Pet Pics!

I love to capture or sweet and silly pets. I equally love show off our babies! :) 

Tigger & Buck in bedtime cuddles :)

Tigger, King of Boxlandia! 

*All those boxes are fixtures (faucets, towel & to racks, bath faucet & water handle, light fixtures, etc) needed for both baths.

Watching tv with Daddy. :)

Streeeetch!! Tigger enjoying a little nap on top of kitchen organizing shelf. :)

Sweetie Pie Tigger :)

Some bedtime cuddles with Dad. :)

Zonk... snore....

My snack? No Hunter. :(

Buck begrudgingly modeling a My Little Pony hat. 

Ditto. Why Mom? Why?

Chris fell asleep watching a movie and so did Tiggs. :)

No sharing! He's protecting his new bone, while chewing is old bone. :)

Mine.

What's cooking?

And Grumpy Cat or her real name

Tardar Sauce. ;) 

Pokey & Tardar :)

Accessible Beige

 

Accessible Beige. Really? That's a color in the beautiful color palate I've selected for the house. :) What a weird name. I'd think getting people off beige is harder. Maybe if you like the palate, but are scared, you start there and wean yourself off? Kinda like methadone for the color resistant? :p Lol. :)

As for the house, we've had one set back: the flooring is delayed 10 days. :-/ But, that's pretty much ok with me!! Anyone whose had workman in & out of the house and turning things on their ear! I enjoy order, quiet, and being able to walk around in my tatty pjs! I had to have Chris help me hop up and slide across a dresser blocking the room to my pants!!

None the less great progress has been made. The dry wall had been painted and I LOVE it!! My aunt helped me to put a good description- periwinkle- of it's light blue with a dab of lilac. :) The photos don't ever do color justice. 

And since they can't lay the flooring, but it'll be ten days, I asked to have the new toilet installed. They hung the new light fixture too! :)

Modern, eh? :) It's not a low flush, but simply requires less water to -um- get the job done. :)

I don't have a photo of it, but they removed the furniture we still had in our bedroom furniture out, tore out padding, put down new padding, relayed our carpet, and put it all back in order. My goodness how simply having my carpet fixed and furniture back in place after what feels like forever!!

I'm going to enjoy my little break before the storm of the hall bath & laying new floor throughout. In the bath, they will be pulling out every single fixture- EVERY LAST ONE! And to lay the new flooring they'll have to take up everything except the den and three bedrooms.

Yikes.... Just keep swimming, just keep swimming..... ;p

             Have a great weekend!!

The Broken Clock: Date Night!!

My handsome hubby Chris Kennedy look me out to Huntsville's newest hot spot- The Broken Clock: Gastro Pub. :) YUM!!!

To be honest, Chris was trying to get me to go for weeks. But, I was worried about a "bar atmosphere"- which I am NOT comfortable with. My earlier skepticism was wholly unfounded. The decor was chic, but casually comfortable. The food was creative, fresh, and well priced for the dishes. Urban Spoon gives Broken Clock 86% reviewers rating and their direct website is http://brokenclockhsv.com/ 

We started with homemade potato chips topped with cheddar cheese, bacon, and scallions with spicy ranch as dip (I ordered plain for myself). 

Chris's entree was Gastro Pub burger topped with pepper jack cheese and an onion marmalade. My entree was lobster mac & cheese- fresh lobster gently tossed with penne pasta in parmesan béchamel sauce. 

For dessert we tempted into trying the citrus sugar beignets- four hot, crispy dough balls covered in a blizzard of powdered sugar, small sprinkling of granular sugar seasoned with key lime zest, and a spread for the insides of a heavenly mix of fresh raspberries, whipped butter, softened cream cheese, and a dash of powdered sugar. 

They have live entertainment every night of the week- ranging from rock, singers & song writers, and even comedy nights. A band was just tuning up while we were on our way out. 

We have a very nice meal and I look forward to trying a few other items like their flatbreads and a Gastro pub burger of my own. :) If you want a quiet, calm meal visit at lunch or before 8pm. After 8pm you can enjoy that night's music venue! :)

Square One: You gotta Start Somewhere!

Hi Faithful Readers! The last time we left the home repair status we were awaiting the commencement of phase two- fixing!

Tuesday morning the contractor came and pulled out all the fixtures! The flooring is already up, so they removed the toilet, vanity, mirror, base boards, shoe mould, and towel bars & tp holder. 

When they had room to work, the hung new drywall to fix the holes cut out for the water mitigation and from pulling fixtures. So, now we have a big nothing for a bathroom, lol. :) 

Wednesday they'll come by to mud the sheet rock,which will take 24ish hours to dry. So, today (weds) I've got to get into gear to picking paint colors! Arg! Kinda the hardest part is that as long as:

#1 I love it & won't change my mind in a month and #2 it isn't a hyper crazy color, he leaves the decision solely in my hands. Oy vey.

