THEY SAY THIRD TIME'S A CHARM...

...and I sure hope that is so, 'cause we are now on our third round of bathroom tile and kitchen flooring choices!

Glass tiles for shower border or insets - option A.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first round, if you recall, was the beautiful black & white kitchen and bath that Lex designed for us, similar to what we have now, but even better.  Then I went and changed my mind, finally admitting that the real me craved more color, something earthy, with a cantina/hacienda feel to it.

Tile inset, option B.

So Lex put her thinkin' cap back on, and came up with the ideal thing.  We had consulted with the architect who designed our house first, and he told us that, even though it's an upstairs floor, not supported by a concrete foundation, he didn't see any reason why we couldn't switch from this linoleum floor to a tile one, so that's what she chose. 

Pebble options for the new shower's floor.

However, when the contractor and flooring/tile guys came out, they weren't so optimistic.  There are already two ridges poking up and causing the linoleum to crack, and if they added enough padding to compensate for that and keep the tiles from cracking, the tile would sit up way higher than the wood flooring in the other two rooms, and people would constantly stub their toes going from one to the other.

Wall tiles for the new shower.

In addition to that, the plumber and tile guys pointed out that, though the cute flower tiles we had chosen for the shower were glazed on the front side, their back sides were porous, and if any moisture were to seep down behind them, they might start popping off.  Bummer.

New flooring choice, for both kitchen and bath.

Soooo, yesterday we spent half the day trying to come up with all new choices that would meet with everyone's approval: John, me, Lex, plumber guy, floor and tile guy, contractor guy and architect guy.  Not an easy task, believe you me!  Thank goodness I finally got over trying to please the original owners of the house, my deceased parents, and all of our siblings as well! (What can I say?  That's how I was raised!)

OH HAPPY DAY!

Just back from a fun morning spent at Austin Gastroenterology, and I came through both tests with flying colors.  Everything looks A-OK in both the northern and southern hemispheres!  I'm here to tell you, for those of you who are coming up on the big Five-Oh and have been dreading this, it is really NO. BIG. DEAL!  The day of prep was definitely the worst part, but even so, I never experienced any nausea or painful cramping.  I just had to drink waaaaaay more Gatorade than I'm comfortable with.  And today?  Today was a breeze!  The anesthesia for this is much different from the ones I had for surgeries.  I fell sound asleep as soon as they gave it to me, was completely oblivious to everything they did, but 30 minutes later when they wheeled me back to my cubicle, it was as if they had flipped  on a light switch.  I came instantly awake, with none of the usual drowsiness, nausea, or unsteadiness at all!  In fact, John would probably say I was disgustingly chipper.  Thirty minutes after that I was wolfing down a hearty breakfast at Magnolia Cafe.  So, all in all, if I ever had to choose between having another one of these, or, say,  having another root canal?  The colonoscopy would win, hands down!

FANTASTIC FOLIAGE

On her blog Digging, my friend Pamela asked "What foliage is memorable in your garden this week?"  Here are some of my favorites right now:

Red-Veined Sorrel

New Zealand Flax with Mexican Feather Grass and Purple Heart

Artemisia 'Oriental Limelight'

Miscanthus sinensis 'Gold Bar'

Tradescantia spathacea 'Vittata'

Heuchera

Pennisetum setaceum rubrum 'Fireworks'

WE'RE HAVING SOME KIND OF FUN NOW!

Thursday I am finally going to have that first, base-line colonoscopy -- the one we're all supposed to get as soon as we turn 50.  I've gone about seven years past my due date, but of course, it isn't my fault. (You believe that, don't you?)  I kept telling John, and our good friends Paula and Tim, that I would get one just as soon as they all did.  Since they were older, they had to go first, right?  Then there was the problem of not having John here to drive me home from the procedure, since you are too out of it afterwards to drive yourself.  Well, dang it if they didn't all go and get them done last year!  And now, with John living here full-time, I guess I'm just plum out of excuses!

Yesterday and today are my "no fiber" days, which is turning out to be much harder than I expected.  Basically, the only things I can eat are the white mushy things that I usually try to avoid!  Tomorrow is my "clear liquids" and jet-to-the-john-all-day day, but don't you worry.  I swear to you, I will not be blogging about it!

