Monday, May 25, 2020

Gettin' a lot done!

Johnny didn't have to work at all during the three day weekend this year. We ended up getting a LOT of stuff done around the house.

Saturday we finally got the flooring done! On April 30, I had finished reorganizing all of our stuff in the basement and moving my mother-in-law's things from the office into the basement. That was also the day our flooring was delivered. Here are the before pictures of the living room and dining room.
20200502_101417 20200502_123247 20200502_123054

On May 2, we got the rest of the stuff in the living room and dining room moved (except the heavy sectional couch) and started tearing out the old carpet and the ceramic tiles at the front door. Ashlyn was a big help during the process (Aubry had to work).
20200502_172519


Then the night of May 6, I painted some Kilz primer on the floor in the dining room and a few spots in the living room...then I painted another coat on May 7. Between dealing with the death of two family members and long periods of rain, there was sort of a break from working on the floor. Since I was getting most of it done during the day while Johnny was working, I had to do all the cutting of boards out on the back patio because it was too loud while he was on the phone with customers...and I wasn't gonna do that in the rain! We finally started putting the floor down on May 16. Of course, we ended up having to start over going the other way because we realized we were doing it backwards. :P Luckily we'd only put 2 rows down when we figured out we were going backwards. So we started over and got a little bit done that first night.
20200517_024100

Ashlyn helped me throughout the week while Johnny was working. She mostly just had to stand on the board next to the one I was putting in so that the boards didn't shift, then fetch tools and the vacuum for me. Here was our progress on Day 2, 3, and 4.
20200517_200007 20200518_010140 20200518_213212

Then I took a break on May 19 to make BBQ Pork Chops for dinner. On May 20, Ashlyn and I finished the dining room...but we had to move the last piece of the couch before we could continue the rest of the living room.
20200520_192846 20200520_192917

We had to wait until everyone was home to be able to move the couch because it's so heavy and I didn't want to scoot it across the new floor. So then on May 23, Ashlyn and I were able to finish all but the last seven partial rows before she left for the weekend. After work on Friday, Johnny helped me finish it and we started moving everything back into the living room and dining room. :)
20200524_003124 20200524_003148

We still need to put the baseboard moldings back on and put transitions at the stairs, hallway, and into the kitchen, but at least we got the floor in and the house put back together at the moment. :) I absolutely LOVE the way it looks!

We also decided to leave the large armoire that we got from Johnny's sister-in-law in the office permanently and are storing all the tools in it for now...at least until we get the garage cleaned out. I need to work on getting the office cleaned and organized again now that we're not storing so much stuff in there anymore. But...I'll get around to it when I get around to it. :P

We got quite a bit done around the house this weekend. And by we, I mostly mean Johnny. :P I helped a little bit and got some regular chores done (dishes, laundry, etc). I also started cleaning and organizing the kitchen counter and dining room table...finding homes for everything we'd used while we were working on the floor. Oh and I replaced the vent covers in the living room with some new black ones that look great with the new floor. :)
20200525_165057

Anyway...back to all that Johnny got done! Our sump pump went out at the end of last year, so he replaced that. And a lot of our fence planks were loose, so he went through and screwed them all back on. He also found the new latch for the gate and put that on so our gate can finally be locked again. He also replaced the lawn mower blade and air filter...then mowed the backyard. He also pulled a bunch of weeds in the front beds...and then I pulled out like 27 thorns out of his hand from one of the bushes out front. :P

We were also kid & dog free for a little while over the weekend. Ashlyn spent the weekend with XH's family. She saw her dad for a few hours, but that was it. Then Sunday Aubry spent the night with XH's mom before coming back Monday to work that afternoon. So Johnny and I just had some leftover enchiladas and sour cream enchiladas for dinner, watched some TV, and then I went to sleep a little earlier than Johnny. My allergies have been super bad lately and all the Benadryl has been making me SO sleepy. Then this morning we were awakened by the doorbell (yay for Amazon Prime 1-day delivery of the vent covers!) and we decided to just stay up and start getting stuff done. The Aubry dropped her dog off and went to work, Ashlyn came home and got her chores done, then we had some spaghetti for dinner. Yum! After dinner, Johnny took Ashlyn driving around so she could log some more driving hours so she'll be able to get her restricted license later in the year.

