score
i got this awesome end table from a friend who's moving to another continent. it's hand-carved from morocco.
March 8, 2010
March 5, 2010
time
another thing i noticed as a non-smoker is that it seems that i have more time. it's weird, you wouldn't think something so passive would take up time, but it did. another reason to feel foolish about having been a smoker.
speaking of time, i find myself filling a lot of it with tasks that, in the past, i wouldn't care about. for example, this weekend i intend to get an oil change and a car wash, clean the fridge (it hasn't been scrubbed out in an embarrassingly long time), adjust the organization of the computer room (a new desk requires moving stuff around), and finish my super awesome sweater.
also, tonight is girls' night out, which means dancedance revolution at the inferno.
aaaand, i have til tuesday to finish the diary of anne frank; i'm currently on page 11.
March 4, 2010
*grumble*
i usually shower at night... mostly cuz i like sleeping and don't want to get out of bed before i absolutely have to. unfortunately, i got distracted by the hangover and yummy fish tacos and didn't leave enough time to shower last night.
i got up extra early this am (6:15), excited to warm myself with hot water, and discovered that kurt thought it would save energy to turn the temperature on the water heater to A. A is the lowest hot setting, which is really only barely warm. so, i turned the dial to C and then past C to Very Hot, all while wasting electricity and water waiting for the machine to do its part.
i decided that 6:45 was the latest i could start my shower and still get to work at a reasonable time without having to rush. at 6:45, the water was still lukewarm and intolerable. i considered tossing a bucket of this barely usable water on kurt's sleeping head, but realized that would neither solve the problem nor be a very good idea.
September 8, 2009
another random update
a friend at work directed me to the perfect frame for my a2-sized poster; since i couldn't seem to find one to fit that size paper on this side of the pond.
i've sped through three lessons of braille, but can't hand any of them in until i get my first one back and get assigned an instructor (or is it a proofreader?). i sent it off on friday, so i'm sure it'll be a little while.
July 22, 2009
time keeps on slipping
tensions are kinda high at the house.. we're not sleeping well and kinda at each other's throats. i suppose it's to be expected. i think a vacation may be in order.
July 20, 2009
too fast
spending a day going to kenosha and back sure shortens the weekends... at least we were able to finally get the tree in the ground. the hardest part was getting the grass up!
July 15, 2009
day 4 with cat
jones has gotten the hint that katrina doesn't have time for him and he's keeping a good distance. nora either doesn't notice her or she's a little smarter than jones and hasn't once tried to bug her.
got word from max's temporary place that he's doing really well. he's currently at happy dogz dog daycare and i just found a link to a webcam... we'll see if he's having a good time.
here's katrina from the top. whenever i bend down to take a picture from the front, she gets up and circles me.
July 13, 2009
all those feet
we have three dogs and a cat at our house right now. the kitty (katrina) is doing very well. she's itching to go outside but we thought we should wait a couple days... she needs to establish her rank with jones. he's very interested in playing with her but she does not reciprocate.
also, i'm not allergic! it's great news to me... the last thing i wanted was to have to take claratin forever.
it's still a sad time tho, max (kurt's mom's dog) is getting picked up today to go to a foster home in janesville. kurt wanted to keep him but i don't think i can handle that big of a change... or that big of a dog.
June 23, 2009
amazing
my iphone left china at 11pm last night and is in transit. i find it simply amazing that something can be that far away and is going to be on my doorstep in two (estimated) days.
in other news, it's bleepin' hot out. kurt broke down yesterday evening and installed a spare air conditioner in a window on the first floor. i think we're going to have to get an estimate for central air... the heat makes us crabby, and there's no need to live like that.
also, i just signed up for alice.com, they're a madison startup that allows you to order common household goods and they keep track of when you may be running low, and they ship for free. unfortunately, they don't carry my coffee.
May 29, 2009
wall stuff
we need more things on our walls. so i bought:
it may prove difficult to find a frame, since these are imported from england, they're a standard paper size (a2) in their land, but i can't seem to find the right size on this side of the pond.
also, beware of imitators. i almost bought the poster from amazon, but the letterforms are terrible. look at that awful "M". blech.
along those lines, today's xkcd is perfect.
May 26, 2009
success!
the house party went very well. all of the beer was gone by midnight or so, luckily we thought ahead and got plenty of cans. the fire was enjoyed by a small crowd until about 1am when i had had enough and went to bed. was up at the crack of 9 on sunday... i finally rolled kurt off the couch and cleaned up the back yard; a couple partyers came back to help.
the fire was going all day, and kurt stayed up watching it until 5am on monday. i finally got to mow the lawn all to the same length yesterday, so it looks much better now.
so now i'm back to work... it seems moderately more painful than my 9 days off in april. maybe a four-day weekend is just too short.
