Quick post

So today Mike and I went skiing at Liberty Mountain Resorts (I think that's what it was called) in PA. It took us about an hour and a half to get there, and substantially more time to get back due to traffic, us stopping for dinner, and stopping at Kmart, Target, 2 GameStops, KB Toy Store, and Border's Books. Why did we stop at so many places you ask? Well, Michael is on the search for Super Mario Cart for the Wii. And out here, it is impossible to find. He was determined to find one copy left but to no avail. So we left the house at 7:30am and got back at 8:30pm. We are very tired. My second experience skiing was much better than the first. I didn't fall as much, learned how to slow myself to a stop fairly accurately, and learned some movements that I didn't learn last time. I think it was a good time and we'll probably try again sometime soon. Michael only skied on the beginner's slopes with me so I'm sure he was a little bored, but he didn't show it too much.

Tomorrow night we leave for Dallas. I can't believe it's Christmas Eve already! I hate leaving the cats for any extended period of time. And since they are used to having me home all day long, I'm sure the 24 hour periods in between cat sitter visits will be tough on them. I will make sure to give extra room to Stumpey and Sabrina on the bed tonight and give extra kisses to them all tomorrow.

Merry Christmas. I think I'm off to bed. It's been a long day and I'm tired.

Microwave is installed!

After almost a week of trying to install our new over-the-stove microwave, we have finally completed our mission...but not without more complications to slow us down. I bought the 5/8" drill bit the other night as well as a stud finder. But since that day, we haven't attempted to continue with the installation, until this morning. We marked the stud with the stud finder and drilled the holes with the big drill bit. Then we attached the bracket that holds the microwave in place as the directions said. Next, we were to drill holes in the cabinet above using a template included. We taped the template to the bottom of the cabinet and moved on to the next direction...drill 1/2" holes in three places. Well, as you might have guessed, we didn't have a 1/2" drill bit. After much more frustration, back to Home Depot we went! We made a trip to the grocery store too while we were out and I got my prescription for Veramist filled. My sample is just about out and it seems to be working for me. Either that or I've been lucky the last week and only sneeze a couple times a day.

So, we got back with the 1/2" drill bit, drilled the appropriate holes in the cabinet, placed the microwave on the bracket, put the remaining screws in to balance it, realized the microwave wasn't on the bracket in all four locations, removed the balancing screws, removed the microwave, repositioned the microwave on all four places on the bracket attached to the wall, screwed the balancing screws back on and FINALLY got to plug in the microwave. And guess what...after figuring out which switch in the power box needed to be turned back on, the microwave WORKED!!! Now we are just waiting on the charcoal filter to come in the mail to be used with a recirculating air exhaust and everything will be complete! And I don't think it's going to be falling off the wall any time soon since I actually read the directions! Something I don't think would have happened had I not been supervising this entire affair. The only mistake on my part that I must confess to was not reading further in the directions to know that we were missing the 1/2" drill bit at the same time I had to purchase the 5/8" drill bit.

On another note, we opened up presents tonight for Christmas and we now have a dual compartment wine cooler! It was my present to Michael since he's been talking about wanting one since we moved in. I got a really good deal on it and the shipping was free. Now it is installed in our kitchen as well. WE FINALLY HAVE A FULLY FUNCTIONING KITCHEN! And the counter tops aren't covered with crap anymore either (including the little microwave that found it's way to Springfield, VA from Wilmington, NC after making a 6 month stop in storage in Camp LeJeune, NC.) The wine cooler's two separate compartments can be set to two different temperatures each corresponding to the color of the wine. I think I did good this year! And since it's the first Christmas that Michael and I will be spending together, I hope it turns out to be a good one.

The hand is improving but the kitchen is not

My right hand is feeling much better. It is still not completely healed as I'm pretty certain some deep bruises are going to rise on my palm in a few days, but most of the blisters are gone and the wrist pain is barely noticeable at this point. Good news for sure!

