What I've Really Been Doing...

While I'd love for everyone to think that I've been slaving my butt off, working day in and day out, I must confess...

We did that the first two days here. Then we died. Seriously died, people.

Then, we admitted that we are old, and broken, and that, perhaps, we should just take it easy with the DIY because, man, we are going to be doing projects until we (literally) die. I am seriously doubting that either of us will live long enough to actually see it all come to fruition...

I digress...

Confession time. What I've really been doing with my summer:

I met T (on the left) and K (right) in kindergarten. Yes, kindergarten. We have stayed close for over thirty years! Benefits of growing up in small town, USA.

T lives locally, hell, we even work for the same district, we just never seem to get together as often as we might like. K lives in Texas, but still has family locally. I haven't seen K since my wedding (three years) and haven't seen her kids in four years. Too long!!! Anyway, we all got together with the kids (minus T's almost-two-year-old :( ) a few weeks ago and enjoyed a great visit. I think somewhere in there, they convinced me, and I agreed, to do the 3 Day with them next year. This year will be K's 3rd year doing it and T's 2nd. I may have to rescind my agreement when I regain my senses. Must be the paint fumes...

Anyway, we had a nice visit and swore that we wouldn't wait that long between visits again. Hopefully, we'll see each other before our kids graduate from high school...


After a long grueling day of helping me lay shelf paper, Mic spent another few hours counting his birthday money (over and over and over...). He had his eye on Guitar Hero I and II and another guitar so that we could play with each other and one of us wouldn't have to use the controller as a guitar (although, I have to say, we were all getting pretty good at it... not that we've been playing a lot, mind you...).

One evening, while Steve and I were perusing our new local Wal-Mart (what? doesn't everyone peruse Wal-Mart when their kids are gone for a few days? It's a hobby, m'kay?), we spotted something even better that Mic could get with his birthday loot... So, last week, I piled him in the car to go Father's Day shopping with me. After an hour or so going around and selecting gifts and cards for the various fathers in his life, I asked him if he'd like to know the real reason I drug him out shopping with me. He looked at me, crooked smile and big ole' baby blues gleaming, a bit puzzled (but ya gotta understand, that's Mic's usual look) and of course said yes.

We get back to the electronics section, I pointed at the box, at which point, he went absolutely insane, chanting, "Who da MAN?!?!!?!" all the way back to the house... and the rest, they say...

the real reason it is taking me weeks to paint Mac's room!

Absence - explained

So, it hasn't yet been a full month since I was last here... my sweet boy's birthday... My, how time flies when yer havin' fun!!!!

We've since moved and to say we have some DIY projects is putting it mildly. See, when you buy a foreclosure, it generally follows that you'll have some work to do simply to get the house habitable. That's an understatement. Habitable it is, and our first "official" night here was Sunday, May 25th. The kids still had three days of school and I had a two-week summer course I signed up to teach which meant a thirty minute commute for that time. We survived it, although it is somewhat of a blur, and we are all now officially on our summer vacation. The best part??? We finally got the tickets for Tom and Joe and they will be here July 22nd for three glorious weeks!!!! Countdown timer is set... 38 days and counting...

While we sit and wait for their arrival, we have plenty to do to pass the time...

When Steve first saw this house, I was at work and he called to tell me the house was great! "It has a *massive* workshop (we didn't know it at the time, but it's 1200 sq ft! bigger than the entire house we were living in!), a two-car carport, but unfortunately, no garage." "Tee-hee", he chuckles with his 'man-friends', recounting that story. Actually, it has *no* workshop, but a very large three-car garage (six cars, because it's two cars deep). Anyway, he's right, because his business calls for a very large workshop, and we definitely want the business to have all the room it needs, right? ($$, please?!?!?!) Although, this project is solely his, it is a project, nonetheless...


Now, this house is only three-bedroom. We *need* four. We will have four. Someday, hopefully, before the kids move out! Above the garage is this

500 sq feet of ready-to-finish space! We originally thought it would become our master bedroom, but have since decided it would make a great media room / den. Eventually, we will finish the attic space above the house part to make two more bedrooms and a bathroom. All of the upstairs will be connected by a hallway so the bathroom will be accessible from the media room as well. The stairs to go up to the future second floor will live here

Which doesn't look like much more than a garbage heap right now, but ya have to work with me, here... a vivid imagination will really help you as we finish the house tour. We can't quite figure out where in the hell these people came up with their decorating ideas. No doubt straight out of the 70s, but still! See that horrid, cheap, nasty wood paneling? It's everywhere. And when I say everywhere, I mean everywhere!!!! Usually topped with an even more horrid vinyl paneling with some sort of gross flowery pattern. The must've gotten a real bargain on it, with some tacky trim thrown in for being such loyal customers at The 70s Vinyl and Panel Mart. Anyway, it's all coming down... the sooner the better!!!

So, back to the stairs (imagination, remember???)... The 'room' pictured above is actually a 'hallway'. See that ugly brown door at the top? That's our front door. When you come in, you're in this hall which connects the house with the garage - I mean workshop. See that wall with the bare wood on the end of it, with the grey strip coming out from the bottom? That used to run the full length of the hallway. Steve's done a bit of demolitioning (is so a word!). This 'room' / hall used to be what we coined the 'creepy closet', a very long, very narrow closet that came off of the bathroom in the master. I was just beginning to love it, never mind that The Diva had decided it was her jungle gym, what with the clothes rods that she could swing on, when poof! it was gone. Oh well, it's a way better use of space and will eventually (notice a time theme, here? I'm using that word a LOT, huh?) net us a larger master bathroom with a shower and room to actually sit on the toilet! See, told ya I have vision!

So, everywhere you look, there's that awful paneling, which all has to be taken off with new sheet rock laid on the walls before we can paint and decorate the bedrooms, bathrooms and kitchen. I promised Mac that she could have a purple room when we moved and I wanted to see what the paneling would look like if we just painted over it, for now. Couldn't be any worse, right? I've started painting her room but have as of yet only painted one coat of primer. It's going to take two of primer and most likely, at least two coats of paint in order to cover that crap. She'll have a purple room, but the rest of us will just have to live with the vinyl for now.

I think I've hit that overwhelming speed bump that has just paralyzed me. I look around and just see so much that needs doing. The plan is to just take it one room at a time. Little by little, we learn a bit about the person (or persons) who lived here before we moved in (way before, as the house was empty for quite a while). Bottom line is they cooked everything in grease and never cleaned - EVER!!!! Not to mention their lack of taste...

Sunroom...
... which will most likely become our 'den'. Steve is going to level the floor and tile it. Windows everywhere, so cool in the summer - it's heated, so very comfy in the winter. Toss a tv out there and we're set!!!

On the upside, we absolutely love living out here. We have two acres (no riding lawn mower, yet... ugh!) and more privacy than we could ever imagine. It's so peaceful and quiet and just our little paradise. I love coming home!!!










See, all the way over to those five trees? Ours! All ours!!!


Edited to add:

I can't believe I forgot this!!!! The best thing we've discovered (so far)???? The dining room reeked of cat urine. When I say "reeked" I mean the kind of stench that literally burns the hairs of your nostrils when you inhale. Yes, that bad. So, off to rip up the carpet and pray that whatever is underneath is salvageable. I think it'll do... what do you think???

Gorgeous 3/4" oak floors that run throughout the entire house!!!! (Gorgeous, only after Steve spent the day sanding, staining and sealing. He did an amazing job, didn't he?)