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Our House. From construction, to decorating and design, to maintaining it, and all the associated processes, this is how our house is evolving.
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Jul. 18th, 2005 @ 09:45 am Storm Damage
I don't recall ever having storm damage before. As I went to my car this morning, I noticed that the palo verde tree was leaning. It had been standing up straight when I returned from the store yesterday. Looks like it took a real beating from the wind yesterday - I sure hope it makes it through. We'll give it a couple of days to rest and then try to pull it back to it's upright position - see if it makes it. I'm sure part of the problem is that I watered the tree very heavily just before the storm, so the soil was much more relaxed.

(xposted to [info]whatevah
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Jul. 5th, 2005 @ 04:16 pm Such a good "fly" weekend
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I had, by far, one of the most relaxing and enjoyable AND PRODUCTIVE weekends I've had in a very long time this past weekend. I had a production meeting for my documentary, I shopped, I cleaned, I cooked, I did tons of laundry, and yet a watched TV, surfed the net, spent time with Anya, and took a nap or two. It was wonderful.

I did my Saturday morning routine, or at least part of it, which consists of tidying up the living room, getting out any dirty dishes, putting toys away, random clothes into the laundry, cleaning the coffee tables and vacuuming. When I'm on the ball it also includes putting all of the pillows on the sofa, cleaing the downstairs bathroom and sweeping and mopping the kitchen, but I was focused on some other projects and just did the "sanity check" version. I also unloaded the rest of the dishwasher and started in on some of the disaster that is our kitchen...it's amazing how filthy this place can get when it isn't kept on top of. But again, I had other projects besides the kitchen, things that Hubby usually won't attend to, whereas he does do dishes (finally, after all these years!!!!), so I just did what I needed to at the time to clear space and be productive.

A couple of things just caught my eye and I said to myself, "I am just going to take care of that right now!" So the two trees masquerading as ungroomed shrubs in the backyard got a very preliminary pruning - at least I can see the ground under them now. I managed to get one side of the sliding glass door which has become "doggified". Perhaps I'll get to the other side of the window today - but I'm not sweating it....little steps.

This grosses me out, but as I was cleaning the bedroom, I came across tell tale clues that reminded me of when this place was actually last cleaned....and it has been far too long. Not that it hasn't had spot cleaning here and there, but there were spots that had clearly been neglected since the last big overhaul, oh, I dunno, a year ago! That's what happens when a girl's in school, working full time and being a mommy. I just never had the time or energy, but man, am I ever motivated now. I purged a bag of garbage, five loads of laundry that weren't even near the clothes "hampers", receipts, clothing tags, spare change, odds and ends. I found baby clothes Anya has well outgrown, clothes that I was saving to repair or specially clean that I decided are just not worth the time and effort - and I pitched them. I just kept reminding myself that even the areas I didn't want to bother with right then still needed to be handled and I picked a few that I could readily go through and clear. I sorted through things on my nightstand, a notorious place for dust, glasses, toys, nail clippers and rubberbands, change, receipts, lotions, all kinds of papers and pens and of course my alarm clock and a goodly amount of dust. I don't know how many nights my pillows have slid off the bed hitting it or I've knocked things over trying to hit the snooze button. It is now not quite uncluttered, but more manageable with visible toys and books, a few papers I've yet to take action on and a few miscellaneous items.

I finally got to vacuum, which, for me, is THE thing that can make a room breathable. When the floor is clean, the room seems to have a greater sense of peace to it. So, for the first time in ages, I can get up and get Anya in the middle of the night, make a trek to the bathroom or whatever without stepping on things, dodging things, losing my balance and nearly killing myself. It's nearly done. Done, of course, means that I can let Anya loose in there and not much harm can be caused to her or anything else. Still have some things to do, particularly decluttering the bathroom counter so that Anya can't reach up and grab things.

What's next on the agenda? Finish the upstairs bathroom, reclaim the kitchen and start making some decisions about some of the older furniture in the living room that is cluttering up space since we moved it out of the guestroom last year. Unless it goes in the garage (which is another project altogether since it is only half useable anymore due to junk) it may have to be donated or sold or something.

And then, I think, the back yard - Anya needs an outdoor place to play but the yard hasn't been landscaped since we moved in. We've planted a few things here or there and some have taken root by neglect (a tree and lots of weeds). The dog needs a distinct place to do his business too, out of the way of kids. I want a garden or two. And I want the whole thing to be fun and hospitible and magickal. Maybe a pergola (sp?) with grapes and lights, a table underneath...a small water feature somewhere, little surprises around corners...

I had so much energy this weekend I could barely contain myself. Sitting on the couch was just unreasonable to me for most of it...it wasn't that there was anything that riveting, I just had it on in the background and to watch as I wanted a break here or there. In the end I was in this sort of restless place where I didn't want to sit idle but was intermittantly running out of things to work on; the dishwasher was loaded but couldn't be run until after 9, same with the dryer, and the wash I had continued to run was hung on the line. I'm sure I could have found something to do if I had really been that concerned, but at the end of the weekend, I felt good about what I accomplished, knowing I'd "blessed my family".
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May. 31st, 2005 @ 02:36 pm Living Room and Loft style

This is my inspiration for my living room. Have I done anything with it? No. But I have two lovely chairs sitting out in my garage, wasting away, waiting for me to reupholster them in a rich red fabric. Part of the theme I have running through my house, eclectic as it is, is bright punches of red in every room. But I don't want that red to always fall in the same form (ie red curtains in all the rooms, or red furniture), or even in the same solid pattern. I love this living room because it has so much texture. Right now, I have a very conventional two story living room in a newly constructed house. I have the typical drywall with the patterned skimcoat in an unwashable white paint. It's bright, but very boring.

The drapes are incredible too. It took me a while to figure out that the drapes actually have two colors, one is blue, which punches up the color of the windows, and the other an almost bronze-neutral. I'm going to need some help to do this in my living room since I have three windows, two of which are stacked, separated by a few feet of wall. The measurements would have to be precise, the seems incredibly straight and the touch on the fabric really delicate. And this doesn't even take into consideration the whole possibility of angling the fabric to account for the ceiling angle - something that may be a bit over the top - not sure if I want to really do that, or how I would keep them in place.

I already have five black Lack shelves (long) from IKEA stacked on one wall leading up to the loft in a very dramatic display. This holds 3 paintings on the top shelf and the next four shelves house my Dia De Los Muertos collection and some art books. This is the wall that I'm thinking of doing in faux brick. Ideally, that would be a faux brick panelling, but I've not been able to locate a panelling in the style that I would like (aged red brick with light grout). I'm not sure I want to commit to actually adhering a shallow brick facade to the wall.