*If your curious why they aren't just jumping in and taking care of everything at once, is it's kinda important to have at least one functioning bathroom! And as the flooring, that goes in last to avoid potential damage. Why install new flooring if they have a water line accident or scratch flooring, dropping sinks or demo materials, and workman tramping all over it!

Well here are some photos of the big nothing! :p

Where the toilet was & the hole in the drywall

Our shower unit is the only "old" feature staying, even if it's cream color vs the new white. Things can't all be perfect and a shower curtain can cover a multitude of sins! ;) 

Where under the vanity was- those are the drain & water lines.

Where the mirror/vanity sink were.

Right side of where the vanity was.

Through into the bedroom. 

Happy Hump Day! :p

How to Eat an Elephant: Our First Bite :p

Hey Readers! If you look back, you'll remember a post about the water damage our bathrooms and Master Bedroom. Well, after lots of measuring, phone calls, and meetings- our repairs PLUS!! we are really going to go through with the additional redecorating as well! :D

Just to run down the highlights: a whirlpool tub for my tired hubby, bamboo flooring to replace the carpet in our Great Room and with product to match in both baths and the kitchen, pedestal bath sinks, new toilets updated to white, and fresh paint in both baths and in the Great Room. 

Wanna see some pics? :D

Allure Bamboo Vinyl Plank Flooring

Tigger hatching the new sink faucets

Greys & Browns for Master Bath with flooring against Master Bedroom colors. I like the top right quiet a bit right now.

Blues for Master Bath with flooring against Master Bedroom color.

Two neutrals in center for Great Room & two greens for the Den. *We've already decided the Great Room needs a richer color, with more tan/brown.

As things stand now, the work will start on Monday! They'll be here to hang replacement drywall and give it time to dry.

Now to worry over paint choices for a week!! Aren't they maddening?? ;)

Back Procedure Update!

So, here's the deal: Nothing. Nada. I am FURIOUS!! Making a long story short, the pain clinic had booked me in for the wrong procedure!!! The nurse who wrote out the order incorrectly- I assume she failed to consult my file. I stormed out of the office with no help for my pain!!

What's the big deal? My procedure is very specialized, requires more O.R. time, and with special equipment. All that means they can only schedule a handful of weeks and patients book months in advance.

They also dropped another bomb. Insurance and the doctors require six months between procedures! I was one month short! But, it is rescheduled for Sept. 17th. I'm sure this is all in God's timing -even if I was fit to be tied!!- I know there was a good reason for me NOT to be operated on that day. 

But, please allow me a short complaining moment! Per instructions, I hadn't had anything but less than half a banana to eat and under 8 oz of water to drink. I had to wake up at 7am, which is very early for me. 

Don't judge, you're just jealous. ;) Console yourself with the fact that waking early gives me what accounts to non-pregnancy morning sickness. :( 

Also, I had to miss my evenings dose of medication for my shoulder tendinitis to boot! I was one cranky patient even BEFORE our hour wait to be seen! 

My wonderful husband Chris came to my defense to sort out this bramble of mistakes and red tape. I knew it was best for me to cool off and sit in our van. All I would have been able to do is yell and berate people who had no fault in this mistake. And I doubt pissing off nurses whose main job is to jab me with needles is smart! 

Chris was able to both get thing accomplished in a firm method, while being tactful. He spoke to the powers that be and got my Sept. 17th procedure date. I love you my Love. xoxo. My hero. :) 

Well, that's it. :( I'm just making it day by day until Sept. 17th. But, Chris & I can make it. We can do anything if we work together! :)

RFA- Magic Bullet!

Hey Readers! I'm not trying to rehash the past a lot in this blog because the majority of y'all I hope are friends or readers of my old blog. In a short recap, in 2009 I had a spinal fusion which sadly left me in significant pain.

But! Early this year, I had a back procedure that essentially CURED my pain! That was a possibility I had given up on. The projected lifespan of the procedure is 3-6 months, even up to 12-18 months. Happily the procedure lasted about 10 months in my case! :) 

The procedure is called a "radiofrequency ablasion" and mine is performed in my lower left back nerve bundle. If you are into medical stuff, google the name. There are interesting youtube videos - some with real people and some just animations.

Essentially, using special x-ray technology, my doctor guides three probes into my back. (Earlier, a simple injection was used to target the exact nerve bundle). Then he uses the radiofrequency to form a temporary scar over the nerves. The scarring is temporary, but nerves heal very slowly.

While I'll admit this procedure's healing process is pretty intense- in fact I'm pretty much out of the game for a week to about ten days. Nerves don't like to be messed with and the probes make me pretty sore. But, those 10 days are TOTALLY worth MONTHS of very little pain! 

While no one looks forward to pain, I can't wait to get my RFA over & done with this Friday and jump back (no pun intended) into my life! I love my life too much to sit on the sidelines! :) 

Left to Right -Clockwise: Me at Gulf Shores Plantation 2011, Our Wedding April 2007, Cub Scout Award Ceremony 2012, Chris make a snow "gun"! Jan. 2010.