Extreme Home Makeover = Running a Marathon (kind of)

Post from Les

   I’ve been reading the latest blogs posted by two of our daughters who are into the “running thing,” and though they compete in different challenge levels, I found it interesting that they both happened to mention something that apparently is common among runners.  Curb jumping and weaving.  It seems that when the pace of the larger group is too slow for certain runners who are a bit more . . . let’s say, enthusiastic, they often resort to this exercise to maintain the interest.  One daughter referred to this as “pinball running,” bouncing from side to side on the curbs and weaving through the crowd.

            Some would say “Ya gotta do what ya gotta do.”  Ron Washington would say “He do what he do.”  Nevertheless, I understand completely.  This house project is my marathon challenge and sometimes the daily progress isn’t very impressive, especially when you consider how much lies ahead before I reach the finish line.  So, for the past few days I’ve had the itch to do a little curb jumping and weaving of my own.

            The weatherman promises a very pleasant day, so I think it would be a good diversion to do some test painting on the outside of the house.  I’ve been anxious to do this from the get go but the inside things have taken higher priority.   Anyway, we need to see if the color trio we’ve chosen will look as great in real life as it does on paper.  Beside, it will send a message to our neighbors that good things are ahead.  They’ve already commented on the welcome sight of our recent removal of the overgrown trees and bushes that were shrouding the house.  

 

Legs + Mind = Finish

 

            From what I’ve heard people say and what I observe sitting in the bleachers, distance running is a simple mathematical equation of two components:  LEGS and MIND.  You not only need the stamina of the legs to deliver the body to the finish line, but you need the will power of the mind to decide that making the distance is worth the effort.  The mind decides that merely showing up for the race and getting the T-Shirt is not enough, but the medals, trophies and bragging rights are supreme and worth pulverizing your feet.

            I suppose lots of people’s legs have played out at this juncture in the house refurbishing marathon.  This is when it’s so important to keep the mind in the game because this kind of work is fun for me - but it’s also hard and tiresome . . . like pounding the pavement mile after mile.  But I can see the prize ahead of me . . . a beautifully painted house, cleaned up and well maintained lawn, flowering plants and nicely groomed shrubs accenting the landscape.  Oh . . . and don’t forget the mezmerizing sounds of Andrea Bocelli and Josh Groban being piped in all around like a shopping mall.

            Dang . . . I’m ready to get back to work!  J

Fire in the Laundry Room

Well, now that I have your attention, it wasn't really a fire, but it there was a lot of smoke.
About 8 this morning, I started a load of clothes in the laundry room, which is in the far back, right side of the house. I then went to work on the computer in the office, which is in the far front, left side of the house.
After a few minutes, I smelled something, like something burning, like maybe an electrical fire. I thought, "Um, I wonder what that is," and continued to work at  the computer. (I know, pretty careless, but exactly like me.)
In a few minutes, Les appeared and said, "The house almost burned down." (A little extreme, but exactly like him. I'm so glad we balance each other.)
The washing machine filled with water, and something, something, something...smoke, almost fire, smoke in the laundry room...It really could have been bad. If we had both left the house, it COULD have burned the house down. AND our beautiful ceiling! Horrible thought.
We discussed how sad it is that our long time appliance repairman either left the country or changed his number so that we can't get in touch with him. His name is Mario, and I always called him Super Mario because he could fix anything. Once, years ago, I called him to repair a dryer. He did repair it, but then said, "Jeannette, when it breaks next time, don't call me, just get a new one. It's time." Don't you love that kind of honesty? Another time, when a washing machine broke, and it was full of water, Les hauled it to the driveway and called Mario. When we came home from work, there was  note saying that he had come by and fixed the washer. He was amazing. But we lost track of him.
So, Les loaded the washing machine in his truck and took it to Giffords Appliances. A few minutes later he called and said, "Guess who I found?" YES, Mario now works for Giffords. Mario took one look at the washer and said it would cost $400 just for the parts. YIKES. Not worth it at all.
We calculated that we had had the machine 8 or 9 years. I realize that is pretty old for an appliance, but ours usually last 20 years or more!
But, if Mario says it's time to buy a new one, then it is time to buy a new one.
So, we bought a new washing machine today. Not exactly in the budget, but clearly necessary. It is an energy efficient one that will use less water, electricity, and detergent, so there is a bright side.
AND, we found Super Mario, definitely an UP factor in the story.

Kitchen Ceiling Project

One problem area in the house was the kitchen ceiling. It was the only room in the house with a popcorn texture. Popcorn is not too bad to remove, unless it has been painted, then it becomes like concrete and extremely hard to remove. This, of course, had been painted. We had patched the ceiling in a few places, also, so whatever we did was going to involve a lot of work. 

