The things adults love...

I found myself laughing this week about the things we get excited about as adults. I was first made aware of my adult-home-stuff-dorkdom a few years ago. My aunt gave me a few kitchen towels as a birthday gift, and my cousin, who was in middle school at the time, thought that was one on the worst gifts she had ever seen. I, of course, was excited about my new towels.

This time around, it was a boy meets toilet kind of love story. When we decided to look for a house, one thing that my husband was most excited about was the possibility of owning an elongated toilet. I never quite understood the need for such a thing, but this may be another case of our one foot difference in height creating two very different sets of needs from everyday items. (Another example would be the day we tried to hang a mirror and found it hard to find a wall height which would allow for both of us to see ourselves without standing on tip-toe (me) or having to scrunch down (him). Perhaps this is a question that internet dating sites need to start asking - Can you see yourself in this mirror, at this height?)

Okay, back to the toilet. He bought his elongated toilet a few months ago, and it had taken up residence in our garage. Last weekend, my husband's dad (Mr. Tomato-Chocolate, Senior? Papa-Tomato-Chocolate? Not sure. I'll have to work on that one.) was in town, and toilet installation became Sunday afternoon's male bonding activity. Sawing, phone calls to a more home improvement-inclined brother, and eventual hammering ensued to remove the old toilet. In the end, the new elongated version was installed, with no leaks or injuries!

Since then, my husband has told me every day how much he loves the new toilet. I have to give him points for variety - one day he pointed out how it made the bathroom look bigger, the next he asked me to compare our next water bill to the previous to determine the water-saving capability of toilet 2.0, the next day it was how the color matched the other fixtures...

It does make me smile knowing that I am not the only person in our household who is fascinated by small things. That said, it may be time to move on to the next small yet significant house-related project.

Battle of the Brass

We have been in our house for almost a year now, and I'd have to admit having buyers remorse on a few occasions during the past several months. After the initial homeowner excitement died down (which for us also coincided our beginning to hibernate for our first winter in the new house), there were definitely a few panicked moments of wondering how on earth I could have used my life savings on a down payment. The realization of being in a place for an extended period of time is kind of a strange one. Fear of commitment? Perhaps. Somehow I doubt I am that I am alone in feeling a bit overwhelmed by the thought of a 30 year mortgage.

At any rate, my sister and her husband are currently looking for a house. My parents were in town last weekend, so I joined the family affair that was house-hunting, at least for a few properties. I know that housing prices in the DC area have been out-of-control in recent years, but I really thought that things had "normalized" a bit lately. After what I saw this weekend, I can say that housing at a fair price is still very hard to find around here. Most of the time I just chalk DCisms like this up to being in the DC area, but at times I find it hard to understand why anyone would agree to take on a huge mortgage for a house that seemed to be way overpriced.

Our house wasn't "cheap" by any means (see the reference to my buyer's remorse in the first paragraph), but I was reminded again this weekend that we were able to find value for what we paid. I felt a little reassured by touring other houses that we found the right house for us at the right time. While our house needs updating, it's generally in good shape and we are surrounded by neighbors who care about the status of their homes. The previous owners and/or the first owners of our house had a bit of an Americana thing going on, which I'd have to say is something that doesn't really excite me. Americana combined with the fact that the house was built in the mid-eighties led to there being a lot of brass in the house. Brass light fixtures, brass door knobs, brass hinges....I call it the Battle of the Brass, which I will one day "win" by replacing most if not all of it. Two light fixtures down, but many more brass pieces to go.

New ways to play with your food

I am wearing my virtual graduation cap, as I just completed a new culinary feat - I finally successfully improvised dinner. My husband has always had that gift of being able to look in the refrigerator and say, "okay, peas, mustard, leftover mashed potatoes...what can I make?" I have never understood the mystery of dinner improvisation before today. It just kind of hit me like a ton of bricks...or a ton of mashed potatoes.

I was driving home and decided that I wanted Mr. Yoshida rice, known the rest of the world as stir fry seasoned with yoshida sauce. I took some leftover topping (onion and mushrooms) from the other night's veggie supper club's sweet potatoes and added them in with new mushrooms and asparagus. Add some chicken, rice, yoshida, and soy sauce, and hey, it's dinner!

It actually tasted good, too. The husband liked it and said that if he had a taste for yoshida rice that he'd make it like that. Nice.