!

It’s the world’s smallest kitchen, but having these extra cabinets and countertop really makes it feel bigger.

I can’t even begin to tell you how happy this kitchen makeover has made me. It’s still a pretty small kitchen, but I don’t need a big kitchen. I can get some big things done in a pretty small space. But having a beautiful kitchen that I enjoy spending time in? That has made all the difference.

Best. Birthday Gift. Ever.

And someday? The statute of limitations on stories that can get you divorced will run out and I’ll tell you how we almost died because that is some funny shit.

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme: I finally planted my herbs!  It seems like the cold weather has gone on forever, and I didn’t want to plant them only to have them freeze so I waited.  Hubs and I mixed up a lovely concoction of soil, compost, manure, and peat and I planted them.  It makes me happy to have fresh herbs growing outside my kitchen window.  I still need to get some tomato plants, but that and some flowers are going to be the extent of my gardening this year.  I’m just too busy and I’m concentrating on other things.

Alone Again, Naturally: Hubs is gone again for the week.  I have to say I’m not a fan of out-of-town jobs.  We work together, so we are together ALL the time.  Most people would hate that, but we’ve made it work.  This? Is the opposite of that.  I know there are people who do this all the time and it works for them, but I used to be a military wife and would go through this for months on end.  I’ve done my time.

9 to 5: Speaking of work, Staycation is over and I’m going back to work tomorrow.  I’m not looking forward to mucking out my in-box, but I have to say that deleting my work email account from my phone during vacation was the best plan ever.  I actually took time  off without looking at or thinking about work stuff.  I highly recommend doing that if you’re going on vacation and your personal phone is also used for work.

10: The first three months of the fitness plan are over and I crossed over the 10% mark this weekend.  If you’ve ever done Weight Watcher’s you’ll know what I’m talking about.  They give you a key chain for losing the first 10% of your starting weight, and old habits die hard.  It’s a milestone I’ve been looking forward to for the past few weeks when the scale seemed to have a mind of it’s own, so it was nice to reach it at the 12 week mark.  It seems to tie everything up neatly with a bow.   Now I just have to do it 3 more times, but I’m not looking at the big picture right now.  Smaller goals like this keep me going.

Help:  Avitable posted a story about Mindy this weekend and she needs our help.  Please go read her story.  Anything you can do will help.  I know you may see this on many blogs across the internet, but that’s one of the best things about blogging – the ability to get the word out when necessary.

Have a great week everyone!

It’s a beautiful day!  The sun is shining, the birds are busy repairing their nests, and it’s supposed to venture into the 70′s this weekend!

Spring is my favorite time of the year.  It’s when the first brave flowers poke their heads out and Winter gives it up in the face of such delicate beauty.  Sometimes it makes one last-ditch effort to hang on and blasts us with a Spring snow, but really who can hold out in the face of such hopefulness?  Everything else is still sleeping, or just starting to wake up as in the case of my daffodils, but here comes the forsythia, blazing the trail for Spring and brightening up the drab that Winter is leaving behind.

I’m going to spend as much of this weekend outside soaking up the sun as I can.  It’s time to start getting the garden ready for planting, and to clean up all the branches and mess that Winter leaves.

What are your weekend plans?

Allow me to introduce little Miss Coco.

Awwww, right?  Currently weighing in at a whopping 4 lbs, Miss Coco Bean is about the size of a beanie baby.

Why hello there!  And who….are you?  The little Coco puff is full of spunk and is quite sure that she can take big sister Sasha any day.

I don’t see you, interloper!  I will ignore you and you will go away.

Maybe I’ll sneak up on you and POUNCE!  Then you’ll be scared and go away.

Awwrrrrr rrorooowwww grooooooowwwlll…. You will be intimidated now!

Battle!

Ruht row…this isn’t going exactly like I planned.  Little one, you have fire in your belly!

Hey!  That’s not one of my toys!

This getting to know you stuff is exhausting!

Last night brought the Hubcation to an inglorious end.

Why inglorious you ask?

Because it’s me, and weird shit just happens to me.

Our friend who went with Hubs to the retreat called to say that they were almost in town and they would meet us (his wife and me) at a Mexican restaurant we like.  So we met up and hugged and admired the dirt on the Jeep and clucked over the goink in hubs’ back from the cot from hell that he slept on for ten days. We had a great dinner and even greater conversation, and I tried carne asada for the first time which I have to say I’m kind of meh about. But it was nice, a nice homecoming dinner and a great way to set the tone for a nice homecoming evening. Or so I thought.

We headed home to unpack the dirty, dirty Jeep and say hi to the Sasha dog who has missed her Poppa so greatly she almost wagged herself inside out.  And it was all downhill from there.

My dog, who is not a puker, got so excited she puked all over the carpet.  The white carpet. The same white carpet on which she happily deposited a dead and desiccated frog just two days previously.

She then became my husband’s dog.

Hubs had been driving for eight hours, and his back was pretty sore from the cot from hell, and we hadn’t seen each other for ten days so we decided it would be a good idea to turn in early.  Because that’s what you do for homecomings, right?

Or not.

My husband’s dog had other ideas.

While he was having his shower and I was laying in bed reading, a wild hair flew right up her ass and danced around.  She ran around like a mad chicken for a while, she tried to get me to play with her, and then she jumped up on the bed, turned her ass toward me, squatted and peed right in the middle of the bed.

That’s when my husband’s dog learned how to fly.

Of course I was the only one laying on the bed at the time, thus creating a somewhat sizeable *ahem* dip in the mattress, and we all know that a liquid will find the lowest point on a surface in which to pool.  Which, since I had my back to her at the time, was how I discovered her display of female irkitude.  Shit isn’t the only thing that rolls downhill.  All over my back.

I did not know that I could hobble around a room so fast, and that my multi-tasking skills had been honed to the level required to simultaneously strip off my clothes and fling them across the room, yell WHAT THE FUCK!!! at the top of my lungs, strip the sheets and the blankets and the oh so cushy and now covered in dog pee memory foam mattress topper of former goodness off the bed and throw those across the room, glare at the dog who is by now sporting her own WHAT THE FUCK look on her face as she hides behind the crate in which she will forevermore be sleeping, and waggle my eyebrows at hubs who heard the WHAT THE FUCK!!! and came running out of the shower buck nekkid, dripping wet and covered in soapsuds to find out who he had to kill.   At least he wasn’t dripping dog pee.

Since I was running around the room like a dervish with sheets flying in the air, and also buck ass nekkid but not in a good way because there is nothing good about buck ass nekkid and covered in dog pee, I can understand why hubs looked a little confused as all I could do was point at the dog and yell YOUR GODDAMN DOG PEED ON THE BED!!!

Last night’s theme song?  She’s Lost that Lovin’ Feeling.

It’s a wee bit of a challenge to maintain the shiny happy smoochie feeling amid sheet changes, massive cleaning, laundry, showers, and a buttload of righteous indignation.

I told you, weird shit just happens to me.

My lily pad, that is.

I went out to the pond this morning and saw this beauty just waiting for me.  Isn’t she something?  I’m a sucker for the pink flowers, but still.  I think she’s pretty special.