Le blah

the way the master bath looked a few days ago

The last couple days I have worked on the MASTER BATH.  Or the supposed master bath should we be able to get to it.

more original master bath pics, note the hole in the ceiling

wall that still needs to be drywalled.

after some work with the master bath wall

filling in the ceiling hole

the drywall added to the guest room closet ceiling

Naters has worked on the framing of the guest bedroom closet.  This will be great to have a closet again!!!

Today I called the local realtor who sells most of the homes in our area.  He in general sells homes for around 5-10k what he lists them at...so I am really nervous about his input.  I am especially invested in this home now I have been working on it EVERY day for the past months.

 

finishing the drywall

I ended up all stressed today when we set up a time for him to come because of all the questions he asked about the house.  I feel that in general the tendency of individuals is to focus on what is left to do...in our case support for the positive we have done is needed.  Why?  It maintains our drive to continue working on the house!  Negative viewpoints beat people down.

I am grateful for my family and friends who have been supportive throughout our rehab experience.  You have helped ME in particular live through it.  Thank you for making positive statements and commenting on the improvements.  It isn't easy to not live in an immaculate home.

patching a hole

Framed!

I have been considering applying for a waitressing job.  In high school, I was a hostess for 3 years.  I actually really enjoyed meeting all kinds of different people and making their lives a little better through food!  I know I LOVE going out to go eat and it is something that comforts me, so I think I would enjoy it.  I think I have hear d people mention that servers are the least well paid social workers in the world.  ;)

I am nearing the end of projects around the house that I am capable of doing.  There are small projects and finishing things I CAN do....but not really anything to warrant pictures and daylong working.  I can do them over the weeks while waiting for Nate to do the more precise projects.  :-/  Its no fun to feel like you are unable to do things...but I know my limitations and sadly I have come up against them,




Nate is working on the closet again tonight!  Kudos to him.

Framing....

Yesterday was a slow paced day...again as with any rehab project it goes slower than expected!  Nate worked on framing the guest room closet and I worked on fixing the ceilings.  What am I doing to the ceilings?  In some locations we have pieces of wallpaper falling down, so I am working on sticking them back up with drywall compound.  Originally we started ripping it down....only to find out that again it seems to have become a conglomeration of paper underneath.  If/when you do get the the plaster underneath, it has cracks.  The cracks don't necessarily mean something is wrong with the house (we had it inspected by someone who specializes in structural integrity), but houses settle and age and plaster cracks as this happens.  So, the pictures do not show my work, but you will notice "wet looking" areas on the ceiling...this is where I worked.




Nate got a chunk of the framing done, but rehabbing a home results in a conglomeration of issues.  Normal everyday household problems happen to us as well.  First thing to go wrong was our tape measurer broke.  This is why Nate stopped working last night, vowing to head to Lowes to purchase a new one this morning.  Then came tragedy #2.  When Nate went outside to go to Lowes, he discovered our van had a flat.  We have been getting flats an inordinate amount this year- at least 3 if not 4-5.  I am beginning to suspect a neighborhood saboteur.  Ridiculous.  So it is going to be late in the day when he can get back to framing in the closet.

Before we realized the car issue, we looked for jobs for Nate in New Hampshire and opened his resume for updating.  Many of the jobs there are intense sounding...even when they want a Mechanical Engineering degree they want some sort of strange specialization....

Ceiling hole filled!

Here is a description of the job Nate thinks he can do the most:

* Hands-on mechanical design and engineering of plasma power supply enclosures and components that support the plasma cutting requirements (such as gas delivery and mechanical control components, accessory features, and torch handles and related mechanisms)

Uh what? 

Our dog Athena trying to help!

Well, I suppose Nate will be applying and we will see how it goes.  One consolation is Nate mentioned to me today that his OWN job might sound impossible when listed as a potential career and he might think he wasn't qualified for it.  LOL!  He has been doing it for almost 4 years!




Today I am going to work on the master bathroom (I didnt get to it yesterday).

Where we stopped...begun to be framed in!

Shark blue

Been a couple days since I posted....on Thursday I painted our guest bedroom on the second floor a shark blue, and it makes me feel like I am in a little boys room (LOL).  But, I think it is just because I have never had a light blue room before.

