I've always known that I have very little--if any--patience. Now that our kitchen renovation is moving inch by inch, I could sure use some patience to get me by. LOL!!! If you have any to spare, could you please send it to me???
VLE-B
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Before you ask...
THE LEAOTI STANDARD came out again yesterday, Wednesday, in Leoti. I want and need to clarify something right away.
First of all, I have a sister and friends on the current City Council. I have friends who work in our City of Leoti Department. So, with whatever friction there is, I am caught right where most of us do not savor being--right in the middle.
I have been asked which side I favor. I have told them just what I am telling you now. I honestly do not have any opinion on the matter. Now, you are probably asking "why not". Here is my explanation:
First of all, for most of the time, each and every one of us is invited to attend the regular City Council meetings. In my case, I have attended one about 2 or 3 years ago when I found that I was no longer able to keep my mouth shut about the poorly conditioned roads in the northern portion of town where my family and I live. I greatly recommend that anytime you feel inclined to attend these meetings, DO IT! That is one of our rights as American citizens.
Secondly, at one time, I had been asked to run for City Council. I ran. I lost. Today, I am very thankful that I lost by a few votes. There is absolutely NO way that I could handle all of the strife that goes along with any politics.
Thirdly, I have been asked what my sister has told me about the current situation. It is easy to sum up that information in just one small 4-lettered word, NONE. That is right. Lori has shared none of that information, good or bad, with me or anyone else in our family. As soon as a person is elected to City Council, he/she takes an oath not to discuss the private information with anyone. I am very proud of Lori for keeping all of this under her hat.
I have heard various stuff that some of the employees have said around town. I guess that they have that right. The result is that at least one person has taken much issue with it, has gone to a City Council meeting to voice his concerns and has printed his beliefs on the matter on practically a full page of the THE STANDARD. Of course, that is also a right.
I learned a major lesson awhile back when I gave my opinions on a public intety here. I will not do it this time. Too many people were hurt when I did give my opinion and allow others to state their opinions. I won't do it again.
My advice to you is to use your heads on this one before you speak. Please try to see both sides of the story. Politics are a no win situation to be in. At no time, does everyone agree with you. My all-time favorite politician is and always will be, Abraham Lincoln. Throughout his political career, he made some poor decisions. But, for the most part, he was outstanding. His major contribution in his political life was everything that he did to put a total and forever stop to the slavehood in the United States. Because of that, he gave the supreme sacrifice--his life.
VLE-B
First of all, I have a sister and friends on the current City Council. I have friends who work in our City of Leoti Department. So, with whatever friction there is, I am caught right where most of us do not savor being--right in the middle.
I have been asked which side I favor. I have told them just what I am telling you now. I honestly do not have any opinion on the matter. Now, you are probably asking "why not". Here is my explanation:
First of all, for most of the time, each and every one of us is invited to attend the regular City Council meetings. In my case, I have attended one about 2 or 3 years ago when I found that I was no longer able to keep my mouth shut about the poorly conditioned roads in the northern portion of town where my family and I live. I greatly recommend that anytime you feel inclined to attend these meetings, DO IT! That is one of our rights as American citizens.
Secondly, at one time, I had been asked to run for City Council. I ran. I lost. Today, I am very thankful that I lost by a few votes. There is absolutely NO way that I could handle all of the strife that goes along with any politics.
Thirdly, I have been asked what my sister has told me about the current situation. It is easy to sum up that information in just one small 4-lettered word, NONE. That is right. Lori has shared none of that information, good or bad, with me or anyone else in our family. As soon as a person is elected to City Council, he/she takes an oath not to discuss the private information with anyone. I am very proud of Lori for keeping all of this under her hat.
I have heard various stuff that some of the employees have said around town. I guess that they have that right. The result is that at least one person has taken much issue with it, has gone to a City Council meeting to voice his concerns and has printed his beliefs on the matter on practically a full page of the THE STANDARD. Of course, that is also a right.
I learned a major lesson awhile back when I gave my opinions on a public intety here. I will not do it this time. Too many people were hurt when I did give my opinion and allow others to state their opinions. I won't do it again.
My advice to you is to use your heads on this one before you speak. Please try to see both sides of the story. Politics are a no win situation to be in. At no time, does everyone agree with you. My all-time favorite politician is and always will be, Abraham Lincoln. Throughout his political career, he made some poor decisions. But, for the most part, he was outstanding. His major contribution in his political life was everything that he did to put a total and forever stop to the slavehood in the United States. Because of that, he gave the supreme sacrifice--his life.
VLE-B
I have a problem with this.
