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By kilax, April 29, 2016 6:34 am

… were said to me yesterday afternoon: “your shower will be ready to use in the morning.” (That’s when the grout will be dry.)

Yesssssssss. The bathroom’s not done, but it’s nice to have two working toilets and two working showers when we have guests (my snis and her husband) visiting!

I’ve been saying this a lot (if not on here, in person to friends) about how I can’t wait for the contracted construction to wrap up. I’m extremely grateful we could have this work done, but it’s wearing us out. We cleaned the house as much as we could for Christina and Will’s visit and it was so nice to have things not be super dusty… if only for the evening. Ha ha! We also put away as much as we could and it’s nice to have things tidier, again, if only for awhile (it’s hard to put things away when you have to shift them from room to room as work moves around). Anyway. Wah wah, be grateful, Kim. We’re getting there! And I plan to buy some epsom salts and soak* this weekend!!!

*We did have a different water treatement system installed Wednesday, which seems to work – so no sulfur smell!! I need to update you guys, and update this post!

Comments (23)

By kilax, April 28, 2016 6:29 am

• Grrr. I haven’t updated on the bathroom work in awhile because work was mostly on hold while we waited for custom order bullnose (rounded) trim tile to come in. The tile finally came in. And… it was wrong. So we aren’t using it – we’ll do a metal trim piece instead. All that waiting for NOTHING. Ugh. The contractor is working on it again, and I HOPE it will be finished today* – I have house guests that arrive tonight!!!

This tile photo is pre-grout, so it will look different finished

• Lame. My work announced a steps contest yesterday, but only “walking” steps count. No running. Boooo!!! Ha.
• Sigh. They also had an announcement where they called the Chase Corporate Challenge a “marathon,” then immediately, a “5K.” It’s actually a 3.5 mile race. So… neither of those. Ha ha. Yeah, that would only bother runners.
• Odd. I ran on the Chicago Lakefront Path during lunch break yesterday. Every time I run it, I am surprised how few people make eye contact, nod, or say hello to people going the opposite way. It feels so odd to me not to!

• Oops. It was windy during my run yesterday, so I ran in to the wind for the start, with the wind at my back on the return. I wonder if I am going to regret doing this on race day – I almost always try to run in to the wind first, but it’s not like you can control that at a race! Maybe I should have done more of a purposeful mix to work on mental training (believe me though, I had plenty of runs that were all windy, or where the wind shifted to in my face on the way back, or there was no way avoiding it on the way back, etc.).
• Aww. Dad’s kitten pics are getting cuter and cuter!

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 96

*highly unlikely

Comments (12)

By kilax, April 23, 2016 5:21 am

Definitely didn’t find this one in the bird books.

Happy Saturday!

Comments (14)

By kilax, April 22, 2016 4:13 am

This is what your ice cubes look like, right?

Since we are still figuring out what is going on with our water (the aerated system is not working, so we’re going to get something new installed) and aren’t going to use the ice cubes our fridge makes from the water line, I decided to make ice cubes the old fashioned way with the store bought water we’ve been using, and with the only ice cube tray I have!

It’s a slow process, but totally worth it!!!

Data has this odd obsession with the sound of ice. I was reminded of it when I took the ice cube bin out to take that photo and he came dashing down the stairs, in to the kitchen.

He’s been like this since we adopted him in February of 2005! Whenever he hears someone getting ice, or the ice maker working, he comes running in from wherever he was, to see what’s going on.

We don’t know what that noise means to him. He’s not actually interested in the ice cubes if we give them to him! But it’s a good way to figure out where Data is if you can’t find him – shake the ice cube tray (or shake his food container… but then you better give him a treat!).

Comments (13)

By kilax, April 19, 2016 4:20 am

Quick witted, I am not.

I was running loops in a preserve recently and passed a guy who was walking. We said hello.

Eventually, I passed him again and he said something to me. I couldn’t hear him and asked him to repeat himself.

“I saw your twin out here, too!”

Quick, Kim, think! What is he talking about?

Oh! He must have seen someone who looks like me, wearing shorts and a tank, and a hydration pack.

“I’ll have to look for her!”

And I run on. A few seconds pass and it hits me – duh, he was referring to seeing me the first time. To me lapping him. He was making a joke.

Gawd, I am so slow to get some jokes. Ugh.

So I had a mile or so to work on a response when I saw him the next time. “We must be triplets!”

Of course, I never saw him again. Sigh.

And unfortunately, I can’t blame this on runner brain. I am like this most of the time. Sigh, again.

The deer returned yesterday and Steven took real photos of them! Awwwwwww.

I need to come up with a bird (also: squirrel, duck, deer, and so on) seed budget. They clean me out pretty fast!

