Progress - 2,000,000 steps for 2018

I have finished the first quarter of 2018 with an astounding 684,249 steps towards my 2,000,000 step goal. It hasn't been easy. Even though I'm way ahead, some days I have to force myself to walk.

During this time I earned another Fitbit badge. This is the India badge which says since I started recording steps, I've walked 1,997 miles - the length of India. I hate to say it's taken me several years to accomplish this. But badges are fun to receive.

I also took first place one week against my fellow walkers. Then I found out Bruce was on the road for 2 days and not walking. A small achievement but not my fault he fell behind.

New Kitchen & Living Room Remodel

It all started with a President's Day sale on a refrigerator.

I'd been to Nebraska Furniture Mart with Melissa and Jamie a few weeks before President's Day and saw this refrigerator. Well, not this refrigerator exactly but one similar to it. I started checking prices at different stores and when I saw the price had dropped $500 for President's Day, I couldn't pass it up.

Then the process began of tearing out the old tile, painting the kitchen, installing new blinds and lights, countertops, sink and tile. The only things that didn't get replaced were the cabinets and flooring.

I've got Jamie to thank for installing this beautiful glass, stainless and tile backsplash. At some parts, especially around the outlets, it was like putting together a jigsaw puzzle.

Michael installed new lights and blinds and moved appliances around so I could finish painting.

Everything thing turned out just as I imagined, down to the apples in the black wire bowl for the kitchen table.

While painting the opening over the kitchen sink, I got paint on the living room wall. I could either touch up with the old paint or refresh my living room with a new coat of paint. After staring at the walls for a week, I got my ladder back out and started painting. My ceilings are  10' high and no matter how much I tried to convince myself, I couldn't let go when I reached the top of the ladder to paint the top of the wall. So I painted all but a small strip at the top and had Michael come over to finish it off.

The grey color really modernizes my house.

Michael also installed new lights and ceiling fan. The ceiling fan is the same as the one in my bedroom and works off some type of transmitter. Somehow the fans communicate with each other so when you turn on the light/fan in the bedroom, the living room light/fan comes one. Oh well, another job for Michael when he can fit me in.

You could spend a fortune just on knick knacks for your home. I went looking for a picture for my wall. I found this metal artwork but was disappointed that it didn't have more red in it. The saleslady suggested I get some paint and a jar and put some red circles on the painting - which Michael and I did. I don't think even Picasso could tell the painting has been altered. I'm finished with inside remodeling for awhile. As soon as it stops raining, it's out to the yard.

Violet's 5th Birthday in Chicago

Talk about an extended birthday!!!!

Violet's 5th birthday started on Saturday with a birthday party at Potter's Haven Art Studio. All the kids selected a piece of pottery to paint while the parents looked on.

Violet painted a dolphin that looked pretty rough at first. But after they sprayed it with glaze, the dolphin looked good. Violet does have that artistic gene.

She probably could have done an even better job if her eye hadn't constantly been looking at the mountain of gifts to open and the birthday candles to blow out.

From Potter's Haven we all went to Ted's Cafe Escondido for dinner.

The wait staff gathered around and sang a special happy 5th birthday song to Violet while she wore the traditional Mexican sombrero.

And let's not forget Lincoln. He took his turn with the sombrero just like it was his own birthday.

The next morning, Melissa, Violet and I boarded a plane for Chicago.

Violet's getting to be an expert at flying. In her short little life, this is her 6th? time in an airplane. Melissa would know for sure.

To keep Violet occupied for the hour and 20 minute flight, Melissa and I both had the idea of getting small gifts for Violet to open. It amazes me how much Violet knows about all the different kinds of surprise toys. I'm trying to read the directions and she's explaining to me how they work. She said I need to watch more commercials.

Michele and Courtney met us at the airport because I was too afraid to navigate the train system. In case you don't know, I accidentally got on the wrong train the last time I was in Chicago. If Michele hadn't yelled at me to "GET OFF", I would probably still be riding the rails from 2 years ago waiting for the Pink train to take me to the airport (which it doesn't)!