Unfortunately, the installation of our microwave has caused even more issues than before. Reinstalling the cabinets one would think would be an easy task as the holes have already been made into the wall and it should just be a matter of matching them back up and screwing the screws back in, right? Not quite. The cabinets are pretty heavy and with Michael holding them and me standing on the counter tops trying to make sure the thing is level AND find the holes which can't be seen because it is so dark, well, let's just say it caused our stress levels to rise last night. After installing one of the cabinets, Michael had to drill bigger holes into the bottom and side of the cabinet over the microwave to accommodate the plug which was bigger than the previously installed one. Then, after getting the cabinet up and trying to maneuver the microwave below it so that the cord would reach the outlet, we realized the plug wouldn't bend to the degree needed to fit in the outlet where it was currently placed. So, time to remove the cabinet off the wall again, take the cord out of the cabinet and then reinstall the cabinet again. This time a new hole had to be drill in the side of the cabinet so that the cord won't have to be bent in order to be put into the outlet! Success! Great idea husband of mine! So, now the cabinets are back up and it looks as though we can actually get the microwave installed. So, we start reading the installation directions for the microwave. The first directions are to find at least one wall stud to drill into. We don't own a stud finder (although I consider myself one as I found Michael...yes!...good one Kristen!) but, as anyone knows, you can also listen for the difference of sound a wood beam behind a wall has. Yes. People say this is possible. I don't think it is. What are you people listening for? Yes, one thing sounds different from another when you hammer on them, but how are you to know whether you are hammering on the stud or the hallow wall? My husband claimed he could hear the difference. Needless to say, we now have about 6 holes in the wall behind where the microwave will be installed and we still don't know if any of them hit a stud. And then after the multiple drilling fiasco, we needed to make a couple bigger holes for a couple of the screws. Well, we didn't have a drill bit the size that was needed. Yep...so after all of that crap last night which took a few hours in itself, we weren't able to continue trying to install the microwave because we don't have a 5/8" drill bit. We put everything down and I'm going to make a trip to Home Depot today. And this morning, Michael said that since we don't have an outside exhaust for the microwave that we are also supposed to buy a separate charcoal filter that needs to be installed on the microwave prior to installation onto the wall. This project has become much, much more difficult than we imagined on Sunday morning. We probably should have just paid the Sears installation team $150 to do it for us. But who would have guessed this would be so much fun?

An interesting weekend behind me

This past Saturday was ExxonMobil's Procurement group Christmas party. It was held at the Ritz Carlton in Tyson's Corner, VA. Since it was a formal event, Michael wore a black suit (although I still wonder if it was dark blue...either way, his pants matched his top) and a maroon colored tie. I wore a black satiny dress. The first hour was a cocktail hour, so we got there about 45 minutes into this time, 15 minutes before sitting down to eat. I met some of his very nice co-workers and I also met some of the nasty old men that work with him. I found out that sexual harassment occurs everywhere, including high paying corporations. Apparently, Michael hasn't seen this trend in his office, but I got a taste of it Saturday night and I don't even work for the company! Anyways, the sit down dinner was very nice and as good as you could ask for when feeding 150 people at once. Since I wasn't able to eat the appetizer, they made me a special salad which was very nicely plated with care. For dinner, they got lobster and filet mignon and I got a layered vegetable dish, some potato layered thing and a spinach flan (as they called it). The dessert was also a good dish, but I have no idea how to describe it....another layered fluffy pie-like thing. Everything was the best catered dinner I've ever had. They also had more desserts to nibble on throughout the night which included a chocolate fountain with assorted fruits, brownies and marshmallows to dip. Christmas decorated cookies, mini-creme brulees, um...and other desserts too but I can't recall what. They also had espresso and hot teas to prepare if you wanted. The drinks continued to be free all night including a martini bar with only top shelf liquor. I presume the one dirty man in particular, Dick was his name, spent most of the night hanging around that martini bar. I actually hope this was the case, because, if not and he was sober, I'm pretty certain he will never have a chance with the opposite sex and friends are out of the picture too. Oh, and my wonderful husband left me ALONE with this man on several occasions to fend for myself. So much for chivalry.

