2011 Status Update

So... going into the year I had a meeting with my financial advisor, who felt that given the projects that I wanted done by end of 2013...

-roof
-attic conversion to bedrooms
-siding
-porch
-front door to porch

...that I should look into getting them done sooner than later. Based on reasonable expectations of my future income it seemed plausible. Until it suddenly wasn't. So the thing is, these things STILL need to get done by 2013. While it is very clear it will not be happening this year, it is also very clear to me that I need to remember that nothing is a given, and I need to really save as much as possible to get ready to have this done. Yes I would LOVE kitchen cabinets, or the stairwell to be fixed up, or the bathrooms to be done asap (these will get done this year), or a myriad of other tasks. But the fact is... if I want to have a kid, I need a room for him/her. So this year there is not going to be the kinds of transformations we saw last year. This year is more about functionality. My 2010 New Years Resolution was to become more handy. My 2011 is to become a better hostess. So just a heads up that the general theme of this year will be working more to make my house a more livable home by increasing storage, functionality, and organization.

Anywho. more pics to come soon, finally got some hanging done!!! (I've had some decorations that have been waiting forever to make it to the wall).

Other things to look forward to:
- finishing the bathrooms
- making a walkway to the front of the house
- better tending the garden
- creating an outdoor "hang out" area with table and chairs, and putting in a dog run
- organizing and cleaning out the porch to make it a usable area at least in the warmer days
- window treatments that are not paper blinds

Rewind: Dec 2010, Installed the Sink & Toilet

So we went to get the sink and toilet installed, but the toilet had gotten cracked at some point... so we got a different toilet. Then we got the toilet installed and went to put the door on the bathroom, but turns out the sink was installed too close and the door wouldn't close. So we had the plumber come back and move the sink, but now I need to get the moulding fixed (It was put on based on the original position of the sink.) Either way it's coming along!




(Before)

Painting in the DA-ARK, Oh OH, oh-oh

So it was a Billy Idol evening as we sang to ourselves "Painting in the Dark" to Dancing with Myself AND "Paint without a Light" to Eyes without a Face. Had nothing to do with alcohol. The Bud Light with Lime didn't come until we ran out of lyrics.



Oh, when there's no way to get light,
In the bathroom crowded tight,
I just grab a brush cuz I'm in a rush,
And I'm painting in the Da-ark...






So let's sink another beer,
Cuz it's gettin hot in here,
I'm on a roll, up on the wall,
And I'm painting in the Da-ark...



OH-Oh... oh-oh.




Paint without a light,
No clue if it's done right, paint without a light,
Tryin' to wash these rollers white, paint without a light...



Seriously though... if you don't like Billy Idol- blame Roxanne, she's the one that got me into him. If you think we rock, credit Roxanne.

:)

What's New?

First...MY KITTY relaxing in the living room:



OK... enough kitties...Updates:

getting rid of the wholes in the door by hammering in ill fitting white pegs...



peeling off the tape...this is what blue tape did...


peeling off the tape...this is what the green tape did...


LESSON: GO GREEN!


bought this chair...(along with a coffee and side table)...


my living room is now cozy...



and so we had a PARTY! (well invited over 2 friends)...



This is my porch. Apparently there are people in town complaining about the appearance of my porch hurting their property values. So instead of spending my money on a sink in my bathroom, or insulating pipes in my basement, or getting a basement door, or windows that close, or screens without holes, or cabinets in my kitchen, or up to code plumbing with scald guards, or fix the grout in my shower, or blinds for the rest of my house other than bedroom, or shelves in my pantry,... I could go on...

THEY believe TOP of that list is trimming the hedges to proper shape, putting in a walkway to a front door I don't use, and emptying a porch I use as convenient storage and instead storing tools, tiles, and stuff I plan to sell in a basement or attic or garage where it's not as climate controlled or easily accessible, SO THAT when they drive by... the look of my front porch is more appealing to them.




SO I will be figuring out how to get a happy medium accomplished AND FAST.

The Month of Nothing Done

So the electrician did his final inspection. Now I need to get the town guy to come out and sign off. THEN I can get vents going. I think my guy for the vents is getting me an estimate this weekend. He originally did not think he would have to damage the walls in the upstairs bathroom. Now he things he might. Boo. I asked that he try to do it by damaging the hall outside the bathroom instead (this is why I haven't finished the hall- so that in circumstances like this it's all good :).

I hope the light we end up putting in there is brighter. I have this BEAUTIFUL blueish greenish deep wall color that I love, but the light in the room is so yellow that it just distorts it all and makes it look kinda crummy.

