Thinking of swapping out that cheap kitchen laminate with some custom counter-top granite? Maybe installing a backyard water feature to hide that ugly dog pen?

Then you need to visit the Building North Central Washington 2013 Home Show next weekend at the Town Toyota Center, 1300 Walla Walla Ave., in Wenatchee. The show will run 2 to 8 p.m. Feb. 8, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Feb. 9 and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 10. General admission is $6.

The annual event, formerly the NCBHA Home Show, will fill the arena with vendor booths, other displays, demonstrations and a bunch of interesting activities. Such as:

The Kids Zone, sponsored by Lowe’s, where youngsters 12 and under can work on projects supervised Lowe’s experts, participate in a scavenger hunt, bounce in an inflatable “jumping castle” and even ice-skate for free.

Gift bags given to the first 250 attendees to arrive for the show on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 9 and 10. The bags contain small gifts and discount coupons from show sponsors and vendors.

A food drive for Serve Wenatchee Valley. Bring two non-perishable food items to Home Show entrances and get a discount on admission.

By the way, overflow parking for the event will be available at Walla Walla Point Park and next door at Lowe’s, which is allowing half of their parking lot to be used for show parking.

For more info, visit nchba.cc.

Mobile phones, not Big Macs

In case you haven’t noticed, Phones Plus Verizon has relocated to its spankin’ new digs at 280 Valley Mall Parkway in East Wenatchee.

Yep, that’s the old McDonald’s location (the new McD’s is across the street), but you wouldn’t recognize it now. Phone Plus has completely remodeled the building and added a snazzy showroom for its phones, tablets and other gizmos.

For more info, call 886-3300 or visit phonesplusinc.com.

Sports and more sports

Matt Kearny, director of marketing for the Wenatchee Valley Sports Council, always has his finger on the fast-beating pulse of local athletics.

His February newsletter, released Thursday, pointed out the amazing number of local sporting events in February. These events involve thousands of athletes and supporters and bring in thousands of dollars to the local economy.

School sports — middle school, high school, college — lead the way, of course, with dozens of basketball games and wrestling matches throughout the month. Several big tournaments in both sports are planned.

Kearny also spotlighted February’s community sporting events, including the Wenatchee Wild games, youth hockey tournaments, Kiss My Ice women’s hockey tourney, the Hampton Cup Ski Races at Mission Ridge, the annual Hog Loppet Cross-Country Ski Trek, Apple City Roller Derby double-headers, Chicks on Sticks ski and snowshoe fundraiser in Leavenworth, ice skating at Town Toyota Center oodles of ice fishing in the Lake Wenatchee area

Get the details on all these events at wentcheevalleysports.com.

Ponder this, ladies

Our nerdy number-pushing buddies at the Bureau of Labor Statistics say women across the state still don’t earn as much as their male co-workers.

New BLS figures released Thursday say that in 2011 women in Washington state earned a median wage of $743 a week, which is just 74.5 percent of the $997 a week earned by men.

Nationwide, women earned $684 a week, or 82.2 percent of the $832 for men. Weekly earnings for women in the state ranked 12th highest in the nation. Men’s wages ranked fifth nationwide.

Across the country, female-to-male earnings in 2011 ranged from 68.7 percent in Louisiana to 89.9 percent in California.

This weekly column is compiled from “Everyday Business,” a blog by World reporter Mike Irwin. You can reach him at 665-1179 or irwin@wenatcheeworld.com.