A Lot of Trouble for Little Things

Time to gripe. First off - I'm so sick of Couptessa ads on Pandora. Every time one comes on, I want to throw up. Secondly, I hate having to "sign up" for your stoopid website before you let me see any of the "awesome" deals... which always turn out to be more like mediocre deals on poop I don't need or want anyway.

Now that that's out of the way...

I've been trying for months, years in fact, to get the right dang end caps for my baseboard heat radiators. The problem originated years ago. Mike bought a buncha radiators without buying the end caps. He bought them from a pro-plumbing store open Mon-Fri 9-5. So obviously, since we work longer hours then that, it's been hard to go there to pick them up. Plus I never wanted to go on my own... not being a pro-plumber.

I finally mustered up the courage after a doctor's appointment put me in that neighborhood. I walked in there and received no assistance from staff. In fact, they directed me to the wrong place. A helpful pro-plumber actually helped me find the end caps, which I purchased four of.

Get home and they didn't fit. I told Mike I wouldn't go back there. So there they sat. $55 worth of end caps that didn't fit. Sitting around for months on end. But, as luck would have it, Mike had an opportunity to try and exchange them just yesterday. He came home with four different style caps at only a $10 increase in price. I was ecstatic!

But they didn't fit either. So now we have $65 worth of end caps that don't fit. I'm just ready to stab someone. I know the original mistake was not to purchase at the same time as the radiators... because over the years, lo and behold, stuff changes. Tis nature's way. But we have no way of knowing even the make and model of the radiators to order old-style ones... they have no brand names or markings on them and it's been too long to remember or have any of the boxes.

One of our pro-plumber friends is going to have to come over and try and identify the durn things... and then try and see if he can order or find the right caps. Two left. Two right.

I am so frustrated.

Then, last weekend, we put together Mikey's big boy bed. It was a gift, used, from some friends. And I assumed it would be a twin.... we get it home, it's a full. Good god the thing is huge, but we managed to fit it in Mikey's room and kind or sort of get things organized around it. Then, I fell in love with this bedding set from Target. Notice that the amazon link says "Twin." Just three days after I fell in love with the set - Target discontinued the Full size! I went to two local Targets to try and catch one left in stock. Nope. I went to Amazon and Ebay and a lot of other online bedding stores. Nope.

I started looking at other bed sets. Target, Walmart, Kohls, Home Goods, Bed Bath and Beyond, Overstock.com, smaller bedding websites, Macy's, Sears, Kmart... you name it, I looked there. And I hated everything.

Why did they discontinue the perfect bedding set three days after I fell in love with it??? That's almost reason enough to send some hate email.

Through some more mad searching, I finally got a wicked deal on ebay on a Tonka truck comforter. (Bought sheets and pillows at Target) See the Tonka tough comforter there on Amazon priced at $60? I got it on ebay for $30 plus $15 shipping. $45 comforter plus $25 sheet set equals $70. Original price of the Target bed-in-a-bag set? $69.99. At least I didn't lose money on this deal, but I'd still rather much have the build-it bedding set. The Tonka comforter by all accounts is thin and cheapy. I'm glad I didn't pay full price.

Mikey doesn't even like to sleep under the sheets and blankets. I'm probably driving myself crazy for no reason.

Meanwhile, nothing else has gotten done lately. We over seeded the back yard, which is actually growing quite nicely. My tree still looks sickly, but I just make sure it gets watered twice a week and hope for the best. Mike was terribly sick last weekend and I had bad allergy symptoms. We were both grounded.

I managed to pick out a paint color for the porch ceiling... but Mike hasn't been able to pick it up from work yet. Our neighbor Richard has been recovering from some minor surgery and hasn't been feeling up to drywall work. Timmy has been MIA, probably fishing. Not that it matters because we haven't been available either.

As you can tell I'm feeling pretty down about everything. Summer flies post 4th of July. This is not where I wanted to be right now.

Can You Dig It?

Just call me A Mess. After a near- recovery, I've slipped into relapse town. I don't know if this is allergies, viruses, infections, or just generalized internal chaos (great band name by the way) but I'm sick and tired of it. So sick and tired that I've resumed all normal activity - whether I feel like poo or feel like sunshine, I do whatever I normally do. I just have to. That's the bottom line. I can't stay stagnant for weeks on end.

