Goal Made!

It was 7:30 at night, but the doors went on, and the fridge returned to its' rightful place--we did it!

The day was actually one of our shorter work days with me putting on the second coat of primer while Bruce made some special things for my cabinets. Poor Baxter could not get away from the noise due to rain outside, instead he stayed as close to me as I would allow.

It was not all that easy with a dog snuggled up next to me, but I managed. My friend Pam had a carpenter make some slots to fit over her oven as a place to put platters and flat pans, which she told me she loves. That wouldn't work in our situation, however, B did cut out the back shelf and put some stops in so I could do a little bit of the same.

The cabinet below got a little something as well.

The drawer guides are in--next step--new drawers. In between the coats of primer, and first coat of paint on the box, I got behind the fridge painted.

When you are working with Bruce you can take no short cuts, that is for sure, so even though the sides of the cabinet adjacent to the fridge will never be seen, they, too, got the full treatment of two coats of primer and paint. The door on the low counter is waiting for more sanding, more spackle, followed by the paint products. Although I'm a good painter, I'm no match for the 3/4" part beside the oven. I happily gave my brush to Bruce.

When not helping me out, he worked more on the doors, applying the spackle like this:

If you are wondering how he cut the window in the door front, here's how it is done.

Surprisingly I was done with my end of things by four in the afternoon, and that is also when B called it quits, wanting to prepare some things for our trip to Miami. Actually, I was not completely done as the doors needed all of their paint, but mostly it was because I was waiting out drying time in between coats. I got anxious and took this before they went up.

Hardly recognize the place right? I could not be happier with how it is all turning out, and after a few months pass, I will never remember all the work that went into it! Bonus points for a poor memory.

We left Orlando around nine in the morning, arriving in Miami just after one. We found the mall where the restaurant is located, Dadeland. Apparently they've built a new extension, which is very, very nice, with several attractive restaurants located in the annex. Because we wanted to see what it was all about, we had lunch there and was it ever wonderful.

 I was dying over the cute salt and pepper mills! Looking around we were most impressed.

We just knew Bill would love the marble communal table. The light fixtures were also something else.

Not only was the food delicious, but the wait staff was excellent as well. We ate in the lounge area, passing through the dining area to get there.

Following our delicious lunch we roamed a bit through the mall before B was to meet the man who'd asked him to come down there at 4. Me? I'm not much of a shopper so I ended up going back to the car in order to get my Smithsonian magazine given to me by my friend Harriet. It was an old issue, packed with great reading, including a feature on scrapbooks. I learned that Mark Twain published scrapbooks with pre pasted pages accounting for 20% of his income! The article was highlighting how the more things change, the more they stay the same. Today, instead of paper scrapbooks, people do it digitally through Pinterest. I really can't see that it could be nearly as fun as the old-fashioned way, but then again, I'm old-fashioned in that way.

Later on, I joined the men for more fabulous food, dessert,

and my first ever taste of bourbon in I think what was called an Old Fashioned!

Good thing we were staying just across the street!! It was a super fun night for sure.

The following morning we took back to the road, returning to Orlando in time for B to have his stitches removed, and for yours truly to end her doctor visit hiatus of four years. What would finally convince me to see a doctor again? Good question.

Amazingly enough, while we were at Publix a few weeks ago, waiting on a prescription to be filled, on a whim, I sat down at the new fangled machine that takes blood pressure. Except I did not like the results one bit. Trying it again--same reading. Uh oh. I then began my quest to get a doctor's appt. to no avail. During the visit to have the stitches, I asked the nurse if she would be so kind as to take my bp, and darn if it wasn't high again. I learned that B's long time doctor was taking new patients, so I signed up then and there.

It is no wonder they call it the silent killer because I had no inkling whatsoever. During yesterday's visit, it was higher still, as in 174/96!!! The aide took it from both arms, followed by the doctor who ordered an EKG which they do there. That was just fine. As to my hair loss, he claims it is rarely a sign of anything but stress, however, you and I both know I have not one iota of stress. In spite of his doubts, they took blood, and after giving me a script for bp medicine, told me I needed to return in three weeks to see if it is working. Let's hope so. Honestly, I've always had what some would consider low bp, so this whole thing has come as quite the shock.

So, there you go--B thinks we have three more days of work on the kitchen, we had a grand time in Miami, and I'm now on medication. Life is good.