COLOR-MAD MONDAY

I probably shouldn't say anything, in case there are any deer who read my blog...

but, aren't my porch pots filling out nicely?  So, how long do you think it will be....

 before those pots up there on the front porch, suffer the same fate as this one down in the Cantina Garden?

Boy, I sure would love to see 'em try and chomp down on those red geraniums -- which come from the Round Top Collection, and are made out of metal! 

YOU JUST NEVER KNOW WHAT LIES AROUND THE NEXT BEND

We had a rare treat this weekend.  John's nephew Geoff and his lovely wife Jessica were in San Antonio for a conference, so they tacked a few extra days onto their trip, in order to come spend some time with us in Wimberley.  They live in Milwaukee...where it snowed this week...so each time a restaurant asked us "Do you want to dine inside, or out?", which do you think they chose?  I didn't get any pictures the whole weekend, other than that one taken the first night.  I'm afraid we were just having too much fun, and doing too much talking, to be bothered with a camera.

But then last night, after dinner, we decided that perhaps we should go for a little walk first, if we wanted to have peach pie later.  So we took them over to the new hike and bike trail I told you about.  Only, guess what?

It no longer stops up there above the railing, like it did the last time I walked it.  It keeps on going, and going...

running for a while alongside a new road that's being excavated (perhaps leading to new sports fields for the kiddos?)...

Could that be even more of the trail, leading through the cemetery, down to the town square?

until finally it comes out here at the cemetery, by the little driveway that takes you to the entry of The Blue Hole.  Best of all, the newly opened section of the path is even more shaded and lovely than the first half!  What a nice surprise, and what a great way to end a wonderful weekend.  Are we lucky, or what?

WHAT IF?

I am what most people would call a fairly "chipper" person, but once in a blue moon, I do get down in the dumps -- maybe after finding that our latest deer-proofing scheme was all for nought and all my tomatoes got beheaded, or, very often, after reading the newspaper or the latest update on friend Susan's blog Walking Nature Home, where she has been chronicling their battle with her husband's brain cancer.  That's when I find myself stewing about why some good  people get so much bad stuff heaped onto their plates, while many of the most greedy and corrupt seem to be skating off scot-free.  When I get to thinking about all the greedy and corrupt in our country today, that's when I really get blue, because I can't help but wonder, what ever happened to all the passion and idealism of the 60's?  I thought we were going to end war, and change the world!  How did we grow up to become those people, or raise children who thought that way?

Anyhoo, one day not long ago, when I was pondering such things, it occurred to me that our parents and grandparents were probably just as idealistic and determined when they went off to fight their battles, and every bit as discouraged when they looked back years later, and realized how little had changed.  It got me to thinkin', what if...

What if, we weren't really meant to "fix" the world?  What if it's unfixable?  What if it was set up more as a test, or an obstacle course, and the point is not whether any one generation manages to achieve utopia, but rather how we perform as individuals -- how we deal with whatever comes our way?  That in turn, got me to thinking about my son's videogames.

Yeah, I know, that's a crazy segue, but think about it.  There are millions of stars and planets out there, and who knows how many universes.  What if... our creator made different worlds where he could try out different systems, and some worked out better than others?  Maybe ours -- this "free will" system -- turned out to be more of a beginner level planet, but if you do the best job you can possibly do here,  with handling whatever this "game" throws at you, then perhaps you get to "level up".  If not, you might have to start over at the beginning.  That would make me feel a whole lot better about all those wanker bankers.

Well, as you can see, my mind can run amok and go to some very strange places when I turn it loose to wander, but I kind of liked this one.  I found it somehow comforting, to think that perhaps the world wasn't meant to be fixed, it was just meant to be endured, with as much grace, integrity, gratitude, and appreciation of whatever small blessings come our way, as possible.

"What is clear is this: I'll do a better job of loving him -- and taking care of myself -- if I let that need to control go and accept that I'm not in charge of anything except how I respond to whatever life brings." ~ Susan Tweit, Walking Nature Home