Since the garage doors are in and working and since the remainder of my railings are still on back order, Mike and I have moved forward on other projects. Just last Friday I came home early and painted a lot of the farmer's porch trim and puttied some more nail holes. I still have the front facing, exterior farmer's porch trim to putty and paint - but that will have to wait until Mike sets up the ladder for me. Because I'm petrified of heights. (As my good friend Ryan put it, "I'm not afraid of heights - it's just that 'Woe!' feeling you get when you're on top of the ladder.")

Mike, meanwhile, continues to clean up his mechanical hoarding. Last weekend he gave away a set of rims and a giant tire.

And just this week, we're gearing up for warm sunny weekend weather with a couple projects in mind. Just last night, for example, I tidied the camper in preparation for its departure on Friday. Tonight, Mike will install his brake controller so he can safely tow the thing to our friends' house. (Yes, we share the camper.)

This move will free up the gravel driveway so that Mike can use his skid steere to remove all the rocks and fix the grade. (Out and away from the garage this time!) Once this has been accomplished, we'll order a dump load of loam and have it dumped right in the once-gravel driveway area. And this is because....

Next Sunday the 8th, Mike is borrowing a bigger machine from some friends of his to grade the backyard and spread the loam. (Nothing says Happy Mom's Day more then big machinery....) And I know we previously decided NOT to re-grade... but Mike has the opportunity to borrow the machine for free and we're eager to dig below and cover up any broken glass and debris leftover from last year's vehicle headaches and trash burying of years past. SO, there ya go.

Additionally, Friday or Saturday night, Mike is going to pick up stain and the porch staining machine. (Three non-rainy days in a row? Yup, I'll stain for that.) Tonight and/or tomorrow night, my task will be to clean off the porch in preparation. And hopefully with the machine, it won't take too much time once we get started either.


Stay tuned - this renovation freight train is coming through....

The Doors

It's been awhile. And I apologize... but I've been pretty much on my death bed for the entire month of April. First, as you know, it was the strep. Then I came down with conjunctivitis. Then I came down with some sort of bronchitis, from which I am still recovering by the way.

Mike got none of it - of course.

But despite my online absence, we've still been working. (And when I say we, I mean Mike because I've been totally out of commission.) 

Let me start first with our door drama.

As you know, the fam and I bought Mike a giant garage door for xmas. A giant garage door for our two-car one-door not-one-large-door-one-small-door garage. But due to inclement weather and misc sickness, it's been sitting around since January in boxes. The door itself, the hardware, the tracks, and all the accessories we purchased... just hanging out in the boxes.

A few Sundays ago, we were finally ready to install. And I mean, this was do or die. The previous Saturday night, Mike and a few of his friends cleaned out the garage, cut a gigantic hole, removed the old door, and pushed out the project cars. A door had to go in by end of day Sunday. Otherwise let me just put up a red flag and a sign out front: FREE STUFF! GARAGE NOW OPEN FOR LOOTING!

Sunday morning Mike went out to the HD and purchased the garage door opener. (Eeee! So exciting!) As soon as he arrived back home, the door dude arrived. The weather was beautiful, the pre-construction was accurate, and everything was perfect.... But we were missing pieces. Big deal pieces. The low headroom kit that would allow the door to open properly was missing.

I could've sworn we paid for that.

But we had no invoice, receipt, order confirmation, package inventory, or other manner of documentation could be found anywhere. I had an email, which I received after ordering the door on Home Depot's online garage door custom ordering website. You know what it said? "Thanks for ordering blah blah blah." Nothing about - here's what you ordered and here's the cost breakdown...

Lovely.

The guys went back to the DeepHo, purchased the low headroom kit in stock, and returned after all that to find out that it wasn't going to work. So the door was installed.... but it couldn't go up. (At least our stuff was safe though.... So safe, not even we could get to it!)

Now, at this point, I'd like to take a break in the narrative to talk about WHAT a difference the new door (working or not) has made to the garage. First, the outside. It looks like a real live two car garage now. A nice one at that... save for a little trim around the edges. And when you open the door... (not that it could be opened at this point in the story) the whole garage world is your oyster!

Inside, the white of the door makes the entire garage look bigger when the door is closed. Mike is thrilled beyond belief.

And now we fast forward to just last weekend. Mike called the door company and they confirmed that in fact we did not order a low headroom kit. (Uh-huh, is my response. I need to call them back to get an actual receipt.) So, back to the DeepHo. But the salesperson told Mike the kit he'd bought previously would work. So, back home.

Mike and the door dude make some modifications and at long last, the door went up and down! Mike installed the opener too - so just imagine, we hit the button and it opens! No more of this fumbling for the padlock key and trying to get the durn thing to open when it's frozen in the middle of winter. The garage door opener even came with a wireless keypad for the side of the garage. (Yet to be installed.) All these creature comforts! I'm loving it and I haven't even pressed my button yet.

