I have a floor!

Hey, how did it get to be Friday so fast?!  I think I officially love four day work weeks!  I'm sorry I couldn't post yesterday, but rather dramatic thunderstorms conspired with our electricity to make working on the computer impossible.  There's nothing like waking up to discover you can't turn on the bathroom light or blow dry your hair...or turn on the computer and publish your post!

I had planned to start sharing some travel stories with you today, but I'm too excited about my new living room floor!  The main floor of my house has been torn up for over a month now while we have worked on the kitchen and living room, and today, with the installation of the new flooring, I am finally able to start pulling things back together. When we moved into this house the first thing I wanted to do was replace the awful green carpet, and now, almost ten years later it's finally happened! As a refresher, here are some 'before' pictures of my living room.  You can see extra dishes and doo-dads piled on the end tables from the kitchen projects.  What you can't see is how old and dingy the green carpet was, so you'll have to trust me on that.  (And by the way, let's all be nice and pretend we don't notice how dusty my trunk is...we had sheet rock dust everywhere from the kitchen ceiling repair.  I promised honesty in my blog, but sometimes it can be a little embarrassing.  Y'all sometimes don't get around to dusting either, right?)

Once the carpet was ripped up (and I simply refuse to talk about how dirty the floor underneath the carpet was--no wonder I sneezed so much in the living room!) we had to live with the subfloor and the boxes of wood that were 'acclimating' for several weeks:

And now comes the fun part!  The installer arrived around 9 yesterday and had the padding all in place before 10, then started laying the floor.  I watched him for a few minutes and then gave a heartfelt prayer of sincere gratitude that my husband and I had realized our limitations and didn't try to d-i-y with the floor installation.  Thank goodness the five minutes of irrational optimism that we could install a wood floor gave way to common sense.  For heaven's sake, we don't even own any power tools!

And tonight, after work, I could finally put my room back together and lovingly place all my special travel mementos back where they belong.  And what the heck, I even dusted the trunk!

I am so happy with the result!  Now, of course, the waiting begins....who will be the first person to spill on it, scratch it or in some other way make it a little less perfect?  Oh well, I know it is inevitable but for today, my cup runneth over.

A very good place to start....

When you woke up this morning, I bet the first thing you thought was "hey, I wonder what words of wisdom Martha has to share with me today."  I knew it!  So here goes...

Maybe not quite the wisdom you were expecting?  Well, it seemed quite appropriate to me, as I continue to count down my trials and tribulations in getting ready for my vacation.  And I would have shined my sink, really I would have, except...my garbage disposal broke.  And started leaking.  And my dishwasher overflow valve started overflowing.  And since we couldn't get it fixed before we left, I had to leave my sons with a basically non-functioning kitchen sink for the two weeks we were gone.  Hmmm...it really needs shining now!

So maybe I need to look elsewhere for inspiration?  How about this one?  Gosh, I hope not!

This, my friends, is a thought too scary to contemplate....!!

Before I pile on the rest of the craziness, I'll share my new counter tops with you--they look amazing!

No more imperfections, no nasty cracks, and the little flecks of brown and black make my appliances really look like they belong in my kitchen now.

 And check out my awesome new non-leaking faucet!

So we wrapped up the kitchen projects...and started looking for the next one.  I know!  How about ripping out the pathetically worn and out-dated green living room carpet?! 

 Because what woman doesn't want to experience living without flooring for a few weeks?

 Or even better, how about living with a floor full of flooring while the new wood 'acclimates'??

My new floor goes in Thursday morning, so perhaps there is an end to all this craziness.  Or not.

As the infomercials say...But wait! There's more!!

