Today started off pretty well but now I want to punch something.
For the life of me, I can't find a decent (non-hideous) chandelier for the dining room that costs less than $300. Sorry Lowes, sorry Home Depot I ain't rich and even if I was, I'm not dumb. Speaking of Home Depot, yikes! I went there for the first time in a long time today in search of the above mentioned and nearly had an anxiety attack. The rows were narrow and stacked to the ceiling and there were so many light fixtures crowded together over my head I almost fell over backward trying to distinguish one from another.
Then I came back to peel the tape off my stellar kitchen paint job. Not so stelllar. Apparently non-paintable caulk had been used everywhere so when I pulled up the tape the paint came with it. Now I have to go back and touch up nearly all the walls that are connected to the counters. Then in spots the paint bled through the tape so I have to touch up the trim and then the 'I thought they were wood' cabinets turned out to be cheap laminate and the tape pulled off some of the finish. Holy crap, can I go to bed now? I still have to figure out what I'm going to do about that. Now I'm taking a knife to the paint to help the tape come off cleanly. All the while restraining the urge to find the previous owner and pop her eyes out with a spoon because 1. she passed the cabinets off as solid, real wood. 2. She textured the walls in the kitchen like most people texture a ceiling. Impossible to keep clean. 3. She put phone jacks on every wall. Cordless woman, you only need one! 4. She bragged about doing all the work to the house herself- not brag worthy work let me tell you. 5. And most importantly, when I ran into her in the grocery last weekend she farted the whole time and they really stunk. It was all I could do to not cover my nose and tell her the Gas-X was isle 4.

Kitchen- pre paint

It offers a lovely view of the neighbors window. Too bad they keep their blinds shut all of the time, we might have been able to save money on cable.

To the right, where Gryffin's toy kitchen is, we are hoping to put in washer/dryer hookups and a little desk area for me.

















The passthrough to the family room.





















My soon-to-be baking station. Finally, a place for my mixer, pans, bowls, flours and sugars all in one spot!



















Looking into the dining room. That chandelier has got to go. I'm sure it was nice somewhere around 1985.
















The door leads into the garage and basement.

Last night we found a color for the kitchen. Mike and I both hate light/baby blue. It seems that every house we move into had previous owners who knew of no other colors. Argh. The counters in the new kitchen are, yup- you guessed it- blue. They have little flecks of greys so I wanted to bring out the grey and minimize the blue. The color we chose for the walls is a Confederate Blue. Meaning, its blue but has a lot of grey in it. Its a blue we can live with, that doesn't feel cold like most blues. During Gryffin's nap I started the cutting in- least favorite of all painting tasks. It does look really good with the counters and the light cabinets. Most people would never choose a darker color for a kitchen, but I look better in dark rooms. Especially if the lights are off. Hee hee hee. It does what we wanted it to do and tones the blue counter tops down. I'm hoping to get at least the first coat done today.
Tomorrow a guy I met at Lowe's is coming over to give an estimate on some work that needs to be done. I'm hoping he is not a shyster or reminiscent of psycho flooring guy. He seemed nice enough and I can't find anything bad about his company on the BBB site. He specializes in repo'd homes and remodels. I'm pretty sceptical of fix-it people. Heck, I'm still waiting for an estimate from a BIG local plumbing company. They were to deliver it no later than Monday. I guess big or small, anyone who comes to your house to do anything is iffy. We will see.
Tonight's mission, should we choose to accept it, is second coat on Gryffin's room, first coat in kitchen and at least 1 step in prepping the tiles. If caught all members of our team will be dissavowed. This message will self destruct in ten-nine-eight....
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This morning we went to the park and played. But what else can you do at a park? Gryffin had a great time running rampant. We played tag under a big pavilion of picnic tables, he went down the slides and climbed all over the play set. I tried to teach him how to use the pedals on his tricycle, but he wasn't all that interested. Then he decided to climb a tree. Pictured below. He wasn't very successful but I'm sure in a year or two he will have that little boy past time mastered. When he was too tired to run and his hair dripping with sweat he looked up at me with those big browns and muttered, "Mama, home please." I think he was worn out, although you couldn't tell by the way he is singing in his crib! Go to sleep little boy, there will be more playing when you wake up. Thats a Mama promise!

This is the new family room.

The big bookcase on the left will be converted into an entertainment center. The furniture will be moved around, just don't know where yet.











The master suite is to the left of the door. Along with the family room, it is almost the same square footage of the home we are in now.

