Growing up

I recently got a very disturbing call from one of my aunts. The first thing she said to me when I picked up the phone was, "I know you have always hated D (her daughter, my oldest cousin)!". Needless to say, I was shocked. So shocked that the only reaction that came out of me was a downpour of tears. I was confused. I had always prided myself to have not hurt anyone and being able to see the other's point of view in order to ignore their idiosynchrocies. I know I have my own set of those. And given that everyone in my family still seems to love me, I always assumed they did the same as well. But this statement from my Aunt, and a few others that followed it just didn't make sense.
As it turns out, I had forgotten to call D on her 42nd birthday the day before. And to add insult to injury (I guess?) I called my Aunt to wish her on her birthday a week before, right date, wrong month! I know it's not good. But all I did was to wish her well, didn't l? And I wouldn't have minded receiving a call from my aunt complaining that I didn't remember her birthday correctly or from D that I forgot to call her. But making a leap to it being a twisted way to taunt D? Given me, anyone who knows me knows that I get dates and months confused, I do not call people even if I really really want to, and I most definitely do not go out of my way to hurt people. And even if you don't know me, how do you turn wishing someone into an intentional act of hurting them? One needs to be really screwed up to make that jump. And even if you do, how long can you have your parents fight your battle for you? How long can you fight your children's battles for them? Aren't you actually hurting them if you are still doing that past their 40s? D has always taunted people and insulted the elders including her father and my father in public, and my aunt has always supported D. How I wish I had the guts to call and tell my aunt that she actually needs to correct D when she does this. Tell her that she is not always correct. Tell her that by blaming and insulting everyone around her, she is alienating people who once cared for her. Every single one around her is actually scared of her outbursts and she is going to end up alone and lonely if she does not change her ways. Harsh as it may sound, isn't that a parent's job? Shouldn't you prepare your children so that when you are gone, you know they will be ok?

As I see my little neices and nephews grow up, I can't even imagin doing to them what my aunt did to me this last week. She chose her daughters feelings over mine. 

I know I want to have my own children one day. I hope I love and pamper them, but prepare them for their own battles. I hope I am a stable support, but make sure that they do not crumble without me. I hope they remember me as a loving mother who taught them to love and respect themselves as well as others. And I hope I teach them to steer themselves clear of people who do not do the same.

I think it is time for me to follow my own advice and steer clear of these people week clearly do not love or respect anyone's feelings besides themselves. I guess this is a vital part of growing up as well. 

These are paintings?

I recently came across a blog by Brad Teare. He is a landscape painter with beautiful work who also teaches through his videos.

After listening to him refer to his wife a couple of times in his videos, I for some reason presumed that she was a photographer and wanted to check out her work as well.. Her work is beautiful. Rustic, antique-ish and colorful.. a good combination of what I love..

But her prices were crazy! $7000+ for just a 18 x 24 print???

And then I realized, the description said "Oil on board"!

These are painting? These are PAINTINGS?????? 

 

 I could not believe my eyes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Any number of exclamation marks I put would not be enough!

Apparently there are Trompe L'oeil paintings, which is the art of illusion. Like the ones you see on street art.

   

But her work is just amazing! Do check it out.

Shutting off the left brain..

Recently, as I am trying to get back into drawing and painting, I am realizing more and more how important it is to shut off your right brain to not just create art, but to actually see it in the first place.









I have always had this issue... I start drawing/painting something... initially it looks like it is going well, I am making progress.. and then suddenly, something will go wrong. As I step back from my work, the eyes will look out of place or incorrect in size or looking in a completely different direction as compared to the rest of the face!




I always thought the main reason was that I would start getting tired or bored and would want to finish the project.. basically lack of patience. In a way my did say that a couple of times that I lacked patience.. and I did.







But, because of internet and the rich resources available on it, and the two classes I have taken at WAM, I am realizing that that is not the only issue. I am an engineer and my analytical brain is always ON. After I start to see some form on the paper, my left brain automatically completes it, pushing aside anything my right brain has to say and despite what I am actually seeing.

