Finally Finished!

After a week and a half of not having a working kitchen, we are finally finished installing our new granite tile counter tops. We ended up buying a new sink as well. Check out how we did...




Our new, slightly smaller, but GREATLY improved island.


Our new sink... Harry even did all new plumbing underneath the sink!


Our coffee/phone center.


AHHH! How pretty!

We are exhausted so I think I'm going to call it a night (Harry is already dead asleep on the couch).

Happy Mother's Day!!

New Counters Parts 1-4

Harry, his dad, and I began our new counter project on Thursday. Harry took Thursday and Friday off work to get started and his dad was gracious enough to come and help. Here is our progress...


For those of you who don't remember, here is what our kitchen looked like before.


Here is what our kitchen looked like when I came home from school on Thursday. The old counters had been removed, and the new plywood counters had started being cut.


Here is the island from the top. Phoebe didn't like this stage. She tried to jump on the counter top and ended up falling straight through and getting trapped in the cabinet.


On Friday, the new plywood counters were all cut and ready to be attached.


Harry drilled the pilot holes for the plywood...


While I screwed them down.

We were up till 2:30am on Friday attaching the plywood counters and getting the concrete board attached. On Saturday we woke up early to go and get the rented tile saw.


Here you see Harry using the tile saw to cut our granite tiles for around the sink.


After he got all the tiles cut, I smoothed the thin set onto the counter tops.


Here is our kitchen today. We couldn't do much work because the thin set had to dry. You can see that all the counter tile and the counter fronts have been attached.


Here is a close-up of the island counter top.




Here you see our counters set up with the back splash.

Tomorrow we will grout the counters and front facing. Tuesday we will attach the back splash, and Wednesday we will grout the back splash. By Thursday we hope to be done! Check back soon for more pictures of our progress.

Anticipation

I know that the frequent readers of 17th Most Popular (both of them) have been disappointed with our infrequent postings. What can I say, our lives are pretty boring.

I have missed a few opportunities to create posts, last Thursday Harry and I did go see a play in Charlotte with some friends. Two of our friends, Mark and Magen, performed in the play "Carrie Anne" which pokes fun at Mary Kay cosmetics (or at least that's what I got from it). I also went out with the girls on Saturday to celebrate the 26th birthday of my friend Megan (a different Megan). What can I say... we are slackers.

One thing that both Harry and I could admit, is that much of our life is anticipating what will come next. We are both excited about a household project that we are hoping to complete when we get a free weekend so I thought I would give you all a preview.

For those of you who don't already know, we are going to put in new counter tops (we as in Harry and I will be doing the work). We are going to rip out the old counter tops, put down 3/4in and 1/2in plywood, 1/2in backer board, thin set, granite tiles, and of course grout. We are also going to put natural stone tiles on the back splash and the front face of the counter.


Now can you see why we are excited? Look how pretty!

Another thing we (mostly I) am anticipating is SUMMER! 6 and 1/2 weeks of school left (that's 32 days, not that I am counting). This summer I am not going to teach summer school, in fact I don't really have any work planned, other than more house painting. Another fun part of summer is watching our peach tree grow fruit.


This picture reminds me that summer is still a ways off. The peaches are small, but as they grow my school year dwindles down. I can't wait till the peaches are HUGE!

I promise to do a better job posting. I'm sorry loyal 17th Most Popular readers, we have let you down.

And you thought your day sucked...

Yeah, I think that is all that needs to be said. At least this didn't happen to you.



Happy Friday everybody!

There once was a couple named Thompson...

Our blog has been lately neglected,
Though this was most likely expected.
We may be a bore,
But it's happened before,
So please do not feel disrespected.

I like limericks. Today I found several interesting limerick-related blogs. A Limerick A Day brings us the joy of silly poetry every day (as the name would suggest). This one is my current favorite, just because I hate Wal-Mart and the thought of them sprinkling spices on the shoppers makes me laugh.

Another noteworthy example, Newsmericks, presents the events of the world without the annoyance of all that pesky journalism. In my opinion, much more entertaining than endless hours of Anna Nicole's baby daddy, Don Imus, or Duke lacrosse players.

