Brick-layer

Construction worker isn't my best look, but I had some nice biceps by the end of the week in Mexico!

Not much news to report on our condo this week. They finished the special concrete flooring (sound-muffling), so now they'll be able to move in cabinets and such. No new pics, because there wasn't anything to see. That unit we'd been posting pics from in building one is now off limits. They have the doors on and carpet in, so everything is locked up tight to keep people from messing up the flooring. Sad not to be able to go through it, but I'm glad, too, because I wouldn't want people with dirty feet tromping through on my new carpet, either. From now on, we'll be posting pics from our own unit anyway. I'm also thrilled that we can't see the ugly industrial plant (just SW of the development) from our windows/balcony because the YMCA blocks it. Yay.

Chad (my co-worker, who is the one who introduced us to this development in the first place and will be in the unit below us and over one) already has his cabinets and granite in place. Can't wait to go peek at that! Now that we have hardhats, we look more official on the property, so "trespassing" is easier. But once they lock the place up, we won't be able to get in without an appointment anyway, so it'll be a limited engagement.

Mexico pics

I've posted photos from our Maranatha church-building trip to Mexico on my old website because I wanted others to be able to download high-rez versions for their own presentations and such. So, if you're looking for pics from Otay, CLICK HERE.

It's been a crazy month for me. Working day and night on the constituency session report/August issue of the magazine, then my mom arrived from Mississippi for our Mexico trip, then sick for a few days, then jury duty, etc. I need a vacation! But no such luck. I'm into the September issue now, then to Nashville for the NAD teachers' convention next weekend.

Looks like our closing date at Brookshire could move up as much as two months, too, which is really exciting, and yet scary, because that's two fewer months during which to save money. Yikes! Either way, we'll be delighted to get into OUR place -- finally!

Hot

We will be so glad to spend next summer in our new place that has air-conditioning. It has been SO bloody hot in this house. Ick.

We did our weekly trespass this afternoon and, for the first time, climbed up into OUR unit. Fun! They don't have the staircase in yet, but they have a wooden ladder built in. It felt stable, so we went on up ... carefully. Most of the drywall is yet to be hung, so it didn't feel homey yet, but we saw where they'd installed some of our upgraded electrical, extra TV outlets and phone lines, etc.

We checked out the view from our great room and balcony, which is really decent. The YMCA hides the view of the ugly industrial building to the southwest, so that's a blessing. Our windows face west, so we'll get afternoon sun, which is nice for light but sucks for cooling. Might have to get some UV window treatments to keep our stuff from bleaching in the sun.

We walked through several of the other units in the first building where they're further along than ours. One had the Shaker-style cabinets that we'd wanted (though in a different color), but really, I'm just as happy with the ones we got. The Shakers are prettier in small doors like in the showroom samples, but in life-size cabinets, I think they're too stark and cool. And that same unit had the granite countertops installed, which was cool to see. It was a Plan 4, which has a larger kitchen than ours (but the unit itself has much less personality and only one window in the great room). They'd gotten square edges on the granite, and we ordered bullnose, which I think will be much better.

So, I'm getting more and more excited about our choices. We have a 6-inch granite backsplash; I wonder if putting mirror from the top of the splash to the bottom of the cabinets would look nice, reflect light and make the kitchen look bigger -- or would it just look cheesey?

I'm a little concerned about having only two bedrooms, because we fully utilize three now. Once we eventually need to make the second bedroom into a nursery, we're really going to have to be creative with storage. The biggest issue is the computers (and desks). I may have to get a notebook computer to save space (I was planning to get a new system as soon as Vista comes out anyway, because my computer will be 4 years old then), but we still have the huge multifunction printer that I use for the notary business. I'd like to get a nice computer armoire, but we would really each need one; so, where to put two huge pieces of furniture? Maybe if I get a notebook, we can get away with one computer armoire. The filing cabinet is big and not particularly pretty, but that can probably go in the closet of the second bedroom, even if it's a nursery. No other options, really.

I think we'll get rid of most of our books, the second bed, the elliptical machine, etc., and we'll probably put one of those garage organizers above the garage door to store seasonal and holiday stuff. From what we can tell, the garages are fairly deep, so if we just park the Civic in there, we'll have quite a bit of room in front of it.

Guess I've been rambling more to myself than anything else, so I guess I'll quit now. :o)

Low white count

So in some annual bloodwork I had done a couple of weeks ago, the doctor found that my white cell count is low and she wants to retest in a month. So I got on the web to see what I could find about white cell counts. Turns out, one of the primary causes can be B-12 deficiency (Pernicious Anemia). Last summer my bloodwork showed that my B-12 was on the very low end of normal, and that doctor prescribed a prescription B-12 supplement (inhaled through the nose). Because my insurance doesn't cover a lot of things, I wanted to get the Rx approved before I filled it, so I held the script and planned to call them. But instead I managed to forget and eventally lost the script and never followed up. So, I suspect that my B-12 has dipped too low and is causing the low count. However, when you're taking high doses of Folic Acid, Pernicious Anemia can be obscured in bloodwork. Not sure how they determine what reality is. Anyway, I had the doctor add a separate B-12 test to my retest lab order, so we'll see if that shows anything interesting. She also said the low count could be caused by the body fighting infection (like a cold or whatever). I'll keep you posted.

Today's progress on the condo; they took down the green construction fence so it's easier to see now. Doesn't look much different from the outside than last time, but I see that all the drywall is up now. I'm sure anxious for them to put the staircase in so I can get up to our unit!

Here's how our cabinets will look; same floorplan and everything, except we have the granite counters. We also have glass inserts in the two doors you see above the counterstops there. We'll definitely be shorter on cupboard space than we are now. Time to trim the fat from kitchen gadgets!