So, after learning about your brain's auto-complete feature, I have been trying to shut my left brain off consciously. Every time I feel an urge to just draw a line or fill up a shape, I ask myself, do I really see it?

And I have to say, it does help. When I step back from my work, my left brain realizes that it actually looks more like what I am trying to achieve. Here is the latest sketch I did based on a live model.

 

Check out my other works at http://arainbowfortheheart.blogspot.com/ 

One potato, two potato

 

I am not a gardener.. Infact I used to say that I have a rotten/brown thumb. But ever since moving into my current place, that seems to have changed a little bit. 

A few months ago, I found some potatoes in my pantry that had gone a little mushy and had started growing roots all over. I stuck them in a pot and that was that. I wasn't expecting anything as my last year's attempt had been quite a failure. Last year I planted about four potatoes and my yield was one one-inch diameter one and one 5 mm diameter one!

So this year when the stem started dying off because of some strange small bright green fuzzy insects eating all the leaves, I decided to dig up to see what I had… Atleast I could use the pot for something else, right?

 Well.. here are the leftover skins of the potatoes I planted, and my returs ratio was actually >1!!!!

The fairer sex?: Gender ineuality

J and I had this huge discussion last week about gender inequality in salaries. J wasn't even aware of such a thing. Eventually it came down performance. Men can assure they will be there more time purely due to biology.

That got me thinking. It is true. A woman is bound to take atleast 24 weeks off from work, paid or unpaid assuming she has two kids in her life. This reality is even more in my face now that we are thinking about kids and I am thinking about applying to jobs. I have always been annoyed that I have to have periods each month and endure the cramps, bloating and discomfort that comes with it, not to mention the emotional roller coaster. "That comes with womanhood".. what also comes with womanhood is having to bear the weight of breasts on my chest, having to wear a super uncomfortable contraption called the "bra" each and every day, stretch marks, tearing of your private parts during child birth, loss of bladder control... and on and on!!!

Come on! Was it my choice to become a woman? Why do only women have these things? Why does the only thing a man has to do in terms of propagation of the species is sex!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But wait, if I am as a woman doing most of the work in terms of keeping the species alive and making sure that men are born, shouldn't I get atleast some compensation for that? I have been doing that since I was twelve and won't stop until I reach menopause! If you are mentally or physically disabled, you get special privileges, but we as women get nothing. And I have no choice in that either.. even if say I never wanted to have children, can I get rid of the pain and suffering I go though each month? No! So I guess, men in general need to compensate women, just for carrying the load of human continuation. And if some men want to argue that they are not liable because they never plan on having a wife or children, but they were born, right? Which means some woman went through a lifelong suffering for that man to exist.

And if you are not going to pay me for being a woman, then don't you dare underpay me for taking time off to bear future humans.

Slimquick or not so quick is the question

Recently, I have been gaining more and more weight. And it is not by the week or by the month, but I seem to be gaining it by the day for heaven's sake! Had a busy week, one pound here, visited J for a few days, three pounds there!!! I mean, the age thing is hitting me harder than I expected.

Back in my 20s, if I thought I should loose a few pounds, all I had to do was cut back on some meals and weight would go right down.

Then came the 30s! I think the day I turned 30, cutting back on food was not just not helping me loose weight, but if I did not control my food intake and go to the gym 5 days a week, I would start gaining weight! But there was hope. I could do those things and loose and maintain the lost weight. Well, I did have to reset my mind to what was my ideal weight was, too. I could deal with that, I was ok, right?.

Well, ever since I turned 35 last year, no matter what I do, my weight seems to be going in just one direction, 'up'. I am sure, choosing to walk with Bella instead of the gym and traveling back and forth to SJ have their own share in the process... but come on!!!