The long wall that supports the staircase has two low bookcase butted together for a long shelf - I'm okay with painting it, adding additional doors, or even changing out doors to frosted glass. The wall itself could also be bricked, but since this is a pony wall, would present some transition problems at the top. I would like to add a cap for the wall that would flow up the stairs and around the wall of the loft in a lacquered maple - a price project no doubt. The hand rail would also have to be painted or replaced to match, preferably with a contemporary looking metal or wood style. The wall on the other side of the stairs could easily be painted in a neutral color, a putty or mustard perhaps.

Looking at the ceiling of this model room, the wood finish lends a real warmth to the space. I think it would be important to paint the ceiling to convey that idea, perhaps color blocking the beam that runs along the peak of the ceiling in a darker color, such as a rick dark brown.

The wall that runs along the opposite side of the room, the far east wall of the house, is the biggest wall to contend with. This wall is the one that I really want to finish in panels painted to look like rusted metal, as if the entire wall were covered in scrap metal. I think the warmth of the rusted finish could be really nice, adding texture and interest, with a certain amount of warmth, but keep a sort of industrial/loft tone to the room. I'm concerned that that and the faux brick would be entirely too much, but maybe not. Maybe I just need to dare to do it. At the very least, the rusted paneling, though laborious to install, would be removable.

The front wall of the house I think could either be brick (though this assumes that the pony wall is not bricked but painted the same neutral color as the other side of the staircase)


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May. 31st, 2005 @ 12:38 pm Lowly Loft


Kaxas shelving that I thought I wanted


Klippan sofa - I'm undecided on the color
though I always lead to red


Lund Hogen chair

I've had it with the loft. Not that it was in good shape before, but now that we have two computers in there, the place is completely out of control. There's no room for anything. Top that with the fact that it is so not baby friendly and we've had to pile things up on the desk to keep them out of little hands. It's a place where Hubby and I both want and need to spend time, but it is far more frustrating than helpful.

I called him a little while ago and told him that I wanted to get a plan together: budget, needs and timeframe. I want that room to be comfortable and usable and child-friendly. He not only agrees, but wanted to talk to me yesterday about the very same thing.

Here's a quick hit list of things that I want for the loft:

Matching monitors and keyboards - I would like all of the desktop stuff to match - the CPUs don't have to.
A different desktop - the one I built a few years ago has served its purpose, but I'm no longer happy with it. I want something that will blend better with the cabinets and such. This might be able to have a large center cabinet for housing CPUs. Desktop will hold only monitors, keyboards, mice, and printer scanner.
Cabinets - I want low hung wall mounted cabinets with a countertop on top. Why wall mounted? I want the space underneath a bit to add to the sense of space in the room, and I don't want impossibly deep cabinets where things are lost forever. I'm planning on putting books in some of these lower cabinets. Wouldn't mind some glass doors on some of them, but whatever we get, it has to be able to support a counter and an old, heavy TV. However, if my desire for more shallow cabinets is impractical, I would be open to the larger raised base cabinets (with legs).
Storage - we've got some metal boxes with "lids/doors" that we always intended to mount on the wall and serve as storage, but which have languished on the floor against the wall for several years while I waited for my final vision to materialize. I think we'll also need some very functional shelves - I had wanted these IKEA shelving cabinets, but now that I see that they have tinted glass, I realize that won't work well for displaying Hubby's collection of figures. And as much as I like floating shelving, I want something more sturdy. We need storage for office supplies including computer paper and photo paper, CD and DVD burning supplies, computer game CDs, computer books, misc computer equipment, paperwork/filing, toys, CPUs, video equipment and master tapes, and magazines. Could probably also use a better trashcan. The bookcase around the corner from the loft should probably be replaced with a taller Billy bookcase.
Seating / furniture - we use folding chairs for working at the computers, which works okay in a pinch, but which isn't super comfortable. Would love some more comfortable office chairs. Also, we need leisure seating for watching TV and just hanging out - the loft should double as an upstairs family room. I really want this sofa from IKEA and some sort of coffee table that doubles as storage and can work as an alternative work surface. Finally, we should probably have at least one more leisure chair to round out the seating.

Functionally, we need to tame the mess of wires in the space. I'm all for using grommets, wiring through desktops, counters and cabinet walls to make those wire disappear as much as possible. This is also why I really would like to have the CPUs in a cabinet that can be closed (although it would need some ventilation to keep the CPUs cool).

Finally, despite my desire to maximize wall space for storage, I also want the flexibility to use the one free wall on the east side as a studio backdrop. I could do this in other areas of the house, but it would be nice to have instant access to the computers and also the relative privacy of the loft.
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Jan. 18th, 2005 @ 12:05 pm Yet more progress
Have managed to tackle dish and laundry tasks early. The kitchen is almost back to where it should be on a regular basis. Family room is about 80% there. Debating about bringing the kitchen table back into the kitchen (I've had it in the living room since a party eons ago).

The windows are driving me crazy! They are filthy. With the dust storms that we get usually preceding big rain storms, it just makes for a big mess. I need to get out there to take care of it. It's all I can do right now to focus on doing my homework and not go out and clean them this minute. I haven't cleaned them since we moved in...that's right..not once in 2 1/2 years! Okay, well maybe once a few months in but that was it.
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Jan. 17th, 2005 @ 11:33 am "New House" in the New Year
Finally now that I have some of the pressure off my back about my job, and now that the baby is bigger and slightly more independent, I am finally reclaiming my house again. I'm back to reading FLYlady emails again (just the ones from FLYlady, not the reminders or the testemonials) when I have a chance to sit down and enjoy my email. My kitchen is becoming a clean place to prepare food again, and there is, on the horizon, a glimmer of hope that there will soon come a day when all of the dishes in the house will be clean at the same time and the dishwasher and sink empty. Laundry is quickly being tackled too.

But the most important update: Anya's room is move-in ready. She was actually in there before, but just for sleeping, not playing, when we were still working on painting it, but had given up on it. Well, it's been touched up and it is once again a bedroom, but now more colorful and kid friendly. I still need to put her curtains up (they just might end up being the second curtains to go up in the house) and another set of red panel curtains (orignally slated for the sliding glass doors in the kitchen, but now possibly intended to be added to the existing panel curtains in the family room).

Next major think on the agenda: YARDWORK!!! trees need pruning, yard needs weeding and I really would like to get at least one or two veggies planted! I'm also toying with just going ahead and seeding some grass in the back yard and hiring a crew to come out and put gravel in the remaninder of the back yard. 2 1/2 years and the yard is still unfinished. But I also want to have some drip sprinklers installed in back - something I would gladly pay someone else to do, but might be work it for me to try it myself.

