Share Your World | Growing On A Vine

July 18, 2017August 28, 2018 / Ally Bean / 49 Comments

Once a week Cee asks the questions on her blog, and I answer them here on my blog. You can join in the Share Your World Challenge by clicking here.

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• What is your favorite cheese?

Swiss. Cute holes, lovely color, mild taste.

• Are you left or right handed [sic]?

Right-handed, unless I’m using a computer mouse, then I’m left-handed.

• Do you prefer exercising your mind or your body? How frequently do you do either?

I prefer exercising my mind, but reluctantly admit that exercising my body can, on occasion, be ok, too. I exercise my mind and body often enough to not decline into complete decrepitude, but not often enough to be an inspiration to anyone. I get by, you know.

• Complete this sentence: Hot days are …

… a reason to remember that things can work out for the best. Once upon a time I thought that I wanted to live in southern Florida and was sad that we didn’t end up there. But now I’m happy that we stayed in the midwest because I only have to put up with humid 90ºF+ days, that I now find to be annoying, for a few months each year.

• Optional Bonus Question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

Last week’s gratitude award goes to the Dr. Who franchise for picking a woman, Jodie Whittaker, to be the 13th Doctor. IT’S ABOUT TIME. We all need to see more female protagonists on the screen [and in real life, too]. I never enjoyed Peter Capaldi as the Doctor, the plot lines were too dark and twisted for me, so I stopped watching the show. But now, with a new female Doctor, I’m interested again.

This week’s looking forward to something goes to baking a cake. The details of which I’ll tell you about on my next post.

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A Refreshing Conversation With An Older Gentleman Who Takes Life In Stride

July 13, 2017July 13, 2017 / Ally Bean / 45 Comments

“Sometimes you’re the windshield, Sometimes you’re the bug…”

I was listening to an older acquaintance chuckle as he told me about a scam he’d gotten caught up in. He understood what had happened and how it’d happened.

After some research and many phone calls, he’d extracted himself from the scam and was a few hundred dollars poorer because of it.

He told me that in retrospect he realized that the whole mess was less about him being stupid, than about the scam being slick and sophisticated, taking advantage of his trusting nature + his unfamiliarity with certain details.

No surprise there, eh?

But what struck me about this conversation, that was more like a monologue, was that this older gentleman telling me this story wasn’t bitter about what had happened. There was not one ounce of “I’m a victim” or “I blame _____” going on with this guy.

Instead, he was telling his story as a cautionary tale. All he needed was for someone to listen and understand his predicament– and for someone to tell him that he “done good” solving the problem himself.

All of which got me thinking…

When was the last time you were part of a conversation like this one? SERIOUSLY, when did you last listen to someone who had been taken advantage of– and who wasn’t whining and emoting about the unfairness of it all?

Someone who was behaving like an adult who grasped the fact that in the rhythm of life not everything works out as planned– and that’s ok, too, because if you’re smart, you learn from it and move on.

Like this older gentleman did, in his quiet self-deprecating way.

A Remodeling Update: 7 Holes In The Ceiling + A Few Details About Each Room

July 5, 2017August 15, 2017 / Ally Bean / 70 Comments

We’re in the middle of the remodel now. It has been four weeks since we began.

In that time 7 holes have been cut in ceilings to either accommodate new lights and fans that will be placed overhead– or to double-check second floor water pipes from below in the kitchen.

What I’ve learned about myself during these past weeks is that I find holes in the ceiling a bit unnerving. Walls torn out don’t concern me so much, but those… holes… up… there… bother… me.

Go figure.

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• The LAUNDRY ROOM has new cabinets in it and the water pipes + dryer duct have been re-routed to accommodate the new washer and dryer– which are to be delivered here later this week.

Last Friday I picked the tile for the backsplash and the wall color with the interior designer, so all that’s left for me to do is to go to the granite store on the day that they cut the counter to decide what part of the slab will be our counter.

• The MASTER BATHROOM wiring and plumbing have been reconfigured, the dry wall crew has been here and gone– meaning that we’re all about tile now. We decided on the tile weeks ago and are currently sitting back, watching some of the tile come together, while the rest of it seems to be lost somewhere. Somehow.

• The FAMILY ROOM is changing from tile around the fireplace to granite– and there’s to be a new mantle. None of this is anywhere to be seen yet, but the crew has prepped the wall and floor for what is to come. Hence, we wait.

I have no idea what color the walls will be in there, other than to say “good-bye purple.” The granite, once installed, will show us how it looks with our furniture so that we’ll have a better idea about wall color, but ultimately I’m leaving that decision up to the interior designer.

• The KITCHEN tweaks are seemingly a forgotten part of this remodel. I have delegated the whole microwave kerfuffle to Zen-Den because I don’t care what the solution to the problem is… as long as I get a microwave.

As for the other little details in the kitchen they are: 1) a new door and handle on the trash bin cabinet; and 2) re-doing the juncture where the counter meets the tile. I’m on top of these details because I want them done before all of this remodeling is over. Which is to say sometime this month, “God willing and the creek don’t rise.”

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