Laura's Renovation Adventure

Room Update

2011-08-24T17:59:00.000-05:00

Before

After

We also made her a doll house for her American Girl dolls with an IKEA Pax shelving unit:

Her doll furniture is from a number of sources. The bed was a family project. The pink wardrobe is a Build-a-Bear product that we found at a thrift store. The dresser is a couple of unpainted wood pieces from Hobby Lobby that I stacked. The bench is from Salvation Army, as is the table. The hutch in the "kitchen" began life as a couple of jewelry boxes that I primed and painted white. The horse and the baking set are from Target.

I love American Girl accessories as much as the next mom, but my little darling is not terribly careful about her toys, so I don't want to always spend the kind of money AG requires. So we improvise. :)

Speaking of "improvise" you can see a "during" photo of the jewelry boxs' transformations.

Back from Hiatus

2011-08-11T09:49:00.003-05:00

We've hit a bit of a slow spot on the renovation. This summer, I've ended up working, which slows progress. Then there is the dissertation that demands attention.

We are determined, though, to do a few projects before summer is over. All involve a mad desperate trip that we made to IKEA last week. We now how a load of flat-pack shelving sitting around in the way.

Highest priority is painting my daughter's room. Her walls currently have the inexplicable wall treatment that you can see to the right. The lighter green goes about 3/4 of the way up the wall. Part of the wall paper border was gone by the time we bought the house (probably courtesy of the male college-aged renters who occupied the house before we moved in.)

We'll be painting her room Benjamin Moore's Montgomery White. The color looks pinkish online, but is much more creamy yellow in real life. Miss O is not thrilled about such a plain color, but I am looking for a neutral that I won't need to re-do in a few years as her tastes change. She is, after all, nine years old, which is heading toward that "tween" age, and no matter what she likes now, she won't like it in 3-4 years.

The previous owners were older, and I am sure that contributes to some of the odd color choices. And I remember some of this cottage-y stuff being popular 20 years ago. But I cannot imagine why someone who intended to sell their home in this decade would have such stuff on their walls. Oh, and the border is nasty vinyl wallpaper. I am thinking it was intended for a bathroom originally? It really is awful. The top layer will just peel off, leaving the backing on the wall that has to be carefully scraped off.

After we get her wall painted, we are going to install the Pax wardrobe that we bought at IKEA as a house for her American Girl dolls, similar to this one. When she gets older, if she tires of the doll house, we can buy doors and she can just use it for storage. *IF* we ever finish, I'll post pictures. :)

Edited to add: I found another picture of the color we intend to paint Miss O's room on Apartment Therapy.

A New Project in the Making

2011-02-10T22:46:00.000-06:00

Our kitchen is next on my project list. My budget, though, is tight. I need to spend less than $1000.

The floors are in good shape. They are an attractive ceramic tile, which is nice. I don't think I want to do anything to/with those. Also, the appliances are updated. We bought a stainless stove and dishwasher in 2009.

The cabinets, on the other hand, are in need of help. They are decent quality and in good shape for the most part. They are not, however, attractive. They have oddly shaped inset panels. The pulls are in the center of the doors, which I understand is standard for fine cabinetry, but they are hard to use. The kids generally just grab the corner, which is wearing away the paint. (I'll post pictures later, but I have to clean off the cabinets first. Right now, I wouldn't let anyone see my kitchen in the state its in.)

At the moment, my plan is this:

Paint the cabinets. I think an antique glaze might be a nice finish.
New hardware. I've picked out some iron hardware that looks nice.
Tear out the soffits and build shelves near the ceiling.
Add crown molding.
Replace the countertops. I would love a granite tile, but ceramic is certainly an option.
Tile the backsplash.
Possibly replace the sink.
Paint the dining nook, which means that I need to do something with the wall and the wainscot.
Replace the range hood.
Build in the microwave, somewhere.
Revamp storage for my pans and lids.
Update the lighting.

I've found some nice examples of painted cabinets:
(The following are from Emily Smith's Faux Painting site)

These are white with antique glaze...

I can't say that I am a fan of the wallpaper, though.

Kraftmaid has a finish that looks a lot like these. The question is whether or not my cabinets would look like this if I were to paint and glaze them.

The picture below is from Apartment Therapy. I love the fact that the cabinets are painted, but are a light colored neutral rather than white. And, of course, I love the green walls.

I'll probably end up posting lots of inspiration. Posting pictures of what other people have done is way easier than actually starting anything.

Renovation update

2010-10-09T20:49:00.000-05:00

We finally hired someone to help us work on one of our projects. He was an acquaintance of ours, as he used to be our neighbor and his wife works where I work, but in another department. They seemed like nice people and he had been in business a long time, so we hired him to do some drywall work for us and help us round up other trades people to do a bit of wiring and plumbing.

The trades people were fine. We were able to move our washer and dryer out to what was before an unusable sun room. We removed all but three windows, and replaced those. We also put in a new door that actually seals.

Our first indication of a problem was when we came home one day and realized that he had drywalled over a board that had a rotted place in it.

Then, another day, we smelled cigarette smoke in the house, and none of us smoke.

He wanted paid in advance for the work, and, stupidly, I did. There was no final walk through, so that we could complain about the lousy job he did on the drywall. There is tape pulling up. He made joints by the windows. The corners have odd patchy bits. In short, it looks like I did it myself. Actually, my drywall is better than that, and I do not consider myself competent to do drywall.

We've spent most of the month of September cleaning up his mess and trying to patch up the work to make it look right. I am not happy.

People have asked us time and again why we've done all our renovation work ourselves, with the help of my dad and kids. With the exception of skilled trades, every time we've hired someone to do carpentry work, we have been disappointed to the point of feeling cheated.

Interlude

2010-09-06T11:27:00.000-05:00

Every renovation that I have undertaken has included some sort of fabric. There are curtains or slipcovers or something.

Today, Labor Day, I thought would be a good day to go sewing machine shopping. Turns out, not really. None of the dealers are open on Labor Day-- one of the big sale days of the year. So I did a little poking around online and came up with the names of a few, even if they aren't open.

Sewing Machine Express

9101 W Markham St, # 20 Little Rock AR 72205

Stitchin Post

1520 Macon Dr Little Rock AR 72211

Sew Much More

100 E 13th St North Little Rock AR 72114

To be fair, these are open, but are not selling the kinds of machines that I am looking at:

Jo-Ann Fabric And Craft

4613 John F Kennedy Blvd
North Little Rock, AR 72116-7310
Tel: 501-771-0314

Michaels
11400 W Markham St
Little Rock, AR 72211-2806
(501) 312-1482

AND

4126 E McCain Blvd
North Little Rock, AR 72117-2523
(501) 945-7787

Cool Plumbing

2010-08-15T19:43:00.000-05:00

Normally, plumbing is something that I try to avoid thinking about. I either whine until my dad does it, or I actually break down and hire someone.

But this? This may make me take an interest in plumbing: Perma Flow P-Trap

Unlike most plumbing, this one is see-through, so you can see whether or not it is clogged. It even has a clean out knob, so it dislodges debris that could clog the drain.

Craft Room

2009-10-28T17:25:00.006-05:00

In the process of trying to renovate/decorate our home, I need to be able to do things like paint and upholster.

My sewing machines (just a regular machine and a serger)have been in the great room, which is not a great look, to tell the truth. Close by, just through the double doors, though, lies a sunroom. A sunroom that my husband had told me was not going to be a "dump" for my scrapbooking and sewing. Instead, it was going to be where he and the kids watched tv made art projects. And, I put cable in our bedroom, and he never went in there again.

So our seven year old daughter took over. And completely trashed the place.

So, now, a year later, we (he and I) are going to share the space. He'll take part for art, and I'll take part for sewing and scrapbooking.

Now, though, we need to do something with it. It is half painted, with remnants of former leaks peeling off some drywall paper. It has windows everywhere, eating up most of the wall space. There is no closet, no storage.

I need ideas. I'll post some links a pictures here, and then maybe I'll make a decision. Perhaps that is a bit ambitious... Maybe I'll at least pick a paint color.

Home Office Gets Budget Makeover For $1000, a woman made over her space, adding lots of storage. Includes budget breakdown.

