2008 Reading List

I have succeeded in my quest ... which was a quest I didn't know I was set out upon, but then it became so when I realized that on December 23rd I hadn't read Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey, and that if I do read this book before the clock strikes 2009, I will have have read all the Jane Austen I will have ever wanted to read in 2008, which is maybe the most uplifting thing that has happened to me in 2008.

So 2008 was my Jane Austen year. It started out innocently. A book here and there. Then I saw Becoming Jane Austen and got all schmaltzy-eyed with 19th century love, and so I had to read the bios, then some critiques, and then finishing her books. Of all her books, my favorites became Sense & Sensibility and Persuasion.

Not everything was Jane Austen:

Time and Again, a book by Jack Finney who also wrote Invasion of the BodySnatchers, was an enlightened look into time travel -- one of my favorite fiction topics. Written in the 1970's, the government is funding an experiment using hypnosis to allow for time travel and the main character gets chosen for the experiment and succeeds in going back to 1890.




Becoming Jane Austen, by Jon Spence -- If you loved the movie like I did, this is the book which inspired the movie. The movie is fictionalized - imagining the relationship between Austen and LeFroy -- but the book is a biography (so be prepared for long confusing family trees). But he is one of the only biographers who thinks Austen's relationship with LeFroy was more serious and may have resulted in an engagement. The movie picks up on that notion.




Company by Max Barry was a fast, but good, read for anyone who's ever worked for a company where you sat in a cubicle, rarely see HR, and constantly asked yourself "What is up here?" It has an interesting twist that makes you wonder if indeed this isn't all a big joke.







If you're a fan of Neil Gaiman, you'll like Susanna Clark's short stories in The Ladies of Grace Adieu. And if you like them a bit on the spooky, gorey, dark side, then Nocturnes by John Connolly will do (the author of my favorite book The Book of Lost Things).





Finally, the 3 Kate Atkinson books I read this year are all really good. "Museum" is her first story and I really loved it. The other two are criminal mystery types with an ex-cop at the center and a set of interesting characters.

The official 2008 Reading List

1. Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen
   
2. The Jane Austen Book Club - Karen Joy Fowler
3. Time and Again -- Jack Finney
4. The Ladies of Grace Adieu -- Susanna Clark
5. Nocturnes - John Connolly
6. Sense & Sensibility - Jane Austen
7. Looking for Salvation... -- Susan Greg Gilmore
8. A Walk with Jane Austen -- Lori Smith
9. Becoming Jane Austen - Jon Spence
10. A Fine Brush on Ivory: An Appreciation of Jane Austen -- Richard Jenkins
11. Pride & Prejudice -- Jane Austen
12. Flirting with Pride & Prejudice: Fresh Perspectives on the Original Chick-Lit Masterpiece -- Jennifer Crusie ed.
13. Company -- Max Barry
14. Emma - Jane Austen
15. Jennifer Government - Max Barry
16. Case Histories - Kate Atkinson
17. One Good Turn - Kate Atkinson
18. Mansfield Park - Jane Austen
19. Persuasion - Jane Austen
20. The Kitchen Boy - Robert Alexander
21. Behind the Scenes at the Museum - Kate Atkinson
22. The Magician's Assistant - Anne Patchett

My mom's a graduate

Right before we left for Nashville, we had another important matter to attend to -- my mom's graduation!

Unfortunately, it was one of those snow blizzard advisory days and we couldn't all drive downtown to the ceremony like we had planned (grandparents, aunt, cousins). In the end, I went on the train with my mom and we hopped into a cab that got us there in the nick of time. Slush and sleet couldn't keep us from the ceremony!

The ceremony was really official, the auditorium was packed, and one of our US reps was the keynote speaker. I have no clue who my speaker was or what they said, but when the tables are turned, it's all very insightful and I felt myself getting revved up.

After the ceremony, there was a reception down the street and while it was weird that it was only me and my mom, it was kind of nice. Her hair looked good, she didn't fall on the stage, I consider it a good day.