May 21, 2009
food list
ok, this is for me so i don't forget.
cream cheese rollups
"ham" and pickle rollups
caprese salad on-a-stick
edamame-stuffed wontons
goat cheese and tomato crostinis
apple zucchini crostinis
japanese pizza
vegan pumpkin cheesecake
*edit: i kinda want to make a pasta salad... knowing that will require a fork... i'll think about it.
and PEANUT BUTTER BALLS!
lol
coworker kevin put an idea in my head to serve only potato salads at our party, since there are so many kinds.
i probably won't tho.. i do need to finalize the menu and make a shopping list. soon.
we're getting a newused oven from kirch on friday. they're halving the charge to come look at our mouse-infested for buying the oven from them. i considered, for a second, getting a new one, but it's obvious we don't use it often enough to warrant spending $800 on a fancy machine.
part of me can't help but think we're getting swindled, tho. "yea, the mice got into the insulation so i wouldn't even bother fixing it, it'll stink forever. buy this one!"
May 20, 2009
stupid mice
we have to buy a new oven cuz they chewed stuff and pooped everywhere and it will stink for years if we turn it on.
:(
May 15, 2009
meal-planning
i always want to make gazpacho for our annual party, but it's not that convenient to eat. plus, i'd like to try to shy away from wasting plastic utensils this year, if we can help it.
i've found some cream cheese roll-ups; i usually make vegan pumpkin cheesecake and grilled eggplant. i'll probably make some tomato, basil, mozzarella skewers. i usually make a vegan noodle salad with bell peppers and green onions, but i think i want to try this edamame salad with wasabi dressing. if my oven was working (i've asked kurt to call hirsch no less than 10 times in a week), i'd like to make little baby quiches.
or some gougères!
also, according to the weather channel, it's supposed to be 71 and no rain next saturday, yay!
May 11, 2009
all done!
it took 16 total man-hours; this is my favorite picture:
May 6, 2009
almost!
finally ordered the invites for our 5th annual party:
May 4, 2009
ahh
i can't stop saying it when i walk into the kitchen now.
we're not nearly done.. we still need to throw on another coat and cut in the ceiling and do the trim, but i couldn't move on sunday let alone wield a brush.
i'm taking this coming friday off, so i should be able to get it all done.
May 1, 2009
ok
ferserious, we're buying paint and supplies today. i'm cleaning the walls this afternoon or tomorrow and hopefully we'll get started painting this weekend. i'll take before and after pics.
maybe, while we have the stove pulled out to paint behind, i can fiddle with whatever it stopping the oven from working.
April 23, 2009
paint
we've decided on ralph lauren's mango gold for the kitchen walls and old violin for the cabinets. i tried linking to their swatches online but they aren't anywhere near accurate so i won't bother.
the trim and ceiling will be an off-white that goes with the mustardy color.
the goal is to have it done for our annual memorial weekend party.
February 23, 2009
being responsible stinks
we've been carrying a balance with home depot since purchasing the house... what with buying a grill, wood for the raised-bed garden, and random accessories (like the hand-sander which we've never even used).
well, i convinced kurt to use some of our surprisingly large tax return to pay off the balance. now we just have the sears purchase to worry about.. if they ever deliver.
February 15, 2009
wash
i know you were all totally on the edge of your collective seats... the washer and dryer delivery has been postponed til march 10; kurt's bday.
he got the delivery fee refunded on the account of us having waited since november 26.
January 23, 2009
ineligible
not surprising, but our home doesn't have the equity required in order to refinance to anyone's benefit. it's kinda frustrating cuz we were hoping to have a smaller monthly payment, but at least now we know. hopefully property values increase while interest rates stay low, but that's unlikely to happen any time soon.
unless we get a home equity loan and put that bathroom in upstairs... *idea*
sleeping
i bought a new mattress and platform bed frame almost a year ago. well, the bed frame sucks. the supports in the middle have broken and the middle spine piece is practically splitting in half.
this is from normal wear and tear.
so, this weekend, we're attempting to repair the problem supports by replacing them with several 4x4s so i can sleep without my head being at a decline from my feet.
January 14, 2009
refi
so, the interest rate has dropped 2 percent since we got our mortgage. it behooves us to refinance, which should save us a negligible amount of money in the short run per month, but end up being quite a lot when it's all said and done (in 2039!).
kurt's a little strapped for cash, so he's looking forward to it.
in otther news: the start of our myriad of holidays begins this coming monday with the celebration of mlkjr.
December 2, 2008
according to last year
we had mice. i'm pretty convinced we do again, but i also got wise and bought a plastic dog food storage container, so at least they won't chew into the corner of the bag when it's got food in it.
it makes me sad to set traps, but i just have to keep reminding myself that they're nasty, disease-carrying creatures of yuckitude.
in other news: my next two projects are two strawberry caps. hopefully they'll be started in the next day or so.
also, too: i hate computers still. i resynced my ipod cuz essentially i have a new library; i watched it count from 1 to 7903 over the course of 3.5 hours and when i went to listen to it this morning on the drive in, it said i had no music... but apparently all my movies synced. at least i can watch KIDS, 12 monkeys, girl interrupted, eternal sunshine, and amazon women on the moon at my leisure.
