It's Christmas in July!
I know I only just packed all these boxes and boxes of stuff from our house in Dayton but opening them this weekend was like having Christmas in July. Ooh! My fiestaware! The coffee pot! Our bed! Our sheets! The clasps for the dog's crate! Whee!
All of the fun-ness was overshadowed a smidge by the occasional discovery of broken or damaged items. Our headboard has an enormous gouge mark in it and a chunk of wood is missing from the face. The mattress is broken. We can sleep on it for now but it will have to be replaced soon-ish because the springs are already poking out of the side of the fabric. The place where we bought it only has locations as far west as OH and WI...I'm just not sure it can be repaired, anyway. Boo. Also, an entire box of coffee cups has to go in the trash. Some of those cups were favorites...the ugly one from LAX that my friend Karen brought me...the pretty blue and white one Gwen's parents bought me when they took me with them to visit Grg her freshman year at Wesleyan...and the funny "disappearing" Bill of Rights mug from my SIL. Boo. I know they're just coffee cups but I love them. Some favorites survived so there's my silver lining.
The furniture is scuffed and lots of things are wobbly. The top of the ship case broke but Michael will have it all fixed by tonight. Oh, and the paint roller extension bar is squashed flat at a pancake. Not a big deal but if I thought it would be squashed beyond repair I would have just given it to my dad. Still can't find the hardware for the futon...we might need to buy new screws and things...All in all, tho, not too bad. The moving company will be hearing from me tomorrow. The headboard and mattress damage is just to great to overlook and losing the futon hardware is just a plain old pain in the arse.
The house is coming together nicely and we're slowly finding places for all of our things. We don't have nearly enough closet space but we're going to hold on to a few of those plastic tubs and will make use of the space saver bags for linens and clothes. The garage has plenty of space and we should be able to park the car in it shortly. We're still sorting out some stuff but I think we can make it all work. But first, I need to empty out the rest of the stuff in the apartment. More pics soon!
7.24.2008
Picture time!
This is the dog trying to beat the heat by digging a hole next to this
lovely bush and then laying in it.
Hello, crazy Jurassic Park-looking plant in the backyard!
This is the dog hiding in the rose bushes because I was inside using the vacuum.
She is such a big baby.
This is Michael's "fierce" face. He does "fierce" better than I do.
Of course, nobody's "fierce" is as good as Gwen's.
Guess where we went?
lovely bush and then laying in it.
Hello, crazy Jurassic Park-looking plant in the backyard!
This is the dog hiding in the rose bushes because I was inside using the vacuum.
She is such a big baby.
This is Michael's "fierce" face. He does "fierce" better than I do.
Of course, nobody's "fierce" is as good as Gwen's.
Guess where we went?
7.23.2008
Move in day!
We're (almost) all moved in--yay! The storage unit is empty and our tiny little house is full of our enormous furniture and the garage is chock full of boxes. The BRs are painted, the floors vacuumed and cleaned and now it's time to put the bed and futon together and start unpacking. Sort of. I bought more contact paper this morning and some cleaner for the cabinets in the kitchen and then I can unpack. I was planning to do that this afternoon but I've been waylaid by our house in Dayton.
Got a call from our realtor re: some stuff that needs to be fixed and now I'm scrambling about trying to call some contractors to fix this stuff for us. All I have to say is that it is an absolute bitch trying to sell your house when you don't live in (or near) it. That house is a 100-year-old monkey on our backs...sigh...but now we have a lovely back yard to enjoy! And a large covered porch! And beautiful weather! And boxes to unpack! Did I mention the back yard?
We're (almost) all moved in--yay! The storage unit is empty and our tiny little house is full of our enormous furniture and the garage is chock full of boxes. The BRs are painted, the floors vacuumed and cleaned and now it's time to put the bed and futon together and start unpacking. Sort of. I bought more contact paper this morning and some cleaner for the cabinets in the kitchen and then I can unpack. I was planning to do that this afternoon but I've been waylaid by our house in Dayton.
Got a call from our realtor re: some stuff that needs to be fixed and now I'm scrambling about trying to call some contractors to fix this stuff for us. All I have to say is that it is an absolute bitch trying to sell your house when you don't live in (or near) it. That house is a 100-year-old monkey on our backs...sigh...but now we have a lovely back yard to enjoy! And a large covered porch! And beautiful weather! And boxes to unpack! Did I mention the back yard?
7.22.2008
Still painting...
I'm still painting the 2 bedrooms. Actually, I'm only painting one bedroom as the other is fini. I hope. We did a combo of brush and roller on the trim and I felt that yesterday's rolled parts could use a touch up. I finished the windows this morning but will have to see how they look when I go back this afternoon. Still have to do the doors but will attempt that this afternoon. I will post some pics soon.
