Posted by:
Amyjo
(
)
Date: April 20, 2019 05:15AM
Oh that's good to know.
At least I'm in good company with the ancients from the past. :)
Purchased some matzah bread on the way home from work yesterday picking up milk, covered in dark chocolate and cranberries. It's made and sold locally. I'd like to call it a pastry, but is much lighter than that because of the thinness of the matzah. It doesn't feel like I'm eating calories at all , minus the chocolate. I'm saving that for tomorrow.
Then I picked up some locally made non-kosher challah bread. I know it isn't the passover kind. But it looked good, and for a single person was just the right size.
In place of getting rid of the hametz in my kitchen I've been doing some spring cleaning in there and around the house, getting rid of some of the excess to de-clutter a bit. Just to get the kitchen and mud room measured for flooring requires me to do this.
The kitchen linoleum hasn't been changed in 15 years. The mudroom is the same as when we moved in 20 years ago, and it was kind of old then. So I got an estimate this past week from Lowe's on some Armstrong vinyl tiles of theirs. Still waiting on their quote. Meanwhile, went to a local flooring store and brought home samples two days ago of some pretty flooring tiles to see what looks nice on the floor - something I hadn't done with the tile I ordered from Lowe's (big mistake not to see at least a sample of it on my kitchen floor itself in relation to the rest of the room and flow.)
Anyhoose, the samples from the local company have completely won me over. When the men come to measure my rooms in the coming week, I've pretty much made up my mind, unless Lowe's is ridiculously less expensive.
When I floored and tiled my bathroom in 2013 I did two estimates. First from Lowe's, second from the local store. Lowe's came in with the lowest tile prices so I thought it would have the lowest estimate of the two. I picked discounted tiles even to save money.
The other store I selected what I really liked just to compare the difference in cost. Turned out Lowe'd padded their quote. So after adding in labor, other materials, moving furniture, etc, the cost of doing the cheaper tiles was more expensive than the premium tiles from the store that specializes in them. Ended up going with the local store, and my bath was fitted with a nice spanish tile from Spain for less money than had I done the cheaper tiles from Lowe's. :)
The one/s I found for the kitchen are at least as nice, but not ceramic. The kitchen looks like a ceramic tile but is a floating, interlocking vinyl, and the color really lightens and brightens up the room a lot. While it looks like a stone tile, it has the low maintenance of a vinyl tile, comfort, and performance. Add, it's 100% waterproof! With no grout. The mudroom that runs off the kitchen I found a sheet tile from the local company that compliments the kitchen tile with a lattice pattern. Very intricately woven, which is perfect because it's a small room. With my colors in both rooms, the floor colors will bring out those colors and tie them together and create a look and a flow that wasn't there before. Plus, the vinyl tile is at least half the price of a slate or ceramic tile. Add, slate and ceramic are high maintenance materials whereas vinyl/linoleum is lower maintenance by a long shot.
I'm glad I thought to do the comparison estimate. Was just going to go with Lowe's. Once I hear back from the local outfit, if it's close to or less than, or even a bit more than the Anderson flooring I picked out at Lowe's then I'll go with the 2nd estimate/quote. It pays to shop around and get estimates on home improvement projects. Lowe's advertises it's less expensive than its competitors, but when actually pressed, it isn't always the case. Besides I've made up my mind because this flooring by other store is what I consider to be exquisite. It wasn't offered, to my knowledge, at Lowe's. It's pristine. The colors sizzle. I'm talking white porcelain look for the kitchen with some light variations of color through it. And a black and white lattice for the smaller room. Floors in there now are rather dark. So it will brighten them up significantly. With the coral walls in kitchen, and french blue in mudroom, these floors will really bring them to life in a good way.
That's been my [version of] getting rid of Hametz while getting over an upper respiratory infection. ;)
One good thing about me and house projects though, is that when I start one or more than one, it pretty much forces me to clean through, clean out, and de-clutter whatever is in the path of the project waiting to be done. So it is a motivator for me to get moving to create the home I envision from within.
Last week I donated a large quantity of clothing, bedding, and household items to Goodwill. There is more where that came from. With each donation I feel a little lighter, because my house is a little less cluttered and filled with things no longer in use or of service. That's been an ongoing project for some time now. Things are thinning out quite a bit. I've donated furniture. (Salvation Army schedules pickup for larger pieces.) As I get closer to retiring trying to get my house ready to either put on the market or if I stay make it my forever home. Either way whatever improvements I make I make them as though I'm going to be staying and want to enjoy them myself, because I'm not sure how much longer I'm going to be here. I painted the house in 2015, interior and exterior. Floors and doors in 2016. Bathroom tiles in 2013.
Replacing kitchen tiles now in 2019. But this tile is going to be so pretty I don't think I'm going to want to change it up again. It will be a selling point when/if I list the house.
A realtor contacted me last week asking if I was ready to sell. It may be a seller's market right now (still, I'm not.) She just sold a house around the corner for $20,000 over asking price. She said she had 23 offers on that one house.
I didn't know the market was so hot right now. But I still have some time before I can retire. If were to leave my job now would take a hit in my retirement. As much as I'd love to take early retirement and move away, I don't think it's worth it. I'd regret not waiting the extra time while my pension continues to vest. Plus all the resources in my community for just about anything. If it weren't for my family so far away I would stay right here without hesitation.
Shabbat Shalom. Happy Pesach. And Happy Easter to the Easterlings. I still celebrate Easter too. I'm low key about both holidays. I don't have a church to go to. Only a synagogue which haven't been to in weeks. They're going to think I'm an apostate there lolol.
My friend is adding me to the prayer request today, bless her heart. She is suffering too! She told me she has a blood clot on her heart. She taking medicine for that before the doctors can operate on her jaw. She still cannot chew food from a jaw injury from several months ago.
She's my dear sweet friend who spent 15 winters in Salt Lake City on skiing vacations with her husband. She loved it there until her husband got sick, then injured while at hospital in SLC. He fell out of the hospital bed, hit his head, and went into a vegetative state from the fall. She brought him back home where he remained in a vegetative state for the next 2-3 years before he passed away. I don't know what it is about Salt Lake City and Jewish people suffering there.
But that is where my great grandmother died at age 34, from blood poisoning - leaving my grandmother an orphan.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/20/2019 05:17AM by Amyjo.