I can't believe I forgot to post the end result of the kitchen repair fiasco. The maintenance guys, whose praises I was singing, totally failed. Sure the drain line got fixed, but when it came to patching the walls & repairing the cabinet they punched a hole through, well, let's just say a monkey could have done a better job. Two weeks and a new set of maintenance guys later, the wall was fixed properly, and I got the blue paint up. I did wind up using the Behr ultimate fancy whatever stuff with the primer in it, and it only took two coats, but lordy did that black & white monstrosity cover a multitude of sins. Now every crack, bump, and uneven spot in the plaster sticks out like a sore thumb, but at least it's a pretty sore thumb.
We're still not sure if we're going to paint the living room. We got our bookshelves arranged and art on the walls, and if you keep your eye-line pointed somewhat down it's really not that bad. The palm trees are still ugly, but they're ignorable. We've really just lost interest in trying to make this house better. Which is sad, but really isn't that how renting is supposed to be? I can't even bring myself to garden.
Beyond the kitchen, I survived another adventure - flying to Seattle, picking up a 10-foot moving truck, loading up furniture and stuff that my sister had been storing for me for the past 10 years, and driving back to Ohio with Mom following in her car. o.O It really wasn't all that bad though, and we made it in one piece with Mom only getting lost once (and that was the last HOUR of the trip, when trying to get off the Turnpike to get to the house!). She's staying in the apartment at the in-law's house for the rest of the summer, and it's been fun having someone to shop and craft and generally rat around with. Of course it's so much better because she's not staying at MY house - and she agrees with me on that too so I can get away with saying it! :-)
Work is... meh. There might be something happening at the bookstore for me, and the work-at-home job is still waiting on further negotiations, so it's the whole "up in the air" thing happening all over again. Which is really getting old.
Other than the "life update" I don't have much else to talk about I'm afraid. But Mom and I are going shopping for fabric today - I'm starting a big quilt project, so I'll share all of that.
Welcome to my (boring, insignificant) world!
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Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Oh, the joys of a house.
So, our main drain line is busted & leaking down in the basement every time we shower/flush/wash. Thank god for maintenance guys! They were here for a good 3 hours last night finding the leak, & they're coming back today to replace the line. I will have a big hole cut in the wall of my kitchen, but thankfully it will be covered by the cabinets. And considering the walls in the kitchen are an ugly-ass black & white sponge faux finish nightmare, it'll be painted soon anyway. (Blue, if you want to know... "French Court" by Behr.)
The living room walls above the chair rail will be painted too, a plain tan to go with the sage green bottom half (right now the top is a metallic gold faux finish nightmare with added palm tree wallpaper border hideousness).
The maintenance guys, bless their hearts, also found where the dishwasher was leaking - ok, not so much "leaking" as "dumping" - the drain line had been taken out of the utility sink & tucked up out of the way when the basement was painted, so it was draining straight on top of my brand new washing machine. Yuuuuuck. I had to run an empty cycle with vinegar in the dispenser to purge the grossness.
To add insult to injury, Jake has stress-peed on the carpet in the living & dining rooms lord knows how many times now, since the carpet is dark tan and we can't see it. But we can smell it for sure. Amazingly, the cats haven't done the same. I think I'll try a good coating of baking powder first before renting a steam cleaner, just to neutralize the smell. We use a baby gate on the stairs at night to prevent more accidents and are getting him back on a set potty schedule too. He'll snap out of it soon - this has happened with each move so we know the drill now.
We have to put in a temporary fence in the backyard to keep Jake from visiting the neighbors - he's on a cable tie, but it's a bit too long. Plus we found out that the property lines in our neighborhood don't go from driveway to driveway, but that part of our backyard is actually the neighbor's. They don't care, thankfully, but our plans to rip out the overgrown area under the tree now have to be approved by them. Argh.
And of course, our garage floor is still gravel. It's only been 2 weeks so I know we need to be patient, but B's tools are still in our storage unit and we have to have a place to put them by the end of the month so we can close that expense out. We're probably going to have to put some planks or sheets of plywood down in the garage or something.