Sick Like Winter

This is an April fool's joke, isn't it? First the snow, then strep throat. WTF?! Yes, sick again. The snow came first, tuned me into a minor cold which turned into major pain. And by last Friday, I was completely incapacitated. Saturday I went to the Minute Clinic - strep.

But I wasn't alone! The door dude called Mike. He was sick as well... sounded worse then I did, Mike said. (How that was possible, I didn't know.) The garage door installation was again postponed.

My good gal pal Heidi and her 4-kid crew were also supposed to come by for family hair day. (She does the hair, if you hadn't guessed.) Strep unfortunately canceled that date too. No need to expose two older kids, a toddler, and a newborn to ANYTHING like that.

Timmy, on the other hand, was healthy and well and arrived on Sunday around noon for more railing installation. (I was quarantined to the house as soon as folks arrived.) He and Mike (and Richard, who joined the party a couple hours later) wrapped the last full height pole and installed our last in-stock railing. (Two more on backorder, yet to arrive.) Then, they wrapped the three half poles of the side stairway. Ready to rock.

At the end of the day, the guys figured out how the front porch steps were going to go. Mike and Richard dug and prepared the stairway landing area for concrete. Pending a break in the rain, Mike will bring home the cement mixer and pour the front stair landing and the remainder of the side stair landing. (Which we previously - and accidentally - poured only halfway.)

*UPDATE
So here I am on Thursday.... still having not posted the post that I started writing on Monday. Blame the sickness! (That's what I do.)

While I was busy not-blogging, Mike and Richard picked up the cement last night. Mike had brought home the cement mixer, but there just wasn't enough daylight and energy to make it happen. Plus, we had a little bit of rain. Tonight perhaps?

Meanwhile, I've been trying to research solar post end caps. And if you click on that nifty link, you'll see that Amazon has a wide price range of products. Some of these dang solar lit post caps are big bucks. Like this one for $49.99... IT'S ONLY ONE CAP, PEOPLE!
Home Depot has a 4" x 4" one for $3.99. Yes it's crap, but it's only $3.99! Compared with $50??? What's wrong with the world? If I had a 4" x 4" post, I'd buy a few for $3.99 and if they turned out to be poo, I wouldn't give a poo.

The thing of it is, the reviews for the expensive ones aren't that great. They stopped working... they came broken... they're not bright at all... etc etc.

Unfortunately for us, we have the harder-to-find 6" x 6" post. So I can't just pick up a $3.99 cap and call it done. In fact, I'm having a difficult time finding a 6" for a decent price. I found this one here, but I'm not really in love with the design. I more like the design of the $50 one. Not that it comes in my size anyway.

And other websites - deckdepot and decklighting and otherstoopiddecksites.com? Yeah, I've found that their pricing is NOT at all competitive, their sites have poor design and navigation, the information is lacking, the selection is limited, and overall - I've come to the conclusion that I probably won't be able to find these online.

Frustrations and Looming Spring

I was so hoping for big joyful tax returns to jump start spring projects like they always do. (Lowes, by the way, has what I think is a genius promotion. Put your tax returns on a Lowes gift card, then come in on March 18th or something like that, and it'll be worth an additional 10%.)

Unfortunately, I have a gorgeous new fridge and porch railings to pay off. And apparently, we make too much now to get more then that amount back. I suppose I should be thankful not to owe.

Meanwhile, temps have increased and the snow-pack is melting down. I can actually see grass! Which is getting me thinking about landscaping again. And over the weekend we took a deposit on Dodge #2. In the next two weeks, if I'm not cursing myself by saying such a thing, it'll be gone. (And don't think for a second I get a piece of that big money action... Mike needs it to get his trans in the current Dodge fixed.) Bottom line - I get the back yard back. And with the garage addition completed and the Dodge gone... and the porch out front still unfinished, I can't help but think about the landscape.

What about the porch? Well, we still have a decent amount of snow and ice on that side of the house. But if by some miracle we get enough melting to actually work, the next step is to wrap the next pole, install our last "in-stock" railing, and finish the side steps. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Front steps still need to be built and the bottom needs to be wrapped. We have to purchase a fan and install that, as well as the remaining outlet covers.

And don't forget that new garage door that's just hangin out on saw horses. Unfortunately, there's a big mound-a-snow in front of the garage, making installation impossible. That whole thing needs to melt. Then Mike needs to cut the hole and have his friend come by for installation. (I have to purchase the opener at that point in time too.)

