So, I sleep very well most nights - sometimes I have bad dreams, sometimes I have good dreams, but overall nothing crazy. So this morning was a bit of a bad dream....
My alarm goes off at 5:30a.m. (it was a morning for bootcamp so I was up early), when the alarm goes off it signals Lulu (my 6 pound cat) to come meow and get me out of bed because she gets fed and treats. With Lulu's encouragement I drag my butt out of bed, but as I am about to walk out of the room I see a larger-than-Lulu shadow in the door, so I check beside me and there is my little cat, look back at the doorway and there is still another pair of beady little eyes! At this point, I freak - I jump back onto the bed and scream at Ty to wake up and turn on the lamp (I couldn't get to the light switch, it was too close to the shadow) - he groggily asks why (note: don't ask questions when your wife is screaming and jumping on the bed) - I tell him because there is another cat in the house, he turns over (slowly) and turns the lamp on, the thing is gone and Lulu is looking at me like I am crazy .......
Ty tells me it was likely a big mouse or something - I explain that it was larger than that and ask calmly if it could be a raccoon!? He says the worst response: "It could be a giant rat" ....... so by now the thing has ran away and I convince myself that I was seeing things so that I can come down off the bed and go to bootcamp. As I am in bootcamp suffering I can't get the idea out of my head that the shadow is in fact a rat, I try every excuse to convince myself that I was just seeing things but I know I saw Lulu and the shadow separately ...... OMG it must be a rat.
After bootcamp is over I walk home and Ty is in the kitchen (normally he would still be sleeping), so this situation is clearly got to him as well - he tells me that it makes sense that it is a rat (just what I need to hear!). He explains that Lulu has never ate a full cup of food and now she is licking the bowl clean every day!? Then just a few days ago Ty asked me why I moved her food dish way over to the heater? I explained that I hadn't - which means someone or something else did - and our little Princess cat would never use her energy for such a task. Then, if you look around the rim of her food dish there are little mud claw marks, I thought maybe Lulu was playing in her water dish and found dirt, but had I thought harder I would have realized that the Princess cat would never get her royal paws muddy ....... OMG, this all makes sense!
Luckily Ty has come up with a plan to rid us of our big rat friend - we will hunt it, I mean really, people hunt turkey and this things MUST be as big as one ........ if that fails, we resort to a live trap - I don't want to poison the thing and end up having it die and rot in my house ...... bleck!!!
OMG! A rat!
xo,
S
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Monday, November 2, 2009
Making it Happen!
So, we have been at the current digs just over 3 months now and have made some major and expensive changes in systems (new electrical and - as of today - new natural gas boiler!) but I must say, I am feeling slightly disappointed in the cosmetic progress..... I promised that I would not use this blog to whine, so I will make this sound as thought provoking as possible. Bear with me.....
So, when we took over the house we were waiting for the electrical to be completed, and since the electrician couldn't tell us how much damage the work would do to the walls and ceilings, we didn't want to paint or prepare the walls in case it was for not. The electricians started their work almost a month after we moved in and took a week to do the work. To their credit, there was minimal damage to ANYTHING and they did have to deal with some odd situations - so I would recommend them to anyone! So that took us until September before we wanted to touch the wall. Then Ty had to fix the walls before I could paint - sounds funny because the electricians didn't damage them, but the previous owners had - there were holes everywhere from pictures, the crown had separated from the wall and hadn't been repaired, and (because I had already removed the wallpaper in some rooms) we found major cracks that they chose to wallpaper over rather than fix. So after he mud and sanded and did that some more, it was finally time to ..... paint ceilings - BLAH! BLAH! BLAH! So, I painted 3 massive textured ceilings and crown, and then it was time to paint. I finished the Foyer and Living Room and then had to paint the remainder of the trim (UUUgggghhhh, trim painting - just as bad as ceiling painting - but equally as necessary!) ...... so then I wanted Ty to get the main upper moulding up in the Dining Room done - we are installing wainscoting to the walls in there and as I had painted the ceiling already, I wanted to get the room painted - it is like my reward for painting the ceiling! but he was off working on the cottage - so I went ahead and painted the upper section myself - so hopefully the moulding all works out ..... but now I have a painted upper only dining room .... AND, since Ty saw that I could do that without him having put up the moulding, he feels there is no hurry to do it - drats, I have foiled myself!
So, over the weekend I moved on - I went upstairs and stripped wallpaper in the office and got that job done - I am down to one room remaining with wallpaper - which is quite impressive in this house - and I am saving the best for last - the remaining room (guest room) actually has wallpaper WITH a wallpaper duck border - and although I would love nothing more than owning a house without a "duck room" - it seems impossible AND sad!
So now, I sit at a crossroads - I can either strip wallpaper in the guest room to compete my unenviable task of de-flowering this house OR I can paint trim, in the Dining Room - which isn't getting finished ...... and IF I get both of these jobs done, it would appear I have put maybe back into a corner and will be left with painting ceilings in the newly un-wallpapered rooms ..... really, there is no winner in this situation ...... only me - who still has a hospital bed in my attic, packed boxes throughout the house and a half painted dining room.
xo,
S
So, when we took over the house we were waiting for the electrical to be completed, and since the electrician couldn't tell us how much damage the work would do to the walls and ceilings, we didn't want to paint or prepare the walls in case it was for not. The electricians started their work almost a month after we moved in and took a week to do the work. To their credit, there was minimal damage to ANYTHING and they did have to deal with some odd situations - so I would recommend them to anyone! So that took us until September before we wanted to touch the wall. Then Ty had to fix the walls before I could paint - sounds funny because the electricians didn't damage them, but the previous owners had - there were holes everywhere from pictures, the crown had separated from the wall and hadn't been repaired, and (because I had already removed the wallpaper in some rooms) we found major cracks that they chose to wallpaper over rather than fix. So after he mud and sanded and did that some more, it was finally time to ..... paint ceilings - BLAH! BLAH! BLAH! So, I painted 3 massive textured ceilings and crown, and then it was time to paint. I finished the Foyer and Living Room and then had to paint the remainder of the trim (UUUgggghhhh, trim painting - just as bad as ceiling painting - but equally as necessary!) ...... so then I wanted Ty to get the main upper moulding up in the Dining Room done - we are installing wainscoting to the walls in there and as I had painted the ceiling already, I wanted to get the room painted - it is like my reward for painting the ceiling! but he was off working on the cottage - so I went ahead and painted the upper section myself - so hopefully the moulding all works out ..... but now I have a painted upper only dining room .... AND, since Ty saw that I could do that without him having put up the moulding, he feels there is no hurry to do it - drats, I have foiled myself!
