Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!

My, how time flies! We enjoyed hosting the Titus family PRE-Thanksgiving down at the lake this past weekend. Eighteen people, including four dogs and our cute little grand-nephew, a toddler, joined in for a weekend of food and fun. After waving everyone off on Sunday afternoon, Greg took a quick nap and I started some laundry. An hour later he emerged rested and refreshed, asking, “Wanna head over to the round house?!” My hopes of curling up in a blanket in front of the TV with a bowl of cheese puffs and a can of Fresca, watching Hallmark movies were suddenly dashed to smithereens. Fine. OK – let’s do this.

Earlier in the day I'd completed what I thought was a thorough turkey assessment before all of our weekend guests returned to parts unknown. We seemingly had SO much turkey that I had generously handed baggies full of turkey to family members as a little good-bye token. YOU get some turkey! YOU get some turkey! EVERYBODY GETS SOME LEFTOVER TURKEY!!! I mean, after our guests leave it’ll just be the two of us. Great as the smoked turkey was (and it WAS), how much could just the two of us eat?

We returned from the round house around 6:30 PM in pitch darkness, worn out and hungry. No worries – I'd already confirmed the generous glut of Thanksgiving leftovers that awaited us. Dinner would be on in a snap! Greg quickly nabbed the pan of turkey leftovers, but after peeling back the covering he discovered that only a few meager pieces were left. No worries - I’ll just dash out to the garage and grab our back up stash. Triumphantly carrying the large pan into the kitchen, I peeled back the foil covering to reveal NOT turkey, but an entire pan of dressing instead. Oops. I’d accidentally given ALL of our turkey away.

Greg was a bit miffed at me, and I was miffed at me as well. He stomped off to the bedroom to put on his “comfy clothes,” and after entering the room he immediately backed out and closed the door, looking ghostly white with shock. He then uttered one of only a few statements that can galvanize and repair a relationship faster than counseling or death, “Honey – there is a wild bird in our bedroom.”

And there it was - a Carolina Wren – flitting about from the ceiling fan to the wall to the floor to the dresser. Clearly the poor thing was in a panic, and so were we. How it got in there – who knows?

This was an all-hands-on-deck situation requiring total focus and teamwork. Greg got a big towel with the intent to wrap the bird up and release it outside. I joined him in the room, closed the doors to the closet and bathroom, opened a window and pulled the screen off to allow the bird an escape route. With that we steered and chased the bird – Greg with his towel, and me with the window screen - all around the room over and over and over before the THREE of us – Greg, me, and the bird – succeeded in getting it out the window and back into the wild. Comical and crazy as this was, the more ironic piece to this story is the fact that our 14-year old greyhound, Bo, simply laid on his dog bed in the same room while this mayhem played out and did not move a single muscle. Yawn…

After the “great escape” we enjoyed generous mounds of dressing, along with mashed potatoes with a bit of gravy, homemade cranberry sauce, and HUGE wonks of pie with whipped cream. No further mention of the lack of smoked turkey. We were happy with what we had, and all was good.

Now, back to the round house:

It is a recurring theme I know, but honestly the view out the patio doors of this house just never grows old. I love the seasonal changes, and the light and color patterns reflected on the water below. Despite the hammering, sawing, pounding, and painting happening inside, the scene outside is always a balm to the senses.

It’s hard to believe that work on this house began more than a year ago – specifically, on September 8, 2018. We thought we’d have this place snapped back into shape within six months, surely. I mean, HGTV gets those places torn apart and back together in a mere half hour. How hard could THIS be? Well, we’ve had a cold, hard reality check since then. At this point we are looking toward late spring before all fixtures and furnishings might be installed and in place, and even with that we are giving ourselves some grace. We are hosting the Bowen Family Reunion sometime this summer though, and it would be nice to have some overflow space, so we definitely need to have it ready for prime time by then.

We are nearly finished with Bathroom #1 – the main hallway bath. Pretty tile work now surrounds the tub, and more importantly the toilet has been installed and is FUNCTIONING! I have not made a big deal out of this, but let’s be real. We have not had a working toilet for well over a year, and even when we HAD working toilets we never used them. OK – I relented just once. Quick reminder:

Capiche? ANYTHING would be an improvement over that, so the bar for this and all other improvements to the place is set dramatically low. That said, I am loving what we’ve done with the new bathroom and cannot wait to have it all finished up.

The black octopus tentacles that poked out from the house for months on end were the outside connections for our mini-split system. The bulk of the lines were later housed in a channel specifically intended for that purpose, but the tail ends of these lines remained, pending connection to the outdoor unit.

A couple of weeks ago Greg and I finally unboxed that unit, which had sat in our garage for months and months and months. Having seen a number of sleek mini split systems over the past few years I felt sure that, though the packaging for the unit was quite large and substantially heavy, surely it was mostly packing material. Surely the actual unit would be small, understated and efficient, as I had seen over and over. Surely. SURELY! So imagine my shock and dismay when the box was finally cut away to reveal this: A nearly 4’ tall, 4’ wide, 15” deep white monstrosity, to be plunked prominently between our driveway and front door.

I was crestfallen. After all the work we’d done to the exterior of the house, and it was looking so stinkin’ cute…and now THIS. GAH!

Yes I know that I can plant grasses, or create some sort of natural or man-made screen, and yes we are working on it. And yes, I am grateful to live in a world with air conditioning and heating, so I in no way intend to besmirch the fact that we have it and cannot wait to reap the benefits of it. I just wish it didn’t have to be right THERE. THERE, by the front door. I’ll get used to it. I may eventually get over it. I’ll suppress my inner cries and screams until they are mere whimpers, leading ultimately to a need for intense counseling. But for now here it is. Laid bare. The outdoor unit – sitting there, prominently, proud, proud, proud. Our ultra-efficient, ultra sleek Mitsubishi mini split heating and air conditioning system.

And that’s just the outside. Inside are three “cassettes.” That’s what they’re called: cassettes. What do you think of when you hear that word – these? Yeah, me too.

Instead they are the units that exist in each room to heat and cool the space. I don’t find them offensive, generally. But they are NOT little cassettes. Why they chose that word I will never know! So, these cassettes exist in three rooms: The kitchen/living room, and in each bedroom. Coupled with the foam insulation, they promise to evenly and efficiently heat and cool the entire home, and I trust that they will. The entire system is quiet as a mouse – both the outdoor unit and all indoor units, so that is pretty great. It’s amazing to have heat again. This is the cassette in the kitchen/living room. Note the sneak peek of the ceiling that is beginning to be installed. We are pretty psyched!

Recently we were visited by two sweet college friends. Susie and Judy had planned a trip to the Eureka Springs - Branson area, and decided to wedge in a quick visit with us to check on the progress.

Last summer, we took a longer break with a larger group of friends who decided to make the trek to southern Missouri. I am ALWAYS up for a break, and love nothing more than catching up with friends. So (hint, hint!) if anyone wants to come on down, please know you're always welcomed!

In my last installment, I noted that we would soon be painting the front door. We are excited to reveal the funky color that we chose to highlight the entry: Orange! We thought it was a fun, unexpected pop of color – how about you? Now no one can say that our home looks like a Unitarian Church.

As you can now see, we have begun work on the wood ceiling as well as the aforementioned paneling, so look for another update in the coming days or weeks. Meanwhile, have a Happy Thanksgiving, and be sure to keep good tabs on all your leftovers!!