My mantra right now is "Our lease is up in a year, just a year..."
 |
| Put DOWN the sponge... |
 |
| The 70's called, they want their metallic paint back. |
To add insult to injury, Jake has stress-peed on the carpet in the living & dining rooms lord knows how many times now, since the carpet is dark tan and we can't see it. But we can smell it for sure. Amazingly, the cats haven't done the same. I think I'll try a good coating of baking powder first before renting a steam cleaner, just to neutralize the smell. We use a baby gate on the stairs at night to prevent more accidents and are getting him back on a set potty schedule too. He'll snap out of it soon - this has happened with each move so we know the drill now.
 |
| Keep up the shenanigans, mister, and you WILL wear a diaper. |
We have to put in a temporary fence in the backyard to keep Jake from visiting the neighbors - he's on a cable tie, but it's a bit too long. Plus we found out that the property lines in our neighborhood don't go from driveway to driveway, but that part of our backyard is actually the neighbor's. They don't care, thankfully, but our plans to rip out the overgrown area under the tree now have to be approved by them. Argh.
And of course, our garage floor is still gravel. It's only been 2 weeks so I know we need to be patient, but B's tools are still in our storage unit and we have to have a place to put them by the end of the month so we can close that expense out. We're probably going to have to put some planks or sheets of plywood down in the garage or something.
My mantra right now is "Our lease is up in a year, just a year..."
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Surrounded by Boxes
Between the somewhat more time-filling schedule at the bookstore than I had anticipated, plus the scramble to find a place to live in Akron so B didn't have to commute 45 minutes every day, and then the subsequent move... I'm away from my desk, please leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. If you need immediate assistance, press 1 for the operator. Beeeeeeeep.
Long story short, we looked at seven different places in Akron, the first being awesome but too expensive, some in the middle that were just meh (and some that were yuck), to the last one which, strangely, has the same floorplan as the house we rented in Toledo. It felt like home right away. It has its downsides though - no fenced-in yard, so Jake has to be on a cable; fully carpeted; sump pump right in the middle of the basement floor (yick); neighbors literally rightherenextdoor; and no central air. Which we thought would be manageable with the massive attic fan upstairs - open the windows at night & turn that sucker on, and in rushes the cool air... but unfortunately this only works when it's actually cool at night. So we bought a portable air conditioner. Emphasis not so much on the portable really, but easier than a window unit for sure.
But we're settling in, slowly but surely. The cats stayed at B's parents' place until last night and are now exploring happily, Jake has "christened" the living room carpet already but at least it's a darker color so it doesn't show, we had some mildew on a few things from the storage unit that had to be cleaned, we finally got the basement carpet dried out after the homeowner's valiant effort with a steam cleaner, but most importantly, the beer glass collection is put away in the china display cabinet (which are almost identical to the ones we had in Toledo too). We're still unpacking (the heat slowed me down a lot, plus the aforementioned crazy work schedule at the bookstore) and we have a wedding to attend this weekend so we probably won't get much further with it until late next week. I'm off to Chicago for NeoCon on Monday & Tuesday, and B's new job leaves him wiped out when he gets home, so the non-essential stuff will just have to wait I guess.
Long story short, we looked at seven different places in Akron, the first being awesome but too expensive, some in the middle that were just meh (and some that were yuck), to the last one which, strangely, has the same floorplan as the house we rented in Toledo. It felt like home right away. It has its downsides though - no fenced-in yard, so Jake has to be on a cable; fully carpeted; sump pump right in the middle of the basement floor (yick); neighbors literally rightherenextdoor; and no central air. Which we thought would be manageable with the massive attic fan upstairs - open the windows at night & turn that sucker on, and in rushes the cool air... but unfortunately this only works when it's actually cool at night. So we bought a portable air conditioner. Emphasis not so much on the portable really, but easier than a window unit for sure.
