WWMRE...

Doesn't it seem like everyone is always talking about some new diet or eating lifestyle?  "I'm only eating paleo," "I'm gluten-free'" "I'm on a low-carb diet," et cetera, et cetera.  I know you know what I mean.  And, there must be dozens and dozens of apps to help you track what you eat and how many calories you've burned, et cetera.

I decided last year to give up weighing myself for Lent.  I used to weigh myself every morning compulsively and if I was a couple of pounds up...boo hoo...and if I was a couple of pounds down...woo hoo.  Every day it seemed like it was one or the other and I realized I spent way too much valuable time thinking about how much I weighed when my clothes fit perfectly/reasonably well and that was all that really mattered.  My work, spiritual life and ability to drive my children places in the car are not in anyway impacted by whether I weigh 126 pounds or 129 pounds.  However, having clothes that fit on my body does have some importance as I can't afford all new clothes and smocks are just not appropriate Realtor attire.  And so, last year, along with fashion and shopping, I gave up my scale.  I have not looked back or down since (except for twice last month and I remembered immediately, why I stopped weighing myself). 

Around the same time, I also decided I was no longer interested in playing any sort of "food games" with myself.  However, I totally respect and honor those people who for their own reasons do make important and healthy food choices.  For me though, I just want to eat fewer processed foods, more whole foods and less meat.  I thought I did pretty well, overall, and while I haven't quit eating French fries, my only New Year's resolution was to stop ordering them.  So, beware if you order French fries with your meal and you're eating with me -- you'll lose some of them.  I realized yesterday though that I could and should do better with my eating but how???  And, then the answer came to me:  going forward I will only eat foods that I think Mary Rollins would eat or follow the WWMRE plan.

Mary Rollins is perhaps the most reasonable and balanced eater I know.  She's not quite a vegetarian, so you can take her to any restaurant and she'll find something that she'll enjoy but she chooses meatless when it's an option.  She has great willpower but will enjoy a sweet treat or something decadent on occasion. To me, she's the ultimate food role model!

Here's how yesterday went on my new food choices plan:

And so, I did NOT have Chick Fil A for lunch even though I was starving and it was right there!  As it turned out, I was also by Trader Joe's and needed a couple of items so I went there and got a nice wrap sandwich with pesto and roasted pepper which was very good tasting and very good because my house was full of lots of very nice contractors working on the new kitchen.  I checked later with Mary Rollins and she approved of the sandwich from Trader Joe's in place of the faro.  Plus, I think she ate the faro later for a snack so everyone was happy.

Last night for dinner, we had a lasagna I made in the Ninja, asparagus I made in my steamer and a salad I made in a bowl.  I knew I was safe eating all those items because I knew that Mary Rollins would eat them.  Now, here's the conundrum:  I knew Mary Rollins would eat them because I had made them for dinner and she always eats what I make for dinner!  It's like the chicken and the egg, which came first!

The Wellington Arms

Oops.  So, yesterday had the better of me and of course Sunday doesn't count because everyone knows that Sundays in Lent don't count.  But yesterday did and my only excuse is that I was listing a fabulous (I think I use that word too frequently but this time it really counts) condo at the Wellington Arms.  If you've lived in Lexington for any length of time, you know the Wellington Arms - the cool Tudor apartment building on the corner of Woodland and Main.  Built in 1930, it's on the National Register of Historic Places and is a true Lexington landmark.  The building lobby is beautifully appointed and the apartments were renovated and condo-ed about 8 years ago with several units being combined into one.  The interior of the units capture much of the vintage appeal of the building --original oak floors, beautiful woodwork, glass-paneled doors and charming bathrooms with octagonal tile floors and clean, vintage subway tile walls.  The kitchens are modernized with new cabinetry and stainless steel appliances.  The condos look like they ought to be saved on a Pinterest board for upscale urban living.