October 22, 2008
clothes
i overheard once that we generally wear 10% of our clothes 90% of the time. whenever i get the urge to clean out my closet, i think, "what if i'll want to wear that next week?" or the sentimental d.a.r.e. to keep kids off drugs shirt with a hole in it that i'll never wear. or the sweater that would fit just right if i were either always standing up, or dropped 10 lbs.
yea, maybe i should purge.
September 29, 2008
don't be mad
i did some outdoor stuff yesterday... since i didn't have online solitaire to occupy my time (the native windows one sux0rs), so i finally mowed the lawn... and composted what i could from the garden.
i have to say, i was much more excited about the beginning of the garden process than the middle and end; that's almost exactly the opposite of how i approach work and road trips. i'd much prefer to be catapulted to the final result than sit in a car for two to four hours.
so, i won't be canning any beefsteak tomatoes this year.
September 6, 2008
brown thumb
i'm a terrible gardener. i haven't watered in two weeks, the tomatoes are going out of control, the cukes are probably gross from being dry... :/
maybe it'll become a perennial garden next year.
August 25, 2008
compost!
i just bought a maxair kitchen composter. i have a kitchen scrap carrier, but all it's done since we moved is generate fruit fly larvae. yuck.
hopefully, this new container will live up to the testimonials.
July 31, 2008
cukes!
i actually watered the garden this am; and there are cucumbers growing. unfortunately, the mosquitoes still permeate so i was unable to count. but i saw at least two.
the tomato plants are growing right out of their cages. i think next year, i should scale back. or plant perennials.
July 26, 2008
green
it's hard to admit, but i have been neglecting the garden. there are too many mosquitoes to even water it. so, this morning, i braved the buzzing creatures and pulled out some lettuce that was getting in the way and my cucumbers are going crazy. i'm going to be in big trouble when everything fruits all at the same time. the cherry tomato plant has 15 edibles. i think a salad is in order today.
July 14, 2008
crafty weekend
i made curtains:
and learned how to correctly use a turnbuckle:
my friend matt would laugh at me though, cuz as i was sewing the first curtain, it folded up under itself so i ended up sewing together about 8" of the curtain onto itself. that was frustrating.
July 10, 2008
362 days
we've been in our house.
July 5, 2008
mystery plant solved
according to a friend's mom who works for the arboretum, the plant i have is mustard. after a little research, i've learned that mustard is in the same genus as cabbage, which explains the "rubbery"-feeling leaves.
i also have this lovely flower on top of what i think is bee balm:
June 30, 2008
trying to fill out the page
so, i seeded some chives in march, to get ready to plant outside... and i noticed this one plant had three weird leaves on it, but the rest of the chives didn't. so, i planted it anyway. well, 4 months later, it's 4.5 feet tall and taking up too much space in my garden. so, i uprooted it and put it in the yard cuz i think it's just a regular ol' flower.
do you know?
June 8, 2008
rain
our rain barrel is full from yesterday's downpours. it's a shame we haven't hooked up the second one since it's raining so hard right now. and will continue to all week.
at least it's keeping the temp moderately cool... my plants sure would like some sun though.
June 5, 2008
guest reptile
on sunday, a painted graced our back yard. Joe was over, so he guided the little guy int the pond in Barb and Alan's back yard. he sure was happy to get out of the hot sun.
June 2, 2008
forgot to tell you
i had a weeding party yesterday. a couple good friends came over to dig up an 8"x2" area of thistle (and other good plants—those got to stay in the ground). prior to the party, i stopped at another friends' house to dig up some of her beautiful flowers. i got several phlox, not to be confused with dame's rocket (which has 4 petals instead of phlox's 5). i also got some grass with a weird 3d star attached to the leaves, along with two kinds of bee balm, some plant with "blood" in the name, and black eyed susan's.
once they flower, i'm going to have to make a map.
May 31, 2008
dirt
i just spent the last two hours playing in the garden. i moved some tomato plants around (on the advice of a veteran tomato-grower), hopefully they won't be too upset about being uprooted. i grounded some gifted echinacea, and put up a cucumber trellis. i'm not sure how to get them to want to climb, but we'll see.
May 30, 2008
growin' big!
i wonder if i'll be able to keep up once the fruit start coming!
May 29, 2008
greenery
i'm glad i didn't bother watering the garden this am. we're gunna get hit in about 20 minutes.
also, most of my poppies are up... but they're being drowned out by a whole bunch of thistle... i should have dug it up when they were of a manageable size. it might be fun to take a scythe to it.
May 26, 2008
laptop outside
i can hardly read my screen sitting on the back porch it's too sunny and my house is too bright.
i'm not really complaining.
rainy night
my plants have seemingly doubled in size after last night's rain. the rain barrel got thwarted by the amount and the tube couldn't keep up with the amount of water wanting to get in. we really need to install our second one, but we can't figure out where to put it. i don't really want to kill the peonies that are on the other side of the downspout, but we might have to.