So, over the weekend I moved on - I went upstairs and stripped wallpaper in the office and got that job done - I am down to one room remaining with wallpaper - which is quite impressive in this house - and I am saving the best for last - the remaining room (guest room) actually has wallpaper WITH a wallpaper duck border - and although I would love nothing more than owning a house without a "duck room" - it seems impossible AND sad!
So now, I sit at a crossroads - I can either strip wallpaper in the guest room to compete my unenviable task of de-flowering this house OR I can paint trim, in the Dining Room - which isn't getting finished ...... and IF I get both of these jobs done, it would appear I have put maybe back into a corner and will be left with painting ceilings in the newly un-wallpapered rooms ..... really, there is no winner in this situation ...... only me - who still has a hospital bed in my attic, packed boxes throughout the house and a half painted dining room.
xo,
S
Friday, October 16, 2009
Why Me? Really!
So, as many of you know, we bought our house at auction, and when buying a house at auction, you need to have a certain amount of trust with the current owners. There is not time to, say, turn on the furnace to make sure it works ......... so when the sellers tell you - "oh it works great, we just put a new jacket in how ever many years ago, etc, etc" - They are stinking LIARS!
We looked at the furnace, we knew it is older than either of us - or potentially both of us combined - but we figure, if the sellers say it works, it should get us through one Winter until we can replace it. NOPE, can't get us through one Winter, in fact it can not get us through one day, because it has been turned off and they, the TSSA inspector, says it is way to unsafe for him to turn back on - AND they (the manufacturer at this point) stopped making parts for it in the 70's (before I was born!) .
So, we get a few quotes on different systems and figure we are going to have to swallow this MASSIVE purchase! The funny thing is this; knowing that the furnace was broken would not have stopped us from purchasing the house, nor would it have really lowered our price - because honestly, the relic that is in the basement was not worth a penny anyhow ..... the FULL tank of oil is worth something, which we paid for!!!! It would have been a courtesy to tell us about the furnace in the Summer when the heating guys weren't as busy (and weren't charging as much) - rather than letting us assume (based on your "word") that when it got cold and we needed heat, we find out it doesn't work and the heating guys have us by the knockers ...... uugghhh!
I have lost all trust in people - especially people that have hospital beds in their attics and wear shower shoes in their own shower ...... those people, not to be trusted!!!
Take note! not-to-be-trusted!
S
We looked at the furnace, we knew it is older than either of us - or potentially both of us combined - but we figure, if the sellers say it works, it should get us through one Winter until we can replace it. NOPE, can't get us through one Winter, in fact it can not get us through one day, because it has been turned off and they, the TSSA inspector, says it is way to unsafe for him to turn back on - AND they (the manufacturer at this point) stopped making parts for it in the 70's (before I was born!) .
So, we get a few quotes on different systems and figure we are going to have to swallow this MASSIVE purchase! The funny thing is this; knowing that the furnace was broken would not have stopped us from purchasing the house, nor would it have really lowered our price - because honestly, the relic that is in the basement was not worth a penny anyhow ..... the FULL tank of oil is worth something, which we paid for!!!! It would have been a courtesy to tell us about the furnace in the Summer when the heating guys weren't as busy (and weren't charging as much) - rather than letting us assume (based on your "word") that when it got cold and we needed heat, we find out it doesn't work and the heating guys have us by the knockers ...... uugghhh!
I have lost all trust in people - especially people that have hospital beds in their attics and wear shower shoes in their own shower ...... those people, not to be trusted!!!
Take note! not-to-be-trusted!
S
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
A Warm Welcome vs Pink Metalic Floral
When it came to a starting point on home renos, we decided, no place to start the reno's than in our front foyer - not that we spend tons of time there, but at least when I get home from a long day at work I would walk through a lovely foyer INTO the chaos rather than right into the mess ..... we'll call it my decompression zone!
So, picture this, when you walk in to the house you enter through an old white door (that has paint on the glass and something that resembles tree sap stuck all around it), the door lets in no air (no screen component) to the musty house. Immediately upon entry your dust allergy is kicked into high gear because of the layers of dust that have collected on the pink doilley of a curtain fluff and the area rug they have so generously left (which you soon find out they left because the floor beneath it has been damaged because of the tape they lay down for it!). As you stand in the space you realize the offensive pink floral metallic wallpaper that covers the upper half of the walls (which seems to have leaked up the stairs) and that the lower portion of the walls (wainscoting) is an equally nasty pink/rose colour (they matched it PERFECTLY to the curtain fluff). You turn back to face the door and see a nice size foyer closet - only when you look closely do you see that the space is home to more spiders, dust bunnies and mold spores then most people (including me) find comfortable. Beside the closet is an old radiator that will help to heat the house - it is covered by some contraption, but that appears easy to remove ..... so I rip it off and find what appears to be a massive length of dryer lint (turns out it is dust - I have never seen dust form such a solid sheet before) ...... otherwise, the last notable portion of the room appears to be the VERY fluffy deep red carpet that spills into the room from the staircase which leads upstairs (I am sure this helps the dust allergy! It looks like ideal breeding ground for dust and mites)
On the positive side, the foyer is a good size (although it could be considered a waste of space to those of us who don't hang out in the foyer) and after vacuuming and putting on my dish gloves to wash the closet down (it took changing the pail of Mr. Clean 7 times because the water kept getting so dirty!) paint was able to stick to the walls and with that I feel comfortable hanging our jackets and putting our shoes in their home!. The floors are in decent shape - turns out the tape that they had put down to keep the carpet in place did minimal damage after you clean the area with floor cleaner and a scrub brush. The electricians have fixed the pesky electrical wires hanging in the closet and after I removed the dusk and gave it a good bath the rad has potential! Oh - and the door and window trim throughout the house is amazing! Needs a few holes filled in and some paint - but the details and work is gorgeous!
The work; So, immediately we backed up a trailer to the house and threw out the area rug, window fluff, rad cover and lint cloth ..... I removed the wallpaper and cleaned the floors, walls and closet to get a better idea of what we were working with. Turned out the wallpaper had been holding the walls up in some sections so Ty had to do some repair work to the walls, crown moulding, trim, etc. After some dusty drywall work I could go ahead with paint - the ceiling and crown got 2 coats of fresh white paint (it is amazing how dirty a ceiling can get - and how much you don't notice it until you put a streak of white paint beside it! yikes!) Then I got to put some colour on the walls - after one coat of primer it was time for 2 coats of Shellburn Buff paint (this rich, warm golden colour by Benjamin Moore - amazing!), next the wainscoting got primed out and was given a face lift with 2 coats of cloud white paint (as did all the baseboards, door and window trim). Ty installed a new light fixture (to replace that lovely gold and glass thing). The front door has been cleaned and primed out and will be getting a fresh coat of Stone Brown paint over the weekend! The closet door was painted and given a new pull and we are in the process of deciding on a window treatment for the one large window in the room.