I always wanted to live in the Wellington Arms.  I drove by the building for years and had a few friends who lived there from time to time.  It never worked out for me though.  I couldn't afford it when I got my first apartment after college and by the time I moved back to Lexington, I was ready to buy and the Wellington was still apartments.  If a place like I listed yesterday had been available, I would have been sorely tempted -- terrific location and architecturally right up on Anglophile, vintage-loving alley.  But alas, I bought the little house on Dudley Road and my adventures in real estate began.

Here's a few pictures of this lovely place at the Wellington Arms.  If you want to see some more, visit me over on my real estate website: www.GwenMathews.com! 

P.S. I wrote this yesterday but didn't post until today.  So, no worries, I'll be posting again later today for Lent Day 7.

Rest in Peace Grandma Beach

We had a wonderful day today which is funny to say as we laid Grandma Beach to rest in Ohio next to Grandpa Mathews.  It was quiet, small and just as we think she would have wanted it.

Following the service we lunched at the Golden Lamb in Lebanon, one of her favorite restaurants.  

And then, there was football.  I hope that people will play football in a backyard after my funeral.  And, that they will laugh a lot and that my grandsons will say, I had a great day and my granddaughters will honor me by knowing that I would LOVE it if I went prom dress shopping and got a super dress on sale.  I promise you that grandma would have been so excited that MR found the perfect dress.  

Fish Fridays.

I've made it to the first Friday of Lent and the third straight day of blogging.  Granted only 3 hours remain in the day but here I am under the wire.  The funny thing about committing to writing during Lent is how much I already look forward to getting the opportunity during the day to write.  But, like Cinderella, I had to get all more chores done before I could go to the blogging ball. 

Although, I didn't have time until now to write, I spent a fair amount of time as I was driving around town on a thousand different errands about what to write. What I thought about most was food, my current lack of a kitchen and what I was going to have for dinner.  And, since it's a Friday in Lent, I kept coming back to eating fish on Fridays during Lent.  Fridays in Lent were horrible for me.  I could have gone for, say, a nice cheese sandwich or perhaps some tuna salad or fish sticks but my mother made horrible things like salmon croquettes that had pieces of crunchy bone in them or this nasty white fish that she broiled with a splash of lemon juice on it that got all fish-greasy (is that such a thing) and it always had bits of scale on it and fish bones.  Those were scarring meals as my mother was a very strict clean-plate clubber and food that you didn't finish came back out the next morning for breakfast.  The thought of something so vile returning as breakfast was terrifying!  Learning to enjoy seafood took me years and even today, I am very VERY particular about eating fish.

For years, I was very careful about not eating meat on Lenten Fridays however in recent years I've been less intentional in avoiding meat and embracing fish.  While my childhood meatless Fridays were a true penance and sacrifice, eating fish now is a downright pleasure. In fact, I saw that a friend on Facebook had posted a photo of their annual Ash Wednesday Lobster dinner.  I find that confusing--isn't a lobster feast the exact opposite of observing Ash Wednesday?  So, I will not indulge myself in enjoying tasty and beautifully cooked grilled Tuna and sushi and instead force myself to eat leftovers.

The end.

Except I didn't have leftovers tonight.  I made farro with mushrooms and goat cheese.  Seems kind of fancy but it was meatless.
.

Lent -- Day 2

Here I am!  It's the second day of Lent and I am staying true to my Lenten discipline.  Please note that I promised quantity not quality in this particular instance. 

In addition to writing daily during Lent, I also decided to give up my kitchen. Coincidentally, the real renovation started on Ash Wednesday now if only it would take just the 40 days of Lent--HA!  Here's what it looks like as of 2:30 pm yesterday afternoon. 

 

 

I lost the floor by 4 pm as did the dining room and today the pantry and soffits have disappeared. Fortunately, the laundry room remains intact as of now. Dug and the fellas are good friends.  I offered his destruction services but they think he's a little distracting what with his being so cute and all.  He's spending time in the crate when I'm not home.