July isn't going to be much better. Going to the shore (YAY AUNT DEBBIE!) this weekend. Then I have work on the 10th, 18th, 25th, and I think 31st. Baptism on the 11th, graduation party on the 17th, birthday that I will likely miss but if I can make it to part of I will on the 18th, and no party but both of my brothers' birthdays are this month and will need to be attended to. Oh, and trying to get to a Lady Gaga concert.

So fun stuff, just not terribly house-ish stuff. We do mow the lawn on a regular basis, and have recently looked into the recycling situation. Also, Brendan put up a shelf! (Perhaps I will get a picture of that).

Oh, and we still have the two trees in our back yard. There were two folks that offered to take them- neither of which has had time. And so now one of them I am pretty sure has a new resident: the most ADORABLE chipmunk. It will be sad when he loses his home. *Think Ferngully*

Anywho, that's it for now!

Still Alive- But a Little Held Up

So I am still living in a mess, but here's the thing...
1. have to have closets and shelves and space to organize,...
2. have to have bathrooms done to increase closets and shelves (right now bathroom vanities, mirrors, cabinets, and supplies are all over... once bathrooms are done I will have my closet back, and I will have cabinets in the bathrooms for towels and linens and toilet paper, etc...)
3. have to be able to finish my downstairs bathroom before I can take apart the toilet to do the upstairs...
4. have to paint downstairs bathroom before getting plumber in to put in vanity and toilet...
5. have to have ventilation fans put in before painting (they have to cut open the walls)...
6. have to get the final inspection done from my previous work permits from the town before I can get started on the vents
And the dude's apparently been busy for the last few weeks!!!
Grr. Arg...

Oh well, I have been busy anyways: birthdays (mine on the 23rd) baby shower, wedding, town street festival, visiting family, graduation parties and ceremonies, etc...

HAPPY SUMMER!

Vanity

It's Arriving @ Lowes SATURDAY




This is what it will look like in my bathroom (note the awesome sand paint, bath tile, bronzed faucet, and floor tile).

Lazy Updates

So I was a little lazy and lacking in wit last night and for the most part just posted pictures with little to no real explanation.

Here's where I stand. I need to paint the downstairs bathroom, a vanity for the downstairs bathroom, and I need to paint trim in the bedroom. Actually I need to paint trim everywhere. But here is why those first two things need to happen:

Once I paint the trim in the bedroom, I can
1) put the furniture in its final resting place
2) fill the furniture with the clothing currently residing everywhere but in drawers
3) take tupperwares of clothing out of attic (thereby clearing attic space) and go through and organize what I need and don't need (mostly basing it on what I can fit reasonably in two Tupperware, half a closet, a pant trolley, and drawers)
4) Have a clean organized room.
5) Organize desk area / unpack my office supplies currently loitering in Brendan's office.
6) Hang pictures (there by also clearing space in attic room and living room).

Once I paint and get the vanity for the downstairs I can:
1) Call the plumber to hook up toilet, sink, and radiator in downstairs bathroom, as well as check plumbing in shower
2) Put an above the toilet cabinet in
3) Begin unpacking toiletries in a more permanent manner
4) Clear out (take apart toilet) in upstairs bathroom
5) Floor upstairs bathroom
6) Return tile saw (clearing area in sun room)
7) Have plumber back to put in upstairs vanity and toilet (also clearing area in sun room)
8) Put in linen closet/shelving in nook by shower
9) Unpack rest of toiletries-towels-linens, freeing up space in living room, bedroom, attic, and closet downstairs.

At that point, ladies and gents... I will be able to walk in my sun room again, thereby being able to organize for a garage sale. I am not 100% sure I have enough for a real garage sale but I think I do... (sink, vanity, books, toys, porcelain dolls, may be a book shelf, dvds, stereo, etc...) also once I have the room to move and put things, I may have more that I don't even know of. I will also happily at that point take things from others to sell in their stead in a grand ol' joint sale.

After that? I get to actually focus on making the place presentable to have company (yay).

So there it is- the hold ups: I am lazy and sick of painting (getting over that this weekend) and Lowe's won't get me my vanity (supposedly arriving tonight).

A Tale of Tiles

So my pics make Brendan look like a bystander- but I swear he did a lot of it!










When it was complete, it reminded me of a cloudy sky. I LOVE it.

TIMBER!

So a tree limb fell on my house and Brendan's car. I originally thought Brendan fell down the stairs and so was relieved to see it was only a tree. I've called both house and car insurance (and now wonder what will become of that- do they really up my premium over an 'act of god' as they call it?). House had 2 holes in the roof- got those patched. Going to check the siding, and Brendan's car DEF needs some body work. By the end of this year that car will practically be new (already replaced engine block, turbo charger, some gaskets, and it needs a new clutch).

