Kitchen Update

Today was an exciting day in our household - our new kitchen cabinets got installed!

Here are some more update pictures. Forgive the mess - I was taking a break from unpacking boxes.

Old cabinets:





New cabinets:



Old wall:



New pantry cabinets with wall removed:



The cabinets are off-white with a cocoa glaze. They look great with the new floor. Here are some close-ups:





Old stairs:



New stairs (he still hasn't put in the new newel posts, which are very pretty):



We're finally starting to see a light at the end of our home renovation tunnel. On Monday, the contractor is coming back to finish up the kitchen floor (and hopefully the stair railings and several other small tasks), plus they're coming to measure everything out for our new granite countertop. Then, on Tuesday, we're getting our new appliances delivered. After that, a trip from the plumber and another trip from the electrician. Then, we just have to wait until the granite can be installed (the official estimate is a week, but we've been told there's a chance it might be as early as Thursday). So (dare I type it?) there's actually a chance the kitchen will be in a usable condition within the next week. That's pretty darn exciting when you've been living in the midst of chaos for over a month! We'll still have to wait for our new furniture to arrive. Then, we have to get the tilework done for the backsplash and pick out a paint color, and we'll be set!

The aftermath of the storm

Well, the 2009 Ice/Snow Storm is officially over for us. The skies have cleared, the kids have come out to play, and the adults have come out to inspect the damages. At least it ended with a few good inches of snow, so the kids finally had something to play in!

Here's how everything looked at our house after the snow:











And some of the casualties around our neighborhood:











Once again, we're really glad we got rid of all of our Bradford Pear trees!

Elizabeth had a great time playing in the snow. Here she is all bundled up:



David pulled her sled around the block, and she thought that was an awesome ride! Of course, he had to pull her in the middle of the street, because we weren't sure all the tree limbs had finished falling.





Then, she got to play in the backyard (away from all the icy trees):





Her favorite part was knocking down all the icicles, of which there were many!




We even made a pathetic attempt at a snowman, however the snow wasn't sticky at all, so that was pretty much a bust!



All in all, we fared pretty well - especially since a lot of our friends are still without power! Now, we just have to wait for everything to thaw out, which might take a while based on the current forecast.

Ice storm update

The final depth of ice at our house seems to be around 1/2-inch. We were helped a little bit by a slight warming trend, that turned some of the freezing rain to just rain. But, it was still enough ice to cause major tree limbs to fall throughout the night, and they're continuing to fall this morning. Fortunately, we haven't lost power at our house, although several of our friends across town have.

Here are some updated pictures:










Now, heavy snow has started to fall, which is supposed to be the last leg of the storm. We should have about 2-inches of snow on top of the ice before it stops this afternoon.

Why I love my husband

I love my husband for many reasons. Any man that will allow his 3-year-old daughter to do this:



just to give his wife a few minutes of peace and quiet has to be the best husband and father in the whole world!

No wonder that little girl loves her daddy so much!



A few nights ago, she told him that when she grows up she wants to marry a man just like her daddy. I really hope she does.

Winter wonderland

The Bluegrass is a winter wonderland today. The current winter storm deposited about an inch of snow last night before it turned to freezing rain. So far, we have about 1/4-inch of ice on the trees and about 1/2-inch of ice on our deck.









The ice is beautiful, but very treacherous. So, we're all staying inside today. I wish it were just snow, because then we could have fun in it! They're predicting freezing rain for most of the rest of the day, so the ice could build up a lot more before it's all over. The power lines seem to be holding up pretty well so far. Let's hope that continues!

Not really so "mini" marathon

I just signed up to run the "mini Marathon" for the Kentucky Derby at the end of April. I think "mini" sounds a whole lot better than 13.1 miles! Yikes! I've never run over 6 miles at one time before now, so I've got a lot of training to do.

So why, you ask, have I decided to torture myself in this fashion? There are many reasons I could give you. They would include really good ones, such as: My body is a temple. I need to keep it in the best shape I can. Or: I'm not getting any younger, and if I ever want to run one of these races, I'd better start working on it now. Or, even less righteous ones, such as: It will be a great way to get in shape before Graeters starts their Strawberry Chip ice cream season (check previous post). But, I will confess the true reason that I did this:

A friend of mine, who has a son the same age as Elizabeth and another son even younger, just flew to Phoenix (all by herself!) to run in a marathon there. Now, I must confess that the idea of the race wasn't what appealed to me. It was the idea of a legitimate reason to travel somewhere ALL BY MYSELF. Is that totally selfish or what? But, I mentioned it to David and, as always, he was very supportive of the idea.

So, I'm not crazy enough to sign up for a full marathon, but I found out that Louisville has a half marathon as part of the Pre-Derby festivities. The course even goes through Churchill Downs, which sounds pretty cool. And, you have to be there at 6:30am, so I absolutely must go up the night before. David encouraged me to sign up as soon as I told him about it, even recognizing that it would be a good opportunity for me to spend a night alone before the race. That's when I dropped the bombshell - of course I'll need another night alone after the race to recover! (Hee, hee, hee!)

I've found a training schedule that should bring me up to speed in 10 weeks. Since the race is 13 weeks away, that gives me a little leeway, but not much. Wish me luck as I see if I can really pull this off!