 

Here's my lesson to share today about kitchen remodeling.  Doing this while kids are in school, as opposed to the summer was the right choice.  The guys show up at 7:30 am and work until late afternoon.  Thankfully, except for breakfast everyone's out of the house by the time the noise begins.  I can only imagine Will's complaints if we'd done this in the summer when he was trying to sleep in.  It's also a great perk that construction has ended for the day by the time Will gets home from lacrosse practice.  Mary Rollins is probably irritated by the construction too, however, she's more excited about the new kitchen and just complains less in general. 

 

Meanwhile, every night Will says, don't we need to eat out tonight?  And, I find myself wanting to agree*.

 

*although I have made several delicious meals in the basement using the Ninja Cooking System, the toaster oven and the teeny tiny bar sink.  We're having left over taco soup tonight if you're curious.  I imagine this actually a step above living in an RV plus the former kitchen table is now permanently the basement table.

 

 



 





The prodigal blogger returns...

It is March 5, 2014.  It seems like it's been a year since my last blog post. Oh wait, it has been although I'm getting in just under the wire for an actual 365-day year and I have promised myself that I would write every day for the forty days of Lent and I will even write every day of the forty days on the actual blog, not just in my little journal.  How about that Dad!

Life in the last year has been fast-paced and full of many changes and lots of highs and lows.  Yesterday we lost Marc's mom after a long year plus of decline.  Mom Mathews aka Grandma Beach was just shy of 99.  She was quite frankly, amazing.  She was, and proudly so, the ultimate party girl!  Grandma Beach knew how to have a good time from her firm adherence to Happy Hour to teaching her grandchildren how to gamble.  She was also a fantastic mother-in-law, never once criticizing me for the way I did anything and always thinking that everything I cooked was delicious.  I shall use her as my role model should I ever be a mother-in-law.  And, when I don't want to do something, I shall just smile enigmatically and say, "we'll see."  There are more stories but maybe for another time.

In addition, we acquired Dug in the last year.  If you follow my Instagram account "GwennieM", you know all about Dug and the #dailydug.  I love Dug.  Really, I do.  One day Dug's brain will be as big as his giant Labrador retriever body.  One day he will not be the very hungry Dugapiller (thank you Claire for that) and he will turn into a beautiful butterfly.  In the meantime, I'll continue to spend a small fortune on chew toys to prevent him from chewing my house.  Remember my post about the theology of Jack Russell Terriers?  I was right, JRTs do have a different world view from Labs.  Labs only think about what something will taste like or how it will feel crunching in their teeth.  They do hate squirrels though just like JRTs. At this moment though, he is cuddled up on the couch and I love him. 

More exciting than Dug and equally expensive is that  Mary Rollins found the college of her choice and her college choice likes her too!  Mary Rollins is going to Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA.  I'm sorry that I wasn't blogging during the height of our college hunting months but suffice it to say that it was SO MUCH FUN!  MR hired me as her college counselor (which reminds me that she owes me a latte -- I work cheap) and I had a great time reverting back to my old higher ed days helping her to focus in on good schools.  We looked at Elon, University of Richmond, Belmont, Skidmore, Furman, Connecticut College, Sarah Lawrence, Wagner, Transylvania (my favorite :-)), Dickinson and Muhlenberg.  Her final choices came down to Skidmore, Dickinson and Muhlenberg -- three wonderful schools that are all a million miles from Lexington.  Well, not quite a million miles but many more than her initial 5 hour radius from home that she wanted.  Apparently ballet girls need to go north to the land of Yankees.  Had we know she would one day attend college in the northeast, we might not have given her a two-part name.  (Please feel free to give suggestions on the best way to educate Yankees about the two-part name in the comments below.  My favorite suggestion so far has been, "tell them it's like Billy Bob...everybody gets that.")  So the Mule School is going to have a good Kentucky girl who has all her own beautiful teeth and will even wear shoes to class.  And, MR is excited about Northeastern winters (I know!?!  Who says that?!?).  She got some fabulous Hunter boots for Christmas (which Dug has chewed already, and some warm coats so she's ready. She'll get to do lots of dancing at Muhlenberg, study hard in lots of different subjects as she majors in undecided and get to visit Isabug in New York.  There are good times ahead!

