MY MISSOURI FRIEND, TINA!!

So this is my friend from St. Louis, Tina. She has just recently been posting comments on my blog - so I thought I'd introduce her to my California friends as it looks like she may be checking in frequently!

We worked together at St. Louis Children's Hospital in the Pediatric Plastic/Reconstructive Dept. I was a medical secretary at the time and she was a transcriptionist. It was back in the year of 1991 - I think. We had a great time working together (man did we know how to flirt with all the docs!!) and it's all because of me that she's a successful independent medical transcriptionist! I was supposed to get a percentage of her salary as a thank you, but I'm still waiting for that check!! We were friends during some pretty critical points in our lives - purchasing our first homes, getting married, starting new things in our jobs, etc. Tina's a blast and I'm sure if any of my California friends met her you would love her too! We go through spurts keeping in touch - but I love the fact that when we do, it's all still the same and that's what friendships are all about.
We do tend to banter - and she has quite the sarcastic tongue, so don't be surprised if you see some of that come out in our exchanges!!

Oh yeah, Tina B. mind if I post your and Tyler's picture??

MY KNEE HURTS - BOO HOO

Darren's not here right now - went to see Die Hard. It's almost 10pm and I have no one to complain too - so here I am complaining to all you blog lurkers. Most of you know I don't have a knee cap in my right knee - it's just cartilage wrapped around two kite string size sutures. No protection. Well, tonight I got a burst of energy and decided about 8 o'clock to put a brick border around part of our backyard. Then I got these huge pots and planted tall blooming plants in them. I did everything I'm not supposed to do - kneel on it, bend it completely, use my legs to push or pull, etc. I had to do all those things for my backyard project and now my knee is on fire. It's burning, tingling, aching and now it doesn't want to work. When I use it too much like that it gives out and literally doesn't work. So my big ugly black brace comes back on. But I have a cute little strip along my privacy fence. I do the best I can - I'm trying to have a Home and Gardens kind of manicured yard on a Wal-Mart budget.

So thanks for listening - I like that you can't talk back to me!!! :-) If Darren were here he'd just say, "you know you're not supposed to....." which I'm sure you are saying too as you read this!!

I'm waiting for this really cool titanium knee to get approved by the FDA, then I'll be a Bionic Woman!!! They've been working on it since about 1999 and I've been following the progress periodically. How cool would that be?!

MY NEW STUFF!!! So we still have some work to do, baseboards, crown moulding, etc. We are getting plantation shutters on the rest of the windows in the house. Pictures need to be hung, a few more decorative touches....... We are almost finished with our bathrooms. Darren did one of the bathrooms himself and it's VERY cool. That deserves its own blog entry all by itself!! Once the office and the bathrooms are done I'll post a few more updated pics.



This is my new dining room and dining room table. LOVE IT!!! When we put both extensions in the table it seats like 700! Sarah Matulich, if you are reading this, we'll be inviting you and Bob over for a real midwestern Sunday dinner with Darren's mom's home made rolls and all!!







Side view of our island which gives me lots of extra storage space. And I love my matching stools!












Another view of my island with my very cool new stove! I used the grill part this evening - LOVE IT!! Love the two spice drawers next to the oven!



You would think I would have taken off my shoes in another room, huh?! One that I'm taking pictures of!! :-)




This is my new china cabinet that holds china given to us by Darren's mom. That's the wine bottle holder in the corner that goes with it. We don't drink it, but we like the way it looks when it's displayed. Maybe we'll become wine collectors and spend $10,000 on a bottle - or maybe not!!!







A view looking into our new kitchen. The lighting wasn't great - but you have an idea of what it looks like.












A little brighter view of our kitchen. Love the fridge, love the dishwasher, love the microwave (which also is a convection oven!) Love IT!!

I must be a grown up, I'm excited to have a sponge drawer and my favorite part of the kitchen is my garbage disposal button - not switch, but button on the rim of the sink.




Below are pictures of our new bedroom furniture. We painted the walls too - love the color. The furniture are big pieces, so we are currently going to rework the room and do some closet work so it will open up our room more.