The breaking point came yesterday. I changed doctors because of change in insurance, and I weighed in at 160 lbs!!!! At 5'1.5" I am 30 pounds overweight! So as of yesterday, as per my friend M's suggestion, my another friend at work 'C' and I have decided to try the Slimquick route.

C has chosen the pills.

 

And I have chosen the drink packets.  

My reason for the drink is that I think it will help be drink the required amount of water. If I take pills, I get lazy and do not drink enough water.

According to M, when she tried the drink packets, she was like an energizer bunny.. and at this stage, I could use a little boost on the energy front as well!!! 

Well, yesterday was the first day as we drive to CVS after lunch and bought this. I reached home at 6:30 after doing the much needed grocery shopping and fell asleep on the couch at 8:30! Woke up at 10 and could not go to sleep till 2:00 am because of the heat! Needless to say, never made it to the gym. Today I weighed in at 159lbs... but that was in my PJs before breakfast!

So I will keep on updating this post as days go by!

Ready for love, are they really?

After watching the mos predictable finale of the show I had high hopes for, it really makes me question whether these three guys, Ben, Tim and Ernesto really even understand what love is? Ben chose the only virgin in his group, Ernesto chose the Miss Universe and Tim chose the youngest in his bunch or as they call in 'Friends', the 'Twinkie'!!! I mean really?

And you know what, I think it is purely the guys' fault! The matchmakers did the best they could. The girls did what they had to do to get a chance to date these guys... but finally it was the guys' decision. 

I thought it was going really well until only the last three girls in each group. Both Tim and Ben got rid of the girls from their past. They eliminated girls they didn't feel a romantic connection with.... 

And then, Ernesto sends both Alba and Kristen home and does this crazy climb up the display wall to meet up with Shandi. Now, am I the only one who thinks that this feels less like mature romance and more like a teenage one?? Nothing against Shandi, she looks super composed and comfortable with herself. But Ernesto, I don't think he even understand what love means. 

Then there is Tim. He has these two amazing girls, Hailey and Sara in his final three. Both girls are mature, experienced, have this amazing personalities, have professed their love for him in multiple episodes. And who does he go for? Jenna.. the inexperienced little girl who can't even say she loves him without looking like she has constipation!

The only couple I have any hopes for are Ben and Angela. Even though I was rooting for Allie till the very end because she was so madly emotional for Ben, I can see how she might not be the right one for him for the exact same reason. Ben looks like an emotional guy himself and being a successful business owner, he might need a rock by his side. Angela does seem to fit the bill. So hey.. may be they did get it right once.. 

But there are already rumors about Shandi and Ernesto having already broken up.. and I won't bet on Tim and Jenna lasting much longer either. So let's just wait and see.

Sighhhh!!

Today is a super stressful day. For no particular reason. Well, may be for a few reasons.

Yesterday I found out that there aren't enough funds for me to go to a conference in June. I haven't gone to any conference since 2011. And Last year is the first year in last 6 years that I did not go to atleast one. But I did not care much as they are not very very productive and I had too many things going on.
And then there were conferences in other countries, which I would have loved to go, but my visa at present does not allow me to travel. So I was kind of ok with it.
Then I went to visit the folks in SD and the entire expense came out of my pocket, but it was a good trip. I learnt a few things from them and, hey, you can't put money on that, right. And then there was this other conference in SJ, that my prof said I could attend, but only the conference entry will be covered. I thought, I had already paid for my ticket to SJ, so its ok. And I wasn't able to go for it anyway because the other project, "the review", I was working on had to be finished.
So it was kind of building up for a while. But I thought I would definitely be going for the June one. It was in the country, I would mostly not even require to stay in hotel as I will stay with my cousin and I have a poster accepted there. But yesterday when I asked, I found out that, someone else would be presenting my poster because of lack of funds!

