Dear Bacon

Dear Bacon – I can explain.  Really I can.  You see, I was really helping my mom out. She kept talking about how much she hated the wallpaper in the hallway.  I just thought I would help her out with it.  You understand, right?  Signed Busted

Dear Busted – I understand completely my friend.  You see, my mom was like that last year about the linoleum in the kitchen.  She talked about how much she hated it – just as imagine your mom did about the wallpaper.  One day, I used my powerful snout and helped pull up a HUGE piece in the middle of the kitchen floor when daddy wasn’t looking.  Like your mom, mine was not too happy with me in the beginning.  But in the end when she had the floor re-done professionally she told me I did a great job in pushing her to get it done.  Give your mom some time.  Surely she will see the bigger picture later and thank you.

---

Dear Bacon – Have you ever been so tired that you just sleep where you are?  Like in this picture, it just *hit* me out of the blue and I couldn’t move another paw.  I was just tired out.  Signed Balancing Act

Dear Balancing Act – You do have some unique powers there my friend.  I could *never* balance my little piggy body like that and sleep without fear of falling.  Although, I have been known to just tumble over in pure exhaustion… usually after chasing the purr things here at the Hotel Thompson.  Snorts.

---

Dear Bacon – My humans are crazy.  You don’t believe me?  Look at this outfit.  Have you ever seen something so outrageously stupid?  I’m so embarrassed.  A onesie maybe – but this covering my head/ears… help.  Signed Help Me

Dear Help Me – I get it.  I really do.  One or the other – not both in the same outfit.  But you know in a way, you kind of remind me of a giraffe.  Not that I’m hating on you.  I think it’s kind of adorable.  Maybe safe the outfit for Halloween – it’s not too far away.  Yes I think that is it.  Use that outfit to your advantage for Halloween.  Stay cool my friend and have fun.

.

---

Dear Bacon – OMD!  Every time I get in the car with my human dad, this is the look I get on my face.  You gotta help me pig.  My dad thinks he is the all time best driver in the world and wants to drive Nascar.  I’m telling you, you are safer in the streets than on the sidewalks with him coming down the road.  Help me!  Signed Frozen in Shock

Dear Frozen in Shock – Dude, your dad has got to be a really bad driver with that look of fear on your face.  Are you sure he wasn’t like doing a movie or something.  Priceless my friend – just priceless.  Maybe you should hide his keys next time.  Maybe you should beg your mother to drive instead.  Maybe you should say you didn’t feel up to a drive and stay home.  I know I would if my mom drove like your dad – snorts with piggy laughter.  But if you must go, buckle up and close your eyes tight.  Stay safe!

---

Dear Bacon –  Shaking doggy head.  I didn’t think I would end up like this but I have.  I needed to make some extra money to keep me in treats.  So, I did what every respectful dog would do. – I started a babysitting job.  I have sunk so low.  Five purr things a day – five days a week.  They are wearing me out!  They think I’m their own personal jungle gym.  Any suggestions?  Signed Sit for You

Dear Sit for You – How about a game of hide and go seek… of course inside so the little tykes can’t get into much trouble.  That way, they are off of you and hiding – hopefully for hours – snorts with piggy laughter.  Have fun my friend!

---

REMEMBER FRIENDS – Dear Bacon can’t happen without YOU.  Please continue to send your letters and pictures to me at my email. 🙂

 

 

The BIG Announcement

 It has been so totally busy here lately at the Hotel Thompson.  We had the demolition and renovation.  We had the cleaning and cleaning and more cleaning from all of that.  We had new furniture and everything has been out of place – and we are *still* putting things back together.  Mommy really pushed herself too much during all of this time.  And THEN Bashful came home from his visit with Fozzie in Australia.  That’s when all hell broke loose.  Yep I said hell.  HELL broke loose here at the Hotel Thompson.  You don’t believe me do you?  Okay I’ll tell you.

Do you remember the first time Bashful went to Australia to spend some time with Fozzie and her anipals way back in December 2013?  You can read about some of that trip here.  I’m talking specifically about that trip when he made a movie called Rockodile Dundee co-starring Bimby.  Let’s just say that we thought some things got out of control with that bimbo – I mean co-star Bimby.