Today Nate is finally going to be able to get to the framing of the guest bedroom closet.  I am guessing it won't be finished completely this weekend, but it would be awesome if it could be!  Then next week I could finish the drywall and then the guestroom will be pretty nice for guests (minus carpeting).  Carpeting will be the last thing put in to our home.

  I am unsure what I am going to do today, perhaps work on some of the ceilings and work on the master bath's walls.

  Hi Ho!  Off we go to work.

Groom and da Room

Today was an exciting day for me.  I spent a large portion of the day grooming Bree, my puppy I intend to show this spring and summer.  She had her first class tonight.  I had a really great time with her, practicing different ways to show for the judge and stacking her.  We both have a long way to go, but since it is an AKC judge teaching us, it is really going to be easier to how UKC.  UKC is supposedly more laid back and fun to do.  Bree is 4 months old...I am hoping to show her once she turns 6 months.

Then I spent the rest of the day, prior to the class at 7 pm, priming the guest room and painting the ceiling.  It looks a ton better.

While I painted I listened to last night's edition of Free Talk Live, a "liberty minded" internet radio/ podcast Nate and I listen to on occasion.  It was one of those sort of podcasts that freak me out...when they talk about how governments are going bankrupt and they predict a world wide crash in the economy.  They try not to get in to conspiracy theories, so they make me somewhat alarmed when they say things like that....especially because we were planning on moving soon!  Maybe we SHOULD buy gold if the dollar is going to become worthless.  Apparently there is an issue with Illinois nearing bankruptcy and they are also saying that Spain, Greece, etc are also having issues with their economies.  They claim many worldwide economies depend on the dollar, so our hyper inflation effects them as well.


Well I am pretty exhausted from my day so I am calling it quits for tonight.  I may go make some cookies (unless I fall asleep now....).

 too-da-loo.

Compound it.

Woot.  I love stuccoing SO much, I decided to do it again!

Well really, I may not think a stuccoed room is the beez neez, but I DO really think that it makes a bad plastered wall with layer upon layer of un-removable wallpaper look a TON better.  As ghetto fixes go, I like it the best, and frankly to get stuccoed walls can be expensive, so eh....I'm just hoping someone likes it.  

So, what did I stucco?  Using drywall compound I stuccoed our guest room walls which were damaged by a plethora of nails and screws (I mean a ton of nails and I do not know why they were there.....).  I also put on the second layer of drywall compound to the new drywall and all of this will be ready to prime tomorrow.  I will also prime the baseboards (which are black!) white to repaint them white at a later date.  

After the primer is dried....I have a pretty SHARK blue I am putting on the walls.  I wanted to put a peaceful color on the walls since a calming color aids with sleep.  I am excited for that :o).  

Being that it is a new year, I was reflecting on what last year meant to me and to Nate.  For Nate, I believe it was one of the happiest years of his life.  He has been exploring his thoughts on many differing topics like God, government, and his general life outlook, and I believe he is reaching a viewpoint consistent with the non-aggression principal.  This makes him feel more at ease with himself and his surroundings.  He has also spent time trying to understand others and be more empathetic; understanding others' motivation, and his own, has resulted in him feeling more comfortable with himself.

But what about my year?  Last year was a year of goodbyes for me.  I officially quit medical school, and although I had been considering it for a while, having to do it was a big jump and VERY final (many people do not understand that you cannot leave medicine and return, if I did so I would have to go through all the school I have already done again, after taking the MCAT and apply to schools again).  I officially said goodbye to the identity I had thought I would have for years- being a physician.  Now my future is very different from what I had thought, and I deal with a loss of vocation (not much you can do with 2 years of med school). 

 DON"T GET ME WRONG. I'm not complaining and wishing I had stayed in medicine.  It was the wrong fit for me: I had difficulty with the demands on my person that would have been required had I been a doctor- constant access to me via patients and constant responsibility both for others lives and being under a microscope as to my behavior (people expect doctors to be perfect).  Additionally, the time required of me for at least the next 6-10 years and beyond was unacceptable when I want to be a mother very involved with my children, and want to be passionate in my marriage.  Medicine and I are divorced from each other.  We never had a good relationship of true understanding (although I thought it was a good fit at one point...when I didn't foresee children being of much import to me) ;o).

But this doesn't change the fact I now have no vocation....after 18 years of schooling.  This was a goodbye- Goodbye to my self identity and Goodbye to a vocation that - let us all admit it- makes money.  Now I have little to contribute in that aspect but have an additional little friend of debt to deal with <shakes head>.

