Home Improvements

Last year Brad completed some home improvement projects that never made it onto the blog. So I'm making up for lost time. This is the pergola he built in the backyard next to the pool.

Another view. I'm excited to use the pergola as our weather warms up this spring.

He also completed a bathroom remodel to our guest bathroom. This is the new 2024 bathroom, which is navy blue with brushed gold fixtures.

Another view.

This was the old 1994 era bathroom. I just realized as I'm trying this that our "new" house has turned 30 years old, as this is the newest house we've ever owned.

 

Kitchen Finale

I know I've already posted some pictures from our kitchen remodel, but yesterday our kitchen design store sent out a photographer to take some photos for their website, so we got the house spiffed up and I decided this was my chance to get some good pictures too. 

Coincidentally, the photographer was the same photographer who took the real estate pictures for the listing when we bought the house. She couldn't believe how different it looked. She said when she took the photos for the listing it was hard to get good interior pictures because the house was so dark. Between tearing down the kitchen wall, adding overhead lighting, and painting the walls white, she was amazed at the difference. I must say, we are too.

I don't think the rest of the pictures need any narration, suffice it to say we're just so glad to be done with this after 15 months. Fifteen months seems like such a long time, and believe me it was, but because of the pandemic and everything I had going on in California, it took us nine months to plan, and then once we had a plan it took six months to get everything ordered, do the work, and then finally paint. 

A Few Days in California

I was back in California last week to work with my sister Kelle as we continued the process of finding homes for our parents' belongings. We found some time during my visit to take her dog Hank on a couple of local excursions. (And to take each other's photos, but none of us together.) 

I'm calling this one, "okay, now I'll take YOUR picture with Hank."

Another day we walked to the top of a big hill with a terrific view. This is Kelle with the inland view behind her.

And me with the ocean view behind me. (Also known as, "okay now I'll take YOUR picture with Hank, part two.")

One of the things I did when I was there was to arrange for a mover to transport to Tucson some larger items that I couldn't take in my car, which includes some of the furniture that my dad made. I think we'll have to look closely when it arrives tomorrow, because we might get a bonus: a little schnoodle stowaway named Waffles.

Oh, and one more thing. Two days after I got home, we woke up to this. This morning it was a winter wonderland in Tucson.
 

Mostly Napping

Allie's as tired of having her house in disarray as we are. We've had painters here last week and again this week. Last night she found what must have looked to her like the best option for repose in the living room.  

The theme of the paint job is "out with the old" (tan) and "in with the new" (white). Although to say "out with the old" suggests we had something to do with the tan walls, which we most definitely did not.

On Sunday we took a break from the chaos to drive up to Sun City and visit Brad's parents. Allie always comes along and she does some of her best napping on their patio.

Speaking of napping, earlier this month Peter and Jessa's cats show they have excellent napping skills too.

Not to be outdone by Allie, let alone by two cats, are Sirius and Simba. These two have taken their napping to a new level: they not only get to recline on a leather couch but they get to sleep in front of a woodburning stove. Now that's the life!

And from napping, we turn to a different subject. Earlier in February, Mary bought her very first car at the ripe old age of 28. I think Peter was 30 when he got his first car, which makes him the longest holdout of the Harrison offspring, but she came in a close second. (A car will be a necessity for her to interview for jobs and go to work in Baltimore.) This beauty was delivered straight from San Diego, where it lived for seven years in my aunt and uncle's garage and accumulated just 20,000 miles before Mary purchased it and had it shipped across the country.

 

Headline: Kitchen Complete

Our kitchen is more or less complete and that was the big event of last week. We're still awaiting cabinet doors below the sink and new paint, but the majority of everything is complete.

We are happy with the result and after six weeks we're happy to have our kitchen back.

It's been nice to have a working kitchen again and even though it didn't seem like we added that much extra working space, it definitely feels larger. The wide countertop is great. Next month after the painting is done I'll post more pictures.

On Saturday we visited Brad's mom and dad. Allie likes Sun City and she enjoyed some time on their carpeted patio. 

Tucson gets occasional snow and we got some on Tuesday, our first here. Allie spent most of her life in the snow and I thought she might get excited by seeing it again, but it did not impress her in the least. 

The snow came down heavy and eventually stuck to the ground, but it didn't last very long and it didn't amount to much. Still, with the snow we also got an old-fashioned power outage, so the morning was dark and chilly and snowy, which felt very familiar and wonderful. I was running when it all started coming down and it was fun to be outside in it. After everything melted and the sky cleared we had a view from the front yard of snow-capped mountains.

 

Pups and Progress

Last month Mary and Andy's dog Tikka got a collection of hand-me-down toys from Allie, including this football, which she is already putting to good use. Tikka seems to have a lot of energy and enthusiasm, even if she doesn't have the best taste in football teams.

Meanwhile, Allie's slowed down a lot and she doesn't care to play with toys anymore. And she forgets things. The other morning, she seemed to forget that she could lie her chin on the ground. She just kept it elevated and it looked rather uncomfortable.

She takes so many meds for all her ailments. On Tuesday I was having a chat with a friend of mine who's a vet and I sent her this picture of Allie's medicine caddy. Meanwhile, Allie was out in the driveway, getting groomed by the mobile groomer. When she was done she came in the house and she was transformed, and not just in looks. I told my friend: I spoke too soon, Allie's back!

