We have water!

The faucet passed the spray test with flying colors.

All seven ceiling lights are in.  Those dark rings are the old (original?) paint that was hiding under the old dome lights, and once Dennis paints the lights should just blend in.

This is our new light over the dining table

with lots of little LED "thingies" inside:

Look how the beads under the glass diffuse the light:

Bill installed the electric outlet on the side of the island while Tom trekked to Home Depot.  He went to get a new can light so maybe we could have light over the kitchen sink.   (He had bought an 'extra' one yesterday, to match those now in the ceiling, but it wouldn't work in that hole.) But when he came back the first time he'd gotten the wrong size; must have misheard Bill. 

So of course that meant a schlep back to Home Depot (where apparently everyone in the metropolitan area was returning stuff today) but the real bummer is that they don't even make the size we need...?!

Still - it was a good day and we made lots of PROGRESS!

Diamond is sending someone out first thing tomorrow morning to make the cuts in the cabinetry for the stove. When Spencer's calls tomorrow with their timing window I hope it's a person and not a recording (!) so we can make sure they don't arrive before the hole is widened enough for them.

I made a run to Saver's to drop off several bags of clothes that came out of the closet in Alex's room.  Now there's room in there for me to store some of my quilting tubs!  

It's not likely to ever be that organized, but hey... a girl can dream!

Tom is on a China kick, and wants to read The Good Earth.  Yesterday I dropped off a couple of DVDs at the library (that were due the day before - and not renewable) and of course his book didn't come in until today. So I also ran that errand.

We're having dinner with Alex and Stephanie tonight after all.  (He wasn't sure he made enough, but now that he's checked the crock pot we got confirmation on our reservation.)

The kitchen activity continues -

The first light is in!  Despite its smaller footprint, the LED bulbs put out more/better light than the old fixture and 'regular' bulbs.  The ceiling will "likely" look better when the ring of a previous brown paint color disappears after Dennis works his magic.

Working on light number 2.

The sink should work much better <g> with a faucet - and plumbing down below!

We have our kitchen counters, and they look terrific! Wade and Kevin did a thorough job, and it was fun watching the installation process.

Tomorrow Cornell will be hooking up the plumbing for the sink.

Tom picked up the ceiling lights today,

and tomorrow Bill will also be here installing those.

Still don't know if Regis will be here tomorrow to widen the opening for the stove, so not sure if we'll have the stove and dishwasher installed on Friday after all.  But we are getting closer!

Alex whipped me up a delicious omelet for brunch, and I helped him with some stuff; the Goo Gone worked great on the glue drips!  He mucked out the den today so it's a lot more "company ready" now. 

When Marcie and Latina came over to admire the counter tops, I whipped up a snuggly coat from one of Alex's old socks.  It fit a whole lot better than the "extra-small" pink knitted sweater that Marcie had ordered, which was so big on Latina that she basically walked right out of it.

Wasn't expecting the granite counter top installers until sometime between 11-1 (because that was the message Tom received and relayed to me) so I was surprised when they showed up this morning before 8:00.  Of course I'd been up for a couple of hours, but was still lounging in my PJs, "working" on the computer.

Sad news from Marcela awaited me this morning.  Things are moving "very quickly" at that end, so I may be flying out there as soon next week.  Last week Steve had huge amounts of fluid drained from his stomach, and blood transfusions also helped him feel somewhat better.

RE the kitchen, the good news is that the stove top seems shallow enough that Wade is pretty sure we won't lose the drawer underneath - which has been "iffy" since the beginning.  However (there's often a Murphy's Law "however") despite giving Diamond Cabinets the specs for the stove top we ordered, the hole isn't quite wide enough (half an inch on each side?) so Regis needs to come back and cut that out.  IF he can't get here soon (today or tomorrow) then I will need to reschedule Friday's hookups with Spencer.  I have already left a message at Diamond, though they don't open until 9:00.

The pool spent yesterday slowly draining into the Back 40.  First thing this morning the guy was back to address the (ongoing!) issues with the plaster, and then acid wash it.  

And while the pool definitely is looking better and better, the true test will be after we refill it and then it sits awhile.  Still, I'm hopeful!

Shortly off to the gym.

This afternoon I caught up on a lot of the reading for Evidence, and as a reward <g> Alex had us over for dinner.  He whipped up a great batch of spaghetti sauce, with lots of fresh ingredients including many whole cloves of garlic. Delicious!

Now Tom is watching Monday Night Football,

and I'm about to get back to studying.

Late morning I had just walked up to Marcie's to see the hole being dug for their new pool.  Just as I entered their backyard I got a call from Alex (who was getting ready to leave the dentist) that he'd gotten a call that the furniture was 5 minutes away from being delivered.  (The original time frame we had been given yesterday was a couple of hours later.) So I made a U-turn and headed home.  His new couch/rug look great!

That's going to be MY spot!

Alex also has a new 55" 4K TV for that room which he got at a bargain price,

courtesy of Black Friday. 

4K is an up-and-coming video technology that promises a better quality picture when you're watching movies or TV shows. ... In terms of tech products you can buy like TVs, 4K normally refers to a resolution that has 3,840 pixels along the horizontal line of the display, and 2,160 pixels vertically.