And now...bedtime!

Tuesday, May 19, 2020

Recipe: BBQ Pork Chops

I have been super busy lately and my allergies have been HORRIBLE for the last two weeks. With all the Benadryl I've taken for the allergies, I'm just SO TIRED. I ended up falling asleep earlier so I was late getting around to making dinner. It was definitely a pressure cooker night! Trying to figure out what to make...my options were frozen chicken and frozen pork chops. We haven't had pork chops in awhile...so that's what I went with. :) I served these with candied carrots and mac & cheese.

Pressure Cooker BBQ (frozen) Pork Chops 
Ingredients:
4 boneless pork chops
2/3 cup Dr. Pepper (or pop/soda of your choice) 
1 tbs butter 
3 tbs brown sugar 
1/2 tsp dried, minced onion 
1/4 tsp garlic salt 
1/4 tsp paprika 
2 tbs liquid smoke 
2 tbs Worcestershire sauce 

Directions: 
1. Pour Dr Pepper into pressure cooker.  
2. Place frozen pork chops in pressure cooker. 
3. Lock the lid and cook on high pressure for 10 minutes. 
4. Allow pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes and then release remaining pressure. 
5. Remove pork chops from pressure cooker and set aside. Drain the liquid in the pressure cooker. 
6. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, minced onion, garlic salt, and paprika. Coat the pork chops on both sides with the mixture. 
7. Turn pressure cooker to saute setting. Add 1 tbs of butter. 
8. Return the pork chops to the pressure cooker. Cover with liquid smoke and Worcestershire sauce. 
9. Brown the pork chops for 3-4 minutes on each side. 

It turned out so yummy!


*I used the CooksEssentials 8qt Oval Pressure Cooker for this recipe.



Sunday, May 10, 2020

High School Graduation

Well...today would've been the day that Aubry graduated high school. With the Covid-19 pandemic, plans changed. Instead of having the ceremony today, the principal of the girls' school created a video for parents and students outlining what the "Celebration Weekend" will consist of...which will be an awards ceremony in the school auditorium, cap and gown ceremony practice, the tradition of the seniors ringing the bell in front of the high school, a cookout luncheon for the students on the high school lawn, and the cap and gown gown ceremony at the football stadium. The principal talked about how he has wanted to hold a graduation ceremony at the school stadium throughout his entire career, and now it can finally happen. Usually graduation is held in a large indoor arena, but I think this is something special for a class that is graduating under special circumstances. The date for the Celebration Weekend hasn't been released yet, but it will likely be in late summer or early fall.

We will still have a graduation party for Aubry as planned...although we won't necessarily schedule it around the Celebration Weekend. Once meeting rooms open up and it is safer for public gatherings, then we'll figure out when we will have the party.

It's still so hard to believe that time has gone by SO fast and she has already finished high school. Aubry did really well throughout her school career...getting mostly As and Bs in all her classes. She was active in the drama department and AFJROTC during all four years of high school. In her last year of AFJROTC, she earned the Air Force Sergeants Achievement Award for demonstrating outstanding qualities in military leadership discipline, character, and citizenship, as well as being in the top 25% of the AFJROTC class.

We are so proud of Aubry and all of her accomplishments so far!



Friday, May 8, 2020

Progress!

Thursday, April 29th, our flooring arrived. FedEx Freight delivered it to the driveway. Luckily it was delivered before Aubry had to go to work so she was here to help carry the 612 pounds of flooring (divided into 17 boxes) into the house. Ashlyn helped during the last little bit of it...always late to the party. :P The luxury vinyl planks are supposed to be stored flat the same place it will be installed so that it can acclimate to the temperature and humidity of the room. So it worked out well...since I still had quite a bit of stuff I needed to get done before installation. 

