Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Family


We're having a little summer preview at the moment: it has been over 90 degrees the past two days and somewhat humid. Tonight we decided to go out to dinner at air-conditioned Turner's Seafood Grill - our favorite Melrose eatery.

The girls had freshly washed hair and they each chose a dress to wear. Charlotte picked a Christmas dress from Grandma (with matching doll dress that fits Baby Puppy). Audrey wore a summery white frock.

We had a lovely dinner with two extremely well-behaved and polite girls. It was one of those moments when I especially revel in this family.

Monday, May 24, 2010

John's 50th Birthday


Friday I reached the half-century mark. It's hard to believe I've been alive that long. Like most people I talk to, I feel much younger than my actual age.

Carol has started a babysitting swap with our new next door neighbor Sue. So on my birthday we had a date night. We revisited an Italian restaurant near Fenway Park that we discovered a year ago when we were here house hunting, and then walked across the Fens (a big park) to the Museum of Fine Arts (in background of photo above) where we enjoyed a couple of hours of blissful, child-free browsing. There is currently an interesting Talouse-Lautrec exhibit, and exhibit of Harry Callahan photography, a fascinating Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) printmaking exhibit, and a visiting Van Gogh ("The Sower") that is displayed among the other Impressionist masters.

Saturday was a busy day with T-ball photos in the morning and a game in the afternoon, plus preparing for a little birthday BBQ in the late afternoon. We invited some friends from work and some neighbors and had a wonderful time. It was a perfect day for it - sunny and 70s.

Sunday I got a little further on the kitchen project by getting the floor sanded. All of the scratches and stains are gone and it's ready to be refinished. Before that I need to finish the walls (which I should be doing right now instead of writing this). Once the walls are painted and the floor is finished, it'll be time to hang cabinets and we'll be in the home stretch.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Kitchen Remodel, Part 2


It's been nothing but fun around here on the weekends and evenings!

Two weekends ago I spent most of the time removing wallpaper and glue. Last weekend I made some minor electrical adjustments and got the drywall all hung (replacing the paneling wainscoting that we removed). This weekend I spent most of my time replacing the old warped sink window.

Just a little bit more fine tuning to do on the drywall mudding. It's a little harder to match drywall to plaster than it is to do all new drywall. We have one portion we can't close up because we're waiting for the electrician. He's supposed to come first thing tomorrow. Then I can complete the rest of the taping. Finally we'll skim coat all of the wall surface that will be visible.

Next up is probably floor sanding. We were going to wait until after the kitchen was complete but it makes sense to do it before the cabinets are in.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Ladder Cat



I guess Tessa wanted a better view of the squirrels in the backyard trees.

As you can see in the background, the kitchen remodel is progressing. Two weekends ago I got all of the wallpaper off. Last weekend I got all the drywall hung, and this past weekend I got it taped and mudded. One more coat of mud to go tonight, then a skim coat of drywall compound and then we can paint. Now I'm deciding when to refinish the floor. We might decide to sand it now (before cabinets) then protect it and not actually finish it until the family is gone in July (to avoid exposing the girls to several days of fumes). Then we'll be ready to install cabinets.