I rejoined Weight Watchers this past Tuesday to see if I can lose some of the weight I've gained back in the last year and a half. I also went to Zumba twice this week. Each time I go, I get 7 activity points which I can exchange for food. What a motivator!!
Michael and Joe moved Kaitlyn into the sorority house this morning. She is sooo excited! She said a lot of girls have made complimentary comments about her futon. I told her I want to come see her room after her roommate Joan moves in with all her stuff too. I get to go to parent skit night (dress rehearsal), the night before recruitment/rush starts so I'll get to see it then.
Tomorrow Joe and I are helping Michael move from the house he is in to a one-bedroom apartment. His mother, grandmother, and brother are coming down from Tulsa to help too. We'll all get to meet each other. I'm excited, we've been friends on Facebook for a couple of months now.
Sunday, they are supposed to start on our bathroom project. They'll begin with the mold remediation/removal, then we have to have a plumber come in and repair the plumbing, THEN the remodel project will begin. I don't know how long all this will take; hopefully, not longer than a couple of weeks.
Next weekend (Sunday the 8th) I'm taking a train trip down to Fort Worth with the ladies of my prayer shawl ministry group. We're going to knit all the way down there on the train, have lunch and walk around, then get back on the train and knit all the way home. It's just a day trip.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Flip This Couch
Kaitlyn is getting very excited about moving in the sorority house next weekend. We've been gathering things all summer so everything will "match" for her and her roommate. I purchased this futon from Target for Kristen when she moved into the sorority house 4 years ago. Her room was black/white/turquoise. Of course Kaitlyn (and Joan her roommate) have chosen a Bohemian sort of look. They purchased their comforters from Anthropologie and it has every color known to man except black in it. They can use almost any color accent stuff, but we kind of went with coral, lime green, yellow, and navy. Kristen did use this futon in her apartment the first year but it's been sitting out in my garage for over a year. I've become quite the accomplished seamstress over the last few years so I decided I would cover it. Here's the transformation....
This is what it looks like opened up to sleep on. Kaitlyn will really only be using it as a "couch" in their room for when friends drop by.
Here's the couch version (the sides come up like a beach chair). I still have some minor adjustments to make but it's pretty much done.
Kaitlyn is extremely crafty so she has made a bulletin board to hang her jewelry on (she had a similar one at home in the bathroom). She also made some really cute frames that I'm sure she could make a business out of at the sorority house. Sorry I didn't get any pictures of those...
All this work made me hungry so I made my first cobbler EVER with some peaches Jann brought me from her peach trees. It is delicious. I'll need to eat the whole damn thing by myself since Joe was in Houston this weekend (until Tuesday) and being a diabetic, he can't have any anyway and the girls are never at home. Oh well, more for me!
This is what it looks like opened up to sleep on. Kaitlyn will really only be using it as a "couch" in their room for when friends drop by.
Here's the couch version (the sides come up like a beach chair). I still have some minor adjustments to make but it's pretty much done.
Kaitlyn is extremely crafty so she has made a bulletin board to hang her jewelry on (she had a similar one at home in the bathroom). She also made some really cute frames that I'm sure she could make a business out of at the sorority house. Sorry I didn't get any pictures of those...All this work made me hungry so I made my first cobbler EVER with some peaches Jann brought me from her peach trees. It is delicious. I'll need to eat the whole damn thing by myself since Joe was in Houston this weekend (until Tuesday) and being a diabetic, he can't have any anyway and the girls are never at home. Oh well, more for me! Sunday, July 18, 2010
My Handiwork
This is some of my handiwork at the AOII house. Yesterday, I took my sewing machine and I was in charge of making the skirts that go under the sinks in the bathrooms. I made 3 double sets of them out of shower curtains. One shower curtain would make 1 set (2 panels). They match the shower curtains for the showers.
There is also an opening for a house mother. I called Joe's mother to let her know about it. Of course she has to go through the proper channels (AOII headquarters in Brentwood, TN) but it would be a great job for her.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Update on Plumbing Issues
Well, last Sunday I took all day to make pictures (individually) of all the clothes I had in the ill-fated closet. I had like 64 things in that small coat closet. The majority of which were evening clothes, long dress coats, hand-made costumes, and other long things that wouldn't hang in the girls closets. When I estimated the replacement value, it was a little under $6000. Sheesh, I didn't realize what I had in there. Some of the stuff still had tags on it. Now I have to send it to a cleaners that specializes in cleaning moldy stuff (only a couple of things actually had any mold on them - my wedding dress was one). I'm just picking out the newest, most favorite things to send, the rest I'm getting rid of. I don't want to gouge the insurance company for things I didn't wear or was planning on getting rid of anyway.