May 25, 2008
excellent weekend
the first poppy opened up:
and fruits from my friends:
(from l to r) shasta daisy, sedum, spiderwort, and columbine
i can't remember what these two pretty ones are, but they're pretty.
and nora, posing for the shot:
we're all very tired today. i was up from 9a to 1:30a yesterday and only slept til 6. i took a nap after breakfast, but it's hard to sleep the day away when it's nice out. so, i planted the gifts, watered the garden, and cleaned the back yard.
the party last night was a huge success. the barrel is empty and is waiting to be returned, most of the food was eaten (especially the rice krispies!), one load of the dishwasher is done but not put away yet. luckily, the only room that is not in pre-party condition is the kitchen.
now we just get to wait for the probable thunderstorm.
May 22, 2008
i tell ya
i love having the day off tomorrow. it makes me able to stay awake so much better.
i also love having awesome neighbors. they offered their chairs from the front porch and their fridge from the garage. nice.
we have most of the spindles up on the deck, but have a hell of a lot to accomplish tomorrow. we'll see how long i last before i crash.
May 19, 2008
:/
we have to crawl under the deck to put eight more joists in.
we also had to pre-drill two holes in each of 100 balusters in order to prevent them from splitting upon installation.
May 16, 2008
wow
(click for bigger)
tomorrow will be spent putting up the railing and finishing stuff up.
later on
oh! oh! the radishes are already shoosting out of the soil. and the deck is coming along nicely. Kurt's really been working hard this week. we're having a deck-party on saturday to get all the boards nailed in. this activity supersedes my cousin's wedding and reception, which apparently has caused sore feelings among relatives. i guess i can understand, but i can't really do anything about the fact that there is one weekend between today and our party.
May 10, 2008
tired
whew. i mowed the lawn, and then Irma's. and then unloaded a pile of wood for Joe. and then planted my garden, repotted two plants. and just got done installing the scalewatcher. i'm tired.
need motivation
i need to mow the lawn. and plant my garden. and trim the bush between our driveway and Irma's house so she doesn't go spraying round-up all over it. which has been suggested twice now. i think she hates that bush.
May 7, 2008
update
so, here's some exciting news...
and i handed out invites to our party last night to the neighbors. Irma had me come in to have a sit-down chat and i didn't want to disappoint, so i came home to a burnt pizza.
May 2, 2008
before i forget
stuff i'm making for our housewarming party:
cold stuff:
vegan noodle salad
vegan pumpkin cheesecake
taco dip
hummus?
gazpacho?
hot stuff:
grilled, marinated portobella mushrooms
grilled eggplant
veggie-ka-bobs
May 1, 2008
small spaces
our house is not big by any means. in fact, it's pretty tiny. i rather like it that way. but it results in the need to purge sometimes... and the first to go is the rocking chair.
edit: not 12 hours later, my third successful craigslist exchange is almost completed. the chair will be picked up tomorrow evening.
April 26, 2008
so
i got to take the first shower in my new bathroom on thursday. it was the awesomest.
my week-long vacation is slowly coming to an end. tomorrow is the last day of it. at least the first half was almost too hot. these last couple days have been very cold and rainy and refuses to give up. i brought the budding plants in from the cold. hopefully they don't mind the stink of disinfectant all over. kurt and i power-cleaned the house today to get rid of all evidence of construction. and dog hair. at least for half a week.
every time we clean, we say, "we should do this every week!" and then we don't. shh, i think it's the first time the kitchen floor had been mopped since we moved in. don't tell anyone.
April 25, 2008
water!
What does usable water mean?
it's not drinkable. but it is, in fact usable. actually, plants hate tap water. it's undistilled. rainwater, on the otherhand, gets distilled up in the sky with all the crap that happens up there.
April 22, 2008
we're getting greener
on this earth day, as first home-owners, we installed a rain barrel; and collected almost 2 usable gallons of water (the spout sits 4" from the bottom). i also just ordered a scalewatcher from a company in california. it'll reduce scale in our water system, presumably without need of a water softener. i'll certainly be keeping track of that one.
i also just finished filling our garden with 21 cubic yards of compost that smelled like the south end of a northbound cow.
i, really, have been going non-stop since friday and will probably be happy to go back to work for relief.
April 21, 2008
finally!
the grout may be going in this afternoon; tomorrow morning at the latest.
April 20, 2008
*phew*
(click pic to see more)
best birthday so far, at least that i can remember. :)
mom and george met me at marigold for breakfast (where i got to see longtime friend who is now the general manager!) then around the square once for the first farmer's market of the season. i walked away with some rootable pussywillows and a baby cherry tomato plant.
then the work began. the raised-bed garden you see above took 4.5 hours from unloading the wood to putting in the last bolt. today, i dug post holes and put a coat of sealer on the untreated wood. i think i'll wait until tomorrow to do the second coat.
the bathroom isn't going as fast as i'd like, but it looks like they'll be done with tile and grout tomorrow, if we're lucky.
April 18, 2008
well
we had a minor snafu with the fixtures we bought... see, they weren't moen brand, so it was either rip out half the wall and re-plumb for the new brand, or go get another moen fixture. we opted to get another moen fixture. kurt's understandably disappointed, but i don't think the shape of the faucet is worth tearing out what they've done.
except now, one of the guys came in and went back outside and looks a little distraught about something...
update: apparently the first set of fixtures will work better, so kurt went back to menards to return the moen and to home depot to get the first one.
