7/17/2023 Monday - Arrived at 7:30 am in Rome

The plane landed at 7:20 am today. I left O’Hare at 4:00 yesterday and it was a 9-hour flight. Everything went great, no issues at all. Off the plane I just followed the signs to baggage claim and went through customs first. That was a fast process I had no clue about. Luggage came super fast and I was off to find column N3 to meet my Perillo Tour Guide, Anna. I am the only solo on this 40 person tour so Anna knew I was Gina when I walked up alone. A group of six arrived before me (the Boston crew) and soon our bus brought us to the hotel. It was an hour and 20 minute drive through some narrow streets and turns. Freshened up at the hotel and they stored our luggage, the seven of us ventured out to the streets of Rome. We walked and talked and took some pictures. Back to the hotel to hang there inside and not in the heat. Rooms ready at 2:30. Throughout the afternoon, others on my tour were arriving as well. Welcome meeting at 5:15 in the hotel restaurant we’re we all meet each other and visited. I joined two sisters and one husband from New York. We went to dinner and walked off the calories before returning to hotel. We shared two of the same veal starter with fresh black truffles. I ordered salmon for secondo and then tiramisu for dessert. Everything was very light and delicious. 

 

Tomorrow is Piazzas & Fountains, Vatican Museums & St. Peter’s Basilica, then dinner at Trastevere.

Ciao!

Adventures Ahead!

I leave tomorrow for my first trip out of the United States. To say I am excited is an understatement! At 56, I am Italy bound! I have been packing and cleaning, and cleaning and packing most of this week. Thankfully, Madi and I talked yesterday about voltage, converters, and plugs. I got a travel hairdryer and straightener just yesterday from Target that are dual voltage. Whew! That would not have been good if I had blown my dryer brush and straightener at first use in Rome. Grazie, Madi! 😘😘

My goal is to blog here once a day to share my adventures. I’d love to take you all with me on this trip and this is how I’ll be able to do that!

Ciao!

P.S. Note to self: add a map to blog header graphic 😊

Change

I don't know about you but a lot of change happened in 2015 in my life. Change, it really is the only constant. Friends come and go. Jobs come and go. Businesses come and go. Unfortunately, life comes and goes too. I am approaching that number in life where I check the newspaper obituaries daily. Life is taken from people every day whether it is by a natural occurrence or by someone's choice. There are people hurting everywhere. This past year two relatives passed away. They both had dealt with medical conditions for years and years. Their spouses cared for them with all they had. Now it is time for them to focus on themselves. Life is tough no matter who you are or where you are.

A couple of my major changes this year were my new job and my daughter moved to San Diego in August. Granted I didn't move across the country but her change caused change for me. Empty nest in 2015. It makes the house quiet. Madi steps hard. So I don't hear her stomp through the house when she gets home from work. I don't walk by her bedroom and bathroom and wonder what it looks like on the other side of the closed door. I don't text her about 5:00 to see if I should cook for three people or just two. I miss her. On the flip side I am so excited for her. She is living her dream. She graduated from college, worked a year and saved money, then moved to SD. She is maturing daily. Madi is a full-time adult. She is learning every day about life renting an apartment with a roommate. She is learning about bills, taking care of her car, buying groceries, cooking, budgeting, and health insurance. Boy that last one is a tough one with the affordable care act. So many questions, so many decisions. I oftentimes will think back to my early 20's and recall my change to full-time adulthood. 

My job change this year was huge. I was in higher education for over 13 years. I was good at my job and early on I became the go-to person for many faculty, staff, and administrators.  I really loved the work I did, working with students, helping them become their own navigators of their education and future. Back in 2011 I graduated with my masters degree in counseling. My daughter had graduated from ONU in May 2014 and I felt it was time to work more in that field and to fulfill requirements that lead to licensure. I gave a gracious timeline for my departure and left in the middle of July. Can I just say that was a major, major change. I am learning what it is like to work for a government agency (without a budget in place, too). Also, chronic mental illness is a tough field. Counseling people that are struggling more often than not is tough. Many are looking for a job, for purpose, for some type of motivation. Boy, is it tough. Boy, do I miss helping those college kids to navigate their education, career, and future. A different kind of struggle that's for a sure. 

Those are just a couple of my big changes. There is a plethora of smaller changes as well as some changes I am hoping to make in 2016. I am not one to make new year's resolutions.  I am more of a planner and goal setter type. Over the past year I have simplified how I live. I have donated 16 bags of stuff that were just taking up space.  I hope to continue to simplify and I am working on becoming debt-free in three years. I still want to move south someday and return to a work environment in education.