My mom taught me, it's never too late to do what you want and to get out of life what was meant to be. Like the scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz, she always had brains but now she has the paper from the Wizard himself!

Christmas #3

I don’t really have 3 Christmases, but Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are like 2 different events and as long as you open presents, it’s considered Christmas. Right?

The 25th started out so nice and relaxing. We stayed in bed as long as we could, I made coffee and scrambled eggs for breakfast, and we ate it under the tree with the cats, the presents, and a "roaring" fire. We’ll remember the tranquility when we have kids screaming with joy… and wonder how we ever could stand the quiet!

Christmas Day has been at my mom’s for I don’t know how long. Apparently a long time. There’s no fish on Christmas Day, not even a fin. Today we had turkey and a spiral ham, a cauliflower casserole, sweet potato puree, oven roasted potatoes, green beans, and a salad. It was eerily like Thanksgiving.

We exchange presents with my parents, grandparents, and my aunt’s family on Christmas Day – and it’s nice because we open presents when they come over so it’s like 3 different sets of present opening. I’m not complaining!

My mom made us coffee as we opened up their presents – as usual we’re spoiled, even though I told my mom that if she bought me this pair of 7 for all Mankind jeans, I wouldn’t need anything else. She didn’t listen. But then again, last year she bought us a glass container filled with dish rags … For the last 10 years, my mom has worked and managed to create a glorious christmas, but this year it was better. The house looked better, the food tasted better, the gifts were better, and she wasn't a frazzled mess. I told her that unemployment looks good on her. My dad wasn't happy about that -- don't encourage her!

Christmas #2

Ed note: Our phone/internet is currently out of commission --flood waters most likely -- so photos will be late uploading.

_________

A huge snow blizzard awaited us in Chicago – home sweet home! … and 2 days later it rained and warmed up so freakishly that the mounds of snow turned into flooding waters. Looking outside, I see mostly green.

Well, at least we had a White Christmas.

I was reminiscing with my mom on Christmases past, when we were young. We always went to Children’s Mass where I usually participated, and then we headed to my grandparents for the night, where at the end, my dad would wrap me and my brother in very large blankets and carry us out into the snow and into the car.

Nowadays, we don’t go to church and Matt hasn’t quite gotten the hint that I like to be carried out to the car in a warm blanket, so things have definitely changed.

But what remains the same is that Christmas Eve isn’t Christmas Eve if we’re not in my grandparents’ house, where the aroma of fish baking in the ovens, and of clams broiling in the broiler, and shrimp being fried in the fryer wafts through the air. It may make your clothes stink a little, but it’s a smell that always has warm memories.

Matt is getting used to the Italian delicacies of my family – after 5 years. He sank his teeth into the zeppole upon arrival and said, “I was waiting for this!” Zeppole is a fried dough, much like a beignet but we don’t eat them sweet. (although here is a Giada recipe I'd like to try) Next comes the baked clams my grandfather just a ½ hour before shucked in the sink and get topped with the special breading. Finally, comes the calamari – and once you eat calamari like this, the stuff in restaurants will be just a rubbery mess. I like mine with only lemon.

By the time we get ready to eat, it’s about 830PM. Italians only eat fish for Christmas Eve – although I am reading that this is mainly southern Italian (what we are). I hated fish as a kid so I always got fried shrimp, and we still have it on the table to this day.

We opened gifts around 10PM, and what had started as a “we need something for Tony to do” has turned into Tradition. It’s the tradition of one of the grandkids to dress up as Santa and dole out the gifts. All of the grandkids have done it except me, and my cousin Andrew didn’t want to do it this year. So that meant … yep, me. I was Santa and I’ll tell you that beard is itchy. My cousins played my merry band of elves, and I was reminded that we need some new blood in the family.

Santa brought me a Hello Kitty robe and slippers, which I promptly put on after de-Santaing. But the big gift of the night was the 52-inch LCD TV that my mom, aunt, and uncle bought for my grandparents. Much better to watch CNN with.