So that's it - some of you have e-mailed me about pictures so hope you enjoyed the quick tour of our home!

WEEKEND AT THE WESTIN PALM SPRINGS!!!

We spent an extended weekend at the Westin and enjoyed some fun and sun along with a little desert heat. Unfortunately a water sprinkler or something broke under our room and we came back to our room about 10pm Saturday night to a soaked carpet. Not the entire carpet, but a huge portion. Then later in the evening the big black cockroach looking bugs decided they liked the moisture and paid us a visit! The repair guy worked on it until almost midnight, sawing, hammering and of course there were about half a dozen security guys hanging out, just because, talking, etc. They finally did move us to another room Sunday afternoon, but not before Darren and I had to talk to about three different people as the floor was still soaked and nobody was responding to us. Even Darren, who never gets frustrated or worked up was feeling that way. I told them that they say they are a luxury hotel, yet they don't respond to a guest's complaint about a soaked carpet and that I was amazed at the lack of customer service. One person tells us there are no rooms, another says there is, and yet another says no again. It wasn't even about getting a new room, just deal with the problem - hear us and respond. I asked two different people Sunday morning if the problem was fixed or if they were still working on it, were they going to suck up the water?? "I don't know." That's it. One guy said 'let me check', two hours later we were still waiting for his response. They did credit us the $40 hotel charge for our troubles. Whatever!!

But as you can see from the pictures it is a beautiful place. We spent Saturday night by the pool - the adult pool - which was really relaxing. It was perfect weather and the grounds are so beautiful to look at. We shopped - hit the outlet mall - and we have nine of our ten nieces and nephews Christmas already bought!! I love when you find that perfect give for the perfect price! Sunday we shopped more, went to a movie and hung out in our dry hotel room! Monday was a lazy day - but on the way home we decided to stop at the outlets so I could get those Waterford salt and pepper shakers I wanted Saturday but didn't get. They were already gone - bummer. I did find another pair, but they were $148 - couldn't bring myself to spend that much on salt and pepper shakers - but boy did I hold them a long time and ponder about it!!

It was a great weekend and our house was still intact from Matt and Kyle staying here! !! My recycle can had lots of soda cans in it and our fridge had lots of left over dips, slice cheese, crackers - things like that. I'm thinking there was a social gathering!!! :-)

WHAT DOES YOUR DRAWING SAY ABOUT YOU???

I've seen this on other blogs so I thought I would give it a try - I'm not so sure the person they are describing below is me. My drawing a little embarrassing since Jenny Platt did hers with a baby in one arm and a mouse in the other!!

http://drawing.feedbucket.com/

The results of your analysis say:

You tend to pursue many different activities simultaneously. When misfortune does happen, it doesn't actually dishearten you all that much.
You have a peaceful mind, viewing the world with calm and serenity. To you, life is not about struggle and strife but about existence and co-existence.
You are creative, mentally active and industrious.
You have a sunny, cheerful disposition.

I HAVE A BLOG?? WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN??!!

I see that Lori and Donna have still been checking in even though I haven't blogged for a while! Thanks for that!

I will take pictures in the next couple of days and post them. It is nearly complete and it's so beautiful! I LOVE IT!!! We are going to have a party soon - Darren's really set on having one, I'm not so sure. People want to come see it, I know, but I guess a housewarming party after a remodel sounds like a "come look at my new stuff," kind of party.

Darren and I are still married after the reconstruction! I do believe that saying is true, "if a couple can make it through a rennovation, they can make it through anything." I didn't do well during all of it - thank goodness Darren is a very patient man!

During all the mess I found out I had a lesion on my pituitary gland. It was causing a miscommunication between my gland and the organs that it's in control of. They were talking brain surgery! YIKES!! But thankfully Jesus came through for me yet again. I'm on a medication that's actually made for people with Parkinson's. Funny thing about it - if I had Parkinson's it would help all that Parkinson's does to a body, but since I don't, it actually causes those things - dizziness, at times extreme, weakness, headaches.....so weird. But the blood work that was so off the charts high is now coming down and things are starting to work again! Hopefully as my blood work normalizes the lesion will shrink and not turn into an actual full fledged tumor.

