Staying Afloat

Wow, it's been two weeks since I've written anything. Geez. Sorry 'bout that. Not that you were all sitting on the edge of your seats, waiting with baited breath for me to post. But here I am again, so have no fear.

I have to admit, I've been in a bit of a funk lately, my mind swirling furiously with too many thoughts and emotions. The last two weeks have been kind of a "perfect storm" in my head and I've felt like I was drowning and unable to get to the life raft that was just feet away. Now, I'm simply treading water but at least my head's above water. (How's that for an analogy, huh?)

The first wave that hit me was when we refinanced our home loan. Long story short, refinancing cut off our construction loan and with the new, tighter lending restrictions due to the economy we are unable to get the last draw we'd planned on getting added to the new loan. So we are left with a huge credit card balance that we had planned to pay off with that draw. (It's so backwards - the bank wanted us to complete the work before we could get the money for it. So we paid for it and now we don't get the money.) Anyway, this unexpected debt pretty much ensures me going back to work nearly full-time. And this breaks my heart. Breaks it into tiny little pieces, grinds them into powder, bakes them into a loaf of broken heart bread where a heartless, ugly ogre eats it, digests it, and then....well, you get the picture. So I've been picking up extra shifts at the hospital and will continue to do so until I can add hours to my current job or find another position that is enough hours. Of course, I've already talked about the downside of me working so you know how I feel about working more.

After working 6 of 8 days, I was hit with this second wave tsunami: the Montana plane crash that killed 14. It was a devastating event to be sure, but even more so when I logged onto my Facebook account and learned that the victims were people I had once known. I went to high school with two of the girls (who were sisters) and one of the brothers of another victim. As if having three whole families wiped out isn't mind-bending enough, to actually have known them is another. I don't claim to have been close friends with them in or out of high school, but the mere fact that I walked the same piece of earth with them makes me feel connected, if only by a very thin gossamer thread. I'm at a loss to explain or justify the absolute grief I've felt since learning of the crash. I've reconnected with many high school classmates thru Facebook over the months and the shockwave of sadness that has washed over everyone has just left me feeling hollow and very, very sad. The families have been in my daily thoughts and prayers because I have nothing else to offer. If you are the praying type, I would ask that you pray for them too. Because how does one family recover from losing two daughters, two sons-in-law and five grandchildren?? I can't imagine. The work and days ahead for those left behind will be excruciating, to say the least.

Throw in some probable Seasonal Affective Disorder, a general sense of discontent and feeling alone, a son who is practically begging to be homeschooled, working opposite shifts and feeling like I never get enough time with my family, and being cold ALL THE TIME and you have a perfect recipe for an emotional hangover.

I'm working to make it better, if only in my head, and I know that there is hope and resolution and solutions that will come so don't call the looney squad on me just yet.

And thanks for listening.

Midnight Intruder

I awoke with a start last night, to Hubby standing in the middle of the bedroom, talking to me rather excitedly. It took me a minute to clear the cobwebs and comprehend what he was saying. Something about a tail sticking out of a cupboard and his need for some pliers.

I heard him in the kitchen and my mind finally registered what he was talking about.

The other day he was taking the garbage out from under the kitchen sink and said "I think I see some mouse droppings under here." Oh great. We have mice. When we were still in the construction phase, the garage door got left open one night and after that we started seeing tiny little mouse footprints in the sawdust, as well as droppings. We put traps around and actually caught three or four of the critters. Not too much later we moved in, with our two cats, and haven't had a problem since. Until the other day. We'd been noticing Murphy the cat sitting in front of the kitchen sink, watching the cupboard rather intently too and figured our furry friends were back. So Josh put a trap under the sink.

And apparently we had a visitor last night. Whose midnight adventures didn't end well.

The story was relayed to me that Hubby heard something clattering around in the kitchen and went out to investigate where he saw a tail sticking out of the cupboard door. First he went and got Murphy off of Sam's bed, as backup I guess, and then went and got pliers with which to grab the invading rodent, only to discover that Mr. Mouse was caught in the trap by his leg and not dead. Hence the clattering around under the sink. So Hubby grabbed the mouse and the trap and took them outside, where he tossed the whole thing into a puddle. While Hubby was outside taking the mouse to meet his Maker, Murphy was inside crying and caterwauling about not being able to do his duty and take care of the mouse himself. I appreciate the interest but would rather not find mouse parts scattered all over my kitchen first thing in the morning.

Ah, the joys of country livin'.

Happy Monday!

Winter, Part II

It's a frosty, cold, windy day here at The Red House. The rain turned to snow yesterday afternoon about 2pm and continued on all afternoon and night. Then the winds picked up and the temperature dropped. We get the northeastern winds blowing down out of Canada's Fraser River Valley and they are viciously cold. Weather.com says our temperature is about 18° but feels like 9°. I don't know about you, but that's too cold for me. With the snow and such, school was cancelled today and Hubby isn't going to work, so we're all home together.