Next will simply be filling the room and giving it function so it doesn't feel like such an empty space!
Next week I shall move on to the "parlour room"! Joys of joy - getting rid of all that pink paint!
xoxo,
S
So, picture this, when you walk in to the house you enter through an old white door (that has paint on the glass and something that resembles tree sap stuck all around it), the door lets in no air (no screen component) to the musty house. Immediately upon entry your dust allergy is kicked into high gear because of the layers of dust that have collected on the pink doilley of a curtain fluff and the area rug they have so generously left (which you soon find out they left because the floor beneath it has been damaged because of the tape they lay down for it!). As you stand in the space you realize the offensive pink floral metallic wallpaper that covers the upper half of the walls (which seems to have leaked up the stairs) and that the lower portion of the walls (wainscoting) is an equally nasty pink/rose colour (they matched it PERFECTLY to the curtain fluff). You turn back to face the door and see a nice size foyer closet - only when you look closely do you see that the space is home to more spiders, dust bunnies and mold spores then most people (including me) find comfortable. Beside the closet is an old radiator that will help to heat the house - it is covered by some contraption, but that appears easy to remove ..... so I rip it off and find what appears to be a massive length of dryer lint (turns out it is dust - I have never seen dust form such a solid sheet before) ...... otherwise, the last notable portion of the room appears to be the VERY fluffy deep red carpet that spills into the room from the staircase which leads upstairs (I am sure this helps the dust allergy! It looks like ideal breeding ground for dust and mites)
On the positive side, the foyer is a good size (although it could be considered a waste of space to those of us who don't hang out in the foyer) and after vacuuming and putting on my dish gloves to wash the closet down (it took changing the pail of Mr. Clean 7 times because the water kept getting so dirty!) paint was able to stick to the walls and with that I feel comfortable hanging our jackets and putting our shoes in their home!. The floors are in decent shape - turns out the tape that they had put down to keep the carpet in place did minimal damage after you clean the area with floor cleaner and a scrub brush. The electricians have fixed the pesky electrical wires hanging in the closet and after I removed the dusk and gave it a good bath the rad has potential! Oh - and the door and window trim throughout the house is amazing! Needs a few holes filled in and some paint - but the details and work is gorgeous!
The work; So, immediately we backed up a trailer to the house and threw out the area rug, window fluff, rad cover and lint cloth ..... I removed the wallpaper and cleaned the floors, walls and closet to get a better idea of what we were working with. Turned out the wallpaper had been holding the walls up in some sections so Ty had to do some repair work to the walls, crown moulding, trim, etc. After some dusty drywall work I could go ahead with paint - the ceiling and crown got 2 coats of fresh white paint (it is amazing how dirty a ceiling can get - and how much you don't notice it until you put a streak of white paint beside it! yikes!) Then I got to put some colour on the walls - after one coat of primer it was time for 2 coats of Shellburn Buff paint (this rich, warm golden colour by Benjamin Moore - amazing!), next the wainscoting got primed out and was given a face lift with 2 coats of cloud white paint (as did all the baseboards, door and window trim). Ty installed a new light fixture (to replace that lovely gold and glass thing). The front door has been cleaned and primed out and will be getting a fresh coat of Stone Brown paint over the weekend! The closet door was painted and given a new pull and we are in the process of deciding on a window treatment for the one large window in the room.
Next will simply be filling the room and giving it function so it doesn't feel like such an empty space!
Next week I shall move on to the "parlour room"! Joys of joy - getting rid of all that pink paint!
xoxo,
S
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Love the smell of fresh Paint!
Things have started to get started! When re-doing a house you have to LOVE the first day you get to put paint on the wall!
We bought the house two months ago - the electricians finished rewiring a month ago and so we started unpacking, did some plumbing and thinking about what our final project would look like - and now Ty has started working on repairing the walls and ceilings where needed (a lot of places) and now I can actually go home and paint a ceiling tonight! AND we have actually picked a paint colour for the front foyer and up the stairs/hallway ...... I could not be more excited about painting!
How did we finally get the kick in the butt to do this? well, last Friday Canadian Tire was having an amazing sale on lighting fixtures - so we went crazy - bought all lighting fixtures for the house (minus the required kitchen and bathroom lighting) ..... then we brought them home and were really excited about putting them up and then we thought about it - we need to paint the ceiling first - unless we want paint on the new fixtures - and to paint the ceiling, we need to repair it first - and if we want to paint the ceiling it connects with the crown moulding so that joint needs to be caulked in places, and if we're painting all the crown moulding than the joint that hits the crown moulding against the wall needs to be done - and THEN the wall have to be done - which connects to the door and window trim and wainscoting, which connects to the baseboards .... this turned into a bad game of "heads connected to the neck bone, neck bones connected to the shoulder bone" ...... but in the end it means we are working room by room to get the walls and ceilings repaired - so that we can paint the ceilings ...... which are already painted white - but to me look dirty ..... so I want to repaint them white ..... I know, crazy!
You have to love the fresh smell of paint on a sparkling white ceiling with a new fixture!
xo,
S
We bought the house two months ago - the electricians finished rewiring a month ago and so we started unpacking, did some plumbing and thinking about what our final project would look like - and now Ty has started working on repairing the walls and ceilings where needed (a lot of places) and now I can actually go home and paint a ceiling tonight! AND we have actually picked a paint colour for the front foyer and up the stairs/hallway ...... I could not be more excited about painting!
How did we finally get the kick in the butt to do this? well, last Friday Canadian Tire was having an amazing sale on lighting fixtures - so we went crazy - bought all lighting fixtures for the house (minus the required kitchen and bathroom lighting) ..... then we brought them home and were really excited about putting them up and then we thought about it - we need to paint the ceiling first - unless we want paint on the new fixtures - and to paint the ceiling, we need to repair it first - and if we want to paint the ceiling it connects with the crown moulding so that joint needs to be caulked in places, and if we're painting all the crown moulding than the joint that hits the crown moulding against the wall needs to be done - and THEN the wall have to be done - which connects to the door and window trim and wainscoting, which connects to the baseboards .... this turned into a bad game of "heads connected to the neck bone, neck bones connected to the shoulder bone" ...... but in the end it means we are working room by room to get the walls and ceilings repaired - so that we can paint the ceilings ...... which are already painted white - but to me look dirty ..... so I want to repaint them white ..... I know, crazy!