Christmas #1

This weekend, Matt and I flew down to Nashville to have an early Christmas with his family. No snow, of course, but it was C-O-L-D. Nevertheless, armed with layers of clothing, it was bearable without mounds of snow on every corner.

Saturday night we went to Valentino's, a nice Italian restaurant closer to downtown, where the food was good and the staff were excellent. Both our waiter and the Maitre D' could do magic and when they spotted our nephew, they had a captive audience. My sister-in-law's blog has more here. She also has pictures here.

Sunday, the guys went to the Titan's game and we went to Cheekwood botanical garden, which is just a stone's throw away from Matt's parents house. They had a holiday tree exhibit we went to see and do lunch. See here for more pics. That night we opened our presents for our early Christmas and had Barbeque for dinner. In Chicago, we say "a" Barbeque and it means taking out the barbeque and grilling hot dogs, hanburgers, etc -- usually a summertime thing. So when they said, we're having BBQ for dinner and I asked, what are we barbequing? The answer was Barbeque. Barbeque in Nashville means pulled pork sandwiches and tangy hot red and white sauce. I'm slowly learning the lingo...

Sweet Acidophilus milk and boiled custard -- other things you'll find in Nashville that you won't in Chicago.

Cheekwood house - owned by one of the Maxwell House family.

Why Christmas Trees Aren't Perfect.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Toy Story

The Nutcracker

Polar Bear Express

Monday, we headed out to Franklin where Matt, me, my sister-in-law and our nephew had lunch and did some shopping. We went to Merridee's for lunch and waited in line to place our order right in front of Ashley Judd. Celebrity spotting!

Downtown Franklin - Me, Matt, & Brant

Our flight was scheduled to leave at 10:35am yesterday, and we boarded the plane like it was going to take off, only to be told we were delayed. It kept getting pushed back and they let us get off the plane and stretch. Then we boarded again to leave at 1:50pm (got drink orders and everything), only to be told again, delay... The weather in Chicago was just so bad that no one could leave. We deboarded the plane again around 3PM and Matt was ready to rent us a car when we finally got the OK to leave and we took off at 5:30pm -- 7 hours late. We got home at 8:30pm and home never looked so good. But I felt so bad for all the rest of the plane passengers who were headed somewhere else.

This morning, I called my mom's and Tony answered. "Thank goodness you're home," he exclaimed. I then told him how we were 7 hours late and how the plane was supposed to leave at 10:35am ... he cut me off, "Mom's still in bed."
"But Tony, I was telling you a story."
"I'm just glad you are home," he answered.
"You don't want to hear my story?" I asked.

"No."

Gingerbread

Last weekend we went to brunch with the family, and upstairs they had a gingerbread contest.

Every time I see these gingerbread houses I just want to make one. I think my mom bought us a kit when we were kids and it was a sticky mess. Somehow I get this idea that I'm creative, organized, patient, or have the time to do one of these. Maybe if I started in July? What is it about manipulated sugar that makes it just so darn cute.


Alright, a snowman riding a train? He's gonna be my christmas card cover next year -- choo choo!

The Tree is Up!

It's been up for a week now, but I haven't posted pictures. I love our new camera because I can take some good shots without the flash and it really captures what it feels like in our room ... dark. I don't think we've shut the tree lights off all week.

What's a tree without Hello kitty??

Or other cat ornaments and exposed light wires??

The bathroom: grouting pebbles

We finally got around to grouting the bathroom. I'll argue that Thanksgiving travel and Christmas brunch got in the way. My dad'll argue that we lolly-gagged on buying the grout and set him off schedule.

The grout we had to use for the pebbles (and can use for the marble) is an apoxy called Laticrete. That was what was recommended and it's a sanded grout that works well with the uneveness of the pebbles and the joints, but it has to be cleaned well in 2 different steps otherwise it will harden on the pebbles, and it's difficult to buff off.

