Destination versus The Ride

I was emailing back and forth with my friend Sally the last couple of days, about the remodel and about trying to lose fat. (I try to use the word fat instead of weight, because I don't really want to be obsessed with the number on the scale. I just want to be leaner, fit into my old jeans, and be strong and run faster.) She pointed out that we have a tendency to not live in the present. She said it's easy to say something like, "I'll be happy when ___ or ___ happens", instead of just being happy in the present. While that's true and I do strongly believe in being happy in the present, I also think that some sort of internal dissatisfaction is what motivates me to take action. If the dissatisfaction isn't there, then what's the motivation to make any such changes? So it is a fine balance between enjoying the ride and not just the destination. A good thing to keep in mind.

I also thought of a few good things about our remodeling situation:

• At least they are making us new doors and drawer fronts to correct the problem. They didn't just say "screw it", or "live with the microwave without a trim".
• They are making the corrections at their expense, which can be pricey. I mean, these drawer fronts and doors are solid wood. They're not cutting them, they are making us new ones.
• Part of the reason we hired them was because of their great ideas and local custom-made cabinets. Imagine if these problems had happened with non-custom cabinets made in Michigan or something. There would be nothing that could be done.

Today's photo is of my work cafeteria lunch. Not bad for a cafeteria lunch eh!

Every now and then, they have a sushi chef come to our cafeteria and make and package up fresh sushi. He was there today giving me the hard sell on these, and I thought they looked good, so I bought it. Tasty!

On the remodeling front... Louis came today in the afternoon and installed the toilets in the second and third bathrooms. This is the one in the guest bathroom upstairs. So if you come visit me and stay with us, this would be YOUR brand-new toilet. (Happy face included.)


Louis also put in the two new sinks and faucets in the guest bathroom upstairs.

We kept the old cabinets, countertop, and shower in this bathroom and the downstairs bathroom, because we can't afford to remodel those too. Maybe in a few years. The sinks really needed replacing because they were original 21 year old sinks and they were rusted. We also got new travertine stone flooring in those bathrooms too (see toilet pic above). That wasn't very pricey since they were already putting in new tile flooring in the kitchen and master bath.

I keep meaning to mention about this and I keep forgetting. The June Songbird Avenue kit is called "Spring Splendor". Is a collaboration between Sausan Designs, Queen of Quirk, Meredith Fenwick, and Amy Wolff. All proceeds after Paypal fees benefit Doctors Without Borders.

I really like the green colors and the doodly goodness. If you like it and think it's a good cause, be sure to pick it up before June 30th, because it is only for sale through the end of June!

Here's my layout with it.

Fonts are Stamp Act & CK Ali's Writing.
"Old West" photo action by Pioneer Woman.

I was inspired by a layout in a recent issue if Creating Keepsakes magazine, so I made a template for myself to scrap this page.

Feel free to grab it here if you like it.  (If you encounter bandwidth issues with the first link, here is a second link.)