Its not as much the not going to conference part, but more of the 'lack of funds' part that has gotten me really down. You see, when I started here two years ago, I thought, that I would move up, doing bigger and greater things quickly. But things are proceeding at a much slower speed, which is normal I guess. But that means that I am still at the minimum first year salary. The university only recommends giving NIH salaries, but has no structure in place to ensure that we get appropriate raises. I was planning to bring that up, but if there aren't funds for travel, how can I even expect a raise? And then T told me that three people got laid off today! What????

This whole travel back and forth hasn't been easy, emotionally and financially. It is bad enough that we both live alone, but on top of that, since the wedding, there has been an added pressure from both set of parents and on a smaller extent from J to move to SJ. I have been trying to hold my ground, because I don't want to be dependent and without a job. And I do not want to move at this stage in my career because I am worried that if I do, I will be kept as a post-doc for an even longer time. But after yesterday's events it feels like, that would be a possibility even here and how do I hold on when J seems to be making wayyy more than me? In addition to that, J was super stressed out yesterday because he felt like he wasn't performing as well as his colleagues. Am I to blame for that? Right now I am freaked out that I will get laid off if we think about starting a family. I am going to be 36 this year? Is it crazy to think that I should not be in this situation this late in my life? I don't know but the walls seem to be closing up right now!

Boston Marathon Bombing

Yesterday morning I was watching FOX news about the Boston marathon bombing. People were paying tributes to the victims who got killed in this horrible incidence. There were survivor stories of people who were marathon runners and now can't even walk as they have lost their feet or legs. My heart goes out to these people. First of all, it is not a small feat to run a marathon. It involves years of practice and patience and endurance. And then to have it taken away in an instant like that!

As my home for the last ten years, I went through a series of emotions from the first time I heard it on Apr 15. The first was of course anger and outrage. How can someone do this at such a peaceful event? It is a Marathon for god's sake. It is fueled by human sweat. Why would someone want to even do this? And then learning about the little boy who got killed and numerous victims that got injured, I was saddened. I couldn't even watch President Obama's visit as my eyes kept on tearing up. Can you really get attached to a foreign country so easily? I am an Indian. I grew up hearing about a couple of bomb blasts every month. May be because I was so young back then, that I could just shrug it off. But now when I hear about events like these or the Connecticut school shootout, it fills me with profound sadness and anger. I can't believe people can even process such a gruesome thought.

Then there was the series of almost movie-like events that followed which resulted in subsequent identification of the bombers as Tsarnaev brothers, the city being quarantined, the older brother being killed in a shoot out and finally the younger one being captured. I was really proud about Boston police and the speed at which this operation happened.

But as the excitement has died down over the last week and I am looking at the aftermath, I am trying to wrap my brain around the fact that, whether with additional help or not with preparing the bomb, the operation was carried out by the Tsarnaev brothers. One 23 and the other 19 years of age. The 23 year old had a wife and a child and they had their entire lives to look forward to. What makes someone so young capable of such an act? Ofcourse, they are being labelled Muslim extremists, but how does religion, which is a completely theoretical phenomenon, become larger than life itself? How does it become larger than the life of your young child or lives of your old parents, who will have to face the consequences of your actions?

I was always taught that a person is never good or evil, but there is some good and some evil in every person. Which makes me believe that there was good in those two boys as well. They recently aired a video of the younger brother playing with his niece. What makes the person in that video kill another boy the same age as his niece? I feel like the we as a society failed here. There must have been a way before it was too late for these people to reason with them. But we didn't. And as much I feel sorry for the victims of this tragic event, I know they will be remembered in a loving way in future. Anyone who got injured, we will provide enough support for them to pull through. But these two will be hated in the future forever. They will be remembered in history as the two villains. Anyone associated with them will never talk about the good in them. The young girl will never identify herself by her father's name. And their parents will die in shame. And to be honest, that makes the Tsarnaev brothers the worst victims of the Boston marathon bombing.

I want my Phoebe back, Phoebe back,Phoebe back!!

