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December 22, 2017

IT'S FRIDAY, MY FAVORITE DAY!!

We`re getting there! Christmas is next week and I finally wrapped the last present. I had to wait until I got a Christmas list from a couple of my granddaughters so I could order things for them. It is so hard when you live away from the "big city" and the only thing close enough is Fred Meyer which is 25 miles away! I like ordering my gifts on the internet and the last gift arrived on Wednesday. Going to the post office and picking up all the Christmas cards and packages that I have ordered is like Christmas to me.

Meanwhile, we FINALLY finished the bathroom project and I am so happy with it. We do have to get new flooring and we are scheduled for that after the New Year. Dave and I put a border print around the top of the wall as the paint and ceiling were too contrasting. The directions on the wallpaper said it was pre-pasted so all that was needed was to soak in water and it would stick to the wall. No way! It kept falling off faster than we could put it up! We went back to the directions (when all else fails) and it said to apply it with a special kind of vinyl paste. So we ordered the smallest amount of vinyl paste we could find online and slathered it on the wallpaper. We didn't have any trouble as it went on just fine but it did take us most of the day to do the whole room.

I do have to tell a story about the paste. When it arrived, I decided to read the directions first since we had such a bad experience last time. Well, try as I might, I couldn't do it. The print on the can was so tiny there is no way I could have figured out what it said - even with my glasses on. I finally had to get out a magnifying glass to read it! As you can see from the first photo, that worked!

Now, on to the next project...the utility room windows! We had ordered two windows for the utility room as we needed to replace the single pane windows with double pane. In the past, the windows would steam up and I would have to wipe them down each day. Now, they should be good to go. It will also help to keep the heat in. I spent a lot of time re-staining the window frames but they do look a lot better.

Dave also fixed the doorbell. We haven't had a door bell that worked since we moved here 14 1/2 years ago. The wiring was broken and it was a job trying to fish the new wiring into the wall to connect the doorbell with the chime. But, with the exterior wood taken down to replace the windows, now was the time to fix that problem. Eventually when "Nest" comes out with a remote camera we will put that in so when the doorbell rings we can go to our devices and see who is there and decide whether we want to even get up to answer the door!

We had a surprise visit from my nephew, Brian and his three-month old son, Ben the other day. He was babysitting while his wife was getting a massage in Manzanita. We saw Ben about a month ago and he has grown so much. He is a big boy and weighs about 15 pounds now. Anyway, it was fun to see them and to hold that guy.

Our park and rec. group finally got all the daffodil bulbs planted. The weather turned out nice yesterday, so after our monthly meeting we went to the park and planted the rest of the bulbs. We now have over 600 bulbs planted in the various parks around town. We usually have our work parties on Wednesdays, but we had such a storm at the beginning of the week that the ground was pretty drenched from all the rain. So we postponed it by one day and took advantage of the nice weather on Thursday and got the rest of the bulbs planted.

We have plans for Christmas to drive into town and have the holiday with our kids. We will spend Christmas Eve night in West Linn where the girls still enjoy Granddad reading them "The Night Before Christmas" from a storybook that he received from his cousins Connie and Patty when he was just a little guy. I'm not saying how old any of that trio is, but the book is about 75 years old and - like them - is getting a little raggedy around the edges.
On Christmas day, all of us will go to Leslie's in Salem to have dinner with her family and open gifts. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate so the driving won't be too hazardous.
Here is wishing you a Merry Christmas.