Angela Law

animal lover, gardener, knitter, and gourmet cook
 
do-it-yourself

it’s a july miracle

It’s been so long since I’ve written about our bathroom project, that you probably thought it was done. But, it’s not. There just hasn’t been anything to talk about on my end until now. My bathroom vanity is finally complete! I spent 10 days finishing the drawers (2 coats of shellac, 9 coats of varnish) and Brian did the final assembly and added the hardware this evening. I don’t quite have everything put away yet, but it’ll be done soon enough. I was pleased to find out that there’s enough room for everything I need to store in the bathroom.

Now all that’s left is a new door, a little trim, and a new hamper. I’ve finally convinced Brian that there’s not enough time to build everything for the house, so we’re going to buy the door. He’ll kick out the trim some weekend this summer. As for the hamper, it’s still up in the air–if I can find one I like, I’ll buy it.

me

you have a young look to you

That’s what he said.

So, I made my monthly trip to the liquor store today to stock up on essentials. Luckily, the girl from last month wasn’t there so I didn’t have to justify my purchases. There was an older gentleman working this evening and I got carded. After seeing my ID he said “That’s what I thought, but you have a young look to you.” I thanked him and we proceeded with the purchase.

Of course, I was wearing a “Cookie Monster” t-shirt. In my quest to be carded once for each year I’m on the planet–for as long as possible–some concessions have to be made. (Hell, in a few years, I might have to dye my hair once a year just so I can keep the numbers going.) At least I can cross “36” off the list. I got that one out of the way early. Back to my point…when I was younger, I found that the way you are dressed when you go to the liquor store determines whether or not you get carded. When I was around 22, if I would go to the liquor store all dressed up in my work clothes, I would never get carded, but throw on some cut-off shorts and an old t-shirt and that would all but guarantee and ID check.

Stay tuned for more from the “liquor store chronicles” next month…

do-it-yourself, gardening & landscaping, holidays

the 4th

We didn’t do anything exciting for the holiday. Unlike the rest of America, Brian and I both worked yesterday. Jake wasn’t feeling well yesterday or today, so that put a cap on a few minor plans we did have.

So, we spent today like any other Saturday–working on the house. Tuesday has to be the worst day of the week to have off. I’ve taken a lot of days off in my time and I rarely pick a Tuesday for a single day off unless I am forced to. By the time Friday rolls around, it will have felt like I worked a full week. But, I digress. This afternoon, Brian did a project that has been on his “to do” list for a while–he fixed a plumbing leak in the basement. We’ve had a pipe that has been dripping (albeit very, very slowly) for a couple of years. I’ve been wanting to call a plumber. He hasn’t. So, he finally fixed it today and now I can stop complaining about it. As far as plumbing jobs go, this went better than most–we were only without water for about 90 minutes.

Brian also worked on the window flower boxes that he’s building for the shed. In other shed news, I planted some hostas around it and then mulched the whole area. It looks nice. And, I got to use up the extra mulch that’s been sitting around since April.

The weather hasn’t been good for much these past few weeks, but apparently it has been good for the garden. My garden has exploded in the past week or two. In fact, we ate from it for both lunch and supper today. We had some chicken salad for lunch (using lettuce from the garden) and a side of sugar snap peas with our kielbasa and hamburgers at supper.

Brian also spent a few hours on graphic design work and I made another batch of wine. It was a pretty productive day.

A bunch of other things went on, but that’s all of the major stuff. I’m not sure why, but going to that concert on Friday night totally threw my weekend off. I spent Saturday and Sunday getting caught up on things, so it was kind of nice to have today off to do some of the things I’ve been wanting to do.

live entertainment

nine inch nails

Last night, Brian and I, and another couple we’re friends with (Lish and Brent), went to see Nine Inch Nails at the Post Gazette Pavilion (aka Star Lake Amphitheatre). And, what a show it was! It definitely ranks up there as one of the best shows I’ve seen. The singing was excellent, the band was tight, the light show was unique (the band often played behind this see-through screen that was part of the light show. I’m having trouble describing it, but that’s because I’ve never seen anything like it before.), and the songs sounded even better live than on the cds (it’s surprising to me that they’d be able to pull that off). All in all, some quality entertainment. They played a lot of older stuff, and not so much newer stuff, but that was ok with me because I think the older stuff is better anyway. I haven’t listened to much NIN (besides the new album) in recent years, but I was pleased to find out I still remembered most of the lyrics (even if I couldn’t tell you the name of the song or the album it was from).

Jake really likes Nine Inch Nails and we were thinking about taking him to the show (one of his favorite songs is “Head Like a Hole”). But, then we were unsure what kind of imagery they’d be showing on the screens and thought better of it. As it turns out, they didn’t show anything (mostly the band was displayed, at other times, it was part of the light show), so it would’ve been a good show to take him to. That was the only disappointment of the night.

pets

i am the dog walkerer

I really think there’s something to this Dog Whisperer stuff. His number one thing is exercise. I’ve been exercising the dogs ever since we brought Alice home and I can’t believe how well things are working out. Instead of Lizzy running around the house like she always does, she sleeps all day and doesn’t get excited until walk time. I’ve only watched his television show twice and already you can see a difference in Lizzy. If only he’d been around 10 years ago… I’ve read countless “how to train your dog” books and this is the first method that has worked at all for me. I’m reading his book right now and while I’m still in the autobiographical parts, I’ve picked up a few good tips already.

In an effort to cut back on my exercise, I’ve walked both dogs at once on a few occasions. I stick pretty close to the house when I do this because I’m still not confident in my abilities. Plus, the other route we take has a ton of dogs (and not to mention, rabbits) on it and Lizzy always gets excited. I’d hate to be a few blocks from the house and have some sort of incident. But, as time goes on, I think I’ll be able to do the secondary route on my own, too.

Already, my thoughts have turned to winter. I’m not looking forward to doing our daily walks then. Maybe we’ll have to move to a warmer climate to accommodate my dog-walking.