Last night Josh and I started laying out and putting up the stone on our fireplace. I've discovered I have quite a talent for applying mortar to stone. I'd slather them up, pass them to Hubby up on the ladder, and he'd put them on the fireplace. This is what we've got so far:

Today, we'll continue getting the stone up and hopefully get it finished. I think it's going to look beautiful when it's all done. I think we'll put some gray slate tiles or something down on the hearth, and combined with the dark cabinets on either side (which are hidden by the tarps), it'll be a real centerpiece for the room. Even just having these few stones up makes the fireplace really stand out, so I can't wait to see how the finished product looks.

I'm being summoned to work so I better wrap up. I'll leave you with this picture I took out my back door this morning. Looks a bit chilly, doesn't it?

Sanctuary

The house is continuing to evolve, with tasks and decorating being done gradually and continuously. I've been working on our bedroom, trying to create a comfortable space for us to relax in.

My goal was to create a beach themed bedroom, with colors that reflected the water and sand. Initially, I'd planned on painting the bedroom blue but after putting the same color on the bathroom walls, I found I couldn't stomach that much blue. It was just too blue. (If you recall, I repainted the bathroom shortly after painting it blue.) So, at the 11th hour, I changed wall colors for the bedroom and was thrilled with the result. Even now, I lay in bed, look at the room and am really happy with my choice. I kind of wish I'd painted the living room the same color.

I still wanted some blue in the bedroom but decided that a blue comforter would provide enough color. I found this set on overstock.com and decided that the print kind of looked like sea grass or something. Whether it does or not, I like it. And Hubby has been surprisingly vocal about how much he likes the room, which I appreciate. I want us both to like our house, not just me.


There still are elements I want to add, and more beach prints to frame, but that will come with time (and money). I'm enjoying creating a space that we can retreat to, one that we are comfortable in and are proud of.

I'm really happy with the way it's turning out. And looking around at it, I again am reminded how incredibly blessed I am and how much I love this new home of our's.

I Like To Move It

Tomorrow is MOVING DAY! Finally.

It's been 207 days since we broke ground on our house and tomorrow, my friends, is the day we start to live in it.

It's been 207 days since the dream started to become a reality. Since we started pouring our blood, sweat and more than a few tears into this project.

We did as much of it ourselves as we could but we didn't do it by ourselves, by any means. My dad and Josh's dad spent HOURS out there with us, swinging hammers, pulling wire, laying tile, sharing our excitement and calming our fears. Josh's mom made numerous trips up to help watch the kids while we toiled at the house. Friends and other family have helped entertain the kids and have offered their support and encouragement throughout the whole process. Words alone will never be enough to show my gratitude for the helping hands that have brought us to this point.

Over the past months when I've told people that my husband and I were building a house, I got much the same response: "Wow, and you're still married?!" It seems building a house is stressful. I suppose it can be, and I can certainly see areas and moments that could have been very stressful, but I gotta be honest and say that it's been a great experience.

We acted as our own general contractor so were in control of everything ourselves instead of leaving it up to someone else. We didn't really have any expensive, unbudgeted surprises and there weren't any major delays or screw-ups. We had a fantastic framer/contractor who essentially built our entire house and did it with as much pride as if he were building his own house (Hi Framer Josh!). We were on the jobsite nearly every day, monitoring the progress, giving our input, helping where we could. Maybe our constant involvement kept things going smoothly. Or maybe we are just incredibly blessed.

I did alot of praying throughout this whole process. I prayed for good weather, I prayed for our safety while working, I prayed for prices to drop, I prayed for strength, both physical and mental, I prayed for comfort and calming of my fears, I prayed we were making good decisions. But tonight, on the way home from delivering a load of boxes to my new home, I prayed with a grateful heart, a prayer of thanks.

Aside from the wonderful blessing of my new home, I am so thankful for my husband. He has worked himself silly building this house for us. He has reassured and comforted me when I threatened to spin out of control with fear, promising it would all work out. He has made wise financial decisions for years that have enabled us to build this home. He has thought of all the little things that I didn't know to think of. I am so proud of all he has done, and all we have done together.

And tomorrow's just the beginning...

Yellow Light

In case you're wondering, I'm still alive over here in my little corner of the world. Even though I was semi-housebound because of the snow and puttering on the computer throughout the days, I just ran of things to talk about. Other than the snow. And how it was ruining my life. So in the interest of keeping you, dear readers, I opted to hold my tongue and say nothing. Mark the calendar; it doesn't happen very often.