On my prospective planting list are:
Veggies
Zucchini
Peppers
Jalapenos
Anaheim
Bell
Habenero
Tomatoes
Soybeans
Peas
Greenbeens
Cucumber
Spaghetti squash
Tomatillos

Herbs
Basil
Cilantro
Oregano
Parsley
Sage

Flowers
Marigolds (long stemmed)
Mixed native wildflowers

For consideration (probably in future years)
Grapes
Broccoli
Cabbage
Lettuce
Ginger
Raspberries
Strawberries
Henna
Onions
Garlic
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Dec. 13th, 2004 @ 10:54 am Long Overdue Update
It has been almost 2 1/2 years since Hubby and I moved into this house. This week, I put up the very first curtains, bought from IKEA with money and giftcards I received for my birthday. They are bright red panel curtains with big silver grommets. They hang from ceiling to floor in the family room, and shortly over the sliding glass doors in the kitchen. Pictures coming soon!
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Jun. 7th, 2004 @ 03:57 pm Just For Now
For the time being...I'm focusing all of my posting to my main journal. It's just too much these days to keep up with all of my themed journals adequately, but I don't want to abandon them forever. To that end, allow me to invite you continue to read my posts there, and fill out a poll so that you continue to have access to this journal's subject matter. You can find the poll here.

Otherwise...I'll be back here eventually!
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May. 25th, 2004 @ 08:29 pm ANTS!!!
I friggin' HATE them!!! I can't for the life of me figure out just how they are getting in the house. I mean, after all, our house is fairly new. Cracks and crevices should be pretty small. But I guess an ant doesn't need much room, now, then does it? I've circled the house several times in the last week looking for how they are getting in and only found a trail of them the first time that I looked. It's like they are living under the carpet downstairs.

I've set out some ant bait disks. I've also sprayed the baseboards and carpet edges at the most heavily trafficed areas. I don't want to do too much in the way of spraying pesticide since we have an infant and two cats in the house. But I'll tell you what - I got a little 'terminator' edge to my attitude when I saw that they had made it into the upstairs' master bathroom. That's way to close to where we sleep for me to be comfortable, and what sent me to Home Depot at 5:45 this morning on a work day.

Haven't seen the heavy traffic that we did this morning or last night, but I'm starting to see a few random ants making their way out of the walls, so I'm trying to get back into some sort of control using my Flylady routines.

Ever since the baby was born, the house has just not recovered and has in fact been on a steady decline. We've got to get this figured out.
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Mar. 2nd, 2004 @ 10:53 pm Toilet Problems
As if it wasn't an inconvenience already that our master bath toilet is still out (I've got the parts to fix it...just too pregnant to fit under there to get the nut off the toilet tank and finish the job), but now, our downstairs toilet has backed up. Hubby is not amused. I blame it on the Charmin. We've never bought that toilet paper, and this is the very reason. Hubby, of course, blames me. So now, the toilet has overflowed. And me without a plunger.

So now Hubby is off into the dark and rainy night, disgruntled as ever that his pregnant wife has interrupted his evening of couch potatoing, to get a plunger so that SHE can fix the toilet.

That's my girlie-man. /sarcasm
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Feb. 10th, 2004 @ 02:20 pm Pouty Flybaby
As much success as I've been having with the whole Flylady thing, I haven't been able to share any of it with Hubby. I know it's partially because I'm a bit hyper-sensitive right now, what with the hormones and all, but he's also a pretty merciless teaser and poor in the self-editting department. He has teased me about my "nesting", about "OCD", about just plain being "weird" and am I feeling okay because I'm actually CLEANING. I say, why look a gift horse in the mouth!? Who cares why?...I'm cleaning, I'm making huge progress with the house, and really, I'm not asking you to lift much more than a finger a week to help out.

Still, in my hormonal state, it hurts my feelings that he teases and makes fun of what I view as huge successes that I'm truly proud of. It's not going to stop me, but I'm not going to be showing him my control journal or explaining my new routines to him anytime soon, and I try not to use the timer when he's around because all he does is ask a lot of questions about why I'm doing this or that.

Yes, I've asked him to do a few things...keep up with the litterboxes, since I am not supposed to take care of them while pregnant, and spray the weeds in the yard, on his day off, before he spends the rest of his day at the comic books shop playing cards with his friends. I'm not a slave driver - but come one...throw me a little bone here...don't give me the big sigh as if I just ruined your entire day off! Too bad I can't just tell him "You can do anything for 15 minutes." He'd literally be done with time to spare.
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Feb. 4th, 2004 @ 02:26 pm Control Journal Evolution
It's really sort of interesting how my habits and my control journal just seem to be naturally evolving. Previously, my kitchen was in such a mess that I couldn't cook. My fridge was a rotten wasteland of well-intentioned but neglected leftovers and half eaten then forgotten take-out. Now that I've been baby-stepping it, my cupboards are full of clean dishes, my counters are nearly completely cleaned off, and there is finally space to cook and without the dread of having to clean dishes afterward - I know that I'll be shining my sink that very night, and doing a refrigerator boogie within the week.

So now, I'm not so afraid to take on the task of cooking. Hubby and I were negotiating on some errands today and I ended up having to stop to pick up dinner. Now I'm starting to get the sense of how nice it would be to only have to stop by the store once a week and already have things on hand...but here I am, making a list of things to pick up for tonight.

And then it started...the snowball effect. I made a short list: butter, 2% milk, a meatloaf seasoning packet, a can of tomato sauce. These were things that I should have on hand all the time, either because we use them so often, or because they aren't perishable and will be used eventually. Thus started my master shopping list, which is now divided into Perishable, Non-Perishable, and Household Goods and subdivided in each category more or less according to the area of the grocery store in which they might be found (canned goods, boxed goods, dairy, meats, produce, laundry stuff etc.) It's not finished, I'm sure, but I have a nice solid list started that would get us through most of our basic meals and doesn't include anything that we don't regularly eat.

I hadn't expected to start formulating this list for another several weeks, to be honest, but I guess the moment happened when I was ready to do it, sort of like the Bill Paying page.
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Feb. 3rd, 2004 @ 08:27 pm Over-extended
In my enthusiasm to take advantage of Tuesday night and my overall feeling of being able to do nearly anything - and very close to having both the laundry and the dishes conquered - I've kinda overdone it this evening. It's only 8:15 and I really haven't sat down to relax just yet, having been home nearly 2 hours. I've gotten a ton accomplished in that time:

  1. put away groceries

  2. did some dishes and prepped the next few

  3. did a sort of hot spot prevention bit on my kitchen counters

  4. cleaned off the top of the stove - did not get it perfect but it is substantially better

  5. did a quick swipe to clean the countertops - again not perfect but better

  6. hung up some clothes in the bedroom

  7. paid 3 bills

  8. did a 3 minute room rescue in the loft/office

  9. did another hot spot prevention - though incomplete - on the ironing board in an effort to find a check I didn't know I was supposed to have received until today, and could REALLY, REALLY use!