Also found a redo your kitchen on a budget article, that might work when I move on to another room...

And
Better Homes and Gardens Quick and Easy Decorating Projects

This is a great laundry/sewing room from Flikr. There is a lot of stuff packed into this room, I'll admit. But it is relatively neat and completely accessible. I could live with this level of clutter, I think, in the sunroom.

I love how this seamstress stores notions in jars, simply lined up on shelves.

And sewing supplies hung up on a pegboard. Although, I like this peg board better. Or here is another, with a thread holder attached.

This room has an ironing station on top of a credenza in the middle of the room. With drawers.

And, this one is a metal shelf from Lowe's, all kitted out.

Metal drawers from the Container Store (Lowe's has similar, for less), but overall a bit fussy for my tastes

This one is just beautiful.

And so what did I learn from this little Flickr adventure? All furniture goes together if it is painted white. Walls need color. I just need to pick one and go with it. Hanging stuff on the walls is a good way to get it off the floor and out of a drawer. And might help me use it more often.

Oh, and even really utilitarian stuff looks pretty okay.

How does a two hour job turn into a three hour tour?

2009-07-21T09:49:00.003-05:00

I bought a new dishwasher. Even though we're down to one salary this summer and money is tight, our dishwasher was coughing dirt into our dishes that required being scrubbed out by hand. With five people in the house (one of whom is a teenaged boy who eats enough to feed a Bible camp), we have to cook at home. I know people used to cook at home and do dishes by hand, but I am thinking those were generally stay-at-home mom's. I am a phd student. Even when I am not working, I am working. My husband is in graduate school (again) this summer, and heaven knows none of the kids are going to jump right in with dishes duty.

So I bought a new dishwasher. An energy-star, tall tub GE dishwasher that sanitizes.

But to install it, we had to install the garbage disposal, because the one in that came with the house only sort of worked. I brought out the AHS home warranty people once to fix it. That cost me $60 and all they did was clean it out so that it worked that day. Oh, and they told me that the leaking under the sink was from the sprayer.

Right.

My dad came riding in on his white horse to install my dishwasher, disposal, and new sink sprayer. He did, but the sink was still leaking. Why? Because the drain had been installed wrong. As in, where it was supposed to be glued, only half of it was.

Another trip to the hardware store for a new drain.

Then we pulled out the old dishwasher. The copper supply tube was twisted multiple times in a spiral. It is a miracle that *any* water got in and that my dishes got as clean as they did. So we think that, maybe, the old dishwasher is salvageable, so my dad is going to put it in my brother's house. They don't have a dishwasher at all.

Anyway, after two days of work, we got the new dishwasher installed. And it runs beautifully. My polycarbonate pitcher that I splurged on from Pottery Barn fits in the top rack, so I can actually run it through the dishwasher. It holds more dishes than any dishwasher I have ever owned.

And the disposal actually disposes of garbage, instead of taking it for a carnival ride in a circle. And nothing is leaking under the sink. Of course, there is also no floor under then sink. All the drips over the years completely disintegrated the particle board floor. So my dear husband is supposed to be building a new floor for the cabinet. Three days and counting. :)

1940s Vintage Kitchen by Armstrong

2009-06-23T11:38:00.001-05:00

1940s Vintage Kitchen by Armstrong, originally uploaded by American Vintage Home.

1950s Living Room - Heywood Wakefield

2009-06-23T11:32:00.001-05:00

1950s Living Room - Heywood Wakefield, originally uploaded by American Vintage Home.

1951 Corner Seating by Duran

2009-06-23T11:29:00.001-05:00

1951 Corner Seating by Duran, originally uploaded by American Vintage Home.

1959 American Standard bathroom

2009-06-23T11:20:00.001-05:00

1959 American Standard bathroom, originally uploaded by 50s Pam.

I love this bathroom. I love everything about this bathroom, in fact. I even love the colors, even though I have never used them.

Flickr Goodness

2009-06-08T20:44:00.003-05:00

I am loving the Shabby/Vintage Chic pool on Flikr.

I found this, and this, and this (see the suitcase as an accessory?),and this spice rack.

I also like this before and after refinished buffet.

This is an awesome kitchen.

I love this fabric storage idea!

I thought this was a framed fragment of quilt, but instead it is a mirror propped on a quilt. I think I liked it better, though, as a fragment. I have a couple of quilts that I've picked up at yard sales that have seen better days that have bits of them that could be salvaged.

The house I didn't buy

2009-05-08T14:11:00.000-05:00

My family accuses me of being fond of "ugly."
I don't think that is the case at all. I just see beauty underneath the surface. *I* really liked this house. I liked the mid-century vibe. It needed too much work, however, so someone else gets to enjoy the coolness of this house and its copper range hood and pass-through to the den.

The reason we had to replace bathroom fixtures...

2009-05-01T16:32:00.002-05:00

So, this is as clean as it got. So it had to go. Currently, it is smashed up into three or four fairly substantial fake-marble pieces out in the garage.

I do not understand how it got to be so... nasty. I cleaned it with Ajax, Clorox Spray, Scrubbing Bubbles, and Lysol Wipes (not all at the same time, or I would be dead). Nothing made it clean.

And the faucets were original to the house. Need I really say more?

House stalking-- but not for me

2009-04-12T23:26:00.002-05:00

I am trying very hard to persuade my parents to move down here. They live about 100 miles north of here, in the Grand Canyon of the Ozarks. Understandably, they are reluctant to leave. My mom has lived 90% of her life there. She lived a few years in Kansas City, MO when she was a young child, and hated it. She did not leave again until college, and finished that in 3 years. Her first teaching job was in the mountains, too, but they were Ouchitas and could not compete with her beloved Ozarks.

But then her mother died.

And she got cancer. (In remission, by the way).

Now her knees are bad.

So, especially after the ice storm this winter, I am getting a little concerned about them living 35 miles from anywhere and 100 miles from me.

So we house stalk. Today, they finally walked into one. It is FSBO, but it is really, really lovely.

Blog for DIY Decorating

2009-04-08T12:32:00.002-05:00

Curbly is a blog dedicated to DIY home decorating. Articles range from button paperclips to The Laziest Slipcover Tutorial Ever.

My own advise for inexpensive decorating is this: fall in love with an era where people built catalog furniture out of real wood. Springs are usually shot, but often there is enough wood around the springs to lay plywood over the top. This makes the furniture feel like a padded bench rather than a spring-y new sofa. But in my house, with three kids, nothing feels new and spring-y for more than 15 minutes anyway. Almost any design ill can be solved with black paint and slipcovers.

Talked to my dad

2009-04-01T22:22:00.003-05:00

So tonight, I was at my parents' house for dinner, which is unusual since they live a couple hours away. I was in town for a funeral, and ran into my mom there.

Anyway, I told my dad what we had gotten done in the master bath, and he was most impressed with us. :) And best of all, he says that he can help us replace toilets later this month. Our fixtures are old, and they weren't top of the line when they were installed in 1978. And the college aged male renters did not improve them along the way. If things go well, this should be a really quick change-out. Of course, things hardly ever go well...

Master Bath

2009-03-31T21:44:00.005-05:00

Being back to work, I can't really get my bathroom finished. The paint is spotchy in places, even though it is Benjamin Moore. I don't think a one-coat paint exists. Around where we had to repair the medicine cabinet, the Spackle is not as nice as it could be-- I may just texture that area & forget trying to make it smooth.

Vanity update

2009-03-30T12:43:00.002-05:00

Spring break is over, but not my renovation project. Parts of it are done, though. The new vanity is in. The new faucet is in. The shut-off valves are replaced (they are compression valves-- I am not brave enough to solder copper). The sink has a drain-- I replaced the trap and ran it into the drain. The trap is pvc, but the pipe in the wall is ABS. This required a connector and a glue that the man at the hardware store sent home with my husband. I've talked before here about men not believing that I know anything about plumbing, so I sent the pieces with my husband and told him what I needed (because he really does not know anything about plumbing).