Tom's new recliner was also delivered, but mine is on order.

It should arrive around December 12 (just in time for Chanukah!)

While I was out front this morning (trimming bushes, sweeping the driveway, and watering plants) Benny stopped by.  Like us, he's interested in some of the left-over dirt from Mike & Marcie's pool hole.  However, by the time the dirt is spread around the edges for the deck it looks like they won't have any extra... and may even need to buy some extra dirt!

Logan was enthralled with Chas' toys on Saturday, so despite the lure of the animals here he elected to spend Sunday over there again.  We were invited over for an early dinner, so we did get to see them again before they needed to blast off for the airport. 

Alex, of course, was also invited - but he was at the Cardinals game.

Tom had taped the game, and I started "watching" it with him after we got home - but after falling asleep on the couch I gave up pretending to watch and went to bed early.  AND got a good night's sleep!

Today we are having the pool drained so they can redo - yet again! - the poorly done plaster 'repair'.  Not only did they do a crappy job the first time, but have already tried to fix it once.  Maybe the third time will be the charm?  Hope so!

  Of course it will cost us another bundle in city water fees to refill the pool. 

Alex's couch gets delivered today, but not until the afternoon - so I won't have to supervise that after all (he's having some cavities filled at the dentist this morning.)

I'm all caught up on the Evidence lectures, but not the reading. 

I plan to do much of that today... 

Because the final exam is looming, and I really want to pass!

We spent Thursday over at Linda & Rick's, where (joined by their neighbors Bill and Laurie) we turned out to be six.  The food was yummy (and plentiful!) and a good time was had by all.  Linda had taken care of all the prep (she likes to cook!) and I was more than happy to be the dishwasher.  (Just like with Terry, Linda put down a 'working' spoon and when she went to pick it up again a few minutes later I had already washed it.) Though we dined inside, afterward we migrated to the back patio to play Trivial Pursuit.  The cards from the 'regular' set were MIA, so we used ones from the 90s edition.  Of course I was a little busy that decade, and "may have" missed out on TV shows, music, and some of less-important news.  In any event, though the women did reasonably well (despite way too many hockey and baseball questions!) we "let" the men win.  Our game lasted until well after dark (when we needed to hook up some lights) though it was still mild out.  (The forecast was a high of 89, though we may not have actually reached it.)  Don't think too many folks around the country were spending Thanksgiving evening outside!  Linda sent us home with leftovers, which I expect we'll get into tonight.

Friday morning was irrigation, and it looked like the Back 40 would easily hold an hour of water.  What I didn't count on was that the berm along the main ditch had become eroded, so at some point water started pouring into that ditch and thus <sigh> into the backyard.  I was able to staunch that flow by covering up the pipe at the end, so most of the water was contained around the edges.  Thus we had a muddy perimeter (and a big puddle where it enters the yard) but of course could have been much worse!

My phone rang just as I was pulling into the cell lot at the airport, but Lisa's phone was not at all happy and I could not understand her. I tried calling her (got her voice mail) but the second time she called we connected.  Phew!  

It was hard to tell who enjoyed the morning with Latina and the chicks more, Lisa or Logan!  After lunch we took a hike in the desert, where Logan was attacked on the leg by some of the jumping cholla.  Of course none of us had a comb with us, but all's well that ends well.  And he did say he wanted to experience the desert....

For dinner we went to Valle Luna, though not the one near us; they were not taking any more reservations.  However Alex had been able to get us a 6:00 reservation (for six - Chas was meeting us there) at the one on Cave Creek. Alex has been trying to sell his over-size couch (too big for that room) so he can get a one that fits.  Murphy's law that the guy who was buying it connected yesterday, and was on his way over to pick it up around the time we were headed to dinner.  So Alex was going to have to meet us there.  We pulled into the parking lot just as Chas did; good timing! Alex had me order for him (he always gets the same thing) and just as they were putting our meals on the table he arrived.  Talk about timing!  There were issues with a couple of the meals (maybe they were understaffed in the kitchen?) Lisa's came without the steak inside (which cracked her up), and Logan's was entirely wrong (he was less thrilled.)  Happily both were easily (and speedily!) remedied.  

I remember Tom asking yesterday if there would be mail delivery (pretty sure) but don't know if he ever went out and got it.  Hope so, because around 6:30 this morning, as I was sitting in my chair drinking my "coffee", I saw a dark car pull up at our mailboxes.  Immediately went outside, though by then the car was almost to 35th Ave.  I did see it swing to our side of the street to check the mailboxes down there before it turned right onto 35th.  Both mailboxes out front of our house had their doors hanging open, so whatever was in there is long gone.  :-(

This morning I'm picking up the selection at Myra's for December's book club meeting.  Usually I get the book right away, so two months later I've forgotten much about it.  This time it should be easier to remember and discuss!

Then later today we're going furniture shopping with Alex.  He, of course, is looking for a couch, and we're hunting for a new kitchen table.  

Happy Thanksgiving!  Hope everyone is able to spend the day with family and friends!  Most of us are likely to be eating (MORE than!) our fill today, and for  that fact alone we are luckier than so many around the world.  

For all the additional blessings in my life I am also grateful.