Christmas was lovely. Hubby and I were up before the kids; me because of a dang cold & cough that attacked me shortly before Christmas and Hubby because he's just an early riser. We sipped our coffee in the pre-dawn silence and eagerly awaited the little footsteps that would come from the bedrooms. Sam woke up first, sneaking out to check if Santa had visited. After seeing the presents & filled stockings, he raced to wake Zoë up with soft kisses and whispers of "Santa came Zo-Zo! Wanna go open presents??" It was a magical morning, watching them tear into presents and squeal with joy. Their smiles and excitement were truly my best gifts.

We got dressed and headed over to my parents' house for our family brunch. After opening presents there, we gorged ourselves on Mom's homemade cinnamon rolls, eggs, potatotes, biscuits, and sausage then sat around holding our bellies and groaning about how full we were. Really, everyone should have it so bad. In the afternoon, my sister and I took all the kids to see the movie Bedtime Stories which, by the way, was super cute and funny.

Now here it is, the Day after Christmas and the packing of our house needs to start in earnest. We still have alot of snow but the forecast is for warmer temps and rain in the coming days, which will hopefully translate into the snow melting quickly. Since we gave notice that we'd be out of our rental house by the end of the year, I'm hoping we can make that happen, although I know the owners would be totally understanding if we end up needing an extra month week. Unfortunately, the house will probably sit empty for a few months before somebody else rents it because, honestly, who's going to be able to drive out here, see the driveway and think "Yah! I wanna live there!" It's a great house, it just sits on top of a ski slope practically.

I'm working on getting my new house equipped with internet service but it may be a bit before it gets installed. Especially since the pipe that the cable lines need to go in is full of ice. So if we manage to get moved in the next few days, I may be without internet service for a bit. But do not fear, I will find a computer to check in on. And of course, I'll update ya'll once we actually begin moving, whenever that may be.

For now, I'll get packing and wait anxiously for the green light to get the show on the road.

Winter Wonderland

This was my view on Sunday:

This was the view off my deck yesterday:
This was my view this morning:

The snow is getting progressively deeper. Our deck shows 9", but we probably have closer to 12" since the kids trampled it down during first batch we got on Saturday/Sunday.

Yesterday was considerably warmer, probably almost 30°, so Sam and I went out to play. And whaddya know? Bob showed up.




We were back inside, drying off and warming up, when Hubby exclaimed "Oh my gosh!". We looked out the window and saw that an entire fir tree had uprooted and crashed down onto the house behind us. Fortunately, the house is vacant and empty.



We went around and looked at the house, looking in the front door. And saw daylight. The tree went completely thru the roof and down into the second floor. We called the community association office and reported it and they were going to contact the realtor, but there wasn't much else we could do. And scarily enough, there is another tree right next to it that looks a little lean-y.

Today Hubby and his mom went out to the new house to check on things. The carpet is all in, and the plumbers have gotten several of the sinks and a toilet installed (hopefully they're finishing up today). I'm home today again, trying to entertain the kids and maintain my sanity. I'm going to get started packing some boxes after lunch in hopes that someday soon, we'll be actually moving.

My Day

7:20-7:45am: Alarm goes off. Hit snooze repeatedly. (See also: worked until 11:30pm)

8:00 - 8:20am: Get Sam ready for school, gather his backpack, convince him he feels fine and that he should buy hot lunch today (so that I don't have to pack one).

8:25am: Josh drives Sam down the hill to meet the bus then heads out to the house.

8:30-10:00am: Drink coffee, try to wake up, check email, feed Zoe breakfast, shower & get dressed, get Zoe dressed.

10:30am: Gather snacks, toys, Zoe, camera, etc. and head out to house.

11:00am: At house, put grout sealer on grout in laundry room. Try to ignore lightheadedness and headache.

11:45am: Round up Hubby, Dad, and Zoe and head to local cafe for lunch in hopes that head will stop trying to explode and/or render me unconscious. (See also: low blood sugar)

12:45 - 2:00pm: Back at house, commence cleaning up between tiles in preparation for grout (i.e. scraping dried mortar from between tiles with screwdriver and steel wool)

2:00pm: Head out to pick up Sam from school.

2:30pm: Pick up Sam from school, have a talk with his teacher about his behavior at school, which has been randomly atrocious lately (see also: adolescent stress & acting out)

2:40pm: Head to Home Depot for my daily visit.

3:00pm: Arrive at Home Depot, gather laundry cabinets (unassembled) and countertops for bathrooms and laundry room, grab paint supplies and have another gallon of paint tinted (see also: repainting bathroom)

3:45pm: Load up cabinets & countertops and head back out to the house.

4:20pm: Arrive back at house, resume scraping dried mortar.