Two days ago Bella chewed up my Alfani 'Phoebe' wedges!! Its been super hot for the past few days, with that and me spending additional time watering the lawn, I guess Bella was more stressed than usual. On top of that, I came home on Wednesday and did not take her out immediately... and when I found her sitting on the stairs waiting for me, I noticed she was not alone! In her paws she was holding one of my favorite pair of shoes. All chewed up and destroyed....

These were the only sorta heals I could wear for an entire day, without complaining. And any one who knows me would know what a great deal it is!

To add insult to injury, these seem to be out of style. The only pair on sale is a brown one on ebay!

I want mine back :(
(Anyways.. I did order these given that they were only pair available on the internet.)

Distressed furniture

I just love love love the look of a good distressed furniture. And its not just the look of it, but its also the fact that you get to do all these creative things to it like painting, staining and sanding, and the piece comes out looking perfectly aged, as if it is telling you a story..

Its like going through someones dusty attic!! Well, not many people will say that they like to do that, but I have always been fascinated by it. You climb this mysterious staircase that no one usually uses, and you open up boxes and find black and white pictures and old, dusty artifacts that were probably touched by someone many many years ago....  almost like making a connection through time.. it fascinates me to the point of giving me goosebumps!

But, alas!!! I still haven't been able to make myself distress anything. Well it was my plan with Dresser1. But when I was done, I liked its color so much, that I just decided to keep it.

Well, not true.. I did sand down a tiny corner on the top and applied some dark glaze on one of the shelves... But, the color was not coming off as cleanly as in others' cases and the glaze was not very apparent because of the darker color I chose... So I just ended up painting over it and just stenciling..

But one day.. 

Lawn!!

Now that I am in gardening and stuff and looking forward to having a little grass seed put in my front yard, I stumbled upon this ad I had seen a few years ago... One gotta love it. Enjoy!

Sunday

I feel that a lazy Sunday is an essential thing for ones mental health. And, I am happy to say that yesterday was just that!
Initially I was supposed to go for my niece's second sixth birthday party. But by the time I got back from a walk, I knew I wouldn't be able to make it. For one, it was already 10:00 and the party was supposed to start at 11:00 and the place is over an hour away.
And I was still to take a bath... after giving Bella a bath... And boy did she need one after running through a brook after a bird she was chasing near the dog park that I only take her to on days I plan on giving her a bath. Well, that was Saturday night. But I was doing chores all day and was really tired and lazy, and Bella had dried off and the dirt had fallen off by the time we got home.. and I thought I would have time in the next morning for the bath, which neither her, nor I enjoy very much.

Anyways, so it was pretty clear that I will have to either give up going for the party, that I was really looking forward to as I thought I would get a chance to see my niece in the dress I made for her, or I can give Bella her bath and finish up the rest of my chores. After debating for a few minutes, I decided to pass on the party.. I will get other chances to see my niece in the dress, but skipping on the bath would mean it will not happen for another week!

So, I gave Bella her bath and surprisingly she did not put up as much fight as she usually does. She decided to lounge on the porch while she dried up.

In the mean time, I decided to proceed with my other project, sanding down the sewing machine cabinet. It turned out to be a much much longer project than I had expected and took rest of the morning and most of the afternoon.

  During this time Bella kept on going in and out of the house, looking at the squirrels, sunbathing on the porch,

 

or cooling off on the floor inside!

As soon as I moved at this house I had put up a few bird feeders, and have been working on ways to keep squirrels off of them.

 In between my breaks, I took a few pictures of my bird feeder.
We got visits from Mr. and Mrs. cardinal,
Cardinal male always feeds cardinal females.. isn't that cute!

 some sparrows,

 a nuthatch...

 and ofcourse squirrels. Nothing so far has kept these buggers away!

  At 5:30, after I was done with the sanding, we took a walk to the nearest Starbucks. I had green tea frappe, ummm.. Yum! with egg salad sandwich and raspberry cake, on the outside patio, while Bella sat next to me waiting for the bread crust.. Love these summer days!!!

