Rugs & Things {+my husband is a stud}

Eric & I bought a rug at Lowe's last week. Now, every time we've walked past this rug (well, kind of this rug, I couldn't find the exact one) Eric has stopped and looked at it (he wants a rug like the one on "The Big Lebowski"), and every time I've told him to get it, and every time he's walked away without it. Until last week. Then, this morning, he had me return it. Don't ask me why. Perhaps it's because there's a sale at Universal Athletics this week and he wants new running shoes. Perhaps its because I bought a dress last night. Perhaps he decided it wasn't "Big Lebowski-ish" enough. I suspect all those things plus intense frugality, which increases my desire to someday, somewhere, find Eric the perfect "Big Lebowski" rug.

I took my rug back too....

...for three reasons:
     #1: I never really liked the pattern....I mostly just loved the hooked wool
     #2: I ordered a couple extra yards of my sofa fabric to use on the reupholstered headboard...and this rug won't really go with it.
     #3: I'd rather save up and get something I'm completely in love with. Like this one from West Elm.
 Huzzah for wool rugs!

WORST.DAY.EVER.

I'm being a bit dramatic but it really was pretty terrible. I had a bunch of errands to run (that's totally a lie, I went shopping), and when I got back home a little before five the kitty was really lonely and wanted to play. So I obliged. And somehow, in the midst of playing with him.....I stepped on him. Now in my defense I was wearing this long dress I had just gotten (which I have since taken back to the store), and Godfrey goes NUTS about my long dresses (he likes to hide under them when I'm standing still). He was chasing my skirt and we ended up tripping over each other. I almost landed in the litter box and managed to escape with only a bump to the head but poor little Pounce got hurt in all the commotion and wouldn't put any weight on his foot. So Eric came home to find me bawling that I had broken the cat and had to put up with my hysterics after a long day at work. He finally calmed me down and we agreed that we'd wait until the morning to see how Admiral was doing before we rushed him to the vet. Plus - and this is terrible - it helped when I got to thinking about how cute he'd look if his foot was broken.....

 And then we had macaroni and cheese and hot dogs for dinner. Soooo not healthy for you! But here's where it gets even worse. Eric had a 10pm baseball game and he came back from it with his cheekbone split open and his eye swollen almost shut. He'd been trying to catch a fly ball at first and the man on first had stuck his hands in Eric's face to distract him - which obviously worked since Eric missed the ball with his glove and it hit him squarely in the face. I wish I had been there I would have given that jerk on first base a piece of my mind. Ok, I probably wouldn't have had the guts to say anything but I'm pretty good at glaring. Fortunately, the swelling had gone down A LOT this morning:

He's like Nelly but white. And he's actually hurt. He said he's going to tell everyone at work that I beat him. Which is fine because I tell everyone he beats me when they ask about the awful bruise/scar thing on my leg.

So while Eric still looks terrible, Pounce de Godfrey is doing much better this morning. He's walking nicely, though he's not playing as aggressively with his little hurt paw. Sigh. Hopefully they'll both be ok so I can get back to worrying about sofa colors instead of wondering if my cat will ever walk again or whether or not my husband will be able to pursue a modeling career.

I know this has nothing to do with home renovations. I promise I will get back to talking about rugs and things tomorrow.

Coffee Table Book?

I'd like to own this book, I think.

Hopefully it will end up in the library free bin soon! :)

History Repeated

You'll remember this wall. Well, this wall is no more! Eric came home Friday night, gave me a peck on the cheek, said, "Wish me luck," then disappeared into the other room. I came out 10 minutes later to find the wall mostly gone! It ended up taking a couple of days to remove the wall, tile, and flooring completely but the difference is immense. You wouldn't believe how much more open our entryway feels without that little half wall.

Day 1:

 

The Admiral was there to help every step of the way

With the wall removed, Eric begins on the tile

After a long day of work

Day 2:
It turned out that the tile was laid in about an inch of mortar with a couple of crossed two by fours and some metal webbing thrown in for good measure. A herd of hippopotami could have danced across our threshold without the floor giving way. Needless to say, the whole section of floor had to be removed, and, since we were having guests over that evening, safety was an issue....

Day 3:

The next step will be to patch the hole in the wall and then to buy and lay tile! Exciting!

Timberrrrrrr!!!

Our house came with a lot of old, overgrown trees which Eric & Adam have been working hard to remove; especially the ones close to the foundation. I failed in taking good "before" pictures - mostly because of how quickly and without warning Eric would decide they needed to disappear. Usually, I'd be hanging out inside - suddenly realize it's kind of quiet - go look for Eric - and then find him outside hacking away at some poor tree.

Our first interaction (or lack thereof) with our neighbors across the street was the day the big juniper died. We had this juniper out front that was just gnarly and overgrown - Eric and Adam had chopped all the branches off but they needed help to get the trunk to topple the right direction. Fortunately, Luke and Erica dropped by at that moment. They wrapped a rope around the tree and Luke and Adam pulled the tree away from the house as Eric continued to saw through the trunk. I guess the neighbors were hoping for some excitement because they came out to watch. Adam, being the friendly fellow he is, waved at them as he pulled on the rope......and the neighbors went back inside. Friendly folks.

The worst of the trees are down now and their stumps removed (THANK YOU, ADAM. YOU'RE AMAZING) and Eric has planted grass on the side of the house. Now for the bushes.....

  

House with partial juniper

One of the stumps that had to be taken out on the side of the house

Goodbye, Juniper!

House sans juniper

Kitty's first photo shoot

I've become one of Those People. I take pictures of my cat and talk about him to strangers. I think we're going to have to pop out a kid - taking pictures of and bragging about them is less weird.

News on the war front

Eric has begun calling Admiral Godfrey "Pounce de Leon." I continue to call, "Here Kitty, Kitty!" when I want him to come. Kitty continues to ignore me. I think this name thing does not so much matter.

In other news, I have begun the task of photographing, naming, and labeling the location of each plant in our backyard. I should say I began that task, became overwhelmed, and have since asked our friends for a wheelbarrow so I can dig these plants up and haul the river rock away. The people before us loved them some river rock (which I'm sure was nice for a time), but the weed barrier has since disintegrated and there are as many weeds now as bushes. So it all must go! Hopefully I can get Eric on board with my plan so we can complete it before the first snowfall.