That's all for now. Cheers!

Meet Luke!

Our nephew, Luke Christopher Jones, was born on Saturday, April 7, 2007 at 5:24 AM. He weighed 8 pounds 5.4 ounces and was 21 inches long. Check out some pictures of this beautiful baby!




Here you see Luke with my sister, Martha, brother-in-law Edward, and niece Madison.


Luke with Harry.


Luke with me.

So far Luke seems to be a very good baby. He is very quiet, he sleeps very well, and he is so snuggly!

Happy Birthday Harry!

Today Harry turned 27! Let's reminisce with some baby pictures.


Harry when he was born, awwwww.


Harry with a harmonica?? Maybe it was a candy bar... whatever it was, it must have tasted good.


Laura, Harry, and a TON of droll.

I hope we can spend many, many, many more birthdays together, Harry.
I love you!

Bizarre Bunnies

On a recent trip to Target, Harry and I noticed that there are a lot of interesting chocolate Easter Bunnies out this year. Anybody that knows Harry knows how much he loves chocolate bunnies, so he found this trip extremely fun. Take a look at the Target stock... (the pictures were taken on my camera phone so forgive the quality)

First of all, the "Reester Bunny". He looks delicious.

Our friend "Hare E. Hoppsalot". I had to point him out because he reminds me of my Harry.

This is "Too Tall Bunny". If you notice his ears are sticking out of the top of the box. He also has a speech bubble that says "Opps, I'm too tall for the box!"

And finally my favorite, "Diva Da' Bunny". She comes complete with "Bling Bling!" according to the box. She is ghetto fabulous!

On an unrelated note, while emailing myself the above pictures from my phone, I found a picture of another horrible movie that Harry and I found at Blockbuster.

Oh yes, it is Gary Busey in "The Gingerbread Man". I hope Clay sees this, he loves Gary Busey, and from the looks of the box, he'd probably love this movie. How could you not??

We have a name!

Harry suggested a name (as a joke) and so I have finally picked a name for the new jeep... Buttercup! We wanted to stick with the royal theme, if you remember Duchess and Duke were my previous cars. How is Buttercup royalty, you may ask... The Princess Bride was none other than Buttercup. I can't help but think about the priest marrying Buttercup and the Prince, with a horrible speech impediment, saying "Princess Buttercup". Plus, whenever things have gotten rough for the Huffman's, somebody will undoubtedly say, "It was a difficult time for Buttercup" (a quote from the movie when Buttercup learns that Wesley has been killed by the Dread Pirate Roberts). So, here she is again... Buttercup!

Hello... Goodbye...

On Saturday Harry and I were running errands when we noticed the Durango making some odd noises when we turned or were breaking. Harry predicted that the ball joint was going to need to be replaced (which would cost about $3000). A quick visit to the Kelly Blue Book site showed us that the Durango was only worth about $9000. As you might guess, we were not willing to pay 1/3 the worth of the car to fix it... yet again. So, we began "just looking" for a new/slightly used car to buy. We didn't look long.

We found a 2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo with approximately 6000 miles on it. We took it for a test drive and fell in love. After some negations with the sales manager (the most intense guy I have met in a while) we took the Cherokee home. I'm not going to lie, I cried. I will miss Duke (for those of you who don't know, Duke was the Durango's name). He was a good car. It makes me sad to think that in the near future he will be put up for auction; however, I am very excited to welcome my new car. Here are some pictures...





I love the car, but I am having trouble coming up with a name for her. Harry and I have decided that she is a girl, but we don't know much else. We are asking 17th most popular readers to help and make suggestions. The first car I had that was worthy of a name (the station wagon and the mini-van were both not worthy of names) was called Duchess. After Duchess was, of course, Duke. Harry owns Otto, the German car, but we don't know what to name our white car. My friend Joanne, who also just purchased a white SUV, took a great name... Tighty Whitey, so we are looking for a good girl name. Let us know what you come up with. When she finally gets a name, we'll let you know.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The good I'm referring to is a movie... Reno 911 Miami. Harry and I saw it this weekend and it was hilarious! A lot of the usual Reno 911 humor, and even an appearance from Reno's favorite street roller (not walker since he is on roller skates) Terry. Here are a few of my favorite scenes from the movie...