My dad layed the grout, and then I followed up with the 2-part cleaning. All I can say is that if you ever do this and pay for labor, expect to pay a lot. It's pretty labor intensive and our bathroom shower floor is not even 3x4. I can't imagine doing this to an entire floor or shower. Here's some photos of the process:

These are the pebbles after they were installed.

Here's the grout being applied -- the grout goes over all the pebbles
and has to get worked into all the odd joints.

Here's in the middle of my first "cleaning" application. This was such a pain.
The sponge has to be constantly cleaned otherwise you smear grout everywhere.

And here's the final product. You can see that my dad also laid the tile over the lip
of the shower. It's starting to look more and more like a finished room.

Black Thursday

Arriving to work on a Black Thursday is an indescribable feeling, somewhere between denial and nausea. I kept telling myself that I didn't care either way and that I would prefer to get laid off, that this would be the kick in the ass that I needed to find something better and more meaningful.

Most layoffs happen in the morning and it goes like this: You get a call from your department head to meet. In the office is the HR Manager, waiting to tell you the good news that you no longer work here.

If you don't get this call, consider yourself a fixture until the next layoffs.

Our department is spread between 2 sites. The other site had 7 department layoffs by 1030AM. We had none. By 2PM, we had one. That's it. All in all, it was more than a 20% reduction but one-sided.

In another department, only 4 of 20 people remained. In other departments, no one remained. I kept tabs all day and counted roughly 80-90 people who were let go, immediately. But every site and every subsidiary of our company was affected and we are in about 5 different cities, so the number is much much higher. To quote a colleague who was laid off (to my shock), "It's a blood bath."

Needless to say, I have kept my job. The next step though is to find out what I will be doing, because all jobs will be reorganized with the remaining staff. So it's a mystery what they have in store for all of us. Only time will tell.

Thanksgiving

Happy "Belated" Thanksgiving!

We had a whirlwind 4-day Thanksgiving break this year where we spent Thursday in Chicago with my family, and then drove to Nashville on Friday to be with Matt's family, culminating in a 10-hour rain/snow filled drive yesterday (it's normally a 8 hour drive). The entire state of Indiana (I-65) was a traffic hell-hole. It was a great weekend and all we can think about is the ride home, it's a shame.

Plus it's becoming a meteorological tradition where we leave Chicago in the sun on Friday, and return home on Sunday in the snow. I think we need to start a movement where Thanksgiving is in October! Anyone with me?

In Nashville Friday night, Matt and I went to the historic Belcourt theater in Hillsboro Village to see this swedish vampire movie called Let the Right One In.

I had read in the paper that the Swedes make good vampire movies and we were not disappointed - it was good! I'm not really one for the vampire, maybe it's because I hate Dracula movies -- especially that stupid one with Winona Ryder and Keanu Reeves. But this one was good, it's not about Dracula, I recommend it!

Employment

The past year has been a whirlwind of sorts at work, with what I can imagine most people are feeling nowadays -- uncertainty.

My company acquired another company last year and so a series of 3 layoffs ensued, all of which I survived. What followed, for me at least, was positive: I was made staff and got usurped into a really great department. We all took a trip in August which helped us get to know each other better, and sort of solidified a solidarity and friendship we all thought was there. And I felt really lucky to be part of it (I was previously part of a department that wasn't as cohesive).

So right as we begin to feel good about our jobs, we've just been informed of another re-organization which means more layoffs. Two different rumor mills have reported everything to happen this week -- or next week (depends which office you work at as to which rumor you're hearing).

It's all very unnerving and I usually don't blog about work, but it's hard to feel productive when this is happening. Plus, work is such a big part of your life, it's hard not to be thinking about this all the time.

I'd hate to lose my job, or to keep my job and see fellow colleagues lose their job -- either way, there is a bitter pill to be swallowed.

Bathroom: Laying tile

Over the weekend, my dad finished drywalling and plastering all the walls and then he put in the new vent fan (with light).

He waited until the end to put this up because he was hoping we wouldn't change out the old fixture. But we really wanted a light in the shower and a higher powered vent, none of which made sense to my dad. The virtues of light as you shower didn't resonate with a man who says, "You shower for 5 minutes and then you're done. Why do you need light?" You would never guess my dad has ever lived with a woman with the way he talks sometimes.