Then we bought some top soil, Marigold flowers and seeds for lettuce and mixed burpees  from home depot!

Finally, we ended the perfect Sunday by taking another short walk at around 9:00pm!

Why Bella shouldn't be by herself

This for everyone who thinks Bella should run free at home while I am at work. I crate her because....

Luckily this was only a chord of a lamp base I purchased to make a bird bath out of. Can you even imagine what it would be like if she is free during the 8 hours I am out of the house and gets into all the power chords around the house... never even mind the open walls that are not even closed yet!

While I was at it I thought I should a share the colorful fried rice I made last night.. Yum!!!! :)

Bella

I kind of forgot to mention the most important change in my last post. That was Bella! A sweet little 6 month old beagle mix I got from Sterling shelter a week before Thanks Giving and a three weeks after we closed on the house!

 This is how I met her. Alone, a little sad, but quiet and very excited when I entered the kennel at Sterling shelter.

How could I say no to this face?

Well, I did not actually go that day over there to get a pet. Though I had visited them in the past and thought a lot about it. And every one who knows me, knows how badly I have wanted a dog ever since I was a kid.. Well, but that day I was just supposed to volunteer. More like window shop I should say. I had checked out the available pets on their website, and had not even noticed her. The one I had noticed was another 6 month old puppy, supposedly another beagle mix. But when I saw him, he was big for a 6 month old and I kind of was just looking into the other cages when I noticed her. The volunteer asked me if I wanted to go in the kennel, and I did... and then I left with her!

Bella and her siblings

Apparently all her siblings were already adopted and she was a little sad because she was the last one there. Lucky for me! :)

Ofcourse, being a dog parent was a whole new experience. Never having had a dog even in the extended family, I was  as petrified as I guess she was. The volunteer at the shelter asked me to just put her in the back seat and drive home. Well, Bella had her own plans. She wanted to sit in my lap! So I decided to get out the car and go back to shelter office for advice.. which was about 100 meters away from where I was parked. We got out of the car, but Bella did not want to go in the same direction! After trying to pull her for 15 minutes, another volunteer came out and helped me open up the crate I had purchased and we finally drove home.
We got home, but Bella did not want to go inside. I decided I would tie her to the back porch, go inside the house and then bring her inside. Simple plan, right? Well, I get to the front door, and Bella is right there behind me. She had somehow managed to get free and did want to be left alone. Thank God, she did not run away. But she was shivering and I was sad and afraid and worried if I had done the right thing! After another 20 minuted and a few tears later,I called my friend Tess, an animal lover and owner of 4 dogs, 6 chickens, one parrot, one finch and one turtle. She came geared with her dog parenthood and a blanket from her dog, picked the damn dog up and brought her inside and stayed with us for another hour and a half till we both calmed down.. Thank God for Tess!!!!

 I spent the next few nights with very little sleep, only to learn afterwards that unlike what the volunteer had said, 6 month old dogs do not need to go out every few hours and they do sleep through the night. After a trip to Petsmart to beg one of their dog trainers, Devon, to start a training class for her, I also learnt that she can go for a full work day without going out and I do not need to come home in my lunch break!

Now about 6 months later, we both are quiet settled in. She is the sweetest and friendliest dog I have ever seen. She loves people and dogs no matter what. She is a cuddle bug! She will sleep in your lap for hours if you let her.

You can see my crazy blue carpeted floor and the new laminate floors we finally laid down.

She is great with kids. She does not react even when my niece decides that she is going to ride Bella or pull her by the tail.

