Day 71 - The Miracle of Running Water

I HAVE WATER!!! Woohoo - YAY! Crazy dance!!! I feel so pampered...LOL! Aaaahhh...the luxury of water. Sigh....contentment. Anybody have a cigarette?

While the bathroom is far from being done, all of the water lines have been installed and the water is running. The only thing not back to normal is the kitchen sink drain. While I can run water, we were missing one piece when it came time to hook the drain line up. At almost midnight, I didn't feel like making that 99th trip to Lowe's, so that will get finished up in the morning.

So...could I possibly be painting tomorrow? Maybe...anything is possible!

Day 70

Well, I don't have water yet, but I'm close! The contractor worked from noon today to about ten o'clock tonight. I've got to pick up a door and frame for the bathroom this weekend and hopefully, that's my last 'big' item. Hopefully...

Day 69

YAY...the contractor was there today. He didn't get there until after noon, but I did see some progress. He still thinks he can have me some water by tomorrow, but I do NOT want to get my hopes up!

I took the night off to meet up with some friends from younger days and it was a sweet-crazy-feel-like-I'm-20-again evening. Love all of them and wish we could do this more often.

'Nite.

Day 68

Another day of nothing! No contractor...called about 7:00 tonight to say he was still sick. :-(

Day 67

I called the contractor's friend's phone bright and early this morning. I left a message asking him to at least tell me he's not coming back. At 8:50 AM, the friend called back and said the contractor was on the way. Mom went by the house and she unlocked it. She stopped by at 10 AM and 11:30 AM and he still wasn't there. I ran by on my lunch break at 1:15 PM to "brag" on my tile to Tess and he still wasn't there; however, when I pulled in the driveway at 5:15 PM, he was there. He said he had been there for hours. What two, maybe? LOL! I told him I needed everything completed by no later than Friday morning. He said that would be fine and he would be there bright and early tomorrow morning. Mmmmmkay...let's just hope?! I had made a couple of calls earlier today and I'm trying to go ahead and line up someone else as I sadly have no faith in him at this point.

Here is a picture of my tiled bathroom floor for you to oooh and aaaah over. I'll be more than happy to refer this guy to anyone that needs any tiles laid. He was there when he said he would be there (if not earlier) and the tiles look fabulicious - especially considering my humpty-dumpty floor.

And I'll leave you with a picture of my proud little gardener...check out his pepper plant!

Day 66

The tile guy called me right before lunch today. His job was wrapping up early and he wanted to go ahead and get started on the grout. I took my lunch break to take over the grout and ten gallons of water for wiping the tile down. I came back a little after 5:00 and he was done. Man, it looks purdy! I'll post a picture tomorrow when the grout dries as it still looks dark from being wet. I'm really glad I went ahead and bought the tile versus the vinyl - I think it will be a good investment!

I did get a second quote on the floors today that looks to be a little cheaper, so that was a big plus!

The contractor had told the tile guy he would be there, but he never showed. I left a message on his friend's phone, but did not hear back from him. :-(

Day 65

My phone rang at 9:05 this morning...it was the contractor. He said the tile guy was at my house ready to work and he would be there shortly. While I was thrilled, it would have been nice to have had some notice. I filled up four gallon jugs, took a speed shower and headed over there. The tile guy was there and setting up his tools outside. I learned that he had not been able to reach the contractor yesterday, so he rang his phone off of the hook until he answered this morning. Stop it - I know you're surprised. Anyway, he got started, so I left to take Lori to OutBack for her birthday lunch. When I got back, he was already finished with part one. The tile looks really nice and professional - very evenly spaced and flush which is a miracle on my old floor that was made up of several different materials. He also made a call to someone who does floors and he will be there tomorrow to give me a quote. I've already got one quote, but I want to shop around a little. He will be back tomorrow evening to grout the tile and I've got to collect some more jugs because he washes the tile down several times.

YAY...some progress!

PS - The contractor never showed up.

