Pantry Dilemma

Molly's parents gave us an amazing gift for our 6yr wedding anniversary and house warming. 

I may have mentioned before that after we signed the contract I had the opportunity to go through the house one more time and show BFF and Bestie (since BFF was in town).  During that walk through they both pointed out to me that the Dream House has no pantry.

OMG, no pantry!!  What to do?!  There were lots of cabinets with shelves and there was a closet that housed the central vac so we ended up making due with those.  I'm pretty sure the Jim and Cindy must have only eaten fresh or frozen food.  That's the only explanation for a ridiculously huge fridge/freezer and no pantry.

Molly's mom cooks when she comes here and kept getting frustrated with the shelf/pantry dilemma.  So she came up with a perfect solution, turning the shelves into PULL OUT DRAWERS so we can put more in and easily reach the back.

First she contacted "Shelf Genie" and they came out and gave us an estimate which made me about faint.  I mean, it was 2x more than Mr. Molly's car is worth.

Undeterred, Molly's mom found a local cabinet guy who could do the shelves for a fraction of the price.  He came out this morning and.... voila!  Pantry dilemma RESOLVED!!!!  Thanks Mom and Dad!!

Sorry for the poor quality pictures.  I think I was so excited I couldn't hold the phone still as I took them.

Cat Haven

So anyone who knows me is probably aware that I am not a huge animal lover.  I mean, I don't hate animals and I don't avoid being around them, but I don't have any desire to own or take care of one.  If there's a cute dog around I will pet it, same with a cat.  But I'm not like "ZOMG, your DOG is SO CUTE!! What kind is it?!?  What is it's name?!?  How old is it?!?" 

As a result of this general attitude towards animals, the universe has made it so that animals are naturally drawn to me.  When I go to someones house and they have a dog/cat that animal is all up on me all the time.  That's just how it goes.  I'm fine with it as long as I don't have to take it home with me. 

So we move into dream house and there is an amazing backyard.  Remember?  Which has somehow become (or maybe always was) a haven for cats. Kind of like this:

Well obviously not that bad, I tend to exaggerate.  However, pretty much every day there are at least 3 different cats that have been in our yard at one time or another.  They like to come around in the morning, lay on the bricks in the afternoon sun, or hang out when we are BBQing. 

This cat is particularly friendly:

We call her "Tootsie 2" because she started showing up right after Mr. Molly's mom's very very old cat passed away.  She likes to come right up to us and then dart away when we reach out to her.  She also likes to come right up to the screen door and meow at us if we won't let her in.  We think her real name is "Ginger" but we always call her Tootsie 2.

So it's ironic that my general dislike of animals has led to this cat infestation.  What kind of diseases do outdoor cats carry?  I don't even want to think about it.  But they are here, they obviously love the Dream House as much as we do and I can't blame them.

The backyard certainly is a haven.  I guess I didn't realize before we signed the papers that it was a Cat Haven.  I'll have to set up a massage table out there or something.

Wordless Wednesday #7 - Before and After

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