Keep on keepin' on!

Simply,

fall potpourri

This time I don't have a big, or small for that matter, project reveal.  I just have some random things to share. Since my friend tells me that I speak in "list form" many times, I will go with a numbered list here.

Things I have done since my last post:

1.  My mower has been broken for some time now.  Because of this, I have had a high school kid mow the grass several times, and I have borrowed my neighbor's mower several times.  We noticed gas was coming out near the fuel line.  The "gina-of-all-trades" part of me went to Farm and Fleet and bought a new fuel line and installed it.  Well, the standard hose in the package was too big, so back to Farm and Fleet I went.  I brought the old hose and clamps to see if I could get the right size.  They sold me a piece of yellow tubing.  I came back home and put that on and turned on the fuel line.  That is when I realized that the old fuel line was not the problem, it was leaking at the next spot when it went into the carburetor.  I felt this was beyond my knowledge and I would take it to Farm and Fleet for the diagnosis and the cost.  They had it for about three weeks and called me with the news.  Initially he said it would be about $350 because in addition to the carburetor, it needed a tune-up and the blade needed to be sharpened.  I promptly told him that I want to know what it will cost to fix what is broken and that is all.  They called me two days later and said $190.  I picked up the mower and the quote a few days later.  Then I was speaking with a friend that tends to fix his own stuff too and he came over to take a look at the problem.  He took off the carburetor and realized the pin/needle was broken and therefore the float was not doing its job in stopping the gas flow.  Next, I brought the carburetor to Bradley Mowers to get a price on the needle/float kit and a fuel line.  Eddie said it would be about $65.  Now THAT I can handle.  He was supposed to order it last week and I have yet to hear from him.  I am hopeful that the part will be in this week and my friend can come over and get it changed out. I do like my Lawn-Boy Mower.  I will be happy to finish the season with my own mower.

2.  Last weekend I rearranged my bedroom.  That was a big undertaking!  I don't know why, but my bedroom is the dustiest room in the house so that meant moving furniture and really cleaning, like wiping the walls off too!  There are two places my bed can be and the place it used to be just covered my register. Now it is out into the center of my room from the front window.  It is growing on me so I will keep it like this for a while.  I will have to do the plastic-over-the-window-to-keep-the-drafty-cold-winter-air-out thing. I was going to change my room around after I painted and got new carpet but I don't know when that will happen.  Maybe in the spring.

3.  My next big project will be to make a headboard for my bed.  I have been without one for many years.  I sold it with the dresser and nightstand so as to keep the set together.  I have no room for large furniture in my room.  Luckily I do have a large closet that takes the full wall so I am good with clothing storage.  I did see plain closet doors in the storage attic.  The ones on my closet are mirrored.  I am considering putting the plain ones up.  There are three so maybe I will keep the front one mirrored and change out the back two. We'll see.

4.  Also when I rearranged my room I moved my desk and re-ran all of my cords.  I used the bread bag closure to label the plug in ends.  Then if I need to unplug something I am not having to follow the cord to the right plug.

5.  I have a Reebok exercise ball as my desk chair.  I like it!  It is blue and it matches my walls.

6.  Tonight I went to remove the doggie door panel to clean and adjust the doors/windows.  I cleaned out the sunroom then took the screws out of the door to remove it and I realized that it is weatherstripped to the jamb side, then weatherstripped to the other side so the slider seals into that stripping.  So after that fail I got a cardboard roll from wrapping paper to vacuum the webs and spiders out from that overlapped space that door creates since it is not closed all the way.  I taped the cardboard roll to the ShopVac and flattened it enough to slide it in between to suck all that junk out.  I am not able to clean the glass in there but at least the bugs and webs are gone.

7.  Be sure to check out the new Google search.  Enter "Bacon number Gregory Peck" or any famous person (no quotes though) and Google will return the number of connections between Kevin Bacon and the famous person.  Fun times.

8.  I was home at lunch on Thursday and the water dish was empty so after I filled it, Denim promptly got a drink and Meshach patiently waited in line.  Notice Denim is drinking out of the water dish stand I converted from an IKEA chair.  (You can see that space were the door overlaps with the fixed panel in #6 above.)

They are in line...adorable!  The boys are so good.  Here is a cute picture of Fondue and Tucker too.