  10. Did a load of laundry (but have yet to hang it up outside on the line)

  11. Worked on creating a Control Journal by adding monthly calendars to my notebook, printing out my routines as posted in my LJ To-Do List, and updating my Bill Paying Page

Still on my over-zealous list:

  • Find the check

  • Work on my take home final for school (due on Thursday night - and this is my free night)

  • Sweep the bathrooms

  • wash the one bathroom rug

  • my before-bed routine

  • dinner


See? I over did it. I think I'm going to do my before bed routine now, or at least part of it, and then have some dinner and watch some TV. As tired as I am now, I could probably easily go to sleep, which means I may be better off just getting up early tomorrow to try to work on my final before work...we'll see.
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Feb. 3rd, 2004 @ 10:16 am Memorable Quote
Junk is something you've kept for years and throw away three weeks before you need it.
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Feb. 2nd, 2004 @ 04:08 pm FINALLY!
Hubby finally got to the cat boxes yesterday. This is one of those uber simple tasks that we both just absolutely hate. With me being pregnant, I'm banned from doing it, but Hubby loathes it with an equal passion and is just as good about ignoring it as I was. HOWEVER, it may just be that all of my recent flying has been a subtle influence, or maybe he just got damn tired of my nagging, but HE DID THEM BOTH!!! I'm so excited! Sad to be so excited, but it was seriously getting bad.

Now I have the aftermath cleanup duty - wash the throwrugs and any other areas that were used as makeshift substitutes, sweep the floors...etc.

Tonight on my list of things to do - because I actually look forward to my little babysteps at home now! - vaccuuming the hallway, cat-wash, hanging up the remaining unhung laundry.

Today might be the day that I actually get the sink all the way shined! I did a quick load of dishes last night - abstaining from the need to have the dishwasher "perfectly full" - and this morning I unloaded it before I went to work - now nearly every glass in the house is CLEAN and in the cupboard instead of on nightstands and tables! I've been getting one half of the sink shiny about half of the time, which is in and of itself a success, and the other side is usually soaking the next load.

Lastly, I need to cook some real dinner tonight - barbecued spare ribs. MMMMM!
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Feb. 1st, 2004 @ 09:42 pm Weekend High Flying
I can't believe how well I did with my flying this weekend. I got up both Saturday and Sunday mornings and was up and dressed and doing things in minutes. On both days, I did dishes and laundry and made breakfast before wakling out the door. I still have dishes to do, but the laundry is again almost completely done. I even did a refrigerator boogie this morning in prep for taking out the trash, and had all of the trash in the house loaded into the garbage cans before taking off this morning for an all day Super Bowl event.

Hubby, whether he intended to or not, was flying high as well, making sure his bags were packed for today as much as possible the night before, or with items set out and ready to go. This eased my mind a great deal, as I'd been planning on doing last minute shopping this morning, and allowed me to sleep in a little later and get a few EXTRA things done like vaccuuming the bedroom and dusting the televisions upstairs.

Today's other successes included some very minor flinging in the living room, cleaning the mirrors and counters in the upstairs bathrooms, and the toilet in one (the other is currently under repair). And there were some other things that worked out well...just things like having my personal evening routine items ready downstairs so I can prep them for upstairs when I got home etc.

I still have some stuff to do tonight (and a cat to soothe - poor baby got locked in the pantry all day when I accidently shut her in before I left while in a flying flurry!) like prep my lunch for tomorrow, lay out my clothes, and prep the ingredients for breakfast tomorrow.

When I got home today, I felt like most of the hassles were already taken care of. All I really had to do when I got home was take the garbage to the curb and my evening bedtime routine. If time and energy permitted, I would shine my sink and take the laundry off the line - but as it stands...well I don't know if those will get done, but I won't feel guilty about it if I don't.

I've had a very positive day.
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Jan. 30th, 2004 @ 10:26 am Routine Progress
I think the whole flylady thing is pretty cool. I've been trying to keep to basic morning and evening routines as much as possible. Morning - feed and water cats, brush my teeth, make the bed. Evening, make lunch, prep for breakfast, feed cats, set out clothes for the next day. I haven't been so great on the food (for me) stuff the last few days but all in all it's becoming a regular part of my day. I don't linger around in my jammies - such as they may or maynot be ;) - instead I get dressed before I go downstairs.

I've not been doing the shining the sink thing, though, and that is frustrating. Usually, Hubby and I take turns doing dishes, which is why they tend to pile up to the point of not having any clean dishes. With my new flylady tools, I got motivated and did all but about the final load, and now we're up to about 2 1/2 loads of dishes to do, I think. I'm trying not to nag too much, but after all his nagging to do one load of dishes (and then I did four, AND cleaned the bedroom, AND got our laundry all caught up AND put away, AND cleaned two bathrooms!), I'm really getting put out that he's not helping. I know that, in part, this is due to the fact that I have some new approaches to housecleaning, just 10 or 15 minutes at a time, and trying to make the most efficient use of those short periods when I am actually motivated to get something done. It's just so easy to do a little bit - but he's a bit of a teaser, so I don't always tell him when I'm on to a "new thing".

It occurred to me yesterday that I was a little intimidated about the 27 fling thing, as well as a few of the other steps, like hotspots - yep even the five minute room rescue. I wondered why. I finally figured out that 27 just seems like a lot to me, too much to commit to doing at the beginning. So I've decided to babystep it instead. Instead of doing 27 things, I'm just going to start with 10 and see how it goes. My first 10 thing fling will be tomorrow. I also want to start to think about hotspot prevention and maybe pick one hotspot to get used to working with next week - most likely the ironing board - which collects mail, keys, magazines, receipts and only leaves the very end to actually iron on after about a week.
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Jan. 27th, 2004 @ 02:34 pm Spontaneous Control Journal Start
So there I was, sitting at the computer, working on a paper for school when Hubby called me to ask me to print out a copy of his proof of insurance cards off the net. Not a problem.

Then it sort of dawned on me...if something happened to me, he wouldn't know how to access that account online. I was ready for a break from the schoolwork anyway so I decided to create a page for a control journal: Bill Paying. It lists all of our online accounts as well as which ones cannot be paid online, how to access them (we use relatively few passwords, so it is easy to "code" them without revealing actual passwords, lest my control journal fall into malevolent hands...muhuahahahaha! - ahem.) It's not finished, but it is well started. A single entry looks something like this:

Car payment
Company name
website address
User: xxxxx
Pw: xx (code)
Method: (credit card / check / direct account debit)

Other options include:
Phone #: xxx-xxx-xxxx
Account #: xxxxxxx
Approx due date: xxth of the month
Approx amount due: $xxx.xx
Fee: (for paying via internet or by phone, if applicable)


Hubby is going to think I'm nuts, but for about the last 3 years, he's paid or managed most of the bills, or at least half, because I get so much anxiety from handling them. This might be a way for me to regain a bit more control over them, and be able to face up to them instead of hiding.

