The air is thick

With filth!

The air is unhealthy for sensitive groups today and the pollen levels are at 9. When I rode my scoot scoot home today, I couldn't see the hills/mountains. When it is nice outside, it looks like they are only a few minutes away. My daughter's eyes are burning and one of my coworkers had a little bit of a bloody nose this morning and was sneezing and coughing. Allergies are bad when you cough. (My opinion)

I love my home and my job and we are doing pretty good here in the armpit of Cali BUT, the day will come when we seek out cleaner air and some kind of breeze. That day will be happy. When I can look toward the horizon and see something other than a brown sludge (it almost looks like you can reach out to wipe at it and come away with ca-ca on your fingers) and I am not living in a city full of sickness due to asthma and other stuff caused by our air.

Yes, I know that pollution pretty much everywhere is getting worse but armits (whether they be literal or figurative) tend to accumulate the nasties unless they are washed out regularly. Fresno does not get regular washings.

This title is from the San Fransico Chronicle on May 1, 2007

4 smoggiest cities located in California
L.A., Bakersfield, Visalia area, Fresno
Jane Kay, Chronicle Environment Writer


On a side note, my daughter is in her room belting out Taylor Swift songs. Fortunately, she has come to the realization that Taylor Swift is a horrible singer BUT she still likes her songs. So, she closes her door and belts them at the top of her lungs. She likes to sing so I let her make her lungs sore.

KITCHEN DONE!?

So I "finished" the kitchen this weekend while Matt was off in the wilderness looking to befriend Bambi and bring home a new pet...haha.

I say "finished" because there is a good chance that something else needs to be done that Matt will remind me of later. Oh, some of the shelves by the window need to be painted and some trim painting needs to be done.


Anyway, I changed the pendant lights (so much nicer and fit the feel of the kitchen) and I repainted the kitchen a creamy buttercup color (which is what I thought I was doing the first time but it really was a cross between Big Bird and lemon...not good), and I did the "backsplash". All the paint and materials for the backsplash and walls was less than $20! You ask, "How the heck is that possible?!" Well, my friends, it is easy when you are thrifty and creative. *hint...the backsplash is FAKE!


I was walking around Walmart because I was lonely with my hubby gone and thought that I would look in the paint section to spark up some ideas for the kitchen walls (I was going to mix some paint at home and alter the nasty yellow to a subtler hue). Well, it was like the heavens opened and shined down on the gallon of Dutch Boy, Interior, Satin wall paint that was 50% off. It was mixed to perfection (for me, apparently not for the person that initially requested it) and on the discounted, premixed rack. So that was my wall color...then I went on the hunt for a rectangular sponge. For less than $2, i got a replacement sponge head for one of those crappy floor mops. PERFECT FOR ME! And that little plastic part on one side of the sponge that has the scrubby pad on it was a perfect handle. I'm telling you, the planets were all aligned.


So, I took home my booty (as in pirate's booty...not my butt) and got my booty (as in butt...not pirate's booty) to work. Here is the result!

On the island is the one persimmon I was able to salvage after two seasons here. I don't think it is ripe but the squirrels got the other ones.

It's so pretty and clean

Look at the Maxie Boo playing Peek-a-Boo. He wants some beans cookin on the counter.

It almost feels like it has a French flava

NEW KITCHEN! almost done

So I forgot to put some pictures of our new (almost done) kitchen on here. Hopefully they do it justice. Matt was working on the custom built cabinet nooks/shelves on either side of the window and the crown moulding today. We are SO close to being done but done enough that I can hardly remember how crappy it was when we were in the demo and reconstruction phase. The two beginning pictures are taken after we had already done some changes. The white cabinets were built by Matt and we took down the hanging cabinets that were above the penisula.

Here is a list of some of the things we did.

• pulled out cabinets
• impact drilled and smashed nasty tile countertops
• cut half the wall off and finished it
• built a new partial wall to the side of the fridge
• replaced insulation and sheetrock in the walls
• tore out nasty ceiling sofit
• sheetrocked nice new flat ceiling
• scraped popcorn/acoustic ceiling and retextured
• ripped up linoleum in kitchen, carpet in dining area and tile in entry
• put down cool new linoleum like wood look flooring (so easy and so nice...after it airs out for a few days...not a green product)
• finished edges of carpet
• moved appliances around
• installed new cabinets and created island
• corian countertops installed (the only thing we didn't do ourselves)
• new blanco single basin silgranite sink (i will never have more than one basin again)
• paint paint paint
• installed new door and trim
• recessed lights and pendants (which need to be replaced because one was broken)
• in the process of crown moulding and shelves...
• will do a tile backsplash when our money tree blooms again