First thing I did today was cut the new carpet remnant for the floor.

Another small goodbye this past year was my goodbye to my first standard poodle (Odyssey) who I placed in a new home (she has a WONDERFUL new mommy who takes her down to Florida on vacation frequently!).    

Today I feel down looking at the past four years since starting medical school.  It feels like there is not much to show from all the work, and even this house has not improved as much as I would like.  My fear is we will not be able to finish it to move in time and we will be stuck in this house for longer.  Why do I want to move now so badly?  I want my dogs to have more room to run...they are my children and I want them to have the happiest life I can provide them.  

 Nate would ask me at this point, what need am I lacking that is affecting me so?  I need to feel like I am doing the best I can for my dogs.  I also need to move on in my life.  This house represents a very different dream and path that neither of us really wants anymore.  We wanted to live in an upscale area in Columbus, be able to walk to cool bars and restaurants, and I wanted to walk in to medical school.  We rarely walk to places (we do but it doesn't warrant living here) and I am not in med school.  So, I am tired of sitting in stasis and need to MOVE ON.  I want this chrysalis to burst open and see what is next in our life.  Feeling stuck in life is distressful.

Let's end on a positive note!

I am looking forward to a lot of things this year.  A year of positive changes to Nate and my life.  Improvements in our home, sale of our home, and moving somewhere new.  Hoping for a new job for Nate (potentially).  

Hoping for a year of HELLOS!

wall - y

Yesterday I worked on our drywall in the guest room.  The plan is to get it primed and painted this week, but we will see how that goes.  I did the first layer of drywall compound on the walls and intended to do the second today....but things don't always go the way you plan!


Nate also was planning to start framing in the closet for the guest room yesterday, but his nail gun got a leaky O-ring!  Something about "leaky o-ring" sounds VERY funny...although I am not really sure why.



Today was a busy day!  Bree, one of the pups from Athena's last litter, went to the doggy doc to get her rabies shot.  Then Nate and I traveled to Lowes and he picked up another carpet remnant to put over the new floors (to protect them).  While he did that, I practiced walking with Bree on my left (and practicing the leash in general) since we are starting our conformation handling class this week!  I am hoping to show her in UKC dog shows.  She also checked out all at the vet which was great :o).







Then we came home and things went wrong!  Our dishwasher had decided to go haywire on us and was making a funny sound (I hadn't even started it!).  So Nate spent the day taking it apart.

While he did that, I put together our new DVD bookcase!  The plan was to order a new cabinet to store our DVDs so that we can move our old tv stand from in front of the fireplace's neat tile work.  Now I need to just repair some of the tiles around the chimney and we will be good to go :0).

Nate ALSO began putting in the new hardware for our retro cabinets in the kitchen.  I am super pumped about them because I think it really adds to the kitchen.  The picture shows a few of them added- it isn't easy drilling through metal!!!

Playing catch up.

Well here I am again...dreadfully behind.  However...I DO think it is better to get work done than to blog...and in my defense we did get work done on most of the days I have been lacking in my blogging.








NEW FLOORS!  We did indeed put them in and it was very exciting.  My dad came to visit us over Christmas, and as per usual, we put him to work on our house.  The poor guy never gets to come here and just visit...he is always my champion of duties I don't have patience to do.  I have to say I am very impressed by how much he has offered his time to help us and I feel forever indebted...really he has helped us a lot.

We still need trim around all the edges.  And two rooms still need to be done (once plumbing is finished).




This time, my dad helped level our floors using shingles (a supposed construction technique frequently used in old homes).  I found this silly and gave up after about two minutes of using this leveling technique.

My dad apparantly is not the one who passed my impatient gene to me...because he laid on those floors and leveled them like a CHAMP.  Thanks Dad!

I got to lay all the floors down...which was great because I was worried that the menfolk wouldn't do a great job alternating the color patterns.  It was satisfactory for me to get to click and snap them in place (we have engineered floating floors...BTW this is SO EASY to install).  I even ventured to cut the boards by myself with the electric saw toward the end of the project.






Nate spent most of the floor laying time with filling in a variety of holes in the floor that were left from the cold air returns and other random vent holes that were part of our original venting system which no longer functions.  Unfortunately that took longer than the leveling and floor laying, so my dad and I spent a lot of time playing Scrabble.  Okay, I may have not minded the downtime ;o).