What else happened last year?  We went to Yosemite and San Francisco (incredible), Maorimere and I went to London & Wales (which deserves its own post with pictures).  It was a fantastic year of travel with our excellent college visit trips as well.

Oh, we also tried to sell our house and move to my dream house on Central Ave by Woodland Park.  It seemed like a good idea at the time but fortunately, the house we wanted to buy sold before we could sell ours and some of the Mathews (not the college bound senior who is moving away anyway) realized that we actually really love our house and don't want to move.  Except, one of us realized that she really loved her house but would love it even better if it had a new kitchen.  Can you see where that's going?  I have two guys downstairs right now who have torn out my kitchen and there's a dumpster in my driveway.  I'll try to show you some pictures as I'm sure over the next 40 days I'll be blogging about my renovation.  I'm also getting new hardwood floors in over half of the first floor.  For the next 2.5 to 3 months, I'll be putting Dug to work as a garbage disposal/dishwasher.  Oy, we'll see how it goes.  I'm also redoing the laundry room while were at it because I wanted to make sure that our only sink was the very tiny bar sink in the basement.  Putting our house on the market and renovating the kitchen has been a very good experience for me as Realtor.  I had forgotten just how painful the selling process can be especially when you have three dogs.  I also have a really good idea of what it costs not to renovate a kitchen.  All I can say is there taking me out of this house in a box!

Keep Marc and all of us in your prayers as we mourn and celebrate the passing of the remarkable Kay Mathews. Thank you Mom M. for your many, many gifts to us. 

xoxo

 

Then and now...

Delong Road - 2000



Lakeside Drive - 2012

 

Is it just me, or is it a little freaky how much my childhood home looks like my current house?

self-discipline

Speaking of my dad, he was nagging me the other night about blog writing.  We were celebrating his birthday a night early and he noted that every time he goes to my blog it still had the Ash Wednesday post up and hadn't I said I was going to write every day as my Lenten discipline.  I need to clarify.  Yes, I am trying to write everyday but not necessarily on the blog.  But I will try to be better as a special super palindrome birthday gift to him.  I should say I'll blog more if he'll learn how to reply to emails.  Honestly, Dad, it's not rocket science.

By the way, giving up fashion during the Oscars has required more self-discipline than I would have imagined.  Plus, my sweet husband put some hiking pants on hold for me at J & H.  I went to try them on and had to keep my eyes averted from everything in the store.  I imagine only my dear sister, Lynda Becky Bloomwood, can appreciate just how difficult that was. 

Fortunately, the pants did not fit.

The intercom

Our lovely 1960s home still has a few intercoms left. We're gradually removed most of them and dry walled over the cavity they left as we've painted rooms but a few of them are here to stay. Why? Because for now they are built into the kitchen and family room shelves. Sigh. Yet one more reason I need to remodel the kitchen.

When we bought our house with its fabulous Brady Bunch intercoms, my mother was both disappointed and appalled that most of the units didn't work AND that I didn't care, respectively.

"How are you going to call your children for dinner?" she asked.  "We loved having the intercoms!"

We did? I remember hating the intercom. It worked like most drive-thru line intercoms where you receive only a small static-y ration of the words sent.  And if a message was summoning you on the intercom, it wasn't bearing good news like "Come downstairs the cookies are ready!"  The voice usually was reminding you to go bury the garbage or time to practice the piano/clarinet/baton. 

Of the three intercoms that remain in our home, I have done my best to hide them.  Below is the central brain of the thing which does still get AM radio if you turn the dial just right.

By the way, when I want to summon my children from somewhere in the house to go bury the garbage, I do it the old-fashioned way.  I text them.