I am not going to say that I am one of those people who cannot get through a day without tuning in THE DR. PHIL SHOW but I do enjoy watching it from time to time (especially when the show is spotlighting the so-called Dr. Phil Family, a family who is plagued with one emotional problem after another). But, yesterday's topic was "What is Wrong With People". I found it to be quite interesting.
The show centered on several current issues that are hovering in the USA, One issue involved a lady with a PHD in Biology that she had received from Harvard and who just recently had been a long-term professor in a college and who has had quite a run in her adult life, and possibly in her childhood also. (That information is not to be shared with the rest of the world.) Anyway, in the 1980s, she "accidentally" shot her younger brother in the chest. The wound was fatal. Her family swore up and down that it was a very unfortunate accident and did not want any more pain by going through a long drawn-out court trial. So, charges were never filed against her.
Later, there was an incident involving her at a local IHOP. She became enbroiled in a disagreement with another woman over a child booster seat. She eventually began beating up her opponent. Police arrested her. When her case was heard by the judge, he gave her 6 months worth of probation and "recommended" that she may want to seek out some anger management classes. He did NOT order that she do so, so she never bothered to take the classes.
MANY of her students had made complaint after complaint of her irrational behavior, etc. The school never checked into any of the allegations.
Later, a pipe bomb was sent out which authorities believed she had sent but could never prove.
From what I understood on the show yesterday, tenure is hard to come by at the college level. Many professors try to get it. Many professers are shot down and kept on a year-to-year employment basis. After teaching at the same college(not Harvard) for several years, she had just been told AGAIN that she was being turned down for tenure. She did the next best thing in her opinion. As soon as a normal everyday coference was scheduled for all of the professors, she made sure that she was sitting in a chair closest to the door of the room. As soon as all of the professors were sitting down, she stood up and pulled out a gun. She shot 7 of the professors which resulted in 3 deaths. When her gun failed to shoot the eighth person, she fled the conference room.
She then called her husband and very calmly told him that she was ready for him to take her home. The poor husband was totally shocked when he arrived at the college just to see police putting her into a police car and ambulances everywhere. He was and still is totally in shock.
The other "article" that really captured my attention was that of a child abuse case. As a parent, that is an issue that really bothers me.
Let me back up just a little, in our nation, doctors and teachers are court mandated to report any and all possible child abuse cases to local authorities immediately. In the state of Kansas, these need to be turned into SRS, Social Rehabilitation Services. Of course, it is only to be expected that some of these cases that are turned in, end up being faulty. Still, if someone suspects that children are being injured physically, sexually, mentally or emotionally, he/she needs to report what they believe they have seen or understood. Unfortunately, family members, neighbors, friends, etc are not legally bound to report anything. For them, this is only a moral issue.
On Dr. Phil's show yesterday, he brought up a case in which a young girl had been caught by her parents taking food to eat out of the family's refrigerator. Wow! It happens at our house each and every day. In their family, this was a major crime. The girl was beaten and then placed in a small closet where she would spend each waking and sleeping moment except for the time that she was in school for the next two years. During those two years, she failed to grow at the same rate as the other students in her class. Eventually, her size was the same as children 2 or 3 years younger than herself. Why? Because she was only allowed to eat at school and was only given small amounts of food when she was at home. Somehow, no one seemed to notice.
Even after all of this was taking place, her father continued to beat the child with belts and steel rods. Neighbors and landlords mentioned later that they had heard child screams coming out of the house on many occassions. Still, no one cared enough to call the authorities.
Finally, one of the girl's three brothers went to a teacher and relayed the information that he was concerned that his sister might die at the hands of the parents. At that point, the teacher became VERY involved in the situation. The authorities and police went to the home and discovered that this girl had been "imprisoned" in her own home for this entire time.
Once they began their investigation, they soon discovered that authorities had been sent to the family home in a different state FIFTEEN times. The parents had once conducted an EXCORISM on one of the children. The horrific story went on and on.
Why is it that our very own American countrymen are so gutless or want to be totally uninvolved, that they will allow children to live and in some cases, die, in a living hell???
VLE-B
The show centered on several current issues that are hovering in the USA, One issue involved a lady with a PHD in Biology that she had received from Harvard and who just recently had been a long-term professor in a college and who has had quite a run in her adult life, and possibly in her childhood also. (That information is not to be shared with the rest of the world.) Anyway, in the 1980s, she "accidentally" shot her younger brother in the chest. The wound was fatal. Her family swore up and down that it was a very unfortunate accident and did not want any more pain by going through a long drawn-out court trial. So, charges were never filed against her.
