Kitchen Remodel, Part 1

Amy and I decided to take the plunge this summer and upgrade/remodel the kitchen. You know, because it's so easy to do this sort of thing when you have a child under one year old and another one on the way. It was one of those things that we'd been considering for a long time and then just sort of decided to do all of a sudden.

The first part of our remodel got done this past weekend, with the help of my dad. One of the worst things about our kitchen/dining room is the lack of adequate lighting. There is a ceiling fan with a light over the table, and a fluorescent light over the sink on the other side of the room, and that was it. Nothing over the cooking or food preparation areas, so that sucked. Saturday, my parents came down, and Dad helped (well, he did most of the work while his clueless son tried not to lose any fingers) install recessed lighting over the stove, sink and countertop, and then removed the existing fluorescent light over the sink. It all works thanks to him (I'd have burned the house down), and looks great! All that's left is for me to patch a small hole in the drywall where he removed a light switch. Then onto painting, hopefully before the next phase, which will be refacing the existing cabinets and getting a new countertop. If we only had color sense, we'd be in business.

Anyway, thanks to my dad for teaching me how to install electrical equipment without killing myself or burning the house down!

PETA Would Be Happy

Tonight was a new food for Bambina, and the first from a one-time mobile food source: chicken in chicken broth. As I'm following the advice of countless pediatricians and tasting the food that I'm giving my child, I can say with authority that baby food chicken tastes yucky. That's probably not exactly correct. I think it actually tastes like chicken. Over-cooked, completely unseasoned chicken. GROSSLY overcooked. I understand why they would cook the bejeebers out of it (reduces the likelihood of nasties) and would refrain from seasoning (don't want to upset the timid tummies of tiny tots), but knowing doesn't make it taste any better. Bambina didn't like it any better than me. After about 10 spoons, she stopped swallowing, which is the signal for me to stop cramming it in. We switched to applesauce and she was much happier.

The more observant of you will notice that I added a sidebar with a short synopsis of each baby food I try. I'm not ranking applesauce, because we're giving her regular unsweetened applesauce that you get in a big old jar for a buck rather than the little teensy-weensy 2 oz containers for 50 cents.

Some Traditions Are Worth Keeping

Our first date was six years ago today. For that date, I drove down to central OH in the morning and worked out of a satellite office for my employer, then we went to dinner and ice cream. Six years later, I live in the area, so no need to drive several hours just to go out with my Sweetie, but dinner, ice cream and a walk are still important to us. So, we're leaving Bambina with a friend for a few hours and going out to remind ourselves of one of the best days of our lives.

Love you, Sweetie...

Great Father's Day

I had a great first Father's day. I got to sleep in until 8A, which is nice with a 6 mo. old in the house. Teagan got me two lawn mowings, which really makes my day since I hate to mow and Amy is on the inactive list again this summer. For lunch, we decided to test out my recently repaired belly and had lunch at Red Robin (sorry Rattus), and then went for a good, long walk at a local metro park. Loafed most of the evening, and Teagan even went down without much of a fuss. All in all, a good day.

Bugs Has Good Taste

Carrot baby food is pretty good, too...

Home Again (For Now)

Thanks to all of you for your thoughts and prayers, they are much appreciated. I'm back home, though I'm not sure if I'm staying. The belly ache that sent me to the hospital is still with me, though much reduced in intensity. I was given the option of spending another night or coming home, and that's not really a difficult call to make, is it? I opted to come home because "things are moving," if you catch my drift, which made the doctor think that I was going to be OK. Hopefully I won't end up back there tomorrow, because, lemme tell you, there are few things less pleasant than having a tube shoved up your nose and into your stomach...

Prayers for Tom

Please keep Tom in your prayers the next few days. He is in the hospital.

Last night he complained of an upset tummy. We did the usually routine- Tums, Pepto, Maalox, nothing seemed to work. He was up most of the night in between the pain and Teagan's crying.

This morning he went to the Urgent Care - they sent him to the ER. An X-ray and CAT scan later he is being admitted. He has a blockage in his digestive track. This means he has a tube down his nose and it is sucking the "stuff" out. He is pretty miserable. Apparently it took three tries to get the tube down and he really can't eat or drink because it is sucked back out. He also admitted that it is pretty painful. To top this all off, he has some drainage that is seeping down into his throat from his Ear/Nose/Throat infection. That was diagnosed late last week. He can't really cough anything up because of the tube.

So please keep Tom in your prayers that this blockage disappears quickly, the pain goes away and that he is able to sleep. (Also, I am gonna selfishly ask if you would keep me in your prayers too... I am gonna try and keep the home fires burning by myself.)

Updates to follow.

Thought for the Day

Sweet potato baby food doesn't taste half bad.

Just sayin'...