Well upon Bashful’s return trip to Australia in December 2014, he had some problems to take care of in the deepest forms.  You see, Bimby was pregnant after the making of the Rockodile Dundee movie.  Shocker huh?  Well she carried the baby for nine months and when Bashful returned to Australia, she said he was the rock daddy.  Now you can imagine Bashful’s shock from that. BUT, can you imagine the shock of Fozzie calling me (Bashful’s daddy) and explaining (A) Bashful was now a father and (B) I was now a grandfather?!  Oh dear piggy heavens – I can tell you that was one interesting phone call to say the least.

Not only was Bashful a father but Bimby was in trouble.  Bimby had started hitting the bottle – hard.  And she was letting herself go not taking care of the baby.  So what to do huh?  First things first.

Bimby went into rehab.  There was long conversations about what to do and the biggest thing was to put the baby first.  Of course a rock DNA was conducted just to make sure that Bashful was the father.  The results came back and they verified 99.9% that Bashful was the father.  Then Bashful and Bimby had a long talk about the welfare of the baby.  The baby was 3 months old and Bimby decided that she didn’t want to be a mother – she was to young to settle down.  And putting the best interest of the baby first, paperwork was drawn up by the attorney’s and Bashful now has custody of his son.

 So everyone here at the Hotel Thompson had to get everything ready for a new baby that would be soon arriving.  The nursery had to be set up, a pediarocktrician had to be lined up and of course everyone here had to be told what happened.  All of the rock clan were excited to have a new baby.  And I admit it.  I was rather excited to be a grandfather and to see my grandchild.  What would he look like?  What was his name?  Would he resemble us?  A lot of things were going through our minds.

Then the little tyke arrived here at the Hotel Thompson.  Oh my piggy heavens!  It was love at first sight with all of us.  The ooh’s and aaawws.  WOW!  So without further ado, let me introduce you to Chip.  Look at him!  How could we ever doubt his DNA?   He is quite the chip off the old block – you think?

 

Paw Time with Houdini

Hello my sweet friends.  It’s been a couple of weeks since my last check in here from the Hotel Thompson.  We are ALL so glad the renovation is over here.  It was amazing and I hope you enjoyed seeing all of the before and after pictures as well as mom’s breakdown of the different phases.  I tell you that mother of mine is a scheduler… and a juggler.  She kept us all on a strict schedule.  Have you see the television shows where they don’t show the home owner the after until it’s finished?  That’s what mom/dad did to us anipals here.  We all got shipped up the street to Nana’s to spend the night the day of the floor installation.  The last thing we remember is the carpet and linoleum.  So that Friday after the furniture was delivered, mom came and got us from Nana’s.  OMD!  Once we got inside of the Hotel Thompson, us anipals couldn’t believe it!  It was so new and different.  We all thought we were at the wrong house for a bit.  So many different changes.  We anipals went around and of course had to check things out and mark our territories.  So many new things to try out!

Then it happened.  Mom told us that we had to be careful of the new flooring and furniture.  And of course, daddy put the baby gate back up blocking us from the kitchen.  That baby gate is because of Bacon – don’t tell him I told you that.  That pig – rolls doggy eyes – he knows how to open the freezer so he can’t go in there anymore.  Since he can’t go in there, we can’t go in there.  Of course, the cats jump the fence but I’m too little.  But when I did get to go in the kitchen to check things out – WOW!  I ran and ran and ran around that kitchen island so many times that I got dizzy.  It’s so neat!

And of course my favorite piece of furniture is the couch.  All of those big puffy pillows – I was in pooch heaven.  My personal challenge is to see how many I can knock on the floor before mom/dad realize what I’m doing – barks!  And mom’s chaise – WOW!  That thing is like a bed for a queen – which my mommy is – 🙂  She keeps this comfy Chinese blankie on it that she wraps up in when she is on it.  The other day, I jumped up with her.  Yep – see the picture.  It was so comfy!  And are you wondering what my shirt says?  It’s one of my favorites – of course my brother Bacon doesn’t like it but I think that’s what makes it even funnier.  The shirt says, “I like bacon on my bacon”.  Funny huh?