Not only did she look better, but she was feisty and playful and alert. It was such a fun day with her. Allie may be down, but she's not out yet!

Speaking of transformations, our kitchen is heading to the finish line. On Wednesday the countertop and sink got installed. Tomorrow we get cabinet hardware and appliances. I already have meals planned and groceries ordered for a weekend of cooking. After five weeks we are ready to have proper meals again!

 

Christmas

It's almost the New Year so I figured I should blog about Christmas before we roll over into 2021. But before I get to Christmas, here's the latest on the kitchen progress. Our holiday was pretty spartan because our house is in disarray and we're still living in our bedroom. But the kitchen cabinets are in and we're getting there. By the middle of January it should look a lot different.

On the weekend before Christmas we drove up to Sun City to have a pre-Christmas Christmas with Brad's mom and dad. We're lucky that the weather is nice enough that we can have an outdoor visit in December, and that's just what we did.

Our Christmas at home was quiet. This was our tree, and this was our Christmas table in our bedroom. It was very simple and that was actually kind of nice.

We all wore our matching pajamas and I made this collage after everybody sent me a photo. Even though we were far away from each other, we got "together" on a family Zoom call. It's not the same as actually being together, but it's better than not being able to see and hear each other at all. 

As far as my blog is concerned, 2020 is a wrap. While there were certainly good things that happened this year, it's a year I'm not sad to say goodbye to. Happy New Year everybody, and cheers to 2021!

 

Kitchen Redux

Our kitchen looks nice in a photo but it frustrated us from the start. Our chief complaint was that the cabinets were old and crummy and there wasn't enough storage space. Last January we started the process of planning what at first was just going to be new cabinets but by spring we decided to take the plunge and make it the room we want. After many months of coming up with different designs we figured out what to do and now finally we're ready to go. 

The shape of the kitchen is a galley. This is the side opposite the above photo. The remodel will be taking down the wall above this counter, adding new cabinets, countertop, and appliances. And we'll add some lower cabinets on the other side of here. We started on Monday.

This is looking at the kitchen from the living room. The wall is now open and the room's gutted. They tell me that by Monday we'll install cabinets. Then we wait until January for countertops and appliances.

I know we're going to like having everything open, and it'll lighten up the living room a lot. Brad and Allie and I are living in a studio apartment formerly known as our bedroom. It works quite well, although Allie can't figure out why there's so much stuff in her bedroom and why she can't go in the rest of the house. We're fortunate to have a sliding glass door to the backyard so from a Covid standpoint we never have to go into the airspace where the work's being done except when we have to confer with the crew or get something out of the refrigerator (which is now in the living room). 


 

Trying to Get My Groove Back

Yikes, I have pictures going back a month that I haven't posted. Lucky for me I don't have a lot of Christmas pictures to share as we were here in Arizona while the kids all stayed at (or near) home. Peter and Jessa (above) spent Christmas in Pennsylvania with Jessa's niece Amelia, who was sick so everybody wore masks.

Brad and I spent a lovely Christmas day in Phoenix with his brother Barry's family and with Brad's parents. I don't have pictures of people, but I do have a picture from the drive up there when we saw the most amazing rainbow in Tucson on our way out of town.

John and Troy stayed in Fort Collins for Christmas. On the 27th, a contingent of their Tufts friends descended on Fort Collins for a New Year's reunion. As you can see, they showed them the best of what Fort Collins has to offer. (Or as Troy called it, Take Your Friends to Work Day.)

I spent the end of December and first few days of January in California with my mom and sister. When I got home our closet installers arrived and we got a much improved master closet (above) and kitchen pantry. What a difference they both make. Then last week the electricians were here and we got twelve new recessed lights installed. Now the house is not only much more organized but it's brighter too.

Last weekend we had our first visitors since our niece Lauren was here during the move. Brad's mom and dad got to see a little bit of Tucson on a lovely weekend.

Then last night our neighbor from Long Beach, Eve, visited. We had a nice dinner together and she stayed the night before heading north to Sedona for a weekend with family.

Lastly, on Tuesday John was in the finals of the mock trial competition at his law school. We all watched it live and had a fun text thread going with all of our observations, both serious and funny. (Mostly funny.) Above is Mary's reaction to seeing John seated at counsel table. John and his partner did great and it's hard to believe they only have one semester of law school under their belts.

After a marathon three hour session, John's team was declared the winner! Here he is with his partner, with the opposing team, and with the three judges.

Parties and Pooches and Possibilities

Last weekend my mom and Kelle came down for my birthday. We had a fun day together and spending it with these three made for a very special day.

We went out for lunch and this cinnamon birthday greeting came with a yummy dessert.

Later that night Brad and I went out for dinner to our favorite restaurant. Dinner started off with this tasty and photogenic peach salad.

Meanwhile over in Norway, Maine, Peter and Jessa were at a wedding where Jessa was a bridesmaid.

And in Washington DC, Tikka got stylish with a bandana.

She also got back to nature on a hike in Rock Creek Park.

Later in the week in Tucson, Brad and I got our offer accepted on a house. It looks pretty homely and tiny in this picture, but as I tell everybody, it's a 1950 exterior with a 2019 interior and 2600 SF. It's also walkable to lots of places, it's just a few blocks from the University of Arizona, and the backyard is begging for a pool. Assuming everything goes smoothly with upcoming inspections, we'll move into our 17th house between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Though Brad will move into town much sooner, as he starts at his new job in a week.