It is time for ice cream folks!  I hope you are enjoying this last weekend of summer even though the evening weather is very fall-like!  I wore a hoodie last night...it was awesome!

Oh, one more thing...My son and his wife called tonight.  They will be closing on their first house at the end of October. I am very excited for them!

Ciao!

My triple play

In my last blog entry I mentioned that I was tackling three projects for the weekend.  I actually finished two on the weekend and the third on Tuesday night.  I had to do a slight modification and buy more paint so that took an extra day or two.

First Project:  Padded top for wire dog crate
We have four dogs.  All very different breeds and very different dog-alities.  (Do dogs have a person-ality? I think not.)  Two of them are crated at night.  They need their own rooms as well as that down time to just be. Fondue has a plastic-type crate and it sits next to the piano.  He is a Jack Russell Terror (no misspelling here, although he is much better since he is on Prozac) so his crate is a small one.  Meshach (no, we don't have a Shadrack or an Abednago, just Meshach) has a large wire crate since he is a Blab (bloodhound lab mix) breed.  His crate is near Fondue's and behind the tall table which serves mainly as Mindy's desk. Oftentimes, Mindy will set shoes, bookbags, papers, and such on Meshach's crate.  Mind you, this is a cage crate with the appealing black metal cage look.  It doesn't happen often, but things have fallen through the wires. I thought an upholstered top would be nice to fasten to his crate. I already had a piece of wood that was a little bigger than the crate.  Then I bought two pieces of foam and some material at Hobby Lobby and headed home.  This was a no brainer.  I simply trimmed the wood to slightly bigger than the crate, glued the foam on top, then wrapped the fabric and stapled it.  Here are a few pictures.

 

I figured it wasn't a piece that will be sat on so I didn't feel I needed thick foam or anything too fancy.  Here are a few pictures of the stapling of the fabric.  Again, nothing fancy in the stapling job or the selection of the material.

   

Here is the final reveal.

So far, so good.  I also hammered in a couple of staples to the underside and attached it with zip ties so the top doesn't float around.

Second Project: Adding a shelf to the linen closet

This one is nothing big so there are no pictures.  My friend gave me a shelf months ago to add to my linen closet.  This weekend I cut two cleats and screwed them to the wall.  Then I measured the existing shelves and cut the new one to the same length and put it in the shelf resting on the cleats.  Nothing exciting but certainly a project that is part of my triple play.  Once I get the linen closet cleaned and organized with the new shelf, I may post a picture.

Third Project: Creating a scarf hanger.

I sort of have a scarf collection.  I have scarves from India, Morocco, England, Kenya, Thailand, as well as from the Bourbonnais and Chicagoland areas.  I think it is a great accessory to have.  I have a few different ways I wear them and have a Youtube video that shows 24 ways to wear a scarf. Some of these are repeated but this is where I get different styles. I would hang my scarves on a hanger folded in half or on some scarf rings that I have accumulated. They take up a lot of room, yet they are colorful and I thought it would be nice to have them out kind of on display.  This was my first inspiration but I didn't like the fact that this was a rusty old wrought iron fence piece that would be displaying my scarves. I don't want them to snag on any rough spots.

So I started to think about a wide ladder and using that as a hanger.  I purchased a piece of wood for the rails and then a couple of dowels.  I measure the space where I would hang it in my bedroom.  Here are some pictures of the construction.

     

And the finished project: a scarf ladder.

These are most of my scarves.  I have one in my closet and two in my laundry room still.

Enjoy!

table saw 101

Last January I bought a used table saw.  There was one posted on a for-sale fb page along with other tools. I actually first bought a rubber mallet from this guy and when we met for the exchange I asked him about the Craftsman Table Saw that he posted.  I told him that I was interested in it and that I had never used one before.  He said it was a good one and that he used it a lot.  It just had to go because he was losing his shop area.  I told him I would email him.  So I went home and talked to my roommate about it.  It was $150 for an item that was about $600 brand new.  I decided this was a deal I couldn't pass up.  I emailed him and arranged for the buy and the delivery.  It was housed in Manteno, I had no truck, nor the amount of muscle needed to go get it. He was nice enough to deliver it to my garage.  He delivered it along with the user's manual and said it needed a new blade.  I was all set.  Remember, this was January so it was cold and I had no desire to learn how to use the saw in the winter.  Anyway, the garage needed a good cleaning so the table saw could have a permanent spot along with our bicycles and cars, among other things.