So for a couple of weeks I was quite the mess - but again, my patient husband and my Jesus walked along side me and held my hand.

Darren and I are going away for a three day weekend - just to kick back, shop, and relax some. I'm really looking forward to it. Kyle Cherryholmes and Matt Leuht (sp?) are staying here - we may need to redo our house again when we get back!!!! :o)

Now that all my whining and complaining has died down - although I wouldn't be me if I didn't do that a little bit! - I'll get back to blogging!

Are you happy now Donna?????

I'm losing my Christianity!!!

This whole remodel is making me a crazed woman. Tuesday night Darren is boxing everything up in the family room getting ready for the dry wall guys to come in and take down our popcorn ceiling. We had a table out of snacks, bread, peanut butter, those non-perishable kinds of things. Well, he boxes all that up. Later in the evening I go looking for a snack and I open a box (a cardboard box) and there are two tomatoes that are ripe and then some. I get REALLY mad and throw them out the back door. Thank goodness the doors were wide open. "Why would you pack away tomatoes..." I'm losing it. Thank goodness Darren is a VERY patient person and doesn't explode back at me.

It's those little moments that can just set me off....does anybody relate?? Am I psycho?? Please don't answer that last question!

Then I come home today and I go into the bathroom - it's covered in pee - the toilet hasn't been flushed all day - pee in the toilet, around the toilet, WHAT IS IT WITH YOU MEN??? These are men I don't know - these are men I couldn't even speak to because only one of them can speak my language and I can't speak theirs. I was so grossed out. So I yell - and I yell loud. Nothing in particular, just a big AAAAAAHHHHH. Darren wasn't home so he was spared that little explosion.

I know a lot of people have underwent a lot more construction and time than what we are, but I'm just not coping well - I think tonight I'll put myself in a Nyquil coma (can't breath at the moment from all the ceiling dust) - and know that tomorrow is another day!! Of what I'm not sure - I can only hope a flushed toilet!!!

WHAT'S A GIRL TO DO???

You've seen on my previous post pictures of what will be a second bathroom - but this is a picture of the new toilet in our regular bathroom (which we are also redoing). Do you see anything missing?? I call Darren to ask him about the seat and lid - while the plumbers are here - he says to me, "Oh yeah, I've got to go buy that." When I told the plumbers, they were holding their faces. I told them to go ahead and laugh, it's okay!! Great! Now what do I do?? Do you know how hard it is to balance AND look at the remodel magazines?!

BETCHA DIDN'T KNOW.....

• I was voted a Senior Favorite my senior year - 1984 : "Most Flirtatious Girl." I didn't know I flirted - I just thought I had a lot of guy friends. My sister was bestowed the same her senior year in 1979!!
  
• I wanted to be a TV journalist - newsreader for a "big TV station in St. Louis." Then I discovered the medical field and went that way in college.
  
• Once, on a blind date I went bike riding - first one of the season - the guy I went with was a big time biker and tennis player. We rode WAY too much (and I was even in shape then!) . We stopped at the top of the hill and the only way I could get him to stop was to throw up - which I did!! That was the first and last date!
  
• When I was little and into my early teen years I used to sing specials in church ALL the time. Then my dad said I sounded like a country singer holding her nose (I had a deviated septum which once fixed that nasal thing stopped!). I've never sang in public since. Although if I kept on singing, I could have become rich and famous!!!
• I was once a hooker - yep, that's right. For YEARS I was one. Then I got married and Darren made me change my last name!!! I went from Debra Kay Hooker to Debra Kay Williams!! My nickname: The Hook!

So there are a few tid bits about me that you may not have known!

SO GLAD FOR FOX FAITH!!

