My New Kitchen Flooring 11.14.08

Arvil and I talked about replacing our flooring in our kitchen due to vinyl tiles popping up and starting to warp. But I never dreamed that I would come home from work last Friday night and have my kitchen in a total disarray, with a floor 1/2 way completed. Arvil had called earlier that day and asked what color of flooring that I wanted, but I didn't know, so I told him to ask for samples and we would then decide. Well, forget the samples, Arvil just had that "get er done" attitude...Arvil had been working at a friend's home for a few weeks being the perfect fix-it man. They remodeled their home 3 years ago and never seemed to finish it off. So Arvil had completed everything they wanted, so either he was really bored and wanted something to do, or he was in complete agreement with me that the floor needed to be replaced. By 7:30 PM, Arvil was done with the floor, the furniture was moved all back in and our floor looked wonderful. It's hard to know that it's vinyl flooring and not laminate, which is lying right next to it. It sure made our kitchen look rich and comfortable. The flooring was a little darker then I would have like, since it shows all the crumbs on the floor, but it's getting the best of me. I'm really enjoying the look and am thankful for a great handy husband, that is able to do improvements so well.

My trip to WA & OR continnued...

I had just finished up with Mom & Dad in WA and was headed to Oregon to see the kids. Pamela had worked hard to get some stuff done around the house but we still needed to do much before the party on Wed. night, the 29th. Kyra was turning 7 years old. But 1st of all we were all hungry and when I asked the kids what they wanted for dinner, it was decided very quickly that we would have Mexicain. So off to the local restruant to have dinner, all went really smoothly, except Ethan, he was tired of sitting in the high chair and with fruit loops all over the floor, was passed from person to person as we all ate. The kids loved their own burritos that they each get to make with rice and beans.
Wed, the laundry was stated in full force, clothes were sent upstairs with each child once they were around to help out and keep busy, old junk items were taken out to be tossed, items were taken to GoodWill and to storage, several times...Treat bags went to school with Kyra to help celebrate with the class...Time to pick up the cake from WalMart and to get something to eat before everyone arrived. Plus Jon worked hard and mad on the front porch to make sure it was strong and sturdy, for all the people that would be coming up to the door. We had a great night and several grandmas confused Kyra a little, when asked who gave that to you...There was Great Grandma Shaw, Grandma Shaw (Jon's mom), There was Grandma Kathy, (Jon's step mom), a friend that was close to Jon when they were growing up, so she to was called grandma and then there was me,Grandma Anderson. We had to make sure who was talking to who, when grandma was said.
Thursday, we had more fun with cleaning, moving items to storage and getting ready for Halloween. We had lunch at a Chinese restruant, which is also a big hit, since they give you enough food for 2 or 3 meals at a very low cost. We ordered faster internet services that day for Pamela and Jon hoping to get them installed quickly, but to our amazement, the person never showed, so it was back and forth on the phone to the company to see why the serviceman wasn't there, after waiting several hours, we receive word that they don't have a man until the next week. So we waited in vain.
Friday, Megan and Jon had a field trip out at Megan's teacher's house and around the neighboring farms to look at animals. Then we tried to get ready for going out...We decide not to do the church's Trunk or Treating, but decided to go to WA, but because there was a long line at Pizza Hut, (trying to redeem Kyra and Megan's book it gift certifcates), they messed up on the pizza and we waited to get it corrected. By then we were tired and ready to just hit a few houses for the kids, then head home. We were tired. I believe the kids scored with the candy... They had a huge bowl full when they returned home that night.
Saturday, Pamela had meetings and selling events, so Grandma got to be the babysitter for the whole day. I started to come donw with allergies, but seemed to keep it together for the most part. Something that I now know that I'm to old to do, day in and day out. Pamela has my greatest respect to handle 4 children.
Saturday night, I headed back to Mom and Dad's to rest before leaving on Sunday. It had rained most of the week-end, so all different smells were in the air and I seemed to get sicker and sicker. But my trip home was a success and I even stopped in Post Falls to say hi to a former boss. It was great to be home, but wonderful to see how the children had grown. I look forward to seeing them again at Thanksgiving.

A week w/Parents, 4 Grandkids & Others...

I decided that I needed to spend some time with my parents and then see 4 of my grandchildren. It's been since a few months since I've seen the 4 that are in Oregon and also my daughter Pamela and her husband Jon.
So I headed off on a Friday afternoon, after a day of work and reached the Tri-Cities about 9:00PM. We visited for a while and caught up on some TV shows, then headed off to bed. It was really nice to be in a cool room to sleep and have the basement pretty much to myself.
The next day was a very exciting, I helped my mother blow out the underground sprinkler lines. It was a good thing that I somewhat watched Arvil the week before. But within 45 min. to an hour, all zones were dry. That was quite a learning experience. We then decided to go pick up my sister Carol and hit the town. She had been waiting for a carpet man to come and give her some quotes and advice. By the time we picked her up, the man had came and went and she decided to lay vinyl flooring in her kitchen, entry way and washroom, but wasn't sure how the floor under her carpet looked, so she left instructions for Evan, her husband to tear up a corner of the carpet to see. By the time we returned with all our goods we found, Evan had tore out all the carpet in the area that would have flooring. But it looked like a lot of work was ahead for him to get all the glue and rough edges sanded down. We decided to go out that night to Tony Rama's and had a wonderful meal, thanks to dad's gift card. Sunday was church and a get together by Carol/Evan's family, Craig/Bonnie's family, Pamela and the children and mom and dad. Goodies were enjoyed by all. Monday Mom, Dad and I all went shopping again and by the end of Monday night, Evan decided to replace all the sub flooring and lay down new wood before the vinyl would be laid. So we all jumped in the car and headed off for Home Depot to buy what Carol/Evan needed for the floor. With living in Montana, it can give you perks every now and then, (such as NO TAX). Tuesday, Mom and I hung Christmas lights around her house and out on the pine tree. A job that we wanted to get done while the weather was right. It should look pretty good, it a wind doesn't come up and blow them down. Then I was off to Oregon to meet up with Pamela, Jon and the kiddos. And the fun really began...to be continued