On Sunday morning we decided to uninstall the currently inoperating over-the-stove microwave in preparation for installing the new microwave we bought last week. After trying to figure out how to get the old microwave out to no avail, Michael ended up removing the cabinet above it. After removing the cabinet, we discovered more dead bugs everywhere. Yuck. Bad memories of cleaning that disgusting kitchen came racing back to me. In addition to bugs, the ceiling was also fairly moldy. Yay...more mold! He got the microwave off after cutting the plug into 3 pieces. Now, we had more to deal with than we originally presumed. So, back to Home Depot for some mold deterring primer. After returning home, we decided to remove the next cabinet over to see if there was mold growing on the ceiling there too...which there was, but not as much. It was pretty obvious that the mold was growing in the areas where condensation could reach from cooking over the stove. Oh, and more bugs were discovered too. Michael was nice enough to clean up all the bugs, kill the mold and paint the ceiling. Sometimes he does good things :) While we were waiting for the paint to dry, we decided to pull up the carpet on the staircase. I expected this to take a maximum of one hour to complete as the entire upstairs only took us a couple hours, granted with 2 more people but still a much larger area. Very quickly into beginning to remove the carpet (with respirator attached to my face...I was not going to have another episode like the last time we pulled up carpet) we realized there are 100 times more staples and tacks on a staircase then on a flat floor. It was ridiculous! Seriously, there must have been several thousand staples on that entire staircase. Starting that project at about 3:30pm, I did not finish until 10:45pm. Granted again that, after the initial removal of the carpet which took maybe 3 hours, I worked on this pretty much alone since my husband isn't very good with tedious tasks that require patience such as removing staples. Regardless, it took WAY longer than we expected and I'm definitely paying the physical price for my labor today. Even with utility gloves on and, whenever a blister began to appear I would cover it to keep from it getting worse, I still managed to get 5 blisters on my right hand. I have scrapes and scratches all over both arms (making me look like my husband after trying to pet one of our cats). In addition, my right hand's bones/tendons/ligaments are extremely tender. I definitely strained them. I have a wrist brace on today because it hurts for my wrist to bend. This isn't the first time for me to strain my right wrist and hand so I'm prepared...kind of. My lower back is also quite sore today, but that is minor in comparison to my poor right hand.

Needless to say, we didn't end up putting the cabinets back up last night in the kitchen and the new microwave is still not installed. Tonight at 6:30pm we have a consultation with a lady who works for a pet sitting company. She is coming over to meet the kitties in prep for our trip next week. After she leaves, hopefully Michael will be up to finishing our kitchen project so I can get my kitchen usable again. If not, I guess we'll be eating out tonight. But only if we avoid the times between 8 and 9pm. It's the season finale to The Sarah Connor Chronicles tonight.

Got a new pillow...ahh...

So we bought an inexpensive Extra Firm Martha Stewart pillow from K-Mart on sale for $6.99, and since I've been sleeping on it, bedtime has been grand! With that wonderful bed plus a new pillow, I love going to sleep at night! The only complaint I have is that Stumpey still takes up too much of the bed. She still snuggles up so close to me on my left and then, as the night continues on, she'll stretch out where I'll end up in the middle of the bed sweltering hot and Michael directly in my face to my right side. I will never kick her off the bed as I know she just loves being near me at all times of the day (and it IS really cute), but it does make sleeping uncomfortable. Sabrina lays at the end of the bed beneath my feet and although she doesn't cause too many problems with my nighttime, occasionally I'll have to straddle her body so I don't kick her. So, that adds slightly to the nighttime blunders as well. But, again, I love them being near so I shouldn't complain.