April 17, 2008
another update
(you can click on the pic to see more)
so, they did mudding, cement board, and more mudding in the last two days. it's a shame drying time has to be considered because it seems wasteful.
apparently tiling will start tomorrow, that's the part i'm most interested in.
April 15, 2008
lookin' good
they got the tub, cement board, and glass-brick window in today. the dogs were decidedly upset about all the banging and stomping about. when i got home this evening, they looked at me as if to say, "wtf??" i assured them it wouldn't be for forever.
mid-day report
according to kurt, the new tub is in and there's a big hole in the wall where the new window will go. i thought the contractor was gunna get a prefab one, but i guess it's probably cheaper to have him build it. then, all that's left is tile. is it really that simple?
April 14, 2008
no shower for you
or for us. the demo went well, there weren't any super-surprises. the slight rotting was expected. i'm very excited for the tile to get up on the wall... i hope it turns out how the computer-rendered version would make it seem.
progress
i took before pictures this am, and will snap some more when they leave for the night, but i guess the old tub is out, and the surround has been removed. there was a little rot, but we all expected it. kurt decided yesterday to tell me that he wanted sliding doors intead of a shower curtain... so i'm giving that to him since i don't really care.
the contractor wants to get the glass-brick window in tomorrow because it's supposed to rain on thursday. and, kurt took a picture of the old linoleum, which he says looks cool.
April 13, 2008
stuffs
i have a few plants coming up that i'm not sure what they are. i suppose i'll find out as soon as they bloom or do whatever they do.
also, fun with shrinkydinks:
unfortunately, to make one plant sign takes a third of a sheet.. since it shrinks so much. i might have to modify the pattern to allow for more; the draw-onable shrinkydinks aren't cheap.
April 10, 2008
shh
what a quiet blog we have here! well, that's about to change. i have several projects slated to begin and end before memorial day weekend. one of which is the bathroom re-do, which starts on monday. we'll be without a shower for 3-5 days before it's finished.
omg it's going to be so awesome when it's done. a glass-brick window and very nice tile all the way around, and a lowered ceiling. in-progress pics are for sure to come.
also, the raised bed garden is being constructed soon; i just need to figure out where to get all the dirt with which to fill it.
April 6, 2008
walking
March 31, 2008
maintenance
i've been told recently by one regular reader that i'm not posting with the quantity that he's used to. and i told him, "everything's boring." and that this may become a "home improvement blog".
i don't know if that's good or not; but i spent the majority of last weekend planning projects, scratching out plans, exclaiming "i want a walkway in the front!"
one of the best things about having a house and yard to call your own is the ability to make it what you want. we're planning on building a deck in 3 weeks. we have the people lined up, the architecture roughly drawn, and the idea of sitting in the back of the house with a cocktail and a laptop firmly planted.
more to come, with pictures; both before and after.
March 24, 2008
visitor
on a regular visit to the back yard with the dogs, i noticed an observer in the neighbor's tree. jones and nora stayed in the yard while i ran inside to get the camera.
March 21, 2008
supply run
12" by the end of tonight?! i'm going to woodman's. luckily, it's two right-turns to get there and two left ones to get home. i'll bet it's completely empty, too.
March 17, 2008
kitchen herbs
well, these are neat.
March 8, 2008
creek
two of us have fallen in the creek in the last two nights. at least i was only on the very edge... and nora knows how to swim.
also, my brand new mattress and platform frame is arriving between 2:30 and 4:30. i'm excited to have an adult bed!
March 1, 2008
whoah
that last one was heavy. sorry.
we bought tile from restore yesterday. it'll be enough to subway brick the bottom all the way around, and then there will be a row of diagonal 8x8 tiles around the middle. we also found a suitable "filler" tile at home depot. i wanted to spend my homeowner life never going into home depot, but the selection at menards was laughable.
the only thing we purchased was one, half-priced hot dog.
January 31, 2008
the day spa
a co-worker coined the phrase "day spa" for our jalopy of a back porch. up until last weekend, both kurt and i were convinced we were going to tear it down and build a huge deck.
well, we've since decided that we should keep it, fix it up, get new (better) windows and build a ground-level patio down below it. it should cost significantly less than a full demo and rebuild.
you'll get more info when we begin.
January 26, 2008
unwanted guests
we knew we had mice when we bought the place. there was evidence of them under the kitchen sink... so we thought, "we'll just see how long we can live with them." then noises in the attic got to be quite annoying... so we got that poison stuff that dries them up so they don't stink. well, they proved to be some sort of supermice that wouldn't die.
so, we got some covered traps and put some peanut butter in them and within an hour, one mouse succumbed to the temptation.
two days later, we got mouse number two.
it's my opinion that we killed the parents of the horde and i have evidence that the babies are in jeopardy. there was one little one barely running across the diningroom floor this morning that nora was sniffing. i lost it when i went to get a plastic bag to pick it up with...
December 30, 2007
new
our new loveseat:
i now have somewhere to sit when kurt and the dogs are taking up the couch.
