Sad news

I'm sad to report that my good friend Caroline has lost her mother-in-law. Age 74, she was surrounded by family in her last days and hours, and slipped away quietly in her sleep. My heart goes out to Caroline and the rest of the Chavez family.

A Dog and Her Girl

On Saturday my younger friend, Lauren, took a nap with her puppy, Kai. I snapped this shot of Lauren and Kai sleeping with their arms/paws around each other. Adorable.

26

A friend just asked me how many pairs of shoes I own, and so I counted them maybe for the first time ever. I own 26 pairs including my bedroom slippers. Five of those pairs of shoes are for horseback riding and barn work. One pair is insulated for winter wear. Three pairs of flip-flops for summer wear. A pair of running shoes for working out only. And the rest are cute for dressing up.

The leather repair shop across the street repairs donated shoes and then gives them to the homeless. A great way to recycle used shoes and give shoes a second chance at life.

Leah's married!

Congratulations to Leah on her marriage last week! Her mom threw a party last night for the occasion. Jennifer baked an amazing pound cake with butter cream frosting. Mmmm.

Waterproofing update

On Friday the crew finished a lot of work on the house, although there are still a few items left on the punch list. Talked to the foreman today, and hopefully everything will get wrapped up quickly.

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. . .

Waterproofing update

The crew did a great job yesterday. They put flooring under the fridge and stove, caulked the granite, finished the kitchen flooring under the cabinets by putting in a toe-kick and quarter round, caulked the crown moulding, replaced the moulding around the living room window, removed and fixed the moulding around the french doors, repaired the hole near the front door, fixed the damaged door jamb, put more grout on the kitchen floor, etc. Today looks like they'll seal the granite, replace the bedroom door, and finish work in the utility room (fix the doggie-door size hole in the wall that leads to the crawl space, put flooring under the washer/dryer, etc.).

Looks like there are a couple of projects they won't be able to finish until they have the parts - cover on the sump pump, flood ring around the water heater, etc.

I'm very pleased as of this morning. Might even hire these guys for some freelance work if they're up to it.

Tonight is my company's annual holiday party. Can't wait! We always have our party after the holidays, which I think is a great idea. It's semi-formal. We'll have a cocktail hour, a nice buffet dinner, and then dance the night away.

Punch list

Yesterday morning I met with Vince (from the waterproofing company) to go over the long punch list of projects that need to be finished or redone in my condo before the work can be called finished. After our meeting, Vince brought in a new crew and reviewed each item on the list with them while I was there. Today the new crew is supposed to begin their work. With any luck, the condo will be done this week. (Have I said that before?)

Ahh, spring

We've had the craziest great weather for the last 2 days. Today I didn't even wear a jacket to work. It was in the 60's.

Unfortunately the footing in the arena was too wet for riding, but I went to the barn and hung out anyway.

Carpe diem!

Santa Clauses

Duke and Gary got into the spirit this year, along with Ranger and Kid.

Blue's got a big head

Last summer I went to a polo match with some friends. On a barn tour there, I made friends with a monstrously large but sweet horse named Blue. My friend Judy just sent me this picture from that day.

Check out the size of Blue's head. . .

Home sweet home

I moved back into the condo on Saturday afternoon. What a job - even harder than moving in for the first time to a new place, since everything has to be scrubbed and cleaned. Mmm construction dust.

The contractors have a long list of items to fix, so we're not completely out of the woods yet. But at least I'm sleeping in my own bed again. After 11 weeks in hotels, it's about time. . .