This is the breakfast bar and passthrough to the kitchen. The doorway on the right leads into the dining room and the rest of the house.

The pictures really don't show how big the room is but I'm sure you get the idea.

Instant Rock Star- just add sugar.

I slept like a log last night. I didn't even have to move to the couch because of Mike's snoring. Not that he didn't snore, I was just too tired to move. Even Gryffin slept pretty well with no 4:30 out of milk screaming fits.
Today is laundry day. Not even much of that to do, I think two loads. Maybe I can get next door and vacuum out the kitchen cabinets. We will see.
I do have to make a quick run to the grocery. I forgot to tell the babysitter that we dilute the heck out of Gryffin's apple juice. She gave him the 100 proof stuff, no wonder he was pinging off the walls last night. All that sugar mixed with a popsicle before bed ain't a good idea. About 30 minutes after we put him to bed Mike started hearing things bang and springs boing. When he opened the door Gryffin had trashed his bed like a rock star. Everything, sheet, pillow and case, stuffed animals, was on the floor and he was doing summer salts on the mattress. I had my ears out and was in the bath and missed all the fun.

Work- done. Me- done for.

Gryffin's room is painted, at least the first coat.
The guestbath vanity and toilet are out and ready for prep work.
The kitchen has a start on being taped off for painting.
No dig (chicken wire) and landscape timbers are laid so Houdini dog, aka Java, won't be able- or at least won't be easy, to escape.
Our current house is clean, dinner is done, babysitter is home, Gryffin is bathed and Mike and I are exhausted. I just hope I'm not too tired to sleep.

I don't joke about ugly.

And you thought I was kidding about the bright peach and blue tiles. Tsk, tsk, tsk. I never kid about ugly.

Yesterday I painted the walls a loverly shade of green, a vintage green that was poplular when the house was built in the 40's. Today we pull the toilet and vanity to prep the tiles for refinishing. That should be fun!

Last night Mike's dreams came true, his life is complete. Not only is he blessed with a wonderful son, a (a-hem) gorgeous wife but also a new addition to the family. Don't freak, I'm talking about a 55" widescreen projection TV. Although, having another kid might have been cheaper. And lets face it, if this is his mid-life crisis, I'm all for it! Better than a blond and a sportscar. We do have to modify the built-ins in the family room but it should fit (hopefully). And since the room is so big, we won't have to crowd the furniture around a TV set.

Enough goofing off. Gryffin and I have to get to cleaning. Mary Grace, our lifesaver- I mean babysitter, is coming to spend the afternoon with Gryffin while I paint his new room and Mike works on the bathroom.

Hope ya'll have a great Sunday. Relax, kick back, thank God for another opportunity at life. I'm doing all three, the last now, the first two later. Much later.

I may be on the edge of 35 but my toes will always be 13. Besides, nothing says summer like glitter polish. Gryffin thinks they're pitty, uh- pretty.

Happy Summer Solstice!

It is the longest day of the year, I know many others have seemed that way but this is the official day. Get out your loin cloth, flower head wreath and inscense, bang those drums and dance in the woods, celebrate the elements and don't forget to recycle.

Here it is, our new home.

With all the jabbering I've been doing about it I thought a picture would be nice.

More to follow!

The monthly muther visit for tonight has been cancelled. She and Roger were rear ended on their way to work. Roger is fine, both muther and her car are sprained. But at least she has an opportunity to milk the insurance company for all its worth. That always makes her happy.
I still scrubbed the house down today. I thought I had a Dr appointment but its next week so I didn't really have anything else planned.
I did get a few things moved next door, just some toys and coats. Anything is better than nothing!
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Coffee in hand and ready to face the day, I think.
It was a pretty nice weekend here, even after all the work there was time to kick back and relax. Thanks to our friend Chris for helping us finish the fence. Today Gryffin and I are going over there to do general cleaning. A lot of dusting, vacuuming and scrubbing. Since we are getting new appliances the old ones need to be cleaned out and readied for the yard sale. The walls in the guestbath and Gryffin's room need to be wiped down and readied for paint this week. Last night I reminded Mike that my muther was coming for her monthly visit with Gryffin tomorrow and he said that sounded like the perfect opportunity for him to escape and do the painting. I'm so jealous.

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Two weeks. That is how long we have given ourselves to get moved. The week of the 4th of July we are moving, come hell or high water. Hopefully neither. If you're not busy that week come on by!
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Happy Father's Day!

To all my favorite men. Thanks for being great dads!