We've had sooo many people out here the last week looking over the damage. It now seems that the pipe to the shower may have been what was leaking behind the shower wall. At this point, it seems that we will get about a 75% bathroom remodel out of the deal. Unfortunately, I think we have to keep our old bathtub (boo!) because it would cost a lot to have it cut up and removed (it's cast iron). We will be getting all new tile, new walls, new counter top. Joe and I want to spring for new cabinets, sink, and floor. Which may or may not end up being covered under the insurance. We don't have a final answer on that yet. We also think we may not have to vacate our home while all this is being done either, which is a plus since we have animals we have to care for.
The girls pretty much moved all their stuff out. Kristen took all the clothes she thought she might need until Thanksgiving (haha). Kaitlyn was afraid that demolition would start before she's supposed to move into the sorority house on July 31. If they closed off the back part of our house and we had to move out, she couldn't get to the new stuff we bought for her sorority room. She packed everything up and moved it temorarily to Michael's (her boyfriend). We're helping Kaitlyn move into the sorority house one day and then helping Michael move to his new apartment the next day.
Kristen is still contemplating graduate school. We told her since all this mold stuff has come up that she will need to figure it out on her own. If we can, we'll help her, but not to count on it. She's been having fun on the dating scene. She met someone through work (from an external audit agency) and she's met a dentist (about 8 years older than her) out at a club in OKC. She's finally realizing there's lots of fish in the sea! She leaves on Sunday for her first business trip. She's going to Houston for 3 days to do inventory in a Chesapeake pipeyard. Woo, hot and steamy! She had to buy steel-toed boots and jeans. She's going to sweat her butt off, I hope she doesn't pass out. She almost got heat stroke at a Chesapeake Community Service Event about a month ago when she was outside painting a fence at a local boys ranch (for orphans). She is NOT cut out for outside work. We'll see how this goes.
Today, I'm going to the AOII house to work for the parent's club. We go in and clean up the house, paint, build/repair stuff, etc. before the girls move in, in two weeks. Kaitlyn got a notice from OU that they want her to apply to be a calculus tutor for next year. It pays $10.00/hour. She was completing her application the other day. She said she can also tutor zoology if she doesn't get the calculus job. Tomorrow, I think Joe, Kaitlyn and I are going to try to go to the lake.
We've had sooo many people out here the last week looking over the damage. It now seems that the pipe to the shower may have been what was leaking behind the shower wall. At this point, it seems that we will get about a 75% bathroom remodel out of the deal. Unfortunately, I think we have to keep our old bathtub (boo!) because it would cost a lot to have it cut up and removed (it's cast iron). We will be getting all new tile, new walls, new counter top. Joe and I want to spring for new cabinets, sink, and floor. Which may or may not end up being covered under the insurance. We don't have a final answer on that yet. We also think we may not have to vacate our home while all this is being done either, which is a plus since we have animals we have to care for.
The girls pretty much moved all their stuff out. Kristen took all the clothes she thought she might need until Thanksgiving (haha). Kaitlyn was afraid that demolition would start before she's supposed to move into the sorority house on July 31. If they closed off the back part of our house and we had to move out, she couldn't get to the new stuff we bought for her sorority room. She packed everything up and moved it temorarily to Michael's (her boyfriend). We're helping Kaitlyn move into the sorority house one day and then helping Michael move to his new apartment the next day.
Kristen is still contemplating graduate school. We told her since all this mold stuff has come up that she will need to figure it out on her own. If we can, we'll help her, but not to count on it. She's been having fun on the dating scene. She met someone through work (from an external audit agency) and she's met a dentist (about 8 years older than her) out at a club in OKC. She's finally realizing there's lots of fish in the sea! She leaves on Sunday for her first business trip. She's going to Houston for 3 days to do inventory in a Chesapeake pipeyard. Woo, hot and steamy! She had to buy steel-toed boots and jeans. She's going to sweat her butt off, I hope she doesn't pass out. She almost got heat stroke at a Chesapeake Community Service Event about a month ago when she was outside painting a fence at a local boys ranch (for orphans). She is NOT cut out for outside work. We'll see how this goes.