This would be where the "ugly" tag comes into play.
The image from the back was even worse, I was crying laughing!
Wiegle was wearing granny panties and a white bra under her bathing suit.

Oh yes, they came across this on the beach. The deputies tried to push it into the ocean again when Junior falls into the whale.
Spoiler Alert:
They blow up the whale to remove the carcass, I had to look away because I was gagging.

Harry and I give this movie 2 big thumbs up. It's not one of those "make you think movies", in fact, your IQ might actually go down after watching it, but it's all in good fun.

On a related, but unrelated, note, THE BAD...
I stayed up to watch Saturday Night Live and was so disappointed. It was AWFUL! They had such a great host, Rainn Wilson (Dwight Schrute from The Office), but the writing was horrific. He is such a great actor; he can really make just about anything funny, but even he couldn't save SNL. What a shame.

Sorry to disappoint you, Best Buy

The Sony KD-32FS170 (In the eyes of Best Buy, at least)

In A/V news, our TV is broken. As it is only 2 years old and was a gift to begin with, we thought it best to try to get it repaired rather than buying a new one. After all, aside from the fact that it won't turn on, it's a very nice TV. While I was explaining our reasoning for taking it to a TV repair place (yes, they do still exist. and this one has a particularly smoky air to it.) to my coworker, I decided to pull up the Best Buy website to illustrate how expensive it would be to replace it with an equal (or better?) model.

It was at this time that I came across the most condescending product description ever. For the next model up from ours, the widescreen HD version, they recommend that you "Enjoy thrilling, edge-of-your seat movies and crystal-clear, high-definition television on this HDTV that features numerous picture enhancement technologies for a breathtaking cinematic experience." Sounds nice...surely our TV must be suitable for similar viewing, albeit at a somewhat lower resolution, right? Wrong. According to Best Buy, the best our TV can offer is for us to "Enjoy reruns of old sitcoms on this 32" TV that features a WEGA Engine for stunning picture quality from all of your favorite programs." Thanks a lot. Hey, maybe if you get a chance later you can send the Geek Squad over to critique my wardrobe too. "Are those jeans the sandblasted vintage wash? That is SO 2006!" Well, I'd love to write more, but Leave it to Beaver comes on in 10 minutes. I better go adjust the rabbit ears.

Needle in a Haystack... errr, Esophagus

Tonight there was excitement in the Thompson home, topped off with a trip to the emergency room... the pet emergency room. I have been working on making pillows and was closing up the bottom when Joey realized he was hungry. To solve this problem he decided to feast on the needle and thread. When I looked over at him sitting on the floor chewing, I simply thought I could pull the thread out of his mouth. This is when I noticed that the needle was missing.

I promptly informed Harry of the problem and told him to get the car so we could go to the ER. Once we arrived at the ER (me in my black cashmere sweater COVERED with orange cat hair) Joey was taken to get x-rays. When we got the x-rays back we could clearly see the needle lodged in his throat. Two things were positive about this, first of all the needle went down eye first so the pointy side wasn't going in first. The second positive was it was stuck in his throat and the vet was able to do a "needle extraction" without surgery (FYI, the cost of a needle extraction is $30). He had punctured his esophagus but a coating medicine and an antibiotic should keep him from getting sick.

We were unable to get the x-ray (or more like we were unwilling to pay for another copy of it) but I found this picture online that is very similar to Joey's x-ray.

This x-ray doesn't show this cat's whole body, but Harry thought the amount of food in Joey's belly was hilarious (the boy loves to eat).

Joey is now home safe and sound with us (he does owe us $255 for his emergency vet bill) but we will just put it on his tab. He is still very much drugged and has fallen over multiple times. He should be up and around acting normal in no time. In the meantime, he's enjoying spacing out and listening to his favorite Neil Young song, "The Needle and the Damage Done".

Joey when we arrived home from the ER. His bandage covers his drug injection point.

"Drugged" Joey sitting on the railing. He had just fallen off the railing prior to this picture being taken.

Follow-Up on PSYCHO!!

