fullygoldy | Entries tagged with house

October 2013

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
		1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30	31

Syndicate

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags

Today has been pretty sucky. Work "team" shenanigans, a-fuckton-of-work-due-at-the-end-of-the-day-dumped-on-my-desk-at-noon sucky. I finished that, at the expense of a bunch of other stuff that needs doing, and with the aid of a Capitol Amber for the last hour (working from home has a few perks). I believe I will avoid thinking about work for at least 48 hrs now.

And our Wisconsin legislature has been up to all kinds of crappy shenanigans this week. If I think about THAT with any amount of the attention it deserves, I will spend the weekend in tears. Suffice to say, this slut votes, and I'll keep voting until they pry my voter registration card out of my cold dead hands. And then I will haunt their asses for all eternity.

On the upside, DH finished a couple of painting projects. So now our 4 side dining chairs are a deep deep blue that matches the console we're using for the bar, and the 2 end chairs are a buttermilk yellow. The yellow and blue farmhouse theme is complete in the dining room. The three hand-me-down bar stools in the kitchen (formerly forest green legs with honey stained seats) are now the same blue as the cabinets with black seats. I love my kitchen, and this is just icing that makes me happy happy. I'm calling this the anti-dote to today's suck, and planning to have it carry me through to Monday.

Summer has flirted with us all week, so this evening, we're going to hang out with some friends, and hear some music I've never heard before, and view some cult classic movie, and probably imbibe in too many adult imbibe-ables. So there, Friday. You're not the boss of me.

Current Location: home planet

Design Day has a totally different connotation if you're a mechanical engineer. Thankfully, I am NOT.

Saturday morning, I redid my journal design. I've been meaning to do something different with it for awhile, but I've been uninspired in that area. However, and NPR piece on Friday afternoon resolved that. Did you know last week was the 100th anniversary of Bette Davis's birth? The new title and subtitle of my journal come from the closing lines of the report. And of course, if you're paying homage to a glam 40s hollywood star (I refuse to add 'let' to the end - it's derogatory and diminishes her stature), you've got to have martinis in there somewhere.

Later, Saturday morning, DH and I decided that we'd undertake rearranging the great room after all. He had planned to do some of the prep work during the week, but then wasn't feeling well at all on Wed & Thurs, so I thought we'd be putting it off. But a day of rest Fri left him feeling pretty able to do some heavy lifting. We've got a big greatroom that includes the kitchen, dining and living room, and this room has been rearranged in many ways over the years, but not since we began the kitchen remodel. I've been wanting to mount a flat screen TV over the fireplace and move the dining table from in front of the fire place into the alcove facing the front yard. This plan wouldn't work without a flat screen in hand, I foolishly thought. DH did some measuring and figured out our existing TV will fit in the fireplace! LOL.

So we cleaned and vacuumed the fireplace, rerouted the cable through the ash cleanout (!!) and started moving stuff. Of course, this kind of undertaking also means you get a lot of heavy cleaning done, because you can suddenly see all the dust bunnies that have been hiding, so the place is pretty sparkly now (except for muddy dog tracks on the P-Lam from all his trips to the back yard. The sofa, loveseat and recliner are grouped around the fireplace, and every seat has access to a convenient horizontal surface. I've claimed the sofa seat nearest the TV and hearth because it also has ready access to a plug for my laptop and because I don't need a super good view of the TV, since I mostly just listen. The buffet/sideboard is now where the loveseat used to be, and it is housing my small collection of teapots on the top of the hutch. I'm extremely pleased by this. The former TV armoire is still in the same alcove, but is now on the former sofa wall. It is serving as a temporary stand-in for another sideboard/bar. Yep, the TV opening now houses our bar. If we were going to keep this piece (we think it's too tall for the spot), we'd paint it black, line the bar opening with mirrors, possibly tile the bar shelf, and add an interior shelf for glassware. I think it would look really good that way, but we're not happy with its proportions for the long haul. The lower cabinet houses our favorite family games (which we play at the table), and table linens. I've got no idea what's going to go on the lower shelf of the buffet now, but whatever it is will have to be decorative since it's wide open. The table centers on the wall between the 2 windows. That wall space will soon be occupied by antique plates.

