Angela Law

animal lover, gardener, knitter, and gourmet cook
 
relationships

dating

The last guy stopped texting a couple days after our date, so I guess he wasn’t interested. I didn’t really see that one working out, anyway. But, he seemed nice enough.

Fast forward to last weekend, when I started talking to a new guy. He’s also from the Pittsburgh area, but not the city, which makes things a little easier, I guess (I really do not like driving in Pittsburgh). We seemed to have a lot in common and a lot to talk about. We even had a lengthy phone conversation during the week (and I don’t even like talking on the phone). His son goes to Pitt-Johnstown and he had to drop him off there last night, so we decided to go out for drinks. Because, what else is there to do in Johnstown on a Sunday night? It was tough finding a place that was open. We ended up at Applebees, which was surprisingly busy. I guess because not many other places were open. We were there almost two hours and still had a lot to talk about. And, we have plans to see each other again next weekend.

do-it-yourself

kitchen and bath

The bathroom is back to normal. I removed all of the fixtures before painting and cleaned and reinstalled everything between yesterday and today. Things are looking good in there.

I mentioned before that I got a new range hood for the kitchen. It needed to be installed before they do the countertops/backsplash, so I decided to tackle that this weekend, as well. I removed the old one last night and got the new one ready to install, but I needed Jake’s help for the installation portion (someone needed to hold it up, while the other person screwed it to the cabinet), so that had to wait until this afternoon. Things seem to be working, but I’ll put it to the real test when I cook supper.

do-it-yourself, home improvements

the bathroom

Last September, I had the bathtub refinished. I was cleaning the tub last week and found a crack in the finish. The finish bubbled in a spot and cracked. I contacted the guy who did the tub and he came over this morning to fix it. He said that the finish didn’t bond properly in that area for whatever reason. When I found the problem, I took a close look at the entire tub and couldn’t find any additional issues, so hopefully this will be it. I have the slight inconvenience of not being able to use the tub again until tomorrow, but I’m not going to complain since it was covered under the warranty.

That said, since the tub looks great, it inspired me to paint the bathroom, which I finally got around to this afternoon. I decided to go with a color other than gray this time and chose Breezeway (but, don’t worry, I’m going to paint the living room, kitchen, and dining room different shades of gray). But, leave it to me to look at dozens of colors of paint and unknowingly select Behr’s color of the year for 2022. I think it turned out well, but if you squint, the room could still be gray.

movies

green book

This movie, starring Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen, was quite good. Based on a true story, it told the story of a black concert pianist (Ali) and his driver/security person (Mortensen) who were on a concert tour through the south in the early 1960s. Mortensen, who is of Danish heritage, is such a good actor he convincingly played an Italian in this movie.

The movie’s title comes from an actual guidebook that was published so that black travelers knew what businesses were safe to visit. It’s kind of ridiculous that this had to be a thing and it’s also unfortunate that racism is still a huge problem in America.

My rating: 4/5

do-it-yourself

mini kitchen remodel

I’m in need of new kitchen countertops, so I decided to do a mini kitchen remodel. It all started in the fall, when I bought new cabinet hardware. I swapped out the old black chrome ones for some really nice brushed nickel Mission-style pulls. Before installing the hardware, I cleaned the cabinets inside and out and attempted to repair the water marks that developed on some of the cabinets. They got a coat of polish as well. I also took this opportunity to rearrange a few cabinets and get rid of things I don’t use.

Last week, I ordered a new range hood. I installed a really nice one in there when the kitchen was originally remodeled, but after years of use, it broke and I bought a new one at Home Depot, which I never really liked. There’s not anything wrong with it per se, but I ordered a new one that’s going to do a better job. I bought a new faucet and garbage disposal, too.

As soon as this week, I plan on going to a kitchen design place to get a quote for new countertops and a sink. I’d like to have the backsplash tiled, too, but I don’t know if I have the budget to do that. I have to take measurements to the store so they can give me a quote, so I guess I’ll know soon enough. If not, no big deal. It’s still going to be nice to get some new countertops. I’m planning on going with quartz this time. Last time, I wanted solid surface, but I didn’t have enough money for that, so I ended up going with a laminated solid surface material (basically 1/8″ thick solid surface material was applied over a wood substrate). It held up pretty well for a long time, but in recent years developed some issues.

Once the countertops are in, I’m going to paint the kitchen and the project will be complete. I hope I don’t have to wait long for the countertops because I’d like to get everything wrapped up before it’s time to garden again. I only do home improvement projects in the off season (unless it’s something that has to be done to the exterior of the house).