You have to love the fresh smell of paint on a sparkling white ceiling with a new fixture!
xo,
S
Friday, September 18, 2009
Creepy Thoughts
So, I don't think I am an overly irrational person most days, but it seems being alone in the new house makes me think of crazy things. The past few weeks Ty has been out at the cottage helping his Dad, which leaves me at the house by myself - and the house is new to me, and big enough and old enough to seem really creepy some times.....
One night I ran home before a Board Meeting, went into the washroom to get ready and then headed out (at this point the door to the creepy basement was closed, I can guarantee it because if it was open it would have taken up the whole tiny bathroom!), so then I went to my meeting, went for a visit with my Aunt and around 8:00 I came home - and the door to the creepy basement was wide open! So, with me being me, and VERY paranoid - I closed the door and locked it with the deadbolt (thanks to the past owner all doors have locks on the outside of doors - which seems odd!) anyhow, I deadbolt it shut - apparently now if someone is down there I am convinced that this will keep them down there ..... but I don't feel quite safe enough, because I hear noises in the house (I know, it is an old house, there will be noises!) so to make myself feel safer I close the bathroom door (so now two doors are closed and locked on the outside) and THEN I move the elliptical in front of the door ..... and only then can I go to sleep feeling like, if there was someone in the basement, that they couldn't break out - or if they did break out, I would hear them try to move the elliptical ...... this all sounds very crazy to me as I write it.
THEN, one night I am home by myself again and this time I am removing wallpaper upstairs (it was this horrid shiny pink floral wallpaper!) and I started thinking - this is a really old house, someone likely died here and I wondered if their ghost was in the house - and then I remembered the hospital bed that still resided in the attic (I know, it should be out by now, but I'm not doing it!) and then I started to think - well maybe no one died IN the house but someone has probably DEFINITELY died in that hospital bed ..... which then made me think of hospital visits and I figure now (after my thought-fest) that whenever you go into the hospital you are probably sitting or lying or sleeping in a hospital bed that someone else had died in ...... and then I was creeped out again .......
Just food for thought!
xoxo,
S
P.S. - Progress on the house is slow - the electricians where there for 6 days so that is complete and most of the wallpaper has come down - just two rooms left!! So satisfying!
One night I ran home before a Board Meeting, went into the washroom to get ready and then headed out (at this point the door to the creepy basement was closed, I can guarantee it because if it was open it would have taken up the whole tiny bathroom!), so then I went to my meeting, went for a visit with my Aunt and around 8:00 I came home - and the door to the creepy basement was wide open! So, with me being me, and VERY paranoid - I closed the door and locked it with the deadbolt (thanks to the past owner all doors have locks on the outside of doors - which seems odd!) anyhow, I deadbolt it shut - apparently now if someone is down there I am convinced that this will keep them down there ..... but I don't feel quite safe enough, because I hear noises in the house (I know, it is an old house, there will be noises!) so to make myself feel safer I close the bathroom door (so now two doors are closed and locked on the outside) and THEN I move the elliptical in front of the door ..... and only then can I go to sleep feeling like, if there was someone in the basement, that they couldn't break out - or if they did break out, I would hear them try to move the elliptical ...... this all sounds very crazy to me as I write it.
THEN, one night I am home by myself again and this time I am removing wallpaper upstairs (it was this horrid shiny pink floral wallpaper!) and I started thinking - this is a really old house, someone likely died here and I wondered if their ghost was in the house - and then I remembered the hospital bed that still resided in the attic (I know, it should be out by now, but I'm not doing it!) and then I started to think - well maybe no one died IN the house but someone has probably DEFINITELY died in that hospital bed ..... which then made me think of hospital visits and I figure now (after my thought-fest) that whenever you go into the hospital you are probably sitting or lying or sleeping in a hospital bed that someone else had died in ...... and then I was creeped out again .......
Just food for thought!
xoxo,
S
P.S. - Progress on the house is slow - the electricians where there for 6 days so that is complete and most of the wallpaper has come down - just two rooms left!! So satisfying!
Monday, August 17, 2009
1st 3 weeks
So, what has been accomplished in our first 3 weeks you may wonder? I mean at this time last house we had painted every room, every ceiling, every baseboard, we had moved and unpacked, we had ordered furniture ...... we even (to the best of my memory) already had a housewarming party! Well, we have done basically none of that - aside from moving in boxes and organizing them in the centre of the rooms ....... nothing!
Here is what we have done and/or the excuses as to why we haven't done things!
1) The Shower; We tore out the downstairs bathroom shower... and partially put in the new one. Why? because the old one was SO gross that the old owners wore shower sandals in their own shower - it was so bad we couldn't move in before it went out ..... so with much work from Ty and his Dad Gord, we got the shower out and brought in a new one. The new one is in place, all plumbing hooked up and ready to work - we just need to get a little drywall and caulking work done and then it will be ready for business!
2) Moving; So, the last time we moved we were coming from a small apartment into a 4 bedroom house - this time we were coming from a 4 bedroom house to another monster house - we had WAY more stuff! So it was scattered between storage, the farm and the cottage - in MANY boxes! So the cottage stuff was moved on the Thursday after we got the house, the movers returned our large stuff from storage on the Friday and we rented a cargo van to get the stuff from the farm the Saturday ..... this was an insane amount of lifting and climbing up and down stairs - but it is amazing how much a Kia can fit when packed right!
3) Unpacking; Has not happened basically .... and why? Well, this house has knob and tube wiring - and insurance does not like that, so it has to be removed, but getting an electrician in has been a job, so they come in August 24th - almost a month after we got the place ...... and until they are done with making a few holes in the walls and ceilings, there is no point in unpacking ..... which is why the boxes were all organized in the middle of the rooms as well. The one exception to this is the kitchen, we have unpacked it! ..... and you can ignore the boxes and bookshelves at the "eat-in" area of the kitchen.
4) Electrician; This was a job on it's own - Ty contacted 3 companies, set up times for them to come in, collected quotes, bartered with the company we wanted, than I had to barter with the company we wanted and now they are coming in a week from today to start the work.... apparently it may take a full week!
5) Kitchen; So before we unpacked the kitchen we had to paint the inside of the cabinets! There was some stuff in there that I would never let my plates or glasses touch - it was bad, so I vacuumed it, cleaned it, used fresh start and paint - and now I feel I can let me plates and glasses touch it! That was a work!
6) Front Closet; I have never met a front closet where I looked at it and said "I wouldn't hang my jackets in there" ... until now! I had to clean it top to bottom (took 5 buckets of water - and this isn't a walk in front closet), I fresh started it and Jan painted it ....... there was mould on the baseboards that came off, it was bad..... but now it is done and my jackets have a happy, clean home!