This is a direct quote taken from CNN.com...

Scandal sparks NASA review

NASA will begin a review of its psychological screening for astronauts, NASA said Wednesday -- a day after astronaut Lisa Nowak was charged with attempting to murder a love rival. Meanwhile, Nowak was having a medical evaluation, which would also include a psychological evaluation, NASA said.

hmmmmm... do you think NASA is reading 17th Most Popular for tips? Maybe I should give up teaching and start working for NASA; at least I'm more stable than some of it's current employees.

PSYCHO!!

I'm sure everybody has heard of this story by now... the married astronaut that drove from Houston to Orlando, wearing adult diapers (to cut down on unnecessary stops), to kidnap and apparently kill her "co-workers" girlfriend. Obviously this astronaut, mother of 3, had a little somethin-somethin going on with her "co-worker" in space and she is now jealous of his girlfriend.

"psyco" Lisa Nowak on the right, the man she loved Oefelein, and the victim Shipman

There is SO much wrong with this story I don't even know where to begin... but here it goes.

First, she is already a wife and a mother. What the hell is she thinking??? She would have left her her husband and children alone to go and do, who knows what, to this woman.

Second, what is going on in space? These 2 astronauts, the best of the best, are having an affair in space! That is NOT what my tax money is paying for. Get up there, study what you need to study, and get back without any funny business.

Third, adult diapers? Who in their right mind wears adult diapers in the car, unless necessary. I'm sorry, but the bathroom is not an "unnecessary stop". This nut job would rather sit in her own filth than get out of the car for, what, 3 minutes.

Forth, did you hear what she had with her??? Pepper spray, a wig, a plastic bag containing a carbon dioxide-powered BB pistol, a tan trench coat, a new steel mallet, a new folding knife with a 4-inch blade, 4 feet of rubber tubing, several large plastic garbage bags, $600 in cash, half dozen latex gloves, MapQuest directions from Houston to Orlando International Airport, e-mails from Shipman to Oefelein, the already mentioned diapers, and a letter indicating how much psycho loved Oefelein. It doesn't take a ROCKET SCIENTIST (pun intended) to figure out what she had planned. I really think the only thing missing was a "how to kill her" and a "how to get rid of the body" book; and she claims all she wants to do is talk.

I think NASA really needs to step up their psychological screening because this lady is CRAZY!

Oh no, not the "bo-bo"!

While surfing the internet this evening, I came across this picture of a she-goblin that you may know better by the name Fantasia Barrino. While it has no relevance to anything really, it is funny looking, and a nice reminder of why I stopped watching American Idol (although to be honest, it was touch and go before her). I could go on, but considering her illiteracy, continuing with the written word seems like a waste of time.

P.S. I feel obliged (I know, fancy word, huh Fantasia?) to state that my brother & sister-in-law were fans of Fantasia. Shame on you!

I Love Snow!!

Yes... it is SNOWING!!! It looks absolutely beautiful outside this morning. I got up at my usual 5:40 this morning, took a shower, and began getting ready for school when I saw on the news that school was canceled with no optional teacher workday. I was a little disappointed because my CMS promised 5:30am phone call to notify me of a cancellation was late... it came in at 6:15. This means that I am now too awake to go back to sleep (for now) but I'm o.k. with that. Now I get to enjoy the beautiful morning. I have taken a few pictures to show you the snow in North Carolina.

The view from our front porch at 6:30am.

Our peach tree right outside the kitchen door looking at the field across the street.

The backyard and our beautiful pergola.

The view from our front porch once the sun came up.

Victoria Bay Drive right next to the house going back to the pool.

The backyard in the daylight.

This weather makes me realize just how much I miss snow. I guess I am a northern girl at heart. I have even been out and about already this morning... I made a 7:15 grocery run to get a croissant and a latte (despite the news telling me to STAY OFF THE ROADS!!). Freezing rain is forecast for later today so my snow will probably melt and I guess there is even a chance I may be out of school tomorrow. Oh well, I'll enjoy my day looking at the snow.

PS... the local news has preempted the "Today" show because of the winter weather; so that means nothing but hour after hour of traffic and weather reporting.