This morning he came in bright and early (luckily I was up) to start laying the tile. Or as they are otherwise known around these parts, "Those damn pebbles." I had to give my dad a hand this morning and let me be the first one to say it, they are not easy to put down. I was glad we were just doing the shower floor (3' x 4'). Cutting them is easy per se (no tile cutter, just an exacto knife), but there was a lot of creative pebbling going on: pulling pebbles off and fitting them into spaces. I really hope it looks good when all is said and done. Fingers are crossed.

After the shower floor, he moved on to the bathroom floor where I wasn't needed to help, and to be frank, I couldn't if I wanted because there just isn't any room. This bathroom is tiny. And ti didn't take my dad long to cover the floor with the new marble tile.

The Bathroom: Weeks 2-3

I've been side tracked and haven't downloaded photos in a while of the bathroom, which is moving along nicely. My dad thinks it's moving too slow, but we're okay with it. Although the toilet is now gone so that might change things ...

We haven't lived with one bathroom since we moved out of the condo in January 05. One of the reasons for the move? One bathroom is not enough if there are more than One bladder occupying the household. You know how they say that women who live together start to get their periods at the same time? Well, Matt and I are starting to have the same bathroom schedules. Last week I was hanging outside the occupied bathroom door like a mexican jumping bean...

This is how the shower currently looks. The structure is complete and my dad even changed out all the pipes to new copper plumbing. All that it needs now is the tile (which my dad is still complaining about the pebbles).

This is the wall where the sink was. The plumbing got shifted and upgraded. Also, we moved some electrical outlets and the main junction box that was at the top of the right-hand wall. We also removed the piece of drywall where hidden underneath were some florescent tube lights. This area is now all drywalled up as of tonight.

The tile floor pulled off easily, and the old sink and toilet are now sitting in the garage (another winter our cars won't get garage space!) The new vanity/sink/faucet was delivered this morning; it's just sitting in the garage waiting to be brought in (hopefully tonight since it's like 25 degrees outside).

And right now we're researching toilets. We were initially not going to replace the toilet, but we know it's not water efficient and with everything else new, it's be nice to have a new throne as well. Right now we're eyeing this fancy piece of waste-hauling machinery. Shweet.

The Industrious Spider

Every year this huge spider builds his tunnel in our front window. And several times throughout the season I get rid of the web with the vacuum while the spider hides in a crevice wishing he could chomp my hand off.

But this year, he was extra industrious and managed to build himself a full length house the entire size of the window. He did this so fast, and I was so amazed at his fortitude, that I decided not to vacuum it up and let him hang out -- as he never did, after all, chomp my hand off.So it was a sad day the other day when I found his little body at the bottom of the window well. He must have gotten hard hit by the freeze the last couple of days. (I don't think spiders last through the winter.) So I took the photo of the web, it'll soon get vacuumed up.

Train Jerk

When you take public transportation, you live by a set of unspoken rules. And sometimes these rules are spoken and written down, but people try and pretend like they're not real rules.

For example, an unwritten rule is that everyone is quiet on the way home. I had some friends get spooked out by this eery silence. The fact is, most people zone out, read, sleep, listen to music. For 30+ minutes, you can just chill out before you get home. The written rules are less eery: don't talk loud on your cellphone, don't block the doors, don't leave your humongous rolling suitcase in the aisle. Blah Blah.

One rule people try to forget is that on a crowded rush hour train, you will be sitting next to someone. In only the rarest cases will someone not notice the empty seat next to you. This leads me to another Metra Tails train story courtesy of Matt.

