Day 12 Pictures

Day 12: PG rated

It’s only been a few days, I can’t remember what I’ve written or what’s still in my head.  And, I’m either too lazy or too busy to go back and read what I’ve wrote (or is it written? Damn you grammar!).  Yesterday, I forgot to explain the significance of the bath tub pictures.  Amigo redid the caulk that Jew Bastard did such a piss poor job at.  In just one year, the caulk starting peeling off.  I would like to thank T for explaining the word is “caulk” not “cock.” 

I’m starting to think I should rename my blog, “Til death (or blog) do us part.”  T is being less of a fan and more a critic.  We have our own interpretation of “freedom of speech.” Plus, he doesn’t like that I am never home during the work, come home and take like 5 pictures, then blog for an hour with an invalid opinion. But the thing is, the blog is thoughts from my head.  Shouldn’t he get his own blog and share his view of the remodeling project.  I guess when you get married, you exchange “mine” or “ours.”  So in the spirit of love and marriage, I will sensor myself from now on.   So all family members, employers, and distinguish citizens are allowed to starting reading without shaming my household. 

So here is the new and improved “all work and no play” home remodeling blog:

Today:

Chimney got torn out.

Amigo repainted the trim and doors he accidently painted the wrong color.

Electrician swapped out all plugs and light switches from cream to white.

Electrician installed 6 recess lights.

The End :(

Day 11 Pictures

Day 11: It didn't take the Hof singing to bring this wall down

HOLY HOLE IN THE WALL!  Demolition started earlier this morning.  I wasn’t even out the door when “Contractor” showed up to start tearing out the wall.  Right now, the front door faces out the side of the house and leads right into the living room.  So, we are going to close it up and have the front door lead into what was the office room.  This will give us a front facing entrance into our home, and will give us a nice little area to welcome guest.  But, separating the office room and dining room was a stupid thin wall, which I think was added by Dr. Cheaper-by-Dozen so he could turn that tiny space into a bedroom for 3.  Man, he had the kids stacked up like cans of spam in there.  So the wall is down, and it really opens up the house.  This settles the front door debate.  T had wanted a decorative glass/wood door, but now that you can see the street from the toilet, that idea has been flushed down the drain. The missing wall has left a blank space in the carpet.  When the carpet was first laid a little over a year ago, I kept the extra yards.  The hoarder in me kept saying, “KEEP IT…..Keep it!!!  You might need it!!!”  My wise husband talked me into selling it at the yard sale this past summer.  But, love means not saying, “I told you so.”  Through this whole ordeal, the carpet is beat to hell and will need to be replaced anyways. 

Contractor also took out part of the kitchen wall and pantry.  We are trying to make a counter top/bar type area open the kitchen up.  But we’ve hit a brick wall.  Literally, there is some old chimney from a wood burning stove hidden behind the wall.  We couldn’t have gotten lucky enough to uncover a fireplace. No, just cinderblocks that goes all the way up into the attic.  So, now we face the decision: abort bar area idea, or pay Contractor $60/hr to tear out a chimney from the top down.  I should explain that I have never been in my attic.  The access is up a make shift ladder leading up from a tiny linen closet.  I’m afraid it might be a back entrance to Narnia.  T and Contractor are going to have to take out the attic vent and chunk the bricks out off the attic vent hole and onto the ground.  Next, they will have to pick them off the ground and throw them into the giant construction dumpster that is parked in the front yard.  (Why not aim for the dumpster and skip the middle step….gee men! T, reading over my shoulder, says the dumper is 100 ft away from the attic vent.  I’m not going to win this one.) ANYWAYS, when they get to ceiling level, they will tear out the rest of the wall and carry it the front door using a wheel barrow.  Thank God, I will be at work tomorrow.    

Mom and sis came over to see the progress and new sink.  Sis was impressed and said it was big enough to wash her kids in it.  T replied, “Probably could, but here it will used to wash Wendy’s cups.” 

Amigo came by and finished painting and T hung the cabinets in the laundry room.  Electrician is coming to do electrical stuff tomorrow. Trim guy is coming back to put up another row of trim.  Then Amigo has to come back one more time.  So, we should be able to move back into the bedroom by the end of the week.  I liked it better when construction happened while I was shacked up in a nice hotel somewhere. 

