I Just Wanted a New Tub November 6, 2007

One year ago we moved into this house, with lots of dreams in mind.  There were so many projects we were anxious to do and we had big ideas of adding on to the upstairs and adding a game room.  A year later we are wiser and coming to terms with what is really going to work around here.  We rennovated the kitchen first, although we still hate the cabinets.  While everything else in the kitchen is to our liking, we plan on having new cabinets built after the holidays.  The ones we have just are not salvageable.  The upstairs has been completely redone (although no add-on) and I now have an awesome home office where I can do school work and otherwise escape from my family!  We had new windows and siding installed, as well as new doors.  And then there’s the bathroom.

Exactly 11 months ago, The Hubby started tearing into the bathroom.  It started because the hot water heater had previously exploded, soaking the floor, and causing the floor to rot.  We knew about it when we bought the house, but we didn’t realize the full extent of the damage.  We wound up having to completely tear the whole floor up and put new floor in.  We tore out the shower, got rid of the claw foot tub and added a new corner shower and two person Jacuzzi tub.  We tiled the new floor and painted.  And then….the tile started coming up.  And we decided we hated the color of the paint.  And this project grew.

 So as I said, it’s 11 months later and the bathroom remains unfinished.  We got into a burnout phase where we didn’t want to touch anything.  Electrical wires were haphazardly strung around for lighting.  The ceiling was open to the upstairs storage.  Half the floor was tiled.  We were just sick of the whole thing.  But now we’re having Squeaks’ 2nd birthday party here Friday night and we’ve decided it’s time to kick it into high gear.  There is no excuse for having a bathroom remodel that lasts almost a year!  So we’ve been working night and day to get it done.  While we might not be 100% finished (think molding and such) by Friday, we will have a fully functional, much better looking bathroom (or so I hope).  So this week you can catch me up to my ears in paint, mud, mortar, grout, and all things bathroom!

Insert Witty Title Here September 26, 2007

You know that garage sale I’ve been wanting to have for over a year now?  We finally had it this weekend.  And I’m giving you, oh blogging community, the opportunity to kick my ass if I ever talk about having one again.  It was that bad.

For starters, we did it at the last minute, so there was a total lack of advertising.  We did put up signs, but that was the extent of it.  Second, instead of having it at my parents’ nice, in-town house, we decided to host it at our own, out in the middle of nowhere home.  Granted, there is a pretty busy highway not far away that we posted signs at….but you get the idea.

So we had it all set up and had things priced way too cheap.  And we waited.  And waited.  And waited.  After almost 2 hours, one crazy old bat showed up and bought most everything we had (yay!).  She then started eyeing the clawfoot tub (which was the love of my life until Mr. Corner Jacuzzi came around).  Old Bat mentioned that her daughter was fixing up and house and yada, yada, yada.  She sends the daughter over.  I made the mistake of going inside to grab a bite to eat, leaving The Hubby as the dealmaker.  He ends up selling my precious tub for much less than it is worth (it has the original feet on it which can fetch a nice price).  The lady pays him the money, but won’t be able to come pick the tub up until the next day. 

Not 10 minutes after that lady left, our new neighbors stopped by.  The wife made a beeline for the tub that I had just hung a “sold” sign on.  She fell in love with the tub before she noticed the sign.  To make a long story short, she was looking for a tub just like that and was willing to pay much, much more than what we got from the other lady.  It made me sick.  Not only could we have made more money, but our neighbor would have appreciated it more than the woman who bought it (she’s painting it red!).

By 11:30 that morning, things had slowed down again and we decided it was time to close down.  We wound up with so much crap left over, but we’re so sick of it that we’re taking it to the domestic abuse shelter.  Hopefully someone can use it.  All I know is that it’s out of my house!  We finally have our 4 bedroom home back!

My Own Space! June 27, 2007

We’ve lived in the house since October of last year and we’re just now finally finishing the unpacking! Most of it is junk that we can live without, so it’s just been stored in the middle bedroom this whole time. We’ve been planning a garage sale for about a year and we’re now finally getting around to it, so now we’re going through the junk boxes.

But there’s this part that I’m really excited about. Upstairs is a little loft bedroom. It is small and quaint, but I’ve got big dreams of it being “my” room. An office, a space just for me. The problem is that it’s full of my MIL’s junk (nope, she didn’t take all of her stuff with her when she moved). We’ve been nice and stashed her stuff long enough, but now it’s going. She either has to come and get it or it’s going in the yard sale. It’s not that we’re being mean about it, we just want the space. This house has 4 bedrooms and 2 of them are full of her stuff. So we started clearing out the loft room last night.

And I’m so excited! I’m dying to paint it and move in office furniture. I’ve picked out the perfect chair to put by the window, where I can read. I’ve got a great place to put a desk where I can do my homework. And I can’t quit looking at end tables! and shelves! and framed prints! I have these big dreams and I just can’t wait any longer!

I know I sound nuts, but I’m in this house all day with a crazy toddler and I want a space that I can call my own. The Hubby gets his own room, too, so it’s all fair. However, he’s putting in sports equipment, a poker table, an air hockey table, etc., so you know I’ll be joining him in his space, as well!

Alex to the Third May 23, 2007

I sit here blogging to the sound of hammering and sawing. Our new siding is going up as we speak. Let’s just say it’s been an adventure thus far. We went through a very reputed company around here who does excellent work. But their workers…oh, their workers. They are 3 Russian fellows, all named Alex (and if you’re my husband, you suspect that they share a social security number, as well).

They all showed up about 2 weeks ago to do a sample area to make sure we like the color, but we had no idea they were coming. They woke me up by beating on my bedroom window, then we managed to have a very strange conversation in which none of us could understand each other. Finally after phone calls to their English-speaking boss, we got things lined out. And now today they are beginning the real work.

I know they think I’m spying on them (and I am), but they crack me up. All you have to do is step outside and say “Alex” and you have 3 of them looking at you. And the best part is they take a break every half hour or so to sit around on my back patio, eating snacks out of lunch baggies and drinking what I suspect is vodka. They’ve been here all day, yet I am seeing very little work done.

Normally this kind of thing would piss me off, but I’m out of school right now and lacking for entertainment. I know that they are competent workers, so I am simply going to sit back and laugh at them for awhile. And besides, we haven’t yet paid them a single penny. They get their check when they’re finished and we’re satisfied, so they can dick around all they want but I hold the power!

Work, Work, and More Work May 15, 2007

Oh what a busy time it’s been! We’ve been doing our best to get rid of the hillbilly look that our house has. And by that I mean that we got new windows installed, are getting new siding, we tore off our white-trash-screen-porch, and are finishing up the indoor projects.

And to top it all off, we already have a screen torn on one of the new windows that were installed Friday. I was so pissed at first, but it was a total accident made by a close friend who was helping us tear off the porch. Thankfully we opted for the lifetime warranty, so the screen should be fixed in a week or so!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother’s Day. Mine was….different. I’ll have a whole other post about it in a day or two. Until then, I’ll be quite busy getting this housework done!