Super Palindrome Birthdays

If you've ever met my dad, you know that he's pretty funny and in general, one of the most likable people you'll ever meet.  In fact, I've always been proud to be my father's daughter because he is such a funny, good-natured and upbeat kind of guy.  Once upon a time he used to masquerade as a clown named "Chuckles" and had a magic show that went along with the act.  We discussed recently that he would like to be buried in his over-sized red clown shoes if life ever comes to that.  He's slow to anger (although I have a funny memory of him kicking one of our horses when I was growing up because the horse had kicked me).  My dad also loves interesting and unusual things.

FOR EXAMPLE,  did you know that 88 is a super palindrome birthday?  If you had any conversation with my dad at all in the last week, I'm sure you're well aware of what this is and why it's important.  If you haven't talked to my dad, I'll fill you in.  Your super palindrome birthday is one that is the same going forwards as it is backwards and upside too.  Anyway you turn that number, you get the same number.  Pretty much most people get to the first one -- 11 -- but not that many people get to the next one, 88.  And, the odds of getting to the one after that -- 101 -- are pretty slim.  Dad thinks that at both 11 and 101, you probably don't care as much about your birthday being a super palindrome.

So, here's to my dad!  May he have the best super palindrome year ever from every direction that you look at it and I look forward to celebrating your next one with you!  Love you!

Lenten Musings...

I celebrated Fat Tuesday in style yesterday.  My style, anyway.  I had a jelly-filled doughnut and venti latte from Starbucks, a Reese’s Peanut Butter Heart, some Cheetos (salsa con queso – new flavor that Will picked out.  Technically, I’m not a Cheetos fan but these are delicious).  We had pancaked for dinner and I made a last shopping stop at the Paisley Polkadot and spent a good hour last night trawling Women’s Fashions on Pinterest and reading some of my favorite fashion blogs.  It was fantastic.  I bought two great dresses at PP with the last of a Christmas store credit which made shopping even more fabulous as it didn’t even cost money and I bid the Paisley girls good-bye for the next forty days!

"The Icon is You" from Icons in Transformation
Exhibit 2011
at Christ Church Cathedral

And, today begins Lent.  I am a Lent embracer.  I don’t want to say, “I love Lent” because it doesn’t really encompass the feelings I have about this most important season of our liturgical calendar.  Easter, I love!  Christmas, I love!  Lent, I accept with the joyful anticipation of a detox cleanse for my soul.  It’s not about demonstrating my willpower over chocolate or cheese.  For me, Lent is a time for reflection and with greater awareness taking steps to redirect focus back toward God from the distractions that separate us. 

Since I was a little girl, I have always practiced giving something up for Lent.  In younger days, it was an act of willpower, a kind of New Year’s resolution revisited.  I’m not sure that giving up candy did much to improve my spiritual life but in retrospect it did make me feel a part of a community that was joined in Christ and helped me to anticipate with fuller joy the Mystery of Easter.  It was good.  In more recent times, my own children have taken on their Lenten disciplines.  Mary Rollins and Will have different approaches to the theology of Lenten discipline (naturally).  One year, Will offered to give up vegetables.  This year, Will has given up soft drinks for Lent.  He was anxious about doing so but fortunately, Easter is the first weekend of Spring Break so technically, he only has to get through Good Friday without a soda.  Oh, and he did take a Dr. Pepper yesterday from his grandpa’s garage stash so he could have his own Fat Tuesday final drink.

I have a friend who is always very secretive about what she gives up for Lent.  I like that about her and I respect that she does that because she is someone who loves to talk things through and ponder life’s challenges with friends (which I also like about her). 

photo from Icons in Transformation
Christ Church Cathedral 2011

For the past decade or so, I have approached my own Lenten discipline with a dual give up/add on practice.  In the add-on category, my intention is to write every day (perhaps you’ll see the fruit of that labor here) and spend some time with a daily devotional and prayer. 