Tonight Darren and I went and saw the movie, "The Ultimate Gift."
Abigail Breslin (the adorable Oscar nominated little girl from "Little Miss Sunshine") did an amazing job. I'm so thankful for the new Fox Faith division of Fox Movies (or whatever their official name is!). It's about a grandfather trying to help his grandson - done through a series of videos after the grandfather's death. He is gifting his grandson in hopes of making him a better man. Go to the website
www.theultimategift.com and it will show you how to spend each week utilizing the gifts below. I'm actually going to start on Monday! When you go be sure to take some tissue - there will be tears. And yes, your whole family will enjoy it!

	The Gift Of Friends

	The Gift Of Giving

	The Gift Of Family

	The Gift Of Dreams

	The Gift Of Work

	The Gift Of Laughter

	The Gift Of Money

	The Gift Of Learning

	The Gift Of A Day

	The Gift Of Love

	The Gift Of Problems

	The Gift Of Gratitude

HAS ANYONE SEEN MY CAN OPENER??












Apparently Darren is too busy to help me look!! :-)












If I blink my eyes and wiggle my nose will it all disappear??










Today the kitchen cabinets and sink will be gone! Simon decided to explore the house this morning. He crawled through a hole in the floor - I just hope he doesn't find us any gifts down there and bring them up!!!

AN EMPTY SHELL......



This is the view from our kitchen to what was our living room. It will now become our new formal dining room!! We've ordered a new dining room table and china cabinet - thankfully my mom-in-law runs a furniture store. Even though we are ordering from Missouri and having it shipped - we still got a deep discount!! Yea!!!






This is the view from our family room into the torn up kitchen looking again into what was the living room. My double oven was taken away Saturday. I came home today from work and my microwave was gone as well as my stove top. I was supposed to have that for an extra few days - but we gave it away to one of the crew members - I guess he got anxious!





This is the view looking into our small dining area which will become a small sitting/office area. Walls will totally come down and an island will be placed in the middle - Wednesday I lose my kitchen cabinets, counters, and sink. I'm going to Wal-Mart tomorrow to stock up on paper plates, cups, etc. I refuse to wash dishes in the bath tub!!



So there you have it - does anyone have pity on me??!! Tonight I cooked out on my camp stove on our picnic table in the back yard. That actually was kind of nice - again, thankful for the nice weather we are having. It's pretty frustrating right now and I have my moments where I complain and whine, but then I remember that there are people who are struggling to even get into a home and we are so blessed to not only have a home, but are able to remodel and make new purchases. For that I'm VERY THANKFUL!!! So I'll stop with the whining!

STARTING EARLY TODAY BECAUSE....

Last week our contractor and his crew came early - I'm in the bathroom drying my hair (bent over to dry my hair upside down!). I turn off the dryer and I hear a loud "Hello." I lift my head up and see our contractor standing there. OH MY GOSH. I did have a short robe on - but it wasn't closed. So now I'm up, showered, dressed and ready to go HOURS before they arrive!!!! :-)

Our walls are down, no washer, dryer, fridge, oven, dishwasher - we are living out of our freezer and an apartment size fridge. So glad we live in California now - we get to grill and sit out on our picnic table in the 75 degree weather!! I'll post pictures later.

AND THE OSCAR GOES TO....DEBBIE AND DARREN AGAIN!!

We attended the annual Darrenn and Jenny Platt Academy Awards party last night. It's quite a competitive night! For all those who want to participate we turn in ballots on the Wednesday before the Oscars guessing who will win and we put them into a spread sheet. The person who gets the most correct wins the Academy Award at the end of the evening. For the third year running Darren and I have won. We won an Oscar that is 'engraved' with a gold craft marker with our names as well as some cool prizes. The Oscar gets passed from year to year to the winner. Dan and Terri Erichson won four years ago - and then us and us and us!! I'm thinking next year we should just get a Lifetime Achievement Academy Award and stop playing - give someone else a chance. We like movies, we go to movies, we rent movies, we read about movies, we listen to talk radio about movies - so we are 'educated players' in the game!!! Or maybe it's because Darren is in charge of the spreadsheet!! :-) Actually, we have two big screens, one for the Show and the other with the spreadsheet so everyone can see where they stand throughout the evening, so if we did try to cheat, we'd be found out!

