Home Improvement Craziness #1

If you thought I was crazy before, rest assured, I still am.

What now ReformingGeek?

Here's the story. Several years ago we remodeled our kitchen. No, we didn't just change out the wallpaper. We replaced all the cabinets, the ceiling, 1 wall, the countertop, tiled the floor, and re-arranged an outside wall adding a bay window. We also added wainscoting, new molding, and re-textured all the walls and painted. Yeah, we're nuts.

So that took about a year.

Then we had a party.

Yeah, I wish that was my backyard and no, we didn't foot the bill for this one!

A few notes about home projects:

1. Each project will require the purchase of one or more power tools.
2. Each project will take longer and cost more than you expected (just like everything else).
3. If you are remodeling a house you did not design or build, there will be one or more occurrence of "WHAT EFFING IDIOT INSTALLED/BUILT/DESIGNED/PLUMBED/WIRED THIS!!"
4. If your project involves plumbing, be courteous and warn the neighbors that they will learn new words from the LOUD CURSING that is coming from your house.
5. If your project involves taking out frustrations by tearing out sheetrock, warn the neighbors that there will be piles of trash on your property that will sit for long periods of time. If they complain, tell them to "KISS MY ASS" politely ask them to help you haul it off.

As our house must have been built on quicksand and we have lots of trees, we have foundation issues that resulted in cracks in our walls in the den and in the dining room. After the kitchen project was finished, we had our foundation jacked up so the cracks in the walls can now be repaired.

A few years later we started the dining room. No walls came down but we replaced the ceiling to match the kitchen, changed the flooring, trimmed-out the windows, repaired walls, adding wainscoting, new molding, and painted. Yeah, we're still nuts.

So that took about a year (maybe not, but it seemed like it).

You see a pattern here?

Then we took another break and talked about doing the den. Then we kind of/sort of started the project. It's been in this state for over a year. The entire project will eventually involve....you guessed it... a new ceiling and new flooring in addition to the repaired walls and painting.

Since I'm home quite a bit and spend way too much time in the den on the computer, I'm tired of the disheveled look. And with the possibility of entertaining too many relatives this Christmas, it's time to at least make the wall repairs and paint.

Guests can easily ignore a gutted ceiling. And who really notices bits and pieces of insulation flying around in the air?

Just kidding. We didn't gut the ceiling.

I do the painting around here. Hubby doesn't like the mess. It's not pretty if Hubby has to paint though I will say that he doesn't mind so much when there is a power tool (like a paint sprayer) involved.

But we have to pick out a color. Yes, it has to be a real color. I've had it with white/off-white walls. Fortunately we can usually come to agreement without raised voices, evil looks, rolled eyes, or storming off in a huff. It's easy. Hubby says "unless it's absolutely hideous in my opinion, you can pick, dear."

Wow! What a guy!

So now I have sample paint splats all over the wall in all sorts of colors that looked good on the sample card but not so great on the wall. Ick! Bring me the KILZ!

Fast forward a bit. We made a decision. Forget the paint. Forget the repairs. Take this job and shove it.....you get the picture. We're out of here!

Yeah, I wish. Back to reality.

I've been given the go-ahead on a color. No more breaks and I have to stop procrastinating.

Let's let Smiley do the painting, OK?

By the way, I threw a party yesterday. I guess most of you have lives to lead or real jobs or something because I didn't see you and the rejection is really getting me down (yeah, right). I'll leave the door open for a few more days. I hope you get a chance to drop by and say Hi!

More wine, please

"Would you like some cheese with that whine?" That's what hubby says when he thinks I'm being a little grumpy. This is a very rare thing of course.

What I'm really talking is wine; that smooth and silky alcoholic beverage that goes with just about anything and any occasion. One of the things I get to do since I'm not working a full-time job is go to the occasional wine-tasting class at a local university thru the Continuing Education department. Hubby and I have attended two of these classes and I find that I can now spell wine and may be able to tell you the names of some of the grapes and that Bordeaux is in France. I'm kidding. I really did know that. I can also find Qatar on the globe (but it takes me awhile).

