This weekend we went to my Grandma's. Her kitchen has been in serious need of updating for about 20 years now. The cabinets were varnished and the walls were paneled when the house was built in 1968, and nothing has been done to it since. Christy, Grandma and I cleaned, sanded, primed and painted

Here's the before picture (after the stuff was taken off the counters and the top of the cabinets):

Here's the pictures from two days later:

Grandma is thrilled.

These are a few of my least favorite things...

Assumptions, incivility, and mob mentality are all separate issues but they are really getting on my nerves. "Can't we all just get along?"

I overheard two women at dinner last night referring to Barak Obama being Muslim. Hmmm... his name is funny and that is what I heard someone say, so that is what I am going to say...

There are facebook groups "I hate Hillary" or "I hate George Bush" --REALLY? Hate? Why? Do you disagree with her policies? Do you think the war in Iraq was a mistake? Do you feel like you cannot trust her? Do you think he has further polarized politics in Washington? Do you not think women are capable of leading? Do you not trust her judgement? There is no reason to truly "hate" a political candidate. None of them are evil people so let's be reasonable people and talk about the issues. Vilifying people is not necessary. They are not the enemy, but an opponent- there is a huge difference.

I had an interaction with a student's parents in which they made some of the most irrational mean spirited assumptions. They actually accused us of making a change for our convenience, which they requested! Really?

I hate it when I am at a sporting event and see people begin booing or clapping even when they don't know what is going on. Tonight was the cake though on this subject for me. I was at a basketball game and the mob mentality was ridiculous.As an Aggie, I come from a university that is well known for good sportsmanship and treating fans of opposing teams well. We also don't boo, so it always catches me off guard. I thought that it was incredibly rude that the opposing team was booed the moment they took the court. That seems like a Christian thing to do. Rather than heckling the ref for making a bad call, they booed and yelled "Aggies SUCK" repeatedly and hatefully. The worst part was when a foam ball was thrown from an area in which two Aggies were standing. I was really afraid that there would be physical violence. People who had no way of seeing who was responsible were pointing fingers, yelling and screaming, and getting in the face of these two fans from an opposing team. The old man in front of me even began yelling at the guys. I just couldn't take the irrationality anymore. I asked him if he actually saw anything happen. He said no but that the other people did. I asked him if he was sure. I left the game, embarrassed for the Christian university at which I got my master's degree and am employed. I know that people get carried away at sporting events, but we can do better than this.

I think we can do better on all fronts, our day to day interactions, conversations about politics, sporting events and the rest of life.