Yesterday someone suggested that I go ahead and make a quick list of what I did the other day as a start to a bed-time routine. That was all it took for me to set up my very first To-Do list on LJ. I've got some bed-time stuff, some morning stuff, and a few things that won't actually get added to the routine until the baby arrives in about 6 1/2 weeks.

cross posted to [info]flyladies
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Jan. 20th, 2004 @ 02:52 pm Baby Steps
Following up on this post made in the [info]flylady community, I have to say that I've apparently caught at least part of the bug. The very fact that I'm sort of resisting over doing it on the cleaning seems to be moving me forward to do more. My it-doesn't-have-to-be-perfect-to-make-a-positive-change attitude is leading me to more and more enthusiasm for get something done.

As of today, when I left for work, my bed was completely made for the first time in months, with fresh sheets and pillowcases. I had vaccuumed some of the bedroom (just what was clear of dirty clothes and stuff) and it looked almost elegant. My formerly dust bunny covered counter in the master bath now gleams and caused Hubby to exclaim "Our counter is WHITE?!"

I have started to use my closet for the first time since we moved into this house 18 months ago for the clothes that I currently wear...not just the ones that I've been too lazy to donate, throw away etc. And I'm almost ready to move the bassinette in in preparation of our little one's arrival.

Elsewhere, and by that I mean in the kitchen, the dishes that had piled up to the point where the cupboards were empty is now reversed...the cupboards are nearly full and the counters...well, they still need work, but I know I can get a clean fork or glass, or pot or pan right now if I wanted, and I would even be able to cook a meal with sufficient counter space.

Have I overcome the CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome)? Um...no. I had one friend over the other day, and that only worked because I've actually lived with him before and we know each other's slovenly habits all too well, so it wasn't new or surprising. I still don't have a control journal or any regular routines to speak of. I'm only going by the 15 minutes at a time rule right now, and trying to do a little more focus on the suggested zones. Most of the time I'm trying to remember to put on my shoes, but I don't always. I'm not weighing my clutter because for me that's just another excuse to hang on to it for another little bit until I get around to doing it...whatever...it's in the bag, I'm done with it.

My bedroom should be done in a day or two and the kitchen...well, probably by the end of the week. That will be HUGE!
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Jan. 13th, 2004 @ 07:03 am (no subject)
Last night I got home and was almost excited about the prospects of cleaning up. I didn't do too much over the weekend so I wasn't burnt out and was ready to keep the momentum. In order to keep up the same momentum, I made sure not to do too much last night either. I did two loads of laundry and set the timer for 2 15-minute sessions at the sink and decided that I would run the dishwasher with whatever was in it when I was done. The only thing I didn't do there was empty the dishwasher before bed. But the laundry was folded and hung up (what was dry anyway and the rest hung on the line to dry). Even on my way to bed, I grabbed a garbage bag so that I could continue on the Flylady zone of the week - cleaning up the bedroom. I'm trying to remember to take some glasses down everytime I go downstairs, along with trash, and to take garbage bags up with me when I go upstairs.

Unfortunately, between cleaning and just resting, I never did get to any of my studying last night...not good. Tonight I'm going to have to bust my hump on homework.
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Jan. 12th, 2004 @ 07:01 am Pregnant Flybaby
Cross posted to [info]flylady

I'm new to Flylady, but it is turning out to be a good motivator for me. I'm pregnant with only 9 weeks to go and really need to get the house in shape before the baby is born. Mood swings, hormones and just plain exhaustion have really inhibited my energy levels and motiviation. The nursery is still full of boxes and is no where near habitable and my own room is such a mess that there isn't even room for the bassinette, so all of the baby's things are piled up in a hodge-podge at one end of the living room.

I've been on the list now for about a week and yesterday I decided was the day I needed to "put on my shoes". From about 10AM to 12:30, I set the timer on the stove in 15 minute increments, working for 15 minutes and resting for 15, and kept reminding myself "I can do anything for 15 minutes." I was amazed at how much I got done, how much guilt was alleviated and what a big dent I made in the mess. I was really on a roll, but I didn't want to burn out, so I called it a day, mostly about then. I still managed to get a few other things done throughout the day, some laundry, some trash etc, but I also found time to read several chapters for a class.

I'm thinking that by the end of the week, my bedroom will be more restful and nearly completely clean, ready for me to actually use my closet, and for the bassinette to move in with us.

I'm now thinking about creating a control journal - not for home, but for work! I think it might be just the thing to really help me keep on task day in and day out.
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Sep. 15th, 2003 @ 03:39 pm Vacuums Suck
I have had 4 vacuums in my adult life. One was a little handheld dirt devil thing...was great for a small apartment and an equally small budget.

Then came the dirt devil upright - almost $100. It was alright, but lasted only about a year.

Next came the upgraded Dirt Devil model with the bagless canister - I loved this vacuum...I loved the way the dirt swirled around inside...I so wanted to turn it into an art vacuum, with little souls of evil dirt being sucked into the bottom...Alas, it was not to be. The vacuum broke after about a year or so - the extension hose popped out where it wasn't supposed to and the suction was ruined after that, despite my best taping repair efforts.

Then came the Kirby. It is ancient. It's an upright with a bag - but no paper liner...that's how old. Emptying it is a filthy outdoor chore, and sort of disgusting, having to reach in and pull out clumps of cat hair and goddess knows what else. After it's initial tune-up (after Maia gifted it to me) it seemed to work well, but after only a few months, it seems to has lost its gusto.

Between yesterday and today, I made two major investments in carpet care. Yesterday, I bit the bullet and finally purchased a Bissel carpet cleaner. Today, I got a Hoover bagless vacuum. My carpets are going to be shiny and new!

After only a year, they have been used and abused in ways that no carpets should be. I feel like I've stepped into the world of responsible carpet ownership.
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Feb. 22nd, 2003 @ 10:02 am Spring Planting
S brought over some plants for me on Superbowl weekend. I really need to transplant them this weekend. I have to large aloes or agaves and two stubby looking Mexican birds of paradise. These are not going to be fun or easy to plant.

I'm very irritated with our yard in general. Apparently there is a reason why corner lots suck, and that is because people think it is okay to cut across your yard. I'm still trying to figure out what I'm going to do with all of the crappy "granite" in the yard and have shifted back and forth from sifting it myself to just getting it completely replaced.

I guess if we're going to do anything with the yard this year, we need to do it soon.
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Feb. 20th, 2003 @ 09:51 am Heater vs. Heat Pump
I forgot to mention that I finally figured out how to turn on the heater last week. Turns out it is not a traditional heater (as I understand it) but a heat pump, which extracts heat from even cold air and circulates it through the house....well, no one said that you had to have the fan function on the thermostat turned ON. I hit it by mistake after having had the heat pump running all night and damn if the heat didn't just pour into the house instantly.

Hope we didn't do tons of damage to it by letting it run like that without the fan on.
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Dec. 17th, 2002 @ 12:31 pm Is It, Or Is It Not, Gravel?
I am so angry! The landscaping company is still insisting that this is gravel in our yard when everyone we've had come by the house still asks us when we're getting our gravel. They want to come by tomorrow and "show us how to maintain it." I intend to point out the difference between our yard and our neighbors yards and the fact that the animals use ours as a toilet while leaving our neighbors' appropriately gravelled yards alone.