Also, the windows will soon have drapes! This is a major event, since I have not deigned to have curtains or drapes in my living room or bedroom since I've been married (although we've occasionally had blinds). It's the CA gal in me - I came from the land of wide-open windows. It's very hard to dress a wall of glass with drapes without it clashing with the scenery. While DH is off on his 5-day adventure to New Orleans next week, I'll be installing the rods and sewing the drapes. The rods are black with "bird cage" finials. The drapes are being made from a dragonfly pattern fabric. I had originally thought a blue toile pattern would work, but HB has a total aversion to toile (it can be very fussy), so I found the dragonfly fabric. It looks like dragonflies were stamped all over a white background with royal blue ink. So it's got somewhat of a toile feel, but is more casual/playful. The panels will have tab tops and buttons on the back so that I can add an insulating liner in the winter. I haven't decided on the tie-backs yet.

I'll continue to work on this for the next few weeks I'm sure, but today we have to find summer-weight slacks for DH, get groceries, finish laundry and go OUTSIDE to soak up some sun.

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: home planet
Current Music: teakettle

I can't believe I've been up, and alone for 2.5 hrs! The house is so quiet, and I'm just doing my thing - refreshing the flist, posting, reading. Nice. Also, I've been drinking tea and just finished a plate of eggs & toast. yum

Last year, I requested a really pretty teapot for an xmas gift. The one I wanted was green with tiny ceramic pinecones scattered around it. It has a classic teapot shape. Well, after using it a couple of times, it just sat on the shelf all year long. I thought maybe we'd quit using it because it seems too xmas-y for year round use. Then I got the white one a little while ago, and we've used it frequently. Hmmm. Last night, I came home from work and B had made me a pot of tea in the green pot. Well, silly us, we didn't drink it last night, since I wanted to go for dinner right away (hungry!), but it was there when I got up, so I thought I'd reheat a cup. Now I know why we stopped using this pot. No matter what I do, when pouring out from this pot, a puddle of tea forms on the tabletop. Arrrgh. I even tried pairing a saucer with the pot to catch drips, but it never worked. After 2 cups poured this morning, I've realized this pot is destined to be admired instead of used. ::sigh::

( Dinner Review )

The kids and I got flu shots right after Tday. B won't be getting any kind of vaccines until he's completely off the immune suppressants. It's almost been the 2 weeks to take the full effect. So far, Mavis, B & I seem to have come down with minor colds. I woke up with a sore throat due to drainage. yech. The tea is helping alot.

The xmas village is nearly complete - just a little more "snow" is required in 2 neighborhoods. The only thing left is deciding what to do about the stair rail. We even have a tree in our room this year (last year's fiber optic tree), and lots of sparkly ornaments dangling from the two ficus trees at the end of the bed. Plus blue bubble lights in the giant schefflara in the corner. When we're in the bed with the xmas lights on, the "sky" is awash in northern lights! It's really cool.

Also - no phone interview yesterday, and no explanation why from HR. But my mgr said not to worry, something must have come up and she'll get back to me.

Things to do today: Get "snow," ~~groceries~~, ~~laundry, pay bills~~, clean house. Yep - tons of fun. Also: ~~download the podfic~~ of Written by the Victors although I'm going to have to burn it to cd and listen in the car - its 5+ hours!! I can't wait though. The story by cesperanza is awesome, and 30-something people (world-wide) worked together to make the podfic. How cool is that? Talk about your transformative works.

Current Mood: awake
Current Location: still earth
Current Music: quiet

We had a lovely 4-day weekend. I banked some extra hours so I could take Fri off too.

Wed. night we made the cranberry jello mold, and prepped pie crust and ate chinese food.