My give-up is fashion.  Marc asked if that meant I was going to wear burlap for the next 40 days.  It doesn’t.  What it does mean for me is that I won’t be shopping, opening emails from my friends at Banana Republic & Boden who contact me daily, looking at catalogs or magazines, or squandering time on fashion websites, or reading fashion blogs.  I may have to stop following Atlantic+Pacific on Twitter, instagram and Facebook.  For good measure, I won’t be squandering time on Pinterest either.   So, yes, I will be wearing clothes for the next 40 days.  I will wear them joyfully and be satisfied with all of the items I already own.  Possibly, I might even give some of them away. 

And, like my son, I’m probably a little relieved that Lent ends at the beginning of Spring Break so that maybe, I can go shopping in Charleston with my sister.  We’ll see. 

Will you practice a Lenten discipline?

Of real estate interest

It's time for real estate post! 

Well, a mortgage lending post perhaps. 

Dunkin' Donuts, if you're wondering.

Gesela Brown from Fifth Third Bank stopped in this morning for our bi-weekly office meeting.  It's always nice to have office meetings and it's always nice to have a guest speaker.  Especially when your guest speaker brings a Valentine treat that included a Starbucks gift card -- can you say "Venti skinny cinnamon dolce latte for Fat Tuesday?"  Who needs pancakes?  We're also having these beautiful doughnuts, courtesy of Riley our fearless whatever-he-is.  Funny thing, about real estate as we're all technically independent contractors so we don't really have a boss -- just a broker. 

In addition to how incredibly low interest rates are and the MPI (mortgage insurance premium, in case you didn't know) rates are going up, here's some of what I learned today from Gesela which was totally worth sharing:  If you own a home, it's totally worth opening up an equity line if you haven't done so already.  If you are thinking of buying a new home in the relative near future, having an equity line already in place will allow you to borrow against your current equity if you find the home of your dreams.  I'm typically pretty conservative when it comes to buying a new home without selling your current home, but sometimes you don't have the luxury of doing that.  It could be that you've found the home of your dreams and if you make the purchase contingent on the sale of your current home, that perfect house may slip through your fingers.   An equity line will allow you to take cash out of your current home to use as a the down payment on the new home thereby alleviating the need to do a very expensive bridge loan.  The value in having that equity line already in place means that you are ready to spring into action both in making an offer on a new home and being able to get your current home listed and on the market.  Lending rules typically don't allow you to establish an equity line if your home is already for sale and establishing a line of credit generally takes about thirty days.  No one wants two mortgages so the quicker you can get your house on the market the better. 

Part Two of today's mortgage lesson is the importance of being pre-approved.  Realtors say that over and over again.  In fact, I know agents who won't show a home unless a buyer can verify for them that they are pre-approved.  I can't say that I've gone that far personally, but as a Realtor, it makes my job immensely easier.  There are a number of great reasons to be pre-approved.  Obviously, a pre-approval lets a buyer know just how much home they can afford to buy.  Secondly, a pre-approval from a quality, preferably local, lender makes a buyer's offer stronger.  Finally, and this is especially important particularly for first-time home buyers, a pre-approval may help you structure the offer you make on your home.  What, you say?  What does that mean?  If you are a first-time buyer who may have a limited amount of available cash for a down payment, knowing what kind of mortgage you need can help your agent write the best possible offer for a home.  For example, f you need to preserve all of your cash for a down payment, you may need to ask the seller to pay for your closing costs as part of the terms of your offer.  Knowing how much you need is really important.  A reputable lender can also help you determine the best kind of mortgage product to consider -- conventional, FHA, an ARM, or perhaps there's a special bank or community-based mortgage available that would fit your needs.  It's also totally okay to shop around a bit for the best mortgage and lender -- a good lender is responsive, professional, experienced and personal, and in a perfect world, they are local, too!

There ends today's lesson.  Have a fabulous Fat Tuesday and go eat some delicious and decadent carbs!