So, I went to Panda Kitchen all ready to buy this.
Although St. Cecelia reminded me of Tuscany (where I've never been, I hasten to add, so we're talking fantasy here), it was also much darker than I originally wanted, to be honest. And then the sales person blew the sale and solved my dilemma by pointing to a granite that did not have a sample on the sales rack:
St. Cecelia light. If I'd just seen that damn sample on the first day, I could have saved myself a LOT of waffling! As it is, I've saved myself a lot of money - regular St. C is $40 a square foot; light is only $25.
And while it will look good if/when I paint the cabinets white or veneer them birch, it still looks pretty spiff in their dark wood sample kitchen:
It will be installed the Saturday after Christmas.
That, plus the dishwasher I'm going to be getting in the next week, concludes the big stuff that I'm paying other people to do to the house. Unfortunately, this doesn't mean that the renovation job is over (sob) because there's still a boatload for me to do. It's going to be (heavy sigh) one more year of work.
Feh!
Also, as I'm rapidly running out of year and I won't be putting any effort into the resolutions, I'm doing the annual wrap-up early. As usual, the resolutions I came up with in January bear only a vague resemblance to my accomplishments by December, but still, let's see how the tally goes.
Of the household resolutions, all the big contractor work is done. I still have a good 3-6 months of work myself and I want blinds, but the *big* expensive jobs - house painting, chimney reline, new kitchen appliances, new kitchen counter - will be done by New Year's Eve. Then I have to pick up all my crap - several rooms are dumps at the moment - and throw my rewarming party.
Personal Health. I've done nothing about the moles, but I've had a lot of dental work, so I'm counting that as an accomplishment. On the downside, I have not regularly exercised, I have not lost weight, I have not started cooking most of my meals, and I have not learned all the recipes I wanted to learn by Christmas. I'll give myself a half point for the Lunch Blox Bento, because that is at least the beginnings of a healthy meal plan. (I'm putting a fair amount of effort into learning soup and pasta salad recipes, on the basis that it's veg in the big container, soup in the medium container, pasta salad with veg in a small container for the starch, and fruit in the other small container. Sweets are a bite or two of candy tucked in.) But on the whole, this one's a big fat fail, so guess what's on next year.
Crafts, classes, and clinic shifts were not at the level of what I'd hoped to do/accomplish, but they're kind of "soft" resolutions - the sort of thing that I put up every year but are the first to get jettisoned when life goes pear shaped. I have resolved not to do clinic shifts when the temp's over 80 degrees because it's simply too hard on me.
Debt is below half of where I originally started; Discover isn't cancelled but it is at $0 and replaced. Without large contractor jobs/appliance bills and *if* I don't do a lot of traveling, I should be able to cut what I still have at least in half (God willin' and the creek don't rise).
I really hate the thought of putting England off yet another year - I've been promising myself a return trip since 2009! - but with Gally and ChicagoTARDIS and Stratford all in the running for 2013, odds are good that Media*West, Shore Leave, and England are on the chopping block. We'll see how the economy goes.
On the plus side, I've accomplished a lot of things I'm proud of this year.
I've set up the Little Free Library. VERY proud of that.
I've rejoined Sherlock Holmes fandom, made myself a part of Watson's Tin Box (and brought in 2 new members, one of whom has brought in a member of her own.) I've been to the Scintillation of Scions and two SherlockNYC events and a SherlockDC event.
I've been published in Outside In, done another series of edits for the race and Who anthology, and at ChicagoTARDIS was sounded out for a new book on Holmes and media, so the writing's continuing apace. There was also a piece of fanfic in there for The Science of Deduction.
I've adopted two kittens, who are well on their way to being cats now.
I'm not going to write the 2013 resolutions yet, but in addition to the usual crafting/health/clinic ones, I have the pitch for the Holmes and media book, plus the opportunities, if I choose to take them, to offer articles to the BSI and ASH journals and Watson's Tin Box's own annual. I want to finish the house redecoration/renovation. I want to actively work with SherlockDC on a scavenger hunt. I need to lose weight and I want to learn more about cooking and set up the "cook nook." I intend to kill as much debt as possible and still hit the big Who cons for the anniversary and see Scott Wentworth in Stratford.
So I've got plans.
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