Day 64

I called the contractor's friend's phone at 8:30 tonight to see where the h#ll he was at. He was with his friend, so I got to talk to him. He started by saying he hadn't heard from the tile guy which really has nothing to do with the work he has to do under the house and I told him that. He spouted off some more lame excuses, so I hung up frustrated because I was afraid of what I was going to say. Unfortunately, the contractor is my cousin so I've tried to tread carefully, but enough is enough. I made the BIG mistake of fronting him some money thinking surely he wouldn't rip off family. Out of the last eleven days, he has worked part of four days. Stupid me...lesson learned! The tools are going straight to the pawn shop Monday to get some of my money back.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, I'll just kick your a$s.

Day 63

I woke up at 2:10 AM still boiling with rage over the contractor and never went back to sleep. Then, Colton woke up with pink eye. Today was his last day at summer care and he was really looking forward to going. The doctor gave him the eye drops and he should be fine a couple of days. Here's to hoping no one else gets it!

The contractor called this evening and said he had been sick with a virus for two days. He also said the tile guy should be here Saturday evening. I guess I'll hold off on taking all of his tools to the pawn shop to see what happens this weekend. hehe

With all of this, I have no plans for the weekend other than trying to let my blood pressure go back to normal after this week! I'm tired....

Day 62

I am very frustrated. No contractor and not even a phone call today. ARRRGHHHH!!!

I feel like I've done everything I can to push this along. Many of my lunch breaks are spent chasing things down to avoid taking time off since we have been short-handed since the end of April. There is not a spare moment even though I work with one of the best co-workers and friends in the world, Tess. Just trying to keep up there is maddening and then leaving each evening to go work on the house...it's a furious pace!

Speaking of furious...I am trying to calm down this evening. Maybe the contractor has a good reason for not showing/calling today. And maybe my butt is small and flat.

I really need the bathroom done by next Wednesday so I can get the paint sprayer that weekend. Then, I could get the floors done and finally be ready to move in.

Big FAT sigh...very discouraged.

I do want to wish my little sister a GREAT BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY today! I'm very thankful she hasn't kicked me out yet, so that I can finish the house before moving in. Love ya! Hopefully, the way cool gift Colton picked out for her will make up for it (tehe). AND remember, Lolo, if you don't have it sitting on your kitchen table at all times, it will hurt his feelings (snicker).

Day 61

The contractor had pipes burst under his home on Tuesday night, so he did not do any work today. I did meet him at Lowe's after work and pick up just about everything else needed to do the job - ching-ching! He should be back on the job on Thursday. I hope...I'm a little concerned.

Anyway, I met with the tile guy tonight who gave me a really sweet price and will do the job no later than Saturday. He has to lay the tile, wait 24 hours, then grout it. Then you can't walk on it for 48 more hours. That will slow the process down considerably.

That's all...

Day 60

Still chugging along on the bathroom. The contractor had almost finished the backerboard yesterday. This morning, he said he noticed something was off and had to pull it back out. Whomever had installed the handicapped shower had cut straight through one of the floor joists, so the floor was sagging in the middle. He spent a good part of the day repairing that and then put the backer board back down. It's nice and level now, but this meant that the tiler couldn't come today, so it will be tomorrow. I'm just happy he caught it and it will be done right.

G'Night!

Day 59

Whew...where do I start?! I guess I'll start by saying some of Daddy's work had to come back out. It's just kinda cuckoo-crazy, so I'm not going to go into the details (bless his heart). I now have some of the drywall back up and the window properly sealed (that was covered up). The backer-board for the tile is practically done. I agonized over the tile color at lunch today. I know white/off-white is the standard, but there was some really pretty brown tile that I really loved; however, I was afraid that it might be too trendy of a look and be outdated in a year or two. Plus, my cheap butt found some 'Sahara Beige' ceramic tile on clearance, so that settled it. All of the cast iron pipes are removed from the bathroom and ready for the new stuff to go in. I would lay out a schedule of what's going to happen next, but I know you're tired of my big fat lies since nothing ever goes as planned.

