Category Archive:Moose Nuggets

At long last . . . after 35 years with essentially the same bathroom . . . hubbymoose and I are getting a remodel! Exciting, no? Yes – but angst-ridden, too.

Choices!!! So very many choices. What type of bathroom do we want? (functional, please) Bathtub or shower only? (shower only) New toilet, too? (duh yes, says the moose. No, says hubbymoose. What???) Final answer? (yes, please) COLOR!!! What color shall it be? (wanted one, but $700 cheaper to take another. Happy with that – color chosen)

Email sent to local sales person . . . CLICK!!! $2500+ spent just like that.

Now we wait . . . the factory is shipping in FOUR weeks, not the promised two. Looks like a lot of folks are getting new showers. 🙂

As soon as a “time certain” for delivery is settled, we will be able to schedule the contractor to come in to begin demo-ing the old and prepping the room for the new.

Oh, wait! One more decision . . . paint color! We are not changing out the sink counter – which is brown – which played a part in the surround color choice – must work around those colors. Paint chips will be perused today, but I think I am leaning toward a blue of some sort.

Also need to pick out linoleum for the floor. Currently is a yellow pattern. Someone suggested I remember that this IS the 21st century, why stick with lino? Ummmm, yes it is the 21st century, but hubbymoose is still stuck in the 70s. (smile) Lino it will be.

We checked out a discount place last week at the suggestion of our sales person. First question? (size of bathroom). You’d think that might have been discovered before this trip? Nope – good old measure twice, cut once, hubbymoose had not taken measurements. He told the man it was THIS big, when in reality (after measurements were taken on our return home) it is a good 2 feet shorter on both sides (LOVE!) What this means is we can shop from remnants at a cheaper price – OR – we can purchase off the roll at a greater price.

We’ll be going back there to make a decision.

AND . . . I have decided we should treat ourselves with all new towels to match the new bathroom color scheme – shower curtain, towels . . . SIGH!

Once all those decisions are made – and we have a date – then I will need to figure out how to make myself presentable for work everyday while the work is being done. Yes, it is a smallish ranch-style home, built in 1978, which means it has ONE bathroom. Sigh. Depending on my work schedule I might have to get a hotel room. Or – go to the gym every morning before work – or something.

Did I mention that all this will be happening likely the week or so before daughter, Lessa, is getting married? ACK!!!!

A blessing in all this . . . we are doing this out of pocket. We are not charging anything. We are working really hard at getting ourselves totally out of debt before we quit working in a few years. If doing it out of pocket means we have lino (instead of stone or wood or whatever) I am totally okay with that.

Pictures? Yes, I will be taking before and after. You may never see the before . . . it is REALLY bad . . . but you will see the after . . . well, after.

Betsy stirred her coffee lazily. Outside her kitchen window the cat was play pouncing on clovers and chasing butterflies. It was an idyllic lifestyle. At least, that is what her friends would tell her when they visited. She was told time and time again how much she was envied.

SMACK! SMACK! SMACK!

“Lissie-Sue! I beg you. Chew with your mouth closed! I can NOT stand hearing you smack your lips. Please try to be a lady.”

“Yes, Mama.”

Lissie sank down into her chair as her lips started to tremble. “I’m sorry, Mama.”

“It’s okay, baby. I’m sorry I yelled.”

~Brenda-Starr~ / Foter / CC BY-NC-SA

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written for Velvet Verbosity’s 100 Word Challenge: SMACK from her current reading material – The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Diaz.

I walked along the riverside today, reveling in the early spring sunshine. Spring comes to Alaska later than some places. Winter comes quickly and holds on fast. Months of snow and ice pass by at molasses pace. And then? Comes that perfect day. The sun shines warmly and the river’s ice breaks free.

Today was that day. I walked along the riverside lazily snapping photos. Your face came to me then and I recalled your voice; down by the old mill stream, where I first met you.

I miss you on these days, my beloved. I miss you every day.
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written for Velvet Verbosity’s 100 word challenge: MILL
lyrics to Down by the Old Mill Stream
photo taken by me, March 28, 2014 alongside the Kenai River in Soldotna, Alaska

Winter cleaves to river banks refusing to let go. It’s a tenuous hold at best. All things come to an end.

Go, winter!

Another farewell: trifecta. You’ve made us richer. So long. Be well.
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Picture taken today (by me), 3-28-14, along the Kenai River banks in Soldotna.

Written for trifecta . . . although it appears I missed the link-up. 🙁

First World problems . . .

Big excitement in small town Alaska . . . a United Airlines jet had to land in Kenai because of weather problems in Anchorage. Kenai does not see many large planes, but is a designated landing zone when there are problems in Anchorage. Our landing strip accommodates the BIG planes from Elmendorf on a sometimes daily basis as they practice touch and go landings. We also host large fish cargo planes every summer.

The excitement comes because some of the passengers contacted the Anchorage news station to tell them the pilot had left them on the tarmac for hours before they were allowed to deplane. THEN? The pilot left them at the airport and went to a hotel. They were not allowed to take their luggage off the plane. That is most likely because we do not have TSA at our little port so bags cannot be scanned.

I was recently in Juneau and my flight home was grounded for mechanical reasons. I was given a voucher for a night at a hotel near the airport. This only happened because the problem was mechanical – if it had been a weather related incident we all would have been on our own. Also, we would not have been able to stay in the airport overnight as that is not allowed. We would have had to find a hotel and pay for it on our own.

The folks here last night could have gotten rooms in one of four local hotels – one within walking distance and the other three a short taxi ride. It would have been on their nickel, unfortunately. Many/all decided to stay in the airport. Airport personnel went to Walmart and purchased blankets for them to use. They didn’t have to do that, but that is what small town Alaskans do.

This morning the restaurant onsite opened up and fed them all. This, we are told, was paid for by United, which was generous.

The plane left Kenai shortly after 2 p.m. I’m sure there were cheers both on take-off and on landing in Anchorage. Feelings and clothes might have been a bit rumpled, but folks were safe, the pilot was rested, the experience was behind them.

Life can be experienced in many ways. We can be joyous. We can be grumblers. We can “make our own fun,” as my motto says. I choose joy. I choose to make my own fun. I always pack extra underwear in my carry-on and a toothbrush. I also carry a credit card when I travel. I’ve never purchased flight insurance, but I may reconsider that the next time I fly.

Anything can happen. But we are such whiners. In the midst of all this – our first world problems – the family members of 200+ people are wondering if their loved ones have crashed somewhere or if they are being held prisoner by some lunatic somewhere . . . simply because they were on a plane – in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Sort of puts it all into perspective, doesn’t it?