Recently on his commute home, he made one of the rush hour trains with just under a minute to spare. As he was running alongside the train he spotted an empty seat on an otherwise full train car. He boards the train and heads for that seat. The current occupier looks up and says, "No way." And then proceeds to ignore Matt while talking on the phone. Now Matt could've taken this opportunity to be an equal jerk and shove the guy's bag over and squeeze himself down, but he didn't. He just stood there and stared at the guy, who said again that he wouldn't let Matt sit there. When Matt said, "If you have two tickets you can have these two seats," the guy just answered back, "Oh you just didn't say that." More standing and staring.

Finally the guy lets Matt sit there and he tells his friend on the phone about the "jerk" he has to sit next to and how he's going to talk loud on his cellphone (another rule no-no) the entire ride just to annoy him.

But he didn't talk the entire time, because the slug fell asleep. And Matt made sure to get his million dollar shot before he got off.

Sweet revenge.

My little brother is 30

My brother turned 30 yesterday, and we had a huge party for him at Dave & Busters on Saturday night. My brother has been planning this party for the last 3-4 years. His main request? a 70's and 80's theme.

So we did the best and had 70's and 80's TV tunes being played in the background -- talk about nostalgia! -- and the disco ball flashing lights. We also had his Kitt and Dukes of Hazzard Cars on display, and the balloon holders were bobble heads of Bo, Luke, and Daisy Duke.

The rooms at D&B are cool because they're open to the rest of the restaurant, so you're not closed into a room and anyone can go and play the arcade games. Plus we had a pool table and shuffleboard in our room, too.

Everyone who was invited came -- over 40 people -- so it was hopping. All of his special recreation friends came along with their parents and then all of our immediate family were there. He had wanted to invite the "entire" family, but that would have meant a party of wedding-nuptial proportions and a bigger room. My in-laws were in town this weekend so they got to come and meet Tony's friends.

Everyone had a blast, but most importantly, did Tony have a good time?


Looks like it!

This time matters!

So today we finally are going to elect a new President. After 8 crummy years, I can't believe this day would ever come. And it's pretty exciting being from the city of one of the candidates.

Rally Being Set Up
AP photo by Paul Beaty / October 31, 2008

Part of me wants to rush out of town on a 3PM train (well, I still need to vote) and avoid the crowds (trains are all running on a special schedule today). And Part of me wants to go downtown (it is after all a beautiful day) and see some history in the making, and just be part of it.

TV Satelites
Tribune photo by Kuni Takahashi / November 3, 2008

Or at the very least, see what our local newscasters look like in real life.

The Gilmore Girls

When this show first aired, I watched almost the whole 1st season. But that was the time before TiVo and aside from Seinfeld in the early 90's, I never remember when tv shows are on. I'm not that person who plops my butt on the couch at exactly 6:59 for my 7PM show on Tuesday night.

That said, I only watched a few episodes of this show in it's first season and I never watched it again. Until recently.

Our library is chock-full of TV shows on DVD and so if you need to catch up on some shows -- sans commercials -- this is your place. And it's not like Netflix where you only get 1 DVD at a time, here you can take out as much as you can watch in a 3-day rental period. So thus began the renting of Gilmore Girls, from the beginning.

I started watching it by myself because I have a husband who I prefer to have more testosterone than me; but I could tell he was feeling left out so on occasion he'd catch an episode and what d'you know, he liked it. At one point I actually heard him say, "Do you wanna watch Gilmore Girls tonight?" After I got up from the floor from laughing, I told him I was going to get audio Christmas cards and when the recipient opens the card instead of hearing "Happy Holidays" or "Season's Greetings!" they were going to hear my 34-year old male husband say, "Do you wanna watch Gilmore Girls tonight?" Yes, I am cruel.

So after being late with 3 DVDs and vowing not to show my face at the library for a while, I was getting Girlmore (my nickname for the show) withdrawal. I was in the middle of Season 3 and I was missing them. I knew I had hit a low point when on vacation I dreamt I was a new cast member on the show and I got to hang out with everyone (and they were fun -- not the real people, the characters of course beause you know it is a real place), and at one point I was walking and talking with Loralei (the mom) and I could tell she was bored with me, that I wasn't fun like Rory (the daughter) and I could never be part of the gang. But then I said to myself, the writers wrote this segment, so she's not being forced to talk to me, this is the show.

