Chimney - A Reality?

Great and unexpected news - chimney work is scheduled to begin this Sunday! I was betting against this project for the simple reason that we started it before we should have and created a giant hole in the yard.

The arrival of the permit was the first surprise. Now, the guys have scheduled themselves for this coming Sunday. Mike is going to fix the dude's truck and the dude is going to poor the footing. (I still have no clue how we're funding this endeavor by the way.)

This last weekend, I also spoke to our plumber regarding the basement bathroom. (Yes, that's still down there... just hangin out.) He's available, in his words, "whenever" to come over and plumb what we need plumbed - the pump to the septic, out. Awesome! So when are we available? Ur... um... uh... dunno. Maybe I shouldn't have started the conversation without a calendar and the entire family at hand.

Already this weekend's booked... so, the following? Of course I wasn't able to articulate that when I was talking to the guy. We'll see what happens after this weekend, I suppose.

A Rug Counts For Something

Yes. Yes it does. You see, I was searching for an economical and quality rug option for the upstairs old-office-turning-new-baby-room/office for quite a while. Probably close to a month - ever since we had the yard sale, really. The problem is, large 7x10 to 8x11 area rugs in modern colors and designs just don't come cheap. (Neither do traditional colors and designs, actually.) I scoured the internet and local stores for weeks... even looked in New Hampshire while I was there a couple weekends ago. Nothing. I was looking to spend about $150.

Of course I'm well aware that these sizes of rugs run upwards of twice that amount. And to top it all off, I was looking for something of quality. You know, a nice pile height that your feet would be pleased to walk on... that your butt would be happy to sit on... that your baby could fall over on and not cry for too long... So obviously it didn't surprise me that finding such a rug was nearly impossible.

Then on an exasperated whim, I did a google search for "discount rugs." One of the first sites on the list was Overstock.com. Hmmm. I'd never thought of searching there. I clicked in, started looking around, and was surprised to find a HUGE selection in my price range. From descriptions and ratings, the rugs seemed to be of good quality.

I picked out this one:

For a price of just $164. (Don't forget their $2.95 everyday shipping, too!) I added it to my cart and said to myself, "I'll buy it on Friday." This was on Wednesday or Thursday. Friday comes around and I'm all excited... go to the cart... and now it's on sale! $146! I was getting the rug I wanted and the price dropped under my budget. Psyched. So psyched.

Ordered it and it arrived the following Tuesday - just this past Tuesday, if fact. (Fast shipping for $2.95, right? I was def impressed!) It's up in the room now, laid out but still awaiting a non-skid pad for underneath.

Then, we can start assembling all that lovely baby furniture and arranging and re-arranging.

So that's my long rug story. Around the house, not much has been happening. Mike was in NH for a week and I've been completely helpless with allergies and back pain. (Very frustrating.) Needless to say, we still have the giant hole in back of the house where the alleged wood stove chimney will go. No word from the dude who's supposedly building it for us as of yet.


Then, randomly, we got the permit in the mail. So they granted us the permit without the plans they asked for. Strange. Ok. So we're all dressed up and no where to go at this point.

A Hole, A Yard Sale, and A Place for Everything

News news and more news.

The new chimney project is for the wood stove - good news. It's not going in the same place as the old chimney. The old furnace chimney will eventually have to be replaced. That's our first headline of the week.

Mike has not received the plans from his friend yet... but hopes to by Monday so that he can return to the town hall and get the permit squared away. Nevertheless, he began digging for the footing.

And I have to admit, there's less of a mark on the yard then I had imagined. But here we are, sitting on a hole in the yard for over a week with no plan and no permit. Just gives me something else to worry about, if I didn't have enough on my plate already.

Second headline of the week: Yard Sale Sales Decent! Ok, so it wasn't a mad rush of people and we didn't make a million dollars. I don't think the craigslist ad did anything for us and neither did the signs... last time I put Mike in charge of signage. No clue where he put those things. Most of our folks were neighborhood locals.

But still, we sold a lot of the big stuff, make enough to make it worthwhile, and made some much needed space.

I spent the rest of Sunday and potions of Monday trying to organize stuff. Mostly stuff that had previously been stored on the now-junked bookshelf.

Some of the stuff is scattered around our bedroom and some of it is still in the office. But I made good progress for the amount of time I had and how incredibly tired I was feeling.

While I was cleaning, Mike was down in the bathroom. Yes, I said the bathroom. He had, over the previous couple of days, gotten the foam brushes and completed the final coat of stain on the trim. On Monday, he installed it and began the laborious tasks of getting in the sink and toilet.


The toilet posed a bit of a problem because some of the tile around it was cut too wide and it showed on one side. We discussed it and decided we didn't want to wait to fix it. "It's a bathroom in a basement," I repeated. So when all was said and done and the toilet was in place, there was a little bit of caulking showing on one side. (I still say, No Big Deal.)

After the toilet, Mike installed the faucet fixture to the sink, attached the sink top to the cabinet for good, and put the whole thing in place. Plumbing will have to wait, as the caulking had to dry. 

Onward and upward! Mike hopes to bring back our plumber friend to help him properly plumb the pump to the septic-out and test everything. Me? I hope to finish organizing and find a rug for the now half-office so we can set up all the baby furniture. (Seven more weeks to go!)