Tuesday, March 25, 2008

hey god, look at my kitchen

okay. so, the long awaited for pictures of our new kitchen. i'll admit i've been reluctant to get them up, because we are not finished... we're at about 90% - so you'll definitely get the gist of whats happening in there- but not the full blown WOW factor that i typically strive for in life.
so here's the deal... we had a whole kitchen in our garage for quite some time- (countertops, cabinets, appliances, sink etc...) we were in (nicely put) "negotiations" with home depot about the installation of the cabinets. without hatin' on them to much, the short of it is we couldn't resolve - thus leaving the whole thing up to ol beebs (which was also pretty stressful for me- cause though he is very handy, i doubted his 'remodel the whole kitchen' handiness). so we nailed down the weekend- presidents day. i left our faithful old kitchenette style kitchen with the kids on friday morning and headed up to b's parents house. while i made the trek up north with a screaming son, brandon's dad was on his way down to osos for some hard core father son bonding. my weekend was fun with shell bell, lots of outside time, good food and wine, and of course- the highlight- i got to take lily to the santa cruz beach boardwalk but enough about my time away, this is about the kitchen. so b and his pops got to work friday afternoon. they demolished the kitchen down to the studs, all to find that they had to re-wire the whole kitchen and add more circuits for additional lighting, garbage disposal etc... so by saturday night it was still a totally empty kitchen. hmmm, only 2 more days till mama comes home. sunday, they scurried to get the drywall up and finish the electrical. sunday night they cut the countertop (which b routered the edge himself on) and got the base cabinets ready. monday was a mad dash, cause by monday night when i got home, we had a semi-functional kitchen. tues afternoon when b's parents were finally released, the base cabinets, the sink, the appliances and the countertop were all in action. it was amazing! even though the house was quite dusty and all our kitchen utensils, dishes and pots were in the hall closet- we were in action!
so despite my perpetual reluctance to let b undertake home projects, i am continually amazed by his aptitude and speed! but the big thanks goes out to rents- his mom for putting up with me and the kids for 72 hours straight, and to b's dad for three 15 hour days. we literally could not have done it without them!!!
so yeah, here we are a month later. much progress has been made. as you can see the upper cabinets are in, the reverse osmosis in effect (shout out to fridge water), under counter lighting, and the cabinets around the fridge in.
so whats left... the molding and base boards around the cabinets, the backsplash, paint, and the lighting. new floor tile, and a new kitchen table would be nice, but not looking to promising any time soon...
which leads me to my next point and the reason for my title...
i will never forget one of the first piper sermons i ever heard (a burned copy from a friend of a friend). i can't remember what it was called, but i do remember three pivotal lines. i was in college, so its relevance for me probably wasn't fully matured, but he was making a case for what would now be in his book, don't waste your life. he was reading an excerpt from a readers digest article that was describing the "good life" of some fifty something retirees. they had bought a 50 ft trawler, and were enjoying their golden years sailing around on their yacht, relaxing and collecting seashells. doesn't sound too bad uh? well, i will never forget the passion in his voice as he depicted what it would be like when these seniors stood before the almighty. "look at my boat god... look at my seashell collection! isn't it awesome!" can you imagine? standing before god and all you have to glory in is your boat and your shells? its pretty convicting.
although i've gone through the last 9 years since hearing this with some thought; i hadn't really experienced the weight of it until just recently. since the old well has run dry, and it looks as though we won't be able to do all we planned in the kitchen, i've found myself unhealthily frustrated. frustrated with my circumstances and my husband. i want, i want, i want. i want the glorious kitchen, and yet i have to ask myself at what cost? i'm realizing (slowly) that being dissatisfied in my kitchen is incredibly menial in the big picture.
so, in sum i'm realizing once again, that god will find every which way to bring me back to him, even if its through paperstone countertops and bosch dishwashers.
so, throw one up for us as my husband labors each evening hanging pot racks and messing with the lighting while i lay on the couch eating ice cream and watching movies. it's obvious one of us needs to get our priorities right.
in the meantime, enjoy the slide show!

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

baby sister please

even though almost everyone i know has heard this story, i couldn't resist putting it up for you select few (mostly out-of-towners). this is, in fact, all time lily.

overheard in the shower.

lily- "daddo, what are those?"
brandon- "those are my balls." (wow. leave it to b to just be out with it.)
lily- "oh. well, what are they for?"
brandon- "well, when mama and daddo want to make a baby, that's where daddo keeps his babies." (no skirting around the ol birds and bees in this house)
lily- pause, contemplative look. "daddo, could you make me a baby sister with your eyeballs?"

now that we've aired it, i'll let you know there will be no babies comin round here anytime soon. so in the meantime, this is what we can give her.





we know- he'll be in therapy later. until then, he sure does make a cute baby girl!

