New Kitchen- Phase 2

The kitchen remodel shows progress.  The new cabinets are in:

Here are the base cabinets before the countertop was installed.

Little P having a little fun.  Gotta get that girl a hobby!

The finished product.  Still need to paint, though.

And a new floor covering!

Someday we'll get the blue plastic wrap off the dishwasher.

New Kitchen - Phase 1 continued

The kitchen remodel shows progress.  Here are a few more destruction pics:

The base cabinets were harder to get out.  We needed a plumber to disconnect the water pipes.

The old sink and counter top out in the yard.

More of the wallpaper coming off.  Little P counldn't reach that high.

A new kitchen @ 3rd & College

We are in the process of redoing our kitchen.  What we had was here when we bought the house 6½ years ago.  Below are pictures from the first step: taking out the old cabinets and working on getting the wall paper off.  That part is easy; something we know-nothings can handle.  We hired an out-of-work friend to do the the real work.

Before.  We are not sure how old these cabinets are, but the ½ inch particle board shelves are bowed.

Here I am taking down the last wall cabinet.  I had to improvise as the screw heads were stripped, and I don't have a lot of  tools.  So I drilled around them and pulled them out with vice grips.

Even 15 year olds like to have fun!

H enjoying a new toy: it is called the Paper Tiger.  It has wheels with blades to tear up the wall paper.

Stay tuned for updates.

Mother’s Day

To any mother who happens by, I wish you a Happy Mother’s Day.  Make sure you tell your children how much you love them.  Let them be a major part of your life today, and every day, especially if they are young.  And if you still have a mother, call her and tell her you are glad she is your mother and chose to give birth to you.  Believe me, women sacrifice a lot to raise children, and their job has not been made easier by modern society.

Cinco de mayo

Cinco de Mayo was yesterday.  As a Spanish teacher, I am now going to point out a few things:

1. It is not Mexico’s independence day.  That is el dieciséis de septiembre (September 16).  
2. It is not even a victory in a war.  On May 5, 1862, a rag-tag Mexican force turned back an invasion by a much stronger, better trained French army at Puebla.  Mexico owed the French a lot of money and could not pay it back, so Napolean III decided it was time for France to have territory in the Americas again, having sold Louisiana and lost Haiti to a slave rebellion and Canada to the British.
3. It is not celebrated in Mexico as much as it is in large US cities.  It is a holiday in Mexico, but not as big a deal to them.  Kind of like Presidents’ Day or one of our other minor federal holidays.

So, why is it that I, as a Spanish teacher of Puerto Rican descent, am asked by my students if we can have a party that day?  Because we as Americans like celebrating holidays from other countries.  Think of St. Patrick’s Day.

So I listened with interest as the news reported the high school students in California who got in trouble yesterday for wearing clothing with the US flag on it.  Isn’t California part of the US?  Do we not, as US citizens, have a First Amendment Right of free expression?  The students were told their clothing might offend the Mexican-American students.  Excuse me?  If the Mexican-American students are offended by the flag of their adopted country, then perhaps they need to go back to Mexico.  I am glad the superintendent’s office in the school district reversed the suspension the students received.  Let the Mexican-Americans celebrate their heritage, as do Germans during October, or Jewish adherents during Yom Kippur or Hanukkah.  Just don’t punish American students who want to show a little patriotism, as is their right.

Oh, and if you have a chance, go buy something sold in Arizona, or go spend money in the Grand Canyon State, or write the governor and thank her for doing what our “Representatives” in Washington do not have the guts to do concerning illegal immigration.