Day 10 pictures

Day 10: God created the Heavens and the Earth

God made the heavens and the earth in just 6 days partly because he didn’t have a woman around to slow him down.  I was gone 3 days and you can see by the pictures all the progress T got done without me!  I am so proud of him and so lucky to have him in my life.  Our bedroom looks like it belongs in a brand new house, not a 50 something year old house.  Heck, I hope T buys me a face lift when I’m over 50 years old. 

Ok, so here’s the run down:

Saturday:

Trim guy came to hang trim.

T chiseled the stone work off the steps and front of the house.

T got a good quote from “Amigo” to paint.  Amigo first quoted $900 for the 2 bedrooms, hall, bathroom, and laundry room (which includes prep work, caulking, and painting the walls, ceiling, and trim). T told Amigo that another painter first quoted $500 for the 2 bedrooms and hall and he just couldn’t see paying $400 more for having that tiny laundry and bathroom painted.  So, Amigo counter offered with $650.  T countered that counter offer saying, “I’ll tell you what, I’ll pay you $700 but you have to start today.”  Amigo said, “Deal.” (Which must be one of his few English words, but hey “money talks”!)

T found a $700 copper farm house style sink on sale for $275 at Lowe’s!!!!!!  I love this man!!!  I really wanted that sink, but he it was always like, “Baby, why do you like the most expensive things.” In which I reply, “I can’t help it if I have expensive taste.  It’s not like I look at the price tag first.  My eye just goes to what I like.”    

Sunday:

Amigo came and painted the master bedroom from ceiling to floor.  He also started on the bathroom, hall, guest bedroom, and laundry room.  He didn’t leave until after 9:00 PM!!  I’m not sure how or who hung the new doors, but they look awesome with the curve detail at the top.  But, I have to admit that one of the best home improvements is the one I added to the front yard….. WDE!!!!

Day 10: Smells like teen spirit

Not being able to get to half of my clothes and shoes is starting to take its' tole.  I walked into work this morning and one of my male coworkers took one look at my dress and said, "Do we not have professional dress here?"  I know he was just kidding with me, but still every joke has a shread of truth.  I was wearing a black shirt with khaki pants today.  I couldn't get to my nice black flats.  They are blocked in the closet of hoarder's hell by the dresser and king sized box springs.  My options were brown fuzzy boots, flip flops, house shoes, navy blue shoes, tennis shoes, or black and white converse style low top Ed Hardy's with a tiger painted on the side.  I hate the sight of tennis shoes being worn in non athletic attire about as much as I hate blue jean shorts on guys.  No matter if I went with the tennis shoes or Ed Hardy's, I would still look like the missing cast member from Jersey Shore.  I picked the EH thinking it was the less of two evils (black shoes matching black shirt).  Still, it didn't save me from the mochary.  Feels like junior high all over again.

No work on the house today :(

P.S.  Although the trim guy is finally coming saturday, there will be no blog updates until sunday.  I'm going down to "God's Country" to celebrate the most AUsome football team's successful season. 

Day 9: “You know you’re a redneck if you are hauling an airplane in a cattle trailer.”

No workers came by today.  T climbed up in the attic.  He said it looks like a birds nest up there (wire going every where.)  He could tell that some of it has been redone, but the wires that lead to our bedroom hasn’t.  T’s got an uncle that is an electrician here in town, so maybe we will get the family discount.  Never mind, T reading over my shoulder informs me that he is an electrician at a plant over in Huntsville. 

T and I gassed up on the way to dinner tonight.  We saw an old, beat-up, flat-bed truck pulling a cattle trailer with an airplane inside of it.  The wings were not attached, so it was just the body.  But still, I can’t believe I saw an airplane in a cattle trailer and without my camera!! 

Day 8: Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink

I found myself in a situation needing to close a door.  The door to the back bathroom (also known as Rusty’s bathroom) is blocked open by the guest bedroom’s bed post.  The closet room is blocked open by, oh God, everything in the house that is stacked up in there like a hoarder’s stash.  The guest bedroom’s door fell out a few days ago when the trim was removed.  (Obviously, the door frame was attached to nothing.) So, when it came down to the moment that I needed to find myself behind a closed door so I can sit and think alone, my options where the laundry room, which has no insulation, thus is freezing, and has no chairs, the master bedroom, which has nothing but chalky feeling carpet, or the main bathroom.  I chose the bathroom and sat in the tub.  So, where does “water water everywhere, but not a drop to drink” come in?  The door delivery people dropped off several new interior doors.  But, like they are doing a f-ing flip of any good propped up against the dining room wall. 