5:30pm: Hubby begins grouting dining room, I commence applying new paint color to master bathroom.

6:50pm: Hubby informs me he's had enough and is wore out.

7:00pm: Head for home after cleaning up grout and paint supplies.

7:30pm: Arrive home, put sleeping Zoe in bed, commence dealing with Sam and his homework assignment (i.e. write apology note to classmate for hitting him in the groin)

8:15 - 8:45pm: Rummage thru fridge for food, drink a beer, remember that last meal was at 11:45am, cook canned biscuits, turkey bacon and eggs.

8:45 - 9:15pm: Check email, read blogs, write blog post, realize that I'll probably do it all again tomorrow.

Just Maybe...

I had a small, minor meltdown Sunday night. No waterworks or anything, but all the anxiety and stress about this house building kind of bubbled up and out. As I told Hubby, it's a wonderful problem to have: being stressed out and worn thin by building your dream home but I'm about at my rope's end. Bless his heart, Hubby has been putting in looooonng hours working at the house (after working all day), which I am truly appreciative of. But it in essence renders me a single parent (when I'm not out there working myself), which I am not cut out for I've discovered. Add to that the multitude of house details that have to be decided. Lucky for me, Hubby doesn't care too much about the details and has left it up to me. But, he's left it up to ME! At least I don't have to fight with him about which faucet I want for the kitchen. Man, I totally could have gotten the expensive, fancy one and he'd never have known!

The other day my task was to go to Home Depot and pick out laminate for the bathroom countertops. Upon arriving at the veritible wall of laminate choices, I wanted to cry. There were just so many! After scaring away the poor helpful employee who tried to help but then backed away slowly after getting close enough to hear me muttering unintelligibly to myself, I managed to pick two possibilities for each bathroom. Mind you, choosing each element means dragging the other elements along for coordination's sake (aka cabinet doors, tile, etc.). Not to mention my impatient, uninterested 3 year old who, for Pete's sake, has had enough of Home Depot.

And did you notice that it's almost Christmas? I will say that I'm about done with my shopping for the kids. Just need one more thing for Sam, I think, and a few more stocking stuffers, which very well might end up being snacks out of the pantry. My niece & nephews may end up with gift cards if I don't get the chance to shop again. I'm just bummed because this is the time of year that I'm usually subjecting myself to all kinds of baking, cooking, shopping, wrapping, decorating, letter-writing, Christmas card addressing, and gingerbread house decorating and none of that is happening this year. Which, even though it's stressful, it's FUN stress. I've calmly given myself permission to bypass all that this year, but next year? WATCH OUT.

While a few days ago I was disbelieving that this whole move would actually happen this year before Christmas, I'm starting to think it just might afterall. What made me change my tune? Well, for one, my father-in-law came up to help with the bathroom tile and yesterday, while Hubby was at work, he worked out at the house all day, by himself, cutting the edge pieces of tile for both bathrooms. Then Hubby went out and they got it all laid. Both bathrooms now have tile. All the grouting has to be done still but that should go quickly.

Secondly, I called yesterday to check on our carpet order. Because even though Hubby thought we could move in without carpet, it's just ain't happening. No worries though, because the installer will have the carpet by Friday and then it will be installed next Tuesday. Yippee!! That'll make a HUGE difference.

Also, the plumber will be coming to set all the toilets and fixtures next Monday, I believe. Indoor plumbing will be a nice feature and make living there more comfortable.

I went yesterday and put a deposit on my granite countertops and got those ordered. The slab could be delivered to the shop as early as tomorrow and then those will get underway. There's a possibility that they might not be installed by the time we move in, but I think it'd only be a matter of days until they were, so I'm not concerned about that. I can use my laundry sink in the meantime. (Which reminds me, I need to buy cabinets for the laundry room.)

It's all starting to come together, in a big flurry, to say the least. It still doesn't seem real that I'm going to be living there very soon. I'm not sure it will until I wake up in my new bedroom, plod out to my new kitchen for coffee, and put our things away in our new home. (OMG, that totally just made me tear up.)

T minus 11 folks.

Making Progress

So, despite all my hand-wringing and fretting about this house, Josh and my dad both say "No problem!" when I lament that we're trying to move in 15 days. My dad does concede that we've bitten off ALOT for our first home-building project but that we're doing a great job and it'll all work out. I still can't see how it's all going to work out in the next 15 days, but ok.

Look! My double ovens are in!

Yesterday afternoon I went and picked up all my plumbing fixtures. All except one of the faucets for the kids' bathroom - they didn't have it so one is being shipped up from another store. Once we get the bathroom tile down and grouted, we can call the plumber to come back and install everything. That'll be a big step towards making the house habitable. I mean, the Port-a-potty has been handy but with the temperatures dropping in this neck of the woods, going to the bathroom is a chilly endeavor.