7) Wallpaper; Welcome to my new h-e-double hockey stick! Quite honestly, when I was removing the wallpaper in the front entrance way I thought people that complained about removing wallpaper were whiners.... it wasn't the most fun I have ever had BUT it wasn't awful! Until I got to the dining room! The dining room had paintable, textured wallpaper - from 1978 I came to find out! It took days .... under my fingernails bled because the paper was SO brittle that you couldn't even use a steamer to get it off ..... it would not penetrate it! I had bandages on 3 fingers on my right hand and it was awful! So right now I have those two rooms done - out of the entire house - and yes, EVERY room has some sort of wallpaper or wallpaper border - some have both actually!
8) Outside; Ty has started cutting down some "trees" and Odus has been running through the flower patches and taking them down, but the lawn still hasn't been mowed and we still haven't tried to tackle the 7 foot weed in the back back yard!
9) On a whim we bought new kitchen cabinets! So they sit in storage (aka the farm) for another few months until we decide to buy counter tops! They were on sale, solid wood, we saved more than we spent and they are gorgeous! So we scooped them up and moved them!
I am sure we've done a few more things, but those are the main things - and imagine, it has taken 3 weeks! WOW! This house is such a HUGE project is gets overwhelming when you look at it as a whole, but if you look at it room by room and project by project, it is SUPER exciting, it will be BEAUTIFUL!!!
xo,
S
Here is what we have done and/or the excuses as to why we haven't done things!
1) The Shower; We tore out the downstairs bathroom shower... and partially put in the new one. Why? because the old one was SO gross that the old owners wore shower sandals in their own shower - it was so bad we couldn't move in before it went out ..... so with much work from Ty and his Dad Gord, we got the shower out and brought in a new one. The new one is in place, all plumbing hooked up and ready to work - we just need to get a little drywall and caulking work done and then it will be ready for business!
2) Moving; So, the last time we moved we were coming from a small apartment into a 4 bedroom house - this time we were coming from a 4 bedroom house to another monster house - we had WAY more stuff! So it was scattered between storage, the farm and the cottage - in MANY boxes! So the cottage stuff was moved on the Thursday after we got the house, the movers returned our large stuff from storage on the Friday and we rented a cargo van to get the stuff from the farm the Saturday ..... this was an insane amount of lifting and climbing up and down stairs - but it is amazing how much a Kia can fit when packed right!
3) Unpacking; Has not happened basically .... and why? Well, this house has knob and tube wiring - and insurance does not like that, so it has to be removed, but getting an electrician in has been a job, so they come in August 24th - almost a month after we got the place ...... and until they are done with making a few holes in the walls and ceilings, there is no point in unpacking ..... which is why the boxes were all organized in the middle of the rooms as well. The one exception to this is the kitchen, we have unpacked it! ..... and you can ignore the boxes and bookshelves at the "eat-in" area of the kitchen.
4) Electrician; This was a job on it's own - Ty contacted 3 companies, set up times for them to come in, collected quotes, bartered with the company we wanted, than I had to barter with the company we wanted and now they are coming in a week from today to start the work.... apparently it may take a full week!
5) Kitchen; So before we unpacked the kitchen we had to paint the inside of the cabinets! There was some stuff in there that I would never let my plates or glasses touch - it was bad, so I vacuumed it, cleaned it, used fresh start and paint - and now I feel I can let me plates and glasses touch it! That was a work!
6) Front Closet; I have never met a front closet where I looked at it and said "I wouldn't hang my jackets in there" ... until now! I had to clean it top to bottom (took 5 buckets of water - and this isn't a walk in front closet), I fresh started it and Jan painted it ....... there was mould on the baseboards that came off, it was bad..... but now it is done and my jackets have a happy, clean home!
7) Wallpaper; Welcome to my new h-e-double hockey stick! Quite honestly, when I was removing the wallpaper in the front entrance way I thought people that complained about removing wallpaper were whiners.... it wasn't the most fun I have ever had BUT it wasn't awful! Until I got to the dining room! The dining room had paintable, textured wallpaper - from 1978 I came to find out! It took days .... under my fingernails bled because the paper was SO brittle that you couldn't even use a steamer to get it off ..... it would not penetrate it! I had bandages on 3 fingers on my right hand and it was awful! So right now I have those two rooms done - out of the entire house - and yes, EVERY room has some sort of wallpaper or wallpaper border - some have both actually!
8) Outside; Ty has started cutting down some "trees" and Odus has been running through the flower patches and taking them down, but the lawn still hasn't been mowed and we still haven't tried to tackle the 7 foot weed in the back back yard!
9) On a whim we bought new kitchen cabinets! So they sit in storage (aka the farm) for another few months until we decide to buy counter tops! They were on sale, solid wood, we saved more than we spent and they are gorgeous! So we scooped them up and moved them!
I am sure we've done a few more things, but those are the main things - and imagine, it has taken 3 weeks! WOW! This house is such a HUGE project is gets overwhelming when you look at it as a whole, but if you look at it room by room and project by project, it is SUPER exciting, it will be BEAUTIFUL!!!
xo,
S
Friday, August 14, 2009
Update
So much has happened since the last time I wrote, so to start off my new series of blog entries I thought I would bring everyone up to speed after a few months of hiatus!
1) We sold our house and moved out May 25th! It ended up being a private sale to a co-worker and all worked out wonderfully. They love their new place and we were happy to sell so we could move to our next project. I will say that the final day there I did cry, as I walked through each empty room and reminded myself what it looked like when we got it and thought of all of the funny and amazing things that happened in that house - I had a little cry! It was our first place together and we will never have another first home - that house taught me a lot about myself and it was really like saying good bye to an old friend - but I am glad that there is a family there that will love it as much as we did. That house gave me more cuts, bruises, dirty nail, funny moments and laughs than I ever imagined, it was all wonderful and worth it!
2) I should have mentioned - when we sold our place, we hadn't bought a new one! Yes, that is right; we were homeless for June & July - so we lived at the cottage (so not REALLY homeless), our stuff was stored between the farm, the cottage and a storage facility and we learned that we aren't really attached to our stuff. If it wasn't for the fact that this was the most awful summer on record - living at the cottage would have been wonderful!
3) As Ty was out in BC catching giant fish with his dad - I headed out to an auction with my Dad and Uncle Scott. Turns out, I raised my hand the most (3 times) and bought a house - a soon-to-be beautiful house that is! It is the most surreal thing you can ever do - buy a house at an auction. You go and literally within 15 seconds (after the bidding started), I had raised my hand to the final selling price! .... it took a few more minutes (which felt like a lifetime) - for them to stop the bidding and declare me the successful bidder and then I sat down at the dining room table with the sellers and signed the documents! Afterwards Uncle Scott and I went out to have a few drinks to calm my nerves and fill my stomach - it was a pretty cool moment and I was pretty proud of myself for doing it on my own (well - Uncle Scott and Dad stood behind me as my body guards! But I actually raised my hand and bid myself! Which is fairly intimidating!)
