The long span of time since my last update can totally be blamed on the start of a new school year, the continued painting of the new house, and preparations for little bug's 4th birthday. She just isn't so little anymore!
I couldn't sleep at all last night, I have major hosting anxiety. Though the party is at a venue away from home (thank goodness) I still want everything to go well. This is the first birthday party where other "friends" from preschool will be coming. I put friends in quotes, because I'm not sure little bug is at a stage where she is seriously friendshipping anyone her own age. She still prefers adults for conversation and play. But, Dad and I are trying hard to give her every opportunity. Thus, party on!
My own anxiety is mainly about the other parents. Most of the other preschool parents are far more well off than we are. We prioritize little bug and the house that is being built, and who cares about the rest. You couldn't interest me in a designer purse or a fashionable pair of shoes if your life depended on it. Both of our cars presently have cracked windshields. So, I do wonder about how our family is perceived. That said, the important thing is that little bug and the other children have a great time. Thus, party on!
I'll close with a quick construction and moving update: I posses everything to paint the fence and have done none of it. All that is left of our portion of painting the new house is the exterior trim. Interior paint is done. Interior trim and cabinets are being installed. It is shaping up to be very fairytale like. Part of me wants to fast forward to Winter Break, when I have no work and nothing to do but sit by the fire and enjoy the view. :)
Last but not least, GO HAWKS! and GO LOUD!
Friday, September 13, 2013
Friday, August 30, 2013
Friday
I did not sleep well last night, and Friday evening has left me with nothing but the desire to sleep in tomorrow. Am I 35 years old or what?
This week has really taken it out of me, and little one, sweet as she is, has been BEGGING all night to play pretend with me. Alas, I can only handle about 10 minutes of it at a time, max, before I dissolve into an unresponsive heap. She is really looking forward to going back to school, and I'm looking forward to it too. She needs to play with other kiddos.
No more fence progress, but I have determined that sanding some rust off of the security screen will not be as fruitless as I thought. I also have a bit of a plan for patching the hole in the vinyl siding on the front of the house.
That said, old house will have to wait until Sunday. Tomorrow is another day out in the country painting the new house. :) I will bring egg salad for sandwiches for lunch, and we will have grilled burgers again for dinner. We'll have veggies and ranch and chips to snack on. Part of me would like some fruit from the farmer's market, but I don't have time for a trip downtown. Maybe we will pass a fruit stand on our way out.
Monday will be another day painting at New House, provided we don't get rain. I'll throw some ribs on the grill and we'll have some friends to help out. It sounds like a productive and fun Labor Day to me!
This week has really taken it out of me, and little one, sweet as she is, has been BEGGING all night to play pretend with me. Alas, I can only handle about 10 minutes of it at a time, max, before I dissolve into an unresponsive heap. She is really looking forward to going back to school, and I'm looking forward to it too. She needs to play with other kiddos.
No more fence progress, but I have determined that sanding some rust off of the security screen will not be as fruitless as I thought. I also have a bit of a plan for patching the hole in the vinyl siding on the front of the house.
That said, old house will have to wait until Sunday. Tomorrow is another day out in the country painting the new house. :) I will bring egg salad for sandwiches for lunch, and we will have grilled burgers again for dinner. We'll have veggies and ranch and chips to snack on. Part of me would like some fruit from the farmer's market, but I don't have time for a trip downtown. Maybe we will pass a fruit stand on our way out.
Monday will be another day painting at New House, provided we don't get rain. I'll throw some ribs on the grill and we'll have some friends to help out. It sounds like a productive and fun Labor Day to me!
Sunday, August 25, 2013
Painting my way to victory
Painting day yesterday went awesome. We accomplished much more than hubby thought we would, and much food was consumed. Our house is starting to look beautiful (or sexy, as my friend put it, hehe). I think I'll take a picture this afternoon. There is a big ugly dumpster in front but I don't care.
Hubby has been out there all day doing more painting, but I have not been idle. I took child to scope out the venue for her 4th birthday party. For the first time we will be inviting kids from her preschool class. I'm nervous. They all tend to be upper class as compared to our humble family... case in point, our next stop was to trade in some of little one's old clothes and toys at Other Mothers. I managed to pick up some fall and winter wear gently used and on the cheap.
Last but not least, I came home and replaced some fence boards. Hubby's awesome screwdriver has 3 sizes of Canadian heads. I can't say enough good things about that ratcheting screwdriver set. If you don't have one, get one. It made me feel like She-Ra! The hardest part was unscrewing the old boards when the neighbor's chain link fence was 6 inches away. To unscrew the bottom screw I had to use a mirror to see where the screw head was. I could have asked if I could work on it from their side of the fence, we have a nice neighborly relationship. But, my antisocial and independent tendencies were in full swing. Besides, now I get to say I found an ingenious solution to my problem.
Now, all the fence needs is paint!