Tonight's class was Bordeaux 2005. What I didn't know is that a Bordeaux wine is a mixture of mainly Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot grapes and that the year 2005 was one of the best years ever. Apparently, the moon and stars aligned.....sorry about that. Actually it was a dry summer and fall without high temperatures and that defined the almost "perfect" conditions for grape-growing.

The Bordeaux wines we had tonight were incredible! Bordeaux wines are mostly red wines but we started off with a white wine. Unlike most white wines, it wasn't sweet and fruity. It had some depth to it and had more of a dry taste. I had a refill. The red wines were awesome. Hubby was really into the reds that had a larger percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. I favored the ones with more Merlot grapes. Hubby drank my refills.

OK, if you're not into wine, I humbly apologize. That's enough of Wine 101. I'm still buzzing from guzzling (I mean sipping) the wines that were presented in class tonight. About halfway thru class, I was wondering why the presentation seemed to be moving on the wall. I finally realized the presenter was using animation. DAMN HIM! That's evil when folks are drinking. At least he didn't grow two heads and I'm glad hubby was driving. Please realize that I'm an easy drunk. Thank goodness for the bread and cheese they provided.

I used to think all wines had to be sweet. I've come a long way. Now I like them to be red and dry but I'm opening up to rose and white wines. I'm not a wine snob yet and will probably never achieve that status but I've learned a great deal from these classes. Try one if you can. I've also noticed that many retail stores that sell wines (e.g. World Market) will occasionally have wine tastings and these are usually a little cheaper.

Yes I like wine but I also like beer and tequila and homemade rum cakes. I make a mean rum ball at Christmas. Maybe I should start selling them to support my wine-tasting classes ;-)

Get a Life!

As the description of my blog indicates, I am not currently employed in the corporate world. I work part-time and usually keep fairly busy working on home projects, gardening, digging thru construction trash piles (more on that in another post), managing the cat, cooking dinner for the family, baking, surfing the web, partying with the girlfriends, watching the grass grow, re-arranging my sock drawer (8 times now!) and managing all of my boyfriends (the scheduling can be quite demanding). Seriously, (I am kidding about the boyfriends) sometimes it's a little dull and I have to watch out for a few things. If you find yourself in my situation, beware of the following:

1. Good-hearted friends and family will find stuff for you to do. This list just keeps growing. After all, you're not working, no problem, right? NOT!
2. Attack of the evil shopping gene. Ladies (and some of you Gents), I know it's hard but stay out of the malls and strip shopping centers. You don't need clothes for the corporate world right now and your house is full of furniture! Beware the ice cream store with all the yummy flavors. NO! NO! NO! YOU MUST STAY AWAY FROM THIS KIND OF EVIL!
3. Resist the urge to raise the cleaning standard of your home. Hubby started to notice that the baseboards are clean.....uh oh.
4. Sign-up for continuing education classes that will give you homework. Oh, please. Why did I do this? There's a reason I didn't go back for that MBA.
5. Going to Wall-mart starts to sound interesting and fun. Ok. If I ever get this far gone, I'm checking myself into the funny farm.
6. The family budget starts to rear its ugly head. Hum..........................Simple math: Money-Out <= Money-In.
   
7. You are assimilating (resistance is futile) into the nosy neighbor that you complain about.
8. You talk to the animals while working in the yard. No, not your cat but the squirrels and other critters that keep you company while you work. Yes, even the lizards. And, no, they don't answer usually answer back.

Something I planted that hasn't died yet:

I hope the crazy things I listed above are not really happening to me and on a positive note, some of the great things about an extended hiatus:

1. Long lunches with friends
2. Happy Hours I can actually go to
3. More time for fitness and training for races
4. More family time
5. Less stressful vacations (not thinking about the office while you're away)
6. Getting enough sleep
7. Eating less junk food
8. Yard gets mowed more often
9. Yard starts to look more like a garden instead of a pile of weeds
10. Neighbors starting to speak to you again (see #8 and #9)
11. You actually visit with your neighbors

Anybody have anything to add?