We must have walked for miles in Chicago doing a little shopping and eating cupcakes while heading to the park for Violet to climb the rock wall. I should have taken better notes as to where we were and what we did. Before heading to the hotel, we had deep dish Chicago pizza at Giordano's. I love Fun House pizza but this pizza was amazing. So much cheese and the crust was to die for.

The City of Chicago dyes the Chicago River green for St Patrick's day. The streets were pretty crowded on the 18th. I can just imagine how crowded downtown Chicago was on St Patrick's Day.

The next day we headed to the American Girl Doll Store - the main destination of our trip. Violet's eyes just lit up when she spotted the store from 2 blocks away. First we had lunch in the cafe. They really do it up big here, even providing chairs for the dolls. Violet brought Mia and her bitty baby, Bella. Michele brought her "imitation" AG doll, Little Michele, so there was 8 of us for lunch.

After lunch, Mia needed to get her hair done. It's funny to see how elaborate this place is and how much they cater to young girls. And let's not forget the boys. There is now an American Boy Doll!

But I must confess, I too got sucked into the hype wanting desperately to purchase Maryellen - an American girl doll from 1954 (the year I was born). I didn't buy her but I'm hoping this might give Michael and Melissa an idea for Mother's Day!

Michele is a big Lego fan so we definitely had to make a stop at the Lego store. While Michele and Violet built mini lego characters (or whatever they're called) I went in search of something to drink and a place to sit. If you ever go on vacation with Michele, you know exactly what I mean. That girl never stops to rest.

While making our way back to the hotel, we kept changing our minds on where to eat for dinner. Each place was closer and closer to the hotel. We ended up going to the Sugar Factory which was right across the street from the hotel - Yay! Courtney has lived in Chicago for many years and has never eaten at the Sugar Factory. She thought it was just a big candy store.

I didn't realize how famous this place was. While waiting for our table, we had fun playing "red carpet".

The Sugar Factory is known for it's huge everything. The server was explaining happy hour to us. Drinks were half price and each drink held 6 shots of liquor. That's right - I said 6 shots. I didn't have a drink but Melissa and Violet shared a birthday shake complete with candle.

Violet had "the best birthday ever" and the rest of us had fun too. It's going to be pretty hard to top this birthday trip. I think Melissa mentioned Hollywood for her 16th birthday. They may be pushing me in a wheel chair, but I'm going too! Happy Birthday, Violet!

Walmart Run with Lincoln

While Melissa was with Violet at her school field trip, I took Lincoln shopping with me at Walmart.

I took this video of Lincoln pushing the shopping cart and posted on Snapchat (that's why the picture is rather fuzzy). I was going to take a regular picture until Lincoln collided with the end of the aisle. Then I just rushed over to him before they could throw us in Walmart jail!

More Work on the Kitchen Remodel

Michael came over yesterday to help with my kitchen remodel. We moved the stove and took out the microwave in order to remove the rest of the backsplash tile. Although we put the stove back, the microwave went into the garage in anticipation of my new microwave. I don't often use the microwave so it shouldn't be a big loss while I wait for delivery of my new one on March 22. This also gave me the opportunity to clean behind the stove and paint the wall that never had a coat of paint on it. Michael kept telling me no one would see it, but I knew.

Then we pulled out the washer and dryer so I could paint the rest of the laundry room. While I painted, Michael hung new blinds.

These will really confuse Lincoln since he's into pulling the cords on blinds. These blinds are cordless. You just push or pull from the bottom to raise and lower the blinds.

Michael also hung my new lights. These are LED lights and have no bulbs. There's just tiny LED strips inside the fixture. They're beautiful and put out a lot of light. I just hope they last forever because there's no replacing a bulb. You have to replace the entire fixture and believe me, they're not cheap. Now it's back to hurry up and wait for the next part to be finished.

Kitchen Remodel

After several days of procrastination, I finally started painting my kitchen. It actually went faster than I expected.

I progressed so fast that I decided to go ahead and pull out the refrigerator without waiting for help from Michael. Add another hour to my paint job!!! I couldn't go any further until I cleaned up 10 years worth of "behind the refrigerator" dirt. I still have the laundry room and behind the stove, but I'm waiting for help on those. I'm not going to risk ruining my hardwood floors just because I'm a little impatient.