These Pretzels Are Making Me Thirsty

I signed a contract for my window replacement project late May with a promise of an update in about six weeks. No update came. In fact, no contact came at all and I finally attempted to reach out about three weeks ago. FIVE emails and one more pointed text later, I got a "gosh, I'm sorry - something's going on with personal issues and I just can barely function. Sorry for the unintended disrespect, we'll touch base with you next week for scheduling."

Next week was ... this last week, and no communication yet again. I had such high hopes these folks wouldn't turn out to be typical County Where I Live contractors. I should really have known. I put a deposit down. I was told end of summer for completion of project. I'm about five seconds away from either demanding that back or the windows themselves and then finding someone else to install.

Grumble.

In more personal issues type news, my boss officially announced her retirement for the end of October. One of my colleagues applied for the position and I need anyone out there to please put forth vibes for him to NOT get it. Nice enough guy. Total diva and a nightmare waiting to happen should he ever get into management. I don't want to work under him. Oy vey. I AM interviewing for a different position, but don't anticipate getting it. It's not 100% what I want anyway. We'll see.

Pickle does not have a UTI, right, so if she's peeing she's just being a brat. Roy, though, his bloodwork finally came back and he has mildly elevated kidney numbers. He is entering early stages of kidney disease. He and Johnny both have been very thirsty lately, sucking all the water out of their food first, etc, so I assume she's in the same or similar condition. I am not surprised, but I am sad to think about it. I've ordered a bunch of low phosphorus food for them to eat, and hope they like it. Why the H is that stuff so much more costly than most food - I don't feed super high end, but definitely have focused on quality for years. Also, if many cats get kidney problems as they age, why are we not just always feeding them low phosphorus food? That should be the norm, no? Anyway, here's hoping that they like some of the non-prescription options. The prescription food all, frankly, looks like junk to me.

May as well switch the other two cats to this diet too. They're 9 and 8, so not young either.

Earlier this week, police were dispatched to a grisly scene at an apartment complex about half a mile or so from my house. Walter loves to go sniff around in the courtyard areas - it's not a great place to live, and the people are ... unsophisticated. There's lots of junk and stuff for him to smell, so he loves it. Turns out that a man shot his wife and then himself. Horrible. It's actually the second scenario of that type to happen in my town this year, though the first was more of a suicide pact than a murder/suicide. And of course Walter wanted to linger there a long time this AM. Now it's just even creepier to me, so we'll be putting the kibosh on that from now on.


^A rare moment of closeness, but those ugly ol' windows. Ugh.

I know there will be some backsliding with the weather, but right now it is sunny and warm. I mowed the lawn for the first time of the spring season, though it needed it a while ago already. My little mower's battery did not last the entire yard, but I may not have charged it fully. Now I have to finish today, ugh. The plans for the season: resituate my greenhouse, fix patio, add border/trim around house and around trees by house. Transplant lithodora for groundcover from front to back. I've had limited success there. To be honest, I'm tired just thinking about it, because the sinus headaches and drainage have begun in earnest. None of the current allergy meds help anymore, so the head hurts pretty much constantly and I have quite a lot of yuck in my sinuses. The cat allergy really kicks up, too, when the outside allergies encroach. I have started doing some lymphatic massage to help with it, so we'll see if it does anything. It feels nice if nothing else. I think I need to practice technique.



Finally put together a little herb garden kit (sans the cilantro - I have THAT gene) gifted to me. The cats NEVER sit on that window ledge and it gets good afternoon light, so I thought it was a good spot. Haha. The minute I put it up, it was the only place Hank wanted to be. Little turkey.

I think I settled on a window contractor, they came in at nearly $10K lower than the other bid from decent company. I was happy with that, especially since I've done my taxes and got a fairly sizeable kicker from the State; really helps out, though I have saved enough for it already. I am even entertaining the idea of a bay window in the kitchen - imagining it as a small catio for the critters. They love to sit by that window already... We'll see how much it adds to the cost, but it might be worth it anyway. It's a nice little feature.