But we're settling in, slowly but surely. The cats stayed at B's parents' place until last night and are now exploring happily, Jake has "christened" the living room carpet already but at least it's a darker color so it doesn't show, we had some mildew on a few things from the storage unit that had to be cleaned, we finally got the basement carpet dried out after the homeowner's valiant effort with a steam cleaner, but most importantly, the beer glass collection is put away in the china display cabinet (which are almost identical to the ones we had in Toledo too). We're still unpacking (the heat slowed me down a lot, plus the aforementioned crazy work schedule at the bookstore) and we have a wedding to attend this weekend so we probably won't get much further with it until late next week. I'm off to Chicago for NeoCon on Monday & Tuesday, and B's new job leaves him wiped out when he gets home, so the non-essential stuff will just have to wait I guess.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Deprived
Normally I'm woken up at about 5-5:30 am by either B's alarm or a very obnoxious Lily yowling at the door. This morning, it was neither - instead, a bizarre dream about Castle, Beckett, and I trying to escape from a murderous cult that was holding us hostage. A murderous cult of teenage girls, no less. Beckett and I escaped first by locking ourselves in a public bathroom, but when Castle tried to sneak away to meet us, somebody threw a grenade into the hallway and we had to escape through the vent onto the roof.
And now that I would like to go back to sleep for another hour, Lily is raising a holy ruckus as usual. *sigh* It's always something.
But, on the unrelated bright side, I start working at the bookstore next Thursday, and B has another interview today for a job that is a much better fit for him. So prayers, wishes, & FGBVs for him would be much appreciated.
And now that I would like to go back to sleep for another hour, Lily is raising a holy ruckus as usual. *sigh* It's always something.
But, on the unrelated bright side, I start working at the bookstore next Thursday, and B has another interview today for a job that is a much better fit for him. So prayers, wishes, & FGBVs for him would be much appreciated.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Shiny!!
I think the official Random Tuesday Thoughts meme died, but I'm doing one today anyway just because.
***
The neighbors behind us are having their landscaping guys do their leaf-blowing today. It's a good day for it, because (a) it's a weekday, and everyone but me is at work, and (b) miraculously, it's not raining. But, here's the incredibly stupid part (you knew this was coming, right?) - we live in the woods, and the dudes are leaf-blowing the wooded area. As in, not lawn, WOODS. Where the leaves are supposed to be. *facepalm* I don't know whether to blame the homeowners or the dudes with the noisy backpacks, but either way - some people just should not be allowed near nature.
***
I finally broke down and bought two tee-shirts yesterday, thanks in part to Lucy and the Betties' discussion of great geeky shirts. Holy crow, were there some awesome ones! But these particular two that I bought have been on my wish-list for a while now. I bought this one for B:
And this one for me!
(It's hard to see, but the speech bubble says "Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!" If you don't get it, you need to watch Firefly and then Serenity. Look it up on Netflix, and thank me later.)
The one I REALLY want is this one:
But when I went to place my order a whole HOUR ago, the size I need was backordered. NOW, when I go to get the link for the picture, it's in stock. BOOO. (Also, hint hint! I made a wishlist for the website! Because I'm subtle like that. ;) )
***
Work has been going well, thanks for asking. This initial project I've been working on is coming along smoothly, and while the *coughimpossiblecough* deadline won't quite be achieved, everyone is on the same page. I'm not sure where we'll go from here - I'm hoping they'll keep me on for more projects, which sounds like a very real possibility. But, there's another opportunity lurking in the shadows too, and I hope I won't have to choose between the two. But I won't jinx it! I won't!
I will say though, that I have an interview Friday for a part-time spot that's open at Barnes & Noble (the one in Akron where I worked before - I'm glad I stayed in touch with some of the people there!), so that will fill out my days nicely. It'll be good to get out of the house too.
***
Why yes, Friday is my birthday! How kind of you to remember. :D Oh, no big plans really. We're going to see if we can get a table at the new B-Spot, Michael Symon's burger/brats/beer place. Since we do live in Michael Symon's hometown after all... sorry, inside joke... okay I'll explain. There was a commercial on Food Network or the Cooking Channel or something, with Michael Symon as the new spokesperson for Calphalon, and they were advertising a contest: "Win a trip to Michael Symon's hometown!!! And now we'll distract you with these SHINY POTS AND PANS!!" Never at any point in the commercial did they mention that, well, that's actually Cleveland. Yep, in Ohio. No, there's really not anything more there, except OMG MICHAEL SYMON'S HOMETOWN. When we saw it, B and I absolutely died laughing. We could just imagine the winner: "WHOO HOO I WON!! Wait, Cleveland?? Seriously??! Ugh."