The bright side is that once I finish the painting and the edging on the floor, it is pretty much done.I have not started with the floor by the toilet, yet. The joy of peel and stick tiles is that I can do part of the project, and then stop. ;) The toilet needs replacing, but I am kind of afraid to tackle that without my dad around for moral support at the least.

Laura does windows

2009-03-30T11:25:00.001-05:00

Last week, I spent $80 on bamboo matchstick blinds for my breakfast nook, so my window treatment budget is pretty tapped out.

My six year old, however, whose room is on the decorating list because she is sweet about it, needs something other than the nasty mini-blinds that came with the house. My co-worker, however, posted a link to a diy roman shade tutorial last week. I, however, am only seeing it this week since I now have to leave my home with my nearly-complete bathroom to breathe air and see the rest of the world.

I'll post pictures of both projects ~~when~~ if I ever get done.

Demolition

2009-03-24T18:44:00.001-05:00

So taking out the old vanity in my bathroom was a four hour job for three people. Evidently plumbing standards were "plumbing suggestions" in 1978. I can hardly believe the mess this thing was. And to get to anything, we had to ooze through layers of mold and rotted caulk. Oh, and the builder used regular drywall behind the sink instead of green board or cement board like someone who is not an idiot. So I also had to patch disintegrating drywall. Now, of course, it needs painted because it looks like patched drywall.

And since we got the old vanity out (in pieces), we see that one of the shut-off valves leaks. We have to fix this before I can start on the floor. Because there is a big vanity-shaped patch of cement in my bathroom, with no flooring. Around it are three layers of flooring, each more horrific than the last. The bottom layer is thankfully past my ability (interest) to dig out. The second layer is bright almost-Williamsburg blue. The top layer is mauve. I don't know why, because it clashes with the pumpkin colored walls. If there were ever a room crying out for a neutral, it is this one.

I just have to thank God that we escaped the harvest gold bathroom fixtures.

Spring Break

2009-03-22T15:15:00.000-05:00

I love hearing my colleagues tell me that they are going to have relaxing spring breaks. For me, spring break is kind of like half-time. There is a break, so I actually *look* at my house.

Then I make a list.

Today, so far, Mea and I replaced one of a pair of really awful track lights. We'll probably get the other one before the day is over. Last night, I took the burners out of my stove and scrubbed that nastiness underneath (which I should have done when I moved in, but avoided until now).

Other items on my to do list:

Put new flooring down in the master bath before installing a new vanity and faucet (the old faucet leaks, and the old sink is stained and ugly).
Replace the light fixture in the master bath
Take out the shower doors in the master bath. They are outdated, stained, hard to use and hard to clean. I am totally replacing them with a bleachable curtain.
Paint Miss O's bedroom. Really, green and dark green with a huge border, with chunks missing. Really, really terrible.

I think this is a reasonable list, mostly. Painting is really the one thing that might not get done, because I'll have to clear out her room, then prime, then paint. That will be a two-day job.

And Mea is talking wistfully about a day-trip to Silver Dollar City.

Update: We finished the other light. No more 80s track lights.

FAIL

2009-01-18T11:11:00.001-06:00

Dripping faucets. How hard can one be to fix? I have even done it before. So I buy a $35 kit and get my husband to turn off the water, and tear in.

Let me back up. To understand, you really must know that I fall asleep pretty easily and sleep like the dead. My husband, on the other hand, is an insomniac, and every little thing keeps him awake. The shower in the master bath has been dripping since we moved in. Our home warranty does not cover faucets. So, he felt that something *had* to be done. I on the other hand, have been putting this off for months. I knew that there was no shutoff for the shower itself. That means all the water in the house has to be off until I get everything put back together.

But dh finally ~~nagged~~ talked me into tackling this. I took apart the faucet, removing the handles and stems, and put on the new stems and handles. This took a relativity short amount of time. Couple of hours.

But of course, both handles still leaked. We had not touched the seats. The seat is a little nut-like thing that connects the back of the faucet to the faucet stem (which is under the handle).

So we take it all apart and take out the seat on the cold water. It didn't want to come out, so off to the hardware store for a different seat wrench. That helped. The seat loosened and came out. It was, of course, shot. So I try to put in a new one. It would not go in. Would not thread. We spent an hour or more trying to get it to catch. So I try putting in the old one, taping the threads and stuff. Nope. Leaking mess. So back to Lowe's to see if there is a different seat sold. No. Gerber changed the way they manufactured them. The clerk, though, helpfully pointed out how the threads were machined differently. And the old seat is ever-so-slightly smaller than the new one.

So there is no way to fix the old faucet. Which means after 6 hours, and $50 in materials, we are back to the beginning. Well, except for the drip that has turned into a waterfall. Dad is coming on Monday to sort it out.

Yeah, I slept in Miss O's room. Dh got to enjoy the waterfall by himself.

Afterword on my DSL debacle

2008-09-26T21:51:00.000-05:00

So my phone company calls me today-- more than a month after I started trying to get DSL moved to my new house-- and tells me that they are ready to install it. Because, yes, indeed DSL is available at the neighborhood at the corner of Prince and Salem.

A cable modem and new Lynksys router after I had given up on them completely.

Evidently no one had actually been reading the notes on my account. Or if they were, no one knew what they meant.

On the bright side, the Rhea Lanna 1/2 price sale started today and I got a ton of stuff for my 6yo. And the best part? She has not yet figured out the difference between a consignment sale and Old Navy. Yes, I *am* savoring this while it lasts.

In other news...
So, in my interim position that I am not qualified to apply for when it comes open, I had to talk to someone today. In, like, an authoritative way. I am not sure that I am comfortable with that. I think I had rather confront plagiarizing students three times a week than have to be an administrator forever. I am much happier in my life when I am just arguing with students that yes, indeed, they do have something to say and they need to discover how they need to say it without me giving them an organizational plan.

My eight year old van is acting kind of iffy. I don't want a new one, because we are still paying for my husband's truck. I really would like to pay that off, then wait a year, and then buy a new family vehicle. So that probably means a substantial repair bill. And another two years.

So I really need to think of something good to counterbalance all this negative.
Let's see... I figured out why my groupwise was almost overflowing. I am forwarding my messages to my gmail account because groupwise was so wonky this summer. And all of those sent messages were cluttering up my server space. So I went from over 75% full to somewhere around 40%.

I talked with a couple guys I knew from college on Facebook today (besides the one I talk to regurlarly).

Mea had a good night at band. And her shy friend has a date for Homecoming. (Mea has a dress-- probably skipping the date).

All my kids are home and safe. And Todd dropped the boy off first so there was no awkwardness. (Boy who likes Mea needed a ride home from band; the shy friend always rides home with us).

Closing

2008-09-24T20:03:00.000-05:00

So we finally closed on September 17. We passed all the inspections. We paid all the cost over-runs. So now we officially own our house (well, us and the bank).

We walked away about even, with only the Home Depot credit card remaining for what we owe on the old house. I promptly spent money that I should have spent on something else on a flat panel television, because ~~I am a complete loser~~ I want to have a tv that I can hang on the wall rather than taking up our floor space.

Right now, Todd is installing the bracket. The $80 bracket, mind you. Who ever heard of an $80 bracket to hang a tv with? He has spent the last 30 minutes drilling one hole out of the three that has to be drilled.

I am, while he does this, trying to write a paper outlining the debate about what the content of FYC should be. Should it be literature? Essays? Student work? Works from the disciplines? Fun, right?

Great News!!!

2008-09-11T21:56:00.001-05:00

It took a plumber, but everything on the ADDI list is done.

As soon as the inspector can make it back, and he clears the house, then we can close. I can quit paying both my early occupancy fee AND my mortgage for the house I am selling (we let the buyers do some repairs in lieu of early occupancy).

I loved that little house on Oliver Street, but I am relieved that this will soon be over. I only need two things in life right now-- to close on our house and get my DSL hooked up.

To add to the fun, the city code inspector came and left my brother a list of code violations that their house has. Their house that they live in, that is... My parents actually own the house. So guess who is technically responsible for the work? My parents.

Forgetting, for the moment, the people who have real tragedy

2008-09-10T15:01:00.001-05:00

Three more calls to the lovely people who may or not provide DSL service to PRINCE and SALEM. If anyone in Conway has DSL, shouldn't it be the neighbourhoods at the corner of Prince and Salem?