December 8, 2007
caulk
during our first month of homeownership, we bought five varieties of caulk. it would appear that used the wrong one in the bathroom. i thought we had more seal-n-peel, but it seems we used it all up at the rutledge apartment, and used all-purpose, paintable on the bathtub surround. we still have concrete, heat-resistant, and tub/shower caulk unopened in the basement.
the concrete caulk was for an attempt at closing up a hole where the cold air return was open to the world (great stuff worked instead), and the heat-resistant caulk is for where the water heater vents into the chimney, which we haven't yet taken care of.
we also need to replace the smoke detector that i threw away because i couldn't get it to stop alarming us of a fire that didn't exist.
none of these things entered my brain when we were at menards yesterday getting a rug for the entrance to the house.
December 2, 2007
also
i bought some peppermint and cotton balls in an attempt to rid our house of the little furry thing that poops behind the garbage can.
snow
back in august i told you about our neighbor at the end of the street. mostly about how he takes care of the snow before the city gets around to it. well, he did. this morning, he was already almost done with the whole street by 9, and had started working on everyone's driveways. he even plowed the little bit that was left where kurt's car was parked on the street after kurt left at 9:30.
it gives me a cheesy, warm feeling to know that people are still that generous. i think we're gunna get him a gas card as a thank-you. or maybe we can all allot our tax dollars that go to the streets division to him.
November 17, 2007
unsuccessful project
so, when you turn the water off at the water heater, the shower dial should know not to output any water when turned all the way to hot (i still don't understand this). ours was outputting cold water when it shouldn't, so it was suggested to replace the cartridge. the plumber even said, "it's easy, i mean, i can do it, but it's easy."
so we tried. and tried, and tried. no budging. i didn't want to end up like this guy, so we put everything back together. now the dial is backwards and luckily, it works better than before.
i can't wait to redo the whole shower. :/
October 25, 2007
menards
the inevitable weekly visit to menards came on tuesday night. we needed tinsnips for the steel to repair the cold-air return vent that george insisted we disassemble to aid in feeding the electrical wire through the holes in the joists. :/
anyway, since i've got the layout of the store memorized, we headed straight for the hand tools. there were two boys stocking an aisle. there were boxes and product everywhere. i said, "i'll bet the tinsnips are in here." kurt had gone around to the other end in order to view them closer. one of the guys said, "yup! right behind me. you want straight or curved?" me, "straight." him, "left or right?" me, "right." him,"$5.98 or $14.99?" me, "$5.98."
the other guy proceeded to ignore me and share his tinsnip knowledge with kurt.
kurt picked out the straight, right-handed, $5.98 snips.
i just checked the receipt to ensure that we got the cheaper ones, and guess what? we got 'em for free. peggy, the checker, must have been distracted and didn't scan them. guess we should have opted for the $14.99 ones.
September 2, 2007
omg
the bugs!
wtf are we supposed to do? kurt says his delivery guy was afraid to come up the steps!
the mosquitoes are nuts and crazy. i can't even handle it.
August 28, 2007
shocking!!1
kurt's friend brendan and mom's george came over this evening to run wire in the basement. all was successful. we got the broken outlet in the first floor bedroom to work, and put the room on a 20 amp circuit all by itself, and brendan's going to put one in outside so we have electricity when it's time to build a deck.
i have to admit, it's been kinda hard to get into the home-owner's groove... things i want to do and won't have time for. but we have less than 3 weeks to get our sh*t together and get the house presentable for a party.
grandma and john are coming over this weekend (they're in town for another festivity), and i'd like to, at least, get it comfortable. john's a big guy, and i'm not even sure he (or grandma) is going to want to trek upstairs... so i'm taking friday off in order to get the house up to some sort of standard that doesn't look like we just moved in... impossible expectations, i'm aware.
i just have to remember to take before pictures so i can enjoy my accomplishments. :)
August 26, 2007
neighbor etiquette
so we finally met the lady next door who's got the corner lot. her name is irma. she was out mowing and stopped to say hi... and made reference to some bush next to our driveway that is creeping only inches over onto her property. she asked if we wanted her son-in-law to chop it down when he comes in the fall. i said we hadn't thought about it much yet. it just seemed kinda weird, but i said we could talk about it when he shows up.
also, alan offered the lawn chairs on his front porch if we ever needed them. i thought that was very nice.
August 23, 2007
ok
i'll probably say this a couple hundred times in the next two years, but i'm "getting" this whole homeownership thing. it makes sense... in a strange way.
yea, we have the shitty electrical, and the toilet that doesn't flush slow enough, but we also have laundry in the basement and i can traipse around loudly without concern for people downstairs. i actually think, "wait, no one's down there." when i walk into the kitchen.
good deal, i say.
August 19, 2007
wet
can you tell i found my camera? so, the rain has caused starkweather creek to get mighty big. it's up over its banks and into the neighbor's backyards. click the pic to view more water.
edit: 2:00pm, barb and alan just got home and weren't alarmed in the least. apparently this happens at least once a year.
mom and george are in oregon filling sand bags for the houses on our old street. apparently it's flooded up to burr oak ave.