Thursday we lounged around in jammies all day, reading and playing dominoes, watching parades and football, cooking and eating. There were lots of yummy things from the eggnog pancakes and bacon for breakfast, to 5 kinds of cheese, pate de foie gras, grapes, pistachios, and a fancy relish tray from Whole Food's olive bar for snacks, to Turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, oyster dressing, cranberry relish and asparagus for dinner, and finally cherry and pumpkin pies for dessert. There were also interesting beverages - sparkly juices and Jones soda and wine. Survivor and CSI were fun things to watch in the evening. That Hodges is such a geek.

Friday I cleaned and organized a chunk of the basement. DH and I went to "The Garage Project" on University to see the latest and greatest in organizational systems for your garage and/or basement. I'm interested in the basement applications. DH wants to adapt a few items to the kitchen, specifically to his baking center he's dreaming about. For dinner, we met up with

bzdchris and

busman1994 at the Dane. I had 2 strongbow ciders and split the mac n cheese with DH, in addition to sampling some appetizers. Then we went home just in time to learn Stargate:Atlantis was not airing. Poo. Watched half of a SG-1 episode and then retired to the romantically lit bedroom. The candles cast cool shadows on the ceiling of the leaves of the two trees that are wintering at the foot of our bed. I could just lie there and stare at the shifting patterns for hours.

Saturday was another relaxing day. We lounged around all day, with

bzdchris and

busman1994 arriving about 2. We watched music documentaries, played dominoes and snacked like divas. We also sampled some "Demolition Ale" from Goose Island - really yum with the Styrian Goldings and Saaz hops. :;sigh:: The boy had a music lesson, so I left the house for exactly one hour on Sat.

Sunday was still pretty quiet, with DH and I discussing plans for rearranging the living room/dining room, and what furniture purchases the plan would require. We discussed the overall look some more and agreed in principle on many things. :) Then we headed out for an afternoon of errands and grocery shopping. Heh. First stop was a furniture store "to get an idea" of what "may be available when we're ready." We ended up purchasing a contemporary Lane recliner with cream leather upholstery for nearly half price. We didn't want leather. We didn't want a recliner. But this was the nicest, most comfortable chair in the store and it was HALF price! So we sheepishly put the hold on it so we could go swap cars (it wouldn't fit in the Subaru) and pick it up later. Then we dropped by the mall to redeem our See's candies gift certificates (free chocolate!), and did a light run at the grocery store. Finally, we took the groceries home and headed back to the store to claim our chair. While I deboned the leftover turkey, and determined there was enough for my creamed turkey and DH's pot pie cravings, DH spent most of the evening reclining in splendor ;) the rest, he spent petting me. I was a happy happy girl by the time I closed my eyes for good last night. There's just something about creamed turkey with peas, a couple of glasses of wine and rampant consumerism, ya know?

This morning started with me realizing that I could easily spend $2000 on furniture at American TV and receive a free 32" Toshiba LCD HDTV. No one told us about this promotion while we were at the store, which is probably a good thing. I just have to continue resisting until Saturday when the sale ends. I don't need to spend $2000 on furniture. I really really don't. Yes, I would like to have another one of those chairs, and a set of matching dining room chairs to boot. But I have other things that are much higher on the priority list. I am strong. I will resist.

Current Mood: bored
Current Location: still earth

This weekend, we got some good work done around the house, but not exactly what I’d planned to accomplish. The basement was refusing to dry out, and the cheapo bookshelves down there were waterlogged at the bottom to the point the uprights actually cracked and started to buckle. So, I boxed up all the books and stored them in the unfinished space (off the floor), in preparation for tearing out the soaked carpet. Yes, carpet and pad can be successfully dried in place, but only with serious tools and I didn’t feel like paying for those services – the carpet isn’t worth as much as the services would have cost. So the boy and I spent a good bit of Saturday hauling carpet out of the basement, and I got all but two loads of laundry washed in the meantime.

( the music collection has a new home )

Current Location: still earth

Although I gave up my career in water damage restoration and mold remediation before I even started my LJ, I'm thinking this week's weather is a sign that I should talk about it now. So here is a quick and dirty FAQ for all my friends list dealing with water intrusions.