Later, there was an incident involving her at a local IHOP. She became enbroiled in a disagreement with another woman over a child booster seat. She eventually began beating up her opponent. Police arrested her. When her case was heard by the judge, he gave her 6 months worth of probation and "recommended" that she may want to seek out some anger management classes. He did NOT order that she do so, so she never bothered to take the classes.
MANY of her students had made complaint after complaint of her irrational behavior, etc. The school never checked into any of the allegations.
Later, a pipe bomb was sent out which authorities believed she had sent but could never prove.
From what I understood on the show yesterday, tenure is hard to come by at the college level. Many professors try to get it. Many professers are shot down and kept on a year-to-year employment basis. After teaching at the same college(not Harvard) for several years, she had just been told AGAIN that she was being turned down for tenure. She did the next best thing in her opinion. As soon as a normal everyday coference was scheduled for all of the professors, she made sure that she was sitting in a chair closest to the door of the room. As soon as all of the professors were sitting down, she stood up and pulled out a gun. She shot 7 of the professors which resulted in 3 deaths. When her gun failed to shoot the eighth person, she fled the conference room.
She then called her husband and very calmly told him that she was ready for him to take her home. The poor husband was totally shocked when he arrived at the college just to see police putting her into a police car and ambulances everywhere. He was and still is totally in shock.
The other "article" that really captured my attention was that of a child abuse case. As a parent, that is an issue that really bothers me.
Let me back up just a little, in our nation, doctors and teachers are court mandated to report any and all possible child abuse cases to local authorities immediately. In the state of Kansas, these need to be turned into SRS, Social Rehabilitation Services. Of course, it is only to be expected that some of these cases that are turned in, end up being faulty. Still, if someone suspects that children are being injured physically, sexually, mentally or emotionally, he/she needs to report what they believe they have seen or understood. Unfortunately, family members, neighbors, friends, etc are not legally bound to report anything. For them, this is only a moral issue.
On Dr. Phil's show yesterday, he brought up a case in which a young girl had been caught by her parents taking food to eat out of the family's refrigerator. Wow! It happens at our house each and every day. In their family, this was a major crime. The girl was beaten and then placed in a small closet where she would spend each waking and sleeping moment except for the time that she was in school for the next two years. During those two years, she failed to grow at the same rate as the other students in her class. Eventually, her size was the same as children 2 or 3 years younger than herself. Why? Because she was only allowed to eat at school and was only given small amounts of food when she was at home. Somehow, no one seemed to notice.
Even after all of this was taking place, her father continued to beat the child with belts and steel rods. Neighbors and landlords mentioned later that they had heard child screams coming out of the house on many occassions. Still, no one cared enough to call the authorities.
Finally, one of the girl's three brothers went to a teacher and relayed the information that he was concerned that his sister might die at the hands of the parents. At that point, the teacher became VERY involved in the situation. The authorities and police went to the home and discovered that this girl had been "imprisoned" in her own home for this entire time.
Once they began their investigation, they soon discovered that authorities had been sent to the family home in a different state FIFTEEN times. The parents had once conducted an EXCORISM on one of the children. The horrific story went on and on.
Why is it that our very own American countrymen are so gutless or want to be totally uninvolved, that they will allow children to live and in some cases, die, in a living hell???
VLE-B
Spring Vacation! Yay!!!
I am one parent who is very excited that Wichita County's spring vacation begins after school tonight! School will not resume for 10 whole days!!! Stan will be off for the last 5 of those days!!!
VLE-B
VLE-B
This REALLY ticks me off!!!
A friend of mine just sent out the federal government's new remedy of ridding Americans of excess weight. They're thinking of making us pay extra taxes for soda pop, fried foods, ice cream, etc. Next step will be to make those items and others a crime to purchase and eat. Remember the days of prohibition??? Looks like we may be headed back in that direction...
Let each and every adult be responsible for what he or she puts into his/her body. Of course, I am not including illegal drugs with that statement.
More and more, I am more agitated with what our current government is trying to put on us. I think that it should be more involved in fighting REAL crime such as child molestors, murderers, child and spouse abusers...
Another of my opinions, like it or not.
VLE-B
Let each and every adult be responsible for what he or she puts into his/her body. Of course, I am not including illegal drugs with that statement.
More and more, I am more agitated with what our current government is trying to put on us. I think that it should be more involved in fighting REAL crime such as child molestors, murderers, child and spouse abusers...
Another of my opinions, like it or not.
VLE-B
Monday, March 8, 2010
Almost done!
As of late this afternoon, each and every kitchen cabinet and door has been painted! Tonight, Stan and I hung all but 9 of the doors. I'll take a real close look at them tomorrow. If I see something that I do not like, I will re-do it. Once everything is just like I want it, I will do the final step--applying a few coats of polyurethane. After that, the knobs and drawer pulls will be put into place.