So on our final work day before vacation my husband picked me up at 5 pm.  We high-fived ourselves and did a little 'going on vacation' dance in the car.  Eased out onto the road and as we pulled up to the first stop sign the little boy in the car next to us rolled down his window and looked straight at us.  And then threw up.  We watched in disbelief, and then I jokingly said I hoped that wasn't a vacation omen!  We got home, opened a bottle of wine and sat down on the sofa (after carefully making our way through the boxes of flooring and trying very hard not to trip with the wine bottle, the glasses and the plates of cheese and crackers).  Our dog came in the room, looked at us...and threw up on our feet. 

I could not make this up if I tried!

The next morning my son put a load of all his good shirts in the washing machine. He called me down to the laundry room an hour later so that we could have a mother-son bonding moment over the discovery that the city sewer HAD BACKED UP INTO THE WASHING MACHINE.  Yup.  And...the washing machine would now not spin out the water.  Yup. Yup. And yup. Or more accurately, Ick. Ick.  And ick. Goodbye special t-shirts!

Which now meant, that in addition to my broken garbage disposal, overflowing dishwasher valve and no living room floor (and we won't talk about all the leftover 'stuff' from my kitchen that was still sitting on my dining room table with no place to go), I now had a non-functioning washing machine.  So, it was off to the laundromat in order to have clean clothes to pack.  Because where better to kick off your long anticipated vacation than the laundromat?

 

And this is why I needed a vacation!!  Tomorrow I'll start sharing some travel adventures, I promise.   No poem today...I honestly couldn't think of anything that could possibly tie in with all of this, so here's a little thought for today instead.

 Happy Wednesday!

Let's start at the very beginning...

No matter what happens, travel gives you a story to tell. 

 

And goodness knows, I love to tell a good story!  But since stories usually start at the beginning, let's take a peek at what all I was dealing with while trying to get ready for vacation.  Not only were my husband and I trying to wrap up projects at our respective jobs so that we could both leave with clear consciences and clean desks, he was also wrapping up his spring season with his youth symphony and giving final lessons to one of his senior students, who has studied with him for close to ten years.  Our family room does double duty as his music studio on Saturday mornings, so I am privileged to get to know his students a little as well, hearing them progress from beginner etudes to marvelous concertos.  

Reception following the concert with some of the youth symphony members

Since the concert was on Mother's Day, my family gathered the day before to celebrate with me. It's fun watching my family expand, with a daughter-in-law and soon-to-be-son-in-law adding to the gaiety.  I love being a mother, and having a day to celebrate it is even nicer!

But since we were leaving on vacation following Mother's Day weekend, I had to celebrate long distance with my own mother.  I sewed something special for her, based on this pillow I found in a catalog.  You can customize a pillow with your choice of a map or nautical chart.  It immediately brought to mind our Massachusetts travel adventures from a couple of years ago, but at $100 a pillow I knew I had to get creative and come up with my own pillow design!

Original source

I've made pillow cases before, but never the "envelope" style with the back openings for easy cleaning. Nor had I ever used transfer paper with my computer.  So I studied a few tutorials online, and then went "googling" (I'm sure that's a word~~if not, you know what I mean!) for nautical images of my own.  I found a map of Newburyport harbor from 1640, made shortly after our ancestors helped establish the town in 1632, plus an ink drawing of the Mary and John sailing ship that was used for the voyage from England.  All that was left was to purchase some nautical themed fabric, a couple of small pewter charms, plus printer fabric/paper and voilà...pillows that recall our Massachusetts colonial heritage on a Puritan budget! :-)

Here's a peek at how they turned out and according to my mother, they look great on her sofa.  I was so happy with the result, and couldn't wait for her to open the box when it arrived in the mail!

Anchor and sailing ship charms for a little added bling!

And if work, family and concert responsibilities were not enough, I've been living in a disrupted world.  I thrive on neatness and order, and lately my house has been....well, let's just say it isn't neat OR orderly!  First we decided to paint the kitchen and dining room ceiling, which required a lot of taping and covering up and moving the dining room furniture into the living room:

Then, we had our Corian countertops refinished.  Replacing them simply wasn't in our budget, but I was so tired of the dingy almond color and the horrible crack that kept growing quarter inch by quarter inch....

