One More Room...

The installers have one more room and the transition strips between the tile and the new laminate...hopefully they will be finished by noon.  My husband and I plan to GET OUT OF THE HOUSE and run some errands...we both are stir crazy!

I over prepped.  I plan to call the company we purchased the laminate from and get a refund because they charged us for the installers to dissemble and rebuild three things...they only dissembled one bed.  Everything else they barely moved from the room, they moved everything to one side of the room, laid the flooring and then moved everything to the other side.

Izzy is perplexed without the quiet carpet and the "click, click, click" noise of her nails on the laminate.  She likes to sit and lay on the carpet she takes her long, sleeping sound snoozes under our bed....so I had the installer guys cut a piece for under the bed.  That is her surprise today...

She had to be crated inside the house yesterday morning, and then we put her out on the patio with her water dish once the morning sun was gone.  She did really well with all the noise, and believe me, there was a ton of noise.  We had foundation cracks so they had to smooth out the floor...we had told them they could work as late as they wished to get it all done...but by 6pm we both were on our last nerve and asked them to finish in the morning...

I still wish we had carpeting...especially when I was lying on the floor yesterday re-hooking up our desktop to get back online... Same with the TV in the office...it still does not work.  All I get is static.  Guess I must have not hooked up something correctly...will figure it out later...I plan to lay on a thick blanket or pad when I do!

Will post pictures of the floors by week's end...

I have been debating whether I will put my bookcases back...as much as I love my books...that was such an undertaking...and then I did not even have to remove them because they never moved the computer desk or the futon out of the office!  Oh well, at least I can give everything a good cleaning...

Nearing the Finish Line...

Google images

I am nearing the finish line...next Tuesday, May 29th, we get our laminate floors installed.  It may take two days... Hopefully I will have the rest of the prep work, packing and measurements finalized so we can put everything back without much trouble...

The biggest undertaking was breaking down my four bookcases and twining up all my books and moving it all to our garage.  Reminded me of when we moved in....It was such a chore it really made me question my love for my books...

We have to remove everything off the tops of all our furniture, empty out all the heavy furniture, unplug all the electrical in the entertainment center, TV stands and computer desks, and stash those items in closets, garage and maybe out on our patio....WHAT A PAIN!

I had planned on boarding Izzy while the house is all torn apart, but today I found out they are booked solid until next Thursday due to the Memorial Day holiday... so she may have to be crated and walked every three hours like we did when we had the patio pavers put in...more work for me!  My hubby pulled his back muscle while helping, so he is unable to help.  I need him rested up for Monday night when we dissemble the dresser and remove all the electrical equipment from the computer desk and the entertainment center...

Here is a picture of our tile leading into our living room carpet...soon to be removed and laminate flooring replacing it...

We are having a neighborhood Memorial Day BBQ & Potluck tomorrow...we completed getting the front of the house trim, shutters and the decorative wrought iron fencing on our front patio painted; a storage rack installed on the ceiling of the garage for our bins of holiday stuff...so this celebration will also mark the half way point for all our projects.  We also promised the neighbors we'd have them over to see the completed patio pavers project.  I am so looking forward to a day of rest and relaxation before diving back in to the last four days to put this last big project to bed!

This is the sample color of the laminate flooring we are having installed: I think it is a nice warm color....we are planning on having the grain go into to the room rather than horizontal to the tile as it shows in this picture below...I hope it looks OK being our tile is set on the diagonal....

This is the hallway leading into our office where we will also replace the carpeting to laminate wooden flooring: (Pardon the mess, the entire house is torn apart...)

My bookcases used to be lined up in the hallway leading into the den...I have big plans for the den....despite the limited furniture placement, I am going to change the colors from blue to cranberry and will be eliminating as much of the clutter as I possibly can...

The new flooring will also replace the carpet in the master bedroom...

(The covered stool on the side of the bed is how Izzy hops up to sleep on her pink blanket....)

And last but not least, our guest bedroom carpet will go as well, replacing it with the laminate...

I hope I like laminate floors...everyone tells me I will...I will miss the warmth of the carpeting in the winter...but guess we will be wearing our shoes a lot more inside the house.  I better!  This has been a huge, time consuming project and I will be SO HAPPY WHEN IT IS OVER!

Sharing My Good News...

Holy crap!  Did Blogger warn anyone of this change??? I certainly did not receive any notice...I just discovered this "new look" today....hopefully I can figure out how to post this!

I have been really putting my nose to the grindstone, despite my sore arm (which is getting a little better)....I have an arm brace, an elbow wrap, and my back brace on to prevent further problems.  I have been moving all my art and craft supplies from the office to the garage art studio...mainly because we have decided to get new darker, more dense carpeting, because the carpet we have now is too light and gets too dirty too quickly...

I have a month to finish my de-cluttering...I have to finish this #@&* project, so we scheduled the re-carpeting so I HAVE to be motivated, and finish.  Hubby is helping with the heavy stuff...

Thankfully, the weather has been GORGEOUS and cool, so working in the garage has not been too bad....

I told you all I had good news to share...I have committed myself to realizing Nevada is where we are now and the reality of our situation shows me it is wiser to get used to it than to fight it.  So I put all the energy I was using feeling sorry for myself into re-inventing myself.

We went back to church the beginning of the year and met two other couples and a single lady who lives a couple streets over from us.  We get together as a group and go to lunch, dinner or movies.  They also invited us to join a church group they are in which gets together for potlucks and conversation.  We are really enjoying our busier social life.

I joined a Bible Study with three other wonderful single women my age...one of whom is my dog walking friend and a neighbor who lives three streets over.  For two years she kept inviting me to the Bible Study and finally I decided to join.  I am so glad I did.

