September 17, 2020 Update!

 I sit here absolutely amazed!!  The Master Bathroom is nearly complete! 

Jorge and his crew started demolition on August 19.  Old shower and cabinets were removed, porcelain tile was laid, new shower tile was installed as well as new plumbing.  Cabinets were installed - except for one which was measured incorrectly and reordered.  Jorge spent an entire Sunday here removing three layers of wallpaper.  He's a perfectionist and since the shower will generate steam, he wanted no seams to show.  

Then came the texture and paint.  Selecting the paint was a three person job: my wonderful neighbor, Lana, and I put our heads together but our selections seemed to disappear with the north light over the new shower.  Mark, of Ladybug Landscaping, and I went back to my initial BLUE and came up with Sherwin Williams Smokey Azurite.  The cabinets are smokey grey and in certain lighting, appears dark taupe. The flooring and tile have tan, taupe and grey colorations.

Here are Jorge and part of the crew:  Jorge [striped shirt], Isiah, Jose and Mac, kneeling.  These guys, and the others who weren't here the last day, were so respectful and such hard workers!  And didn't laugh too hard when I tried to speak Spanish.  Since I couldn't do anything while they were here, I decided to sign up to learn Spanish on Babbel, and they helped!

Along with an incorrect measurement of the cabinet above the toilet, the guy who cut the quartz didn't quite get it right.  Sinks are supposed to go into those holes!

Quartz was recut and all is well.

Of course, there are a few things ordered from Amazon which will make storage in the closets better.  Also, shopping for towels and other accessories will be fun.  And there are a few boxes from the guest wing that need to be put away, but that will have to wait for the Amazon organizers!

All this to say: Statewide Remodeling did a tremendous job.  The anticipated three week completion estimate was done in 19 days.  Of course, Jorge and his crew [or Jorge alone] worked ten to twelve hours on Saturdays and one Sunday!

It certainly was exhausting and still find dust in hidden places but all in all it was a great experience.  I want to do some work in the kitchen but will wait until I recover physically, emotionally and FINANCIALLY!

I expect things will be quiet until Vicki gets here in November - unless something unexpected happens!

The Summer of 2020! A Year That Will Go Down in Infamy!

Since COVID 19 became a semi-permanent resident of the World, things skidded to an abrupt halt.  Vicki was supposed to visit for three weeks but had to put it off until the virus settles down - hopefully over the Thanksgiving Holiday.

I was supposed to have a tiny little speck of skin cancer excised from the inside of my right elbow but it was put off - finally had it done at the end of June and results were that the margins were clear.  The "tiny" little speck required 11 stitches as Dr. Smith wanted to make sure! Good for him! And good for me!

Since there's only so much TV one can watch, I decided to have the Master Bathroom reconfigured.  I know, I know - can't call it "master" as that indicates something about slavery! Tough!  Andrew came out and spent a long day and we finally came up with a plan.  Materials were selected and then ordered, and then I tweaked an item or two and those things were ordered.  Now, the waiting begins. Andrew said six to eight weeks for start date and two to three weeks for completion. I've heard that story before.  Lisa, who is my project coordinator, texts me a few times a week to keep me updated on the arrival of the materials.

Here's a photo of way BEFORE:

That's Vicki a few years ago.  We had such a fun time gathering the mirrors for above the never-used bathtub.  So that shower is going to go away and become a closet; the tub is going to go away and become a level huge shower.  

When Jay could no longer bath himself, I found it extremely difficult to get him to the shower chair and get him cleaned.  I am thinking of my future - just in case.

Now, since I'm going to need a place to sleep and bathe while deconstruction and reconfiguration goes on, I needed to get Jay's wing ready for inhabitation.  The painter was called and in two and a half days, Jay's office, bedroom and bathroom were patched and painted.

New blinds are ordered and should be here the first week of August, but here's an interim photo or two.

There is a recliner in each room that need to be donated to Salvation Army but at this point, they're not permitted to enter a home - can only go into the garage to get furniture.  So the ugly chairs will stay until a can get some burly boys to get them to the garage.

Since the painters were going to be here, they also stripped the garage of warped and sagging wood shelves, patched and painted - I wanted it to look like new.

The floor will be painted in November or December so as not to leave my car outside during tornado season.  Also, I was agile enough to put the two metal shelves together.  I'm hoarding boxes as I'm going to have to use the boxes as storage for my clothes during the bathroom remodel.

There are also several boxes of Jay's "car stuff" that Jacques will have to go through when he comes back to Dallas.  He took a van-load back to the Hill Country to sell on his online auction and said he'd be back in early fall.  There's also tons of car books and posters that need to go to a better home.