Happy 6th Anniversary!

http://www.whirlpool.com/site.jsp?sectionId=744

This is my husbands anniversary gift to me, along with a french door refrigerator and a new gas range. Be sure to check out the video demo. This microwave does everything except the dishes. Of course, now I will no longer have an excuse to not cook or when I burn dinner. Man, this is a gooooooood anniversary.

Brakes are good, tires- fair.

My Pappy said, "Son, you're gonna drive me to drinkin' if you don't stop drivin' that hot rod Lincoln". And don't think that we aren't actually listening to the song now. Gotta cruze to tunes, dude. Now Gryffin can't keep the ladies waiting so we're off to cruze the strip in search of some hotties with clean diapers and a sippee to share.

My New Toy

I am taking the opportunity of moving to get organized. I don't mean organized as in knowing where the emergency roll of toilet paper is hidden. I mean ORAGANIZED. To the point where I finally can use the pantry feature on my MasterCook program and putting the CD's in alphabetized categories. Things I have been dying to do for years. I'm probably the only person in the world that gets excited about things like this, but I grew up in a house where things were constantly getting lost because nothing had a home and I witnessed the turmoil, frustration and even fights this caused. Even now when I'm not truly organized but just know where things are (or should be) is a major stress reliever. I don't have to tear the house apart to find the lint roller or last years taxes. When I lived in my apartment I knew exactly where everything I owned was... on the floor, somewhere. I was tripping and losing and ended up wearing wrinkled clothes that had to be given to sniff test to see if they were clean or dirty. It was causing more work and frustration than it would if I would just pick up after myself. I've learned that if I clean the stove or microwave when its still warm from cooking the gunk comes off without any scrubbing and takes mere seconds. When I wait until the next day (or two) its gross and takes elbow grease. You see, I'm not a neat freak... I'm lazy! The road of less resistance is the one I like to travel. Admitedly, when I'm tired I do not want to pick up toys or put away laundry, both of which I still have issues with, but I know that if I just suck it up and do it now it will make my life better. My goal is to get to the point where it is so ingrained in me that I don't have to think about it.
Pictured above is the Brother PT-80 personal label maker, my new best friend. I envision file drawers labeled with categories, storage containers labeled with "Flour" and "Cereal" in the kitchen, shelves labeled with "Cleaning Supplies", "Guest Towels" and "Gryffin's Linens". I can see boxes in the basement labeled with not just "Xmas" scrawled in messy black marker but "Xmas wreath, garland and lights" in a nice typewritten label. I daydream about a nice glass studio where each tool has a home and my sheets of glass are sorted by color, my chemicals are in a cabinet away from curious fingers and my pattern books on a nice shelf.
I look at it this way, I've got to put all this crap in a new place anyway so I might as well put away in a logical manner and order. Huh, logical- Mike will get a kick out of that. I don't do anything logically- at least not a logic most people can understand or associate with.
A place for everything and everything in its place. If it doesn't have a place then obviously, I don't need it.
Now, where did I put my car keys?

Wells Fargo, a well of uselessness and ineptitude

Again, I cannot say it enough... Wells Fargo sucks! You would think a big company like that would have the ability to stop payment on a check they issued in error. Oh noooooooo, they want me to cash it or mail it back to them. Either of these could potentially open a big ol' can of worms- for me, not them.
I am not a stranger to filing with the BBB. I firmly believe in it. Eventhough last time it got me a phone call from the police wondering who the crazy hispanic man ranting at their station was. He didn't like the report I filed on him and was trying to press charges against me for it. Hee hee hee, now I can laugh- then it was not funny. I wonder if he tried to press charges against all the others that filed too because there were several. Anyway... I looked up on the BBB site for filing info on WF and they had a number of someone to call at the company before filing to help resolve the issue. I called, we will see if the @#$%'s actually call back though.
You know its bad when a company has gotten so big they can't even communicate within their own departments and aren't even provided direct numbers or addresses for their own departments. Hmm, you think that might relate to government as well?
You're right, I'll stop before I get all political. God forbid I get in a worse mood.
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Hey, changes are good.
Especially when its underwear.
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Oink, oink, oink!

This little piggy went to the toy store.

That little piggy stayed home.

This little piggy ate ice cream.

That little piggy had some too.

And this little piggy went sonic cute in two seconds flat.

