A story of Us....

Fifteen years.

That is how long my Homeboy and I have been married. Today is our anniversary. Fifteen years.

The story of us began in early 1987. I had 'known' my Homeboy for a while. He was older. He was cool, he had a VW bus, he surfed, he had been to college out of state, he could drink beer. I was none of that, I was a punky 17 year old, fibbing to my parents about spending the night at my best friends house so I could go out and experience real high school parties (my strict father was in Law Enforcement. Yay me.). He had no idea who I was. Fast forward to age 21. My friends and I would go to a club and watch our friends' band play. My Homeboy was there, he said "You look familiar". We did tequila shots. We became friends. Fast forward a year, I had dated this guy I met in Palm Springs during spring break. He had just dumped me, I was heartbroken. Mr. Dumper happened to be in town one Saturday night and wanted to see me. I had already made plans to go out with my girlfriends that night, so I said "Sorry, I have plans". The plans I made were to go to a Going Away party for my friend, my Homeboy who was leaving for a 5 month surf tour through the South Pacific. I am so glad I didn't out with Mr. Dumper and I went to the party. In between tequila shots, I had a chance to talk to my Homeboy that night, really talk. We grabbed our beers, took some beach chairs and headed to a spot overlooking the lagoon. We talked for hours. We talked about life, our families, our friends, our likes, our dislikes and kids. He wanted KIDS. Bonus. I sent him off that night with a hug and he asked for my address. He said he would write. I said, "Yeah right." A few weeks later my mom came into my room (Yes, I still lived at home. Hey! WHO wouldn't like the 6pm dinner time and no cost laundry facility?), with a post card postmarked from Australia. He WROTE me. Every month for 5 months I would get a postcard postmarked from New Zealand, Fiji, Tasmania and Tahiti.

This photo was taken the night he returned 17 years ago and we haven't been apart since.



To my Homeboy,

Thank you for 15 amazing years. Thank you for being the best father two boys could ever ask for. Thank you for always carrying my paddleboard. Thank you for being you.

I love you.

Business Time

Home sweet home

Thanks for all of the kudos on the new kitchen. It turned out exactly the way we imagined it. The process however didn't. We (well, M is the 'we', but I DO all the painting and knob installing) are normally do it yourselfer's, but realized quickly that this was going to be out of our league so we decided to hire a contracting company. Big mistake. We went with a company who does alot of homes around here. We talked to some of them and they seemed to be satisfied, and without any major mishaps. The beginning of the project started out smooth. Demo of the kitchen started and everything was ripped out to the studs. YAY. Right after everything was ripped out, the crew didn't show up for three days. On the third day M called our contractor to see what was up. Our contractor acted surprised and said he would see what was up and would call me right back. Two days later he finally me calls back. Supposedly the forman on our crew was ill, and he would resume work the next day. The next day turned into two weeks of no crew (he was not ill afterall we found out). Enter the second crew. They were on the job, however our contractor would not have the materials here for them to get the job done with. They get sick of it and walk off the job. Elapsed time 6 weeks and a demo'd kitchen/living/dining room. It took a very heated, read SCREAMING ARGUMENT BETWEEN M and our contractor for him to get his shit together and get crack-a-lakin on our job. In the end M told him either he stap on his bags and personally get his ass out here to finish our job or he was fired. Miraculously, he was on the job the next day with bags on. Problem after problem incurred and many a heated discussion later we ended up basically finishing the project ourselves by painting and installing the sink fixture, the garbage disposal and air switch, which were going to take weeks for him to finish himself. I JUST WANTED TO COOK IN MY KITCHEN is that too much to ask? In a nutshell our contractor was clueless, hotheaded, incapable, and a straight up DICK. It got to the point where I could not deal with him because he was so rude and condescending towards me, therefore I would dish it back twofold and I hate talking to another person that way. I didn't need that stress so I had to have M deal with him, which wasn't even better.

Anyway, it is done and he is out of our hair. Believe me I have letters drafted to his company, the BBB*, and the state licensing board along with pictures of some of the work that was shotty and unacceptable (that we fixed because we couldn't trust him to fix).

In a nutshell we are staying do it yourselfers, as sometimes you think you are paying for knowledge and you end up with someone CLUELESS.

Oh, and to answer a question about the countertops. I really wanted soapstone, but with the plumbing and electrical being twice as much because of their age and condition had to be completely replaced, the extra cost ended up coming out of my countertop budget. So, I searched for something less expensive but would still give me the look of soapstone. I went with C0rian and I am so glad I did. The dark grey on the island is called "Earth" and it totally gives a similar look of soapstone. The white C0rian around the perimeter of the kitchen cabinets looks like a natural marble (I forget the name of it). I was afraid of it looking fake or plasticky, but I was pleasantly surprised that it looks amazing.

Twenty two

A pair of twos and pair of waiting parents who think this is never going to happen.

Trying to stay optimistic.

At least there is a new season of ^My Big Redneck Wedding^...........sigh.

The After

Alright, looks like we have damn near finished this project. I am a lazy bones jones and don't feel like locating and uploading the BEFORE PHOTOS so, just click and have a look see, take your time, I'll wait.

Excuse the crappy photos, they were taken with the worlds WORST camera ever known to mankind. It is an OlymPUS Stylus -aka-a total waste of $289+tax. DON'T buy this camera you will hate every photo you take. I had to use this camera because I can't find the cord to download from my Canon SLR.

Here is the center island, it ended up being over 9 feet. Sometimes I feel like dancing on it.

Another shot of the island

The range hood flange still needs to be fabricated and the pot filler installed

I LOVE my faucet. This thing has super powers. Serious. There will eventually be a glass tile backslpash when the tile guy gets here.

The Beast

Mi casa es su casa

This room used to be the jacked up 'sports den/music room'. Now a formal dining room. Me likey.

My Homeboy and his new toy.

This is the third, yes, THIRD 40 yard dumpster of demo waste. I have no grass left but guess what? I have a killer kitchen!!!

My horoscope for today.....

The power that you want so badly right now will come to you -- just keep waiting.