Our Skillz of An Artist: The Epic Post

I imagine that if I'm heartily sick of postings about the house you must be too, but if I have to suffer through it then so do you! Mwah-ha-ha! (Maniacal outburst.)
Here are a few of the updates:
Since there are several things I am unable to do during the day by myself and I must get the aggression out somehow, I've released my energies into the yard and created this work of art... otherwise known as a burn pile. It is a rare collage of prune tree clippings, leaves, rose bushes, and mounds of eradicated ivy. Beautiful, is it not? The fire should be splendid after all this East Wind has died down... and a little gasoline...


I can also move furniture and heavy boxes to further our settling in which included rearranging the kids' rooms for the umpteenth time to create the optimal storage capacity (with attention to Feng Shui flow) for our little home. I think I am done rearranging.


*Sidenote*
This is one of the things I love about our house: Friday night football games. It's such a nostalgic feeling to hear the band and the cheering and remember when I used to attend my own high school games at the same stadium. (Click to see movie)


Miracle of miracles! my sheetrock is up and my window in! This is due wholly to the fact that my dear, sweet Grandparents volunteered to come over, so while my Grandma watched the kids, Grandpa and I hung the rest of the drywall. You have no idea what this little wall of sheetrock did for my morale!


The window was courtesy of a couple of guys in the new ward (who know how to install windows) coming over to make sure it got done right for our first window installation. Between the experts and Doug (who's watched scads of Youtube videos on how it's done), the window has been dubbed Fort Knox.


Doug has also replaced some floorboards that had dry rot.


One day while I was trying to work and Sterling was wanting to "help" I devised the chore of picking up nails off the patio for $.05/ nail. This kept him busy for at least 20 minutes and he loved earning money, so now whenever he sees a nail he thinks he is going to get paid for it. I'm just not sure that nails under the house count as a safety concern...


Still a pocket door to be installed and then the sheetrocking can be complete!


Doug teases me that I always cut my hair when we are late for something, so of course, one Sunday before church that's just what I did! I have never attempted the entire coiffing before, and even though it's a bit edgier that what I had envisioned and my dear, honest friend calls it an Asian Mullet, I am pleased enough with the results. I have no pictures of this and the tree farm pictures make it look tame. It's definitely more Emo than I was going for, but I have secretly been wanting an Asian Mullet like this one...


Moving on. When I put up our tree this year this is what I saw: No bueno!

I just couldn't bear the thought of another year of coaxing the tree lights to work, so we chucked it and bought our first real Christmas tree in 7 years. So liberating!
I found a place in Buxton that sells any size Noble tree for $10 and the kids had a great time tree hunting and an even better time decorating!





Sterling's happy ANYtime he gets to destroy something!



Strawberry Hill Christmas Tree Farm 2009



(Click to see movie)

Eclipsed

Did anyone else think this was just a little pathetic? What was Summit thinking?! Uh, is anyone on Team Edward after THAT?! You can't show steamy scenes featuring a gorgeous upper-body the whole movie and then expect us to swoon when THAT walks out glaringly into the sunshine with patchy chest hair and noodle arms!
Ugh.
I vote for a new Edward.

Unarrested Development

We have been bustin' booty on this kitchen, but it feels like things have been moving in slow-motion. Each step in process takes a while when we can only spend an hour or two at night and Saturdays (if we're lucky) working. But this Saturday was a good day. We got our hot water finally and some sheetrock up in the kitchen which makes it feel like things are coming to a conclusion and that the slow progress will only speed up.



The above and below pictures are before- and- after sheetrocking.

The hot water tank has had an element out since we moved in so we were only able to take about a 5min shower and then wait a couple hours for it to refill. Two Saturdays ago, Doug decided to put the kitchen on hold and try to replace it. This didn't go well. Short story- It wouldn't drain because there was so much sediment in the bottom so Doug disconnected it and put it on a dolly, wheeled it out into the yard and there it stayed until the scrap metal guy came and hauled it off. We had planned on putting in a tankless eventually anyway, so we headed out to find one. The one we wanted was a special order item but, miraculously, we found one on Craigslist, new with the venting kit! I would love to say we installed it and lived hot water-ever-after, but that was only the first of many hurdles to jump. Anyway, two weeks later we have lovely, never-ending hot water.



Another view of the sheetrock in the kitchen. Can you tell I'm pleased?



