Oh How Long It Has Been: Small Projects=Big Differences

So I realize it's been...well a while. Quite a while but it's time for some updates. We have been plugging away at the house, mostly working on small projects but they add up big time! I still need to take pictures of some of them but here's what we have been up to aside from yard work:






Re-purposed shelf brought up from basement




-installing the wood stove (MB only)

-sealing off the fan boxes in the 2 spare bedroom up in the attic (MB only)
-finishing the patio (again, MB)
-Taking out the AC's
-cleaning the basement
-organizing my shoes
-moving some stuff around
and finally hanging some art work

I was looking around our house a few weekends ago while we were on a 'small projects' bender and decided I was discontent with following MB around mopily. I'm a go getter kinda girl I can't just stand by and watch everyone else do everything. So I picked up a broom and started cleaning. Now, at LEAST once a week I clean the house, but this was the basement. Because our basement floor is not 'finished' it collects dirt and just plain 'ol dirtiness like a magnet (hence the dirty kitty paw prints on my white comforter. grr). I took to the push broom like white on rice and by the time I was done, there was a heavy cloud of god only knows what in the air and a sizable pile.

Next, I decided it was time to tackle what MB refers to as my 'pile of shoe vomit', or something along those lines, all over the basement floor. You see when we finally moved our clothes upstairs (a glorious day let me tell you), my poor shoes remained down in the basement, strewn across the floor as I toss them out of their bin looking for the shoe I'm holding's mate. MB helped me move some summer clothes that were hanging up in the basement and I started assembling a hanging shoe organizer my mother had given me years ago that I had never gotten a chance to use. I filled that quickly, then set up two more larger racks for boots and less used shoes. By the time I was done, everything was neat and organized (much more my style) and we had the basement floor back.

I also took to reorganizing some bins of my childhood stuff I had taken from my parents (almost entirely books) and doing some labeling.

The last and very important task was persuading MB to help me move a, well what shall we call it, rack maybe (?) from the basement, upstairs and in the back room. This thing was made cheaply by MB to organize and provide shelving in the closet of our very first apartment (which we hated and only remained in for about 2 months). This then was moved to the back room in our last apartment and used as a counter for my indoor herb garden and a shoe rack on the bottom. It had since been moved into the basement and was housing all of our serving dishes. Problem was, being in the dirty basement, stuff was getting dirty so I decided to move it elsewhere.

We removed all items from it, wrestled it upstairs and then I set about cleaning it. I wasn't ENTIRELY sure what I was going to do with it other than use it for what it had already been used for, but I happened upon some spongy red cabinet liner left over from, well lining our cabinets (we really like red accents in our kitchen for some reason). I set about lining all of the shelves and then re arranging everything I put back inside of it. I put our wine rack on top so we could get the wine out of boxes in the basement and to where they belong, and used some decorations I had put together for our Oktoberfest party and VIO-LA! You have a nicely re-purposed and oh-so useful new accent piece in the back room. It looks a whole heck of a lot better and it's incredibly functional.

In-Development & a psychology lesson about boys' minds

We are now in the middle of a planning bonanza. MB has been using up vacation time a few days at a time and making vast strides in his efforts.

The plan for the weekend is finish the closets. Very important. It will be so lovely to hang my clothes where they belong! Yippee! Also, I'm going to finish the second coat of "cinnamon stick" in the office so that we can move things in and get them out of the basement!

On the "cleaning out the basement" front there is also the beloved switch to natural gas. MB had the trusted family plumber come check out the house today and he told us about this AWESOME heater that, well it's not just tankless it's condensation using? I don't know, I'm not positive what to call it but it's soo cool! I'm in love already. It super efficient and doesn't take up much room and you never run out of hot water! Great for my legendary hour long showers (hey, I'm a Pisces, I love water, nothing I can do about it). Here's the link if your interesting in bringing a little awesome into your life as well. http://www.navienamerica.com/rearning/tank.aspx?skin=tank

Any-who, that should all go down pretty soon. They need to run the gas line up to our house first (there is middle school down the street so luckily we have gas on our road) and then when we are almost out of oil, MB and his uncle are going to cut the tank in half, rip it out and get the stupid behemoth out of there! That leaves a nice big space in our basement although our cat Finella will probably be upset as she has taken to napping on top of it. Cats are so bizarre.

ELSEWHERE, MB parents dropped off our Christmas present a few (5) months early. Some friends of theirs were selling a very nice metal patio set and they got it for us! It's very nice but now it's just sitting in our yard looking a bit odd and lonely. This means MB's patio plan has been kicked into high gear. Today he went and scoped out some stones and there have been catalogues at our house for a week now. He wants natural stone. OK. You see the thing is I don't really care, well I do, but MB will inevitable, do whatever it is he wants to do. If I happen to disagree it will just mean he'll puff up like a blow fish and pout until I go "fine do whatever you want" and then he's happy. The thing is, even though he's going to do whatever he wants, somehow, I have to be involved in the process. It's a lovely gesture but purely for show and the purpose behind it is beyond me. I say "I don't care". He says, "tell me what you want". I tell him. He disagrees. I throw my hands up in the air and say "why did you ask me then!?" He doesn't know. This is how many thing are accomplished in this house. It's certainly not mean or combative but rather funny. You should see us, on the rare occasion that we eat out, trying to decide where to go and what to eat. It takes HOURS...but I digress.

So here we are looking at stones, or least that's the plan. Last night I was suffering from a kidney infection, NOT in a happy bunny kinda mood if you get my drift and we looked at catalogues but I couldn't even tell you what I saw. So inevitably, this is up to MB, I'll just be there to help out. The major issue with this project now is this: MB has decided to dig out the patio by himself. This, I'd like to point out, is mental. He assumes, with pick and shovel in hand, he will be able to dig our large patio out of the hill in our yard. All by himself. The guy at the stone place concurred with me today (bonus points for HIM). But MB has his mind set and therefore, the madness continues. He has about 3 people offering him heavy machinery that he can borrow but no, it's too much of a hassle and then he owes them. Psh. I'm OK with this though, you know why? I'll be right in the end. :) I want nothing to do with the madness and MB has been informed of that (I'll help laying the stone of course) and I know, when he gets to it, he'll realize he needs the help of large equipment. You should have seen us trying to dig up the small little strip of land next to our walkway for our herb garden. HAH! That was hard enough. Or when MB got it in his head that we needed to move a bush down by one of the trees in our front yard. The hole digging was no easy feat. No I think this is going to be a nightmare but we will just let him find out for himself.

*P.S. that is NOT what our patio will look like I just stole a picture offline :D