Facelift

We've lived in this house for 4.5 years.  It's the first house we've owned and actually, the first real house we've lived in together.  Before this it was apartments, a townhouse, and a shack (yes, really).  When we were looking to buy a house, this was the first one we saw.  From the outside, it's gorgeous, like a cabin in the woods.  But when we saw the long, rectangular living room, we looked at each other and said, "Um.  No." and left.

BEFORE

The shape of the room is weird.  The garage is behind; the kitchen is to the right; and a deck is outside on the left.

A view from the "front" of the room, looking toward the back & into the garage.

After looking at other houses, it was clear that this one was worth another look.  We loved everything about this house and finally decided that we would just make the living room work.  Here's our initial stab at it:

We chose a green to "match" the forest outside.  We also wanted a cabin feel.

A few years later, we bought a flat screen TV and had to get a new entertainment center. This, combined with a few other decorative details, is how our house remained until recently.

BFJ, recognize that white chair?  :)

We've accumulated our furniture from here and there over the years and it has started to get a little worn. Both arms on my recliner are completely bare, and there's a rip in the side.  Our couch noticeably leans to one side, kind of like a sinking ship.  We've talked about buying furniture for a couple of years, but we always go on vacations instead.  This year, our combined birthday plans fell through, and as Christmas has started approaching, we had the brilliant idea of treating ourselves to a living room facelift in lieu of any presents - for anything - this year.

AFTER

Observation #1:  All our furniture now matches!  It's as if two adults live in this house, instead of the seven dwarfs.

Observation #2:  In order to keep it from being too brown, we painted the green stripes on the wall, and ordered some of our photos printed on canvas.  These are seasonal, so we can change the look of the room throughout the year.

The birds are crammed in the corner next to the window.

We also bought a variety of throw pillows to break up the brown.

This is Orca's corner.  And now this matches the rest of the living room.  I still need to work on the decorative touches, but you get the idea.

Have you ever watched those home improvement shows?  Know how they conveniently fast-forward during all the heavy, hard work?  So that the viewer will get instant gratification of seeing the "before" and "after" so close together?  Because, you know, otherwise no one would actually sit there during all the work involved in home improvement and those stations would never get funding.  I wish the transition were that quick and painless in real life.  But alas.

DURING

Crap everywhere as we begin to paint the wall and move out the furniture.

Orca supervised.

Contemplating the new photos.

Note the arms of the chair.  I so was not joking about it being completely worn.

Where, pray tell, did all the furniture go?

Why, into the kitchen, of course!

The couch, chair, DVD player and rugs are being picked up by goodwill.  We broke down and took one more step into the 21st century; we bought a Blu Ray player.  See?  True facelift.

So, Happy Birthday, Merry Christmas, Happy 2012, and Happy Valentine's Day to us!  I think we'll have a seat and celebrate.

Veteran's Day

"A 'veteran' -- whether active duty, honorably discharged, retired, or reserve -- is someone who, at one point in his or her life, wrote a blank check made payable to 'The United States of America,' for an amount of 'up to, and including my life'."

 I didn't come up with this definition, but I think it fits.  Please take the time today to thank a veteran for their service to our Nation.

Thus Far This Fall

Model Mondays: Dystopian Wars Tournament

So yesterday my FSA fleet left port to participate in several engagements against Japanese and Antarctican naval fleets.  And by that statement, I mean that I drove to one of my local gaming stores for a Dystopian Wars tournament.

The tournament was three rounds, and the opponents were chosen at random.  There were about 8 of us who played.  The first round was a 400-point engagement, while the last two were 800-point engagements.  The point value is the number of points allowed for each fleet.  Each ship is worth a set number of points; by the rules of the tournament, we had to field at least one squadron of small, medium, and large-class ships (this prevents someone from trying to field 400 points worth of battleships).