So, here I am patting myself on the back for a few minutes before heading out to the new house again. Hubby asked me to bring dinner and our 100ft extension cord so he can vacuum from the only usable outlet. The quantity of bugs in our window sliders is shudder-worthy, not to mention the thick layer of drywall dust.
Maybe next post will contain a picture!
Hubby has been out there all day doing more painting, but I have not been idle. I took child to scope out the venue for her 4th birthday party. For the first time we will be inviting kids from her preschool class. I'm nervous. They all tend to be upper class as compared to our humble family... case in point, our next stop was to trade in some of little one's old clothes and toys at Other Mothers. I managed to pick up some fall and winter wear gently used and on the cheap.
Last but not least, I came home and replaced some fence boards. Hubby's awesome screwdriver has 3 sizes of Canadian heads. I can't say enough good things about that ratcheting screwdriver set. If you don't have one, get one. It made me feel like She-Ra! The hardest part was unscrewing the old boards when the neighbor's chain link fence was 6 inches away. To unscrew the bottom screw I had to use a mirror to see where the screw head was. I could have asked if I could work on it from their side of the fence, we have a nice neighborly relationship. But, my antisocial and independent tendencies were in full swing. Besides, now I get to say I found an ingenious solution to my problem.
Now, all the fence needs is paint!
So, here I am patting myself on the back for a few minutes before heading out to the new house again. Hubby asked me to bring dinner and our 100ft extension cord so he can vacuum from the only usable outlet. The quantity of bugs in our window sliders is shudder-worthy, not to mention the thick layer of drywall dust.
Maybe next post will contain a picture!
Saturday, August 24, 2013
Painting Day!
I'm excited, I feel like we're having a party. We are going to paint the exterior of the house today, and I haven't seen it for 6 WHOLE DAYS. This means we have ROOMS with WALLS that I have never seen before!
Not only that, but I get to put together a slew of great food and feed our friends who are coming to help out. There is something about my family (most families probably) that tends to love and appreciate people through food. We will be working our butts off, so the peanut butter cookies I'm making will be consumed guilt-free. :)
I still have quite a bit of work to do before we leave... a couple of shopping trips and some beef kebab assembly. They will marinate in the bottom of the cooler while we work. I also have to bring the grill, utensils, napkins, plates, cups, sunscreen, snacks, etc etc. If we get out there by 10am I'll be shocked, and hubby's goal was 9am. We shall see!
On the old home front, I can pat myself on the back for having completed step one half, scrape the fence. Now there is another step, three quarters, called replace a couple of boards. They were put on with Canadian screws, not sure why... but now I need to find/get such a square-headed screwdriver so I can pull off the bad ones and replace them with good ones from the side of the house. Nobody sees those boards anyway.
But, replacing the boards must wait until tomorrow for today is Painting Day! Maybe I will post a picture...
Not only that, but I get to put together a slew of great food and feed our friends who are coming to help out. There is something about my family (most families probably) that tends to love and appreciate people through food. We will be working our butts off, so the peanut butter cookies I'm making will be consumed guilt-free. :)
I still have quite a bit of work to do before we leave... a couple of shopping trips and some beef kebab assembly. They will marinate in the bottom of the cooler while we work. I also have to bring the grill, utensils, napkins, plates, cups, sunscreen, snacks, etc etc. If we get out there by 10am I'll be shocked, and hubby's goal was 9am. We shall see!
On the old home front, I can pat myself on the back for having completed step one half, scrape the fence. Now there is another step, three quarters, called replace a couple of boards. They were put on with Canadian screws, not sure why... but now I need to find/get such a square-headed screwdriver so I can pull off the bad ones and replace them with good ones from the side of the house. Nobody sees those boards anyway.
But, replacing the boards must wait until tomorrow for today is Painting Day! Maybe I will post a picture...
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Step one, paint the fence
Alas, before I can begin step one, I must undertake step one half... scrape the fence. I spent a good two hours on it Sunday but I have another hour yet to go.
I have been coming home from work each day with the best of intentions... but somehow making dinner, playing with the child, or writing a blog post *cough* seem more important. Before I know it, the sun has set and I've lost my chance for the day. If I can just get it done tomorrow, I can paint sometime this weekend.
I must remember to wear a mask for the next scraping session... I went to bed Sunday night with lungs full of yuck... Lesson learned.
Tomorrow I'll call and get us on a schedule sometime for a new roof. Ka ching... I really hope we get some sort of profit out of this old home.
I have been coming home from work each day with the best of intentions... but somehow making dinner, playing with the child, or writing a blog post *cough* seem more important. Before I know it, the sun has set and I've lost my chance for the day. If I can just get it done tomorrow, I can paint sometime this weekend.
I must remember to wear a mask for the next scraping session... I went to bed Sunday night with lungs full of yuck... Lesson learned.
Tomorrow I'll call and get us on a schedule sometime for a new roof. Ka ching... I really hope we get some sort of profit out of this old home.
