Eat your cake and pie too

Now that the outside stuff is shifting gears, time to turn my attention to the inside of the house. For my back, I ordered a new mattress that is due to arrive tomorrow morning. I actually started looking a while ago, but could not decide whether to get a Tempurpedic or not. After doing some online research, I decided NOT. I don't think I would be happy with it in the long run. I know some people who have them, though, and will be monitoring their progress as their mattresses age because I know, in about ten years, I will be buying another new mattress.

Let's move on to the kitchen. At one time, I contemplated big changes for my kitchen, that included removing the breakfast bar and moving a doorway. Once I replaced the family room flooring, however, I decided that my original plan to combine the kitchen and family room into a big harvest kitchen was just not going to work - the two rooms don't play well together. But I can make smaller changes to the kitchen, to spruce things up, like buy a new stove and an over-the-stove microwave/exhaust fan. They will be delivered on Monday.

And then there is the laundry room. Earlier this summer, my contractor provided me with a quote which I thought was too high. Today, he brought his plumber subcontractor to scope out the job, and said plumber deemed the job a piece of cake AND said that adding a toilet would be easy as pie AND his portion of the job would take half a day, if that. A new quote is coming.

Speaking of toilets, if I get a new toilet and I like it, I just might have the other two toilets in the house replaced. My original plan was to redo the bathrooms all in one fell swoop, but with the new laundry area, I feel myself abandoning some half-assed ideas I had to completely reconfigure both bathrooms and the three bedrooms. Besides, I don't really need a bidet.

On a separate note, poor Betsy Beagle was not doing very well. I had been giving her Rimadyl and Phycox, but in recent weeks, she had become overly lethargic, sleeping 24/7, and uninterested in much of anything, even sniffing after rabbits. Last Tuesday I stopped the Rimadyl, and she became more alert, but was also obviously in much pain, walking in baby steps with a gait that rocked from side to side. The vet thinks she has something akin to rheumatoid arthritis and suggested we try prednisone again, but in much higher doses. That was last night. Tonight she already is moving better. Even though prednisone has some side effects, it seems to be what helps her the most. Maybe once she is able to walk without so much pain, I can build up her strength, which should help, too.