Here's the view from just inside the garage door:
Zoë's room:
There will be a chair rail where that white stripe is, btw.

Master Bedroom:

Master Bathroom:

After I picked floor tile for the master bathroom, I'm not crazy about the color I chose for the walls. I don't mind the darker blue behind the vanity but the other walls are bluer than the picture shows. But maybe once we get the tile in (which is gray with a some tan mixed in) it'll diffuse the blueness a bit. Or I'll end up repainting it 3 months after we move it because I hate it. The countertops I chose are also a darker gray color so maybe the combination will work out. I don't know. This is the one room I'm not crazy about right now. Fortunately, I won't be living in my bathroom exclusively.

So today we're grouting the tile in the main living areas. Hubby just called me and said "You need to look at this; it's darker than we thought." So that's been halted and I need to go give my two cents. If the kids are at all cooperative, I'll work on doing some paint touch-ups. I'd really like to get those done before we move in because, let's be honest, after we move in we'll be plenty busy and I won't feel like dragging paint cans thru the house. (Actually I'm going to go pick up my niece and nephew and they are going to go with me to the house where they can help entertain/watch my kids.)

And in Christmas news, I managed to sneak off and do some shopping yesterday while Sam was in school and my sister watched Zoë. I think I got the kids almost completely done except for a couple more stocking stuffers and maybe one more present for Sam. I need to go thru my present stash in the closet because I can't remember what I already bought!

On that note, I better get my rear in gear!

There's No Place Like Home

It's December 5th. Already.We've targeted December 20th/21st as our move-in date.

That is only 15 days away.

I have to work 5 of those days.

I have to pack my entire house. Then move it.

I have to finish my Christmas shopping for the kids. I'm afraid the kids are the only ones that are going to make it on the list this year. Even if I had the money, I don't have the brain power to come up with gift ideas for the other 14 people in my family. Sorry folks.

Oh, and did I mention the house isn't done??

Still to do:

Grout the tile

Lay tile in bathrooms

Install plumbing fixtures (sinks, toilets, faucets, etc)

Install carpet

Hang interior doors

Install shelves in pantry & kids' bathroom closet

Install closet shelves & clothes rods

Install countertops

Install kitchen appliances

Painting touchups

I have a feeling that the carpet and the countertops will be the very last things to go in. And hopefully they'll go in before we move. The carpet has been ordered so we're just waiting for it to come in and then we'll get the installer in there ASAP. We've had to change our plans for our countertops and so I'm just waiting to hear back from the gal at the granite place about the changes and then we'll get those going.

Our lease is officially up the end of the month, and while the owners are willing to let us stay, we don't want to keep paying rent. But I'm nervous about officially giving notice to vacate. What if the house isn't done? I can live with some things unfinished, but it's not just that. The house has to be inspected before occupancy and certain things are required to be done. And the stupid guy at the County won't return our phone call to tell us what exactly has to be done. We're kind of flying blind.

It's all coming down to the wire folks. And it's stressing me out a little.

Can't I just click my heels together three times and have it all over with??

Creeping Closer

I crossed a couple more things off my list! Yay me!

~ Make dentist appointment for kids for January.

~ Call Sam's new school to get him on their roster & to try to meet his teacher and get a tour. They are sending me a registration packet and we will go meet his teacher and tour the school the week before Christmas break.

~ Order carpet for house; remember to change color choice!

~ Finish painting the stripe in Sam's room.

~ Clean out kids' closets/dressers for outgrown stuff. Partially done - I got thru Zoë's closet in a fit of frustration.

******************************
In house news, the tile is going down. Hubby has been working like a mad man and has almost all of the whole tiles down. There are still a bunch that need to be cut and put down but overall he's thrilled with how quickly it's going down.

After being initially uncertain as to whether I liked the tile (that I myself picked out), I'm happy with it after seeing it on the floor. It's so rich and warm looking and goes so well with the cabinets and paint. The grout will be the color of the light spots in the tile so I think it'll look really pretty.


As of last night, the rest of the kitchen cabinets are in, the bathroom vanities are in and even my double ovens are in! Squeee!! I can't wait to see it.

To top off my beautiful kitchen cabinets, it looks like we're going to be able to swing the granite countertops that I love. The granite I picked out is GORGEOUS and goes so well with the cabinets and will give the kitchen a dramatic look. They definitely will be a standout feature. Especially that island. Which I've taken to calling Hawaii (cuz it's the BIG island...get it??) Yes, I'm a dork...haven't you noticed before now??

I've got to go pick out bathroom floor tile in the next day or so so that can be put down. Then after that's down, we can call the plumber back to install the toilets, sinks and fixtures. Our walk-in shower probably won't be done before we move in, but I'm cool with that. I know it'll get done. And in the interim, we'll just shower in the kids' bathroom.