Today, I'm going to the AOII house to work for the parent's club. We go in and clean up the house, paint, build/repair stuff, etc. before the girls move in, in two weeks. Kaitlyn got a notice from OU that they want her to apply to be a calculus tutor for next year. It pays $10.00/hour. She was completing her application the other day. She said she can also tutor zoology if she doesn't get the calculus job. Tomorrow, I think Joe, Kaitlyn and I are going to try to go to the lake.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Some Good News
In lieu of all the bad plumbing news we heard about the past few days, Kaitlyn was notified today that she is receiving the R. Boyd Gunning Scholarship from the OU Scholars program. She was invited to apply towards the end of spring semester. Conditions were: 1) had to be an Oklahoma high school graduate, 2) could not have any other scholarships (National merit, valedictorian - which Kristen received, Native American, etc.), 3) could not have any Oklahoma Promise scholarships (family makes less than $50,000/year), 4) must have made a cumulative GPA of 3.8 or higher their freshman year in college (Kaitlyn made a 4.0). She will get $2,000/year for the next 3 years if she maintains a 3.25 GPA or higher. We are so proud of Kaitlyn. We were upset last year that she was overlooked for a scholarship, but OU more than made up for it this year. Yay!
Oh, and Kristen was accepted in the Oklahoma City University's Graduate School (private Methodist university - where most of the Miss America's from Oklahoma go to school). She will automatically receive a scholarship of up to 50% of her tuition and will work toward her MBA. She will continue to work at Chesapeake Energy part-time. Yay!!
Oh, and Kristen was accepted in the Oklahoma City University's Graduate School (private Methodist university - where most of the Miss America's from Oklahoma go to school). She will automatically receive a scholarship of up to 50% of her tuition and will work toward her MBA. She will continue to work at Chesapeake Energy part-time. Yay!!
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Big Time Problems ($$$$)
A couple of months ago, let's say the first of May, I kept hearing a noise like the outside hose was left on. I asked Joe if he left the hose on and he said no, it was off. Then I noticed one day that when I leaned over the bathtub the tub itself was very warm. Then I noticed that the floor in the bathroom was also very warm. I brought Joe into the bathroom and said, this is not normal. Tiles are usually very cold, the bathtub too. Then I noticed that the front entry hall had certain spots (it is tiled) that were very warm. This is where the dog wants to lay when she's hot. So I know that wasn't right. The whole time, I kept hearing water SOMEWHERE. And every morning when I went in the bathroom to put my makeup on and fix my hair, I felt like I was in a sauna. Well, Joe finally "heard" it the other night. So he started investigating. The side of our front hall coat closet butts up against the wall in the large hall bath. This is what he found.....
One of the girls had mentioned last week that the closet sure smelled musty... Fortunately, or unfortunately, however you want to look at it, my wedding dress was up against the wall inside a dry cleaner bag. It's not a big loss - I only paid $50 (on sale) for it (a Jessica McClintock dress) about 5 years before I ever even got married. It's too small for either one of the girls to wear (I was TINY). It has some mold spots on it and I was saving it for the "dress-up" box for my granddaughters some day.
Today, Joe had a plumber come out and start assessing the damage and what can be done to fix it. He opened up the wall and peered in. He thinks we have a leak in our old pipes in the slab foundation and there could be more than one. Our house is old (50 years old next year). We're waiting on an insurance person to come by and see if it could possibly be covered under our homeowner's insurance. I'm afraid to hear, very afraid......
One of the girls had mentioned last week that the closet sure smelled musty... Fortunately, or unfortunately, however you want to look at it, my wedding dress was up against the wall inside a dry cleaner bag. It's not a big loss - I only paid $50 (on sale) for it (a Jessica McClintock dress) about 5 years before I ever even got married. It's too small for either one of the girls to wear (I was TINY). It has some mold spots on it and I was saving it for the "dress-up" box for my granddaughters some day. Today, Joe had a plumber come out and start assessing the damage and what can be done to fix it. He opened up the wall and peered in. He thinks we have a leak in our old pipes in the slab foundation and there could be more than one. Our house is old (50 years old next year). We're waiting on an insurance person to come by and see if it could possibly be covered under our homeowner's insurance. I'm afraid to hear, very afraid...... Tuesday, July 6, 2010
4th of July Activities
Last week the Dignity Memorial traveling Vietnam Veterans wall came to Norman. There were big plans to have a ceremony, etc. over the 4th of July weekend. I told Joe I REALLY wanted to go see it. When I went to Washington, DC in 1973 - the wall wasn't invented yet. So, I figured I had better go see it when it came to Norman as I didn't know when I'd ever go to Washington, DC again. We went on Thursday evening about dusk. I personally did not know anyone who was killed in Vietnam, but I do know that Mark (the person I moved to Oklahoma to originally get married to) served in Vietnam and was deeply affected by it. I might add to the point of obsession or post tramatic stress disorder or something. This was one of the entrances on one end.