Number 1: When do I need a water restoration professional?
A: Call a professional as soon as you realize you cannot get fully dry by yourself within 24 hours. So, really, if you have more than a washing machine full of water on your floor, you probably need help.

Number 2: What should I do first?
A: Remove as much liquid water as possible. Mops, buckets, pumps, towels, siphons - whatever works on the amount of water you have. It is 100 times harder to evaporate standing liquid water than water that is trapped in building materials. Set up a dehumidifier. Do not set up fans unless you have a dehu. Fans will force evaporation, so drying will go faster, but only if you have a mechanism for removing the moisture from the air. No dehu means that evaporated water will invade your possessions and building materials.

Number 3: How do I know my "professional" is a professional?
A: Look at their tools. Do they have moisture meters? Are they taking humidity readings? Are the dehumidifiers the size of a kegerator and wrapped in stainless steel? (In this case you *can* judge a book by its cover because there is only one acceptable dehu on the industrial market. If your company's dehu is blue plastic, it's not really going to do the job as fast as you want it to.) Did the machine that extracted water from your carpet need two cords and did someone ride on it? Can they explain in english exactly what they're doing for you?

Number 4: If they don't have these kick-ass tools, am I screwed?
A: Probably. But not absolutely. If they can tell you *why* they're placing the number of fans and dehus in your house (you have xxx cubic feet requiring drying, therefore, I need xx fans and x dehus to get you dry in 36-48 hours). If they come back *every* day to check your progress, *and* they're checking your relative humidity to determine progress, it'll go slower, but they'll get you completely dry.

Number 5: Do I have to throw away everything that got wet? Tear out all my soggy carpet?
A: It depends. If the water damage comes from a broken supply line or rain that entered through a hole in your house (some kind of potable water), you can probably dry everything (including carpet) and be fine (books will look funny but you won't *have* to throw them away). If black water was the culprit - be prepared to get rid of EVERYTHING porous that the water touched.

Number 6: What is black water?
A: Anything that came from a drain or sewer line (poo). Anything that came out of a body of water or flowed over the ground (flood waters) before it entered your house.

Number 7: What is the definition of porous?
A: For our purposes, anything made of cloth, paper, or cardboard. Carpet & pad, laminate flooring, drywall, wallpaper, upholstered furniture, books, newspapers, particle board, stuffed animals, draperies - get the picture? Hardwood floors technically don't fall into this category, but they're so hard to dry correctly, you may as well tear them up too.

Number 8: What can I safely keep?
A: Anything non-porous can be cleaned and sanitized and kept. Glass, metal, plastic, finished hardwood furniture (your family antiques might need refinishing). The studs in your walls can be sanitized, dried, and sanded if necessary. Brick and block can be pressure washed and sanitized.

Number 9: What proactive things can I do to minimize damage?
A: Always respond to leaks and mysterious water appearances immediately. Store your stuff in waterproof bins and containers, or up on shelves. Never put cardboard boxes in contact with concrete or masonry. That means set them up on pallets or shelves, and leave an air gap all around. Even without an obvious flood, the moisture that is wicked into cardboard out of concrete is enough to allow mold to get a foothold and destroy the contents of those boxes. As soon as you open the boxes, you release the mold into your home and it finds new places to grow and cause problems.

Number 10: What do I say to my insurance company?
A: Always, ALWAYS say "I've got a water problem." Never lead with the word 'mold.' Most insurance companies are finding ways to not have to deal with mold. But if in the course of restoring your water loss, they find mold, or mold develops, it usually gets classed as part of the "water loss." If they get hinky, make sure you start talking about the health issues of your family members - allergies, respiratory illnesses are all impacted by water losses and mold. They don't want to be responsible for your medical care, so they're going to take better care of your house.