I'm happy to say that I'm done with the painting - except for the touchups. On Friday after Thanksgiving, I painted for approximately six hours and managed to finish the stripe in Sam's room and get a second coat on my bedroom and bathroom. So now all the rooms that had to be painted are painted. If time (and energy) allows, I'll paint the guest room and laundry room, but those could be done after we move in if I don't get to them.

Sam's Room

When we were out working on the house on Friday, we had the fireplace cranked up and boy that sucker puts out some heat! And it burns so efficiently that even after burning wood all day there was barely any ash left in the fireplace. I think putting that thing in was a very good idea. It's going to heat our whole house very nicely. Good thing we bought some wood.

I've got so much more to tell you, like about my new pink vaccum and meeting my new nephew for the first time (pictures!) but I just looked at the clock and I must peel myself away from the computer. Besides, I'm so hungry my stomach is starting to gnaw on my backbone so I gotta go find food.

Updated To Do List

I've been feeling rather overwhelmed with all that I have to do in the coming weeks and seeing things crossed off my To Do list helps boost my morale immensely. I've already given myself a "Get out of jail free" card for my usual holiday doings, which makes me a little sad because I really enjoy the holidays and all the preparations and baking and cooking I usually do. But this year, between trying to finish the interior of our house and get it ready to move into, along with packing and actually moving, buying furniture, school transitions, Christmas shopping & wrapping, work, etc. I just have too much to do to indulge my Martha Stewart complex and make my English Toffee, homemade caramels and other Christmas goodies. I will however, still be attempting to write my annual holiday newsletter and send out my 60+ Christmas cards. Although they may actually be New Years' cards instead.

The state of my house has gone drastically downhill which further adds to my sense of being overwhelmed. I can't think clearly when the laundry is threatening to avalanche, or I can't walk across the kitchen floor barefoot for fear of my skin sticking to it and being ripped off, or my bathroom sink and/or toilet start to have vegetation growing out of it. All of these things just make me feel even more out of control. And while Hubby has given me permission to "slack off" for a while, it's just not that easy. I can't turn off my brain and my need sense of order (boy, don't I wish!). It's all just drives me deeper into crazy so instead I end up working myself into a lather, both from the rapid speed at which I fly around trying to DO! IT! ALL! and the frustration that I'm getting no help even though I've voiced my frustration and need for help. Hello? Is this thing on??

~ Make dentist appointment for kids for January.
~ Probably should make a dentist for myself and hubby too.
~ Call Sam's new school to get him on their roster & to try to meet his teacher and get a tour.
~ Order carpet for house; remember to change color choice! I tried to do this the other day and the gal I needed to talk to wasn't there.
~ Return library books.
~ Finish painting the stripe in Sam's room. I did part of this over the weekend, but still need to finish it up.
~ Paint master bathroom.
~ Paint master bedroom.
~ Order or buy Zoe some long sleeved shirts/sweaters.
~ Make vet appointment for Chewie.
~ Mail hair to Locks of Love
~ Mail book for Paperbackswap
~ Get flu shot
~ Clean out kids' closets/dressers for outgrown stuff.
~ Take kids' clothes to consignment store.
~ Balance checkbook & pay bills.
~ Figure out Thanksgiving plans and what I need to cook/bake. Rolls, deviled eggs, cornbread stuffing, cranberry sauce and a dessert. I may even cheat and buy rolls!

My father-in-law gave me a wise piece of advice though. He said the only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. Sage advice, but damn I'm gettin' full.

Delivery

Guess what arrived today??

CABINETS!

The pictures don't do the kitchen ones justice - they're GORGEOUS. I'm so excited. The cabinets you see there in the middle of the room? Ya, that's my enormous island. That sucker is EIGHT FEET LONG, which I knew it would be, but to see it and not just refer to "my 8-foot island"...wow. It's gonna be big. No wonder the piece of rock I want to put on top of it is so danged expensive! One small snafu is that the cabinet that holds my double ovens is drastically too small. The opening is about 5.5" too short vertically and needs to be about 5" wider, too. Josh confirmed that he sent the right information to the cabinet guy so it's their mistake. Which hopefully will be rectified SOON and at no cost.

Edited to add: My "editor" informed me that the oven opening is 15 inches too small, not five. Thanks honey!