I am at that point that I hate--the point where I become painfully aware that I have absolutely NO patience--NONE!!! I feel so sorry for Stan when that happens! Why is it that when I watch my shows on HGTV that it only takes 30 minutes to re-do a kitchen, 2 bathrooms and a bedroom??? If they can do it, why can't we??? Ha! Ha!
One week ago this morning, Monday, I began my 7-day adventure of "Tuscanizing" our kitchen cabinets. For the most part, I am very pleased with the results. The bad result of all of the work that I did was the fact that I neglected laundry and other cleaning around home. That is par for the course of renovating at our home. I always promise myself and everyone else that this time will be different. Alas, everyone knows that I will get absorbed by whatever project I am working on and forget everything else. That is one of my many faults. I would like to find someone else to pin this responsibility on but no one taught me this behavior.
My parents were never people who could only concentrate on one thing at a time. They were both able to work on a variety of things at the same time and all turned out well. Shoot! Mama could teach full-time, take weekend educational workshops and still managed to take care of her family.
My sister, Lori, is a stay-at-home mom who home schools her son, is on the Leoti City Council, serves on two major state and national mental health boards and donates time to helping animals find forever homes in a local association. Wow!!! Wish I could do things like that instead of having tunnel vision! LOL!!!
Oh, well... This is the way that I have always been and probably always will be. I just need to learn to accept me for who I am and to really, REALLY practice a little bit of patience here and there...
VLE-B
I am at that point that I hate--the point where I become painfully aware that I have absolutely NO patience--NONE!!! I feel so sorry for Stan when that happens! Why is it that when I watch my shows on HGTV that it only takes 30 minutes to re-do a kitchen, 2 bathrooms and a bedroom??? If they can do it, why can't we??? Ha! Ha!
One week ago this morning, Monday, I began my 7-day adventure of "Tuscanizing" our kitchen cabinets. For the most part, I am very pleased with the results. The bad result of all of the work that I did was the fact that I neglected laundry and other cleaning around home. That is par for the course of renovating at our home. I always promise myself and everyone else that this time will be different. Alas, everyone knows that I will get absorbed by whatever project I am working on and forget everything else. That is one of my many faults. I would like to find someone else to pin this responsibility on but no one taught me this behavior.
My parents were never people who could only concentrate on one thing at a time. They were both able to work on a variety of things at the same time and all turned out well. Shoot! Mama could teach full-time, take weekend educational workshops and still managed to take care of her family.
My sister, Lori, is a stay-at-home mom who home schools her son, is on the Leoti City Council, serves on two major state and national mental health boards and donates time to helping animals find forever homes in a local association. Wow!!! Wish I could do things like that instead of having tunnel vision! LOL!!!
Oh, well... This is the way that I have always been and probably always will be. I just need to learn to accept me for who I am and to really, REALLY practice a little bit of patience here and there...
VLE-B
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Just an update...
As you know, I have not been on here much lately for a week since we began our amazing kitchen renovation. Just wanted to let you know that the work continues and that we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Unfortunately, there is just a glimmer of light. It'll be great when it fills the entire kitchen! LOL!
I have managed to do 3/4 of the work on about 3/4 of the cabinets. Today, I will tackle the other 1/4. There are 4 steps that must be done with this particular technique.
1. After the cabinet doors are removed, sanding needs to be done to ready the wood for everything. So far, this project has killed my original electric sander. It was working well until I lifted the sander up one evening when I was sanding. All of a sudden, parts started flying EVERYWHERE! Even after Stan worked on it, it never returned to normal. So...I had to buy another sander. It is working well.
2. After the sanding, two coats of light colored paint must be applied. In our case, a light yellow had to be used to look good with our new countertop tile which looks like a gorgeous stone. When they are throughly dried, you're ready for step 3.
3. This is where the fun really begins! A cocoa shade of brown was chosen. Some of it was mixed with equal amounts of glaze. I was taught to use a very CHEAP paintbrush, the kind that has a wooden handle and bristles that are not the same length. It is used to apply very light amounts of this mixture onto the solidly painted surface. The same brush is then dipped in the can of uncolored glaze. It is then used to spread the cocoa-colored paint around until it looks like wood. With the paint colors that we chose, the wood looks like a beautiful oak. Since we are going for an old Tuscan look, nothing is supposed to look perfect. For instance around the edges where fingers would come into contact with the cabinet door and around where the door knob will be, extra cocoa paint needs to be applied so that it looks like hand oil, dirt, etc has been there.
