Wow, February is right around the corner. Tomorrow actually. This week has FLOWN by. I spend so much time in meetings that I really don't have any time left in the day for actual work. I think I need to block off times in my calendar again. I have tried that in the past and while it's not the best practice, it seems to work.
Home update: I managed to scrape/remove all the remaining glue and guck on the wall and ceiling where we removed some glass cabinets. The walls are ready to be 'poly filled' but the stuff we bought to fill has disappeared. Alas, I was on a roll for a day there but have been set back yet again and am sitting back in voluntary submission. I hope to get it done tonight. Painting WILL be complete before March.
Health update: Both S and I got the Norwalk Virus last week and were very, very ill. I was off work Tues-Fri and wasn't able to have a real meal until Sunday night. I also missed the first pilates class. Class #2 tonight. I took the class last fall/winter and enjoyed it so much I'm taking it again. It runs once a week for 12 weeks and it is a great way to relax and strengthen my back and neck after sitting at a computer all week.
Movie update: I saw The Kite Runner and Juno recently. I just finished reading The Kite Runner last fall and enjoyed it. I felt like the movie may not have been as enjoyable if I hadnt' read the book. However, others who have seen it said they liked it as well. I'd suggest it's a renter. Same with Juno. I enjoyed it and it was cute but I'm not sure I agree that it's "Best Picture" material. Great soundtrack though. Charlie Wilson's War is the next one for me. And then the Great Debaters. I'll let you know.
Book update: I'm about 2/3 of the way through Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. Interesting story. I go between thinking "this kid is an immature narcissist who probably would have grown out of this" to "he's a nut!" to "he did his own thing and I admire him for that." I'm not that emotionally attached to the story however. Could be the presentation by the author. Not sure. I'll let you know how I feel when I finish it.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Hello? ....Hello?
Oi! I have been a very, very bad blogger. Sorry. No, really. I'm sorry.
I've been at home nursing a cold all day today so I have no excuse not to write something long and profound. Or short and witty.
House update: we have an amazing new bamboo floor. It looks really quite amazing and we are both very happy with it. We have been able to move furniture back upstairs and S was even able to unpack a bunch of boxes. We ended up having to hire someone to level the concrete floor. After 3 attempts over Christmas (literally....we poured Christmas Eve and Boxing Day) to level it with Stone Mason's Self-Leveler, we decided to call in an expert for a consultation. We ended up hiring him to not only level the concrete but to install the underlay, floor and baseboards. I think we made a wise decision given the circumstances under which we were working. The holidays were busy for a variety of reasons and we really didn't have the time or expertise to finish it up properly.
There were a couple of exciting moments. I've chosen to remember them as exciting rather than horrifying. The actual leveling took place on New Year's Eve. We were banished from home until about 8pm. We had a party to go to out in New West and were very excited to be heading home to check out the lovely level floor, get changed and spiffed up and head out. I was in the second bathroom when S knocked on the door and calmly (with an underlying quiver of panic) said that we had a serious problem in the other bathroom and asked me to come and have a look. I thought perhaps Carmen (the cat) was in there doing something cute. Not so much. Leveling compound had obviously leaked through a crack in the floor upstairs and had drained through one of the potlights in the main bathroom. All over the towels, the toilet and the floor tiles. Eeeeeekkkkk! I immediately called the contractor and he instructed us to turn off the breakers for downstairs. However, we had to clean up before it completely hardened. So we ignored his warning (and, knock on wood, were safe) and spent the next 2 hours cleaning up concrete. The light was fine and we managed to get to the party before midnight and have a very enjoyable time with friends. On New Year's Day, the contractors showed up and checked everything out and said it seemed fine and that we didn't have to call an electrician. Phew. The second 'gotcha' was when they put down the last 2 boards they did so with the front door open. When they tried to close the door they weren't able to. Oops. Off came the door, shaved off a bit and voila! it closed.
I'm glad that's over with.
Now on to the painting.
And 2008. It's going to be a big year for me. I'm excited!
I've been at home nursing a cold all day today so I have no excuse not to write something long and profound. Or short and witty.
House update: we have an amazing new bamboo floor. It looks really quite amazing and we are both very happy with it. We have been able to move furniture back upstairs and S was even able to unpack a bunch of boxes. We ended up having to hire someone to level the concrete floor. After 3 attempts over Christmas (literally....we poured Christmas Eve and Boxing Day) to level it with Stone Mason's Self-Leveler, we decided to call in an expert for a consultation. We ended up hiring him to not only level the concrete but to install the underlay, floor and baseboards. I think we made a wise decision given the circumstances under which we were working. The holidays were busy for a variety of reasons and we really didn't have the time or expertise to finish it up properly.
There were a couple of exciting moments. I've chosen to remember them as exciting rather than horrifying. The actual leveling took place on New Year's Eve. We were banished from home until about 8pm. We had a party to go to out in New West and were very excited to be heading home to check out the lovely level floor, get changed and spiffed up and head out. I was in the second bathroom when S knocked on the door and calmly (with an underlying quiver of panic) said that we had a serious problem in the other bathroom and asked me to come and have a look. I thought perhaps Carmen (the cat) was in there doing something cute. Not so much. Leveling compound had obviously leaked through a crack in the floor upstairs and had drained through one of the potlights in the main bathroom. All over the towels, the toilet and the floor tiles. Eeeeeekkkkk! I immediately called the contractor and he instructed us to turn off the breakers for downstairs. However, we had to clean up before it completely hardened. So we ignored his warning (and, knock on wood, were safe) and spent the next 2 hours cleaning up concrete. The light was fine and we managed to get to the party before midnight and have a very enjoyable time with friends. On New Year's Day, the contractors showed up and checked everything out and said it seemed fine and that we didn't have to call an electrician. Phew. The second 'gotcha' was when they put down the last 2 boards they did so with the front door open. When they tried to close the door they weren't able to. Oops. Off came the door, shaved off a bit and voila! it closed.