I may have to call Beazer. This is getting ridiculous.
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Dec. 10th, 2002 @ 03:55 pm The Yard
I had to call the landscaping company back today. The superintendant still hasn't called back after a month. I want gravel put down. Not the dirt with some rocks in it that they are claiming is gravel. Cats are using it as a liter box. I should not have to scoop poo out of my yard with a siv.

The last rain settled some dirt in an unsettling way very close to the house. I'm concerned that the dirt around the house is not sufficiently packed and that it might lead to foundation damage. I need to call the home builder about this. So far though, no cracks in the house.
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Oct. 9th, 2002 @ 10:48 am Another One Bites The Dust
Looks like only one of the three trees I planted may make it. I held out hope for the biggest one I planted until today. Yesterday it had a single leaf that looked like it might bring new life to the whole tree, but alas, every last leaf on the tree is dry and crumbly. I will likely dig it up this weekend and plant a few of the others. Not sure what I did wrong or if the sudden change in weather that followed the planting was just too much for them.

I'm also thinking that it may be time to plant one of the shoe string acacias.
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Oct. 9th, 2002 @ 10:30 am More on Energy
I checked our electric bill online this morning. I confess - I have been anxious to look at it after Hubby and I have gone to such measures to cut back on our energy usage.

Huzzah! We cut 30% off of our energy usage! Of course, it helped that the weather cooled off substantially. But still, despite all that we did to curb our usage, we still have a 47:53 / Offpeak:Peak usage ratio. I just don't know what we can do to offset that. Perhaps it is just our lifestyle. This may also be skewed by the fact that we have done MORE cooking during peak hours in the last month than on other bills, and because hubby has been home AND awake during peak hours, so has been using those resources equal to my usage in the evening. Also, a few nights, I tipped the thermostat down to 78 or 79 so that I could sleep more comfortably. We just can't wait until 9 pm to do general living. So this may be where it all settles.

As of 8/5 we had 1067 off peak KWH (at approx $.04/KWH) and we had 1218 peak KWH (at approx $.13/KWH)
As of 9/4 we had 758 off peak KWH and 840 peak KWH

What measures did we take? We stopped using our ceiling fans when we weren't in the room. When possible, we opened windows instead of using A/C. We stopped leaving the computer on all the time and just turned it on when we needed it. We were a bit more careful about light usage, but we were already pretty good about it. We continued to do no dishes or laundry except during off-peak hours. We continued to leave the thermostat at about 80 degrees most of the day.

Overall, we saved $60 over last month's bill.
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Oct. 4th, 2002 @ 10:20 am Some General Updates
The weather has turned cool, so the A/C is off now and the windows are open. We still keep the fans on to keep the air circulating in the rooms we are in, but not as much. Mornings are down right chilly!

The trees I planted are causing me worry. I’m concerned that they are dying. After months of caring for them in buckets, they seem to be in shock at being in the ground. I’m hoping they are just transitioning and may lose SOME of their leaves, but not all. The weather isn’t helping. I’ve cut back to watering every other day.

The carpets…are starting to get “broken in”. Morgan has had a UTI so she’s been peeing outside of the litterbox. Fur balls, over zealous eating by kitties leading to lovely mounds of digestables, general foot traffic and a few spill, are all starting to show that the carpet isn’t exactly BRAND NEW. Alas…. I think it is already time to bring in the carpet cleaner….
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Sep. 29th, 2002 @ 08:41 pm When's Arbor Day?
I planted three sweet acacia trees in the backyard this morning. Two near the back wall and one in between but a bit further away. All three are somewhere in the neighborhood of two and a half feet to three feet tall. I can't wait to see how they will grow.

The night is gorgeous...the first one that we've turned off the A/C and just let the windows open. It feels wonderful in the house...cooler than it has all day.
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Sep. 25th, 2002 @ 11:35 am Sing It: Electricity! EEEEEE-lec-tricity! Electricity! EEEEEE-lec-tricity!
When we got our first electric bill for a full month, I bragged to everyone. $89 My friends were wondering what they were doing wrong. How could I have a large two story house and have such a low bill?

Apparently, you can't. Our bill this month was $221 or so. I called to ask, because it appeared that our electric usage had jumped 10 times. Turns out it had something to do with our meter being changed out so we could be on the new economizer plan... We're trying to find ways to limit our electric usage during peak hours; we're using 47% of our electricity then. We do laundry and the washing machine only after 9PM and before 9AM or on weekends when the rates are lower. But other than that, what could we do?

Well, we now only have our ceiling fans on when we are in the room. Turns out they don't really cool the house like we thought. And we've started turning off the computer when we aren't using it. Those things ought to bring it down pretty nicely. Now...if we had a barbecue, we'd probably be cooking outdoors instead of indoors...which would make an even lower bill.

I know. You're anxiously awaiting our new bill to find out if these energy saving measures have paid off. I know I am. It's bound to be lower anyway since the weather is cooling off a bit....down to under 100 degrees several days this month. Woohoo.
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Aug. 29th, 2002 @ 11:56 am Cubeville
This isn't really about my HOUSE but about my cube at work.

We have one of the new high mucky-mucks coming from our corporate office on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. Besides having to drop all of our regular work to prepare reports to show how much work we do, we also need to clean up the place a bit.

I've been meaning to do some decorating in my cubicle for a while. I used to have a bunch of plants in the corner of my cubicle and a water fountain, but one Holiday season when they brought in the company pointsettias, they also brought in these irritating little gnats which killed the poinsettias and then took up residence in all of the other plants in the office. As a result my little desk garden and everyone elses plants all had to be sacrificed. I've had some pictures in a corner and some postcards from art galleries up on my walls. I have the secret wall of humor, which you can't see unless you're IN my cubicle. And then there is the entire wall of photos of my house under various stages of construction.

So I just went out to the dollar store and picked up some frames. One 8 x 10 to frame our company mission statement, which I think is a cool statement and have been meaning to frame, and a bunch for my post cards and to frame our departments Top 10 goals for 2002. All of the frames are currently shades of green and purple and a very hideous pink. I'm going to paint them either black or silver tonight and then pop in a neutral or black background and just mount the postcard on top of that. I think it will be very nice but perhaps a little over the top to my coworkers...oh well. F*** 'em. I want to work in a nice space.

I also just bought a nice brushed chrome desk lamp the other day so I could have a nice pool of light to help drown out everything around it. So far, it's worked pretty well.
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Aug. 9th, 2002 @ 11:36 am Please Remain In Your Seats While the Captain Has the Surround Sound On
The speakers were wired in this morning. We now have a nearly complete sound system (except for the patio and the much needed CD changer). Hubby is in his ecstatic place right now. I fear that sex may hold little interest for him now - hee hee.