So I have some tree in my back yard, pre chopped, any one need any wood?

:)

On a happier note, I have a FLOOR in my downstairs bathroom!!!! Now I just need to paint and put in a toilet and vanity!

Pics to come!

The Vitals

By Sunday night we made sure we had...

...somewhere to sleep...




...somewhere to shower...




...and first time, Monday night, somewhere to cook...



Pasta and Sauce compliments of my next door neighbor. Sauce was homemade!

Brendan is a Genius!

So the upstairs bathroom has been smelling particularly rank. I blamed it on it being upstairs, heat rising, it being humid out, no ventilation, etc... but all that being said- the prospect of it being unfixable seemed pretty miserable.

In typical fashion I looked to solve it. Unfortunately I didn't know where we packed the matches/lighters and so my candles were unhelpful.

BRENDAN, however, realized the uncovered pipe from the sink (that's been exposed for weeks), had dried out, and so septic vapours were coming up. My genius boyfriend poured some water in to fill the S trap, and covered with cellophane to keep it from drying.

WAA-LAA, no more stink.

Just When You Thought It Was Safe...

...Brendan's family came to help do the floors in the bathroom, unfortunately we were put off by some leaky plumbing.




AND YES, THAT IS WHAT YOU ARE THINKING... MORE (AND PREVIOUSLY UNSEEN PATTERN OF) WALLPAPER.

The Day Before Tomorrow (Friday)

The Plan: Wake up. Send Brendan off to work after he loads the boxes I have already packed. Pack more boxes. Drive each load over. Go to Lowe's and finalize vanity plans as well as check out shelving options. Be at house between 1:45- 3:45 for the washer/dryer delivery. Make sure I am in and around the house from 10 am on so when the carpet guys call I can get to house within 30 mins. Get carpet installed.

What happened: Wake up. Get phone call from carpet guys that they are on their way @ 7:30 am. Panic. Call Mom to have her or someone go by the house. She sends Dad. Carpet people call- no one at the house. They are at the wrong house. Dad calls, they won't lay the carpet without heat. He starts space heaters, but they refuse to come back later. Bedroom remains carpetless.





I run to Lowe's and yell. Spend next few hours trying to get a plumber to attach radiators and or a carpet installer to,... well install carpet. Eat left over indian food at like 10 am.



Pace through cold house. Freak out in warm car. Washer and dryer arrive 45 mins early. Dude refuses to push it in all the way, plays the "language card", until it comes time to explain how I can rate him afterwards, 5 is the top rating. Dad shows up and pushes it in for me. Washer/dryer dudes leave.



Later I find they broke my screen door frame. I unpack boxes that are in the car. Discover and kill nasty bugs.



Brendan arrives. We go out to dinner. (I swear this is the last time my fridge looks like THIS on the inside.



Determined to do SOMETHING productive and right, I prime the bathroom while Brendan does work in his office.





And then we go home to the apartment for the last time.

P.S. This is all from LAST Friday (04/23/10). I am just a week behind in posting.

They Came Bearing Muffins, Fruit, & Juice

Sunday morning we arrived and Bone Daddy had already arrive with Aunt Debbie AND had already started cleaning house.




At times the work was 'fun.'




Other times it was downright scary.




Mostly it was exhausting.




But after those moments of spite and rage against inanimate objects subsided...




...there were moments of victory that made it all worth while (yes- I found and destroyed yet MORE wallpaper).








Victory or slight delirium?




All in all we got some trim painted, the yard and house perimeter largely cleaned up, the downstairs bathroom primed, kitchen scrubbed, and one toilet taken apart/one toilet put together. There was caulking and scrapping and disposing of sorts. The muffins were awesome; we need a wegmans up here in the boonies.

Coming up... the big move!!!

Passive Progessiveness

Saturday was marred by a dentist appointment midday (I have 4-5 cavities), but otherwise we had the carpet area measured and the cable guy.

Surprisingly the wires leading to the house were old and needed to be replaced. Fortunately this was not MY problem. The Optimum peeps took care of it.


Brendan put the mirror/medicine cabinet in the wall in the upstairs bathroom.



This is the vanity I am putting in there.




My bedroom now has cable & baseboard.




The living room has cable as well. (I know what you are thinking... cable in my living room AND bedroom? That's right, I'm a fatcat banker.)




This is the cover for my plumbing; it needs to be painted. Also, as you can see-we've started taping for trim painting.