Through the paver work we had done in the back patio, the contractor asked if he could use us as a reference and send interested people in pavers or LED landscaping lights over to see what he did for us.  The contractor sent over a woman who just moved here from Oregon after her husband died of cancer.  My hubby offered her a drink and we sat and talked...turns out, we have a lot in common...plus she is lonely and needs a friend too!

She has a cute little Maltese/Poodle mix named Loke (which means Rose in Hawaiian...she is originally from Hawaii.)  We plan on getting together to introduce our dogs and walk together.  She also is interested in exercising with me.  She likes to hike, (which I have not done in eons) but what the heck, maybe I can start with mini hikes....

I have re-connected with some of my California and Arizona girlfriends who welcomed me back with open arms.  I had been distant with them because I convinced myself I was "out of the loop" due to living a state away...I had made myself so miserable, I would talk with them on the phone, then hang up and cry because I missed them so much...of course I felt such loss because I had no life.  I was literally locking myself up in a self made prison!

Every woman needs her girlfriends.  I know that, yet I forgot it for longer than I should...in some ways I forgot myself....so maybe the "re-inventing" is really "re-locating" myself...

At first, I felt like I was just "going through the motions" trying to "re-invent myself"....and I still felt like I was betraying myself and feeling lonesome...but I kept the faith and kept moving forward taking action toward my goal...  I am feeling so much happier, more positive and stronger...more in charge of my life...

I also had a four unit bridge installed in my mouth to fill in the two missing teeth I had on the right side. I have always been so conscientious with my teeth, so when a former dentist not only broke my former  three unit bridge, he also broke the tooth off at the gum...hence having to have it pulled.  The past two years I have felt so self conscious with the missing teeth, even putting my hand to cover my mouth or not smiling.  It feels so good to throw my head back and laugh...and not worry about missing teeth.

This June I turn 65 and will change my health plan to Humana Gold Plus the first of June.  They will pay for my Curves membership, so I am looking forward to working out there and meeting more friends.

My Father, who has Alzheimer's, has had several medical issues lately and since I am his advocate, I have also been busy logging in his issues and following up with his doctors.  I write about our families' experience with Dad's disease on my other blog, here at Mystical Journeys.

I miss blogging and all my blogging friends, but I promised myself to get in shape and to simplify our lives by eliminating all this stuff I have lugged all this stuff for years from house to house and really never went through any of it.  It is going to feel so good to "let go" and have less clutter to stress me out.  Then I will have more time to devote to my hobbies...which I am narrowing down to writing and painting.

You would not believe the craft supplies, jewelry making tools and supplies, tole painting, jars and containers....it is all going.  I am also letting go of a lot of the books I have....many of them I have touched in six years, so I am donating them or giving them to Goodwill.

I have been attending a writer's group every three months or so and the last meeting I met some poets who invited me to join their meetings.  All the members of the group have been published since joining the group in the past four to seven years.  I now have options...I feel like the seeds have been sown and now the harvest is about to grow...  They also attend the Las Vegas Writer's Conference which is held annually every April.

I have a week long trip planned mid May to spend time with my Mom (Mother's Day), Sister (her birthday) and two of my dear friends in CA as well as about twenty women I used to work with at the Federal Courts where I used to work.  So I have my work cut out for me...gotta get all the little stuff moved and put away before the carpet installers come and move the heavy furniture.  We were told they will finish in one day...they move everything out of one room, lay the carpet and put that room back together, then move on to the next room.  We are having four rooms done.

I will continue to pop in and out, but after I finish this last project, my plan is to be back blogging on a more regular schedule.

I want to thank my blogging friends who have stayed connected with me despite my erratic blogging.  You know who you are and you mean the world to me.  You were there when I felt so alone, warming me with your personal stories and sharing your lives with me.  I look forward to catching up with all of you very soon.  xoxoxo Donna

Solo Passion...

Red Roofs, Marc Chagall, 1954

Photo prompt by Tess Kincaid

Writing Challenge hosted by Magpie Tales

 rivers of red acrylic

splash and spread,
across the floor
she feverishly pushed the paint
with her long handled brush
the passion of her life

viewed best by her benefactor
far above in  the star lit sky

from the red tile roof tops

her body seemed small
yet her efforts were great

her bare foot held one edge of the paper

pushing and pulling the paint

rarely satisfied

 always wanting perfection

 she had so much

to prove...

she always knew

 she wanted to be an Artist

her goal ahead like a beckon

blinding her to anything else.

consumed in creation
she dare not stop for one day
for fear of self doubt
would steal it all away...

despite the flattery

of flowers and ignored invitations
she had no time for romance

for men only want to possess
a woman's power

to harness and leash it
like a dog pulling his cart.
no one understood
her obsession to paint
so she cloaked herself
in persistence
and reveled
in her solo passion.

~dkb~

Gratitude....

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend."

Melody Beattie



Sometimes I allow myself to be too easily distracted and forget to be grateful....Ironic how one strain or pulled muscle in my right arm can suddenly bring so much clarity and gratitude...


One forgets how many small, daily actions are taken for granted when one cannot move one's fingers or bending one's elbow without experiencing pain...  Really got my attention!


Obviously, typing is not one of the actions I can partake in with my right arm semi out of commission.  I am getting better, but only if I do not over use my right arm....


Many blessings have been rolling into our lives as I take myself OUTSIDE and placing myself among people...putting myself out there....I look forward to sharing it with you soon....

Attitude and Effort...

"Happiness is an attitude.  We either make ourselves miserable, or happy and strong.  The amount of work is the same."  


~Francesca Reigler

Spreading Light...

"There are two ways to spread light: To be the candle or the mirror that reflects it."

~Edith Wharton~