So far, he's put in bits of Gladiator, Unbreakable and Lord of the Rings. Could this be audio masterbation?
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Aug. 2nd, 2002 @ 09:49 am It's All In The Details
Yesterday, I had a big rant about how hubby didn't like the decorating. So last night, in an effort to win him back to the idea, I gave in and put some pictures up on the wall. I also put up one of my new 75" LACK shelves from IKEA. What a difference it makes! One picture and a shelf on that wall, and two pictures up in the kitchen and the place seems to have a whole new feel to it.

Add to it that the purple cube chairs seem perfect in the living room now and the black table looks really hot in the kitchen and even seems to help the space feel BIGGER, and you see why I'm a little excited today.

I still want to get my virtual trading spaces page up so that I can get some alternative suggestions, but I'm pretty excited about what's going down already.
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Jul. 31st, 2002 @ 08:40 am Busy Bee
I've been so busy with the house and with work that I haven't updated any of my journals this week.

Went to IKEA with S on Saturday and had a great time. Picked up some cabinets for my craft supplies and for some books. Have been working feverishly to reclaim my family room and living room as we are having company over for the first time this weekend. So even before I left for work this morning, I was out in the garage, spray painting another shelf so it would be dry enough for another coat when I got home.

I'm happy with the way the paint has turned out overall, but there is so much touch up work to be done. For now, I've just said "Enough!" with the painting. I'll keep out some quart cans of the paint and some small brushes so I can do the touch up as I have time and inspiration leads me, but I'm not going to beat myself up about having it perfect by Friday. My friends will forgive me, I'm sure.
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Jul. 25th, 2002 @ 12:54 pm Harlequinn Pattern
At [info]lotus_flower's request, I am posting instructions for creating a harlequin pattern on the wall.

Some people might use some sort of template method. I am currently using the taping method to define the diamonds. For smoother walls, this is a great idea. Ours, however, is a textured wall called a skip texture. I'll try to post some pics of it to show how it turned out. So far, we're having pretty good results with it. I'll probably go in and touch up with an fine point art brush. I think the key is to make the diamonds BIG! The dimensions of mine are 4 feet by 2 feet (adjusted slightly to compensate for molding etc.) I almost went with a smaller size, but was afraid it would look too circus-y or too easter-eggy. I think it's working out pretty well.

I used a stiff ruler and a level to make sure that I was getting good measurements. And you can't measure enough on this, I swear. By the time I was done, I had lines going all over my walls and had remeasured and redrawn several times (below is the method that I used successfully - my third try). Hubby said, "Well, I guess now we have to paint."

To Start: Measure the wall you're going to put your diamonds on. Since I had an idea of what dimensions I wanted my diamonds to be (48 x 24), and I knew that I wanted as many whole diamonds as possible, and only half or quarter diamonds on the edges (no odd fractions), I determined what sized border edges I wanted on the wall(80 inches approx on each wall divided by 24, the width of the diamonds that I wanted, yielded 3 full diamonds with 8 inches remaining, which was then divided by two to give me nice 4 inch borders on each side - For vertical, I subtracted the height of the baseboard from the overall height of the wall (8 feet) and divided by 2, which gave me an actual 23.5 inches for each of the diamonds instead of 24"). (Mine are on accent walls. Doing all four walls to a room would be trickier in order to ensure that all of the diamonds match up and wrap corners nicely.)

Measure in from the edge of the wall that distance and use the level to draw a line straight down from floor to ceiling (most of us don't have levels that big, so obviously you'll need to move the level up and down to get that nice long line....double check your measurements as you go - remember though, you're wall edge may not be perfectly plum so just make sure that its not off by too much visually). From that line, measure over 12 inches and draw another line, then 12 inches and another...until you reach the next border (for 48 x 24 diamonds).

Then, measure down from the ceiling (assuming you have a flat ceiling) 24 inches. Make a horizontal line from border to border using the level (double check measuring again as you go since not all ceilings and floors are perfectly horizontal). Using your straight edge ruler, connect from intersection to intersection to create the diamond pattern you want.

Once you're done, step back and note if any adjustments are needed, double check your measurements to make sure that all of your intersections line up on the horizontal and vertical.

Taping: When taping off, you'll tape the ceiling and the baseboard. Determine which color you will be painting first and where each color will go in your harlequinn pattern. Tape off on the inside of the diamonds that you will paint second (assuming you are painting in two colors). I've used painters tape and had fairly good results, although as I've removed some it removed paint from the walls or ceiling in a few places - use caution. Make sure that your edges are lying flush to the wall, or as close as possible if you have textured walls. At the corners and intersections, use an utility knife to trim the edges of the tape into nice crisp points (wait to trim until all paint is up - then trim all edges at once). Cut carefully so that you don't cut deeply into the wallboard.

Painting: Begin painting by cutting in along the edges. With my textured walls, I began by painting from the tape into the diamond so that I wasn't pushing paint under the tape where it may have gapped from the wall. Continue to fill in the rest of the diamonds.

Because we are painting two colors on white walls, both of which are fairly bright, we've opted to retape for the second set of diamonds as opposed to painting the whole wall one color and then painting over with the second color in one set of diamonds. It also helps to make sure that any pencil mark mistakes we made in planning get covered up as we paint in both colors. So once your first color is dry (we painted a couple of coats for good coverage), carefully remove your tape (score next to the tape if necessary to avoid pulling up paint) and retape, pressing lightly on the edge you'll be taping next to (press the edge to get it close to the wall for a crisper line, but lightly so that it is easier to pul up without pulling off your paint). Repeat the cutting in and filling in. Let dry, and carefully remove your tape.

Touching Up:At this point, you might just be done. If you have imperfections where the lines blurred, paint crept under the tape etc, you can retape next to that specific spot and use a fine art brush to paint in a nice crisp line. Alternatively, a friend of mine suggested using a very thin tape (white or black) available at some stores that you would apply as an edge line and leave up on the wall, leaving your diamonds very crisply defined. I'm not a fan of leaving tape up on the walls permanently, so I'm opting for the touch up painting idea.

I'll post pictures as soon I can find my camera (still packed in boxes!)
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Jul. 22nd, 2002 @ 11:28 am Making It Ours (Part Deux)
I took S shopping today for some home items and ended up picking up supplies for a shelf system for next to the TV. I'll need to get another set for the other side, but at $130 I was already $30 over budget for the one side (hopefully some of my supplies will last to the next part).

( Specs )

I got home and hubby was just waking up from a nap. We worked on the living room, which he'd already begun to tackle. But he hadn't finished a single wall (no cutting in, although he'd taped, not even finished rolling!) Throughout the night I was more critical than I should have been and finally decided it was far better to just keep my mouth shut.

