September 6, 2007

Painter wanted

Home Depot offered rebates on Behr paint over Labor Day weekend. It was just the excuse we needed to get our latest home project underway. We also chose new carpet to be installed. There’s soon to be no more royal blue, baby. Woohoo!

We prepped the living and dining rooms on Monday and got started on the ceiling. Early on, Frank realized that painting is not particularly fun and the strain on his back wasn’t doing him any good. We decided that we'd finish up the paint in the tray and seek quotes from painters to see if we could get the job professionally done.

The last two days we met with painters from various sources and each quote was more than we were looking to spend. The cheapest quote was $1075 (labor only), our place is only 957 sq ft. and we're not even doing the bathroom. So, it’s just not worth spending that much dough. Looks like I’ll have to suck it up and do it myself.

September 4, 2007

End of Summer, really?

It is hard to believe Labor Day has already come and gone, especially when temps are still in the triple digits. When living in Chicago, pools would close for the season beginning Labor Day weekend. Now, it’s just another weekend that crowds flock to Vegas to soak up the neon and have fun in the sun.

Frank and I had hoped to take Nicky for the weekend, but Jeff’s mom died of a heart attack on Friday morning. Amy, Jeff and Nicky caught the next available flight to Chicago after they caught word of her passing. Losing a loved one at any time is difficult; I can’t imagine how hard this must be for Jeff and his family. Goes to show you, you can't take life for granted.

With the unexpected change of plans were able to get many errands done and we even had a couple fun outings on Sunday. We had a 2-for-1 coupon to the Titanic Exhibit at Tropicana so we checked it out. Neat to see the recovered artifacts and whatnot, but we enjoyed the Bodies Exhibit far more.

Later that night, we dined at Seablue. This time we had Prawns, Seablue Salad, NY Strip and Halibut. We ended the fantastic meal with tiramisu for dessert. Dishes are fresh and light, it enables you to eat well without feeling overstuffed.