I'm glad that's over with.
Now on to the painting.
And 2008. It's going to be a big year for me. I'm excited!
Friday, December 14, 2007
Sub(versive)-floor removal
Nope, floors aren't installed yet. We had to remove some stone tiles from the entranceway and while pulling up the actual tiles was fairly easy and only took a few hours, the plywood subfloor is a nightmare. S spent 4 hours on it yesterday and not even one piece is up yet (looks like there are 4 small pieces). It turns out it is nailed down but that's not the problem....the problem is that the nails are hidden beneath the left over caulking and glue so we have to guess where the are and basically chip away the caulking to find each nail. Wow. Patience is a virtue right?
In other breaking news, I have done quite a bit of Christmas shopping so far. I checked off 4 more gifts last night with a trip to Oscar's Art Books after work. It is a great bookstore and they had a great sale on. Y'all should check it out - it's on Broadway, on the north side just west of Granville. Skip the Chapters across the street if you can and head straight to Oscar's.
In other breaking news, I have done quite a bit of Christmas shopping so far. I checked off 4 more gifts last night with a trip to Oscar's Art Books after work. It is a great bookstore and they had a great sale on. Y'all should check it out - it's on Broadway, on the north side just west of Granville. Skip the Chapters across the street if you can and head straight to Oscar's.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Oops, I forgot
My blogging skills are apparently very rusty. I'm not really sure how I managed to blog (almost) every day for 5 years.
Anyway, it's been 2 months since we moved into our new home. Renovations are going...slowly. We got all new stainless steel appliances, bottom freezer fridge, ceramic top stove (with warming element in the middle - which we use ALL the time), and a new dishwasher (which seems to fill up very quickly). They look great and immediately gave the kitchen a shot of "moderning." We had to hire a plumber to install the dishwasher which was a bit of a pain because the first guy bailed on us because he "couldn't find any parking" and we wasted a couple of weeks waiting for him to reschedule. Which he never ended up doing. We also bought and installed a new clothes dryer. It took a bit of fiddling to get the vent hooked up but it wasn't difficult.
We also ordered some Bamboo Strand flooring from Plyboo (via Greenworks). However, it's been 2.5 weeks and it still hasn't come in. S has had to go back to work (P/T for now) so having the floor done before Christmas isn't looking good. A lot of other things seem to depend on having the floor in so everything else is on hold. We want to paint after the floor is in because the bamboo will likely change the light and tone in the room. We pulled out a cabinet/shelving unit that sat between the kitchen and dining area. It came out fairly easily and really opens things up. We've also gotten some prices on counter tops...damn they are expensive! I still like the poured concrete option but we've also been looking at granite. Last weekend we decided we are going to raise the breakfast bar so that will take a bit of work before we can order the countertops. We have also decided to leave the grey ceramic tiles in the kitchen for now. We may replace them eventually but for now they work fine. I'm interested in learning more about Marmoleum.
So, we're moved in and happy with lots to do.
Perhaps I should change the privacy settings on this blog so other people can actually read it. There is nothing like pressure and guilt to keep one blogging regularly.
Anyway, it's been 2 months since we moved into our new home. Renovations are going...slowly. We got all new stainless steel appliances, bottom freezer fridge, ceramic top stove (with warming element in the middle - which we use ALL the time), and a new dishwasher (which seems to fill up very quickly). They look great and immediately gave the kitchen a shot of "moderning." We had to hire a plumber to install the dishwasher which was a bit of a pain because the first guy bailed on us because he "couldn't find any parking" and we wasted a couple of weeks waiting for him to reschedule. Which he never ended up doing. We also bought and installed a new clothes dryer. It took a bit of fiddling to get the vent hooked up but it wasn't difficult.
We also ordered some Bamboo Strand flooring from Plyboo (via Greenworks). However, it's been 2.5 weeks and it still hasn't come in. S has had to go back to work (P/T for now) so having the floor done before Christmas isn't looking good. A lot of other things seem to depend on having the floor in so everything else is on hold. We want to paint after the floor is in because the bamboo will likely change the light and tone in the room. We pulled out a cabinet/shelving unit that sat between the kitchen and dining area. It came out fairly easily and really opens things up. We've also gotten some prices on counter tops...damn they are expensive! I still like the poured concrete option but we've also been looking at granite. Last weekend we decided we are going to raise the breakfast bar so that will take a bit of work before we can order the countertops. We have also decided to leave the grey ceramic tiles in the kitchen for now. We may replace them eventually but for now they work fine. I'm interested in learning more about Marmoleum.
So, we're moved in and happy with lots to do.
Perhaps I should change the privacy settings on this blog so other people can actually read it. There is nothing like pressure and guilt to keep one blogging regularly.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)