( Marriage saving journal venting )
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Jul. 21st, 2002 @ 09:17 am Making It Ours
Hubby and I decided on Friday night that it was time to paint. We'd settled on a color (not the Shy Blossom color seen earlier but Citron Pastel by Ever..something something.) I painted the kitchen while hubby was at work. I had gotten a semi-gloss and upon returning to the store later (I'd bought the wrong color for the family room and needed to return it) I realized I probably should have gotten a Satin finish instead, so the kitchen is pretty shiny. Hubby and I started to paint the harlequinn pattern on the wall last night as well, but were just too pooped to finish.

We also decided it was time to get the sound system. Money's a little tight right now so we're going to have the speakers for the patio installed in a few months when the patio is more usable anyway.

Today, I order IKEA!
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Jul. 16th, 2002 @ 08:46 am Door Woes
Well that linen closet door in the master bath was really sticking badly. Last night when I went to bed, I just brought it close to closed...not all the way. But this AM when I tried to open it it was still stuck in the upper corner. I gave it a good tug...and it ripped back the upper inside corner of the door. BAH! I hope that they are going to fix that.
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Jul. 15th, 2002 @ 03:41 pm 30 Day Inspection List
For our house's 30 Day checkup, I have the following items to report:

Front door hung crooked - rubs on jam
Master Bath linen closet door - rubs on jam
All windows - check for weather stripping - collected water during storm
East Wall - bottom course - stucco "ooze" never cleaned up
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Jul. 15th, 2002 @ 03:35 pm I'm Drowning In A See Of Cardboard
So...Hubby's new work schedule leaves him with little time now to supervise contractors in the mornings, which is how I was scheduling them so that I didn't have to take any more time off. But...I'm now taking Friday morning off (with Friday being a half day) so that I can supervise:

Thomas Electric - Kitchen Phone Jack Repair
Anozira Doors - Repair lock on garage door and slim down gap on east end of door
Ken Franco - redo vinyl in the laundry room that was gouged by Two Men and A Truck movers.

Things Two Men and a Truck did but didn't tell me about - damaged my refrigerator door and freezer handles. Damaged both sides of my television cabinet at the base. Gouged my vinyl flooring in laundry room. Damaged bookcase backings so that backings are, in parts, no longer attached to bookcase. GRRRR! You pay someone an arm and a leg and you expect them to be honest.....
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Jul. 11th, 2002 @ 02:52 pm A Workman A Day...
Maybe we ought to put in a revolving door for the workmen...coming up over the next week...

Friday - TV Repairman (big screen TV is under a 4 year warranty and has a fine red mark smack in the middle of the screen)

Saturday - Dishnetwork to come out by noon to reattach the service box to the house and silicone the old holes.

Monday - Thomas Electric (FINALLY!) to come out before noon to fix the kitchen jack.

Tuesday - Anozira to come out before 1pm to fix lock and gap on garage door.

Unpacking is going painfully slow. Hubby wants picks up on the wall. He's getting itchy for the unpacking to be done but seems to be at a loss as to how to do it himself. GRRRR. But on the plus side, he's handling calling the TV repair guy and the speaker installer.
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Jul. 10th, 2002 @ 04:11 pm Phone Jack Saga Continues
I tried to check the jack for wiring problems, but nothing I did worked, so I have wired it back to its original wiring. I have tried to contact the electric company that wired the house originally - Thomas Electric, but despite calling them every morning this week and this afternoon, no one has returned my calls. So I called and left a message with Martha at Beazer Warranty to tell her we were getting essentially no response. We'll see if Martha calls me back.

Update: Martha called me back just a little bit ago. She's put in a work order to Thomas Electric to have this attended to ASAP. She said they should be giving me a call back shortly. I doubt that they will. They've already closed for the day. Maybe they'll call me tomorrow...if they don't, I'm calling Martha back. She didn't seem to care very much. I had to ask her "Is this going to make them call me back any faster than they already have?" We shall see.
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Jul. 5th, 2002 @ 11:25 am Phone Jacks
I have a phone jack in my house that isn't working. It's a newly constructed house - we've already had the phone company AND the company that installed the telephone jacks out to the house. We've got all but the one working. I suspect the wiring is messed up on the non working one and want to attempt to fix it.

Anyone have any experience with wiring phone jacks?
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Jun. 26th, 2002 @ 07:58 am Moving Day
TODAY IS THE DAY!
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Jun. 23rd, 2002 @ 03:43 pm Riding Around In The Toaster
I bit the bullet and went out today to price appliances, buy ceiling fans and temp blinds and visit the house. Oh my, it was hot out today....

Hubby didn't sound thrilled that I spent $455 today on the house, but he expected all of the purchases and I stayed in the vicinity of our budget (yes, I went over).

I didn't actually buy a washer and dryer today like I had hoped. Energy efficiency is becoming a priority for me, as is water conservation (consider the current fire situation in my state). The most water conservative washer uses 15 gallons per wash. Most use 40. The one I want...22. Unfortunately, it's $900. Seems like a lot to pay for a washing machine. So I'm willing to back down on the dryer. Might be able to get a package for about $1400 (including color upgrade). We'll see.
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Jun. 20th, 2002 @ 08:55 am (no subject)
We signed our house papers yesterday and did our walk through!!!! Yeah!
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Jun. 17th, 2002 @ 09:11 am (no subject)
I didn't pack as much as I should have on Saturday. It was a pretty hot and fairly lazy day. But Sunday I made up for it. Packed up several boxes, started to go through the stuff on the computer desk and get that packed up. Began the kitchen process, although I'm still haven't packed it yet. Hubby brought home lots of boxes last night. YEAH!

Closing is on Wednesday. YEAH! Buyers walk is on Wednesday! YEAH!
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Jun. 14th, 2002 @ 10:59 am (no subject)
Hubby seems to have a plan where we can get everything done that we need to during July and August. That includes the Sound System, temporary blinds, ceiling fans, carriage lights, carpet runners, washer, dryer and microwave AND A/C in my car. He's amazing that way. I just wish he'd write it down so I could understand how it's all really going to happen (and still have money for food and gas etc...)

We went to Cost Plus last night to look at stuff....mostly lamps. I didn't like the hanging lamps he saw and wanted to show me, and he didn't like the one's I saw and wanted to show him. But we did find a fairly decent compromise, and if I can find it in the right color, we'll go for it.

S didn't care for the family room color at all. I'm working on revamping the "segway" design from the kitchen to the family room. We've determined that if the two colors don't actually touch, things should be okay. Now...how to do a harlequinn pattern of these two colors that don't actually touch? I'm thinking of adding a third color to help with the transition...just not sure what....but whatever it is it will end up being an accent color in both the kitchen and the family room...Maybe yellow or red (or both)?
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Jun. 12th, 2002 @ 02:11 pm (no subject)
Contrasting borders

As in this Glidden example, we'll be keeping all of our molding and trim in white. I think the contrast is going to be nice and it will add to the crispness of the appearance.
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