Current Location: home planet yay!
Current Music: tony bennett

Yesterday, in the middle of prep for Foie Fest,

barley52said, "Oh I forgot to tell you, that table saw you wanted dropped in price again."
"What?"
"Yeah, it's down to $87."
"Alright. Get in the car."
::barley laughs::
"I said, get in the car!' You think I'm kidding, but I'm not."

You see, way back in the early days of 2007, Menard's had a 10" table saw on display that was about $169. It comes with its own stand, and 5000 rpms. It has the same horsepower as the Porter Cable model, and I liked the deck better, plus, its a 13 amp draw instead of a 15. This means I can plug it into any outlet in my house, instead of having to search for one of the few 20 amp circuits, none of which are in my garage or workshop.

However, I really only have one project on my plate that requires a table saw, so I didn't think that the bargain price of $169 could quite be justified. I passed on by. And I kept passing on by, every time I set foot in Menard's. Passing by and petting said table saw, giving it longing glances and heartfelt sighs just became another part of my hardware store routine. Then the price dropped to about $129. Well. That was something to consider. OTOH, I do have a boy living in my house who likes to "borrow" things that don't belong to him without asking first. He tends to lose or break these things. When I seriously considered bringing home a table saw, I realized that I was also going to have to accept the probability that the boy would soon be missing some fingers.

Once again, I passed up the saw. I can always just rent a table saw when I finally get off my butt and finish the paneling in the kitchen. Instead, I bought DH a shiny red 6-drawer locking tool chest. Now his portable tools are safe from the boy. At the same time, we decided to splurge on a new canvas gazebo for the outdoor table. The last one was yanked from the ground and flung against the house during a thunderstorm. Needless to say, it was no longer recognizable as a gazebo at that point. DH is not allowed to request shiny new toys for at least 6 months.

Sometime in the past two weeks, DH noticed the saw was down to $119. It's so very tempting at that price. DH mentioned it to our neighbor who said something like, shoot, at that price, I should buy it, and then you can borrow it when you need it. Well, he didn't get around to buying it, we didn't get around to renting and then, another price drop.

Voila! Goldy has a shiny new table saw in the garage. It's still in the box. We haven't decided if we should store it here or at the neighbor's though. On the way to pick it up, I was talking to my mom, and for once she didn't immediately pooh-pooh my acquisition choices. She just said, "Please be careful. You realize you ARE genetically predisposed toward losing fingers to a table saw." Yes. I know. She's right. At least two cousins, a grandfather, an uncle have all lost appendages to power tools. So, I'll be careful. But I'm a happy happy goldy today!

Current Location: planet earth

Dammit! Today is supposed to be the first outdoor ABDC event of the year. A Mothers' Luncheon Al Fresco in our backyard. And sure, we can seat all 11 attendees (barely) at the indoor table, but I've been looking forward to the outdoor dining for about 2 months now. I have flowers! and white linens! and wine glasses that were supposed to sparkle in the mid-day sun, while the lilac bush perfumed the air. ::sigh::

Instead, I awoke to the pitter patter of rain on the windows, grey skies and the front door rug draped over the bush by the front door getting soaked. Also? Twice before going to bed last night, I reminded the boy to make sure the dishwasher would run before morning. I didn't want to have to wait to empty and start reloading it this morning with guest arriving at 11:30. So you can imagine my dismay and ire, upon finding dirty dishes in the dishwasher at 7:30 am. Happy Mother's Day to me.

We managed to rehang our biggest piece of original art in the great room this morning. This piece was a wedding present, and in 20 yrs it has hung in the breakfast room, over the mantle (twice) at the top of the stairs, and now over the sofa. I hope to finish choosing and framing the black and white portraits for the entrance hall soon. DH did a nice job on the two-tone paint, and I can't wait to see the final dressed-up result. We think we'll get our newest acquisition hung at the top of the stairs before guests arrive too.

