In the meantime...

My grand nephew Toby has a school project to send a paper doll fashioned after the character "Flat Stanley" out of state(he lives in Pennsylvania) to see where he gets to. The recipients are asked to send back pictures of Stanley enjoying the visit doing something that represents the state. So what better place to bring him in Florida than Disneyworld!

 Here he is in the Magic Kingdom with Main Street and Cinderella's Castle in the background.











 Then we rode on the paddle boat. That is the Haunted Mansion in the background.      

Finally we went to Epcot where they are having a flower festival. Can you see Stanley in the among the flowers? It was a beautiful day. My friend Darlene also went with us, which was great because she is better to talk to than Stanley.

Stanley is being sent next to visit the kids in Portland, Oregon and then on to Hawaii before returning to Toby in PA. Wish I could go with him!

Cabinets are up!

Just missing one handle-oops Betty didn't check her notes first

Base cabinet along once bare wall

left of the sink

These are not the best photos-taken at night, tired shaky hand-but I wanted to get them posted. We need to order another handle. Can you see where we are short one? My mistake telling the cabinet guy that two go on each of those big drawers when I originally thought the top one would have only one and ordered accordingly. I like it better this way, however. We are waiting for the glass to go in the upper corner cabinets and the two doors over the frig, as well as the light rail that will be installed along the bottom of the cabinets after the granite backsplash goes up. I really like how they look.

Week One Done

Here are pictures of our kitchen remodel from the first week.

Monday the cabinets were torn down and along with the old appliances carried off. Then the plumber came in and moved the pipes so they would be BEHIND the cabinets instead of inside the cabinets as they were before. He also put in a new line to the refrigerator, so now we can turn off the water to the frig and still have water in the sink. Couldn't do that before either.

Tuesday and Thursday the electrician came in and put in all new wires to the kitchen along with more outlets-both because of new code requirements since the house was built in 1965. He also installed the wiring for the puck lights that will be under the cabinets.

Day 1: cabinets are torn out and plumbing is completed.

Day 2 and 3 electrician replaces old wiring and adds new outlets.

After inspection, drywall is repaired sink side above, bare wall below.

Tim painted everywhere, even in places that won't show.

Wednesday the cabinets are being put up...to be continued!

Updating

We are finally starting the remodel in the kitchen. We have hired a professional ktichen crew to do the work. I took before pictures after we had finished taking down all the decorations and emptying the cabinets. When I showed them to son #1, he commented on how nice they looked. Yes, they are in good condition for almost 50 years old. But, as they say on all those HGTV shows, they are in need of serious updating.

So we are taking down the soffit and have cabinets that go all the way up, with crown molding along the ceiling. We are adding a base cabinet on the bare wall and moving the frig to the right side of the range. We will have all new appliances and granite counter tops.
       How blessed we are that we can afford to do this.

Just too nice in Florida to be stressed...

My health insurance has started a new routine of offering a fairly good discount off the yearly premium if I either stay in really good shape(low BMI, low cholesterol, low blood pressure etc), or if necessary I am willing to follow the advice of a health coach provided no charge by the company the city has partnered with. Last May, while I was in Virginia Beach, I went for the screening. This was after traveling for awhile between FL and VA, and not attending zumba for months and not watching what I was eating(except to look at it as it was going towards my  mouth to make sure I didn't miss!)...so no surprise when my BMI was too high, but somewhat surprised when my cholesterol was borderline high. So that meant starting in January, I had to hook up by phone with the "health coach" every three months.

By the time of our first phone call, I was back in zumba and  cutting way back on carbs, so I was already following a plan and losing weight. No problem she said, just fill out the online questionnaire about your health and we will talk again in April. The questions had to do with weight management and stress. Today was the day of the phone call.

Health Coach: so I see on a scale of 1-10 you have rated your stress level a 2. That's pretty low.
Me: I am retired and I live in Florida, other than a kitchen remodel going on now (hammering in background), not much to be stressed over.
HC: Wow, I can hear birds singing in the background.
Me: Yes, I am sitting on my  back porch while we chat.
HC: You're sitting outside?
Me: It is a lovely sunshiney day...like I said, no worries, I'm happy.

Easter Sunday we celebrated Jesus Christ's resurrection and we sang:

“He lives to silence all my fears; He lives to wipe away my 
tears.  He lives to calm my troubled heart; He lives all blessings to impart (CW 
152:5).