Well that’s all for me my friends – yawns – I hope you had a wonderful week as well.  Happy weekend!

 

Thanks my Friends!!

Thanks my friends for attending our Renovation Reveal Party yesterday.  We had so much fun!!  We are all packed with food today and taking it easy.

I hope you enjoyed the day to day break down of all phases of the renovation and enjoyed the reveal as much as we did.  Mom said today, her behinney will not move from her chaise.  All of us are still resting from everything.

But we all wanted to send all of our friends here in blogville HUGE cyber hugs for coming to our virtual party and always be such wonderful friends.  Have an awesome Saturday!!

 

Renovation Reveal Party!

 

Welcome to the Renovation Reveal Party for the Hotel Thompson or as my cousin called it the Casa Thompson!  My buddy Fozzie is going to co-host this party.  To get things started, please enjoy some wine, soda and some snacks.  Then sit back for the reveal and let us know what you think.  If you have questions, ask.  Mingle and have fun my dear friends!!

The following food was brought by Kali and Shoko of Canadian Cats.  Everyone be sure to try some of these Canadian delicacies.  I’m licking my lips now and fixing to jump in – YUMMO!

Poutine – French fries with gravy and cheese – how could you go wrong with this?  Beaver Tails – Now Beatrice and Billy were not harmed in the making of this sweet treat – 🙂  Beaver Tails are pastries shaped like beaver tails with chocolate and banana or chocolate and M&M’s.  Personally this little porker NEEDS one with banana and chocolate.  Nanaimo Bars – These are named after a city in Vancouver Island.  They have three layers of deliciousness – coconut, graham cracker crumbs, chocolate and custard.

 

 

 

 

.

---

 

Okay my friends – do you remember the ‘before’ pictures?  Let me remind you what they looked like okay.

 The front room was a cluttered mess as well as the kitchen area.  It was definitely time to ‘grow up’ and get a new look.  Below are now the ‘after’ pictures.

---

The entry way into the Casa Thompson.  The new sofa.  The new chaise – ❤

 

.

.

.

The overall front room view from the hallway.  The new kitchen island.  The new cedar flooring in the bathroom.

 **SPECIAL THANKS**

   Thanks to my friend Jean with Canadian Cats (Shoko and Kali) for the beautiful virtual potted plant for the new Casa Thompson.  It’s beautiful!  And thank you my friends for bringing food to the party – I’m still licking my lips!  And many thanks for the long phone calls, listening to me whine while drinking my wine 🙂

Thanks to my brother Easy and his mom for listening to my mom’s troubled woes during the ordeal – snorts – there were a LOT.  Your emails kept her sane… well okay as sane as she could be.

Thanks for my great co-host and partner in crime Fozzie.  You mean the world to us my sweet dear friend.  The phone calls, the emails, the rants and raves.

   Much love to all of YOU and to those that listened to the endless ramblings here in blogville about the renovation.  We were so glad that we could share everything with all of you my dear friends!!

 

Renovation – Phase IV

Welcome back my friends to Phase IV – furniture delivery.  Now, today I can’t show you any pictures of the house at this point.  I know that stinks but I can talk to you about the furniture 🙂

The furniture crew called me and advised they would be out at the house between 2:30-5:30PM.  This was fine with me because I had things to get completed before they came out.