Inside, I have it on my to-do list to count and purchase end caps for all the dang radiators. Plus, we need to finish the radiant heat on one of these warm days. (It's been waaay too cold to turn the heat off for even a second, never mind an entire day.)

Donde esta el bano?! Home Depot has been running these "Bathroom Savings Event" ads on the radio and they're driving me crazy. It's like they know.... They know we're way behind schedule and they're mocking me. Mocking me!

Mike was sick again on Sunday, much to his frustration. He wanted to move the camper and get Dodge #2 into the driveway and ready to fly.

And this is what winter has been - sick and frustrating. Oh, and the weather has been nothing short of THE WORST WEATHER EVER. So unlike previous years, here we are at the center point of Feb, with nothing to show for Nov-Feb save for a kitchen window and a new fridge.

This might be ok for some weekend warriors. For us, it's our least productive winter ever. For example, last year on this very day we installed the hardwood floors in the living room. We had spent the better part of Jan-Feb preparing the living room - fixing the drywall, securing the floor, repainting, etc. The whole works. And on Valentines Day, we tag teamed that floor and did it all, trim and everything, IN ONE DAY. (And we managed a seafood lunch from Eastwind too.)

This winter's accomplishments are nothing more then shameful.

Wonderland? N. O.

The snow is once again upon us, undoubtedly translating into another missed Sunday out on the porch. Meanwhile, winter is ticking away and all those "winter" projects haven't even been started yet. I'm about ready to throw my own No-New-Projects mantra out the window until New England thaws out a little. I mean, how can you possibly install railings when there's a solid couple of inches of ice on the porch?! How can you pour concrete in subzero temps?

It's just silly. The porch cannot be finished in these kind of conditions.

At least we can rest assured in the fact that the kitchen window wall is coming together. Richard came over just a couple nights ago and taped/mudded all our hodge podge seams. Of course, with all the cold weather, we're going to give it a good week to really dry up before we invite him back for sanding.

 And can you believe the new fridge is set to be delivered on 2/5?! Seems like just yesterday when I purchased it and complained about the two month + backorder.

Adding to the madness, I'm still (yes, still) sick. This sinus thing makes me want to rip my throbbing face off and then sing about it in a death metal song. I felt great yesterday.... today I feel as bad as Wednesday if not worse. Am I drinking enough fluids? No. Am I taking my vittamins? No. Am I staying home on the couch with tea and Vicks until the pain goes away? No. So, therefore, I already know what my problems are and why I'm still ill. But sometimes you just can't do the things you'd like to do.

Unlike the dreaded Man Cold - where the dude of the house is incapacitated on the couch for days, watching an ungodly long war-themed show/mini-series/movie and/or the entire Rocky series OnDemand, unable to mutter more then an "eeuuurrr, can you make me some ramen noodles?" Yeah. I've been sick since last Saturday, at work every single day but Wednesday, and generally doing everything I normally do. (Miserably but still doing it.)

That's all I'll say about the Man Cold.

Now, on to some additional pleasant news!
THIS JUST IN.... DODGE #2 (is it #2? Well, it is poopy - so, I'll go with #2.) HAS BEEN SOLD!
For the amazingly low sum of just $2500.

That barely covers what we have into the thing. Don't you just love that? But I nearly had a conniption fit when Mike suggested he sell it for $1500. The dang new transfer case alone was $1000! So I'm pleased. And if all goes swimmingly, it may even be gone this weekend.

And, it's been purchased by the same doode who's putting on my new tires and aligning my truck. (Special vehicle = special alignment doode required.) So, I feel pretty confident he'll give us a little bit of a deal, since he knows this dodge is a steal. He only wants the motor!!!

Just think.... when the snow melts, no more vehicles in the backyard! Just a boat, a trailer, a skid steere, the camper, the snowmobile, and that little jeep go-cart thing. BUT! At least there will be no more VEHICLES!

I'm even laughing at myself and how ghetto that sounds. I should start a new toy-inventory blog that tracks vehicle acquisitions and transfers.

Two Words

I'm sick.

Third word: Again.

But the good news is, our neighbor and drywaller Richard is coming over tonight to tape up the hodge podge wall job Mike completed a couple weeks ago.

Finally, something to make my day a little brighter. T-minus less then two weeks until new Fridge time.

Happy What?

La la la la - WHAT? 2011? Shoot.