In painting news, I still have a ways to go but am hoping to tackle it again tomorrow for several hours. The great news is that my attempt at cleaning up the stripe in Sam's room was successful! When I'd originally painted, the orange and the blue bled underneath the tape so when I peeled it off, the white wasn't a crisply defined stripe, but had fuzzy edges. After a tip from a painter, I outlined the white stripe with tape, smeared caulking over the edges, then painted the white. The caulking sealed the tape to the wall so that the paint wouldn't bleed down under the tape. Here's how it turned out:

A little bit of extra work, but well worth it. It looks pretty sharp. I only did one wall to test my technique, so now I need to do the rest of the room.

It's really starting to come together, although there are still a ton of things to do. We should be moving in before Christmas although I sometimes wonder how that would be possible with all that's left to do.

Sundry Stuff

So, remember my rant the other day about working more and ohmystars, whatshouldIdo?? Well, I applied for the 12-hour position and we'll see what happens. I talked to another friend/co-worker who agreed that I should apply even though the job posting said it was only open to current department employees. So I did. After I calmed down and let it all marinate for awhile, that position is the one that would work out the best. My biggest problem with working more is working more late nights. This position would be the same number of days, just more hours per day. I casually mentioned the job to my sister who said she would be willing to watch Zoë for me, and also my BFF Brookie said she could watch her if necessary. It'd only be one day one week, and two days the next, for about 4 hours per day, so not a huge commitment. And if they were to share the task, that'd make it easier on them both. So we'll see what happens if anything. I can tell you one thing though. When/if my current manager gets wind of this, she's going to have an apoplectic fit.

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Hubby is staring to perk up, which makes me think there was something going on since he suddenly started to feel better after two days of antibiotics. He made it through half a day of work yesterday before begging off and coming home. Thank goodness he has an understanding boss! :)

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Yesterday afternoon I headed out to the house and tackled some more painting. I got the second coat on Sam's walls, Zoë's room taped off and two coats on the bottom half and one coat on the top. They look SO cute. Neither of the kids have seen their rooms painted so I hope they like them. I think Zoë will be thrilled and squeal in delight when she sees her's, and Sam will probably be indifferent and all I'll get is a shrug of his little shoulders and an unenthusiastic "Yah, I like it." But he's a boy so I can't really expect him to turn cartwheels over having colorful walls.

Either today or this weekend, Josh and my dad will be getting all the light fixtures and ceiling fans installed so that'll be one more piece of the puzzle complete.

Oh! I almost forgot! I have more pictures to show you:

Here's the kids' bathroom room. You can see my dining room wall through the doorway.

This is the hall closet door, which is what all the interior doors will look like. I love them!

This is Sam's room. The stripe is still taped off but once I peel that off there will be a white stripe inbetween the orange and blue. Colorful, huh?

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Today is Sam's Harvest Party at school, so Sissy and I are going to that after lunch. Then we'll see what the weather is doing before deciding on our evening's plans. If it's not raining, we'll do a little trick-or-treating in Grandma & Grandpa's neighborhood. If it's raining, we'll have to look for something indoors or undercover, like the mall or downtown. Cuz there's no way my six-year old is going to miss out on FREE CANDY.

Happy Pumpkin Friday!

Quick Update

So, the painting is coming along nicely. I've made huge progress, considering I've done 93% of it on my own. But I have lots of touch-ups, probable 2nd coats and still a couple rooms to do. Progress won't be as quick this week as I head back to work on Monday & Tuesday. But it's looking good. Although I have to confess, I'm starting to worry that all my choices (tile, cabinets, carpet, paint) are going to look like a houseful of vomit once they're all in place. I tried to make sure nothing clashed horribly and took my various samples with me whenever choosing, but somehow I fear that it's just going to look awful when it's all actually in place. I've already had to revise one carpet color because when I took the sample in the house, it looked YELLOW. I do not want yellow carpet in my house. Fortunately the carpet hasn't been ordered yet so I can change it but everything else is ordered. Yikes.

And speaking of vomit, today was a waste of a day. We were supposed to go south to a friend's wedding but instead I spent the day in bed with a migraine and occasionally stumbling to the bathroom to barf. Hubby loaded up the kids and went without me, which was a blessing AND a curse: a blessing because the house was quiet and I was left to suffer in peace, a curse because I had no one to fetch me crackers and cold cloths and pain pills and whenever I worked up the gumption to do it myself, I ended up scurrying back to the bathroom to further explore the contents of my stomach. It was a day of bummers. I was bummed to have missed the wedding and see "The Gang", obviously it sucked being in agony all day, plus I got the cutest black pants and sweater to wear to the wedding and I didn't get to wear them. I was looking forward to playing dress up and wearing grown-up clothes. Oh well. Another time.

Tomorrow will be spent playing catch-up before heading back to work. My cupboards and fridge are frightfully bare, the laundry is about to avalanche, the checkbook needs balancing, bills need to be paid and the house needs tidying up. All this fun before heading to work at 3pm.

I love my life but sometimes I wish is wouldn't come at me so relentlessly, ya know?

