Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Pictures - minus the bathroom.


The bathroom floor is still not in.  Hopefully one of these days they'll send the right floor in the right size both at the same time.  The oven fairy must have came and fixed the oven because I plugged it in yesterday and magically the error code was gone and has not come back.  I am sure it will return at approximately 3 am one of these nights and wake me up out of a dead sleep.  Just because.







Sunday, June 17, 2012

Moved in...mostly.

I am curious to know what order of importance others place on necessities. For instance:
1. Internet
2. Sleep
3. Food
4. TV
5. Clothes

Notice just because I place internet first does not mean I receive it.  It was hooked up and I had a signal, but for some reason installation experts don't like to provide passwords to unsuspecting spouses.  Nonetheless, Charter redeemed themselves by promptly providing a password in exchange for a phone number in a surprisingly short amount of time.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Musings Motivated by Moving

     I have never once in my life moved homes and had everything go perfectly smooth.  My first remembered move from Sheridan to Middletown, Indiana at the ripe old age of five included sitting in the back seat of my mother's car next to my sister and cat packed to the gills with our belongings.  It was only an hour's drive or so but just long enough for my sister to vomit all over the backseat of the car.
     The next move was from Indiana to Minnesota and after walking off the plane and retrieving my poor abused miniature poodle from his crate he promptly defecated on the baggage claim area floor. Only a few days after that incident I spent many hours in the ER after foolishly trying to trap a new pet toad in a recently unpacked glass jar.
     A mere 2 1/2 years later we packed up and headed to southern Minnesota over Christmas vacation (For those of you who are not Minnesota natives or residents, NO ONE moves during the winter in Minnesota). Unfortunately my school term wasn't over and so my belongings headed to Red Wing where I only had visitation rights on weekends for the next month or so while living with friends.
     Two years later Dad got the wanderlust again and decided to move us to the wilds of Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  Yet again, most of my belongings left without me due to an unexpected visit from cousins with an empty moving truck that we packed up almost overnight and sent on months ahead of our move.  I have to say that getting to graduate a semester early from high school made up for that one though.
     Post a year of college I went on my honeymoon (and forgot you're not allowed to carry butterfly knives when trying to go through airport security) while I sent my over six feet tall father in law back to Tennessee in my packed manual transmission Saturn.  Amazing that he loves me anyway isn't it?
      Three years later on the way to our newly purchased house I managed to rear end another vehicle in the legendary rush hour traffic of Nashville and separated my shoulder that ended up needing surgery a year later.
     Four years following that we packed up, sold the house and moved across state lines with a newborn that gets carsick (at least she had the good taste to throw up on Daddy).  I do not recommend anyone moving with a newborn if they can help it.  This time I was also required to leave most of my belongings in storage for the next two years.
     And just under a year ago, we packed up again and realized the moving truck wasn't big enough and we would have to pull my in laws trailer down as well.  Then the trailer lights didn't work.  Four adults driving four vehicles for that move.  And I'm pretty sure my father-in-law got stuck with the truck that only gets air conditioning when you're not accelerating.  Which is most of the time pulling a trailer.
     You would think that I would reconsider all the moving, hassle, etc.  But no, not only did I want to buy another house, I insisted on falling in love with a house built before I was born that needed excessive amounts of work.  Just because moving is always too easy.
     So for those of you that have already accepted the invitation to partake in our Saturday disaster, I apologize in advance for the frustrations that have followed me since childhood.  No, that is not the bathroom tile I picked out, but if you come back Monday it should be.  Yes, the garage door must be manually opened now.  I am pretty sure that some mischievous teenagers were plotting to get in the empty house and engage in illegal activities.  Yes, I know the front door is broken and use the downstairs bathroom at your own risk.  It has not been cleaned in many many moons.
     I heard a fairy tale this afternoon that my internet will be installed at the new house in the morning with 15 mbps.  If it turns into reality I will be a loyal Charter customer for life and give mass exclamations of praise to anyone that will listen.  See you on the other side.

Friday, June 8, 2012

Finishing up the bathroom.

Please pardon the picture quality, I forgot my camera and used my phone.


In the process of painting the bathroom cabinets white.  I am starting to get that ill feeling when you think something is going to go horribly wrong and it's going to look terrible.  Only the first coat is on in the pic, the 2nd coat is on and I am crossing my fingers and praying that rolling a 3rd coat will get rid of the brush strokes and drip marks(I may have to sand those) and cover the rest. 



Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Ruminations whilst painting.

1.  A good paintbrush is worth its weight in gold.
2.  No matter how long you deliberate over what color to choose and how enamored you are of it, you will still be sick of the color by the time you are finished.
3.  Paint fumes make me angry even with the window open.
4.  The most detailed room should probably not be left for last.
5.  The longer it takes to complete the project, the more accepting I am of errors.
6.  It doesn't matter if the paint can says it has primer in it, dark colors still require a second coat.
7.  If your house has not been painted in 40 years, you will probably end up paying a lot more for paint then you thought.
8.  If your house has not been painted (or possibly cleaned) in 40 years, you will end up painting every surface.
9.  It is probably worth it to pay anyone to watch your child unless you enjoy potty breaks and requests for food every 15 minutes.
10.  Kids DO get tired of TV.
11.  I never thought I would say we have to paint all the closets.
12.  Under the influence of paint fumes may not be the best time to think of new posts for your blog.
13.  To the teenage girls lounging poolside next door while I am balancing precariously and trying not to break my neck and concurrently forced to listen to the theme song of "Sid, the Science Kid" for hours at a time I just want to say I am not envious of you at all right now.  Because it's not "Yo Gabba Gabba".

Sunday, June 3, 2012

End in sight.

The end is in sight!  2 more rooms to paint and they WILL be done before flooring is installed 1 week from tomorrow.  If I say it with emphasis it will get done, right?  Move-in date set for the 16th.  Be there or be square.