Mind Reboot

This past week, we've made a lot of pricy mistakes. Alex left my iPad in the seat back pocket on the plane home from our NYC visit. It wasn't just his fault - I saw him put it in there, I should have reminded him to get it out. Tonight a friend came into town, so we took him out for dinner. The car was towed while we were inside since we screwed up the parking. Goodbye, we said, to another 135 dollars. When we got home, we realized another (albeit smaller) error.  Our visiting friend just tore his ACL, and his wounded limb is in need of frequent icing. So before we went to dinner, we took all the ice out of the ice cube trays and refilled them. Great plan, except that we left the ice out on the counter to melt and get everywhere.

Earlier this week, Alex was cleaning the drain out and starting washing the sink when he was done. Done, but before he'd put the drain back together. Water went everywhere. I think we need a brain realignment or something along those lines. We are eager to buy a rental property in the next few months, and at this rate, we won't be able to since we'll have pissed away all our extra cash on stupidity.

Tonight before bed, I am thinking very organized, together sorts of thoughts. I am writing lists for the week, and making sure to come up with lunch options for Alex for. Yes, I am tired, but I know if I don't make easy meals, he'll just buy fast food instead. Half the days, I could probably be counted upon to make something for myself since my food laziness is much less developed than his, but the other days I'd hit up the work cafeteria. And that's money we've already spent on idiocy.

Catchup Post

With a death in the family, an out of town birthday party, work craziness, and hurricane Sandy, blogging hasn't exactly been high on my priority list. We have been making slow progress on the house, so I wanted to post a few images to get back into the swing of things.

Slugs have been eating the greens I planted behind the retaining wall any morning it's warm enough for them to be out. But no more! We bought a 50 lb bag of diatomaceous earth at the pet store. It's great for de-lousing the chickens, but also works as a barrier to slugs. Score!

The fire bush in the back is loosing its leaves very quickly, but it's so wonderful to look at.

We've been experimenting with booze infusions! It's cold now, so I crave bourbon. This is the first attempt, an apple vanilla cinnamon bourbon. We tested it last night, and it was glorious. It was even too good to add mixers. I just put a bit of water with it, and sipped happily. We also made a great batch of green tomato chutney from the leftover tomatoes in the garden that wouldn't ripen quickly enough to escape first frost (which is expected tonight!)

I realize this is a dark, virtually useless photo, but the dining room is coming together nicely! The walls are painted, there are curtains, and plants. Things are looking up!

Slowly but surely, these wall tiles are also going up on the accent wall in the dining room. Pretty interesting, right? The last little bit is taking a while to work through because we have to move an outlet, and there isn't anything to attach the outlet to in its new position. A dozen different techniques have failed miserably. But things are going forward!

For the winter, our indoor project will be the kitchen. I plan to:

1. Paint the cabinets a glossy white
2. Add red knobs and silver drawer pulls
3. Redo the countertop with a cheap, Rust-oleum kit for now
4. Paint three walls white and one wall the slight lime green
5. Paint the paneling near the side door bright red to match the hardware
6. Retile the floors