Neither here nor there.

All this just to go to class tomorrow. Oh, but am I prepared? Not exactly. Because what have I been doing? Trying to get DSL set up.

DSL

2008-09-08T12:50:00.000-05:00

I have been trying to get my DSL installed since August 22. It took until August 30 to get my landline moved over, so then I could order DSL, right? So I tried to find a phone number to call. No dice. So I try to just upgrade my service, thinking that would generate an order... (Contact #1).

I accidentally click on something, and a chat pops up. So I ask the guy how to get my service moved.

He evidently could not understand me. He just typed away at his script, providing answers to somebody else's questions. (Contact #2).

On Monday, Labor Day, I call. The tech, who obviously also does not understand what the problem is, tells me that my DSL will be turned on at "precisely 8 o'clock" the next night. (Contact #3).

At 8:22 pm, I call the phone number again, and the smart system tells me that my order would be completed between 8am and 8pm on Wednesday. (Contact #4)

The next evening, after 8, I get no smart system information. Just that they are closed. (Contact #5).

So on Thursday, I call and get a human. I think she said that her name was Kathy (but I would bet money that her mama did not name her that). She told me that my DSL had been on since Tuesday, but since it was not working for me, she open up a trouble ticket and gave me the number. She also said that they needed to run a line test, and someone would call me back in about two hours, but do not use the line for anything for the next 30 minutes. (Contact #6)

About an hour later, I called back, trouble ticket number in hand, ready to hear that I needed a service call, because it was still not working.

Somehow, the heavens heard me, and I got someone who understood English, instead of just speaking it.

So he tells me that my DSL move order was never put in, and he transferred me to sales, who told me that hot places would freeze before I could get a same day hookup. I complained about line noise (fearful that a bad connection would keep the DSL from working once I got it). (Contact #7)

A repair tech shows up at my door at 8:05 on Sunday morning (he did call first). He brought me a filter for my phone-- the noise comes from my (non-working) DSL modem.

This morning, I call yet again, because I still do not have internet. Man (who's English is shaky) tells me that I cannot have DSL-- that all the accounts are taken. Well, first he tells me that it is not available in my area. I told him it was, too. (really adult there). Then he tells me that all the slots are taken. I ask to speak to his supervisor, he hangs up on me. (Contact #8).

So I call back. And this time, I don't talk when the smart alec smart system asks me if the phone number that I am calling from is the phone number I am calling about. Instead, I wait. I wait out the smart alec smart phone system. My reward? A woman who spoke English as a first language. And she understood what I was asking. She answered questions. And when she didn't know, she asked. And she found out. Turns out, the system had down my phone number as being unavailable for DSL, but not my address. So she changed my phone number. And promises me DSL by Thursday. (Contact #9).

I am hopeful, but not exactly holding my breath.

Sigh of relief

2008-08-29T12:44:00.002-05:00

For all intents and purposes, the moving is done.

Well, I said that. I just got an "upset" voice mail from the realtor. We need to clean up the back yard. Which we knew. It was dark outside last night. And she is bringing over cleaners to clean the inside. Which I don't really get. It is way cleaner than the house she sold us. WAY cleaner. We wiped everything down (oh... forgot to clean the toilets again-- we haven't been living there. And I bet I forgot to wipe down the sinks again. Ahhh. People kept using them!) I will grant that I didn't scrub everything, but it is cleaner than any house I have ever moved into.

And, of course, I have never mastered being a clean freak.

I have a headache. Of course, in all fairness, the headache began last night and hasn't really let up yet.

Updating (for Monda)

2008-08-28T16:30:00.002-05:00

So yesterday morning, I was in the bathroom. The toilet was not flushing just right. So I flushed again. And it started filling up closer to the rim. So I ask if anyone has seen the plunger, in our new house that we are not totally moved into. Olivia, who is six, found me the plunger. So I plunge. And plunge. And it started going down a bit... Aha! I thought I had solved it. So I flushed. And the toilet began overflowing, all over the bathroom floor. So I am standing there, in my underwear (because I don't want to get it on my clothes), trying to clean up the mess ('cause you don't want that in your woodwork). And I swear, I felt like I was up to my ankles in sewage (it could not have been that high, realistically, but I am talking about felt truth here...).

And then it was time to go to get my daughter to marching band practice. But, after I go clean up (in cold water, because the hot water is not yet on). So I clean up in cold water and then start trying to get my daughter out the door.

But of course, she is not dressed. And she cannot find clothes. And she is a nervous wreck, because she can't find the clothes that she wants to wear. And when she gets nervous, she gets physically ill.

So she stayed home.

So then, I call my realtor. Crying.

And she calls the owner (because we haven't yet closed. ADDI inspection. Long story), since we are doing early occupancy. And the owner, riding his shining white horse, agrees to fix the sewage (although he questions whether or not the line was really clogged-- men never believe that I know anything about plumbing). I do go pick up Mea, because everyone is uncomfortable with my teenage daughter being home with men coming in and out of the house. So I go pick up Mea, and we go to Stobys. Because god knows that after a morning like that, we need comfort food (pancakes).

And they found the shop towel that the boy-renters had flushed down the toilet. And then, the owner cleaned up the mess in the bathroom.

And then the other owner (the wife) rode in on her own white horse. She knows someone at the gas company, so they come in days before the "first available appointment" and turned on our natural gas (and thus our hot water).

So last night I took a hot shower. And that made me so happy.

Fresh pain

2008-08-26T09:38:00.002-05:00

So Todd has decided that everything inside the house is mine to finish packing and moving. He really is being a baby about this, and is making me crazy.

And gas? Friday. No hot water until Friday.

And the plumbing has problems. How on earth did the home inspector that we hired not bother to flush the toilets??? The house has a home warranty, which is great. Except the owners did not choose coverage for themselves while the process was ongoing, so they aren't covered. And we aren't covered until we sign the paperwork. So our choices are to live with the problems or pay to fix what a home warranty will cover.

But the house itself really is great. If my husband and I don't divorce over this move, all will be worth it.

So, when things move, they move

2008-08-22T20:55:00.000-05:00

Well, we move anyway. We are moving into our new house tomorrow. We can't paint, or rip up carpet or build walls. But we can move our stuff in.

And just for fun, AT&T is providing fresh hell. I can't get internet service until 8/30.

And I have class on Tuesday & Thursday. Those days are before the 30th.

So I guess I can have class here while we live in the other house.

Fun AND exciting.

I replaced my driver's license today. It disappeared last week when I got pulled over. Why did I get pulled over? As nearly as I can tell, because I pulled out in front of a cop. But the cops seemed to have been thinking that I was that I was drinking with my underage friend (Mea). They were being jerks, generally, and harassing us. But then they got another call. And I think they jacked my driver's license. It was going to have to be renewed in November anyway, and they went ahead and renewed it while they were replacing. So at least I don't have the trauma twice in three months.

Tomorrow, my dad and brother are coming to help us move. Not that we are actually packed, but we are moving the furniture anyway. Oh, and the house will not have water turned on until Monday. So, we will move all our stuff, and sleep here Sunday. And we will move our mattresses on Monday. Cable will be installed on Tuesday. Phones on Friday (along with Internet). Now all I have to take care of is natural gas. I think the hot water heater uses natural gas, which means it can't wait until winter.

Down to the wire

2008-08-17T08:42:00.000-05:00

I think we have finished most of the work on the exterior. I still have a couple of things to (re)caulk and some paint to touch up. Oh and cleaning up the overspray from the painter.

Now I have to catch up on the laundry I have been neglecting since I got back from Virginia.

I bought a nifty new toy.

This is the size of a Gideon Bible and will hold 250GB of data. (And, yes, mine is cherry red.) It even has a case (purchased separately-- like Barbie accessories) that looks like a Bible case. My university-issued laptop has been making me crazy because it is full, full, full. (I am so tempted to move all my data off and wipe it and reinstall everything.) So, I am moving stuff off-- everything but what I am currently working on. And some music. Let's not go crazy here.