We did get to have some fun times with my dad...the BEST time was the last night we saw him (incidentally the next day he flew home and prepared to propose to his girlfriend in New York and is now engaged!).  We went to a sexy Tapas bar in downtown Columbus (tapas are like appetizers so you get a lot of them to try).  We got calamari, mussels, and the men got a variety of short ribs and lamb"sliders".  Nate and I shared a pitcher of Sangria and my dad sampled beers.  The only downside of the evening was my dad mentioned that they have fresher seafood in NY and therefore he was too good to try it here.  This made me want to move SOONER!

Speaking of which, I have been spending time looking at houses in New Hampshire (Nate and I are considering moving for the Free State Project) and was excited to see some cool properties,  potentially very affordable WITH sweet features like a pool and tennis court, AND lots of acreage for our dogs and potential growth for a boarding facility etc.  Again this makes me want to move MORE.

Then I was looking for a design engineer job for Nate, and was saddened to not find much.  Seems most engineering in NH consists of electrical or software.  Bummer.  Guess I will need to look harder!  There are a few possibilities...

Checking out the Tapas menu.

Another interesting idea Nate and I have with moving to New Hampshire is hosting workshops for dog and animal care etc for children in the "unschooling" community.  We could charge a small fee and have kids come learn about a variety of animal care, birthing. etc.  Additionally, we are thinking about maybe having a chicken hatchery for Easter etc.  Lots of ideas for making money at home so Nate may be able to stay at home eventually.





Unschooling is a homeschooling technique.  Another (better sounding) version of this is Child Directed Learning.  The concept is basically that you teach your child the essentials to allow them to learn on their own, and then you allow them to teach themselves and do projects on things that interest them.  Likewise, when you teach them reading and math, you attempt to make it more interesting for them...like mentioning STOP means stop when driving and teaching math while they help you cook (by halving recipes etc).




It is an interesting concept...I wonder how capable I am for it!  I can say I intend to try to teach our child reading very early on, so perhaps we will play it by ear as we go.  If we are good at it perhaps there could be a way to make money with it.  One property I looked at had a SCHOOLHOUSE on it!  Wow.  Seems you can get a lot for your money in NH (just need to keep your eye on the property taxes!).

Floored.

It was a great day today!  We went to Lumber Liquidators and picked out our flooring.  It is Brazilian Koa and will be multicolored in tone.
http://www.lumberliquidators.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=7700

Tomorrow we will set to work emptying out the bottom stairs and prepping for laying it out!  Not any pictures but it was an exciting day for these home rehabbers :o).

We exchanged gifts today.  Nate got me some sexy grey boots I wanted (but didn't know he knew I wanted!) and some big mugs for my coffee.  I don't like having the conventional small mugs....for both my tea and coffee I like a big ole mug.  Good presents Naterman!  I got Nate a wooden (very nice) Scrabble set since he has been wanting to play with me.

Tonight we are having mulled wine:
http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/gluehwein-2/Detail.aspx

We are trying it out for making it for family over the Holidays.  I made a 1/4 of the batch for us and we are drinking it and playing Scrabble while we wait for my father to arrive on his flight tonight at 9:30.  After that we will be visiting with him and getting pumped up for our floors being laid!

In other EXCITING news....we went to Lowes today and got a huge carpet remnant for $48 to cover the new floors (to prevent scratching while we rehab and with the dogs) and also chatted with their flooring department about carpets and installation.  It sounds like putting in the carpet where we want it will only be around $1000.  YAY!

Guest room

As the title suggests...today I moved in to the guest room to do a little work.  Until I get more drywall up to finish, I am a little out of things to do...at least major projects.


The guest room has needed attention for a while.  Obviously it needs drywall up on the back wall, and it also is awaiting framing for a closet.  The ceiling had wall paper on it which was partially removed.

So today I patched holes in the wall, redid one of the corners, and then worked on patching the ceiling up and getting it ready to be painted.  Sort of a blah work day, but I needed to get to the store and we are boarding a puppy from a previous litter over break, so I had other things to do today.






Naters and I are headed to Outback for dinner tonight!  My brother in New York gave us an Outback gift certificate for Christmas.  Since my Dad and other family will be visiting over the Holidays, we decided to go out and be romantic together tonight before the hubbub and festivities begin.

Yums!  Go Outback!