But back to my birthday. I'm turning 31. THIRTY. ONE. *shudder* And yet, I'm buying myself tee-shirts with dinosaurs and geeky movie quotes on them. I've got a death-grip on my youth, dammit!
Edited: Oh holy snotballs people, I'm turning THIRTY TWO. 3-2. Math was never my strong suit. *headdesk*
But really, the only thing I want for my birthday this year is a house. But I'll settle for gift cards or something from that wish list I mentioned. (KIDDING. No one had better get me ANYTHING. Except B. I want a house.) :P
***
The neighbors behind us are having their landscaping guys do their leaf-blowing today. It's a good day for it, because (a) it's a weekday, and everyone but me is at work, and (b) miraculously, it's not raining. But, here's the incredibly stupid part (you knew this was coming, right?) - we live in the woods, and the dudes are leaf-blowing the wooded area. As in, not lawn, WOODS. Where the leaves are supposed to be. *facepalm* I don't know whether to blame the homeowners or the dudes with the noisy backpacks, but either way - some people just should not be allowed near nature.
***
I finally broke down and bought two tee-shirts yesterday, thanks in part to Lucy and the Betties' discussion of great geeky shirts. Holy crow, were there some awesome ones! But these particular two that I bought have been on my wish-list for a while now. I bought this one for B:
 |
| http://www.snorgtees.com/sugar-skull-trooper |
And this one for me!
 |
| http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts-apparel/womens/bb00/ |
(It's hard to see, but the speech bubble says "Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!" If you don't get it, you need to watch Firefly and then Serenity. Look it up on Netflix, and thank me later.)
The one I REALLY want is this one:
But when I went to place my order a whole HOUR ago, the size I need was backordered. NOW, when I go to get the link for the picture, it's in stock. BOOO. (Also, hint hint! I made a wishlist for the website! Because I'm subtle like that. ;) )
***
Work has been going well, thanks for asking. This initial project I've been working on is coming along smoothly, and while the *coughimpossiblecough* deadline won't quite be achieved, everyone is on the same page. I'm not sure where we'll go from here - I'm hoping they'll keep me on for more projects, which sounds like a very real possibility. But, there's another opportunity lurking in the shadows too, and I hope I won't have to choose between the two. But I won't jinx it! I won't!
I will say though, that I have an interview Friday for a part-time spot that's open at Barnes & Noble (the one in Akron where I worked before - I'm glad I stayed in touch with some of the people there!), so that will fill out my days nicely. It'll be good to get out of the house too.
***
Why yes, Friday is my birthday! How kind of you to remember. :D Oh, no big plans really. We're going to see if we can get a table at the new B-Spot, Michael Symon's burger/brats/beer place. Since we do live in Michael Symon's hometown after all... sorry, inside joke... okay I'll explain. There was a commercial on Food Network or the Cooking Channel or something, with Michael Symon as the new spokesperson for Calphalon, and they were advertising a contest: "Win a trip to Michael Symon's hometown!!! And now we'll distract you with these SHINY POTS AND PANS!!" Never at any point in the commercial did they mention that, well, that's actually Cleveland. Yep, in Ohio. No, there's really not anything more there, except OMG MICHAEL SYMON'S HOMETOWN. When we saw it, B and I absolutely died laughing. We could just imagine the winner: "WHOO HOO I WON!! Wait, Cleveland?? Seriously??! Ugh."
But back to my birthday. I'm turning 31. THIRTY. ONE. *shudder* And yet, I'm buying myself tee-shirts with dinosaurs and geeky movie quotes on them. I've got a death-grip on my youth, dammit!
Edited: Oh holy snotballs people, I'm turning THIRTY TWO. 3-2. Math was never my strong suit. *headdesk*
But really, the only thing I want for my birthday this year is a house. But I'll settle for gift cards or something from that wish list I mentioned. (KIDDING. No one had better get me ANYTHING. Except B. I want a house.) :P
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