Kitchen's done

We're done with the kitchen as of Friday. Earlier this week, the granite on the island was replaced so that the proper overhangs were in place. This lets you pull up a bar stool to the island without hitting your legs on the island wall.

We're off to Randy's tonight to see his new short film. If you're interested click
here to go to the site.

Nothing's ever easy...

Nothing is ever easy. Emily and I bought some new computer gear today. First piece was to replace the Netgear wireless router we had. It was dropping the wireless side frequently. For some time it was just a matter of resetting it, but even that stopped working this week. So, at Fry's today we bought the Linksys router you see above and a Maxtor firewire drive to provide extra disk space for the mac. After tearing out the old router, I got the new one in without a problem. Next, I went on to take care of the new drive and found that I bought a USB based drive instead of firewire. So... now I get to get back to Fry's (I hate doing returns there) and get the replacement. The good news is that tomorrow is Monday and they have a lot lower return volume on weekdays.

Chris

Dad's visit

Dad had an evening layover in Dallas on his trip to Dubai. It was good to catch up a bit. Emily took this snapshot of us outside in front of the house on Sunday.

Kitchen remodel

Last week we finally got moving on the kitchen remodel we paid for in November. We didn't want to have this done over Thanksgiving because we were going to be in Mississippi and didn't want folks in the house without us there. Christmas and New Year's are bad because everyone is taking time off then. We finally got it scheduled in February, just before Dad came out.

Here's the before shot taken at the island. You can see we had the white countertops and appliances.


Here's the after shot.


So here's what we had done:

• Replaced exisiting white countertops with "Impala Black" honed granite countertops.
  
• New tile backsplash.
  
• Replaced existing vent hood witha more powerful Vent-a-Hood.
  
• New Bosch dishwasher.
  
• New sink, faucet, and disposal.
  
• New gas cooktop
  
• Installed in line hot water heater to provide quick hot water
  

The sink and faucet. The new sink is stainless steel and asymetrical in width and depth and it's undermounted, which makes it easy to scrape my coffee grounds into the sink.. The faucet is has an odd control system, but the nice thing is that is has an integrated spray head.


The new hood, cooktop, and backsplash. The new hood has a squirrel cage fan in it and has a higher CFM flow rating i.e. the damn thing actually works and doesn't make a lot of noise. The old one just about worthless (even though we had an external duct) and it was loud. The new cooktop is a lot more powerful than the old one. I'm having to cook everything on low.


Closer shot of the backsplash.


Overall, Emily and I are both happy. The granite had to be done twice and there are two sections that need to be replaced because the dimensions are wrong. It was supposed to have a larger overhang on two sides of the island so you could sit at the bar with a stool and not have your knees agains the wall. They got it right on one section, but not the other. Trouble is the way that the granite is fit together, two sections will need to be replaced.

The dishwasher is incredibly quiet. Emily and I ran it this weekend and we couldn't even tell the thing was on. No regrets on that one....

Chris

Thanksgiving shots

Just some photos from the Thanksgiving trip.


Emily and Mary Lou.


Mom & Dad.


Paola. I was just learning how to use the camera and I should have really jacked up the ISO on the camera in order to get a reasonable shutter speed that would have avoided the blur. Still, I really like the photo.


Dad.


Shot of Mom with Stratos and Costas in the background. Conversation around the kitchen table is a common scene around the house.


Ouzo.This is a bit of an abstract shot. It was taken at the Country Gentleman in Gautier, MS. I just put the camera on the table and hit the shutter. It might as well be an ad for Metaxa.


Tom. Taken at Marie and Dorsey's house.


Dad in front of a typical post-Katrina trash pile.

Nursery shots

Emily took this shot of the nursery. We put the crib and changing table together last weekend. We have a few more things to do, but we're nearing completion.


Here's a closer shot of the crib. You can see the alphabet theme on the crib bumper.

Week 23: Friday night on the couch

We have both been trying to document Emily’s progress along the pregnancy. I took this shot last Friday night while Emily was doing her normal couch slumber (something she enjoyed prior to the pregnancy). She felt cooperative, so I got a smile.

I might have a problem here....

This was my second step into the world of watches, and it was a bold one. This watch is opposite of everything the Omega was. It's big, simple, and unreasonably expensive. It was another anniversary gift. Emily and I had been working our asses off throughout the year which left us little time to spend the money we were making. Add a few bonuses, and complete burnout, and you have the "I - love - me!" moment where you go a little over the edge.

I can go into all of the details about it which only a WIS (Watch Idiot Savant) would understand (see PMWF) but I can tell you what I think really matters: I still love this watch every time I pick it up.

Omega Speedmaster Date

Emily got this one for me for our 6th anniversary. We normally don't surprise each other with anniversary gifts, so mentioned something about getting me a nice watch considering that she was getting a lot of jewlery.

Cleo

This is our dog Cleo. She's a Sharpei/Pitbull mix -- at least that's our best guess. We got her from the Dallas pound five years ago. She likes bananas.

Watches: Blame it on this one

A few years ago, I developed a real soft spot for watches. Thinking back, I would say it really developed around 1990. My mother got me this Casio analog/digital watch with a bidirectional rotating bezel in 1990. At the time, it was considered a large watch (I think about 43mm). I still have it and wear it from time to time. In fact, I've been through three different bands and batteries. I even sent it off to a Casio repair facility in Utah a few years and had it serviced. It set me back $36. I think the battery is going again, and the pushers really don't work any more. Despite all of this, I can't get rid of it.

Getting started...

Never thought I'd have a blog. Honestly, I've always thought the damn things were pretentious. With Emily being pregnant, I've reconsidered and I think it's probably the best way to share the progress.

Chris