A Fine Dusting ....

Conrad and I went to Home Depot this weekend so I could show him subway tile live and in person. I couldn't find any. See, NOT TRENDY!

Anyway - I just realized as I look around and think I NEED TO DUST AGAIN?  ........

This is a 1700 sq ft house.

Now I'm going to have to dust a 3000 sq ft one?

CRAP.

Kah

Subway Tile

Conrad just broke my heart into a million pieces, y'all.


As you know, we're moving forward on this house building thing. We met with the builder last week and gave him the re-vamped plans. We shrunk the house by 144 sq feet, removed some built in's, killed a porch, etc - in an attempt to lower the price some. I expect to hear from him in a few weeks. Once we do, we'll call a couple of loan places and then I think before we know it, we'll be off to the races. I'm trying to be a little proactive by putting together a little story board on each room. So that way we'll know what flooring we want, what colors we like, the cabinets we like, the stain we like, the faucets, etc ... and there will be no tears as we move into the design center to decide on finishes.


So as I've found things to paste in our book I've run them by Conrad. I have ALWAYS loved subway tile. It's CHEAP # 1 - I think it's like less than $1 a tile - and I think they are classic and won't "date" our house. They aren't trendy - like those itty bitty glass tiles are now- and I just love them. So I showed him a picture similar to this:

I wanted him to see the white tile against the black cabinets. We've decided on black cabinets.

You guys THIS is the kitchen of my dreams



When I showed him these, he scrunched up his nose and was like mmmm .... eh ..... and so I thought OH we have such a white kitchen right now, he's probably super tired of it. He doesn't want to see anymore white tile. White would be my choice but COMPROMISE! Got it! Back to the drawing board.

So today I showed him some colored tile and even some glass subway tile. Look at this deliciousness!

So I proudly show him and he says to me, "Um, I think I just don't like subway tile." I ..... I have been speechless for hours. WHAT? How can he just not like subway tile? What does that even mean? I just stared at him. I don't think he knows he ripped a jagged hole into my subway tile loving soul.

I could cry a thousand rivers. I think in my heart, I had a vision of the kitchen just ENCRUSTED with this stuff. I am SO hoping he doesn't want big, chunky, super square tiles. If so I am going to FREAK OUT. But I'm trying to remain calm. This is OUR house, I get that -- but I WILL have my subway tile. Even if it's the back wall of the bathroom upstairs in the tub - I will have it. That's 84 inches STRAIGHT UP, baby ... I WILL HAVE IT. If it's relegated up there though I can not be responsible for what I will do. He will be looking for me all over the house, and will pull back the shower curtain and find me in there, stroking that beautiful WHITE subway tile. I am hoping to gain some self control between now and then.

My question remains, however, WHAT IS WRONG WITH HIM? I thought his mama raised him right?! I need to call her and see if his hatred of subway tile stems from her. I bet if I showed his sister, she would LURVE it.

I'm going to go now and try to put the pieces of my heart and soul back together. Grrr ....

Kah

Office

I was DE-termined not to waste this Memorial Day weekend. I took Friday off and used it to clean the house and run my errands, like the post office and grocery shopping. That always seems to eat up at least a day during the weekend. I also wanted a lot of laying around ... book reading, moving watching and super yummy grilling. But more than anything, I wanted to do a few things around the house we never seem to get around to:

* Hanging pics
* Organizing the laundry room
* Organizing all my magazine and recipe clippings

Etc ... and I am happy to say all of these things are either complete or in progress.
That is a GOOD feeling.

For instance, I got Conrad a NICE picture of Texas. He always wanted one that looked like a map and had that nice, big, thick leather frame. Those are not cheap. So ... I waited until Christmas and got him one. How I got that GINORMOUS picture home in my tiny Toyota Solara with only two doors is another story unto itself, but I did it. Well after all that, it has sat for exactly 5 months. Finally I said Conrad, let's HANG IT and so we did and it looks AWESOME.

Before the pic:

Taking a break - while the drill charges: (and yeah, they are ALWAYS together)
WAIT ! Is he holding her HAND? Good Lord!

Picture hung:

Yeah, I know, night and day difference. I don't know WHY we waited so long. Lazy.

Also, you may be asking why we are spending money (even if it was 5 months ago) on THIS house when we are going to be building another one. Well I told Conrad a few months ago, as money allows, as I find things here and there I will be dragging them home to "stage" this one, as we build the other one. Conrad has always wanted one of those Texas map pictures and it's REALLY nice as you can see and will be perfect for his office in the new house. So why not buy it and enjoy it now? It will go with us to the next house and will just be one more thing we don't need to buy when we're faced with a big house to fill... and really wanting things to look "complete".

Kah

More Rugs!

After making the front door area all spiffy I started thinking about the kitchen. We seem to have random rugs thrown everywhere. Like a rug fairy has come to visit. But if that were true, I'd have much higher quality of rugs!

There are actually nothing wrong with these rugs, except that there is no navy in the main areas of our house. Conrad had them when I moved in - so I don't know, I guess boys gravitate to stuff like navy. He must, our master bedroom is navy.... anyway, the rugs ... they are still in good shape.

But I thought we needed a fresh look and for like $11 - why not? It made me feel better. So I threw these in the washer and folded them up and put them away. I figured we could use them somewhere in the new house, even if it's outside. I still have all the navy bedding from when Conrad lived alone before I took over :)  --- and heck, maybe the upstairs master will be navy and these can be the bathroom rugs. Who knows? I am NOT a waster!

So here are the new lovlies ...

I think these are totally great! We have tons of these colors in the house - white, black, browns ... all over the place. So these really look good. They are also really fluffy. I can tell the difference when I do dishes at night. It's like standing on a cushion. LOVE!

But don't tell Conrad ... I don't want him to think I ENJOY doing the dishes.

Kah

What a Difference a Rug Makes!

Conrad had this rug at the front door when I moved in. I think I had the SAME rug in Dallas, before I moved. Pretty sure mine were in the kitchen. This rug was fine, for a long time but last weekend when I was sweeping I noticed how bad and how frayed it looked and really - for a 7 year old rug from Wal-Mart probably, not bad. But can you see where at least in three places the strings are coming out?

So I took myself down to Wal-Mart last week and bought a new one. One that's a little different, or quite a bit different. I just needed something small in the space there - but I wanted it to POP, for whenever we start showing our house - so I went with a bold color. Red and khaki.

The reason is, if I back up a little you can see our dining room is red and khaki and I think it looks GREAT (click on the pics to make them bigger). I was so surprised how good it did look when I put out the new one. Blanca doesn't like it. She keeps smelling it and glaring at me. I guess she can smell all the people who have handled it - and it does not meet with her approval. She doesn't like change. She had probably JUST gotten that old rug to smell like her and now she has to start all over again. I'm a terrible mom. :)

Kah

On Top of Spaghetti!

This is one of my favorites now - regularly in the rotation. It's Conrad's grandmothers spaghetti with meatballs. These meatballs ROCK. I made this Friday night. Look how delightful!!!

1 lb of ground beef
1/2 lb of italian sausge - I get the kind in casings and just make a slit and pull out the meat - usually if there are 5 sausages in there, I use 3 for this recipe. Freeze the other 2
4 pieces of toast / ripped into tiny pieces
2 tbsp of chili powder
1 tbsp of garlic powder
handful of parmasean cheese
1 onion- chopped fine

I just dump all that in a bowl - and mix it up with my hands. I make meatballs with it - and bake them for 30 minutes at 350. His grandma makes her own sauce, but I don't. I never have time. I just pour some Ragu or Prego or something in a pan when the meatballs are done, transfer them to the pan and let them just sit in there on med/low while my noodles are cooking.

Good stuff, takes no time at all! It's one of Conrad's favorites. I never liked italian sausage until I started making this. Now I love it.

Kah

MEN!

Can ANYONE on the EARTH please tell me why boys can't put a new roll of toilet paper on the roller? I swear I go into the guest bath once a week and find this ... I don't get it. How hard is it to change it out?

Kah