3 posts tagged “lowes”
This weekend was one of the few (ever!) that I (gasp!) actually had nothing on my calendar. I know, it's shocking. It was fantastically wonderful to not have anywhere that I had to go!
Friday night Mike and I met up with Sean and Erin to celebrate Sean's sister's (Sarah) 30th birthday. We went to sushi.
I'll pause to give you a minute to catch your breath.
Yes, you read correctly, I went to sushi. Did anything remotely fishy enter my body? No. But I did make it through a sushi dinner without barfing on the table. One small step for mankind. It was actually a lot of fun. Sushi is surprisingly pretty (at least Mikuni's makes it pretty). I had the chicken teriyaki, which I have to say, was fantastic. A fun time was had by all (especially those that did saki bombs).
I had decided that Saturday was my day to tackle the yard. Yes, I've been keeping up on mowing my lawn, but that's been pretty much it. My garden and shrubs all seriously needed some attention. Mom came over to help me... I have some beautiful but tricky lilac vines growing that she had great ideas about. We also made a trip to Lowe's. For those of you who don't know, the office supply store and hardware store are two of my favorite places to shop. I especially love the hardware store because there are all sorts of fun things that I have no idea how to use but totally want to buy because they look cool. I am now the proud owner of my very own Black & Decker 17' Coated Steel Hedge Trimmers. These things are fantastic! By the time my two large bushes were done, I was looking for bushes in the neighbor's yards to cut! My mom is a saint... we had the best time and my yard looks beautiful!
Sunday was my offical lazy day. Mike and I had delicious blueberry pancakes for breakfast and then took Shadow for a little hike around Lake Tabeaud (prounounced like "taboo"). Shadow had the time of his life! We hiked for about an hour and a half, during which Shadow got several opportunities to swim. He's a ball of mush this morning - totally wiped out from his busy day yesterday! The rest of the afternoon was spent watching cycling (Mike) and napping (me). It was fantastic! Around five, Charlie (Mike's brother) made it back from Newport Beach with their brand new fishing boat! The boys have been looking for a while and finally found one they loved... and it's a beauty! It has a cool little cabin that you can sleep in (with a bathroom and little stove) and is going to be GREAT for fishing!
I know, it's not Sunday night, but tomorrow night is the Grammy's, so I'll be doing my "Grammy's In Your Jammies" blog, so I thought I'd update on the weekend now.
First of all, I'm happy to say that I've regained my will to run, thanks to a little prodding from Jess and one great article in Runner's Magazine. The article was about this fireman that was an Ironman, marathoner, etc and was hit by a bus... he should have been killed, but somehow, he survived. He fought back through crazy surgeries and ended up running the New York Marathon with some of his buddies (in the disabled category because one of his legs was shorter than the other and the other one was basically made up of metal rods). I figured, if he can do it with a beat up body, well, me and my not so beat up body could do it. Which leads me to my nine mile run on Friday morning. That would officially be the farthest I've ever run in my life. Pretty much every long run from here on out is going to be the farthest I've gone, which is pretty cool. Jess met me out at the trail and ran a mile with me, then jumped in her car and met me at different spots on the trail. Talk about a great friend... poor girl is pregnant and has awful morning sickness, but was still willing to risk it on the trail with me! It was the best long run I've done so far... I don't know if it was the change of scenery, that I had someone out there with me or my new water pack, but it felt great. Before I knew it the run was over. Now if only I could do that three times, I'd be done with my marathon!
Today was fix up the house day. I had a leaky toilet, which was a little bit daunting, since I know nothing about plumbing. Over the weekend I was told it was probably the "wax ring". Keep in mind, I know NOTHING about plumbing. But I figured, how hard could it be? So I headed over to my friendly Lowe's where I bought the ring, some caulk and a caulking gun. I then headed over to Home Depot to pick up some ground cover for under my roses and a hibiscus tree to replace the weeping cheery that decided it didn't want to live. I did all that planting, met Mike for lunch and then headed home to face the dreaded toilet. I turned off the water and flushed a lot. Now came the scary part, actually unhooking, picking up and moving the toilet. It probably would have been helpful for me to read up on toilet anatomy so that I knew what I was getting into, but sometimes I guess it's all about flying by the seat of your pants. Once we moved it, I stared at, well, a hole in the ground. For all it's fanciness, that's really all that this is about. A big fat hole with some pretty porcelin on top. Without contemplating what's been down said hole, I started prying off the wax ring (which was a little smellier than I expected) and replaced it with the new ring. Kati and I then put the toilet back, screwed it down and flushed. Water everywhere. We took it off, dried the floor and I molded some of the old wax with the new wax to make a bigger ring (and a better seal). This time, when I flushed, no water! Woo hoo! I then caulked around the base (which was a little messier than I had planned, but it was my first time...) and attempted to take a nap...
... which leads me to confess that I'm as addicted to the "Twilight" books as everyone else on the planet. I laid down in bed and 150 pages later it was 4:30 and definitely past prime nap time. I recommend the books - and I'm only ~200 pages into the first one. I can't wait to find some more time to read (maybe tomorrow afternoon?)!
Tonight the girls and I are headed out to see "He's Just Not That Into You". I've heard it's supposed to be really funny... I can't wait!
Marathon Update
Miles This Week: 18
Total Miles: 83
Wow, I can't believe what a crazy week it's been! First of all, woo hoo, I own a house! I can't believe it finally happened - it seemed like it wasn't going to ever finally close!
Last Thursday I got my keys and walked into MY house for the first time. Let me tell you, even now, it sometimes doesn't feel real. Like no way could I possibly own this. Until I get the bills. I honestly don't think I've ever swiped my credit card so much in my life! The good side is that I'm getting lots of air miles to visit Kati! I am now the proud owner of a refridgerator, a washer and a dryer, along with various other odds and ends. I never thought I'd spend so much at places like Home Depot and Lowes!
Honestly, I'm really happy to be here. It's been an adjustment, but I'm really starting to get into the groove. I love being able to sing at the top of my lungs in the shower at 6am! I've already met my two neighbors (on each side). One guy is sort of a grumpy old man that I've only really waved at. The other side is this beautiful woman and this biker looking dude. They're really nice and have two cute dogs - a boxer (un-neutered!) and a little chihuahua. Somehow the boxer, Chip, chewed a hole in the fence so that the chihuahua, Cocoa, could come into my yard. Fun times. Now I have Cody sized piles of poop and Cocoa sized piles of poop. I went over tonight to talk to them about it and they were really nice - they even gave me their cell and work phone numbers in case I ever needed anything!
Last night Mom came and stayed over with me - we had so much fun unpacking, shopping and watching American Idol (I'm still SO pissed that Sanjaya is still on there...). I was sad when she left this morning. Tonight Brig and Amber came over to eat some In-N-Out and watch the results show of Idol. Also a blast! We're going to have a little three person dance party this weekend for Brigitte's birthday (not QUITE ready for the housewarming party yet).
On that note, I'm pooped and off to bed. I finally have internet again (I can't believe how totally disconnected I felt from the world without internet and tv over the weekend!) and was able to work from home today. No idea why that made me so tired.
Good night!