Summer came and it was time to clean out that garage.  Things sure accumulate quickly in the garage over the winter.  Then with July being as hot as it was, this project was delayed.  I ended up cleaning half of the garage, then waited about a month to do the other half.  Since I don't have a large garage, I needed a moveable base for the table saw to live on.  I bought one at Sears and assembled it regardless of the instructions.  Then I got three people to lift the saw so I could maneuver it to receive the legs in the right spots.  Success!  The base was perfect.  It has two levers that raise it to roll it out for use.  Then it is lowered for secured use.

Now it was time to ask a friend to come over and teach me how to use the saw.  I have a couple of friends that offered to show me the ropes.  Duane used to work at Olivet years ago.  He brings in his little woodworking jobs to show the ladies in the office.  He makes trivets, boxes, lanterns, as well as larger items like a dining room table, dressers, and nightstands.  He brings in pictures of the larger items.  He is proud of his work.  He does a great job.  When he brings in pieces to show them off, I look at them closely and guess the wood that he used, look at the joints and talk about how he made the item.  It is a fun little game :)

Duane came over last Thursday night.  The first order of business was to change the blade.  Then we went through squaring the blade, angling the blade, and then making cuts.  Basic cross cuts and ripping are what we covered.  Really, just the basics.  I showed him the plans for my first big project, a queen sized headboard.  He looked through the plans and recommended poplar as the wood.  He agreed that it is a basic plan that is good to start with.  Oh, I almost forgot...we also talked about safety with the table saw.  I have safety goggles and ear plugs.  I am never to be in a rush when I am using the table saw.  I will always wait for the blade to stop all the way before I reach for the wood.  If I ever get in a hurry, I just need to stop, count my fingers and be thankful for each one of them.  Duane lost half of his pinky finger back in 2008.  You just can't get them back so there is no need to hurry...no matter what!

Here is a picture of my table saw.  I hope to bring you regular blogs of my DIY projects.  This
weekend I made a cushioned top for a dog crate, I added a shelf to my linen closet, and I made a scarf hanger.  My next blog will be the detail of those as well as the before and after pictures.  

Enjoy!  

Switched

Since I am a single mother of two kids, I am frugal when it comes to home repair.  Projects that I have done in my house include but are not limited to the following:

1.   Change the kitchen faucet to a cool one that pulls out and sprays.

2.    Paint (a lot).

3.    Pull up carpet, pad, and tack strip (saving $300).

4.    Strip wallpaper.

5.    Cut and install wood base.

6.    Lay 18” ceramic tile, grout too.

7.    Install bead board and chair rail.

8.    Hang drywall.

9.    Help a friend install a toilet (and ejector pump) and a pedestal sink in basement.

10.  Assemble various pieces of furniture.

11.  Install replacement ceiling light fixtures.

12.  Change outlets and switches.

13.  Install ceiling fans.

14.  Install mini blinds.

When something needs to be fixed, installed, or updated, I am usually the one to do it.  I will look at some DIY blogs, YouTube videos, ask friends, and even ask employees of Lowes.  As my blog title states, I pretty much do whatever I can do to save paying someone else. 

This weekend I installed a timer switch for my bathroom exhaust fan.  Maybe someone else needs to know how to do this.  One would think the instructions in the box would suffice, but they really don’t.

1.  Turn off the power to the switch at the breaker box.  This is usually done by trial and error because I have never seen an electrical panel that is properly marked.  Why don’t they color code them or number them somehow in both locations?

2.   Remove the switch plate.  Mine happens to have an outlet next to it because when we bought this house there was no exhaust fan in this bathroom.  So I had the installer add an outlet too.

3.   Remove the two screws holding the switch in.  Gently pull out the switch.

 

4.   Unscrew each screw that is holding in the wire.  There should be one on the top and one on the bottom.  If it is an older switch, the wires could be hooked around the screw.  Remove and straighten the wire.  Set switch aside.

5.   On the timer switch, unscrew the two screws so the spaces are open to receive the wires.   Then insert the top wire into the top space and tighten the screw.  Do the same for the bottom wire.

  

6.   Gently press the timer switch into the electrical box and insert top and bottom screw.

7.   Check your face plate and be sure it is in the right place horizontally.  If not, unscrew, press it to the center, and tighten the screws.

 

8.   Reinstall the face plate over the timer switch.

9.   Place the timer guide on post then the thumb switch.

10. Turn the dial, then flip the circuit breaker on.

11. The fan should turn on.

I always feel better when I can do something to improve myself and my home.