4) Our favorite weekend of the year came around a few days later - July 1st long weekend - and as always we had a fantastic group of friends at the cottage - this year we were lucky enough to have some people out for 5 days with us! This year was even more special as we went shopping and got the bridesmaid dresses AND I was thrown an amazing surprise bridal shower with the ones I love the most there with me! I was shocked when I woke up to find a letter under our door and a veil and sash hanging outside! It is amazing how easily my friends and family can lie to me! (There was also a VERY surprise engagement party in June! It was amazing to walk into a room so filled with excitement and pure love - and the 1a.m. dance party will always be a treasured moment for sure!!)
5) After everyone went home from the long weekend, we took a 2.5 hour drive up to pick up our new puppy - our new great dane puppy! Odus Webster Atkinson came home, he was 3 months old and weighted over 40 pounds - but was the biggest lap dog you would ever see! He continues to be a very well behaved puppy and is learning a lot of new lessons and tricks. At 4 months he currently weights 53.4 pounds and grows bigger every day! He and Lulu Delovely (the 6 pound cat!) are still working out their relationship, but I am sure that one day they will be the best of friends!
6) We got our new house - an 1881 brick Victorian stunner - on July 27th ....... there was some work that needed to be done before we moved in, so we just moved in a week ago (Aug. 9th!) ..... we continue to wrestle with the replacement of moldy showers, removal of awful 1970's painted wallpaper and figuring out how to get a hospital bed out of the attic (will expand on these in the near future) ..... but we are in love with the potential this house has. She will undergo a major face lift over the next few years to bring her back to her glory and then ...... we will be moving on again .......
Stay tuned, there have already been some priceless moments in this place that I will catch everyone up on shortly! Just wanted to take this entry to bring everyone up to date on our whereabouts!
Cheers,
S
1) We sold our house and moved out May 25th! It ended up being a private sale to a co-worker and all worked out wonderfully. They love their new place and we were happy to sell so we could move to our next project. I will say that the final day there I did cry, as I walked through each empty room and reminded myself what it looked like when we got it and thought of all of the funny and amazing things that happened in that house - I had a little cry! It was our first place together and we will never have another first home - that house taught me a lot about myself and it was really like saying good bye to an old friend - but I am glad that there is a family there that will love it as much as we did. That house gave me more cuts, bruises, dirty nail, funny moments and laughs than I ever imagined, it was all wonderful and worth it!
2) I should have mentioned - when we sold our place, we hadn't bought a new one! Yes, that is right; we were homeless for June & July - so we lived at the cottage (so not REALLY homeless), our stuff was stored between the farm, the cottage and a storage facility and we learned that we aren't really attached to our stuff. If it wasn't for the fact that this was the most awful summer on record - living at the cottage would have been wonderful!
3) As Ty was out in BC catching giant fish with his dad - I headed out to an auction with my Dad and Uncle Scott. Turns out, I raised my hand the most (3 times) and bought a house - a soon-to-be beautiful house that is! It is the most surreal thing you can ever do - buy a house at an auction. You go and literally within 15 seconds (after the bidding started), I had raised my hand to the final selling price! .... it took a few more minutes (which felt like a lifetime) - for them to stop the bidding and declare me the successful bidder and then I sat down at the dining room table with the sellers and signed the documents! Afterwards Uncle Scott and I went out to have a few drinks to calm my nerves and fill my stomach - it was a pretty cool moment and I was pretty proud of myself for doing it on my own (well - Uncle Scott and Dad stood behind me as my body guards! But I actually raised my hand and bid myself! Which is fairly intimidating!)
4) Our favorite weekend of the year came around a few days later - July 1st long weekend - and as always we had a fantastic group of friends at the cottage - this year we were lucky enough to have some people out for 5 days with us! This year was even more special as we went shopping and got the bridesmaid dresses AND I was thrown an amazing surprise bridal shower with the ones I love the most there with me! I was shocked when I woke up to find a letter under our door and a veil and sash hanging outside! It is amazing how easily my friends and family can lie to me! (There was also a VERY surprise engagement party in June! It was amazing to walk into a room so filled with excitement and pure love - and the 1a.m. dance party will always be a treasured moment for sure!!)
5) After everyone went home from the long weekend, we took a 2.5 hour drive up to pick up our new puppy - our new great dane puppy! Odus Webster Atkinson came home, he was 3 months old and weighted over 40 pounds - but was the biggest lap dog you would ever see! He continues to be a very well behaved puppy and is learning a lot of new lessons and tricks. At 4 months he currently weights 53.4 pounds and grows bigger every day! He and Lulu Delovely (the 6 pound cat!) are still working out their relationship, but I am sure that one day they will be the best of friends!
6) We got our new house - an 1881 brick Victorian stunner - on July 27th ....... there was some work that needed to be done before we moved in, so we just moved in a week ago (Aug. 9th!) ..... we continue to wrestle with the replacement of moldy showers, removal of awful 1970's painted wallpaper and figuring out how to get a hospital bed out of the attic (will expand on these in the near future) ..... but we are in love with the potential this house has. She will undergo a major face lift over the next few years to bring her back to her glory and then ...... we will be moving on again .......
Stay tuned, there have already been some priceless moments in this place that I will catch everyone up on shortly! Just wanted to take this entry to bring everyone up to date on our whereabouts!
Cheers,
S
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
YEAH for ME!
I am quite convinced that this whole jogging thing has brought on some good karma in my life. In the short time I have been trying it out, I have lost like 13 pounds, my body is definitely showing signs of improvement, a co-worker approached me about selling our house (after it was off the market and I had given up hope) and after last night it looks like the house was sold!
...Maybe it is the diamond that is bringing on good karma, cause really the proposal and accompanying diamond is what brought on the jogging, which is what, I feel, has maybe resulted in good karma! Hmmm...... this diamond is AWESOME! Anyhow....