My allergies have been on the haywire again. I made an appointment to go to the doctor tomorrow. I would like to get allergy tested to see exactly what may be causing me so many problems in this house, but my primary care physician said they will check me out first and if my problems still don't cease after they treat me, then they'll refer me to an allergist. In addition to all my sneezing, runny nose, coughing, itchy eyes and now itchy throat, I've been feeling nauseated on and off for about a month now and I've been burping a lot which is something I rarely did before. At first I thought it was something I ate, then the next week I thought I just ate too much from Thanksgiving, then, when the problems persisted, and earlier this week I actually threw up, I decided to research my symptoms online. I've found that allergies can cause all of my stomach issues as well. So, that is ultimately why I ended up making a doctor's appointment. I'm tired of sneezing and coughing all the time, but more so than that, I don't like thinking I may puke at any moment. The PCP will probably just prescribe me some allergy medicine which probably won't work any better than my Claritin-D has been lately and I'll end up having to go to the allergist after all. We will see and I'll keep this posted as I find out more. I'm tired of feeling like crap all the time!

So I slept...

I slept on the bed last night. It was nice, but now the pillows are really uncomfortable. I'm not sure if this is due to the mattress being so much firmer now that the pillows feel too soft or that using the Tempurpedic pillow that I have makes my spine get out of alignment now more than ever. Whatever the reason, I woke up at 3:30am and couldn't get back to sleep. And before waking up so early, I was waking up and falling back asleep more often than normal. The bed was definitely not the culprit. The bed itself was very comfortable. But because the cats choose to sleep to my left side and force me to sleep on a diagonal between them and Mike, that causes contortions that I shouldn't have to deal with in bed. One positive about last night that I must mention is that no matter how many times Mike twisted and turned, I didn't feel him. Also, he wasn't leaning towards me all night and making me slide in towards the middle. And I got up a few times after 3:30am when I couldn't get back to sleep. He said he didn't feel me get up once. It's a great bed! Now I just need to get some great pillows to match...and train the cats to sleep at my feet or on my chest or stomach. At least that way I can sleep on my back and not have to sleep crooked.

Tempurpedic mattress is IN!

The sheets are in the washer, the comforter is in the dryer and the mattress is waiting to be slept in. I have never been so excited to go to bed in my life! And the awful old mattress is going to the mattress graveyard somewhere...anywhere but here! I will report back tomorrow to let everyone know how the night went.

Also, we bought our tickets to go to Dallas for Christmas. We'll be there from Wednesday night Dec. 24-Monday morning Dec. 29. Now I have to find a cat sitter. And get Christmas presents.

New Bed on the way

Yep. We are getting the Advantage Tempurpedic mattress to be delivered tomorrow! Thank goodness. No more neck or back pain when I wake up. No more tossing and turning at night caused from sinking into the center of our current mattress. No more waking up from Michael tossing and turning. I'm very excited. From the reviews, they say the bed takes some time to get used to but that it is wonderful once you adjust. And we get 90 days to try it out and if for some strange reason we don't end up liking it, they will take it back and we get a full refund. I'm looking very much forward to tomorrow night's sleep!

Last night we finished setting up the new Christmas tree. I had some ornaments from my childhood that my father sent me several years ago, but we went to Dollar Tree and bought some more for one buck each. I think the tree looks pretty good. We still need a tree topper, but even if we don't get one, I think the tree is pretty nice the way it is. We also got the cats each a stocking. We got Stumpey a stuffed bear that's really soft so she can carry it around the house like the other 10 babies she currently has. Skore really likes carrying around pictures so we may put a picture in her stocking. Sabrina may get dental floss because that's her favorite toy (she watches as I brush my teeth at night in hopes I will let her play after I floss) and for Skye, well, we haven't figured out what he likes. We know he DOESN'T like Mike, so maybe we'll give him a day of freedom from his daddy. In addition, they'll probably get some wet food which they don't normally eat. And, of course, they'll get lots of love. But that's not just for Christmas!