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Operation: fix up the house
Everything hinges on selling this old place. Everything includes financial stability, sanity, and getting out from a dual mortgage situation. Those goals are enough, but the motivation that really drives me is knowing that I don't get to start working toward having a horse until this house is history.
I wrote a list last night of things that must be done to the house before we can put it on the market with a reasonable expectation of getting some money out of the deal. There are a few things that I could be doing immediately to get the place ready. There are other things that we'd rather have done after we have moved out.
Things that can be done ASAP, that I could tackle in roughly this order:
Paint the fence
Paint the security screen door
Edge the walkway
Paint the trim
Paint the bathroom
Paint the inside of the bathroom mirror cabinet
Put in the new window which has been sitting in the basement (requires help)
Board up another window that really shouldn't be there (hubby will do this I suspect)
After we leave, we will be having the roof replaced (if I can get on the schedule)
While the roof is being replaced, we need to have the upstairs electrical fixed... right now we are running off of an extension cord that goes up the stairs (sigh).
When we can assume the roof's semi-annual leak is no longer a problem, we will fix the ugly gaping hole in the kitchen ceiling.
I really hope we can get some money out of this place. We bought it before housing prices were really inflated, so we should be OK there. We have 9 years of equity in it. We have replaced most of the windows, the back door, the furnace, and the roof by the time we sell. But, even if we just break even, that breathing room will allow me to save money for improving our new property and preparing it for horse ownership. :)
I wrote a list last night of things that must be done to the house before we can put it on the market with a reasonable expectation of getting some money out of the deal. There are a few things that I could be doing immediately to get the place ready. There are other things that we'd rather have done after we have moved out.
Things that can be done ASAP, that I could tackle in roughly this order:
Paint the fence
Paint the security screen door
Edge the walkway
Paint the trim
Paint the bathroom
Paint the inside of the bathroom mirror cabinet
Put in the new window which has been sitting in the basement (requires help)
Board up another window that really shouldn't be there (hubby will do this I suspect)
After we leave, we will be having the roof replaced (if I can get on the schedule)
While the roof is being replaced, we need to have the upstairs electrical fixed... right now we are running off of an extension cord that goes up the stairs (sigh).
When we can assume the roof's semi-annual leak is no longer a problem, we will fix the ugly gaping hole in the kitchen ceiling.
I really hope we can get some money out of this place. We bought it before housing prices were really inflated, so we should be OK there. We have 9 years of equity in it. We have replaced most of the windows, the back door, the furnace, and the roof by the time we sell. But, even if we just break even, that breathing room will allow me to save money for improving our new property and preparing it for horse ownership. :)
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Lyrics not found anywhere else on the net
My three year old can read. She has this thing about wanting to read the song lyrics for her favorite songs. Alas, her current favorite song's lyrics are not to be found ANYWHERE on the internet... and I know how to look for this sort of thing...quotes and all.
So, of course I had to take measures to remedy the situation. Without further ado....
Splashing in the Tub
Album: Taxi
Artist: Music for Aardvarks and Other Mammals
Gonna wash my ears
and then my nose
and then my knees
and then my toes
and the water's warm
and full of suds
and I'm having a good time splashing in the tub
I'm splashing in the tub
I'm splashing in the tub
and the water's nice and warm
and I'm playing with the suds
I'm splashing in the tub
I'm splashing in the tub
I'm having a good time splashing in the tub
Gonna wash my hair
and then my face
and under there
and every place
and the water's warm
and full of suds
and I'm having a good time splashing in the tub
I'm splashing in the tub
I'm splashing in the tub
and the water's nice and warm
and I'm playing with the suds
I'm splashing in the tub
I'm splashing in the tub
I'm having a good time splashing in the tub
I'm splashing in the tub
I'm splashing in the tub
and the water's nice and warm
and I'm playing with the suds
I'm splashing in the tub
I'm splashing in the tub
I'm having a good time splashing in the tub
So, of course I had to take measures to remedy the situation. Without further ado....
Splashing in the Tub
Album: Taxi
Artist: Music for Aardvarks and Other Mammals
Gonna wash my ears
and then my nose
and then my knees
and then my toes
and the water's warm
and full of suds
and I'm having a good time splashing in the tub
I'm splashing in the tub
I'm splashing in the tub
and the water's nice and warm
and I'm playing with the suds
I'm splashing in the tub
I'm splashing in the tub
I'm having a good time splashing in the tub
Gonna wash my hair
and then my face
and under there
and every place
and the water's warm
and full of suds
and I'm having a good time splashing in the tub
I'm splashing in the tub
I'm splashing in the tub
and the water's nice and warm
and I'm playing with the suds
I'm splashing in the tub
I'm splashing in the tub
I'm having a good time splashing in the tub
I'm splashing in the tub
I'm splashing in the tub
and the water's nice and warm
and I'm playing with the suds
I'm splashing in the tub
I'm splashing in the tub
I'm having a good time splashing in the tub
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)