Tomorrow is furniture move in day so there is a lot to finish before 7:30 am tomorrow. I still need to finish the trim in the master BR and vacuum and mop the floor with some oil soap. Then, we will be ready. The next couple of days involve cleaning the kitchen cabinets (not sure they've been cleaned in the last 10 years) and putting down new contact paper. Then lots and lots and lots of unpacking. Then? We'll be ready for house guests. Who wants to come for a visit?
I'm still painting the 2 bedrooms. Actually, I'm only painting one bedroom as the other is fini. I hope. We did a combo of brush and roller on the trim and I felt that yesterday's rolled parts could use a touch up. I finished the windows this morning but will have to see how they look when I go back this afternoon. Still have to do the doors but will attempt that this afternoon. I will post some pics soon.
Tomorrow is furniture move in day so there is a lot to finish before 7:30 am tomorrow. I still need to finish the trim in the master BR and vacuum and mop the floor with some oil soap. Then, we will be ready. The next couple of days involve cleaning the kitchen cabinets (not sure they've been cleaned in the last 10 years) and putting down new contact paper. Then lots and lots and lots of unpacking. Then? We'll be ready for house guests. Who wants to come for a visit?
7.15.2008
Pics of the house!
The kitchen. Appliances look fairly new-ish and I like the floor and laminate on the countertops but I'm not a huge fan of the dark cabinets. A fair bit of cabinet space, tho.
The "dining room" if it can be called that. It's more like the other side of the living room. It will easily accommodate our enormous dining room table and that's the important thing.
Sigh. The bathroom. It is tiny. Look at that tiny little midget toilet. This makes me miss our bathrooms in Dayton like you would not believe. This bathroom has been kept clean and there's no icky mold in the grout so all is not lost. Don't like the shower doors but removing them will be a later project.
Just one shot of the backyard. I'm not sure that you can tell that the planters there are resting inside a water garden sans water. The fountain is off to the left...I'm not sure if it's still functional nor am I terribly interested in the maintenance of a water garden and fountain but maybe next year.
Stay tuned; more pics to come!
7.11.2008
Tell me I'm crazy...
Because I must be certifiably insane. Despite all the painting/sanding/cleaning/packing/scrubbing/more painting/painting/painting that I did in the 3 months from job offer to move I find myself wanting to paint. I'm crazy, right?
See, we're moving into a rental house and all the walls are white. White. Ick. Admittedly, the crazy 1970's gold patterned wallpaper in the bathroom was really ugly, but they've since painted those walls white and it's okay in the bathroom and even the kitchen but not elsewhere. And they did take down that hideous dark wood paneled wall in the living room but now, you guessed it, the wall is white. But, we're starting small and there won't be any prep work. We're going to paint the 2 bedrooms in Adobe Straw (by Behr but we're going to find an equivalent in Valspar) and after that, we'll consider doing the living room and dining room later on.
I also want to take down the shower doors and replace with a curved shower rod and a cute shower curtain...not sure if we'll do that right away. I would also like a "tall man" toilet like the ones we purchased for our house in Dayton. After that, some nicer window treatments to cover up the ugly vertical and horizontal blinds that are all over the house and spiffing up some of the landscaping out back will be about it. Really. I swear. I know Michael is reading this and shaking his head (hi, honey!) but it'll be worth it. Right?
Because I must be certifiably insane. Despite all the painting/sanding/cleaning/packing/scrubbing/more painting/painting/painting that I did in the 3 months from job offer to move I find myself wanting to paint. I'm crazy, right?
See, we're moving into a rental house and all the walls are white. White. Ick. Admittedly, the crazy 1970's gold patterned wallpaper in the bathroom was really ugly, but they've since painted those walls white and it's okay in the bathroom and even the kitchen but not elsewhere. And they did take down that hideous dark wood paneled wall in the living room but now, you guessed it, the wall is white. But, we're starting small and there won't be any prep work. We're going to paint the 2 bedrooms in Adobe Straw (by Behr but we're going to find an equivalent in Valspar) and after that, we'll consider doing the living room and dining room later on.
I also want to take down the shower doors and replace with a curved shower rod and a cute shower curtain...not sure if we'll do that right away. I would also like a "tall man" toilet like the ones we purchased for our house in Dayton. After that, some nicer window treatments to cover up the ugly vertical and horizontal blinds that are all over the house and spiffing up some of the landscaping out back will be about it. Really. I swear. I know Michael is reading this and shaking his head (hi, honey!) but it'll be worth it. Right?
7.09.2008
Wiped Out...