Big Daddy

My kitchen had been gutted – bye bye kitchen table.  We really didn’t need one.  The one we had was huge and seemed to be a ‘catch all’ for everything and anything that came through the room.  We decided to do without a table.  It’s just the two of us anyway and we normally camp out in front of the television in the living room talking and watching the news in the evening.  So, my dream kitchen needed one thing that I had ordered off line.  The down side was that one thing had to be put together.  I’m not good a jigsaw puzzles.  If the box had 50 pieces in it, there would probably be 40 pieces leftover if I put it together on my own.  So, I bartered with my neighbor, Big Daddy, next door.  I would give him two items of furniture that his wife wanted if he helped me put together my item I ordered.  His wife volunteered him so quickly it wasn’t even funny – LOL.  And I have to admit that after two hours, we had done it together!  It looked beautiful and better yet it fit so perfectly in the kitchen – like it was made there.  You will have to come back tomorrow to find out what it was 🙂 winks

  Also, my mom had been keeping two book shelves for me at her house that she had said she would give to me over the years.  Me and Jim went and got them… of course in the rain.  This weather was killing us!  They fortunately fit in the back of our SUV when the door was kept open.  We were able to get them into the living room and put them where they needed to go before the furniture arrived.

Also in the meantime of waiting for the furniture, we cleaned.  Isn’t that how it is?  You clean before to de-clutter.  You clean during due to dust.  Then you have to clean after.  By this time I’ll be honest with you, I was.so.over.cleaning!

Then the furniture arrived.  Three guys brought the pieces inside of the Hotel Thompson.  One of the guys let it be known that *I* had expensive taste.  That’s ALL my husband had to hear – HA!   Once everything was in place, me and the hub stood back and looked at everything.  It was in that moment we both let out a breath of air and knew we had made the right decision in doing this remodel.

That’s also when I nudged him and told him we weren’t finished.  We then had to decorate.  Rolls eyes – one of my least favorite things trust me.  Tomorrow, come back for the Renovation Reveal Party where you will see everything in its glorious.  I hope you have enjoyed our trip into letting go and beginning a new life.

 

You’re Invited to a PARTY!

Please my friends – mark your calendars to attend our drop in House Warming Party for the Hotel Thompson on Friday, May 1st right here on my blog.

The celebration will begin at 9:00AM and last throughout the day.  Food and drinks will be served during the great renovation reveal. Fozzie will be co-hosting this extravaganza with us – be sure to make plans to drop in for some fun 🙂

Please share with your friends – all are welcomed.  We hope to see you here!

 

Renovation – Phase III

 Welcome back my friends to Phase III – floor installation.

Phase III was our favorite part here at the Hotel Thompson. Phase III meant that we had done our part – painting was done and the house was empty.  This day, we could sit back and enjoy a good rest.  We piled all of the kids up and shipped them to Nana’s up the street to spend the night.  We wanted to have everything ready to go for the day and would pick the kids up tomorrow after the delivery of the furniture.

We had pulled carpet, linoleum and had things ready to go when the floor installation crew showed up at 9:15AM.  Now, this almost gave me a heart attack when they showed up.  Why do you ask?  Because there was only TWO guys to do the kitchen, hallway, living room and bathroom floors.  You have to be kidding me, right?  TWO guys were going to complete all of this in ONE day.  In fact, that was my first statement to them.  After I checked the products that were ordered for the flooring, they assured me they had this under control.

 I advised them the me and the hub would be out of their way out front if they needed anything.  This way, if they had questions we would be out of their way.  Let me add, it has been in the 60’s-70’s for the past several days.  This day though – LOL – it decides to have a cold front come through.  It was in the low 50’s with a wind.  We felt every bit of it.  Our nice neighbor even brought us blankets to stay warm.  It was interesting to camp out, play games and keep ourselves busy.  All the time, we could hear them inside knocking away, coming out to their truck to get things and then going back inside to work.

And of course, you know me.  I had this small type dresser in our garage that I wanted to move into the kitchen.  Since the contractors didn’t have to move any furniture out of their way, I asked if they would move the dresser into the kitchen for me.  Which they did!  Score for not having to lift anything heavy.  By this time of the renovation, just thinking about lifting hurt – LOL.

And you are probably asking yourself TWO guys – how long did it take to do the flooring.  I will tell you this – I was in awe and shock.  It took them only FIVE hours to complete the job.  And let me add that the job was FANTASTIC!  Come back tomorrow for Phase IV.