Looking up at the flags flying on the top of the memorial wall. It was sad to see all the names of the mostly young men (and women) who died defending something they probably didn't understand at the time.
This was like a casket/locker that things that were left on the wall would be sealed inside when the wall moved on to its next destination.
This is the Cleveland County Veterans Memorial. I didn't realize it was at the park. It was built in 2008 and I haven't been to that park since the girls were little enough to push in the swings. It has the names of all the veterans that live in Cleveland County, whether or not they were killed in action.
Friday evening it rained, and Joe and I went to Kay and Randy's house and sat out under their covered back porch and drank frozen margaritas and caught up on our lives. Saturday, it rained again and the forecast wasn't looking so good for the rest of the weekend either. So we just sort of hung out and didn't do much of anything. However, between Joe and I, we broke our printer. I said the heck with it and went a bought a new one at Sam's Club.
And since I'm not such a meticulous housekeeper, I made a dust cover to go over the printer.
When Sunday rolled around, we finally called off our 4th of July boating activities. So instead of sitting around all day again on Sunday, I asked Joe if we could paint the hallways in the house. They hadn't been painted in 15 years. So we went to Home Depot and bought some paint. Joe taped off everything and cut in around the doors. I didn't like the color. Since we had already bought 2 gallons of the paint, we went and bought a 5 gallon bucket, 2 gallons of white paint and a drill attachment (think giant mixer attachment) and lightened the color up. Kristen, Kaitlyn, Joe and I all painted on Monday. And what do you think it did outside? We were waiting for the 70% chance of rain they were predicting and it never came. Oh well, at least we got our hallway painted. Here's a look, it started out Spice Cake and turned into a dark tan. The fun thing is we always paint graffiti on the walls BEFORE we paint it. It's fun and we paint whatever we want, even if it's inappropriate!
Looking up at the flags flying on the top of the memorial wall. It was sad to see all the names of the mostly young men (and women) who died defending something they probably didn't understand at the time.
This was like a casket/locker that things that were left on the wall would be sealed inside when the wall moved on to its next destination.This is the Cleveland County Veterans Memorial. I didn't realize it was at the park. It was built in 2008 and I haven't been to that park since the girls were little enough to push in the swings. It has the names of all the veterans that live in Cleveland County, whether or not they were killed in action.
Friday evening it rained, and Joe and I went to Kay and Randy's house and sat out under their covered back porch and drank frozen margaritas and caught up on our lives. Saturday, it rained again and the forecast wasn't looking so good for the rest of the weekend either. So we just sort of hung out and didn't do much of anything. However, between Joe and I, we broke our printer. I said the heck with it and went a bought a new one at Sam's Club.
And since I'm not such a meticulous housekeeper, I made a dust cover to go over the printer.
When Sunday rolled around, we finally called off our 4th of July boating activities. So instead of sitting around all day again on Sunday, I asked Joe if we could paint the hallways in the house. They hadn't been painted in 15 years. So we went to Home Depot and bought some paint. Joe taped off everything and cut in around the doors. I didn't like the color. Since we had already bought 2 gallons of the paint, we went and bought a 5 gallon bucket, 2 gallons of white paint and a drill attachment (think giant mixer attachment) and lightened the color up. Kristen, Kaitlyn, Joe and I all painted on Monday. And what do you think it did outside? We were waiting for the 70% chance of rain they were predicting and it never came. Oh well, at least we got our hallway painted. Here's a look, it started out Spice Cake and turned into a dark tan. The fun thing is we always paint graffiti on the walls BEFORE we paint it. It's fun and we paint whatever we want, even if it's inappropriate!
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