In the 400-point round, my opponent was playing an Empire of the Blazing Sun (Japanese) fleet.  The round objective was to obtain photographs of at least one of two islands on the playing board--any ship that got within 8 inches of the island got a picture, and then had to retreat off the table edge without getting sunk.  Victory points were awarded for getting a picture of the island (and getting that ship off the table edge), and half-points were awarded for any enemy ships sunk.

My cruisers heading into battle

My cruisers have taken some damage, and it looks like my battleship is surrounded--but I sunk both of the Japanese cruisers!

Unfortunately, that was the best game I played.  In both 800-point engagements, I drew opponents playing the Covenant of Antarctica fleet, and I got torn up pretty badly.

I just captured one of the Antarctican flyers (white model in the foreground with the "prize" token under it); my dreadnaught and airships can be seen in the background

I did learn a valuable lesson--keep Antarctican vessels at long range, as they are brawlers when they're close.  The FSA has excellent long-range weapons, and I did not use them to my advantage.

But even though I lost--badly--a good time was had by all.  Here are a few other pictures from the event:

One of the tournament tables

Prussian and Antarctican forces in close combat

A Prussian Sky Fortress--who doesn't like an airship with an aircraft carrier on top of it??

Japanese and British ships mixing it up

Enjoy the pictures!

So, what are you saying, exactly?

The other night:

B:  Oh crap, I think I left my book at the gym.  Yep, I definitely did.  I'm gonna call them.  You don't think anyone took it, do you?

G:  Oh, trust me.  No one is going to take one of your books.

...

G:  I mean, one of our books.

TGIF, people!

Between a rock and a hard place

I want so badly to tell you people that my life consists of more than medical issues.  Or at least it used to.  I try to resist the urge to whine and complain about the kidney stone experience, but earlier this week I found out that I have:

another kidney stone!

in the other kidney!

and it's stuck there!

I'm actually running out of witty post titles.  I almost called this one "Stoned out of my mind."

This week, I went in for a follow-up appointment with the urologist who removed the kidney stone a few weeks ago during my lovely Tour of the Local Hospitals.  The plan was for us to discuss the chemical composit of the stone, and tips for prevention of future kidney stones. 

Not mine - just a sample shot of a stone

As it turns out, my stone was what most people experience:  calcium oxalate.  Calcium, in most of its forms, is very good for me and I should continue to eat it.  The tricky part is the oxalate.  It exists in foods that are typically good for people, but there's something about the way it bonds with calcium that frikkin' wreaks havoc.  Foods high in oxalates are:  spinach, beets, chocolate, nuts.  I intend to avoid these like the plague from now on.

Here's the other thing:  the most effective thing anyone can do to prevent kidney stones is to drink water.  Like a fish.  Like a man dying in the desert.  Drink it on a scale that was considered unimaginable and possibly dangerous in one's life before.  My goal is to drink 8 full bottles a day.  That doesn't sound like much, does it?  I have a 23-oz bottle and I'm a determined person.  Still, I have yet to reach that goal.  Even though I work out.  Even though I carry the bottle with me everywhere and sometimes down the whole thing in one sitting.  This baffles me.

G is trying to help me deal with this.  He stands outside the bathroom door and shouts things like, "Water is great for your skin!" and "Water is a proven weight-loss tool!" and "The body is like 70% water - just think how great this is for your health!"

Now let's address the fact that I have a ticking time bomb in my own body.  As far as we know - and I'm sure we would know otherwise! - the stone is lodged in my right kidney.  It's smaller than the previous stone (thank you Jesus and all the Heavenly Host) so it *should* pass on its own when the time comes.  But WHEN IS THE TIME GOING TO COME?  As much as I don't want to live in fear, the reality is that at any point in my future, I will be wracked with unbelievable and uncontrollable pain.  Again.

So here I am, stuck between a rock and a hard place.  Yes, that swishing sound you hear is my stomach.  And yes, my pants are too tight and I look like I've put on 5 pounds.