On the upside, my counter tops have never been so clean!  You can't see them, but the counters had many little stains and nicks from years of hard use. 

dang crack!

This, of course, also meant taking out the leaky faucet that was driving me bonkers, pulling out the stove and temporarily storing all the counter 'stuff' on the table!  We ate with plates balanced on our laps in the family room for almost a week...

sigh.....

And, truth be told...it gets worse!  Getting ready for vacation, part two, will appear tomorrow, and in the meantime, Shel Silverstein's poem Messy Room seems sadly strangely apropos...

Whosever room this is should be ashamed!
His underwear is hanging on the lamp.
His raincoat is there in the overstuffed chair,
And the chair is becoming quite mucky and damp.
His workbook is wedged in the window,
His sweater's been thrown on the floor.
His scarf and one ski are beneath the TV,
And his pants have been carelessly hung on the door.
His books are all jammed in the closet,
His vest has been left in the hall.
A lizard named Ed is asleep in his bed,
And his smelly old sock has been stuck to the wall.
Whosever room this is should be ashamed!
Donald or Robert or Willie or—
Huh? You say it's mine? Oh, dear,
I knew it looked familiar!

At the going down of the sun and in the morning...We will remember them

Newburyport, MA, 9/11 tribute

We're back!  I had an amazing two weeks full of travel, new sights, a lot of time to relax and just BE, and I have many new stories and poems to share with you over the next few weeks.  But before I start sharing travel adventures, I want to express my gratitude to PBS for another moving Memorial Day concert.  My husband and I watched it last night and I must admit, the tears came easily as we watched this beautiful tribute to our nation's brave veterans.  And of course, our hearts were filled with love and pride remembering our nephew, Ron, who gave his life in the service of our country this past June. 

As I pause to remember my brave family members who served to protect and defend our nation, I am reminded of lines from For the Fallen, penned by Laurence Binyon shortly after the start of World War I:

They went with songs to the battle, they were young.
Straight of limb, true of eyes, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,
They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young, Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow. They were staunch to the end against odds uncountered: They fell with their faces to the foe. - See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/20228#sthash.CsXXhDUW.dpuf

My dad during WW II

They went with songs to the battle, they were young, Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow. They were staunch to the end against odds uncountered: They fell with their faces to the foe. They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them. They mingle not with their laughing comrades again; They sit no more at familiar tables at home; They have no lot in our labour of the day-time; They sleep beyond England's foam. But where our desires are and our hopes profound, Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight, To the innermost heart of their own land they are known As the stars are known to the Night; As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust, Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain; As the stars are starry in the time of our darkness, To the end, to the end they remain. - See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/20228#sthash.CsXXhDUW.dpuf

They went with songs to the battle, they were young, Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow. They were staunch to the end against odds uncountered: They fell with their faces to the foe. They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them. They mingle not with their laughing comrades again; They sit no more at familiar tables at home; They have no lot in our labour of the day-time; They sleep beyond England's foam. But where our desires are and our hopes profound, Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight, To the innermost heart of their own land they are known As the stars are known to the Night; As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust, Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain; As the stars are starry in the time of our darkness, To the end, to the end they remain. - See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/20228#sthash.CsXXhDUW.dpuf

My beautiful sister and her husband, who we welcomed back from Afghanistan last year

My brother during Desert Storm

My nephew, who gave the ultimate sacrifice for his country

My husband and I spent one full day on the battlefields of Gettysburg.  It is impossible to visit this site and not imagine the pain and horror of those three long, hot days in July, 150 years ago.  It serves as a poignant and awful reminder of the personal loss and sacrifice made not only by those that fell or were wounded there, but also of the families who received word that their sons would not be coming home.  May God bless all our veterans today, and may we all take time to remember their sacrifices as they strove to protect this nation for all of us.