I woke up thinking that I might need an intervention, but Matt thought the dream was funny. So now we're back home and I am watching the last 4 episodes of Season 3. Whew. It feels better sitting on the couch.

The bathroom after 1 week

It's been one week since we started the bathroom and here's some updated pictures.

My dad's hankering for the shower components to come in, but we're okay to wait because sometimes my dad can go a little crazy and work too fast on a job without thinking -- I picture him like the orchestra conductor in Bye Bye Birdie. If stuff isn't ready then this slows him down.

Wet concrete

For the last two nights, my dad has come over after work and leaves before I walk in the door. He's like an elf that does the work when I'm not here so everytime I get home a little bit more of the bathroom is done. I feel a bit spoiled, but when I offered my dad a hand, he asked for Matt.

So in the last two nights, the shower has gotten fully framed, insulation and liner has gone up, liner has gone up, and concrete has gone down -- on the shower floor that is.

It's still wet and my dad put a small barricade over the door. I laughed when I saw it -- my cats could jump over this with their eyes closed! -- but amazingly, there were no tiny paw prints in the concrete.

Bathroom remodel begins ... officially

We have lift-off. Or tear-down, or whatever you want to call it. Demolition has begun and dust coughing has ensued chez nous.


The shower is obviously the main reason for this bathroom remodel so that has come down first. We didn't uncover the gruesome mold problem we had first thought, and this is because the shower is surrounded by the concrete foundation of our lower level. However, this wasn't done all in vain because studs were rotted with black mold, and the previous remodeler had added a layer of particle board under the shower to raise it up, which was also rotted and housing a new albino species of rolly pollys. Once we removed all those pieces, we were left with clean/mold free concrete to start the job anew.

I was also looking at photos from 2005, when we previewed this house, and this shower was IMMACULATE. This makes me think that this remodel was pretty new -- maybe to sell the house -- and so the old owners never used this shower. It looks like a cheap fix that had inevitable consequences (as all cheap fixes do - you get what you pay for). Unfortunately, we were the ones to get stuck with having to fix the problem. Any water use in this shower would have ultimately led to the mold problem, there was nothing we could do.

Moving on ... it's not healthy thinking about old owners.

The tile came in this weekend and it looks really nice. My dad approved of the marble tile, "It's just beautiful," he said. For the pebbles, he just shook his head and said, "It's gonna take a lot of grout."

The shower system came out pretty easy, and my dad is adding insulation against the concrete foundation for extra warmth. We also got a new high powered vent with a light for inside the shower (currently a low powered one with no light).

We also bought our shower heads, etc. Remember I said I wanted the LUX? Okay, well I budgted for everything I WANTED, and then I set the budget at what I wanted to PAY. Needless to say there was a slight discrepency not in my favor. So we left it as is, but knew we would have to cut things along the way (or downgrade). So what got downgraded? Yep, the spa shower. We ended up getting the Kohler Forte Essentials Showering Package, shaving $1000 off the initial estimate, but we're still over-budget.

So I hope we move along as fast as we can. My in-laws are coming in to town in 2 weekends, but there's no way we'd have a working shower by then...

More on Airlines

In a previous post, I ranted about all the upcharges on airlines.

Just now, I am reading Consumer Reports' ShopSmart and they detail all the charges that the major airlines can charge you. The best airline (i.e. no extra charges): Southwest

Having relatives in Nashville, this is an airline we use quite a bit and it's always been a fine, no frills ride. Glad to see they're always ahead of the competition.

The baddies? Spirit and AirTran

These guys will charge you for just requesting a seat change or confirming your seat. Tsk. Tsk.

Door County - Post

Photos from the trip are now on flickr, click here.

Door County is a solid 5+ hours from where we live, and a world away.

We got up to the peninsula, an area surrounded by Green Bay and Lake Michigan, just in time to enjoy the tail end of its fall color spectacle. Now back at home, you will be hard-pressed to find a tree past it’s prime, if not just starting to turn colors.