Well, daylight's burning. Gotta get to it!

Have been off work all week and I am so sad at how quickly the time went. I didn't even do anything exciting, I had hoped to go get a decent hike in, even if it meant knocking W over the head for the drive. I could still do it, I suppose. I still have two and a half days...

What did I do for my summer vacation? I prepped and painted my kitchen cabinets. Then I prepped and painted my kitchen countertop. I'm happy with both BUT the countertops are definitely a temporary thing, primarily because I just didn't know what I was doing, so up close it looks a bit janky. Pictures to follow. They're on my camera and it's waaaaaay over there.

I also did city walks a lot, hitting the riverwalk multiple times. That's always lovely, but been there, done that. You know? Maybe I'll head down the coast just a little ways. Or hop the border. Or take a nap.

Finished laying brick border in the back. Kind of. I'm hopeless at landscaping stuff, that that also looks a little janky. I got a bunch of lavender, some sedge, feather grass and another larger ornamental grass and stuck that all in the ground. It needs more, but for now it'll do. The lavender alone already had bees buzzing and butterflies flitting, so that's a plus. Went with the small ones hoping they'll grow, just couldn't see spending $20 each for the larger. Stuck some lithodora back there too, a sad attempt at transplanting some overgrowth from the front, but I don't think it'll work.

Let's see. What else have I done? Bought cute new liner for the cupboards because no way was I going to paint the inside also. The outside took three-four coats. Pfft.

Drank a lot.


Of iced coffee. I really love a good cold brew. I really love even a mediocre cold brew, to be honest.


Butt cuddles?


Perfect weather for sunbathing.

At the store this AM, I almost bought a kit to refinish my tub. Could be doing that right now, and I regret just not going for it. Get all the cosmetic things I have wanted to do for a while done, right? Oh well. The fumes from the kitchen still linger, so it's probably for the best I give it a break. Maybe next month.

The thing about me is, I can have a long list of stuff to do, but unless I specifically take time off, I just don't do it.

Oh, and I had a guy come out to see about installing a patio out back. I actually got my hopes up because he showed for the free estimate... but then failed to actually provide the estimate. When I asked if he was still interested, he pulled the "family emergency" card and promised a quote the next day. This was a week after the initial promise of a quote. And two weeks ago now. Seriously, what is it about contractors and "family emergencies"? Every. Single. Time. I try to follow up with a deadbeat, they pull out the family drama card. Call me a cynic, but.

Finally got all four of my kitchen chairs back. Hooray!


^Before


^After

I still miss the yellow, but what can you do if you can't find the right yellow? I got close with one but it was def more orangey in tone than I personally care for, esp given the sunshine yellow of the walls. Have been considering painting my lower kitchen cabinets grey and the top white, and figuring out some kind of white exopy countertop. I hesitate to do too much because I really do like the 50s aesthetic and don't want to lose that. Hmm.

While we're at it, here's the window painting project too.


^Before


^After

I don't know, to me it made a VAST difference. That could be my general loathing of the windows, which I have had since day one. Neighbor up the street just put in new windows and she told me it cost her $14K. *dies a little inside* I have so many things I'd like to do, including adding on a small enclosed porch in the front, though I'm not sure how that would look. I just dream of being able to open my door and let the cats be closer to outside without being actually outside. Oh, to rewind six years to realize that a porch should have been on my wish list! ;)

In somewhat (to me) amusing news, I saw someone who once ranted at me (kind of abusively, actually) in an extremely political way start a sentence on someone else's space with a completely unironic, "I'm not a political person..." Had a great laugh at that.

Happy Saturday!

Finally, finally got someone to paint my house. It's been a disaster of a day for them - they drove from the city. I warned them it was busy this weekend, but adding to that there were apparently two major accidents on the road. They intended to arrive by 9 AM. They arrived at 12:30. Then took lunch two hours later (guys gotta eat) and because it's crowded, lunch took over two hours...

Anyway, I feel bad. Because I think I hate the paint color! Eek.