Gettysburg, May 2013

Although Carl Sandburg points out in his poem Grass that time will fade memories of battles won and lost, but my hope is that we will never forget the sacrifices made and the lives interrupted...may we always take time to remember and honor our veterans.

Pile the bodies high at Austerlitz and Waterloo.
Shovel them under and let me work--
I am the grass; I cover all.

And pile them high at Gettysburg
And pile them high at Ypres and Verdun.
Shovel them under and let me work.
Two years, ten years, and passengers ask the conductor:
What place is this?
Where are we now?

I am the grass.
Let me work.

Find what brings you joy and go there.

And finally, after twenty months, we're off!  Time for a vacation--a time to relax, renew, and reconnect with each other and with ourselves.  The last year in particular has been a tough one for our family--we've faced serious and life-threatening illnesses of family members, tragedy, deaths of loved ones, job worries, a job change, the realities of getting two children through college, and on and on and on.  But the time has come to put aside our worries for a while and hit the road!

No matter what happens, travel gives you a story to tell.

-- Jewish Proverb 

  
I'll be back in a couple of weeks with new stories and new stories.  I can't wait to share our adventures with you!  Since we are both history buffs, we are visiting Monticello, Yorktown, Williamsburg, Berkeley Plantation and Gettysburg. 

Those that say you can't take it with you never saw a car packed for a vacation trip. -- Author Unknown

But of course,  before we can pack for our vacation, we have to make a trip to the laundromat.  Our washing machine inexplicably died on Saturday, just as I was getting ready to wash everything for our trip.  How sad that this didn't surprise me!  It was one of those 'the story of my life' moments.  I'm not keen on laundromats, but at least I can bring the clothes home to dry.  And then my husband will pack the car in the awesome way he has of always making everything fit.  He would rock at Tetris, because no matter what we throw at him, he manages to make it fit.

 

So I'll be back in a couple of weeks, and in the meantime may spring finally arrive wherever you live!

 

 

Confession time....I am not winning the turf war for my pretty yellow begonia hanging basket.  I might be able to claim a skirmish or two, but Mama Cardinal is pretty well ensconced in her new nest/basket.  Obviously she is relishing the spa qualities of being surrounded by lush foliage and having a soft, gentle shower every day.  She's evidently been showing off her new digs, because every time I step outside several  cardinal bff's (best friends forever...) take flight!  Come on, ladies!  It's a hanging basket, not the Cardinal Come On Inn...

This was taken through my kitchen window, but you can see the saucy little minx, staring straight back at me!

Since it's Friday, I thought we'd ease into the weekend with a fun little game called "What's Wrong With This Picture?"  Are you ready?  Here we go...

WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?

Forsythia shrub...my garden...May 2012

Forsythia shrub...my garden...May 2013

Unbelievably, my computer is assuring me these pictures were all taken on the same day!   May 9th, 2012

May 9, 2013

May 9, 2012

May 9, 2013

Can you blame me for starting to feel a little impatient?  At least my hyacinths rsvp'd and showed up for my spring party! My other seasonal visitors are a bit disappointing, to say the least.

Finally, some color in the garden!  May 2013

Here's a cute little poem that expresses my frustration exactly.  It's called Impatient Gardener, but unfortunately I couldn't discover the poet's name.  Have a wonderful Friday, and I'll be back tomorrow with my last post before vacation!

Oh tender shoots, why still sleep beneath frozen earth cold and deep?
Upon this earth awaits in vain one who needs your blooms again
Do you miss the sky? The birds and sun?
Your blossoms, do they want to come?
Without you this world’s so bleak and cold,
Brown and gray, no colors bold
No fragrance sweet, no bouquets to hold
Oh tender shoots, why still sleep beneath frozen earth cold and deep?
Upon this earth a gardener waits to catch a glimpse, just one peep
Have pity on this weary one
Weighed down from winter’s gloom and glum
Return to me, you leaf and stem
Come grace my garden beds again
For now I only wonder - when?