Okay. I'm off to dress the table, play with flowers and prep the "Soup with No Water." Today's theme is "What would you like to serve your mother?" This soup is my mother's favorite. Or it's her favorite thing to serve me. Or its her favorite thing to serve when she's showing off. Or maybe it's all of the above. Anyway, when I told her last weekend about the theme, she asked, "oh, then what are you serving me?" When I said "the Soup with No Water, of course." She squealed, "Yay!" and clapped her hands. So that's one motherly vote of approval. :) Too bad it's only a virtual meal for her, since she is on the coast and I am not.

Last thing, I dreamt I went to a tattoo parlor with my mom to see about getting my tattoo finally. I've been back and forth about deciding what to get and where to get it. In my dream, I had decided on the rainbow infinity sign that I picked out the last time I was seriously considering this, and the spot at the outside top of my calf that was my original tattoo location (but was intended to be a comma butterfly). I had chosen the infinity symbol for the back of my neck at the base. I didn't get the tattoo in my dream, because we had gone in at the spur of the moment, and I didn't have the pic with me. But I made an appointment to go back. It's an odd dream to me, because my mother would never be caught dead in a tattoo parlor, and I hadn't given the tattoo question any thought in months. I'll have to think about this one.

Current Mood: grumpy
Current Location: still earth
Current Music: dishwasher noise

from Tennessee who won the HGTV 2007 Dream Home tonight. At least he could have been actually enthusiastic about winning OUR HOUSE!!

Come on, it was obviously built for the Deckers - with the kitchen and the blue countertops and the "informal" formal dining room and the two great gathering rooms and the View. Did I mention the view? The continental divide! And the fireplaces! And sleeping space for Eleven!

And they give it to some retired guy who can't even get up the enthusiasm to cheer or woot or anything. Yay, Bob. rah. rah. I bet you don't even like bowling.

Current Location: still earth, but not CO

Here are a few things you need to know when working with electricity. I'm assuming you already know to turn off a circuit before sticking your fingers anywhere near the wires.

( Eight Easy Lessons )

See? Toldya it was easy.

Current Mood: cynical
Current Location: still earth
Current Music: aquarium gurgling

The to-do list is shorter these days, if you're only looking at the major items, or longer if you're paying attention to th picky details. Here's what I've got:

Rupert's Bathroom:
- ~~Re-caulk the junction of the tub and the bath surround~~. The first try didn't take, so I had to clean off all the original silicone to start over. But it's done now.
- ~~Clean the adhesive off the new vinyl floor~~
- ~~Install the TP holder~~ Go Rupert!
- ~~Install the shelf~~ Go, Rupert!
- ~~Install the switchplates~~ Go, me! - I had to cut the holes in the paneling bigger, and reinstall the devices before putting on the covers.
- ~~Set all the finish nails~~ and seal them
Miscellaneous:
- ~~Receive and install the post lamp at the end of the driveway~~
- ~~Find and install a cupboard in the main bathroom~~ Yay! Got to do a project with B!
- ~~Finish getting rid of the trash~~
- ~~Get rid of the old appliances~~ Completed spring 07 by B and busman
- ~~Turn garden beds~~
- ~~Seal and wrap outdoor table for winter~~
- ~~Clean up the gar~~age so the cars will fit inside
- ~~Move coat rack to a better location~~
- ~~Decide on dining area rug~~ completed 07
- ~~Change light bulbs in music room~~
- Clean up music room
- Install gas heater in basement
- ~~Make sure the insulation above the kitchen is all in place~~ thanks busman!
- ~~Repair the sofa~~
Kitchen:
- ~~Paint the old cabinet doors~~ winter 07
- ~~Reinstall the old cabinet doors~~ spring 07
- ~~Finish wiring the 2 floor outlets~~
- Paint the new cabinets (maybe 2008?) sheesh
- ~~Install cabinet hardware (started 11/11)~~
- Finish the cubbies (getting closer - the shelf is in, and the baskets are there, but no paint yet)
- Cut and install the shelves at the end of the counter
- ~~Cut and install the paneling above the cabinets~~ Fall 07
- Caulk the countertop
- ~~Return some drawer organizers~~
- ~~Install drawer~~ ~~and cabinet organizers~~
- ~~Find a mop that works better than a Swiffer~~!
~~Decorate for the Holidays~~! (no real tree or greenery this year)

