Happy Tofurky Day Everyone!

There are lots and lots of vegetarians that look forward to their tofurky every year....and I am one of them!  It isn't hard being a vegetarian at all, and it may seem inconvinient to other people, but once you have figured out what you like to eat-it is a very healthy lifestyle.  I have been a vegetarian for about 8 or 9 years now.  Our Thanksgiving spread consists of lots and lots of side dishes to create the meal.  I am a fan of the Quorn brand of "turkey".  As long as you follow the suggested preperation instructions, you really can't even tell the difference.  Before dinner, we are going to head into the mountains with the dogs and cut down our Christmas tree.  I enjoy this time of year...anyway, just wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving to everyone and hope you have safe travels if you have to travel.

Carhartt for Women

So, last weekend I received all new Carhartt gear.  Just in time for the cold weather!  It was like an early Christmas when I was ripping open the box with my new clothing.  I got 3 pairs of women's pants, 2 shirts, and 1 awesome coat.

                                                                                                       

The first pair of pants on the far left is the Relaxed Fit-Straight Leg Jean.  They have the standard five pockets and the material is a medium weight.
The middle pair of pants is the Easy Fit Sandstone Carpenter Pant with Double Front.  I am very excited to see how these hold up.
The last pair on the right is the Original Fit.  These have the standard five pockets and the material is light weight and has some stretch to them.

These are the shirts that I received....sooo cute!  The one on the left is a women's Roll-Up Sleeve Button-Front Flannel Shirt in winter white.  This is such a cute shirt, very light weight fabric and form fitting.  The shirt on the right is the women's Pointelle Henley in Oatmeal Heather.  This has a great women's cut and will be very warm on Idaho's coldest days. 

 

This is the women's Sandstone Sierra Jacket Sherpa-lined.  This is the Blue Dusk color.  This coat is awesome!  It is so nice to go to the Carhartt website and have so many choices in women's clothing.  There are so many colors, so many styles!  I live in Pocatello, Idaho and most retailers are just starting to carry the women's Carhartt line....it is so great that there is a quality clothing line out there designing clothing for women who still need the heavy duty fabrics and functionality that Carhartt has to offer.  All too often, I still run into women out in the field who are wearing men's Carhartts.  Come one ladies, go and get yourself some women's Carhartts!  Still the same number of pockets, still the same fabrics, still the same price, just better cuts for our bodies, and better colors!  Log onto http://www.carhartt.com/ and click on the Women's tab.  You will be amazed with all the choices, and the customer service on line is impeccable!  I look forward to putting my new gear to the test and giving an update on how they are holding up!

Regional Bowling Action

So six weeks of practice led up to the Special Olympics regional bowling competition in Burley, Idaho.  There were about 6 teams representing each district and there were approximately 150 athletes.  It is such an inspiring thing to witness and be a part of.  Everyone from the volunteers to the athletes are excited and happy to be there.  Nancy was in a very tough group with one teammate from Pocatello and two gals from Twin Falls.  This was during the third and final game, she was trailing by only a few pins......the pressure was on!

She barely missed taking third place and got the fourth place ribbon....but it didn't matter to her what place on the podium she was standing on, she accomplished a goal and had a great time.  It is very funny to attend an event on this scale, because yes, the athletes are pumped up and have team spirit.  But as you meet and introduce yourself to a majority of the group, they usually have one common response...."Hi, my name is ....
and I am from...      .....and we get Pizza when we are done!!"  Besides getting a ribbon or medal, one of the main highlights is the free lunches.  But the Special Olympics organization is one of the greatest groups to ever be formed and I encourage everyone out there to go and volunteer at, or just attend the next event.  Just type in Special Olympics followed by your home state and it will give you information regarding any upcoming events.

Now, we get a little bit of a break until January when the winter olympics begin.  Nancy agreed to do something out of her comfort zone and try downhill skiing!  This will be great....!

Nancy getting her fourth place ribbon..

This is Maggie so graciously accepting her second place ribbon.

                                                                                                                            

Window, What Window?

Some clients came in recently and were ready to rennovate a create a true master suite.  They hooked up with a local contractor and made a plan to sacrifice about 100 square feet of their double car garage to make the perfect on suite.  It included a walk in closet, a walk in shower with dual shower heads, and a vanity with double sinks.  When I arrived to field measure, there was one obstical in the way of making a functional double sink vantiy-a window.  There was only about 65" of space before the window.  Sure, you could fit a 5' vanity with two sinks......but the whole point of this rennovation was to maximize and gain storage.  So I took the measurements and let it absorb overnight, and this is what I came up with.......

First, it is very hard to photograph a vanity....

This is the upper section of the vantiy.  There is a sink centered under each mirror.  The mirror on the right is fixed.  The mirror on the left however....

slides to the right on a low profile track.  (Salice Hardware)

Eventually disappering almost completely behind the center cabinet.  It functions very well and maximizes the storage for the client.  As well as maintaining balance in the room by keeping the mirror on the right exact size and look as the one that reveals the window. 

It is projects like this that make me excited to go to work everyday.  I wonder what I will come up with next?

11/1/11

Things have been so busy lately!  I have been selling jobs and installing cabinets left and right.  I have also had to spend some time on my house getting it ready for the winter.  We bought our home two years ago in January and right after we moved in we had a wood burning stove installed upstairs and down.  There is no better heat in my opinion than a wood stove.  Sure, it takes a bit of work to keep it going and cleaning out the ashes, but I love sitting by the fire!  And it helps that I have all the access in the world  to hardwood fall off and kindling bins.  Every year I purchase cords of firewood from local sellers.  I used a guy that only cut elm and that is excellent to burn compared to pine or aspen.  Elm has a much higher BTU output and they don't burn out as quickly.  Well this year he retired from the sport, so I found a new guy that sells silver leaf maple.  It is only a couple of slots down from elm on the BTU chart-but still way better than aspen or pine, so I bought four cords to get through the winter.

Yikes-That is alot of firewood!

Well, luckily I have one of the very best helpers to stack this pile of wood-my younger sister Nancy.  She is 25 years old and has Down syndrome. She oddly looks forward to my firewood delivery every year.  She comes over and its great exercise and "bonding" time, and there is always pay involved.  It takes a couple of days to get a pile this size stacked nice and neat.....not because of how much there is, or how far we may or may not have to haul it.  Its because she loves to name, identify, and analyze every log before it is stacked!  Every couple of minutes its, "Aw, Kate-check this one out, it looks like a foot!"  And I cannot tell you how many "perfect Christmas morning logs" that I have set aside because they are perfectly round.  But seriously she is so much fun to hang out with and she has great work ethic-as long as there is a Subway kids meal at the end of it!  I will have to admit, I actually caught myself checking out quite a few of the logs too.  Hey there were some that had burl chunks on them.  I couldn't possibly burn those!  I could make something out of it one day....

Looking forward to a toasty winter!