Sorry, I've been totally MIA for about three weeks, preparing for xmas and for the annual family trip to Baltimore. (From which we returned just last night.) Oh, and yeah, there was a giant blizzard in the middle of all that. Throw in a buncha crazy deadlines, the stomach flu, the common cold, a toddler, traffic, and an unnatural love of bananas.... and boy you've got a stinky Christmas stew bad enough to send even the most devout Christmas fan to sheer insanity.

DUDE - ok, the ad just came on TV and I'm pissed. I bought a chicken sandwich at BK yesterday and did not get one free. Dam you jersey turnpike!

Anyway, needless to say, I'm glad to return to reality... whatever that is. Honestly, I need another vacation. Say... ME... on a cushy lounge chair.... next to a pool... in 85 degree temps, light breeze... and, oooo! Bay Breeze! In my hand, pink umbrella, bendy straw. No such luck, welcome to 2011 - it's still winter in New England and we've got things to do.

The boys did some work the weekend before Christmas. Mike had some of the guys over, plus Timmy, to help him with the siding on the kitchen/mudroom side. (Ahhh, as I recall now, this was the day I got the stomach flu.) But despite my incapacitation, the four-five guys made amazing progress within an amazingly little amount of time. When I peeked out at them around 1pm, they had already stripped the shingles off the mudroom, removed the temporary tar paper from the kitchen side, stapled up TvVek, and installed siding up to the bottom of the windows.

The most amazing part - the kitchen/mudroom were now one cohesive side! Not one side with one tacked on addition. The mad plywood leveling was paying off big time!

Unfortunately, that was the last thing I saw before I was totally bathroom bound. BUT - when I was feeling better, I saw that Timmy and the guys had continued until they were at the top of the mudroom windows. It looked incredible! Our house suddenly is looking like a really nice house...

Just today, Mike cleaned up that side and continued siding - all the way to the top of the kitchen window! He's left some of the difficult cuts for Timmy, who should be by next weekend. And don't think I've forgotten about the porch... Hopefully we'll have some snow melt by that time too.

Flying and Dying

We'll begin with the dying - as in, dying of STRESS, first and foremost. Crazy deadlines at work plus three days at a conference plus Halloween party prep plus mad errands equals massive brain hemorrhage. And the weekend before last, we headed out to the Woodshed Halloween party... not good. Or maybe it was, but I can't remember half the night. All I know - Sunday the 31st was the worst day ever and I was soooo sick. All day sick. Dead sick. Can't get out of bed, embarrassed like crazy, missed taking my baby trick-or-treating, infuriated at my stoopid self sick.

Then I woke up at 5am Monday and had to go to the conference.... (And now we go with the flying...)
Got back Wednesday night and started editing for Thursday and Friday deadlines...
Managed my Friday deadline by the skin of my teeth - like done at 4pm skin of my teeth....
And rushed out of work like a rocket to do party errands....
Cut errands short because Mike was sick....
Put the baby to bed and went back out to the grocery store....
Came home and made jello shots until 10pm.
Woke up early and didn't stop party prep until the party officially started at 8pm Saturday eve...
Partied until 2am and had an awesome time.
Woke up at 10 and cleaned until 3pm....
Then collapsed on the couch and watched movies while hacking my lungs out.

Did I mention I've been sick with a cold since Wednesday?!

 Mini Mummy Pizzas

Snake Sandwiches

Decor - Note Peeps are Werewolves this year

I'm Goldilocks

Jello Shots going fast

Group Pics

Can Dance

I'm so pretty!

You all have no idea how glad I am that it's all over. And everything was a success at that! The party was a hit and still the talk of the town two days later. The clients are happy with their videos. Mike is feeling better. I'm still sick, but at least I don't have madness to deal with. The only complaint I received:

Not enough jello shots. And I knew that, but I had no time to run to the liquor store on Friday night. It was too late by the time I was back out running errands. It's sad, because I can remember the days when we made 10 boxes worth of jello shots and were stuffing them down people's throats all night.... next year.

But ASIDE from all of that, let's reverse the clock and head back to Sunday 10/31. Yes, I was sick as a dog, but be that as it may, Mike and the guys still managed to install 4 out of 5 railings. (The 5th couldn't be installed since the last pole hasn't been wrapped since the stairs haven't been done since we needed the temporary stairs for the party!)

This pic was taken post party - note that we also cleaned up and brought back the furniture for the occasion. The party also gave us an opportunity to test out the electrical with my collection of halloween icicle lights. It worked perfectly! Mike even picked up a bunch of small hooks, which we screwed into the trim, to hold up the lights. These hooks will stay in permanently for all future holiday lighting opportunities.