*****IMPORTANT NEWS FLASH*****
Guess what the heck is missing from my house.

I said GUESS!

Give up?

The stinky-moldy-mildew smell! It's gone! Mom and I had decided last week that the smell was coming from underneath the kitchen sink. There was a small leak, so Mom had cleaned and bleached the cabinet which seem to help a tiny bit. Still wondering if it was the crawl space underneath the sink, I asked the contractor if he would roll out the Visqueen for me. He made me look in the crawl space, so I stuck my head in. All of probably about one sixteenth of an inch. Enough to see that it was drier than the desert under there. The dirt is almost powder it is so dry; however, he said that my kitchen sink drain pipe had fell and was letting water sit down in line. When he took it apart, the smell was unbearable. Now that the water has been off for a couple of days and the drain line is dry, I have no stinky smell. He will repair the pipes when he puts everything back together. I AM A HAPPY GIRL! This also means everyone can stop avoiding eye contact with me when I mention someone helping me crawl under the house. LOL!!!

One other positive note, my mailbox brought sweet relief today. My tax refund for buying a new home came today. Of course, the bulk of it went right back to repay my down payment, but I'll use the rest to pay for the bathroom and floors and pay off what I've charged up so far. Can I just say? I don't care if you are Republican, Democrat or think Ross Parole should run again (tehe), this program was a wonderful blessing for people like me. Alot of families know they can make those monthly payments, but the initial down payment is hard to come up with.

I have to admit that it's been really nice to take it easy for a few days. After being so sick last week and falling on my booty, I figured I needed to slow down a little. I've "supervised" while the contractor has taken care all of the hard stuff. Here's to hoping things keep flowing along the rest of the week...cheers!

Day 58

Just a quick note to say that the contractor did show up today (whew)!

Tired tonight - will post details tomorrow. :-)

Day 57

The contractor did not make it today due to car trouble and says he will be there at 9 AM tomorrow. Very disappointed...

I spent the day running between Lowe's and Home Depot pricing paint and other items I need...the list just keeps growing. My bro did turn me on to a local pawn shop that sells paint for $5 a gallon. Of course, it's mistints and such, but if you happen upon a color you like, it's a darn good bargain. I did get lucky at Home Depot and score a gallon of Behr for $5...not even a mistint - customer decided she wanted a cheaper brand, so they sold what they had originally mixed for her for $5! It's either going in my bedroom or the guest bedroom...can't decide.

Send me some positive vibes for tomorrow...I need the guy to show up!

Day 56 - I Spy - Part Two

I spy...a contractor at my house! YAY! Being on my vanity high yesterday, I forgot to mention that the guy called yesterday and said he would be starting this morning. NEWS FLASH - he showed and he started. Let's just say that the plumbing under the house is a little "home-cooked". He said he had never seen so many coat hangers on plumbing...LOL! He's going to get rid of those along with some of the cast iron pipes and do it up right! I won't have any water all weekend, but that's a teeny-tiny price to pay to get this done. He's hoping to have it all done by Sunday night because he starts a new job on Monday.

My tush is still a little tender and both my back and hip hurt like hellfire (pronounced hellfaaarrrr) from my graceful fall yesterday, so I'm not sure I'll be doing alot this weekend. The paint sprayer is definitely on hold since I've not had a chance to get my paint together. I'll just be running around collecting items for the contractor since I'm supplying all the supplies.

I am going to have to be on the lookout for a dishwasher. I ran mine through a cycle the other night. Now it ran just fine, but the cup holder for the dishwasher liquid is broken. It also sounded like a jet engine was in my kitchen. The brand is Magic Chef and I can't remember when they changed their name to Maytag, so I'm not sure how old it is.