Rainbow Bright

The Big Red House is about to undergo another transformation. This time it'll be at the hands of yours truly. Tomorrow, I commence with the painting of the interior. Today I have yet another date with my latest boyfriend, Home Depot, to get all my paint. I spent several hours there last week picking out all the colors, and let me tell ya, my house is going to look like a crayon box. The colors have nothing in common except for, well, that they're all colors. I have no sense of style and barely know what I like, neither of which contribute to the inviting and peaceful haven I am failing trying to create.

After being blinded by the enthusiastic exterior color, you'll stumble inside only to be assaulted by a palette of colors that God never intended to be together. Ok, so the great room/kitchen/dining room isn't TOO shocking but, boy howdy, wait 'til you see the bedrooms!

It should have been an indication to me to maybe tone it down after the following comments were made:

Paint salesperson: "How about this pretty cream color for the bathroom?"
Me: "That just looks like 'no color' to me."
Paint salesperson: "Somehow I figured you'd say that based on your other choices."

Cabinet salesperson, upon seeing me holding my paint chip samples: "You like color, don't you?"

Now, I will tell you that after taking my paint chips into the house and seeing them in the natural light, I am changing the shade of a couple colors but not the actual color. Nope, those have been set for a long time. I just need to find a shade that isn't quite so mind-numbingly bright. I don't want my kids to have to wear sunglasses in their own bedrooms. I'm nice like that.

Anyway, that's my plan for the next couple days. I may or may not post some updates to give you a sneak peek at what I'm doing. Depends on how the paint fumes affect me.

Color My World

Everybody keeps asking me "When do you think you'll move into your house?" and my standard answer has been "Hopefully by Thanksgiving." But yesterday, I realized that Thanksgiving is only 5.5 weeks away! The days have flown by and here it is, the middle of October, and there is still SO much to do. So much for US to do. We're getting to the point in things where the progress is now up to us and we're just not gonna be as fast as if we'd hired someone to do it. So my dream of spending Thanksgiving in my new house is starting to crumble a bit.

Josh is meeting with the painter again tomorrow to discuss him doing some interior painting. At the very least, we'll have him spray the ceilings all white, as well as the laundry room, bonus room and guest room/office. (I'll paint those at a later date.) All the other rooms will have some color on the walls and be custom painted by yours truly. Which means that I need to go spend some quality time at Home Depot, staring at the paint samples and coming to a decision. I have the kids' rooms figured out and a general idea for the master bedroom/bath. I still need to pick a color for the kids' bathroom and decide on the color for the great room/kitchen. Again, I have general ideas but no specific colors picked.

{sigh...} It'd be so much easier if I were a white-wall kinda gal. But do you really think someone who intentionally paints their house red is gonna live in a house with plain ol' white walls?

Me neither.

Flashback Friday

Today we're not flashing back very far; just back to June 24th of this year.

Remember this place?

Check it out now!!

Me: --->

Our House

Yesterday afternoon after running some errards, the suspense was killing me and I headed out to the house to get a peak at the paint job. All the way out there, I was nervous and second-guessing myself. Did I choose too bold of a color? Would it be too red? If it turned out to be an obnoxious shade, could I take the remaining paint back and have it retinted/darkened? I was so worried.

From the main road, I could only see the front of the house and it was still the same ol' boring beige. Hmmm. Maybe they hadn't gotten started painting afterall, I thought.

But then, I drove down the long driveway and as I came around the corner, I audibly gasped out loud. And I just sat and stared. (And took a picture obviously.)

Now, mind you, this was taken thru my dirty windshield. The trim isn't painted but the first coat of my beloved red is ON.THE.HOUSE.

I may or may not have spun the tires in my haste to get closer to my beautiful red house and I may or may not have bounded out of the car to get a closer look, leaving my daughter inside.

I will tell you that when I went around the corner and saw the back of the house a big bubble of excitement burbled up in my stomach. While this whole process has been exciting, I haven't felt that tickle in my tummy since the first walls were stood up on my birthday.

When the painter saw me, he came down off his ladder and said "What do you think?" If I hadn't of just met the man five seconds prior, I probably would have hugged him. "I LOVE IT!" I exclaimed. "IT'S BEAUTIFUL!!" I was so relieved that my choice of color was a good one and that it really is turning into the house of my dreams.

I can just imagine how it's going to look, with the trim all painted, the grass green and lush in summer, or the fields covered in snow in the winter. And my pretty red house standing there in the middle of it all, the embodiment of all my dreams, with everything and everybody I hold dear inside.

Somehow seeing my color go onto it really has made it suddenly very real.

This is my house. MY house. OUR house.

And it's so pretty. And perfect.

And now I'm crying.