California 2 Puerto Rico

We have so many projects going on in this house, that it seems like nothing ever gets done. It’s way too easy to get side tracked, which is proving to be very counter-productive. Stefan and I talked about this and we have decided to focus on one room at a time, in order to stay on track. So, with this in mind, these are the things that we will be working on in order to finish the master bedroom and bath:

Master Bedroom:

- Pick out and install ceiling fan.
- Pick out and install lighting.
- Find/buy/install french doors for the closet. (Done!)
- Install closet light fixture. Done!
- Lay hardwood flooring above closet (storage area).
- Purchase mahogany and finish window trim.
- Purchase bedroom furniture (Done!)

Master Bathroom (Shower/Wetroom):

- Find/install final trim.
- Purchase small storage cabinet. Done!
- Purchase/install light fixture.
- Purchase/install towel bar or hooks.
- Paint.
- Cut/install corner shelves for shower.
- Screw on the drain cover.

Master Bathroom (Jacuzzi Tub):

- Finish building vanities.
- Purchase/install sinks.
- Purchase/install mirrors.
- Purchase/install light fixtures.
- Install marble around tub and top of vanities.
- Install/hook up jacuzzi tub.
- Trim out the windows.

So. There you have it. This is our “To Do” list, so let’s see how long it takes to get the master bedroom/bathroom finished!

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Stefan and I have been shopping for our master bedroom furniture for a few weeks. We have stopped at every furniture store that we could find from Rincon to Mayaguez (Sears, Pitusa, Berrios, Rooms to Go, Seduca, etc) and have been highly unsuccessful in our mission for a nice bedroom set. The handful of times that we have found something decent, we come to find that they don’t carry what we want in king size. As a matter of fact, most furnitures stores carry so few king size bed options, that we started asking off the bat, “Just show us what you have in king size beds”. The sales guys then leads us over to the two ugliest beds in the store and tries his darnedest to sell it to us.

Today, we set off on our final mission. We went to 5 furniture stores before deciding that we would just go to Sears and get the bedroom set that we thought was “okay”, last time we were there. In a last ditch effort to avoid settling on something we didn’t really want, we went to the Pier One that is located in the Sear store, first. Low and behold, we found the PERFECT king sized headboard, dresser, night stand and bench, for our master bedroom! It’s from the Shanghai collection (which just happened to be on sale this week) and is pretty much exactly what we wanted. We also purchased a king sized Simmons Beautyrest mattress, and everything should be delivered next week.

YAY!

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Chichieto has been named, wormed, shot and fattened up, and he’s starting to ease his way into the family. He has doubled in size since we found him and we moved him out of the crate into the downstairs bathroom.

We are still keeping Cheech and the dogs separated, but the dogs are starting to get used to his smell and they arn’t getting as worked up whenever they see or hear him. So, so far so good. I think that they will all eventually get along.

I’ve been taking Cheech outside to play everyday so he gets used to being outside, since he will eventually be a primarily outside cat once he is big enough to fend for himself (and fat enough that an owl or hawk can’t fly off with him).

All in all, Cheech is pretty darn charming. And I think he really likes his new bed…

Have you ever seen a cat sleep like this before?! Cheech sleeps sprawled out on his back with his hands over his face all the time and it totally cracks me up!

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Lorenz has a chicken in a bag, in his trunk. It’s his new pet.

Stefan and I ran into Carrie (Lorenz’s girlfriend) at the convenience store today and she told us that Lorenz was in Ponce and apparently he decided to buy a chicken as a pet.

I think Lorenz may be drinking Jameson.

(only in Puerto Rico…)

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I really have enjoyed our short, cold, high traffic expensive visit to San Diego.

• I caught some really good waves in La Jolla the first few days and one short lived great beach break session in Oceanside (Water Temp=52 degrees).
• Bristol Farms Grocery Store - I spent $60 getting Summer and I sushi, ahi poke, oranges and some pre-made mashed potatoes!
• Whole Foods - Delicious salad bar with everything you could imagine
• Delicious Sushi
• Enjoyed drinking red wine that was not refrigerated
• Summer got PRK LASIK Surgery (more on that later)
• We hung out with some friends and had sushi
• I watched Cable Television! (even with 600 channels there is nothing on)
• Hung out in Little Italy with Josh for a Hoegaarden beer (or two)
• Saw Shawns house (that is under construction…he’s not building his himself)
• Hung out with Robin and Gary for Gary’s Birthday (Summer mom and mom’s husband)
• Hung out with Shawn at his place in UTC
• Wend to In and Out Burger!

