They say this will be the last super hot weekend around here for awhile.  Which makes sense, since we’re having air conditioning installed on Monday.

Until it—and the fog—arrive, we’ll be hydrating like crazy. And thus, today’s Friday Things topic: Plastic Tumblers.

We own a range of nice drinking glasses—everything from the now vintage olive green goblets we got as wedding gifts in 1980 to sleek, contemporary (and easily replaceable) old-fashioneds from Crate & Barrel.  But none of them really hold the amount of ice water/lemonade/Diet Coke that a tall, plastic tumbler can.

For years we had kid-friendly Tupperware tumblers in bright colors.  But it seemed like it was time to class up the everyday glassware  a bit.  I spotted some elegant straight sided clear tumblers on the end-of-summer sale table at Pottery Barn and snapped them up only to find that they couldn’t survive the dishwasher (ahem, not disclosed when I purchased them).  They ended up streaked and cracked and basically useless after a few washings. (See above left.)

I took my search more seriously and finally settled on the Valencia Tall Tumblers from Williams-Sonoma.  So far they’re holding up just fine.  They’re sturdy, the rim is nicely rounded so they’re comfortable to drink from, and they look like running water—a cooling visual effect. Also, like something my Grandma Loosli would have owned.  I’ll let you know how they perform on this last big weekend of icy beverage consumption. In the meantime, here are a few other things I test-drove this week:

Commiseration for those, like my daughter Sydney, who aren’t so happy about fall. (Not me, I can’t wait for it to cool off around here!)

A spooky fun October/Halloween decoration project.

A peek into this SF cookbook author’s kitchen–love the washi tape labeling idea.

The fuss about how women speak.

One person’s meditation about finding his faith (which happens to be my faith.)

This waving Solar-Powered Pope Francis.

My sister Michelle LOVES and heartily endorses the soundtrack to the Broadway production of Hamilton. Can’t wait to give it a listen.

In the meantime, I’ve been listening to Irish singer songwriter Glen Hansard’s new album “Didn’t He Ramble” all week and enjoying it very much.

Happy Weekend All!  Stay cool.

Hello! I’m finally reporting in from the other side of the move.  We only uprooted 2.4 miles—a longish stroll, really, but a move is a move and even a short one can make you feel like you’ve traveled a very great distance.

The move itself went smoothly but was exhausting.  Six professionals did the bulk of the heavy lifting—including a hair-raising transfer of our tall upright Yamaha piano.  A number of men from our church joined them at the new house and helped unload all the boxes once we arrived. Bless them!

Two friends brought dinner and another stopped by that evening with freshly laundered sheets and helped make the bed. (What a treat—something to offer when other friends move.)

As luck would have it, the next week was full of can’t-say-no commitments—mostly for M.J. who was asked to speak at a memorial service for an old friend at the beginning of the week and officiate at the wedding of some of his students at the end. Work and other night time commitments kept him away from home and I was left alone to unpack while doing battle with the cable and phone companies—a challenge worthy of an entire unpleasant blog post but I’ll spare you.

Meanwhile construction continued.  Gustavo was able to get the stove, cooktop and dishwasher in the morning (!) of the move. But the refrigerator—where this whole kitchen appliance switcheroo began–was still on backorder. About that time, Steve attempted to repair a few busted boards in the front walkway before painting and discovered this–

We knew all the decks of the house needed some work, but we didn’t realize how significant the dry rot was at the front.  Thank goodness the walkway held through the move and no one was injured, but we couldn’t just slap a coat of paint on it and ignore it.  So everyone shifted focus to the front deck.

The refrigerator arrived just after the walkway was finished but the interior entry stairs to the main level were steep enough that the deliverymen decided it was best to take the long way around.  Here they are lifting all 500 lbs. up the back deck stairs on a misty morning (such weather we get up here).

I’d like to say that was the end of the refrigerator saga, but alas, it continues.  Though Gustavo had carefully measured and allotted for the specified refrigerator dimensions, when he came to install it, the refrigerator fit in the space but didn’t have enough room for the doors to clear.  Furthermore, one of the handles the appliance company delivered was too short and couldn’t be attached.

We decided to take a break from all things kitchen related until Monday. And I spent some time outside trying to take the long view.

But today, Monday, I’m writing this to the familiar sound of a drill running as Gustavo and his coworker Geo modify the refrigerator opening again.

It’s easy to focus on how far we have to go, but I should also note how far we’ve come. We can find clothes in the closet and food in the cupboards.  The laundry is up and running and the garage door opener finally works. Last night for Father’s Day we straightened up the living room (isn’t that what most Dads like to do on their day?) I’ve added a new jute rug from West Elm and had the painters paint our old bookshelf a dark grey (BM “Iron Mountain”).  We haven’t filled it with books yet and the new slipcover still needs to be hemmed but at this stage of the game I’m less concerned with perfection and more grateful for the many things that are perfectly fine.

But the basics like paint and carpet (see last week’s post) unfortunately needed to be addressed as well as some nonworking items like the refrigerator, bathroom fans, exterior lights and garage door opener. Mostly manageable stuff.

The big ticket renovation items—the kitchen and bathrooms—could all use some updating but for now we’d just polish them up a bit. For example, while the paint crew is on site we’re having them refinish the kitchen cabinet doors.  Here’s Steve Vaughn and his crew foreman Helo stripping doors in our driveway this morning. Bless them.

We decided we could live with the bathrooms if we resurfaced the master shower and guest bathtub.  But that didn’t solve the problem of the odd powder room layout. The vanity was tucked into a corner and the countertop extended to the opposite wall with an undercounter opening that made it seem like it was intended to be used as a dressing table (weird for a powder room.) The sink was also exceptionally worn. So on our first day back in the land of homeownership–when we were just going to pick paint colors–M.J. and Steve decided to rip out the vanity. Which leaves us with this—missing floor tiles, off-center exposed plumbing and our first remodeling project underway.

So much for my plans to slowly, minimally, fix up what needed fixing.  But I’m rallying. Even the best taste isn’t your own taste.  Being forced to make a place your own can be, to quote the queen of home projects, “a good thing.” Right?