August 18, 2007
finally
i got the office sorta set up. i'm actually surprised my computer worked without a hitch. i also found my phone charger finally.
so, i was able to take some pics of the painted rooms upstairs and down.
where i sleep:
spare room upstairs:
livingroom:
diningroom:
we had an unsuccessful visit from an audio specialist. seems our walls are pretty hefty. he drilled into two inches of plaster and still didn't break through to run a wire up from the basement. kurt's a little frustrated now... his car has also been not starting, so he's been kinda defeated today. :(
August 17, 2007
so
i mowed the lawn today. for the first time in 14 years.
there's something neat about that.
August 12, 2007
progress report
at work, they would say, "where did we net out?" and i'd chuckle.
i'd say we put a 20% dent in the main floor. not a real one, silly. we got the livingroom situated, and most of the dining room. i also assembled a kitchen counter thing, and put up a 5-foot-wide mini-blind. remind me to tell you how much i hate mini-blinds.
which means, i get to work on my "office" this week/next weekend. i'm loathe to set up my computer on a weeknight because i know it will end up taking more than four hours.. so to start a project like that when i get home, but not before walking the dog, and eating dinner, it would keep me up well past 11. and that's if things were to go well.
we made another trip to menards today to get a shelf for the basement. and a foot-wipey rug for the front door, and a level, and some other stuff that added up to a pretty penny. it's like a week's worth of eating out each time we go there! zomg.
with our target housewarming a little over a month away, i'm feeling more comfortable and i still think it's realistic. i think.
surprise!
another outlet stopped working yesterday. we were making juice.. and had a lot of fruit peeled and cut up, when it decided to quit. we thought the juicer had taken a dump, so i'm happy to report that was not the case.
i still can't find my phone charger and my phone keeps beeping at me.
August 5, 2007
a little downtrodden
with patience and help from george, we managed to identify the electrical problem. the wires are old. like, older-than-time old. the fabric and the black stuff covering the wire is disintegrating, creating faulty connections and blowing circuits... and some moron* decided to put half the house on one breaker.
yup.
however, it's actually been kind of fun trying to figure stuff out. it's like a big, sparky puzzle. i was only half kidding when i said to mom or someone that i should go to matc to be an electrician.
realtor ben came over to help and got us going in a good direction. we replaced two of the crappy wires and have power upstairs again. heh.
it's funny the perspective change that comes with home buying. everyone will try their best to describe this change to you, but it doesn't sink in until you can't find your phone charger, or your q-tips, but you have power in the livingroom. somehow, it is a great feeling to come home to a place that is yours. all yours. well, the bank owns it, but no one considers that fact until the 1st of the month. :)
*sorry, moron, if you read this; but really. wtf were you thinking? 9 outlets and 3 ceiling lights on one breaker? jesus.
well
we got one more phone line working... and discovered our electrical problem. seems no one knew there were live wires hanging out in the insulation. :/
so, now i'm waiting for kurt to decide to wake up so we can start wrestling with that problem.
July 31, 2007
heh
this morning, my boss asked if i was in a better mood than yesterday. i said i didn't think so, he offered to help, and i said, "unpack my life!"
the surface of the kitchen is a mess. the sink is caked with acrylic paint. it was the first room in which we started putting things, so the box for the dehumidifier is acting as storage and garbage, simultaneously. other peoples' painting accessories are randomly placed so i don't forget to return them. the worst part is that we shoved every belonging into the downstairs bedroom, and we can't find anything. even though i labeled each box. my favorite is the one that says "kitchen. knives!!1"
you'd think i'd be happy to have delivery food out of necessity, but it's contrary to the plan.
July 30, 2007
oops!
really, after this i'm done.
we slept at the new house this weekend! saturday night, we had the futon on the first floor and fell asleep watching children of men; the first half of the movie was good, the neighborhood was highly quiet.
last night, we set up the back bedroom with minimal necessities (the floors are getting redone on friday, so we don't want to have to move too much crap back downstairs).
i slept like a log. and woke up late cuz i set my clock's time for the wrong 12 hours.
ugh!
we moved everything else this weekend. i am sore.
and i wish i didn't have to work in order to pay for the house we just bought.
July 19, 2007
baby steps
we keep talking about the huge projects we want to accomplish, and it seems pointless since we have a million tiny projects to do over the next 30 years...
so, i started the job of tackling two necessities: a rain barrel and a composter. they've both been ordered.
July 17, 2007
ugh
coming back to work after four days of hard work is tough. i've been granted leave from the new house until friday.
i did the trim yesterday, minus three and a half walls' floorboard. i just couldn't do it last night.
kurt's mom is coming up tomorrow, she wants to paint. before i did the trim, i was like, "no, i want to paint the bedrooms!" and now i'm like, "whoever wants to paint, i don't care."