This will be short because, as you can see by the title, I am wiped out. Got back yesterday from bridesmaid/whirlwind to the beach land and am tirreeeeddddd. I'm missing all of you already but am glad to be back. I have a massive "to do" list to tackle but now, I'm going to lay back down on my couch and read my book.
p.s. I realize I was remiss in mentioning Michael now has a blog: Life, Hope and Vittles. He tells the story of our adventures with Cletus much better than I do.
This will be short because, as you can see by the title, I am wiped out. Got back yesterday from bridesmaid/whirlwind to the beach land and am tirreeeeddddd. I'm missing all of you already but am glad to be back. I have a massive "to do" list to tackle but now, I'm going to lay back down on my couch and read my book.
p.s. I realize I was remiss in mentioning Michael now has a blog: Life, Hope and Vittles. He tells the story of our adventures with Cletus much better than I do.
7.02.2008
Adventures in Bicycling...
Now that we're Californians and all, we need to do the California thing and ride our bikes everywhere and, for the ladies, be skinny, tan and blonde. Let me tell you right now: I will be neither tan nor blonde. Skinny wouldn't be bad but I don't think that's in the cards. Anyway.
So, this week, I decided that I would ride my bike, along with Michael, to his office and then I would bike home. This is a 10 mile round trip and while it's mostly flat, it involves plenty of pedaling and racing to intersections to make as many lights as possible. And it's been fun so far (and good exercise) but it can be a little scary at times and I'm still working on my bicycle fierceness. One problem is that I don't have a really "good" bike, not that it's a bad bike, but it's not a California bike. It's not a $600 lightweight, no kickstand, cool-looking bike with helpful foot thingies that keep your feet on the pedals. But it'll do. Michael is going to take it to a bike shop this weekend to have the gears adjusted which will help tremendously.
The bigger issue is my lack of fierceness. I need to be more aggressive around cars when I'm riding. This is hard b/c I am convinced that they will run my ass off the street. Most roads around here have designated bike lanes but in CA, there are legal U-turns so this morning I watched a car make a U-turn and nearly mow down the guy in front of me b/c the driver drove right into the bike lane in order to execute his turn. And where there are no bike lanes, I need to be more aggressive about taking up enough space in the road to keep cars from forcing me off the road and into the gutter. And my husband kindly alerted me to the fact that I need to leave plenty of space between me and parked cars in case a driver opens her car door in front of me. I don't fancy myself the star of some video you'd see on those funniest (stupidest) home video shows where some poor guy gets hit in the nuts or, in my case, I go flying off my bike and do a face plant in the street.
This morning's ride was my last for at least 6 days since I'm taking the red eye tonight for Alissa's and Todd's wedding. That'll give me time to work on my fierce (maybe Gwen will help me with my look) so that when I get back I'll be ready.
Now that we're Californians and all, we need to do the California thing and ride our bikes everywhere and, for the ladies, be skinny, tan and blonde. Let me tell you right now: I will be neither tan nor blonde. Skinny wouldn't be bad but I don't think that's in the cards. Anyway.
So, this week, I decided that I would ride my bike, along with Michael, to his office and then I would bike home. This is a 10 mile round trip and while it's mostly flat, it involves plenty of pedaling and racing to intersections to make as many lights as possible. And it's been fun so far (and good exercise) but it can be a little scary at times and I'm still working on my bicycle fierceness. One problem is that I don't have a really "good" bike, not that it's a bad bike, but it's not a California bike. It's not a $600 lightweight, no kickstand, cool-looking bike with helpful foot thingies that keep your feet on the pedals. But it'll do. Michael is going to take it to a bike shop this weekend to have the gears adjusted which will help tremendously.
The bigger issue is my lack of fierceness. I need to be more aggressive around cars when I'm riding. This is hard b/c I am convinced that they will run my ass off the street. Most roads around here have designated bike lanes but in CA, there are legal U-turns so this morning I watched a car make a U-turn and nearly mow down the guy in front of me b/c the driver drove right into the bike lane in order to execute his turn. And where there are no bike lanes, I need to be more aggressive about taking up enough space in the road to keep cars from forcing me off the road and into the gutter. And my husband kindly alerted me to the fact that I need to leave plenty of space between me and parked cars in case a driver opens her car door in front of me. I don't fancy myself the star of some video you'd see on those funniest (stupidest) home video shows where some poor guy gets hit in the nuts or, in my case, I go flying off my bike and do a face plant in the street.
This morning's ride was my last for at least 6 days since I'm taking the red eye tonight for Alissa's and Todd's wedding. That'll give me time to work on my fierce (maybe Gwen will help me with my look) so that when I get back I'll be ready.
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