16 Random Things About Me

I recently succumbed to Facebook, and over there I've been tagged several times by friends that want to know random things about me. The first tags asked for 16 things. I procrastinated on that because it sounded like too much effort. But then the later tags asked for 25 things, which made the 16 look pretty good. Before the number gets raised even higher, here I go with the original 16:

1. I fell in love with UK basketball when Kenny Walker was playing and no other player will live up to him in my eyes.
2. My tape collection from Junior High School is hidden in my attic. I'm too embarassed to throw them away because I'm afraid the garbage man will laugh. (Seriously - Madonna? Tiffany? Gag!)
3. There are pictures floating around of me somewhere in cyberspace that I hope nobody ever finds.
4. I absolutely love my job and I absolutely love my family, but I really struggle with finding balance between work and home. Most of the time, I feel like I'm not giving enough to either one.
5. Electric Company was way cooler than Sesame Street. And, Mr. Rogers was only good during the Neighborhood of Make Believe.
6. I failed my first driver's test. But, I still blame my dad, because he made me take it in a car I'd never driven before.
7. I'm addicted to Strawberry Chip ice cream from Graeters. My addiction is so strong that we went there with Elizabeth on the day she came home from the hospital. Fortunately, they only sell it a few months out of the year.
8. I started running at age 26 and love it, mainly because it helps me hide my addiction from #7. I'm going to try to train for a half-marathon this year.
9. Before I married David Dicks, I dated someone with the last name of Cox. Hmmmm...
10. I skipped the 7th grade. As far as I can tell, the only things I really missed were dissecting frogs and geography. I hate frogs and slimy things, so that's a plus for me, but I'm still bad at geography.
11. I tend to be very blunt, but I'm fairly good at holding my tongue. So, if you don't want to know what I think, don't ask.
12. I have the best husband in the whole world. I don't think I'm as good a spouse as my husband is to me. I don't deserve him, but I thank God every day for him.
13. I have trouble making good friends, but I truly cherish the ones that I have - even if I don't write or call very often.
14. I've made some really bad choices in my life, and I pray my children won't make the same ones. But, I also pray they won't make different bad choices either.
15. I used to be terrified of having children, but now I actually think I'm a pretty good mother.
16. I fell in love with Jesus at age 28. Those who knew me before that will know that you've never strayed too far to find Him!

Sorry if you asked for 25 and got shorted! I'm posting this on the blog instead of Facebook, because David hasn't fallen into the evil trap of Facebook yet, and I don't want him to feel left out. Plus, I just set up my Facebook account to import my blog posts and I want to see if it works.

For Laura

A while back, my friend Laura posted an old photo of her on her blog. It was the classic "little girl from the 70s gets a new bike" photo. Here's the link to Laura's post.

While I was recently working on the photo book extravaganza, I came upon my own version of this photograph:



I am still totally jealous of Laura's bike horn, but I may have beat her in style with the tube socks/sandals combination.

Watching the manatees

It was still chilly this morning, so we went to a local park that is next to a canal where manatees like to swim when it is cold. The water was filled with manatees this morning, so we had a lot of fun watching them swim around and come up for air. Elizabeth was particularly impressed with them because they had "mermaid tails."





The park also had two different playgrounds. But, Elizabeth spent most of her time just playing on the bridges that led to each one.



Now, David is braving the 70-degree weather to take Elizabeth swimming in the pool while I relax in the hotel room. Isn't he the best?

We head back to cold, cold Kentucky tomorrow. Hopefully, our contractor has made some progress on the house while we've been gone. We'll keep you posted!

Update from Naples, FL

It turned cold here in Naples at the end of this week. Cold for Naples, that is, which meant high temperatures of around 65 degreesF. Since the highs in Lexington for the same days have been about 11 degreesF, we still think we got the better end of that deal.

David and Elizabeth spent a few days hanging out at local playgrounds, the mall, and other various tourist attractions. Plus, the hotel pool is heated, so Elizabeth has still been able to swim in it. Then, we all got to go to the zoo and on a nature walk through a swamp today.

Here are some more pics from the week:

















It's been a good week. The Florida district manager for my company has really been working hard to convince me to move to Florida. I have to admit that I've been a tad bit tempted, particularly with the temperature differential between here and home!

Working in Florida

Last week, someone from work called me and asked if I could come to Naples, Florida, this week to help out with a project. When they called, I happened to be sitting in very cold rain/snow in Lexington, and Florida sounded like a pretty good idea to me. So, I rearranged a few work things and agreed to go. Then, I convinced David to bring Elizabeth and come with me. That wasn't very hard, seeing as the high in Lexington on one of the days we were going to be gone was forecasted as 19 degrees F. Brrrrr. Plus, it meant he could get out of our half-finished kitchen, and away from the contractor who is currently giving us nightmares.

We're staying in a really nice hotel that's close to the beach and has a heated outdoor pool. So, while I've seen my fill of condo windows while working the last 2 days, David and Elizabeth have been enjoying the beach and the pool. It's been nice to see them when I've gotten off work each evening, and we had a really nice seafood dinner tonight. There's a rumor that my job might finish up a little early this week, so we might be able to all hang out together for a day or two at the end of the week. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Here are a few pictures of Elizabeth at the beach: