Destiny Skywalker

Well, the video had her talking to every resort BUT Snoqualmie. I don't think they've set an opening date. It's finally raining here. But also warming up. Feels like a pineapple express. That's our typical November weather. Showed up a month late.

I'm so good at this game.

Ugh yep. https://www.fox13seattle.com/video/1374365 https://www.fox13seattle.com/news/wheres-the-powder-western-washington-ski-areas-push-back-opening-day

Maybe clean the bottom? Sometimes mine gets a little funky.

Agreed. Covers you everywhere.

I wasn't drunk but I bought some of those claw clips that are cool again. I like them for things like dyeing my hair or using a straightening iron, and my last surviving clip from the 00s was looking pretty rough. I got an 8 pack, put one in, and said I look dumb. My daughter told me that my hair looks better in a ponytail. Then we put one in her hair and she looked adorable. Screw you kid.

Offering to help with a project lol Does he have a lot of kitchen stuff already? Is there a small gadget that might make cooking easier? Nice new pan?

BTW, Jonny Moseley follows jerryoftheday. My husband and I just spent the last 30 minutes catching up on the Jerrys. And he doesn't even ski!

We got E's genetic testing results back and they were thankfully mostly benign. The one variant that did pop up is related to growth hormones. So I'm glad that there was nothing scarier than that. However, when I start googling that gene there are a few other things that might be explained as well. Apparently there's some things in there that can be associated with ADHD, clumsiness, and social issues (gee, you don't say). We are still on the waitlist for an autism evaluation. However, he got this variant from me. So this explains why I started off tall and ended up short, and why I'm significantly shorter than my biological parents. We've been talking to Q's pediatrician about how she seems to have fallen off the growth curve. So I have a feeling she has the variant too.

Oh I've done that upper body drill. You're right, it is freaking WORK. I think we are in for a bad year up here. We've had like 2 weeks without rain. It's cold af (for Seattle) but no precipitation means not a lot of snow, either. 19" so far at the top of Alpental, 1" so far at the base of Summit West. Not good. May not have been a good season to buy passes.

We redid Q's closet this weekend. I think that got the DIY out of my system for now. I need to throw crap away instead. Before/after pictures

So earlier this month I was all about decorating the tree. My family told me to chill until Thanksgiving weekend. And now that it's here... I don't want to. I think I'm in a little bit of a funk because of our upcoming remodel that is going to last 2-3 months starting in February. It's going to restrict us to our bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, the dining room, the office/den, and our small family room. Losing the downstairs bathroom is not a big deal, but losing the kitchen and washer/dryer for so long is going to be rough. So the idea of rearranging the living room to fit the tree does not have a lot of appeal right now. I might move it to the billiard room this year, even though that's not a great spot for opening presents. My husband noticed last night that I seemed off, and the best I could explain was I'm just thinking too much. However, this year I actually got Christmas cards early because I didn't have to wait until Christmas day to beg everyone for a family picture because a friend who is a realtor set up a bunch of family mini photo sessions this fall. It's an ongoing joke that I do New Years cards because I can't get my shit together for Christmas cards. I stuck with my usual funny theme instead of pretty/nauseating perfect family cards. So far I've bought all of the kids gifts. I'm going light this year, they have a lot of stuff already, and I can't tell you how much stuff they've never played with. They have their favorite toys and they play with those 90% of the time. E is getting an indoor climbing gym that mounts to a wall. Q got a bedroom makeover and a ski bag. I got my dad some cheap Bluetooth earbuds because he listens to his cheesy Christian worship music on his phone on full blast and the sound quality is TERRIBLE. I also bought us a new desk so I can get rid of this gigantic corner desk that my husband HAD TO HAVE like 7 years ago that is beat to heck because he also had to have a gigantic desk chair that doesn't fit into it and it's beat the desk up so bad and I'm tired of banging the chair every single time I get in and out of the desk. Now that we don't get work from home benefits anymore because our executives are mad about their apparent lack of control over us, we need a smaller desk and we're changing the office back to a den/gaming room/playroom.

I hate so many choices. Honestly what helped with this one was I showed my friend who was over for Thanksgiving some haphazard choices and she pointed out that our hardwood floors have a lot of character and said do you really want competing wood? So that eliminated any wood look LVP and we went to tile, which there was a lot less of. Haha

Flooring choices! We're going to do LVP in the pool table room and the mudroom. We have kids and a dog and the bar will be there too. So anticipating lots of mud, spills, and scratches. I think we've already kicked out the gray one on the left. We put this on the step down into the room because I do want it to look good against the hardwood floors above. I think the one on the right looks really good with the wood cabinet sample, but it also reminds me of Sulphur stains from the nasty ass water in Florida. The one in the middle is really close to the current carpet, so it wouldn't be that big of a change, might lighten up the room a bit? But it's kind of boring.

I'm never moving again. I say this every time, but I usually stay put for 7 years or so. But seriously, I have to stay here until the kids are out of high school. Maybe college. So 2 years down, 9-13 to go...

No, but it doesn't sound like too terrible of a deal. How much is the land rent? Is there property tax on top of that or no? What are the barriers to moving out in March? Place to live, I'm assuming. But is there anything else? Physical issues?

Countertop inspo! With our cabinet sample. Yes, I realize the blue/green one is super crazy. We haven't decided if we are that ballsy yet.

We went a little more traditional in the kitchen, mostly because I hate the white kitchen trend. I'm not much of a rustic person but I've always loved wood themed kitchens. So for the bathroom, I think I want to go a little wild and be trendy. Our master bath screams 1995 (white tile everywhere, bathtub taking up way too much space). That's next on the renovation list. The kids bath we are going to try to do ourselves (mostly just change out the vanity and pull out the vinyl floor and tile it, I'm not in love with the shower/tub insert but it's a secondary bath and its a least a little nicer than most of the builder tubs I see). So, the first style is sauna/spa inspired. Wood-like shower tile with black floors. The second is the blue/gray theme. The second feels like a safer choice, but like I said, I love wood theme without going rustic. Is it too much?

They are red oak hardwood floors in the kitchen. Those are staying and getting refinished. They're a little darker stain than I'd like, but full refinishing with removing stain is out of the budget. We will do something else in the parlor, probably LVP, maybe tile. Not gray, it's gotten too trendy and I fear in 15 years it will horribly date the house. But considering going really dark. It's going to depend on the countertops, though.

The in wall one that we are removing is gas. The one at our old house (built 2005) was not this bad. I'm convinced our house (built 1995) is not well insulated. Or it's just a shitty unit. We could've replaced it with electric and no issues with code, honestly. My husband just doesn't like how electric looks so fake. And we do already have the electric insert in a really nice entertainment center so I think we will just use that one. So we are just going to Cap the gas line and drywall over the space in case someone wants to put one in later. The cabinets are actually a little more red. We went with the Cayenne stain, with Alder wood (similar grain to Maple).

Yes, they are the same room (kitchen and parlor) from different angles. I think we need the tall cabinets because those are our pantries. This house actually sucks for storage. We are currently using a linen closet as a pantry plus another small pantry. Right now that whole space just has a banister between it (yes, like stairs) and it's dumb as heck. The parlor is 2 steps lower than the kitchen. Maybe the original floor plan was an entertaining stage? In any event, we are losing some of the kitchen storage as well because we are knocking out the island because it's too crowded (can't open the refrigerator drawer without standing off to the side, can't load pots and pans from dishwasher because when the dishwasher is open, the door can't open). I also have a huge box of China that I haven't unpacked because somehow I ended up with 3 sets of China (mine, my grandmother's, and my parents because they were both being petty and didn't want the other one to get the China in the divorce). Yes, its a wine fridge. It holds 250ish bottles and it's already full and we have 6 cases in boxes, too. You can't say I'm an alcoholic, more like a hoarder because I have more alcohol than I need. We are still working our way through our 2016s and we are starting to pick up 2020/2021 wines lately. Yeah fireplace is gonna go. The mantle is oversized and we need room for the door, and I'm not sure we would be able to meet code for the hearth width and fit the door. It's also very inefficient and right now I avoid turning it on because it makes my heating bill insane. We do have an electric fireplace that will probably be moved out of the back room and into the living room as part of the remodel and turning that back room into more of an office/guest suite instead of den. So, black, white or gray countertops?

This is what it looks like now. Not entirely decided on cabinet colors, counters, sink, etc. Of course we are over budget and have to order cabinets by Friday. We have not done much work on the 2nd bathroom but I think we are already going to have to go kind of cheap on the bathroom. Gonna be the Home Depot bathroom. Also have to rip out the fireplace, hence the very naked back wall. We tried to change it out and the only way to bring it up to code was going to be very expensive. We might turn it into a closet instead of just closing it out.

My husband and kids like to use the Bing AI to make funny images. Today it was something like, you're a powerful warrior, but you have to take care of a puppy. My daughter has been using some website lately to design her characters for stories or D&D campaigns. She already really loves drawing but she's gotten more into anime so that's the style she's trying to replicate. I don't think it's true AI, more like it gives you a bunch of options, like internet paper dolls.

Well, we got Q a Gizmo watch that has phone and GPS. I decided we are definitely at least doing some walkie talkies this year because we did get separated once last year and it was really upsetting for her, but we get good cell service so I think that will work. I can force her watch to pick up, so if she wasn't picking up (say her arm was trapped), I could change a setting real fast to force it to go through. My Garmin watch also tracks me going down with force (like a bad fall) and sends an emergency alert to my husband. I've activated it once by accident... Do those sit in your helmet? I think in a real emergency, something voice activated would be key.

Does Murray have a favorite place not in the house? (Is the weather terrible yet?) I mean if you are more comfortable doing it at the vet, then by all means do it. Murray cares that you are there the most.