There are so many things to love about Door County – but what I love the most is an area where you can live in the “country” and be far removed from everything, yet you are part of a greater community. I love that a Peninsula, which you can cross in about 10 minutes, is filled with forests, woodlands, bluffs, and farmlands that make you forget the water lapping the shores straight ahead and the busy little town centers. I love that you can drive on a country road and stop off at a barn where inside is an art gallery with incredible art, where cherry and apple tree orchards share land with cows, and where even the “fanciest” restaurant doesn’t mind you walking in off the street (low-season) in your jeans and wind blown hair – after all, you just got back from Washington Island.

Last time we were in Door County, it was the middle of November, snow was blanketed, leaves had fallen, and not much was open. The little we spent outside consisted of running to and from the car. But we only spent 1 full day there, which meant getting engaged, seeing sights, and having a nice dinner at the White Gull Inn. We have no photos from this trip, so that’s all I remember.

One month earlier this time means colorful leaves, cool crisp breezes that a lightweight scarf can handle, and a little bit more life. Although a lot of places closed right before we got up there (the weekend of the 18th was a big festival and then a lot shut down), I would venture to say that early October would be slightly better (you can rent mopeds in the park), but we were told that September was the best time of year.

What we like about the off-season is abundant parking and no reservations. You can go just about anywhere and you don’t compete with a single soul. It’s almost blissful. Until you realize you’re in the middle of a forest and there isn’t a single soul…

Matt and I really made the best of the time we had; we stayed at the beautiful BlackSmith Inn so we made sure to spend enough time there to enjoy the hot tub, the view outside our balcony, and the treats (popcorn, cookies, hot apple cider). We also had a couples massage at Sacred Ground Spa. This was Matt’s first massage and it was actually really fun to have this done together and then talk about how good it was all day long.

This time we also went to Washington Island in an impromptu decision that had us speeding along winding roads to catch the next hourly ferry. Washington Island was DEAD. Nothing except the corner store was open so we just enjoyed the sights – Schoolhouse Beach, Little Lake, the Lookout Tower, and Jackson Harbor. That evening we ate at The Inn at Kristoffers, which was a really nice restaurant and we had views of the Sister Bay marina. Matt had this butternut squash soup with maple syrup that was killer, licking the sides of the bowl killer (and ohmigod, here's the recipe). Dessert was a pumpkin mousse cake that almost sent us into a sugar coma, a good sugar coma.

Another day we checked out the Lighthouse at Cana Island, which was so off the beaten track, you were amazed to still be on the Peninsula (and even more amazed that people live back there in the woods). Then we went through Peninsula State Park, and took one of the hiking trails where it was surprisingly warmer in the forest.

We also did – finally – one of the fish boils that Door County is famous for at the White Gull Inn (there are a lot of restaurants that do this). It starts on the back patio where a cauldron of hot water and salt is set over a fire, then in goes the potatoes and more salt. Finally the fish is added and kerosene is added to the fire to raise the heat over 500 degrees. The oils – the good omega 3 oils – from the fish rise to the top and get skimmed off, then it boils over from the heat and voila, the fish boil. It’s served with butter, lemon, and tarter sauce; as well as the potatoes and cole slaw (for greens). And cherry pie finishes the meal.


The ironic thing about the fish boil, as our boil master told us, is that the point is to skim the oils off and then eat the fish with butter and tarter sauce. So we take a healthy fish, remove the most excellent essentials from it, and replace it with artery clogging butter. I wonder if the dairy council runs the fish boils?? Although this is thought to be a Scandinavian tradition, it runs counter to their healthy eating habits. Tarter sauce has to be a new phenomenon for sure.

We drank some very good pumpkin and cherry ale at Shipwreck brewery and got a six-pack to go, we shopped at Bea’s Ho-Made goodies for cherry jams, and found a local potter who makes such beautiful bowls and vases. It was nice to talk to a local artist and buy her art for our living room – our little memento of Door County.