More on this In and Out place for those of you who don’t know how special it really is. In and Out burger is a family owned fast food restaurant with no plans of franchising or going public. Their food is simple as is their business philosophy; “Give customers the freshest, highest quality foods you can buy and provide them with friendly service in a sparkling clean environment.” They only have four things on their menu: Hamburger, French Fries, Soda, Milkshakes. But, if you know the inside dilly, you may order a double double, animal style like I did last night (Two patties with fried onions). You can also order anything protein style and they will give you the burger wrapped in lettuce with no bun.

I stay away from fast food (minus SubWay) but I always hit up In and Out Burger when I am in San Diego.

I like In and Out Burger

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I am sorry for holding you guys in suspense for so long about what we are going to name the cat. It seems that my vote, much like our Puerto Rican Vote in the US presidential election, is not going to count. Our kitty’s name is not going to Buck Rogers, it is going to be Chichieto (Cheech for short)! Now that I think about, the little guys sure does look like a Cheech.

Thanks for the votes!

Ca2Pr welcomes Cheech to our family!

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It really is nice to be back in California for a couple of days. I think it is just healthy to get off of the island and away from the construction site. It clears out all of the tropical cobwebs and I really haven’t thought of the house work that needs to be done once.

This is our third day in town and I haven’t gotten anything accomplished that I came here to do. BUT, today is the day I start getting those things done. Up until today I have been surfing until lunch (overhead and good both days (52 degree water is a shocker) and then working, squeezing in dinner and then succumbing to the jet lag and going to sleep.

Last night, Summer and I went out to dinner together for some Sushi. San Diego really does have the best Sushi.

Yum Yum Sushi (and the booze isn’t bad either)

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Summer and I packed up all of our stuff (that we are brining to California) and headed to the airport this morning. Eddie and his two girls are watching the house, the two dogs, the cat (name to be announced momentarily), the lawn, the new plants, the Bronco and the Toyota. Along with the above mentioned family we left in Puerto Rico, we will also be adding to our family the following: Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Squash, Potatoes, sunflowers, more grass and 8 meters of topsoil. Eddie loves plants and has a HUGE green thumb. We are so stoked.

I haven’t been out of Puerto Rico (aside from a short trip in June to California for court) since I moved down at the end of April. It feels a little weird to leave the island. Half of me would rather be going on a surf trip somewhere to relax than back to California, but Summer and I have tons of stuff we have to take care of in San Diego and she is getting me more and more excited with her talk of restaurants that have Non-Fried options on the menu, Whole Foods Grocery Store and Trader Joe’s.

Speaking of Food, I was told by the second rudest employee of Jet Blue I have ever met that Puerto Rican food is actually Spanish and that all Puerto Ricans are Spanish. She went on to denounce her being a Puerto Rican and claimed that she was Spanish because Puerto Rico speaks “Espanol”. This rude behavior is so typical of a NY flight attendant that hates her job. Summer said I should have asked her if Mexicans were Spanish too, after all, they speak Espanol. If I weren’t such a happy guy, I may have proverbially bitch slapped this grumpy Jet Blue Flight Attendant, but instead I let it go, plotting a new blog question to our readers…here goes:

If you were born and raised in Puerto Rico, are you Puerto Rican or Spanish?

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I am such a novice in this construction thing. I was a typical office worker (that surfed and came from a fairly active background) that was making some money and decided to give up the life in the fast lane for a couple acres in Puerto Rico and a fun little project (sarcasm). Finish a six bedroom, two bath house in Rincon Puerto Rico. Haha! Give up the fast lane? I have been busier now than I have ever been in my life and I have spent more Cash Money in the past eight months than I ever did in Las Vegas, San Francisco, Manhattan or La Jolla gourmet restaurants and clubs combined.

I have learned so much (including how to spend money), but today young grasshopper, I give you advice from an experienced (1 project) Do-It-Yourselfer. This advice will help you keep it together on a big project like ours. Every time we do a clean up, I feel a million times better about our progress around the house. So, here is my advice to you: Keep your construction site clean and organized

Today, I had a little Tom Cat come and scrape all the extra concrete, scrap wood and trash out of our backyard. We worked filling two large dump trucks (about 8 meters each) for about four hours and are now pretty much ready to plant some grass seed in the backyard.

We are also expecting our plants from Montoso Gardens tomorrow…so before they get here with the tropical plant and fruit delivery, I am having 8 meters of Top Soil dumbed down by the mango tree so we can make a little shaded nursery area for some of the younger plants and have the ability to back fill the big plant holes with rich top soil.

Starting the clean up of our back yard

Our Rincon backyard looking pretty good.

It feels great to see our back yard clean like this. I wish I kept it clean and organized from the beginning, it would have saved me so many headaches.

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Thank you for all the suggestions on what we should name the new kitty! We’ve narrowed it down to the following 6 names, vote for your favorite!

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