I did remember to snap a picture of my vanity. Ignore all the stuff stacked in the den behind it - I'm living out of that room and it's a disaster. Also, don't drool over the pee-pee yellow vinyl floor. Purdy, ain't she?

G'nite!

Day 55 - I Spy...

I spy...a bathroom vanity at my house. Yes, boys and girls, it's no myth - it's pure fact!

I have to start this post out by giving a freakin' HUGE shout out to my peeps Cathy and Tess for volunteering their hubbys to come help me today. On my lunchbreak, I had looked at a bathroom vanity that was pretty sweet and a fab price. It's five inches deeper and five inches taller than most vanities, but it was such a sweet deal, I am willing to sacrifice that five inches in depth in my tiny bathroom. It needs some clean-up and a few nicks touched up, but I am so very happy with my CraigsList find!

Let me just say - the vanity seemed gigantic and turning it on the landing in the stairs was terrible. Due to the narrow stairwell, hubbies Garry and Jim had to do all of the manual labor and I know it took all of their manly muscles to get the job done. And a big ha -what about it college boys that couldn't budge it - in your FACE! Simmering down - I am so appreciative times one million-ga-gillion-fa-fillion for their help. I just hope they don't beat the crap out of their wives tonight for volunteering their help! tehe

I had complimented the seller on her beautiful floors and she said she had some extra left over that I was welcome to since she needed it out of her way. I haven't checked each box, but if there is 25 square feet a box, I'm estimating she gave me at least 150 square feet of some really nice flooring! She gave me the brand name and item number, so I peeked at the invoice and Colton may graduate highschool before I can afford to buy more to go with it...tehe. It seems to be some really good stuff. Just gotta figure out how/where to use it. I need to figure out if I could use it the bathroom - depending on how water resistant it is. Of course, I would love to get rid of the urine-colored vinyl in the den area, but I would have to buy more flooring to cover the entire area...we'll see.

I bet you would like to see a picture of my ooh-la-la vanity, wouldn't you? Well, guess what? My dumb butt forgot to take one. Speaking of my butt, I managed to squeeze some entertainment into the evening by falling while unloading the flooring at my house. Thank goodness for extra padding! I'm sure I'll be a wee bit sore tomorrow...okay, I'm lying, I'm hurting pretty good in my hip and back tonight, but nothing compared to how Garry and Jim will feel tomorrow, so I'm just gonna hush.

Yawn...Nitey-nite!

Days 53 & 54

Whew...I'm alive! I didn't feel good Monday evening, but thought I was just tired. I was wrong (surprise, surprise) and I've had a nasty virus kicking my butt for the last two day. My fever finally broke about 10:30 this morning and I'm feeling better. I just hate that I've lost two days worth of work on the house, darn it!

Sit down for this one - if all goes well, I will have a plumber/drywaller on site no later than Thursday! I'm almost afraid to get my excited about it!

I'm going to look at a vanity on my lunch break tomorrow; however, the owner warns me that it will take four guys to move it. Her college-age son and his friend could barely budge it and she wants to make sure her new floors do not get damaged. As a bonus, it does have to go down stairs (you're volunteering already, aren't you?). I'm hoping her son and friend were just a little lazy, but it does have me worried. If you are interested in breaking your back tomorrow evening, please let me know - I'll definitely need some help!

Days 51 & 52

So, I'm cheating and combining two days. Let me assure you that you aren't missing anything - except maybe me pulling my hair out. I'm just trying to pull everything together since everything seems to have come to a frustrating stop. I'm scheduling new peeps and hopefully everyone will show up and come through because I'm completely over waiting on the no-shows.

Mom was sweet and got to the house at 8:30 this morning and started cleaning the den walls. I believe they have been Kilz'd after the previous owners stopped smoking, so they are not horrible - but a good cleaning has made them look so much better. Or as good as painted paneling can look. :-)

I got to the house tonight and was completely exhausted - just couldn't kick my butt into any physical labor, so I packed it up and came home. I'm making phone calls and checking paint colors. I have a dream! Well, in my case, it's probably a fantasy...we'll see if I can get everything "re"-lined up and try again.

