Destruction Complete, Ready for Reconstruction, and What Other Mischief I Have Gotten Into

Last week we got the last of the work done on actually tearing apart the dining room, and now have the floorin in the house and ready for installation to begin tomorrow. I am so excited! We have actually hired a professional to do the installation, but that is ONLY because J. said I can't have a nailgun. I suspect he knows EXACTLY what kind of mischief I could get into with any tool with "gun" in the name.

But, we did save a SIGNIFICANT amount of money on labor by doing the tear-out ourselves. Here is the room, cleaned up, nails pulled, and the flooring "acclimating" to our house. We picked it up last Wednesday, and saved again because I bugged my cousin with the giant truck to come help me get the wood, so we didn't have to pay for delivery, either! He certainly didn't know what he was getting into, since my car died at the flooring place and he ended up having to jump it and then spent a half hour at my house crawling around under the hood of the car, just to pronounce the battery "shot." So J. got to take it to the dealership the next day for repairs.

Here is the flooring, ready to be installed. Yes, we did use a shovel to clean up all the crap:


And here is the original floor, all cleaned up, nails pulled, and all the debris removed:


Also, in the last week I spent an embarassingly huge amount of time making a felt cow. Yes, a felt cow. Let me explain....

One of the girls that I work with recently had a baby and she has been "pumping" in her office. So that no one just barges in (since we all have keys to each other's offices), she puts a post-it on her doorknob that says "do not disturb."

One day, I was walking down that hall and stopped to talk to another lady that works in our office. I pointed at the post-it and kind of laughed. My colleague that I was talking to snickered and said "It's not like we don't know what she's doing in there." So I replied "Maybe she should hang a bottle on her door." To which my colleague (who does have children, and also nursed) smiles and says "Yeah, or a cow."

At this point, we laugh hysterically and I go back to my office. About 10 minutes later, my colleague with the new baby comes into my office and says "Moooo!!!! Moooo!!!!! It's not like I can't HEAR you people!!" And more hysterical laughter ensues.

So, two of the other girls that I work with and I decided that what our friend needed was a do-not-disturb cow. My plan was to make it look like the cows from the Chick-Fil-A commercial, the ones that stand there holding the sign that says "Eat More Chicken?" Except this one would have a sign that said "Do Not Disturb."

Well, guess what? I'm not that artistic. So this is what I ended up with:


Yes, that is a giant, obscene udder hanging off the bottom of it. I snuck it onto her office door before she got in, and then made myself scarce. When I got back from my meeting the consensus was, it was hilarious, but there would be revenge in my future, so be prepared! Fortunately, everyone that we work with are really good friends, and also have a great (if a little "off") sense of humor.

This week, I also decided that I would get serious about Weight Watchers, and try to get rid of this fluff that I put on when I had to take steroids for the Hidradenitis. So, Monday night I spent a recockulous sum of money at the grocery store, and yesterday and today I have been a cooking fiend. I made my own microwave meals, and now have a refrigerator and freezer stocked with "grab-and-go" meals, all 8 points or under, and (this is the good part!) J will eat them, too. Now that he has decided that he likes chicken.

Here is what I made so far this week:

Chicken and portabella pizza with white sauce and whole wheat crust. 1/4 of the pizza is only 5 points!


Vegetarian lasagne, made with eggplant, leeks, fresh basil, and chopped tomatoes. Only 5 points a serving!
After J. and I had lasagne for dinner tonight, that still left 4 servings for "meals-to-go" for the freezer:



I also made a layered mexican chicken casserole, with black beans and chiles, which worked out to 6 points a serving:


And finally, a grilled pork tenderloin with nectarine salsa, for just 4 points a serving!


Now I have 15 ready-made meals in the freezer, and for a whole lot less than buying Lean Cuisines!

So, now you know why I haven't sewn anything lately!!