 

 

 

 

Renovation – Phase I

Hello all!  This is Bacon’s mom here.  I wanted to break down the entire renovation and share our experience of ups and downs throughout the process.  Today is Phase I which includes the start of everything.  Our house was cluttered.  Pure and simple it was.  We have been here 16 LONG years and throughout those years, we have had many surgeries, illnesses and taking care of family members that some things taken second – like the house unfortunately 😦

I was having a couple of weeks of feeling good physically. One never knows how long these days last when you have rheumatoid arthritis.  So when I told the hub unit I was ready to do it, he couldn’t believe me.  We made an appointment with the floor guy first.  We *had* to get rid of this awful carpet that had seen way better days.

The appointment was made 3/28/2015 with the flooring peeps.  They came out and we went over all of the measurements and looked at the different types of flooring that was available.  My husband gave me full reign over the remodeling so I picked a tan flooring.  We signed the paperwork and picked the date of 4/16/2015 for installation. This gave us a little under three weeks to de-clutter, purge and get the house in shape for the floor.  No small feat with what we had to work with as you can see from the pictures.

This same date, we went furniture shopping.  A joyful occasion to most… except me.  I despise shopping for anything.  The most important factor was that whatever we picked the hub had to LOVE his sofa.  I personally wanted something in the way of an oversized chair with an ottoman, etc – something that would be absolutely comfortable when I came home from work at the end of the day.  We went to a company called American Signature Furniture and picked out a sofa, an oversized chair, an ottoman and an electric fireplace mantle.  Sounds like heaven huh?  We expressed several times that the furniture had to be delivered on 4/17/2015, the day after the floor installation.

Now as you can see from these pictures of the living room, there was a LOT to clean.  I basically wanted to clear out everything and start fresh.  But in order to get to the bare basics, I had to de-clutter and separate items into (1) Keep; (2) Donate; and (3) Junk.  Just looking at the pictures you can tell that it was an overwhelming feat to start.  If anyone is in the same position as we were, two words – BABY STEPS.  I had a calendar and every night when I came home from work and on the weekends, we hit a different spot.  Slowly, things started going away.  AND, you know what we learned from all of this?  Letting go can be medicinal and therapeutic.  We made three trips alone to the Goodwill donation center down the street in the first couple of days.  I know that our garbage collection company probably thought what are they up to because we had loads of stuff we threw away.  Phase I took us the longest to get through – 9 days.

And then came the date that we asked Salvation Army to come to the house on 4/9/2015.  They actually had to make two trips because we gave it all away:  sofa, love seat, entertainment center, china cabinet, hutch, kitchen table, six chairs, rugs.

After they left, we cleaned more and started making a pile of trash.  On 4/11/2015, we had 1-800 Got Junk to come out to the house.  This junk company will come to your house and pick up your trash.  According to how much you have to fill their truck, is how much they charge you.  We had scheduled them to come out on this date between 3:30-5:30pm.  To our advantage, they were running late so (1) we got to pick up and clean more and (2) the later they were we got a discount – which is always a great thing in my book.

The company *finally* got at the Hotel Thompson around 8:30PM – which they had been calling throughout the day to keep us aware of their schedule.  I never got upset with them and it was a good thing.  Other people had in their schedule.  They came to our house and gave us a $125.00 discount for waiting.  So it cost only $100.00 for them to come in, lift and take out our final junk.  A bargain in my book because by this time we were so over lifting.

Now our neighbors had been watching all of the activity happening at our house in the pass 9 days.  Word got back to us that we were moving which we laughed off.  Nope – we were just doing some MAJOR spring cleaning.  All of this work was Phase I – come back tomorrow for Phase II my friends 🙂

 

 

 

Renovation Reveal Party! – Mark Your Calendars

Oh my friends – I know you don’t want to miss this.  I would like to invite you to the great Renovation Reveal Party on Friday, May 1, 2015.

Please mark your calendars to come by and visit this date for a great party complete with food, drinks and to see the great reveal of the Renovation that took place here at the Hotel Thompson in only three weeks.  In fact, starting next Monday, mommy is going to journal each phase to get you in the mood and tell you all about the frustration lows and great highs of renovating in such a short time.

We hope to see you here my friends!