Everything that has been completed so far, looks really good. We found a really nice rug for the living room area, and Cosmo heartily approves. Yes, some things got done more than once, but the extra effort really paid off. We learned enough on the first go-rounds to get it right the second time, and we're well-equipped to take on new or similar tasks in the future. And, we're still within the original budget we envisioned, with a good half of the work being paid in cash. That's a really good feeling. \o/

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: still earth
Current Music: headline news

It was a long and productive weekend. Friends from Iowa arrived late Friday afternoon to help me whittle down the to-do list.

( What got done )

It was lovely to have visitors and helpers all weekend, and I really do appreciate all the effort expended. I hope "Buddy" is doing well, and will be taken care of in the morning. Hopefully, the mystery of what happened will be cleared up soon.

Currently, I'm sitting next to DH, and he's not the happiest camper. He's got a fever and chills, but his gut x-ray from earlier in the evening showed nothing to be overly concerned with. They're going to take blood cultures from all 3 of his lines in a few minutes, plus stick his arm. They probably won't change anything much before morning, as he's still on serious antibiotics. But these kinds of things really wear on him, especially after having such optimistic news this morning. It's really all part of the process, but it's hard to remember that when you hurt. We may still get to have him home by Halloween, and that's terrific news except for the fact that I'm not entirely done with the house and haven't done the thorough cleaning yet. ::sigh:: "The trick to getting every thing done is knowing what to leave undone.*"

*I believe that's Eleanor Roosevelt, but I don't guarantee it.

Current Mood: disappointed
Current Location: hospital planet
Current Music: world series

Yay! I'm in a good mood today. I've realized that in the past three weeks, I've done a hell of a lot. Of course, I've had a hell of a lot of help from a long list of friends, so I should amend this to say I've orchestrated a hell of a lot of work recently.

Thanks to Mavis, Rupert, Jubal, Toast, Busman, bzdchris, Jeff, Richie, Barley, lezBpoly, Matt, Elizabeth, Tyler, BIL, cutigers03, Ralph, old_man_summer, Oscar, Kevin, Kent, Laurie, Cal, Paul and Sarah C. I'm still pretty much on schedule with this remodeling project. They've helped get the following done:

Demolition
Mold Remediation
Laminate Floor installation
Cabinet installation
Plumbing repairs
Electrical repairs and rework
Drywall repairs
Drywall finishing
Pantry stocking
Setting up plants in a special "terrarium"
Adding felt feet to all the furniture
Choosing cabinet hardware
Bathroom demolition
Purchasing new stuff for Rupert's bathroom
Yard cleanup
Chimney repair and cleaning

All of this help has enabled me to stay closely in touch with Barley52 throughout his hospitalization as well. I get to spend several hours each day with him, and I get to spend time each day with the kids (although a lot of those times also include working on some of the above).

In the process of accomplishing all these things, I've also had an interesting realization. Most construction work is not really *hard.* All it really takes is technique and proper tools, and some upper body strength. If you haven't got above average upper body strength, you can still do the work, it just takes three times as long to get it done. ::sigh:: that's been the thorn in my side through this - I realize how much longer it's taking me to do *anything* I set out to do. I've come up with some helpful tricks - like making sure I have the absolutely perfect tool for the job as much as possible - to help with the time factor, but still. It irks me that I take so long to do a thing. The really hard jobs in construction are masonry (back breaking), drywall finishing (miserable), and roofing (again with the back breaking, plus hot). Rod busting is another really tough one (setting and tying rebar for concrete). But mostly, if you've got patience and a reasonable knowledge of how-to, just about anybody can do the typical remodeling jobs if they really want to.