4. This is the final step. Several coats of polyurethane must be applied to protect the doors from any kind of damage. It is up to the homeowners to decide whether they want to use satin or gloss finish. In our case, we went with the satin because these cabinets are supposed to look antiquish.
Yesterday, I did these steps on the portions of the cabinets where the doors are hung.
That is the work that I have been doing. Stan has definitely been doing his fair share of work also! He has had the un-fun job of removing the old formica from the countertops and the old backsplashes. I am very happy to say that he is now ready to attach the tiles to the countertops! As soon as the countertops are in place, he will put the new backsplash on. For me, this is the EXCITING part!
Last night, we had to finish our shopping for the kitchen re-do. New undercabinet lights were purchased along with more cabinet and drawer knobs and pulls. Many interior decorators consider the knobs and pulls to be the jewelry of the cabinets and drawers. I now see why! They really perk the room up! We chose products that look nothing like the ones that we had before. By the way, there is nothing wrong with our fomer ones so if you are interested in having them, just let me know. They just didn't have the style that we needed to look Tuscan. They're yours free-of-charge. I hate to throw anything away if someone else can use them. You know...one man's junk is another mon's treasure.
When we're finished, the only things that will look original is the ceramic tile floor that Stan and I added about 9-years-ago and the refrigerator, dishwasher, stove and overhead microwave oven. All of them were added in the past year. So, it'll basically be like a brand new kitchen!
When everything is completed, I will try to post some pictures of it here so that you can all look at them if you want to. Or, give me a call and you can come and take a look at the kitchen in person!!!
Well, more work is beckoning to me so I'll close for now.
VLE-B
I have managed to do 3/4 of the work on about 3/4 of the cabinets. Today, I will tackle the other 1/4. There are 4 steps that must be done with this particular technique.
1. After the cabinet doors are removed, sanding needs to be done to ready the wood for everything. So far, this project has killed my original electric sander. It was working well until I lifted the sander up one evening when I was sanding. All of a sudden, parts started flying EVERYWHERE! Even after Stan worked on it, it never returned to normal. So...I had to buy another sander. It is working well.
2. After the sanding, two coats of light colored paint must be applied. In our case, a light yellow had to be used to look good with our new countertop tile which looks like a gorgeous stone. When they are throughly dried, you're ready for step 3.
3. This is where the fun really begins! A cocoa shade of brown was chosen. Some of it was mixed with equal amounts of glaze. I was taught to use a very CHEAP paintbrush, the kind that has a wooden handle and bristles that are not the same length. It is used to apply very light amounts of this mixture onto the solidly painted surface. The same brush is then dipped in the can of uncolored glaze. It is then used to spread the cocoa-colored paint around until it looks like wood. With the paint colors that we chose, the wood looks like a beautiful oak. Since we are going for an old Tuscan look, nothing is supposed to look perfect. For instance around the edges where fingers would come into contact with the cabinet door and around where the door knob will be, extra cocoa paint needs to be applied so that it looks like hand oil, dirt, etc has been there.
4. This is the final step. Several coats of polyurethane must be applied to protect the doors from any kind of damage. It is up to the homeowners to decide whether they want to use satin or gloss finish. In our case, we went with the satin because these cabinets are supposed to look antiquish.
Yesterday, I did these steps on the portions of the cabinets where the doors are hung.
That is the work that I have been doing. Stan has definitely been doing his fair share of work also! He has had the un-fun job of removing the old formica from the countertops and the old backsplashes. I am very happy to say that he is now ready to attach the tiles to the countertops! As soon as the countertops are in place, he will put the new backsplash on. For me, this is the EXCITING part!
Last night, we had to finish our shopping for the kitchen re-do. New undercabinet lights were purchased along with more cabinet and drawer knobs and pulls. Many interior decorators consider the knobs and pulls to be the jewelry of the cabinets and drawers. I now see why! They really perk the room up! We chose products that look nothing like the ones that we had before. By the way, there is nothing wrong with our fomer ones so if you are interested in having them, just let me know. They just didn't have the style that we needed to look Tuscan. They're yours free-of-charge. I hate to throw anything away if someone else can use them. You know...one man's junk is another mon's treasure.
When we're finished, the only things that will look original is the ceramic tile floor that Stan and I added about 9-years-ago and the refrigerator, dishwasher, stove and overhead microwave oven. All of them were added in the past year. So, it'll basically be like a brand new kitchen!
When everything is completed, I will try to post some pictures of it here so that you can all look at them if you want to. Or, give me a call and you can come and take a look at the kitchen in person!!!
Well, more work is beckoning to me so I'll close for now.
VLE-B
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