The only exciting thing I have to report is that Colton has his second "wobbley toof"! He's thrilled. It should come out anytime, so the tooth fairy will be headed to his pillow real soon. Don't let her run you over on the way...rumor has it that she drives like a wild maniac!

Day 50 Million

Wow...can't believe it's been 50 days and I'm still not living in my house. I never imagined it would take this long. I would love to be settled in by the time Colton starts school, but it is not looking good.

Mom and I finished the second coat of Kilz on the hallway. I am very sad to report that the pine stain bled back through in about thirty minutes. Not real bad and paint may cover it up on the top, but where I'm really worried is on the bottom where I plan on painting it white. I also tried to roll the ceiling in the hallway and it did not go well. It was very streaked and on the places where I had to use a brush to get close to the crown molding, it yellowed in minutes. GRRRR! So, my sis's BF called around and found me a place to rent a commercial paint sprayer from. My plan is to:

1) Gather all my paint in the next week;

2) Clean the walls and fireplace in the den;

3) Tape off the den;

4) Spray EVERYTHING including ceilings next weekend!

The den will be a pain because I haven't touched it and it has those wooden beams along with a popcorn ceiling. Not to mention, those bricks are filthy from the nicotine stuck to them. Mom cleaned a spot on them and it was unreal. If I can get it cleaned and taped off, I would love to Kilz it all down, also. I'm probably dreaming (again) and all I will get sprayed is the rest of the house, but I'll be happy with that, also.

I was very discouraged on the Kilz'n thing, so I after finishing the hall, I decided to spray paint some projects. I have to mention that my aunt showed up with the 'way coolest' bunch of pitchers for my dining area last Sunday (was too gripey to mention it that day). She has a good eye for decor and I claim any crafty genes that I have must have came from her. The pitchers are looking really nice - can't wait to be able to display them.

I had a very unwelcome visitor show up today that I am NOT happy about. It clawed its way onto my car and left nice little scratches. I shoo'd it off and hope it doesn't bring bad luck my way.

This tree-bush thing in the very corner of my yard is really looking pretty this week.
My blackberry bush has delivered a cupful of blackberries! Mom picked them today while a little mama bird fussed at her the whole time. We think she may have babies in this little birdhouse she was trying to protect.To soothe my ruffled feathers over my bleeding walls, think I'm going to sneak a couple of white chocolate Hershey's Bliss before I go to bed tonight.

PS - Rechecking this I see tons of grammatical errors and run-on sentences, but I'm too tired to fix them - please ignore. :-)

Day 49

No exciting drama to post - thank goodness. Just another night of Kilz'n. Mom and I finished putting the second coat on the bottom of the walls in the living room. I hope to put a second coat on the hall tomorrow and then take a look at all of the walls to see how well (or not) the Kilz is holding up against the pine stain. I did see a few spots where it had bled through - not real bad - and it may be due to it being put on too thin in those areas. We'll see....

Day 48

Tess and Karen showed up to flex their painting muscles. Karen was even thoughtful enough to bring some yummy chips and dip. Of course, this would be the evening that I run out of Kilz, so I ran over to Wal-Mart to grab some more - and yes, this time they mixed it up for me. We finished off the hall and managed to Kilz the entire top part of the living area. They were kind enough to let me roll the panels while they brushed in the grooves which takes twice as long as the rolling. I was tickled pink at how it looked - it may not require a third coat which would tickle me crazy! Thank you, gals - I so appreciate you sharing your time helping me this evening.

Colton wants to tell one of his Knock-Knock jokes:

Knock. Knock.
Who's there?
Boo!
Boo Who?
BooHoo...it's bedtime!

Day 47 - Night Off

Hey, peeps! I took the night off to go see Toy Story 3 with my boy - he loved it!