Tonight, I'll finish the drywall prep and hopefully set the countertop, but I still have to buy grow lights for the basement too. Tomorrow morning, the HVAC ducts are being cleaned, and I may get the kitchen sink installed. Rupert can help me with that one since he's installed that faucet twice already. Matt will be next door if we screw up. Then, rebuilding Rupert's bathroom is next. After that:

~~Two more cabinets go on the walls~~
Some custom shelves need to be cut and installed
Painting of ~~ceilings~~ and cabinets (~~still have to buy paint~~)
Cutting and installing paneling (a small amount)
Wiring the two floor outlets
Finish installing quarter round at floor edges
~~Add hardware to cabinetry~~
Rearrange the contents of all the cabinets
Install new exterior lights

Piece of cake!! Should be no problem to finish before B comes home, unless he makes an amazing recovery and gets sprung by Halloween (which is actually possible!). Go Me! And all my amazing friends!

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: hospital planet

We had a lovely, almost surprise visit from DH's sister, brother-in-law and grown nephew this week. They arrived on Wed night and we just sat around chatting and watching TV that night. Thursday, DH had oral surgery, losing 4 teeth in preparation for his hospital admission next week, so we didn't get to do our autumnal equinox dinner with our friends busman1994, bzdchris, mc_beth and drstarbuck. We're sorry we missed out on the evening and on introducing them all to some of our family. The family arrived at the house mid-afternoon and DH was pretty tired and out-of-it, but unwilling to miss out on catching up, even though his mouth was full of gauze. It took until after dinnertime for him to stop bleeding completely, and he's on a liquid diet until Monday, poor thing. That of course meant he missed out on dinner at the Great Dane with the rest of us, but he needed the rest. More TV and chatting in the evening, and really, it sounds boring but it was so nice. I woke up Friday morning thinking about how pleasant and relaxing it was, and that it was so nice to be in the bosom of our family again. DH & this particular sister have always clicked with each other and we both love her husband and all of their children, and now their children's families. They are just genuinely wonderful, lovely people. So yeah, sitting around for a couple evening with them was like a balm.

On Friday, after the weekly Dr. visit, we worked on the house some. For a full description of remodeling progress, go here. The family left today around noon. It was later than they had originally planned to leave, and we really appreciate their willingness to tie up the loose ends before going. I think SIL was a little tearful as she hugged me goodbye, but I resisted joining her in that - enough time for tears later, you know? BIL gave me his usual warm hug, and I was truly touched and surprised by the fierce hug from nephew. He was such a skinny little kid when I met them all, no more than 4 or 5 at the time,and now he's married (last year's trip to SC)! and Tall! and a wonderful man. Both of his younger sisters had to stay behind this trip, but they've all promised to come back in the spring. I can't wait.

Shortly after the SC contingent headed out, Mom called. She had sent a huge box of See's which arrived yesterday, and she had read our to-do list over on pint_of_cheer. Of course she's worried about us and nervous for us, that's to be expected. I didn't expect her to offer to come out while DH is in hospital, but she did. I hope it works out. She's a little nervous about not looking for another job right away, but she also wants to help us out. Whatever she decides will be fine. She's a fiend with cleaning supplies, so I know if all she does is clean things, I'll be tons better off for it, LOL. But she's also offered to paint things, and that's terrific.

Mavis's boyfriend has been officially inducted into the family I think. He's been given a southern nickname, Cletus Jubal, which I've shortened to Jubal. He's very excited to help with the remodeling stuff, since he's in the construction trades program at school. I think it's cool, but then I would ::g:: I never could get my own kids interested in construction stuff. Jubal is a good kid, and I'm sure we'll miss him when he goes off to the National Guard after graduation.

Current Mood: grateful
Current Location: home planet
Current Music: ND vs MSU

Fan Girl Wannabe

Entries tagged with house

October 2013

Links

Syndicate

Most Popular Tags

Expand Cut Tags

Friday, happy or not, here I come

Design Day

Saturday Catching Up

Thanksgiving Recap

Getting Organized

PSA - Water Damage

Mama's Got a New Power Tool!

Stupid Rain!

Stupid Bob

Electrical Lessons

What's Left

Sunday Update

Go Me!

Family

Profile

Page Summary

Style Credit