July 15, 2007
been busy!
judy and i painted for 9 hours yesterday. well, we took breaks, but we started at 9:45 and gave up around 6:15.
i'm gunna do the trim today. we're sticking with white. :)
July 12, 2007
and so it begins
i forgot to bring the ding dang camera with on our walk-through yesterday. amazingly, however, they cleaned out the entire basement and the yard was no longer filled with trash. the whole place, though, has a very small layer of scum about and we'll need to apply some elbow grease before we paint on saturday.
unfortunately, kurt kinda procrastinated on calling the floor guy, so we still don't have him scheduled for the upstairs bedrooms...
July 8, 2007
flipping out
i've watched about 6 hours of flip that house this weekend.
these people are crazy.
June 25, 2007
so
i managed to pack 16 or 17 boxes yesterday. i also am giving 5 plastic grocery bags of knitted items, coats, and miscellaneous objects to st vinnies.
clothes don't sell at a yard sale, so please don't ask me to have one. the neighbors (upstairs and next door) both have a modicum of stuff, and it would seem the three of us could have a regular-sized sale, but i just don't think i'll have the energy.
June 24, 2007
packing
i hate it.
i hate "stuff", so whytf do i have so much of it? i just filled eight beer boxes with our books and now i'm out of boxes with handles; and i haven't even put a dent in our belongings. it's more like a small wound.
i also just sold two plastic grocery bags of books to half price books and got a whopping $17.50. that covered the packing tape that i subsequently purchased at walgreen's.
here's the best part: kurt's away, playing pool.
June 18, 2007
eff it.
i need to start keeping track of everything we're gunna need:
dehumidifier, shop-vac, shovel, rake, garbage bins
these are things i want:
composter, rain barrel, gardening supplies, wood burning apparatus
June 10, 2007
testing
June 9, 2007
no news is good news?
we presented our "notice" to the sellers on monday. we asked that they get someone out to look at the chimney; according to the inspector, the flashing could have some attention paid to it, as well as getting a cap on the chimney.
we haven't heard from our realtor since wednesday.
meanwhile, i have started compiling a mental list of things we need, things we need to do, things we want to do... and then i start getting overwhelmed so i have to stop.
June 8, 2007
sorry
i'm not trying to ignore you, dear reader, i just have a lot of nothing to say... especially since most of it has to do with house stuff, and it's pointless for me to describe rooms and walls that i want to rip down without supplying pictures.
June 2, 2007
awww
it's so cute!
the inspection had no big surprises... just one little one. we'll be meeting with ben to write our counter based on the inspection contingency. if that's even what it's called. and then we start packing!
May 29, 2007
so far, we're golden
so... we're preapproved; locked in at 6.75%. i signed my name and today's date ten times this morning. my credit score is pretty awesome. kurt's was one point above the eligible number for the PMI program we're approved for (yea, we had to do PMI cuz there's no way we'd be able to come up with 20% down). and the sellers agreed to our offer with them paying up to $2,000 in closings costs, which should get us owing somewhere between $600-800. not too shabby. of course, that doesn't include the homeowners insurance which won't be esgrow'd until after our first payment (in september). these next few months are gunna be frugal.
we put in the offer last friday and our inspection is this friday at 2; our realtor wasn't kidding when he said things move fast after we decide to buy.
the first two appliances we need to buy when we get there are a lawnmower and a dehumidifier. i want a reel mower, but kurt says he won't mow if we have one of those.
omg. we're almost homeowners.
May 26, 2007
freakin' out
they countered with some minor changes... one of which is moving the closing date to july 13th (we had asked for late june due to per diem taxes) because it's occupied by a renter whose lease is not up til july 1. the other change is they want preapproved financing within 25 days of their acceptance as opposed to 30. i have no idea why those 5 days would make a difference, but to someone they do.
so, ben's coming over tomorrow to talk about this and write the offer again... and then we'll be homeowners. kurt and i are both nervously excited; and a little sad that we'll be moving out of the hood. but i have found quite a few positives, one of which is the great big yard and the garden possibilities. and the dishwasher. :)
one of the things i think helped us decide was that it's lived in, and that made it a lot easier for me to picture our stuff in place of what was there. most of the other houses we've seen were vacant (save for one aside from ivy st.).
weird.
May 25, 2007
make an offer
so...
we're writing an offer in about a half hour.
i should also tell you that ben anton has been of immeasurable help in the efforts to find a place that suits us.
May 22, 2007
an update
so, i've given up on the dream house on fair oaks. and i just keep telling myself that it woulda been too loud and too unprivate for the $ they were asking. we're finally getting officially preapproved tomorrow (from a bank lender) and will at least have that out of the way in case another gem comes up (that's a direct quote from our realtor).
after that, we're looking at two places on friday... one of which is super cute, but over by oscar meyer... the other one is off fair oaks farther down by milwaukee st. which ain't so bad; it's just hard to fathom that i won't have a decent coffee shop, grocery store, bar, or hardware store within walking distance. those are certainly pluses in the willy st hood. certainly.
May 20, 2007
so
we've only looked at two houses... but i think i found one that i might be getting unreasonably excited about. we're viewing it on monday after work. hopefully, right before that, we're meeting with a banker to start the preapproval process.
i'll keep you posted.
edit: the house already has two offers... we're conceding.