Day 46

This evening, I taped up the hallway and started Kilz'n...not very exciting, but I'm very excited to almost be at the end of having the first coat of Kilz on the walls.

The smart-aleck wall heater smirked at me as soon as I got there. It doesn't work and I'm pretty sure I've found the end of its wiring hanging out of the back of the bathroom wall. I tried to take it off, but evidently the little screw head thingies require some kind of special tool to turn them. I did turn them some with a flat head screwdriver, but I think they are really rusted up. I need some WD-40 - tried some cooking spray with no luck. I also tried a hammer to see if I could just knock it the heck off of the wall - didn't work, either. I'll have to work on it some more later. Maybe Hugh Jackman will knock it off the wall when he arrives with the paint sprayer?

TTTTTTTTired tonight....

Day 45

Tired of my griping? Well, me, too. I'll try to put a lid on it...for now. :-)

Guess what? I finished Kilz'n the living area today (except for the ceiling)! I need to get the hallway taped off and then I can start on it. Then put a second coat on both areas, but maybe by that time a paint sprayer will magically appear along with Hugh Jackman to spray it on shirtless. It's unreal how much lighter and bigger the area appears. I'm very happy and even the ugly wall heater had a smile on its face. On second thought, it kinda looks like an evil smile since it seems to know it is ruining my wall!

My friend arrived today along with her son, two sisters, nephews and a freakin' load of goodies! Some stuff I knew about and some stuff was sweet surprises! Colton now has a couple of bookshelves for his room and the other stuff is just too much to mention, but it is so way cool. I am so very VERY grateful. I also acknowledge that both she and I should probably be submitted for the show, 'Hoarders'...LOL! We seem to have a love of collecting a little bit of everything! Her family toured the grand mansion and not one of them seem to hold their breath at the old musty house smell which is now nicely combined with the smell of Kilz. Ugggh...I'm afraid to light any candles with the exposed plumbing in the bathroom (maybe the plumber will show up this week?). Thank you, LP and family, for loading me up with goodies today.

Also, I've been sweating over demolishing the bathroom ceiling, when LP's sis told me to just put sheetrock over it. Well, duh...how logical is that? I felt really silly for not thinking of that myself, but sometimes it takes a second set of eyes to spot the obvious. My heartfelt thanks goes out to her - gonna save me some time (and moolah). :-)

At the auction Saturday, I almost bought a horse to go with my yard cows; however, I came to my senses. Actually, I'm lying - someone outbid me. Good heavens, I have no idea what I was thinking! Anyway, I did come home with one yard ornament. It's really not something I would have ever thought about, but when I saw it, it just somehow seemed to go with my old house and flowers. She's currently leaning up against the barn studio-garage until I find a nice spot for her.

Lastly, I decided to enter the valley of doom. Okay, I'm exaggerating, it's the three storage sheds behind the garage (they just creep me out). Of course, this sissy-baby made my Mama go with me. On the last shed, we could see a squirrel tail poking out of a basket. It wasn't moving, so Mom was brave enough to pick up the basket. It was dead, of course, and evidently had been for a long time. About that time, we heard a weird noise coming from the driveway and here is a picture of what I saw going about ninety miles an hour! If there is a rope or chain in sight, Colton will tie it to his Big Wheel and "tow" something. It's usually his wagon or other riding toy. This wheel barrel is so rickety that I was expecting it to fly to pieces at any second, but it actually made it safe and sound back into the garage. There's actually a funny story about how this wheel barrel came to be at my house...tehe - another time, maybe.

Good night!

Day 44

You know the rule 'if you can't say nothing good, don't say anything at all'? I'm applying that to today. My allergies have been terrible for the last couple of weeks. Taking allergy medicine makes me feel like crap, so it's darned if I do and darned if I don't. When I got up this morning, my chest was so tight I couldn't hardly breathe and then I started that annoying coughing. If I sound like a cranky old lady complaining of my ailments, you're absolutely right!

rrrrrr.....hissssssss....rrrrrrrrrrrRRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrr!