Natasha and Bella

 Yesterday was Bella's st birthday! And even though she decided she was not going to not sleep throughout the night and keep me up with her and I started the day by yelling at her for going back to sleep, she still waited patiently on the stairs for me to get ready to take her out. After beginner and intermediate training at Petsmart she understands sit, down, touch and paw and plays dead when you shoot her and say "Bang"! She even comes once in a while when called, though her Beagle hound roots make her ignore you  mostly when outside. But when I am home, and sitting by myself and she brings me one of her toys, it makes even the rainy New England weather feel a little brighter!

Enjoying her birthday afternoon at Waggerz Lounge.

2012

So the dreaded 2012 is here! So much has changed since I wrote last time! Well, I was told when I was about 16 that most of my life things will happen when I turn 33... I did not believe it that time, but it almost happened like clockwork. Now, whether it was that that fortune teller was a good one, or it was a power of suggestion, I do not know. But it did happen. It happened all in 2011!

I did graduate.

I got a new car. A brand spanking new Toyota Prius 2011. And I love it.  It being hybrid, is not the best for the steep hills around my house and the Worcester winters, but I won't change a thing about it. I have used it as a truck through my recent moves and put over 13K miles in year.

I got my dog.. the one I always wanted!

 and I bought a condo!

So that makes me think that my stars must be shining extra bright last year!

But given my luck, it was not supposed to go smooth! J and I ended up putting an offer the house the weekend of Irene. Even the realtor had to cancel on us in the morning of the showing. But we did end up liking this condo along with another and wrote up the offers the same day. We got this house for the first offer put in, only to learn later as to why. Our closing got pushed forward by a month. Our flooring got delivered even before we closed on the house. We ended up doing no work in the 10 days J had come to Mass as we did not close on the house till the day after he went back. Since I had already given a notice at my previous rental place, we moved in the house even before we closed, on the night most of western Mass had no electricity because of the second severe storm of the season. We found severe leakage in the walls which had most probably been going on for 3 years and had caused severe damage to the walls and the second floor sub floors!

We still pulled through and finished laying down the beautiful cornfield laminate flooring in the master bedroom and living room through the next 3 months and numerous visits by J. By February 2012 though, the constant exhaustion, lack of any break and the site of water damage took over and we just ended up paying someone to finish partial work. We had to replace some of the studs in the upper bathroom walls as well!

So now, after over 7 months and a few thousand dollars later, we have floors throughout the house. These look beautiful and seem to be holding up quiet well! The puppy has developed attachment to us and demands lot of hugs when I see her every night and when J sees her every now and then! The mold in the walls is treated and we are waiting for the walls to be closed. The newly installed shower fixtures might need some more attention in terms of water proofing, however, the new fixtures look terrific! We painted all the kitchen cabinets white and the original bronze hardware looks great with that and opens up the kitchen! I also painted the bathroom vanities white and the bathroom vinyl tops gray. We have new peal and stick bath floors we well and I love the new look! And finally yesterday, J installed all the closet doors, put away all the tools back in the laundry room, cut a back for the accent buffet table in the kitchen I have been working on and fixed the slides on the same! Love him for that. And we did all this while making a pretty garden in the little front yard that I have!

So what remains?
1. Putting back the heater side plates
2. Closing up the walls
3. Correcting the bath fixture error
4. Painting the walls
5. Finishing the stairs
6. Finishing the accent buffet, fixing the last drawer on it or selling it off to recover as much cost as I can and starting over on that.
7. Finishing the TV cabinet project
8. (According to J) removing the sag in the floor that the last installer left behind.

Close.. we are close! I hope J moves back to Mass soon!

A Year Later

So last yeat this time I was all ready to go to India and all excited and bored about the weather!! We had similar weather last week.. it rained almost a week and was cold and gloomy!! For past few days though, it has been georgeous!! Sunny, bright, hot! Summer is in deed here!

Where is the Spring

Its end of May and still there seems to be no sign of things warming up here. For New England, April showers were supposed to bring May flowers. There were some flowers in April which are getting washed away by the rain which does not seem to stop. I hope we start seeing some sunshine soon or I am going to go crazy!!!