House of Blues

Today we went to a gospel brunch at the House of Blues. My cousin, Rick is in town and he's a big music lover. Andy went with us, too. The food was good, venue was good. It was just SO LOUD. Guess it was concert-loud. I know I'm old but I think it would have been a lot better if the music was toned down. So, I wouldn't recommend it. It was too uncomfortably loud to enjoy brunch.

2009- the year of the remodel, I hope

I still have high hopes for a happy 2009. The new year did not start out well. At 1:30 AM on the morning of January 1, 2009, I woke up to the sound of rushing water. It was really lucky that I heard the noise (despite wearing earplugs). There was about an inch of water in the bathroom and the water was starting to come into the bedroom. The toilet tank cranked.

It was really strange timing. The day before we had a design guy, Jeff from DreamMaker come out to look at the bathroom and come up with a remodel plan.

On the 3rd, we called our plumber, Art. Guess he's not in business anymore. Tried the company he worked for. They wanted to put in a whole new toilet for a whole lot of money. So, we went to Lowe's. Turns out that our bathroom is an old size so the new toilets won't fit. Our bathroom designer helped us find a toilet. He ordered it and it got installed last Saturday. $500 for a toilet!

In the meantime, the designer comes over with his plans. I had told him what I wanted and gave him a budget of $10,000. He shows us the plans, tiles, etc. It didn't seem like anything special. The bathroom would still be basically the same. Then he showed us his estimate -$22,000! He had no backup plan for a more reasonable amount. I guess he's mad at us since he hasn't returned with a new plan. I had to pay $350 for a plan that was more than twice my budget!

So, now it looks like I've lost my $350. What do I do - keep paying designer fees until one comes up with something reasonable?

Then this guy says the kitchen could be remodeled for $35,000. I asked him how in the world could he say that after quoting me $22,000 for a bathroom.

Here I am -ready to get some work done. With the economy in the toilet, one would think remodeling companies could use the business. Why does this have to be so difficult?

camera woes

Just tried to download my photos. The lens won't even open. I get an error message "lens error, restart camera." Looks like it will have to go to the repair shop.

Christmas 2008 cooking

I made loads of cookies this year: sugar cookies, sesame seed cookies, Lupita cookies, cranberry ginger cookies and snowflake cookies. The snowflake cookies were new this year. I followed some directions from the web and they came out great. Kevin took some of my cookies to Japan to give to Tomoko's family.

I also made my layered pea salad to accompany the ham for Christmas dinner. Isn't it pretty?

Christmas 2008

We had a BIG Christmas this year. Kevin came home from NYC. I'm afraid that he won't be coming home for a while since he is getting married in August and moving to Japan. Andy came and his friend, Woodie with girlfriend, Christa came. Kevin's friend, Lee from Vietnam came along to experience an American Christmas. Of course, Jim, Mom and me attended, too.

For dinner, our friends Jimmy and Lupita came over, too.

We opened presents all morning. Andy made brunch with help from Kevin and Lee. In the evening we played cards with Jimmy and Lupita.

Our new cat

We got a new kitty on December 5th. She moved in with our friends, Jimmy and Lupita after Hurricane Ike. She promptly got pregnant so she was named Sarah Pawlin after the republican vp nominee, Sarah Palin.

We decided to take her since I wanted a kitten. But all the kittens died so we now we just have her. She is very pretty and friendly with people. But, she doesn't like any of her siblings yet.

OBAMANOS!

Last night was election night. We had a gathering of friends over and watched the polls together: Mom; Jimmy & Lupita Perry; Laura & Kevin Vinther; Mary & Rod Haper; Barbara Kile; BJ Smith and friend, Neil Diamond; 2 of Mary's neighbors Jim & Honey, & ??.

At 10 PM CNN announced Obama as the winner! We drank champagne and ate cake. It was a momentous occasion.

Jim is very optimistic. He thinks that the Republican party will have to change - for the better. I think they will just make up a bunch of crap and people will buy it - just like they did when Clinton was president. Under Clinton, the economy was doing well, the budget was balanced, US prestige grew. So, then the Republicans unearthed a scandal and all the Monica Lewinsky nonsense took over the national scene.

I hope the secret service keeps Obama safe. I hope the Republicans will concentrate on helping the people that they represent instead of trying to dig up dirt! We Americans have a wonderful opportunity to make a change for the better. Electing Obama is the first step.