Monday I am orienting our new adjuncts. I have packets for them. I am a great believer in packets. They have all been given sample assignments and a model syllabus already. Now I just have to read what I put together so that I am prepared to talk about it. Tomorrow. On top of the touch-up painting, caulking, and cleaning.

No pressure, right?

A Porch

2008-08-10T14:06:00.002-05:00

How can a front porch cause so many problems? We replaced the decking on the porch, because it was so ratty. Then the FHA inspector came and said that the paint had to go, because somewhere on there may be lead. So we have tried and tried to get the paint off. Now we have just taken the wood off. And have to do extreme cleanup.

It is hard to focus on the advantages of the new house at the moment.

My new house

2008-07-31T22:07:00.001-05:00

As decorated by ~~my mother-in-law~~ the previous owners. The rental company that managed it had pictures up on their website. It does not look nearly this nice now, the carpets are stained and the walls are really banged up. But it has enough bedrooms and two living spaces.

Staircase bookcase

2008-07-31T21:27:00.001-05:00

So this is the house that we are buying. See that big peak over front door? I am thinking that could make a loft, for books. Or my sewing machine.

One of my professors had a party for the grad students. Her house was older, obviously, but had a really lovely cathedral ceiling and a loft library and a spiral staircase.

Anyway, remodeling plans are in the future. And first on my list may be the kitchen because it is tiny. Although book storage is an ongoing problem at my house...

But this might solve my problem. Amazing. This is a staircase. With books.See, that new ranch style house that we are buying has an attic that could have potential. One of my professors had a 1960s ranch house that she said used really closed in and dark. They transformed the ceiling to a cathedral ceiling with a loft. Look at all those books in that tiny otherwise-wasted space. I could so fill that up with books. Tonight, I mean. And it could lead up to the loft that I want to create. Although reading around about the process tells me that raising the ceilings might cost more than I want to spend (like $30-$40K).

Reckon I could build the staircase anyway? Maybe just to the attic. Hmmm.

Let's do the time warp again...

2008-07-08T16:58:00.001-05:00

So I haven't written in what? Nearly a month? I guess it is really just a couple of weeks. I have started back to school--

My house is nearly done.

It looks darling and we have two "second-lookers" scheduled this evening. I hope one of them makes an offer. I am so tired of picking up my house. I have threatened my children that if they use "real" cups instead of disposable ones, I will maim them. I am so tired of chasing after them to put their dirty dishes in the dishwasher. And yes, I do know that by doing that I am depriving them of learning to do it themselves. But I also know that shrieking like a banshee when potential buyers are driving up is not a way to sell a house, even though the children may learn a great lesson from it.

In my old age (and having spent too much time painting lately), I have turned into a Muppephone. The "ow!" sound that escapes my body when I stand up is involuntary and really should fit into a Marvin Suggs rendition of Lady of Spain. Of course, Statler and Waldorf would probably boo me off the stage.

So, more painting

2008-06-26T23:49:00.001-05:00

Just finished up the master bath. I had it kind of botched, really, with two different shades of green and rough drywall. And the top two feet of the walls were siding that was peeling and not very nice. So I scraped peeling paint and textured the drywall. And filled rough spots. And primed, and painted.

I hurt.

And the ceiling is still peeling. We are just going to put up new bead board and be done with it. I cannot scrape and sand 100 square feet of ceiling. Just can't. I can already hardly breath from the sanding, etc. that we have already done. Mea has been a trooper, doing what work that she could and keeping me company when she couldn't.

The color is an awful pale apricot. It looks so... boring. But it is done. And it looks more "finished" than it did before. There is some fiddly bits around the shower to sort out, probably with caulk. I sort out a lot of things with caulk.

My closet is located inside my bathroom-- not the best plan, but it is an old house. Much of it does not appear to be planned. Anyway, now all the stuff that I pulled out on Tuesday has to go back in. And the house needs to be straighted up, because I have so not been picking up since I started on the latest round of paint. So there is laundry to be done and kid stuff to hide.

And a trip to the mother-in-law's to pack for.

Yes, gentle reader, my husband has scheduled a trip to see his mother. Neil Gaiman canceled his reading in Tulsa, so he figured that it couldn't get much worse, so we are packing up the minivan with all three kids and my husband's breathing machine and heading to southeast Missouri in the heat of the summer.

And tomorrow, I must finish the tile in the other bathroom. Todd finally put the cement board around the window so I can (did I mention that I started this job in April?), so I need to get that done. Why the push to finish up all my home improvement projects? My classes start on Monday. Only six hours this summer (as opposed to nine last summer-- that was insane). Oh, and I have an article to co-write in the next two weeks.

It is after midnight, so I suppose I should go to bed. So I guess I will.

Disappointment

2008-06-16T17:25:00.000-05:00

Neil Gaiman won't be coming to Tulsa. Evidently my tickets will be refunded.

And the only people who have looked at my house (so far) can't really afford it. (In the multilist, it is #10196134). And, turns out, real estate has been slower this June than normal.

Disappointing.

On the up side, we went to Branson yesterday to take the kids to Silver Dollar City to celebrate surviving putting the house on the market.

House for sale update...

2008-06-06T18:56:00.000-05:00

So Wednesday afternoon, I came home and the house looked worse than it did when I left. Todd and Mea decided to hook up the other room-sized air conditioner, and they broke a window pane. Then spent all day cleaning it up. So I called my realtor and asked her not to come.

Today, she could have come, even though the house is far from perfect. But she was busy, so is coming in the morning.

So, still selling my house

2008-06-02T17:51:00.001-05:00

My Realtor probably thinks that we are lying to her. That we don't really intend to sell. That we are the most disorganized people on the face of the planet (well, that part is true anyway).

Well, she just called. She's coming by on Wednesday to advise about what our priorities should be.

Now I am off to pack up more of Miss O's stuff. Did I mention that that baby has more stuff than I do? Every time I look up, there is another box of her crap to pack up.

New post

2008-05-19T21:39:00.001-05:00

I stabbed myself installing lino tiles in Mea's room. That makes me an idiot. I stuck a band-aid on in instead of going to the emergency room to get stitches because it was still attached. (Mea laughs as I write this, but I don't think it's funny).

But, on the bright side, I found the makeup that both Clinique counters in town swear has been discontinued. Where did I track down this elusive makeup? Ebay? A flea market? An obscure foreign makeup website? Nope. The Clinique website. And what makeup product do I so diligently seek? A special shade of lipstick? A particular eye shadow? Volumizing mascara? Nope. City Stick foundation. I am feeling really boring as I write this... How lame is it to be this excited to buy foundation? (And yes, I do wear it, lots of times, especially at the beginning of a semester-- not so much after mid-term). So I'll have to wear some makeup, right?

Moving before moving

2008-05-18T19:04:00.000-05:00

So we have told our realtor that she can walk through our house on Wednesday.

That sentence causes my chest to tighten.

We have done some landscaping in our front yard.

We have hauled out several pickup loads full of stuff.

Our house does not look any less full.

Right now, it sounds like a dandy idea to tell her that we need a month. Or three.

We have to empty rooms in order to paint.

We have to paint. No option.

And now Olivia is crying. Dissolved on the floor. And I am not sure I care why. She needs to go to bed.

I need to go to bed. Barring that, I need to do some laundry.

Maybe I should dissolve on the floor crying. But I am pretty sure no one would care why.

So, selling my house

2008-05-17T20:11:00.001-05:00

We have made an offer on a house-- a nice house in a nice neighborhood that looks like it was decorated by my mother in law. Not that there is anything wrong with that; my mother in law has great taste. Anyway, that means a marathon to getting our house ready for people to see it. Including our Realtor.

In other news, we were approved for the loan we need for the new house. I was a bit worried about that, simply because I forget to pay bills on time occasionally. And we owe too much money to everyone in the world.

We landscaped the front of our house today. We had a couple of flower beds already, but they were kind of empty. So we lit out at the crack of dawn this morning and went to a nursery in El Paso (just past Vilonia) and bought some shrubs. Then we went to Home Depot and bought some huge ferns. Then I painted part of the front of the house (where I am not longer sure we will be able to put scaffolding) with a roller. That takes forever.