Comments (12)

By kilax, April 18, 2016 6:22 am

We’ve only ever seen deer in our yard on Mondays!

And I’ve only subjected you to horrible smart phone photos of them:

Now that I know they are on a schedule, I can get the real camera ready on Sunday nights, ha! Oh, and maybe clean the windows* so the photos have less gunk on them…

*I’ve been waiting on that since we are getting two new sliding glass doors. Why clean something that’s going to be thrown out? <—– lazy

Comments (24)

By kilax, April 11, 2016 6:18 am

Would you believe we had another new critter* sighting at our house?

Awww.

I wonder what we’ll see next! What’s left?! Snakes? Skunks? Ugh, anything, but SKUNKS!!!

We actually need some good opossum karma, so we don’t mind if he (Ohenry**) visits to eat some bird seed.

A little “photographer photographer” action, ha! Ohenry came back for more food after I took this picture. I’m happy I didn’t scare him off. 

Freddie** has been visiting the feeders, too. Still no sign of Betty**. I do hope she is off somewhere sitting on eggs!

Because it still makes me so sad to see him all alone!

I was just thinking yesterday how we haven’t seen any deer for a long time, and they appeared this morning!

And since this post is all things critters, here is a video I made of Peoples visiting last week:

Everyone is welcome to come back! Just no skunks, please!

*I confirmed the critter I reported Friday is a bird, not a bat.
**Yeah, we name the repeat visitors!

Comments (9)

By kilax, April 8, 2016 4:47 am

For whatever reason, when I leave to teach class just after 4:00 am on Fridays, Data cries at the front door to be let out.

So this morning, I had a bit of extra time and decided to open the door and let him look out (while holding him).

Right after I open the door, I think “Oh! I need to tell Steven about that bird poop I saw on the door step yesterday. There might be birds or something living there.”

So I’m thinking that, and holding Data, and we’re looking through the front gate… then you know what happens. Something starts fluttering around. Sounds like a bird, could be a bat, but I’m holding Data and he’s freaking the eff out because it’s right above our head.

Data’s squirming and hisses at me, and I’m desperately trying to close the door, without letting Data out, and without letting whatever was outside in.

What a great way to wake up!

But I was successful. Although Data was a little worked up when I left to go teach… and I went outside and looked around the door and have no idea what was there.

Eh, one more critter to figure out.

Comments (20)

By kilax, April 7, 2016 6:38 am

• I had a great time seeing my mom last Friday and Saturday night but MAN staying out late (her conference was an hour drive (one way) away) wrecked me for Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. I am an early riser and am not used to that! Totally worth it, though.

• My mom met someone at her conference that lives really close to where we are going in Alaska in June. I asked that woman if she knew any runners that could run with me while I am there, since my family is convinced a bear is going to attack me when I am running (and maybe a local can help with that? ha). The lady said she does know some runners, so I friended her on Facebook and plan to make some dates for our trip!
• We had chimney caps installed last week. Yay! I like the way they look, AND this will keep things out of the chimney. Win win. Ha.

• Peoples visited again early (4:00 am) Saturday morning. It’s cute when he visits the balcony – he runs back and forth on the railing and Data follows him. Then he comes down on to the balcony and runs around… and Data follows him some more. Aww, besties! On Saturday night/early Sunday am, we also heard some interesting noises outside that may have been Peoples… some animal decided the bottom of the downspout needed to be taken off and dragged across the driveway. That was a creepy noise to hear in the middle of the night!

• My second cousin has recently fallen in love with Asics shoes and tipped me off that Kohl’s had the Cumuluses for $60! What a deal! I used a 20% coupon, and with free shipping, they were just under $50 a pair. Yay! I am happy I didn’t wait for a 30% off – I checked the day after ordering them and all the size 12s were gone!

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 93

Comments (6)

By kilax, April 1, 2016 4:11 am

1. My mom being in Chicagoland for a conference (this weekend)! I’m hoping to see her once or twice.
2. Star Wars: The Force Awakens coming out on DVD on April 5!
3. Teaching fitness boxing, and teaching an outdoor cycling interval class with a fellow Efit instructor.
4. Using my “dump cart” to do some yard work! (I really enjoy picking up sticks… and we have A LOT in our yard.)
   
5. Dates with friends.
6. A visit to Dallas to see Gina, Steve and Luca, and to celebrate Luca’s fifth birthday!
7. A visit from my snister and her husband at the end of the month!
8. Contracted housework being done… maybe? Hopefully?!
9. Maybe hanging some artwork/photos up around the house!
10. That as of April 1st… I still have five weeks left to train for the Wisconsin Half Marathon. Phew!

What are you excited about in April?