One Sixty: Frustrated Days and Chili Cheese Dogs

Frustrated Days and Chili Cheese Dogs

I never had a chili cheese dog in my entire life. Which is why Mike was so shocked when I told him I was making them for dinner. He said, "Are you kidding?" But it had been a frustrating couple days and I was feeling disappointed that he had to work late and couldn't finish staining and installing the upstairs trim.

I must admit, with the Nathan's hot dogs and the crock-pot chili and some shredded mexi-cheese.... I made a damn good chili cheese dog for a person totally unfamiliar with the art of sloppy-bad-for-you-foods. I'm always refusing to make Man-wiches, so I think that's partially the reason for Mike's shock.

Monday, I think, was the last day we did anything. Mike was unhappy on how the brushed on, then toweled off stain was turning out and got out his paint gun. And that worked quite well - until water in the air compressor air started spitting out.... (for we are without a separator) Water and oil based stain... not the friendliest of combinations. I haven't gone in the basement to see how it turned out. Mike tends to be dissatisfied with stuff I think is perfectly wonderful - so I never know.

On the same day, Mike put down some Summerguard fertilizer and he's been watering the heck out of the lawn every night trying to combat some of the browning. And it's worked! I can't help wishing I had some more seed, but I know I have to resist the temptation to fill in the gaps. It's way too hot right now to plant.

Hard to believe tomorrow is Friday. But I know Mike is working late again tonight. I'm rambling. I have the weirdest little feeling that nothing's going to get done over the weekend too. I've been too worried about bills I haven't even gotten yet. And now I've got myself wondering what's for dinner tonight too.

Blog Story

My now husband Mike and I purchased this quaint home back in spring of 2004 - our first home - and, being the handy folks we are, expected to have the entire thing renovated in about a year or so.

And here we still are... renovating away.

This house needed a complete overhaul. Its plaster walls were uninsulated, its attic floor covered in 2" of bat guano, its basement - dirt and snakes, its exterior - asbestos siding, and lead paint windows in every room. The electric had not been updated and light sockets hung bare from the ceiling. Plumbing featured cast iron radiators - and only one for the entire upstairs.

We began by gutting almost the entire house from top to bottom. (sans bathroom - we needed to pee) We rebuilt the entire upstairs, with a new floor (not new carpet or wood - the once unstable framing underneath) and turned 3 small rooms into two. We reinvented the downstairs by turning a closet into a hallway and eliminating interior exterior windows and doors from old half-assed additions.

New insulation, windows, electrical wiring (including phone and CAT-5 internet), plumbing and baseboards, and drywall were all added.

We purchased kitchen cabinets from a yard sale. (None existed previously.) Our families helped us replace and purchase new appliances including the once also missing washer & dryer.

Then we had the entire house lifted - straight into the air - dug out the dirt, and had a real basement foundation poured. We updated our oil tank and burner and created heating zones.

Outside, we took down trees and planted grass. We dug out an awkward hill to create a 2nd part to the driveway and used the rocks our house once sat on as a retaining wall. We electrified and repainted the garage.

And of course, we spent many an hour on finish work like paint, trim, closet doors, lighting fixtures, hardwood floors, curtain rods, dimmer switches, and many other things everyone else takes for granted. We are still working to complete all this final finishing, but happy to report that we are FINALLY nearing completion of all little things in all rooms!

In 2008 we began overhauling the exterior by creating a new french door entryway and building a farmer's porch and garage addition. We replaced our roof and then stripped off our siding and replaced with new clapboards. We then planted two new flowering trees and a maple in the front yard - our first major landscape purchases. I'm happy to report that here in 2011, the porch is nearing completion and the back yard is on the road to recovery with some new loam and grass. More plantings soon to come!

In 2012 we plan to attack the last MAJOR (emphasis on major) job in the house - the dreaded BATHROOM! We plan to first add a second bathroom in the basement. Then, demolish our current bathroom and rebuild it, adding a second bathroom on top for the upstairs.

And that pretty much brings you up to date. The battle continues day to day as we try and complete everything.