Little by little, things are coming together.  Hopefully, by mid-September I'll be back to "normal" whatever that is.

Addendum to Vermont Trip 2019

There was supposed to be photos of all of MomMom's Minion - front and back - but cooperation was not on the menu.  While Sister Kate [Kathy from Florida] was unable to attend the Vermont festivities, she provided photos.  Still missing Dan and Danny but hopefully I'll receive photos in the future, at which time, I'll add.

Here's Kathy:

Thanks to my Little Sissy for getting these photos to me.

November 4 - 8, 2019 Wrap Up

On Monday, November 4, we [Vicki, actually] did laundry from our trip and little else until mid-afternoon when we ran a few errands to prepare for dinner.  Our friend, Gina, was coming for dinner so we had to whip up a feast - and we did!  Plump, juicy chicken from Costco, mashed potatoes from Bob Evans and peas from Birdseye.  And for dessert, banana nut bread from Costco.  Thank you Costco - the feast was great with little effort!

Tuesday, Election Day, was a tad dreary - misty and chilly.  We like to call it a "raw" day.  Vicki went off to vote and then ran by Stop & Shop to pick up a few things.  We met friends and family at The Crow's Nest for dinner.  Here's Cathy Marquardt, me, Vicki on top row, and Ginger Hoey and Gail Dunn.  If it looks as if we had a good time, we did! I've known Gail since 1960 and that, my friends, is a long time!

Wednesday, was a beautiful day so we got out and did some walking around.  We found a little pizza place and split a slice.  Dinner was spent at home using up leftovers - which is always good.

Thursday, November 7, Vicki and I met our cousin John and his niece Melissa in Nyack, NY. We had lunch at Prohibition River and three of us enjoyed our lunch. I had a great smoked French dip sandwich and it was great. I also had a Sip of Sunshine [or two] from Lawson's in Vermont. YUMMO!

Aunt Irene, John's mother, was extremely diligent in taking a photo of Melissa and me each time I visited, starting when Melissa was a really little girl.  And now I try to keep that tradition going.  She's a beauty, inside and out!

Here we are - Vicki, me, Melissa and John!

After lunch we walked down the street and had a cone at an old ice cream shop. It's been there for a very long time and is completely consistent.

Then it was time to walk to our cars and say goodbye. Parting is always such sweet sorrow!  We're going to try to talk them into joining us in Vermont next year!

Before we left Nyack, I wanted to see the new bridge across the Hudson River.  The Tappan Zee Bridge had a 50 year life expectancy and outlived that by many years.  Several years ago, a new bridge was started alongside the TZ then the TZ was demolished.  Here's the new Gov. Mario Cuomo Bridge.

It was a dreary, misty day and that's the best I could do.

While at the ice cream store, Vicki bought us treats for our long [25 minute] drive home.  Here she is enjoying her cherry Tootsie Pop while I enjoyed my orange one.

When we got back to Vicki's house, she noticed her yardmen had taken care of her lawn, more than likely for the last time this season.  It's so thick and lush - makes you want to roll around in it.

Friday, November 8, 2019

We planned to spend the day with Lorraine and that we did! We took her to see Last Christmas and was it ever good! Surprise ending but Lorraine liked the fact that I figured it out, genius that I am!  After the movie we took her to Houston's in Hackensack as she'd never been. It was as expected - very good.  She enjoyed a Cosmo!

And we three enjoyed being together.

After we dropped her at her home, Vicki and I stopped by Dan and Kelly's and visited for a while.  I FINALLY got Danny to laugh out loud!!  What a victory!!  He's such a cutie - I wish I could spend more time with him.

Off to Vicki's and time for me to pack.

Saturday, November 9

I really don't like this part of the trip.  I love my sister so much and so enjoy being with her.  We're completely different but so alike!

In any case, AA#1382 took off on time - 12:54 - but landed at DFW 45 minutes early! We must have had a mighty tail wind!

So home I am! Totally enjoyed my trip but am happy to be home.  Ophelia missed me so I'm taking her to the dealership on Monday to get her license plates and a bath!

Life is so freaking good - in spite of . . .

November 3, 2019.

Another beautiful day but colder than previous days.  We woke up around 7:00 a.m., showered, packed and were on the road by 8:30 a.m.

As we drove through Waterbury Center, there was some snow mixed in with the sunshine.  Lovely!

We stopped at Rosie's in Middlebury for breakfast - kind of a tradition for Vicki and me - and for Vicki alone the years I wasn't here.