So tonight on the jogging front (yes, I will talk about the potential house sale) I got on the treadmill, and after my horrible jog last time I thought, it is better not to know how bad I am feeling in what short amount of time, so this time I threw my sweat towel (I already told you I don't like sweat) over the counters and I just started jogging and when I pulled the towel off, guess what!? I had already ran 5k! And at that point it wasn't really that I was fatigued, I was just so curious to find out how far I had run that I couldn't stand it anymore (kinda like Christmas time! I would unwrap presents and re wrap them just so I would know, yes it ruins the surprise but it never dampened my Christmas Spirit!) Anyhow..... I kept going (watching Y & R again), and I made it to my normal 6k (normal being the last 2 times) and I looked at my chart (the chart I have that converts miles to kilometers, because my treadmill measures in miles and I want to say in kilometers because the number always sounds bigger and more impressive!) and I figured, hey, today I am going to push myself to run another 1/2k ... and I DID. So today I ran 6.5k at a speed of 5.2, incline of 4! I am ON FIRE!
But I started this whole jogging thing to keep my mind of the house stuff and now, just as I was getting into the jogging thing........ my first addiction has come back baby!
So, it looks like we may have sold the house! After the house came off the market I had one of the professors I work with approach me to see if I was interested in selling, he and his wife love the location and the size of the house and wanted to take a look at it, I said sure (I mean really, nothing to lose) and after a few visits, them bringing their kids, we sat down last night and discussed details....... their house has sold so they are definitely ideal and now all that is left is them meeting with their lawyer, banker and inspector and we are DONE and looking for a new place! I cannot wait, and I will update when I hear anything, I promise.
So many exciting things happening, I can hardly stand it! Oh AND biggest loser is on tonight, which is my favorite show - this is such a great day!
xo,
S
...Maybe it is the diamond that is bringing on good karma, cause really the proposal and accompanying diamond is what brought on the jogging, which is what, I feel, has maybe resulted in good karma! Hmmm...... this diamond is AWESOME! Anyhow....
So tonight on the jogging front (yes, I will talk about the potential house sale) I got on the treadmill, and after my horrible jog last time I thought, it is better not to know how bad I am feeling in what short amount of time, so this time I threw my sweat towel (I already told you I don't like sweat) over the counters and I just started jogging and when I pulled the towel off, guess what!? I had already ran 5k! And at that point it wasn't really that I was fatigued, I was just so curious to find out how far I had run that I couldn't stand it anymore (kinda like Christmas time! I would unwrap presents and re wrap them just so I would know, yes it ruins the surprise but it never dampened my Christmas Spirit!) Anyhow..... I kept going (watching Y & R again), and I made it to my normal 6k (normal being the last 2 times) and I looked at my chart (the chart I have that converts miles to kilometers, because my treadmill measures in miles and I want to say in kilometers because the number always sounds bigger and more impressive!) and I figured, hey, today I am going to push myself to run another 1/2k ... and I DID. So today I ran 6.5k at a speed of 5.2, incline of 4! I am ON FIRE!
But I started this whole jogging thing to keep my mind of the house stuff and now, just as I was getting into the jogging thing........ my first addiction has come back baby!
So, it looks like we may have sold the house! After the house came off the market I had one of the professors I work with approach me to see if I was interested in selling, he and his wife love the location and the size of the house and wanted to take a look at it, I said sure (I mean really, nothing to lose) and after a few visits, them bringing their kids, we sat down last night and discussed details....... their house has sold so they are definitely ideal and now all that is left is them meeting with their lawyer, banker and inspector and we are DONE and looking for a new place! I cannot wait, and I will update when I hear anything, I promise.
So many exciting things happening, I can hardly stand it! Oh AND biggest loser is on tonight, which is my favorite show - this is such a great day!
xo,
S
Friday, March 27, 2009
What is WRONG today?
Hi All;
So today, it was a nice day out, I was stuck in my office, had just finished my work, looked outside and decided, since I was done my work, I would take the last hour and some off and go home. Now originally I planned to come home to take advantage of the nice day and rake the side yard of the house while the weather is nice.... but no, now I JOG, I pretend to be a JOGGER, and since I haven't jogged since Tuesday, which makes me a bad jogger, I came home and changed into my workout gear!
I hop on the treadmill thinking, I have already done 6k twice, I am like an old pro at this. This time I will try it on 5.2 speed (rather than the good old 5) just so I can finish it 2 minutes faster and get outside, that being my original goal! Well, after the first mile I was ready to die, and I do not know why - I mean, the extra .2 can not be having THIS much of an affect can it!? Anyhow, to my own surprise I finished the 6k (yeah stubborn me! Thanks for that trait Dad!) at a speed of 5.2 - a whole 2 minutes faster than I would have on 5.0 and I felt pretty accomplished and surprised, but more so, I just wanted to get off that dam machine..... but no, I walk another mile just to cool down and so I can finish watching the episode of Y & R that is on my workout room TV!
After Y&R is over and I have completed close to 8k, I get off and stretch and hop in the shower, because I dislike sweating (why did I choose jogging?)..... then I look at the clock and figure, I still have time to walk and meet Ty at work - add another 3k walk to my day! So now I am home and feeling like I walked way too much today! AND the side yard has not been touched, maybe I'll do that tomorrow and NOT jog!
BUT the most important part of this blog is that yesterday I was shopping with the girls from work and I bought a new pedometer..... well let me tell you, that baby is going back to the store! When my treadmill tells me I have run 3.7 miles (6k) and this little pea is telling me I have run .5 less - it is time to send it back! I don't care if it is right, I choose to believe the treadmill, why, because I couldn't run another .5 and I want to think that I can make the 6k - so I don't care which machine is lying to me, I am keeping the one that is telling me what I want to hear!
Now I am going to eat my Kraft Dinner, yum!
xo,
S
So today, it was a nice day out, I was stuck in my office, had just finished my work, looked outside and decided, since I was done my work, I would take the last hour and some off and go home. Now originally I planned to come home to take advantage of the nice day and rake the side yard of the house while the weather is nice.... but no, now I JOG, I pretend to be a JOGGER, and since I haven't jogged since Tuesday, which makes me a bad jogger, I came home and changed into my workout gear!
I hop on the treadmill thinking, I have already done 6k twice, I am like an old pro at this. This time I will try it on 5.2 speed (rather than the good old 5) just so I can finish it 2 minutes faster and get outside, that being my original goal! Well, after the first mile I was ready to die, and I do not know why - I mean, the extra .2 can not be having THIS much of an affect can it!? Anyhow, to my own surprise I finished the 6k (yeah stubborn me! Thanks for that trait Dad!) at a speed of 5.2 - a whole 2 minutes faster than I would have on 5.0 and I felt pretty accomplished and surprised, but more so, I just wanted to get off that dam machine..... but no, I walk another mile just to cool down and so I can finish watching the episode of Y & R that is on my workout room TV!