Don't have much to say except its hot and we didn't win the lottery. But it could be worse, it could be freezing and payday still weeks away. There is always a silver lining, sometimes it just takes a little elbow grease to get it shiny.
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Paris for President

Did anyone else let out a gasp at the news that Paris Hilton found God in jail? You would think He would live in better quality diggs than that but hey, who's going to question the Big Guy. But she did say that she is going to put the dumb act away. If that was an act, I'm really a blond.
Why should I even be subject to such drivel when I log on to a news site? Is this really news? Does anyone with and IQ greater than two digits really give a flying fart? The really sad thing is, I bet more people are interested in reading this crap than finding out who the presidential contenders are. They can't name a single candidate but know the names of Paris's dogs. Holy crap, how did I know she has dogs? Ugh- the dumb is contageous! No more news, I can't stand to lose IQ points.
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Girl, you got some shoes! $3.24, no you dihn't. Is that leopard skin peeking out from the inside?!

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TGI M?

Mike and I were both glad it was Monday, as we could use the rest. 13 post holes dug, manually. 13 posts set in concrete. Luckily we only had to put up posts on three sides as we are attaching the new fence to the old one on the shared side of the yard between the new and old houses. Lets just hope the buyers want a fence. I finished cleaning out the basement then I scrubbed the H E double hockey sticks out of the guest bath- again. I finally broke through the last couple layers of yuck and the poor tub, the original from the 40's has no shine left to it and will never really feel clean and smooth. But I can tell you, its clean. As clean as it will ever get. I even scrubbed the grout lines on the floor to where they look nice. Note to owner before Granny- Why in the world would you 1. replace the floor tiles but leave the hideous wall tiles and 2. use WHITE grout?! White grout on floors is just asking for trouble. I wasn't able to get it back to white but its now a pale beige. I can live with that. After I finished I helped Mike with the concrete. We finished up, took the babysitter home (she worked out great, by the way), returned unused bags of concrete to Lowe's and had enough money from it to get take out. Which was good because I was in no shape- mental or physical- to cook.
Mike is hoping to get the top of the fence installed after work this week so this weekend he can string the chain link. Then we have to install the No-Dig because Java is a scoundrel. No-Dig is just chicken wire buried a couple inches below the ground. Then some landscape timbers between the posts and attached to the bottom of the fence and even Houdini himself couldn't get out of our backyard. We did decide that maybe painting the whole house is a little too much to expect before moving, so its just the guest bath and Gryffin's room that we are going to do. The other rooms can wait and we will do one or two whenever Dianne can babysit Gryffin overnight. Besides, there is still a few jobs at the old house that need to be done to get it market ready. Easier to do that when we aren't living here.

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Its Friday, that in and of itself is reason to celebrate.
Our home inspection for today was cancelled by the city. I'm not complaining. It will be easier to do without us still living here so I rescheduled for next month. At least, I hope we aren't still living here by then.
Gryffin has, I guess, begun potty training. Not really anything Mike and I did, he kind of decided to start all on his own. I did realize the biggest drawback though. What am I supposed to do when he wants to go on the potty and we aren't at home? Sorry, but I can't hardly bring myself to use a public bathroom let alone let my son who cannot master the fine art of hovering until he's mastered the fine art of sitting. We certainly aren't stressing that Gryffin use the potty. When he wants to he does and when he doesn't we change a diaper. Most kids at two are still affraid of the potty so I guess I've got it pretty easy. Yet another reason to be one and done!
This weekend is a working weekend for us. If the weather holds, Mike will start on the fence while I clean and paint. If the weather doesn't hold I will have help painting. We don't really paint well together, different styles same result. That and he is anal. Just kidding dear- you are a perfectionist. Me? Slap it on, make sure there aren't any drips or streaks and call it done. Mistakes are the reasons people hang stuff on their walls, right?
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Happy Birthday, Pop!
Kick back with a good book and beer- that's an order.
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Pulling nails with a power drill...

I was next door pulling nails from the walls today when I realized that there were hardly any nails. The only nails in the walls were the ones Mike put there to hang Granny's pictures. The rest- and there are many, are screws. Yup, big ginormous screws in plaster. The old lady and her even older mother who lived there must have hung anvils from their walls. Wouldn't surprise me, they were a little creepy. I have to break out the power drill to get these things out. Then I have to buy a gallon of putty to fill them. There is one in the guest bath Gryffin could get lost in. I just don't understand people, don't even want to try. I will just shake my head and say, "Thanks Dumba$$es for making me look a lot smarter!".
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Happy, happy, joy, joy!!!