They are not as done as they'd thought they would be. I hope, hope, hope the color lightens a bit when it dries. Photos will happen, whatever happens.

Picking paint is HARD. Even when you're sure, you're wrong.

I actually thought I was going to have the energy to go to the market after I prepped the back yard for the fill dirt I've ordered. HAH. I am so tired and my muscles are jelly.

Kind of gratifying, though.

Whoever these people are, they are twisted. And I love it.


Roof Guy has been here all day. I am dreading the final amount due like whoa. According to information provided by my neighbor today, her former BF had attempted some years ago to assist with this very leak. Which made me angry to hear, because it should have been caught on inspection. This guy said all he had to do was look at the chimney in the basement to see years of evidence of the leak. Grrrr. Oh well, I cannot go backwards in time and it is what it is. I keep reminding myself of that.

I will have to check for pee spots. There's been a lot of noise.

Today I decided to stop being lazy and start clearing out the atrocity that is my back yard landscaping. I can only manage about two hours before my back says it's time to stop, but in that two hours I got a quarter of the way done. I call that a success. The remaining three quarters will take more time, as I'm just getting to the worst of it. Unfortunately, the yanking will not be a permanent victory. What I've been calling morning glory is actually bindweed - so awful. It is literally creeping closer and closer to my house, and if feels like if I let it, it would eventually absorb my home. Ugh. And I thought the blackberries were bad (they are!). At this point the only reason I hate the blackberries is that they make it painful to clear other stuff out. I didn't get punctured too badly.

I solemnly swear to be better at staying on top of the bindweed, ivy and blackberries. I would like to nuke it all. Maybe burn it.

This is how lazy I am: it's gorgeous out and my first thought was, "Damn it, now I have no excuse not to do yardwork."

My lawn really needs a mow. I have a reel mower, so I'm not sure how well that's going to work for me on the jungle, but I have to try. I also need to spread the fertilizer/weed killer. The problem I have with that is that it has been Wet this year (I have never seen the ground so saturated), so using the liquid weeder that you attach to a hose and spray down the lawn with seems like such a waste. Maybe I should buy granules and try to spread them by hand. Hmmm.

Being an adult is difficult sometimes! Haha. Time to suck it up. I always do, I simply need a healthy dose of whine before I do so.


It occurred to me as I ate something that caused stabbing pain in my gut just now (most things do these days, alas, though thankfully it's usually a fleeting sensation), my entire clan has been suffering intestinal ailments for months. I am now locking both Johnny and Roy in other rooms at feeding time. I should do all cats in different rooms, to be honest, because I am running out of creative swear words to use at them when I'm trying to dish out the food. This morning, Abe stuck his snout in the can of wet food and went to town before I could grab him and drop him on the floor. Oh, what I wouldn't give for a kitchen door that was cat-proofed! I need MacGyver.

(The real MacGyver, not the 12 year old Lenkov is trying to peddle.)

Currently, we are all in various sun spots throughout the house, lazing. It's Saturday. I hope the scant few who might read this are having a great day. :)

I know how to live it up. So far this staycation I have:

Cleaned the grout on my bathroom floor. Lesson: Never, ever, never put in small octagonal tiles offset with diamond shaped even smaller pieces in white with white grout in a bathroom, OMG. Big tiles = less grout = less of a pain in the ass to clean. Sure looks good for the moment, though.

Restored and polished the hardwood floors downstairs with some "miracle in a bottle" product. While it did make things shinier, I wouldn't say my floors look brand new as the product claims. Lesson: Imma have to actually resurface my floors if I want them to look less beat-up.

Removed 90% of the grout from my shower and regrouted. Lesson: this is something I think might be worth the cost of paying someone to do. We'll see how long my crappy attempt lasts before I have to do just that.

Removed caulk around tub. Will caulk later. Lesson: see grout.


I'd call it good, but when I flushed my toilet last time the flap broke. So, one more project. I haven't the desire to always have to stick my hand in the tank to flush, LOL.

Lastly, my arms feel like jelly from all of the grout and caulk work.