After Y&R is over and I have completed close to 8k, I get off and stretch and hop in the shower, because I dislike sweating (why did I choose jogging?)..... then I look at the clock and figure, I still have time to walk and meet Ty at work - add another 3k walk to my day! So now I am home and feeling like I walked way too much today! AND the side yard has not been touched, maybe I'll do that tomorrow and NOT jog!
BUT the most important part of this blog is that yesterday I was shopping with the girls from work and I bought a new pedometer..... well let me tell you, that baby is going back to the store! When my treadmill tells me I have run 3.7 miles (6k) and this little pea is telling me I have run .5 less - it is time to send it back! I don't care if it is right, I choose to believe the treadmill, why, because I couldn't run another .5 and I want to think that I can make the 6k - so I don't care which machine is lying to me, I am keeping the one that is telling me what I want to hear!
Now I am going to eat my Kraft Dinner, yum!
xo,
S
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
I'M BACK BABY!
So as you can see from the date of my last post, I have been out of the blog world for a few months, and let me tell you, they were a GREAT few months! There was Christmas, then we got ENGAGED, then a baby was born, and everyone in my world is happy and healthy, what more could I ask for!
The house hasn't seen much action in that time though (I suppose that is the one "more I could ask for!") but you know what, sometimes things work out for the best. I always wanted this blog to be about my house hunting, flipping & selling adventures, but when those things aren't happening, I need a new addiction, and I have found it - Jogging! Yes, jogging!
Ok, I know, not quite the same, and I promise to continue to write about the house when SOMETHING happens with it, but in the meantime I figure I will share my struggles, laughter and pain in my pursuit of learning to jog.
So where did this all start you ask? Well, let me tell you, when a handsome man puts a REALLY sparkly diamond on MY ring finger, it made me think, I should probably get in shape for this "big day"! So when I step on the treadmill I take my engagement ring off and put it behind the little clear magazine holder - for two reasons - a) I can look at it and remind myself that there will be a group of our nearest and dearest coming down to spend a week on a Mexican beach with us, which means I will be in a bikini (as I will this summer as well) and I want to look good for that and b) because when I jog my fingers swell and I don't want the ring to get so tight my finger turns blue!
Why did I choose jogging? It was kind of the easy option really - I had a treadmill in my workout room (along with that dusty, overpriced elliptical) and I thought I should use it (the same feeling has not happened towards the elliptical) .... and two, my little brother started running and him doing it really inspire me to try it out again (I have had half-hearted spurts of trying to learn to jog in the past, hasn't lasted nearly as long as this "spurt").
So one night I hoped on the treadmill and jogged for 2 miles, thought that wasn't so bad, did that for the first 2 months (some nights I just walked, some nights I jogged, it varied) ... pat on the back for me.... and then I looked up what 5k would be on my treadmill and realized it was 3.1 miles, hmmm, ok, let's try that, so I hoped on my treadmill a few nights later and started jogging at speed 5 - incline 4 (I am told an incline of 2 simulates the outdoors, but I am doubtful because I can't run a city block, but on the treadmill..... different story), and I made it the 5k, so I did that again the next time I stepped on, this time at 5.5 speed, done, yeah for me! Then I thought about, what is better - speed or stamina? - and any man or women knows that answer, so the next time I stepped on the treadmill I went back down to a speed 5, incline 4 but jogged for 6k, that was this past Friday, and I did it again today and I have got to say, it feels great, when I push myself there, it makes me feel like I have achieved something that I didn't really know if I could, I really like that feeling! Not to mention I have had a great group of friends and family cheering me on and inviting me out to jog with them (If any of you are reading this, I promise to take you up on the offer as soon as I know I won't fall over and die trying to keep up with you! I am working really hard on that aspect!)
Anyhow, now that the house is finished (and not selling) I have traded one obsession for the next, I am hoping the house sells soon so I can get back to the obsession that involved kicking down walls and tearing up floors, but in the meantime, I can assure you, I will try and keep this jogging thing as comical and real as possible!
xoxo,
S
The house hasn't seen much action in that time though (I suppose that is the one "more I could ask for!") but you know what, sometimes things work out for the best. I always wanted this blog to be about my house hunting, flipping & selling adventures, but when those things aren't happening, I need a new addiction, and I have found it - Jogging! Yes, jogging!
Ok, I know, not quite the same, and I promise to continue to write about the house when SOMETHING happens with it, but in the meantime I figure I will share my struggles, laughter and pain in my pursuit of learning to jog.
So where did this all start you ask? Well, let me tell you, when a handsome man puts a REALLY sparkly diamond on MY ring finger, it made me think, I should probably get in shape for this "big day"! So when I step on the treadmill I take my engagement ring off and put it behind the little clear magazine holder - for two reasons - a) I can look at it and remind myself that there will be a group of our nearest and dearest coming down to spend a week on a Mexican beach with us, which means I will be in a bikini (as I will this summer as well) and I want to look good for that and b) because when I jog my fingers swell and I don't want the ring to get so tight my finger turns blue!
Why did I choose jogging? It was kind of the easy option really - I had a treadmill in my workout room (along with that dusty, overpriced elliptical) and I thought I should use it (the same feeling has not happened towards the elliptical) .... and two, my little brother started running and him doing it really inspire me to try it out again (I have had half-hearted spurts of trying to learn to jog in the past, hasn't lasted nearly as long as this "spurt").
So one night I hoped on the treadmill and jogged for 2 miles, thought that wasn't so bad, did that for the first 2 months (some nights I just walked, some nights I jogged, it varied) ... pat on the back for me.... and then I looked up what 5k would be on my treadmill and realized it was 3.1 miles, hmmm, ok, let's try that, so I hoped on my treadmill a few nights later and started jogging at speed 5 - incline 4 (I am told an incline of 2 simulates the outdoors, but I am doubtful because I can't run a city block, but on the treadmill..... different story), and I made it the 5k, so I did that again the next time I stepped on, this time at 5.5 speed, done, yeah for me! Then I thought about, what is better - speed or stamina? - and any man or women knows that answer, so the next time I stepped on the treadmill I went back down to a speed 5, incline 4 but jogged for 6k, that was this past Friday, and I did it again today and I have got to say, it feels great, when I push myself there, it makes me feel like I have achieved something that I didn't really know if I could, I really like that feeling! Not to mention I have had a great group of friends and family cheering me on and inviting me out to jog with them (If any of you are reading this, I promise to take you up on the offer as soon as I know I won't fall over and die trying to keep up with you! I am working really hard on that aspect!)
Anyhow, now that the house is finished (and not selling) I have traded one obsession for the next, I am hoping the house sells soon so I can get back to the obsession that involved kicking down walls and tearing up floors, but in the meantime, I can assure you, I will try and keep this jogging thing as comical and real as possible!
xoxo,
S
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