Monday, March 10, 2008

enough you freak!

are you happy with yourself holly? you've basically offended everyone you know with your secret support of ol hil. i must say, i knew when i posted that business, i'd get some flack, but really people i gotta say- i really appreciated the comments but not one of you sacked up and told me who your in bed with, i mean on board with. after many scorning, sideways looks from the men and women at calvary slo, "get control of your wife why don't ya" penetrating their way towards brandon- i've decided to air it all. yeah, i concur with most of tina fey's sentiments. i think as women we have a responsibility and slight allegiance to "another woman." now many of you are thinking, come on- i'm a white man, i don't just vote for other white men... and well actually, you have, up until now at least. i ask you, how is being a woman and voting for a woman any different then obama securing the majority of black votes, or evangelicals standing behind huckabee or (sigh) bush (you know we were all so on board)? in essence i guess what i'm trying to communicate is that it really frustrates me that woman are so critical of one another, and really so lacking sisterhood due to often times petty differences. i just think its an opportunity to make history to some degree- be it a woman or a black man... i know we're all ready for a change...

and that's why i'm writing in Ross Perot in 08.

oh and i promise, i'll steer clear/spare you of my political rants for a little while.
but really, hey, please keep the love alive, and don't ex-communicate me, or kick me off your links just yet- i promise i'm bound to offend again... maybe worse.
love you guys. thanks for standing beside this freak!

Saturday, March 1, 2008

bring it

i admit i feel some pressure for some type of disclaimer- something like, "i don't typically use my blog for political reasons," or "i'm not trying to make a political endorsement by posting this video," but in reality i'm doing all of the above and really, i'm pretty okay with it. yet i will say in my defense, i'm not crazy about some of the language, and if you are sensitive to politics or cussing this may not be the video for you. otherwise, listen and laugh.

tina fey weekend update


and now my rant will commence. first things first. tina fey is amazing. i've been a fan since the early days at SNL- not like, "i liked that band before they got big" kind of fan- but really truly she's sort of my idol and has been for awhile. things i admire- 1- she's a funny lady, and she's not slightly manly, or a lesbian. 2- she crossed over from writing to acting with such ease and finesse. i've always said it truly would be my dream job to be a writer for SNL. growing up i remember staying up late saturday nights to watch the likes of will ferrell, molly shannon, cheri oteri, jimmy fallon and then later tina fey. i always loved molly shannon as a funny lady, but when tina fey came along i knew that she truly was the one. after SNL she ventured into 30 rock- which really, there are no words for its comedic genius. the lady has it all. not to mention we might be related (by marriage) -her husbands last name is richmond.
so when she guest hosted a couple weeks back i knew it would be good, but then to hear this skit- really i couldn't have expressed my sentiments better. i know a lot of you won't like this- but i'd been feeling that way about the obama buzz for some time- i mean really, come on ladies are we all such oprah drones? ---all the while a little glimmer of interest was blossoming for ol hillary. its crazy cause seriously up until a month ago- i really thought she was the devil- call it my anti-social behavior rising up, or perhaps my latina roots (they love the clintons) whatever it is she's growing on me and i just can't join the obama camp. so there it is... i'm out with it much to the chagrin of my husband and the rest of the christian community - yet i feel liberated to say it... cause i believe it. bitches get stuff done!
so as to whether she'll make it long enough to get my vote in novemeber remains unknown- in all honesty its looking a lot like nader for this cowgirl..
so bring it on people. i want to hear what you got.

overheard


overheard in the kitchen yesterday...

lily- "daddo, can you tell me a story about barbie?"
brandon (half listening)- "what, a story about who?"
lily- "barbie daddo. tell me a story about barbie!"
brandon- "lil, i don't know any stories about barbie."
lily (pause, pensive)- "well, maybe we could pray to jesus and you could learn a story about barbie and tell it to me."

so, you tell me. are we doing something right or what?!

oh, and in other barbie requests--- as i was getting dressed the other day, lily told me she wanted a "barbie bra." hmmm. all this coming from a girl who doesn't even own a barbie... or a bra for that matter.