This weekend, we hope work will commence again! Stairs... here we come.

Unworthy of Even a T-Shirt

So Hurricane Earl turned... literally turned... out to be a big fat sack of nothing. Durn it, no "I Survived Blah Blah Blah" t-shirt.

And eventually we'll have the unhappy task of moving all the lumber and patio furniture back up to ground level from the basement... but not this Labor Day Weekend. Yes, as usual I had high hopes for big accomplishments over the past few days. Unfortunately, I've been feeling like poo for most of the weekend and couldn't bring myself to do anything Sunday and Monday.

Mike managed to cross off some long-standing items on his to-do list. Fixing the snow blower for neighbor 1, fixing the lawn tractor for neighbor 2, fixing his own lawn tractor, installing his fuel pump, fixing the mini 4-wheeler, fixing some dude's 4wheeler, returning neighbor 2's tiller....

I suppose it's a very good thing to have all those things taken care of - especially as we go into fall and we look towards cleaning up the yard.

But I had really wanted to go over to the HD and pick up wood putty and trim for the porch. (The more we've thought about it, the more we've thought that caulk will expand and contract - wood putty is made for nail holes, so we may as well do the right thing and use it.) The trim we need will go where the bead board ceiling meets the pre-primed white interior wrapping as well as around the front door.

I dreampt of purchasing it all and painting it all... but no such luck.

Mike also mentioned the kitchen to me again... I said don't tempt me, I'll buy a window today. So maybe it's a good thing that this sinus thing kept me unmotivated and stuck in the house. I probably would have purchased a big 'ol window. (Though I did scold him once again, "Read my lips, No NEW projects!")

Oh, and then he started with the, "You better start thinking about the layout of the basement bathroom."

And I'm thinking to myself, "Dude, you are getting waaay ahead of yourself here." It is so impossible to keep him focused sometimes. I need to tattoo "FINISH THE PORCH" on his forehead or something.

Speaking of which, Timmy had some parties 'n stuff this weekend, putting further construction on hold. Which is cool, because as I said, Mike had things to do, I wasn't feeling well, and let's face it, Timmy's been working weeks straight on our house, so a break is more then well deserved.

Back to work this weekend? It's not up to me - I'll be working I'm afraid.

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MemDay Already?

No news to report. That's it - end of blog.

Can you believe it?! This is normally our season of doing. But this year it's another season of doing nothing but going around in circles. When did we build that garage addition? May 1st it was pretty much completed... and here we are on the 30th and still no roof.

Shameful.

This very weekend Mike is sick and not too happy about it. He's dying to purchase the roofing shingles, but every Monday something else seems to play roof-block. And tomorrow's a holiday, so there ya go. He managed to mow the lawn today, just to say he got his butt outside for a few.

And me - I wish I could do more. I asked Mike to get the stain and deck stainer device from work so I could do that this weekend... but turns out he was too poo'd to go in on Saturday. Would have been a perfect time too - no rain for the weekend and the baby has been taking great naps all day.

At least I got one of my 4Runner soft tops sold. Woo-hoo! And with my new found wealth, I'll be purchasing the parts needed for 4Runner #1 so that it may too be sold. Woo-hoo2! I'm waaay too happy about that prospect.

I mean, come on?! What sort of a goal is it just to sell a 4Runner in an ENTIRE summer. Pathetic. In the olden days, we could have had the garage addition done, porch finished, and a whole 'nother side of the house re-sided by now.

I'm beginning to see why it takes normal people so long to do these renovations.
Although the scariest thought is this - next year at this time we'll be trying for our second child. Maybe I should start re-evaluating all my improvement goals. To think I wanted to have a second bathroom by spring 2012.... I still do. But is it realistic? Not so much.

Depressing.

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Just a Little Bit of HIstory Repeating

Sometimes just for fun I take a look back at posts from this day in history last year - or even the year before or the year before. Ironically, at this exact time last year, we were doing the floors in the baby's room. And I mean - near to the day same exact time kinda time. Isn't that incredible?

Last night Mike began leveling. I was watching Mikey, so I'm not quite sure what was going on beneath the living room, but it sure sounded productive, what with all the hammering, sawing, etc etc. He quit for the night around 8 - good thing too, I was exhausted. Actually, I'm still exhausted.

Yes, I've got this cold thing. I sound terrible - I'm coughy, siffly, achy, moody, and tired. Extremely tired. And outtofit to boot.

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