Tomorrow, I need to finish tiling my bath tub. And decluttering. And, more decluttering. This does not strike me, right at this moment, as my smartest move ever.

Allure-ment

2008-05-01T13:46:00.002-05:00

Is anything more alluring that stolen moments to write? Right now, I should be coding my research project, which is due on Tuesday. But I am not. Here I am instead, with too much to say and everything wanting to come out in a jumble.

The news of today? The county I grew up in has some of the cleanest air in the nation. That does not surprise me in the least. But I can't help but think back to high school when one of my friends did a science fair project on acid rain, and discovered that nowhere was safe from it, not even Newton County, of the A air quality rating given by the American Lung Association.

In other news, I have decided that I desperately want to sell my house. And truthfully, it is not that I don't love my house-- I do! But I need a four bedroom house in a way that is hard to express. Miss O occupies our bedroom, Mea's bedroom and the living room. I so want *one* room where all of her stuff can reside! I even know the house I want. It has four bedrooms and was built in the 1950s, and was never updated. Paneling everywhere! And a pink bathtub in one of the bathrooms. Pink! 1950s cotton candy pink. And you know what? I would totally leave it.

This is so, by far, not everything I want to say, but I have miles to go before I sleep.

Stranglehold

2008-02-19T18:31:00.000-06:00

My life is a bit overwhelming. I sorted through paperwork for a good portion of the day trying to find everything we need for our house loan application.

Break

2008-01-21T12:27:00.001-06:00

MLK is awesome. I got a whole extra day to work on my homework.

I am trying to make my computer desk into something other than a chaotic mess. So we went to the box store and brought home a couple of cabinet pieces to set on either side of the desk, and to hide the cpu. I built an awesome computer, but the case is huge. And sucks dust like nobody's business. So I am hoping that keeping it in a cabinet might reduce some of the dust. And it will certainly be hidden. And we got a drawer unit, to hold the media that go with a computer. I have a ton of CDs. A *ton*. Installation CDs, kids games, clip art, backup files. All of these need a home.

Of course, lots of stuff at my house needs a home. I have way too much stuff. And every time I begin to think about getting rid of some of it, I get overwhelmed and distracted.

Home

2007-11-21T22:03:00.000-06:00

We all drove up to Mom and Dad's today. First, though, I had to get my tags renewed-- because I am a loser and did not do it in October when I was supposed to. Traffic was terrible coming up here. Trucks everywhere, and Miss O had to go to the restroom three times.

We got our new heat and air system installed. It is really nice to have heat again ; )
Old houses certainly have quirks.

I seem to be having a gathering at my house in December, which means I have to throw out stuff. I cannot bear for my oldest friends to see the mess my house is. And Do is probably going to stop by on her way to Louisiana. So, yeah, I have to clean my house. And I need to paint my living room, dining room, and trim. Because I have nasty paneling in my living room and ugly knotty pine trim in both the living room and dining rooms. And my dining room is yellow. Which is fine, until I paint my living room, then they will clash. And they are only divided by columns. So, they have to match.

All this after my final paper is due on Dec. 8, grades are due a week after that. Then I am free for a week to clean my house.

Debt to Income Ratio

2007-11-08T14:59:00.001-06:00

I have discovered that I am broke. My debt to income ratio is too high.

How did I discover this wonderful piece of information? Our furnace went out. It just will not come on any more. And even when it did work, it was inefficient and obviously on its last legs.

So we have to buy a new one. A $6000 new one.

And my dad has to co-sign. I find this depressing. I try to pretend that I am enough of a grownup to not need my parents help all the time. And truthfully, we manage most of the time. We have bought two houses on our own. We have bought vehicles on our own. We paid for the transmission on our truck when it went out. We did, however, get help when the air conditioning went out on my van. They offered, though, because they thought that it was making me sick to go without air conditioning (and it was).

So that is where I am. In my mid-thirties and still not financially independent. I hate that. Hate that.

Home Improvement

2007-10-06T22:56:00.001-05:00

Not the television show, but my life. Our toilet started hemorrhaging water last week, so we had to replace it. We wanted to replace the bathtub that had the big (filled) crack in it that felt like it was falling through the floor. We wanted to do that while the toilet was out.

So we did. The bathroom is still in pieces as we try to get a 60 in tub in a 60.5 in slot. That is what we have been doing all day. I cleaned (and bleached) the area under the tub because the old tub had been leaking so there was mold. Lots of mold. Dad came to help, which was a god-send. We really could not have done this without him (at least partially because Todd was temperamental and I was just mental by the end of the day.)

We got a lovely cast iron tub, but the problem, of course, is that it weighs 300 lbs.

My son just came dancing through the house singing, "It's in! It's in! It's in, in, in!" so I am guessing that is it in...

Just went and looked at the tub. The bathroom is shaping up to look really nice. We splurged a little on the fixtures (not that we went crazy, we bought like the second cheapest thing instead of the dead cheapest). Of course, the new fixtures look so pretty that I think we need new flooring... And new faucets would be nice, too.

Truthfully, I am just excited that the toilet will flush without having to hold the handle down. And that nothing leaks. I am not so excited about having to tile the surround. Anyway, there is still work to do, so I am off.

Randomness

2007-09-21T14:53:00.000-05:00

We have a quiet weekend planned. I am going to get some kids clothes ready for a consignment sale, so I can buy them more clothes. Or maybe purge a bit. We have too much stuff for our house. Or maybe we don't have enough house for our stuff? Either way, we have a mess. Right now, my entire house looks like a child's bedroom. Even to the clothes and toys strewn all over the living room floor. Part of it is my fault. I can admit that. I have my grad school stuff strung out. But that is everywhere. Maybe I should start by containing that.

Relief

2007-08-07T09:02:00.001-05:00

Two classes are done. Done. Done. Done.

We looked at a house yesterday, in my favorite neighborhood in town. The price is really reasonable, and they put in a covenant so that no one is allowed to rent out home there. The house is big-- nearly 2000 sq. ft.-- but still only has three bedrooms/two bathrooms. But it has a nice living room, and a big den. The laundry is in a hall closet, which I hate, but it is really a lovely house. The price is a little more than we're comfortable with (more than twice what this one is), but depending on what this appraises for, may be a possibility. I just hope this appraises for more than we have put in it! It would be depressing for all our work to be worth nothing.

Another House Update

2007-08-02T22:23:00.002-05:00

We are making a full-out press to get the house ready for the appraiser tomorrow. I think we have every surface painted, which is the biggest thing. Everything has to be "finished" and I think we have managed to coat every surface with paint and to fill every hole. Todd wants to paint the living room next week. I am ambivalent about that. On the one hand, the house will be in order tomorrow, and I hate to take it apart again. On the other hand, my life will only get busier after next week.

I had coffee today with Becky. Really, it was more of a mad dash through Target while we drank our coffee. I found some cool toys on sale, that I put up for W's Christmas, along with a few assorted birthday gifts to put away.

2007-07-02T14:52:00.001-05:00

My cousin asked me how I was doing today. Here was my response...

Slowly losing my will to live...

Our house had to appraised next week or the week after.

It needs to appraise for 20% more than we pd for it.

We had to buy a new truck last week 'cause our old one died.

We traded in our old one, but have to come up with sales tax

Groceries are more expensive, suddenly.

And I somehow have to sort out semiotics (no I don't know what that means) so I can write a paper on them.

How are you?

Finances

2007-06-04T19:12:00.000-05:00

I.Hate.Math. Especially when a checkbook is involved. On the bright side, I have Moneydance, which does everything that Quicken does, except expire. (If I am content to use an old version of a piece of software, the company should not determine for me that it is too old, and disable downloads from my bank.) I fed in all my expenses (except February from US Bank, because they only keep 90 days of record online) into Moneydance and found out where my money went. This is what I found:

I spend more in clothes that I believed that I did.
Our grocery bill is out of control.
And we eat out too much.
We need a lot of entertaining.
We need to use the library more.

It is all very horrifying really. Essentially I have nice sum each month that I really have no idea where goes. Well, I know *where* it goes: Wal-Mart, Taget, Walgreens, the Dollar Store, Freds... So I *know* some of it is cleaning supplies. And some is clothing. And some is groceries. But what is what? I am clueless.