To add insult to injury, I spilled a whole drink on the king mattress we’ve been sleeping on in the living room.  With no mattress pad, those 400 count sheets couldn’t stop that flood.  Come on baking soda and shop vac!  Cupcake and I are sleeping on the dry edge, why T sleeps on the couch.  Luckily, the couch and mattress are slammed up against each other, so it’s like we are still sleeping together :) 

Day 7 pictures

 The wallpaper found under the wood paneling in the guest bedroom (as mentioned in an earlier post).

Day 7: "Snow don't move shit!"

MLK Day HURRAY!!!  T’s at work and I’m not.  Gonna be a perfect Netflix day!  Or so I thought. 

T called and asked, “Do you know how to measure something using a tape measure?” My calmest first-day-of-my-period reply was, “I teach the metric system and scientific measuring for crying out loud!!  What kinda question is that?  I am truly offended.”

 “Ok, I’m sorry,” said T, “some people don’t know how.  Can you measure the door jam for me?”

“Of course I can measure a door jam, as soon as you can tell me what a door jam is.”

I could never really figure out exactly what he wanted measured.  I told him 6.1 inches, but he was sure that was wrong. 

Ah back to Netflix time :) 

Wrong again!  T came home from work in a hurry.  He had an hour to check his online banking, hook up his trailer, go pick up all the trim, unload it at our house, and go back to work.  He needed to check his online banking to make sure we had enough money to pay for the trim, but he somehow forgot the online access number he’s had for years.  Then, he told me I’d have to go with him because he left his wallet at work and didn’t have time to go back and get it before the lumber place closed.  So, after I turned off Netflix and got dressed, I found his wallet on the bed where we placed it when he came in and got on the computer to access his online banking.  He has lost his mind.  We got home with the trim and I helped him unload it.  I wish I would have had time to change out of my new Tom’s shoes that I got for Christmas.  With him on the front end of the trim train and me on the caboose, he was leading me through mud, mulched up leaves, and poop.  I have over ½ acre fenced in back yard and my stupid goat and Cupcake have to take craps on the walk way between the gate and back porch. 

T says, “It’s your animals!”

“Yeah, but I didn’t except all this poop to be here from when we let the goat out of its pin a week ago.”

“Snow don’t move shit.”

We covered the trim in plastic because it’s supposed to rain tonight.  It look like we have dead bodies on the porch :( Plus, the smell of the skunk sprayed trap, that HoodRat pooped in, makes it smell like we have dead bodies on the porch. 

T went back to work.  Mexican painter guy, who T has hired for many jobs over the past 3 years,  showed up to make an estimate.  I don’t speak Spanish and I am self-conscious of me speaking too loud or too slow to over compensate for not knowing Spanish.  T gave me a list of things to tell Mexican painter guy:

Spray doors (5)

Caulk all trim

2 coats on trim

Prime walls (ceilings on going to be flat)

2 coats on walls and ceiling

Hallway, bedrooms, bathroom

Paint trim and beadboard all same color in bathroom

Caulk tub

Prime and paint laundry room (no doors just walls and base board)

So, in summary, he kept saying something about painting the doors that were already hanging.  And I was trying to tell him that T is getting new doors.  Mexican painter wouldn’t give me an estimate until the trim was hung.  I told him that the trim was outside if he wanted to take a look at it. But, he didn’t.  He told me to have T talk to him when the trim was hung.  At least, I think that’s what he said.  So, he left.

Hurray!  Netflix time!!!!       