Another "tradition" is to stop at an outlet mall where I stocked up on panties and Vicki stocked up on underwear.  Same thing - we just don't quite agree on the name. ;0)  

Traffic was very good along the way home and we were in the house, unpacked and all settled before 5:00 p.m.

Dinner was a cauliflower pizza and some TV, followed not too much later by a nice early bedtime.  Vicki sure deserved it since she'd done all the driving, needing no help from me - other than holding my iPad with Google Maps open.

The plans for the week of November 4 is visiting with family and friends so I'll do a little reporting on that.

In the meantime, bless you for reading my blog!

Saturday, November 2, 2019.

Saturday was another beautiful day. Sunny, chilly and with the people I love.

Sydney found out about a little hike on a causeway into Lake Champlain in Colchester so Chris, Pat, Steve and Sydney picked up SANDWICHES from The Big Apple Deli and we met at a park near where we were going to hike.  It was determined that the causeway was closed for repairs until May so we decided to hike along the Lake through the woods.

While waiting for all of us to gather, a flock of geese flew overhead.  I tried to get a photo but had to be quick and this was the best I could do:

So after we had lunch on picnic tables, we headed out for our hike.

Lots of bikers on our walk and in summer months they have bike rentals here. That would be fun - to me.

Here are some random shots along the way.  Lake Champlain is just gorgeous! That's New York on the other side of the Lake.

And here is the Winooski River which runs into the Lake.

So, after walking off our lunch, we all split up to do "our" things.  Vicki had a "plan" so we had to get the ingredients.

And here is the end result of Vicki's plan - an absolutely beautiful and delicious antipasti:

Believe me when I say it was devoured within minutes!

Chris made some pizzas and they too were devoured.

Hiking sure works up an appetite.

Sue made a scrumptious apple crisp and which we all [especially Jim] enjoyed:

And this is the part of the trip I dislike - leaving until next year.  Steve and Zoe were heading back to Dallas first thing Sunday morning and Vicki and I were heading back to Hackensack.

Goodbyes were said and hugs all around.  So until 2020, that's all folks!

Hello November! The First!

Finally, cooler weather and no rain!  Here's a view from our balcony - it overlooks the pool and Jacuzzi but if you've seen one, you've seen them all.  It's 45 degrees and clear and a million!

Today is the day Vicki's son, Matt, and his wife, Carol, and Laura and Josh arrive so we wandered around Stowe until they arrived just before 1:00 p.m. Hugs were had by all.  Since they hadn't stopped for lunch, they left to grab a bite while Vicki and I headed to Waterbury Center with the requisite stop at Ben & Jerry's.  I had strawberry and will say it was better than Edy's in Frenchtown but doesn't hold a candle to Braum's.  Then it was up the mountain to Jim and Sue's.

A neighbor of Jim and Sue has the most wonderful barn / shed at the back of their property and I've never stopped to take a photo.  Well, I did this time!  Isn't it wonderful!

When we got to Jim and Sue's, cooking was already underway.

Here's nephew Chris with the amazing brie en croute that he made:

I had my good friend Paula make these shirts:  Mom-Mom's Minions with my Mom's photo on front and name and "ranking" on back.  There was supposed to be a group photo front and back but I think too much good beer and wine might have been consumed.  Chris also made a wonderful charcuterie board but I failed to get a shot of that one.

Here are random shots of The Family:

My Great Nephew, Josh, age 11-1/2

My fabulous Sister-In-Law, Sue who again won Best Hostess award!

Here we are, me, Vicki and Jim.

The Most Wonderful Brother, Jim.

 Here I am again.

 Nephew, Matt.

 My Great Niece, Laura, age 13.

 Here's Josh again.

 A Most Wonderful Sister, Vicki.

 My Nephew and super bass player, Patrick.

And my Fabulous Son, Steve, who made the MOST delicious raclette mashed potatoes . . .

to go alongside Sue's wonderfully yummy pot roast.

And here's Sydney, Chris's wife, who delights all of us and planned a fun outing for the next day.

Random shot:

Three of the cousins went pie shopping earlier in the day and they were delicious.  Laura and Josh tried to teach us a card game that had no rules and in my humble opinion, it was stupid since they were the only ones who knew how to play.  But we laughed, Patrick challenged and we all had a good time.

Josh and his dad inspecting an autographed baseball that Jay had in his "stash" that was Greek to me, but Matt, being a HUGE baseball fan, determined that it was signed by the Atlanta Braves in the 1970s.  They were happy to have it.

Since it was already past our bedtime, Vicki and I headed back to Stowe to get some rest for the hike on Saturday.