I am in charge of Oscar Bingo! That makes the evening a lot of fun too! (at least I think so!) I put things in the bingo like, "Winner trips on stairs," things like that! Some people had that and everytime someone got up to accept an award they were yelling - "C'mon, I only need one more, trip, fall!!" Boy, we miss a Sunday evening church service to party and look what happens to us!! Anyway, then I buy prizes that go along with nominated movies - like for "The Illusionist" I bought a magician's hat and a bunny rabbit!! How fun is that?! Robin Garvin won that one!

So we all just hang out in comfy clothes, eat too much, and criticize everyone!! "Can you believe she's wearing THAT!!" Some of those celebs obviously didn't look in the mirror before they left the house! Us common folk could do better than some of them by shopping at our favorite store - Target!!

So I have returned our Academy Award next to our DVD collection! Oh yea, my acceptance speech, "I can't believe I won!"

Is it cheating if I borrow from other blogs??!! Several bloggers have been posting "50 favorite things" list - so I'm going to do the same. I wonder how many things we all have in common out there!

1. My relationship with God.
2. Darren, my husband.
3. Simon, my cat. (okay so I'm one of those freaks who considers me a mommy to Simon!!)
4. My parents, The Hookers! (sorry, couldn't refuse!)
5. My 10 nieces and nephews.
6. Donna and Charlie - my bro. and sis.
7. Great friendships.
8. Snow, snow, and more snow!
9. Cool weather.
10. Coach purses.
11. Dishes - all kinds!
12. Bon Jovi.
13. Chicken and dumplins with fried okra.
14. Butter becan icecream.
15. Doing transcription.
16. Listening to Darren sing.
17. Kids Church.
18. My Family Room.
19. The Academy Awards - and the Annual Platt Academy Awards party!
20. Longaberger baskets.
21. Daisies.
22. Purple tulips.
23. Gardening.
24. Keith Urban.
25. It's a Grind Carmel Macchiato with whipped cream.
26. My Bunko buddies.
27. My Missionettes Class - Friends!
28. My E-group - such wise women!
29. Carnivals.
30. Every Reese Witherspoon movie.
31. Thursday nights with Darren - our picnic on the floor/movie night!!
32. Cracker Barrel.
33. Sunday lunch with friends.
34. Kitchen Gadgets.
35. Cheesy gifts from the dollar store!
36. Target.
37. Coupons and when I save over 50% at the store!
38. Iced sweet tea.
39. Spending time back home in Southern Illinois.
40. Dancing/dance music.
41. Stitch (from Lilo and Stitch).
42. Going to movies.
43. New York City.
44. Live concerts/plays/musicals.
45. Spending Sunday afternoons going through open houses.
46. Marco Island, Florida (my honeymoon destination)
47. Darren's legs!
48. Water - swimming, skiing, boating!
49. Hugs from kids at church.
50. My new appliances!

Any surprises?? That was actually pretty fun for me. If you haven't made your list yet - do it! It's not just a 'favorite' thing, but as I was thinking about it, I realized this could be a list of my many blessings as well.

Okay, so everyone I know has a blog and a couple of my friends have been urging me to 'just do it' so here I am!! I don't have pictures of any cute kids and funny stories to share like they do, so you'll have to hear about my crazed cat and my hubby Darren!! I'll do my best to make this entertaining!

I'll begin with my day today! I had breakfast with my E-group - it's a "home fellowship" on-line for those of us who teach or serve in other areas of the church and can't attend a regular home fellowship. Our wonderful leader Gwen begins each Monday with a new topic, scripture, and some very thought provoking questions which we all e-mail back and forth all week pondering, responding, and learning from each other. It was great to get together and talk face to face today. Plus I love going out for breakfast! I ordered chocolate milk with my meal - which embarrasses Darren because I'm 40, not 10! But I like my chocolate milk!!

Now to the fun housework stuff! I'll be posting a lot about the trials and tribulations of remodeling that we are beginning next Monday - I'll keep you posted with pictures!

Okay friends - now it's your turn....

This is a test blog - just playing around!