   

Day 6 Pictures

Day 6: Holey Lamp Shades

Since our front door walks right into the living room, and we are sleeping in our living room, we’ve had to stand the mattress on its side everyday so the dry wall workers can get around it.  Laying it down every night to sleep on and pushing it back up every morning, reminds T of the detective from Roger Rabbit.  He had a bed that was up in the wall that he could pull down. That movie kinda creeped me out, but so did ET.  Anyways, when the bed was on its side, it was propped against the couch and got pushed against the lamp on the end table.  The lamp shade was damaged, so we got a new lamp shade from Lowe’s.  The new lamp shade kinda looks like a wicker basket and matches the style of the lamp. But, I think it might be shading too much light.  I have a “shady” lamp shade.  Do I keep it or take it back to Lowe’s?  TOO MANY DECISIONS!!!      

Day 5 Pictures

Day 5: "I can't be good at everything!!!"

My closet is a freakin kaleidoscope of clothes, purses, shoes, and accessories.  I organize my closet by color using ROY G BIV.  I love to mix up my color palette.  I even change my hair color a few times a year.  I have a hard time picking out nail polish color at the salon because OPI has so many great hues.  You would think when T asked me to go pick out paint for the 2 bedrooms, hall, kitchen, and dining room, I would be thrilled, especially since I spent years in blasé dorm rooms and apartments.  But, I have an excuse to shy away from my womanly duties.  When T was remodeling his house on the other side of the tracks, he put me in charge of picking out colors.  To make a long story short, he had to repaint two of the rooms because he didn’t like the colors I picked out once the paint had dried.  In our current house, he doesn’t like two of the colors I picked when the house was flipped by “Jew Bastard.”   So, one could see my hesitancy. Plus, I have a lot of décor to try to match a color with.  T kept on insisting (some would say nagging) that I pick out a color.  I don’t like to think of myself as being passive aggressive, but I just tried to ignore him as long as I could.  But man, he is relentless.  I finally snapped, “Why can’t you and my sister pick out a color?  She is so much better at this than me.  I can’t be good at everything!!”  “Fine call your sister and you and her can pick it out.”  So how many people does it take to pick out paint?  4 adults and 2 children.  Me, T, mom, sis, and my sister’s 2 kids go to Lowe’s. After about 5 minutes at looking at 400 different shades of green, I use the kids as a scapegoat and take them for a ride in the shopping cart that looks like a race car so they won’t get restless.  (By the way, why didn’t they have neat shopping carts to ride in when we were kids?)  After the field trip through the lighting and garden sections, I came back to check on my redecorating team and they had all the paint picked out.  Wow!!  When I left sis was rolling her eyes at me and getting ready to kill T for insisting that I help, and now after a few minutes later they have all the walls, ceiling, and trim colors picked out.  Mom asked me what I thought, and my response was, “Oh wow, yall did so good.  It looks great!”  Then mom asked to smell my breath to see if I had been drinking.  What kind of a response to my response is that?  Have I become so cynical, I can’t show genuine appreciation?  T reading over my shoulder agrees that I am cynical. 

Paint colors:

Green looking color for the kitchen (looks like we are going to have to repaint the cabinets a whiter color now and get new counter tops and tile floors)

White looking color for the trim

Beigey white looking color for the ceiling

Copper looking color for the entrance and dining room

Very light brown looking color for the hall

Medium Light brown looking color for the 2^nd bedroom, living room, and laundry room

Darker light brown looking color for the master bedroom and bath

(I might have gotten some of that confused)

Cupcake and Rusty are back at our house because I don’t think any workers are coming tomorrow.  Not unlike my sister’s kids, Rusty must want to go back to grandmother’s house.  She crawled into the pet taxi and curved up like she was all ready and waiting to go to “Bubba’s” house.  (Bubba is the name my niece gave my mom when she started talking.)

Day 4: Over the river and through the woods...

It's been nearly a 13 hour work day, not for the construction type workers, but for me.  I left my house at 7:10 am, literally crossed over the river at 3:30 pm and back at 10:00 pm.  I found out from T at 5:00 pm workers are coming early in the morning to sand all the drywall they put up.  So, to mother's house I go. 

I did question our lawyer tonight to see if I can do anything about the shotty workmanship of "Jew Bastard."  He was very nice and gave good advice.  T, however, thinks it's pointless to seak a claim.  And into my 13 hour work day, my ADD kicked in and I missed his reasoning of why.     Something about that's why you buy a new house because it has a better 365 day guarantee.  Sucks for that person whose house broken down on leap day. 

Day 3 Pictures

Sorry I forgot to rotate :(