Then, I started poking around and found the USDA's estimated costs to feed a family. Turns out the federal government figures that we should be expected to spend $983 a month to feed our family of five. Now, all we need to do is cut down what we spend eating out...

Kitchen

2007-06-01T22:13:00.001-05:00

Tonight, in the midst for cooking supper for my bunch and my dad who is visiting, I decided to do "something" about the open shelves in my kitchen. And what I decided to do was eradicate the plastic. So I put my baking supplies into glass jars, and put my metal canisters on the shelf and it looks really great. I did have to paint above the stove-- evidently I forgot to do that before. But it is done, for the moment. Now I just have to decide what to put on the open shelf above the stove. It gets hot enough that I am worried about putting just anything up there...

Breathing

2007-05-29T20:56:00.000-05:00

We gave away some furniture today. It was lovely furniture. Nice dresser and chest of drawers. But we simply did not have room. The furniture was seventies-era boxy furniture and we live in a 1920's bungalow. The house really has only 1460 square feet. Related to this give-away is my decluttering. Christopher Lowell says 7 out of 10 people have too much clutter. (I would like to know where that statistic came from, btw.) I *know* that I have too much clutter.

Clothing is my nemesis. I cleared out Olivia's 4T clothes today-- at least most of them. I am not even trying most of it on her to see if she *could* wear it one more season. I am just taking it to Katie. I have a kitchen trash sack half-full of clothes that just do not make me feel happy when I wear them. And I am giving myself til when school starts to get my weight back down or I am going to start getting rid of everything that does not fit well. Or that I just do not wear. I love clothes. Really. Love. Clothes. But right now, I have too much of a good thing...

My house continues to cause me stress. I would *love* to have a tidy house. I don't see ever having a home like my aunt, that always looks company ready. I do need, though, for it to not look like one of my children exploded in my living room. I do need to have enough of the mess contained that "finding the floor" can cease to be one of my hobbies. I need to be able to sweep without being a major production.

I made W clean up his room today. That was mildly painful. And he will need to clean his room again tomorrow. Finding the floor is a major part of what he will be doing. Next I need to nag Meleah. Her room is bad as well. She has no floor. Only clothing. Like her mother, she also likes clothes. Also like her mother, she has *way* too many of them.

New toy

2007-05-28T17:17:00.002-05:00

We have a new toy. Rather, Todd has a new toy. We bought a second-hand eMac today from a co-worker who is retiring. This will be *his* computer, since I swiped the desktop that I built in the fall. (I needed it for class ; >) He is ooing and awing overing it right now. It is beautiful.

I primed our cabinets in our kitchen so I can paint them. Then I need to paint the walls. I am pretty sick of renovation at this point. We are getting the house appraised next month so that we can start making payments (oh, joy of joys), but also so we can also quit buying building materials. So that will actually come out to be close to a wash. I love the way old houses look, but I am so sick of repairs that I could cry right now. When we get our closet project done, then we have to fix our bathroom. Fix is not a strong enough word, I am afraid "gut" is probably the more accurate word. We *have* to have a new bathtub and toilet. The old ones are just not salvageable, since they leak. Then of course, the new tub needs a shower surround tiled, and the floor replaced. All before the appraiser comes. *sigh*

The house needs new siding and a new furnace and air conditioner. But those are not on the top of the triage list, at the moment.

Short Update

2007-05-15T14:40:00.002-05:00

Found the cord and the resume. Todd has a job interview tomorrow at a different school in the same district.

We have bead board paneling in half of the closet. Which I have painted. And painted. No exaggeration; I have painted four coats of the same color on parts of it. And after I painted the dark green paint on, I decided there was too much green, so I repainted the part above the trim white again (hard to explain without a picture...)

The Vintage is done and as we speak being printed to be mailed out. That was more work that I thought it would be. And I have signed myself up to do it again, next fall. Aarg.

I am sewing this week when I am not painting. I made myself a wrap top and a pair of capris. I made Olivia a dress and a doll dress to match. I like sewing. It gives me a feeling of accomplishment. I should, however, have been cleaning out my office. That activity, on the other hand, fills me with dread.

Well, it is about time to go pick up my children, so I am off.

Closet remake

2007-05-08T11:06:00.001-05:00

I need to find the cord for my external hard drive. Then I need to go to Home Depot and get some paint so I can paint the inside of my closet and my bedroom. I have a scrap of wall paper that Walker excavated from the wall during the demolition that is has a beautiful dusky green background that I love.

This weekend, Dad came down and helped us with our project to finish the second bathroom. In the meantime, I worked on getting the closet ready. We removed everything from our closet. All the clothes, shelves, everything. Now what was in my closet has exploded all over my house. It kind of looks like I am having a garage sale in my living room. This will get better soon, I am sure. Todd has promised tonight to get the sheetrock and paneling that we need to finish out the closet so we can get hanging bars back up and have a closet again. And I may have a garage sale as well, next week.

I think I am going to go eat lunch now. Maybe better blood sugar will help my outlook on life.

Speaking of home improvement... http://www.raisetheranch.com/blog.html

Plumbing

2007-05-05T17:58:00.001-05:00

I have been to Lowe's or Home Depot four times today. I have bought and returned and bought and returned.

Long day.

Weekend

2007-01-15T21:39:00.001-06:00

Love the three day weekend.

I started tiling the kitchen counter-top. Twelve inch tiles with one inch accents. Lovely. Now if I could only get the dishwasher installed so I could finish installing the tile and grout and so forth. Cutting the cement board was honestly the hardest part. Stumbling on the John Bridge tile forum was a godsend. There I learned about carbide blades and learned that no one really can cut cement backer board with a utility knife. If you see it done on television, it is evidently a special knife or a camera trick.

I really should be reading for my assignment tomorrow. At least I have the class I am teaching tomorrow planned out.

I have almost finished adding the affiliate ads to the website that I have been building. I did the style sheet, the graphics and everything.

Catch up

2007-01-03T12:11:00.000-06:00

Today has been a catch up day. Yesterday we were without water. Not because I forgot to pay the bill this time, either. We were installing the new cabinet and nicked the water line and it was the next day before our plumber could get here. That was fun (not). All three kids and no water. And it was a wasted day because we couldn't do any more work on the cabinets. And I could not do laundry.

I did, however, work on my web portfolio. It looks kind of nice now, and needs to be translated to a brochure. A guy at one of the computer shops in town was asking me if I had one...

My cousin Joshua gave me the address of his Myspace where he has a couple of awesome songs that he has been working on. It always shocks me when someone I have known forever does something so cool...

I did get the Christmas tree taken down before we ripped up the kitchen. I guess that is something. And I did get Olivia's defective FurReal pet returned. She spent the money on a bike helmet and elbow and knee pads. She is a happy as she can be. She *loves* riding her bike. And Todd loves riding with her. He has so much fun with that.

Triage

2006-08-05T14:59:00.001-05:00

We are not going to get the house renovated in time for school to start. There. I said it. We aren't getting done. We are going to have to refinish hardwood floors while we live there. I can just imagine the grit everywhere.

Our friend came and finished wiring the water heater and the stove. At some point, we are going to have to get him to come and rewire the outlets to 3 prong grounded outlets. But first things first. We have a giant hole in our living room floor right now, and pieces of subfloor in a stack beside it. I am not sure how much of it can be salvaged and reused (if any).

It amuses me, as I paint & drip paint on the chipboard, to think that someday wood may be scarce enough that some, in years to come, will fuss over the chipboard the way I fuss over the stained hardwood that we found under the carpets after we took them up. Or possibly the vinyl tile will be treasured.

Floors and superheros

2006-08-03T20:59:00.001-05:00

Whoever would have guessed what a problem 30 year old termite damage could be.

We knew the floor in the living room was uneven, but, hey, it's an old house. Not until we started taking out the patched bits did we find what was (not) underneath. The header was rotten away. Where it should have been, someone had stacked two-by-fours on top of concrete blocks to hold the house up. It looked like something my child could have done. So that set us back on our timeline.