Friday, I finished organizing everything in the basement. All of our stuff and the stuff we'll eventually put in a garage sale is all stacked on one end of the basement. Then at the opposite end, I moved all of the boxes of Johnny's mom's things down there. It had previously been stacked in the office, but I'm glad to have a more long-term and out-of-the-way place for everything...especially since we're not sure how long we will be storing it all. And an added bonus, I suppose, is that I got a lot of exercise in moving all those boxes downstairs! :P My Fitbit said that I climbed 61 floors that day! I was SO sore the next day, that's for sure! I also made Goulash for dinner...and made plenty for leftovers since I knew we'd be busy this week.

Saturday, I finished moving everything out of the living room and dining room...well everything except the huge sectional couch that we don't have room for anywhere else. :P So I put it on furniture coasters to make it easier to move as we go. Everything else has been moved to the office, the dining room chairs are downstairs, and the table is taking up a lot of room in the middle of the kitchen. :P Then Johnny and Ashlyn tore up the tiles at the front door and the carpet, padding, and tack strips everywhere except under where the couch was at the time...while I pulled up all the staples and hammered down some nails that were sticking up a bit. 

Sunday, we moved the couch and removed the last of the carpet, padding, and staples. Then we had some work in the yard that needed to be done. Aubry mowed and then Johnny dealt with the stray trees and weeds while I ran out to my mom's house to get some tools we needed for the floor. Sunday night I set up pick-up orders with Walmart and Lowes.

Monday was a busy day of errands. I had to take Aubry to her doctor appointment and then run to Lowes to pick up the last things we needed to work on the floor. I took all that home and shortly after that the Walmart order was ready. I had to wait for almost an hour after I checked in because they were so backed up. I didn't mind that much, though. After they got everything loaded up, I got home and got all the groceries put away. Then after Johnny got off work, I was able to start sanding the subfloors a little before it got too late.

Since it's too loud to sand while Johnny is taking calls for work, Tuesday I decided to draw our living room and dining room to scale and then cut more paper the scale size of the planks so that I could arrange them and develop a plan for putting the floor down.

After Johnny was finished with work (at 9pm) I sanded the floors some more. I'm sure the neighbors were thrilled. :P But I did try to stop as early as possible and I kept the windows closed to dampen the sound some more.

Wednesday, I cleaned up the floors and did my normal household chores (more dishes, laundry, etc). As soon as Johnny got off work, I ran the vacuum and then I painted some Kilz in the dining room and a few spots in the living room to seal it before we went to bed. The plan was to start the flooring the next morning, but of course it rained all day. :P It wouldn't have mattered, but I had to set up the saws (for the planks that need to be cut down to size) on the back porch so that it wouldn't be too loud while Johnny was working. So I decided to paint another coat of Kilz and worked on my family tree. :)

And today I took off the baseboards and swept. Then I got distracted by internet problems and trying to figure out how long the outage was predicted so Johnny could get back to work. But I'm eating some lunch now and then gonna start laying the new flooring down! :) YAY!

Friday, May 1, 2020

Recipe: Goulash

I made Goulash for dinner tonight. Johnny really liked it. :) I used my 9.5" square copper chef pan to brown the hamburger and mix everything together and then put the pan directly in the oven so I only had to dirty one pan. However, you could transfer the mixture to a casserole or other oven-safe dish as well. 

Goulash 
Ingredients:
2 lbs ground hamburger
1 tbs dried, minced onion 
3 cans tomato sauce 
1 can Rotelle tomatoes 
1 tbs Worcestershire sauce 
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp garlic salt
1/4 tsp black pepper 
1 1/2 cup shredded Colby and Monterey Jack cheese
2 cups large elbow macaroni, prepared as directed on package

Directions: 
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
2. Brown hamburger and dried onion. Drain and return to pan.  
3. Combine the rest of the ingredients and mix well. 
4. Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes. 
5. Serve and enjoy! :)