Day 43

I'm over my sulky spell from yesterday. I decided I needed to just 'suck it up' because I should have known better than to expect a contractor to show up on a holiday weekend. Holiday plus fireworks plus beer plus contractor = no workie workie. Silly me...

I got up early this morning to run some errands. I lucked up on a cute five bucks chair for the back porch from Pier One. Okay, I'm lying - I was going to pretend like it was from Pier One until my friends Cathy and Jim busted me stuffing it into the back of my tiny Civic at GoodWill. I really got up early to go to their monthly-the-whole-store-is-half-off sale. I had scoped out some cute pitchers there yesterday and picking up the chair today was a nice bonus. Mom and I also hit a couple of yardsales and I brought home a "time-out" chair, also. The guest bedroom closet is a single door small closet and to boot, the return air duct is in it - so it's tiny. As Becky, Tess and I were painting it the other night, we were talking about how you could only hang clothes in it when I teased Colton I would use it as the time-out closet. I guess he believed me because he asked me later on that night how long he would have to stay in it...LOL! Bless his heart. I reassured him I was just teasing. Anyway, I would love to post pictures of my finds, but my camera batteries are dead.

I put a third coat of Kilz on the trim in the three bedrooms so I am officially declaring them READY TO PAINT!!! Then, I painted Kilz in the middle section of the house that I'm going to use for Colton's TV and play area. I used the roller on the planks and the brush to get into the grooves. I've wore a darn blister on my hand from that brush and it was so tender. Mom came in from gardening and finished with the paint brush while I finished with the roller. That part of the living area has its first coat - YAY!

I went to an auction tonight to see if I could score a bathroom vanity or a dresser to use for the vanity, but no luck. I did buy some stuff though. I can get really carried away at those things - it's like once I'm brave enough to raise my bidding card once, then I just raise it like a crazy fool! Thank goodness, I'm cheapcost conscious and get outbidded!

The pizza just delivered and raising that bidding card worked up quite an appetite, so I'm leaving ya for now. :-)

Day 42 - Gloomy Friday

I woke up at 4:15 this morning and mentally started reviewing my list of questions for the plumber; however, the plumber did not make it today. I'll just leave it at that, but I am not happy. Now if he looked like the actor that plays the plumber, Mike Delfino, on Desperate Housewives, I could forgive him of anything. Sigh....a girl can dream.

I worked half a day today and then took off to go vanity searching. I'm now on a kick of looking for a dresser to turn into a vanity. It appears to be a pretty simple project (stop laughing). I've just got to find one the right size. Maybe everyone will do remodeling projects over the holiday weekend and I can find something next week.

This evening, I dropped Colton off with his dad for the weekend, so that made me extra gloomy. I so missed him terribly tonight at my aunt's annual firework/cookout/get-together-with-my-sometimes-crazy-family gathering. He is the jelly to my peanut butter. :-)

Signed,
Miss Gloomy Pants

Day 41 - Night Off

I'm taking Thursday night off for movie night with Colton before he goes to his dad's for the weekend. We skipped it two weeks ago, so it is so on. I have to admit that I like the cartoon series 'Avatar - The Last Airbender' as much as he does so we are both excited to go see it - should be loads of fun!

The plumber is supposed to be on site at 8:00 sharp Friday morning - YAY!!!

Since I'm setting up this auto-post tonight (Wednesday), in lieu of my exciting dramatic remodeling stories, I'm sharing a couple of pictures for Thursday night.

Look super close - this is one of the three hawks that stay in our front yard - it looks big enough to carry Colton off!

This shows how the pine tongue and groove paneling looks with the Kilz - better already!

About two weeks ago, I had about fifty huge mushrooms in my yard - each about eight inches in diameter. I thought I had taken pictures of them, but must not have - they were everywhere! They died down and these peach mushrooms showed up. The tree they are growing beside is huge, so you can see that they are also very large. They remind me of sea coral.