The kids have picked up a new show Who Wants to be a Superhero? The best part of that show is Stan Lee, who is judge and jury. It is funny to hear him teaching these people (who evidently never read X-Men) what being a super-hero is all about. In many ways, Stan Lee's superhero requirements and the Sermon on the Mount have many similar characteristics...

Why do I only discover shows after they are cancelled? Today I found LA Dragnet. Only lasted two seasons. Stars Ed O'Neill (formerlly Al Bundy) and Eva Longoria. Don't know how I missed it.

More on kit houses

2006-07-18T13:42:00.001-05:00

Aladdin Homes archive shows a house with a foundation like ours, even down to the textured blocks. Here is another house with textured blocks on the foundation.

I found out something else today that is really interesting for a number of reasons. It was not until the 1896 with the Rural Free Delivery Act that mail was widely available. This act changed the face of rural America by providing mail order to parts of the country that had relied on cross-roads store to provide all of their "store-bought" items. Sears and other mail order catalogs changed this. No longer did a rural customer have to depend on what was available in their local area, accessible only by horseback. Now they could have items shipped in via US Mail from all over the country.

At least one forum exists where people discuss issues related to kit homes.

At some point, I am going to walk around Conway and take pictures of the houses I suspect of being kit homes and see if I can id them. Maybe I should write an article... (at least for the Historical Society).

Kitchen

2006-07-18T11:50:00.003-05:00

While this is, indeed, ugly, it has other problems. Like none of the appliances work. And the area underneath the sink is rotted. And the cracks running between the walls and the ceiling? Those are because the wall is pulling away. We have to shore up the foundation.

Kitchen

2006-07-18T11:50:00.002-05:00

Dining Room

2006-07-18T11:49:00.001-05:00

Master BR

2006-07-18T11:47:00.003-05:00

Master BR "closet"

2006-07-18T11:47:00.002-05:00

This closed-in porch is supposed to be a walkin closet. Except it is not done. There is bare chip board everywhere.

Mea's Room

2006-07-18T11:46:00.001-05:00

The back bedroom is a mess. There is no door, the woodwork is painted dark green, the light fixture is dangling from the ceiling, there is a big patch in the corner and a hole underneath the baseboard. Oh, and that carpet? Totally hiding a dissolving particle board floor. That had to come out and be replaced.

Living Room

2006-07-18T11:45:00.001-05:00

House update

2006-07-13T21:27:00.001-05:00

We are really closing on the house tomorrow. We were supposed to close on Wednesday, but the termite inspection did not get done. None of the termite companies could inspect until all the garbage was pulled out from underneath the house. The seller wanted us to take $500 and ignore the garbage and sign off on the house without knowing whether or not the house had termites! Sometimes I wonder just how stupid people think I am?

Todd is hopeful that we can get the house ready to move into by the first of August. That would be really lovely. We really need to be moved by the 14th of August, as that is when Todd reports for school. On the 21st, I have to be available for meetings, and whatever else comes up. We really need to have almost all of our stuff out of here by then. Possibly just some stuff here to prop the place and possibly not.

Anyway, by then, we need to have the floor joists fixed, the foundation repaired, the sub-floor in the laundry room replaced, and the roof joists replaced. And the inside needs to be painted and the floors refinished. No pressure, right?

Kit houses

2006-07-05T21:18:00.001-05:00

We are wondering if the house we are buying might have been a kit home of the type sold by Sears and others. So I wasted the afternoon looking at online pictures of kit houses. Well, that and looking for my 2004 W-2 forms for the bank...

Clarke Historical Library hosts a huge online exhibit on Aladdin Homes. Aladdin, along with Sears, were two of the largest kit home manufacturers.

Several sites, including Old House Web and River Valley Home and Garden offer information on existing kit houses.

Painting and moving

2006-06-24T22:15:00.001-05:00

With the construction finally being finished in my bathroom, I had to paint. And paint and paint. My bathroom walls and ceiling are now painted. I still have to paint the wall in my bedroom and paint the repaired drywall in the living room.

Then I get to do it all over again when we move.

House Update

2006-06-23T23:00:00.001-05:00

We went to the bank today to talk to the loan officer about the house. We're approved, for both loans. So we should be able to get some of the house in Conway repaired before we have to live there. The first things that have to be done are the piers corrected under the house and the floors sanded (well, after the carpet comes out). We got a book from the library that illustrates how piers were made in Arts and Crafts houses.

The roof joists need to be repaired as well. Todd and Dad think they have figured out a way to do that effectively, but it means the room that is there will have to be torn out. So Mea will not get "her" room for a while, but will have to stay in the Winnie the Pooh room.

So today...

2006-06-12T17:49:00.001-05:00

So today we put a bid on a house in Conway. And tomorrow someone is coming to look at our house. I would LOVE for this to work out this quickly...

The house we bid on is on Oliver and needs bunches of work. We are under the impression that the work is cosmetic in nature. But there is a lot of cosmetic work. The carpet has to all be pulled up and the flooring either finished or replaced. The kitchen countertops don't match, but there are lots of cabinets. The hot water heater needs to be replaced sometime soon. The living room walls are paneled, and the adjacent dining room walls are orange. The original baseboards have been replaced in the bedrooms, but are still in the living room and dining room.

The outside needs work as well. Siding to be finished (we're never getting away from that are we?). And soffits. And places where the "older" roof does not match up perfectly with the "old" roof." But I love the brackets on the roof. And the bungalow roof line.

2006-06-11T21:05:00.002-05:00

Our never-ending saga of house selling continues today. We have cleaned and cleaned and cleaned. Today we took pictures of the interior and the exterior of the house because the pictures the realtor took were, frankly, terrible. We took over a hundred pictures and chose the best 10. I am thinking the realtor took, say, 10 and used them all. We are taking over the new pictures on CD tomorrow and are going to insist that they change the photos.

I hate the feeling that I am always being inspected. I hate the constant urge to find things to pick up and put away. I hate this whole process. I hate trying to find a new house. Hate it, hate it, hate it.

Mea's room

2006-06-11T19:18:00.001-05:00

My house

2006-06-11T19:13:00.001-05:00

My house from the front.

House from the side

2006-06-11T19:12:00.001-05:00

Living room

2006-06-11T19:11:00.002-05:00

Living room

2006-06-11T19:10:00.002-05:00

2006-06-11T19:09:00.002-05:00

Another angle of my bedroom

2006-06-11T19:08:00.002-05:00

Master Bedroom

Weekend update

2006-05-29T01:23:00.002-05:00

We "showed" the house for the first time on Friday. It went well, but they aren't likely to buy. On the bright side, we proved we could get the house in shape enough to let people see. On the down side, we've been playing "button, button, who's got the button" to find the stuff we shoved "somewhere." One box, bag, and crevice at a time, we have to go through our stuff and decide what we really want to keep.

Yesterday, I went to the family reunion at my aunt Rebecca's. Most of the cousins who are my age (or nearly so) were there. Anyway, I enjoy these when people my age show up. Nothing is worse than a family reunion where everyone in attendance is either 20 years older than I am or 20 years younger. Really, I only want to hear about my cousins' births so many times. (To be fair, that is not at all.)

Today, I cooked and painted. I made roast, mashed potatoes, gravy, mixed vegetables and salad. Then, I painted trim in the girls' rooms and touched up the paint in the hallway. More things to check off on my "to do" list.

Working on the house

2006-05-25T18:35:00.001-05:00

Today Todd took off work so we could hit the house hard. He has some people lined up to look at it tomorrow. While I am thrilled that someone might be interested in buying our house, I am so exhausted. We have finally put the stuff on the walls that we bought to go on the walls two years ago and we painted some odds and ends that we have been putting off. I cleaned the refrigerator, and under the refrigerator, and behind the refrigerator. And then I fixed the refrigerator. It had frosted up on the INSIDE and had to defrost thoroughly. So I let it defrost until it quit dripping water. Then plugged it back in and watched the thermometer and hoped it got cold. It did.

While I realize that the ins and outs of my refrigerator drama are not utterly transfixing, I am so proud of the fact that I figured out what could be wrong with my fridge and I fixed it. Okay, so it did not really require tools or anything, but I still did it.

I need to go and fold laundry. I am too tired to do anything else...