I am bubbling over with happy. Today is Gryffin's first day back at Day Out, my doctor just called in sick and cancelled an appointment I didn't have the money for anyway and the temperatures are to top out in the mid 70's with only a small chance of showers! Oh yeah, and did I mention we are trying out our new babysitter Sunday! Mary Grace is actually our old neighbor and used to live in the house we are moving in to. She, her little brother and sister helped me plant a bunch of bulbs one year. They are really good kids. She is going to be a freshman in high school this year which really makes me feel old. But at least I'm scoring a babysitter out of it. We are trying her out for a few hours while we are working next door. I can't imagine anyone not liking Gryffin but Gryffin doesn't like everyone. I'm hoping and praying that it will all turn out great and Mike and I can entertain thoughts of life outside of these houses.
Being that my morning is now free of commitments I think I will stop at the coffee shop on the way home from dropping off Gryffin and instead of reading my book in a germ filled, no food or drink allowed waiting room, I will read while sitting in a big comfy chair and sipping on a low-fat latte with brown sugar and cinnamon. Then maybe I will teleport back into the real world and get some house scrubbing done, as both need it quite badly.
Oh yeah, and keep fingers crossed and prayers said for this guy looking at the truck tonight to buy it at a price we are willing to sell at. I'm just affraid that with my luck the darn thing will break down with the For Sale sign still in the window.
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Love that PPP

You may have noticed that I am now a PayPerPost postie. That means I get paid to do what I am already doing, blogging about what I think/find/love/hate, etc. I haven't been with PayPerPost long but I've already made over $30. I love the fact that it has been so easy. I search around for what I want to write about, write about it and get paid. They make it so user friendly and I have even made a few friends at it. I know the money may not be enough to retire on -yet, but I'm definately going to keep plugging away. Hmmm, lets see $30 can get me a new pair of shoes, some books, paint for the new house or maybe something really fun like a night of babysitting and a movie with my husband. Now that is worth so much more than $30!
Try checking it out:
blog reviews

Shark in training?

Gotta find the kid a hobby or he'll never stay out of the pool halls! This pool hall is ok though, its a Grandma's house. And thanks to Gryffin's helping Mike, I was almost able to beat him.

Trailer park pool time.

Gryffin and Java chilling by the pool. Yeah, I was kicking it trailer park style too, sitting in a lawn chair with my feet in the water.

Star gazing...

Let's face it, my head is often in the stars so wouldn't is be cool if I could see where I'm going? Now I can! I found the Meade My Sky at www.opticsplanet.com while surfing and this thing is pretty cool. Its a personal video planetarium. You just point and shoot and get a multimedia guide to the universe. This thing is straight out of Star Trek! It looks a lot like a radar gun but won't get you in as much trouble. What I really couldn't believe was that it is so affordable, especially with the free shipping. The specs are incredible: and LCD screen with 480x234 pixel full color display, 256 Megabyte SD storage card, 12 channel GPS receiver and only takes 4 AA batteries. Meade also makes a whole family of cool gadgets from binoculars to telescopes and even night vision and flashlights.
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So Discover card called and personally thanked us for keeping them in business. Of course I said, "You're welcome- bite me". But now we have the startings of a chainlink fence for the new house and three plants that I will probably kill within a few weeks. Its a good thing people and dogs have better communication skills than house plants because if I just had droopy, brown leaves to go off of everyone around here would go pretty fast. I won't feel too guilty about it though, these are replacements for outside plants so technically, Mother Nature off'ed them.
We also picked up a tub and tile paint kit for the guest bath over there. Sorry folks, but just the thought of having da-glo peach and blue tiles in my abode's camode makes me queezey. I figure even if this stuff looks like crap at least it will be in the appropriate room for crap and will still look better than tile reminiscent of those ceramic ducks on acid from the 80's everyone had adorning their kitchen. Reading through the directions of this stuff and all the prep needed it might be easier to just gut and retile, but that can't be done for less than $100 bucks.
Mike just told Gryffin that he hopes the stinker demons that he is possessed by vacate by morning. Yup, thats my cue to play relief pitcher and close the inning with a clean diaper, story and blanket tucking.
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Last night Mike came home still employed so I'm no longer in panic mode- for now. Last night we got eye exams and picked out glasses for both of us. It will be Mike's first experience with wearing glasses but he looked darn good in them! Lets see, ears for me, eyes for both of us, bikes for us and a lot of paint, supplies and other assorted new house needs adds up to a current lifestyle level of 'Church Mice'. There are many levels: Recliner- kicked back and relaxed, One Eye Open- thrifty but won't pass up a good deal, Thar She Blows- as in budget and Church Mice- recovery mode. I figure the only expense not related to a gas tank, groceries or house will be babysitting, now where did I put her number?
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