I had to document our kitchen life for posterity. Here we have my Mom's griddle, our toaster and the propane can used to fuel my campstove.... next to the work lamp, the exposed outlets, and the insulation on a dirty subfloor.


And here is the baker's rack filled to capacity and our dining table full of junk. There are stacks of plywood for our underlayment in the background.


And my daily bane: the plastic between the kitchen and the rest of the living area. This thing annoys me to no end, having to walk through it all day long. I always get stuck in it because I am generally carrying things in both hands when I walk through. Doug tapes it up really well at night, so half the time I try to walk through and while my body goes through, my head gets stuck by the well-taped plastic at the top and I practically clothesline myself. Good times.

I Have a Fever and the Only Prescription is More WORK!

Watching our house come together has been painfully slow; and yet we are never idle. It has been hard to relinquish all free time. Even the precious time at night after the kids are asleep is gobbled up by unpacking, remodeling, and various handyman fixes. I never thought it would take so long to do the kitchen. In the planning stages it all sounded so simple: tear out cabinets, add a few switches and outlets, move the plumbing over, throw in a couple of can lights, move the window, lay down new floor, paint, and install cabinets. 4 weeks MAX! Voila! New Kitchen! Ah... I can hear the condescending chuckles now... And I join you... Oh naïveté! So while we are waiting for the kitchen to "happen," here are some pictures of the progress.

We painted Evie's room Pepto-Bismal Pink, then re-primed and painted it light, light pink and installed a chandelier. We suited up "Haz-Mat" style and proceeded to rip out all the flooring in the kitchen and front entryway that was potentially asbestos-ridden since there was water damage to the underlayment (and the subfloor too, once we got that far). And we decided that since the kitchen was torn apart anyway we might as well install a pocket door in the half bath since the existing door was getting caught on the door to the garage.



We've had lots of help from friends and family (the best EVER!) and REALLY could not have done it without them! Larry has done the plumbing and the electrical. Cassidy painstakingly removed all the staples and nails from our floor after tearing out the carpet. My Mom has been here everynight with Larry helping us paint, clean, frame, etc (when she isn't working overtime at work, that is). Doug's mom has provided endless babysitting and dish washing. Our awesome friends have done demolition and painting, meals and babysitting, and an occasional break from the grind of course!



And here's proof of our brush with white-trash livin':
A camp stove set up under a tarp with an old cabinet for an outdoor kitchen
A garage packed to the brim with crap
And a yard full of junk INCLUDING two old sinks, some curtains, scrap metal in the form of an old split pea-colored stove, baseboard heaters and an avocado washing machine
This is high-class livin' right here baby!



Et pour le pièce de résistance! ...My toilet ...up on blocks...

Okay, enough of the bad! Here are some of the good things that have been done!

The lovely hardwood floors under the carpet were gorgeous. They unfortunately had a little mishap and had to be refinished and now thy are even MORE gorgeous!

Our living room is fairly well put together now, though we decided to move that chandelier into the dining room instead and put in a recessed light.

I installed new light fixtures in the bathroom, changed the faucet and added towel hooks

The kids' room

A new light fixture in the entry

Evie with paint on her face, clothes and Bun-Bun


Sterling the first morning in our house


Moving Day


And now for some Halloween pictures
A Black Bat and a Black Cat (and Bun-Bun)


With rare foresight I made the kids' costumes before we closed on the house


I didn't realize until looking at the pictures today that I put Hylton's wings on backwards. Oh well. He was still a cute little owl. Even if he did refuse to wear the eye mask... He did, however, choose this day above all others to finally WALK!


Post Trick or Treating Lethargy

Demolition

BEFORE:


& AFTER:


Last night was totally therapeutic!


Oh, Doug is gonna kill me when he sees this posted...! He complained about his belly stickin' out and I kindly pointed out that you can see he can't button his pants all the way up... My tough guy...


We had some awesome helpers!




Me standing in the doorway of the old pocket door where my stove is supposed to go. There was a scare last night that those header beams just might be load-bearing afterall and therefore I would be unable to put my stove there, and therefore have to totally rethink my kitchen, therefore wasting the trip we took to pick up all the cabinets, etc. I was miffed, to say the least. However, on second inspetion, it appears they are not. (Insert angelic music).


You can't see a dang thing with all the dust and insulation floating around! Where is our protective gear, I'd like to know?