This is a picture of a small section of the ceiling that was the result of a few hours of work when Les scraped the popcorn and put new mud up. Pretty discouraging.
Monday morning, he asked me to come to the kitchen to discuss alternatives. He Said, "What would you think about a wood ceiling...not pretty like Teressa's." My friend Teressa had a wood ceiling that absolutely love. It looks something like this, but on a smaller scale.

That is why he quickly said it wouldn't look like that. He had a piece of wood in his hand that was salvaged from a wall we took out. It was fine, but finding and cleaning enough to cover the ceiling was going to be hard. We went outside and looked around for ideas...

YES. We had two piles of wood from the weathered fence we tore down in January. We collected the better pieces and began a process.
First, we had to take the nails out of the slats.

Then, we cut the ends off, and cut away parts that were rotten. 

      
YES, that is me using the mighty power saw. I really did that, wearing my pink gloves. As you can see, I have my hammer in my pink tool belt. My cell phone was in one of those handy pockets.
After the boards were trimmed, we used a very stiff steel brush to brush off the dirt, rotten wood, and debris.

     


At that point, the slats were ready to hang.

And, I used the nail gun. I was afraid to even get close when Les was using it. I have heard stories about people being accidentally shot with those things, and it looked dangerous to me. Les assured me that he could not shoot me because the gun would not shoot unless it was pressed against a hard surface. With that cleared up, I got into it. Wow, that's me, climbing ladders and using power tools, two things I am afraid of. Yay for overcoming fears.
This was really hard work, though. My arms were so tired I could barely wash and blow dry my hair. Les did better. He is used to more physical labor.
Anyway, here is the almost finished product.

 We are really happy with the results, but still plan to finish it with a stain or whitewash finish. I think it adds character to the house, and a unique touch.

The Kitchen Sink!

Last week was a pretty successful week in terms of remodeling. A little side note, this is a slooooowww process...just good to remember. So, last week, Les put in the kitchen floor, the counter top, the sink and faucet. Getting the sink in was really big. I am now able to wash dishes.
Last week, I needed to take lunch to the Christian Women's Job Corp. This is an organization in Dublin which helps women to learn job skills, as well as life skills such as money management and relationship skills. About once a month, I am asked to provide lunch for the 10 or 12 women who are in class there. Last Wednesday was one of those days. We usually have food in the freezer at church I am able to use for this, and last week, I knew that we had some left over chili, which was perfect. However, heating it was a problem. I brought the chili home and heated it in the crock pot Tuesday night. Wednesday morning, I put the chili in a big pot and transferred it to MariLea, who delivered it to the women, since I had an 11:30 appointment in Stephenville. Then, I took the dirty dishes with me to the church to wash. Not a huge deal, but not something I wanted to do on a regular basis. That is why I was so excited when I came in Thursday afternoon, on Valentines day, and had a bouquet of flowers, chocolate dipped strawberries, and a KITCHEN SINK.

Beautiful!
I can now wash dishes. Somehow, that sounds a bit insane, to be so excited about being able to wash dishes.
Sunday, I made crock pot soup for lunch because I had a way to clean the crock pot when I was finished.
The counter is really pretty. It is made from large ceramic tiles which look like marble. Here is a close up shot.

And, I love the floor. I didn't get a picture when we first got it finished, but you can get an idea from this one. It is already dusty from the work on the ceiling, and, after all, this is still a construction site.

Today, we are working on the ceiling. I am excited about this, but you will have to wait until it is finished, because I want it to be a surprise.

Lost and Found

Don't anyone tell Les about this post. He doesn't read the blog very often. He just writes posts and emails them to me every couple of weeks, and I publish them.
Ok, here goes. We spend a lot of our time looking for things, which are packed and in storage in a variety of places.
 For instance, last month, I wanted to make soup for a friend who was sick, and I needed my crock pot. Les  said he knew right where it was, and he went to the garage. He came back in and said that it was for sure in the storage building on Race Street, and he would go get it. About 45 minutes later, he came in with a new crock pot. He decided that, as much as I cook, I could use two. We have not found the old one yet.
Now, when we were packing to move, I was concerned about my jewelry. I emptied my jewelry dresser, put sets into sandwich bags, and put everything in a plastic tote.

But, I didn't feel good about putting my really good jewelry in that. Something about putting diamonds, gold, pearls, and precious stones in plastic bags, in a plastic tote, just did not seem right.
So, I took my few pieces of fine jewelry and put them in...some kind of small container, and put that container...somewhere safe.
When we moved into the house, Les brought my plastic tote jewelry box in. I was glad because the only jewelry I had worn since Christmas was my wedding ring and my watch. I wondered where my good jewelry was. I DID NOT want to ask my extremely organized husband who rarely misplaces anything, especially something of value. So, I casually looked into things that looked safe, looking for a small container. I did not find the right small container.

On Saturday, I was looking for an important paper, and I noticed that Les had brought in a file cabinet. I looked in our lock box for the paper (which was not there), then I noticed a small container, actually it was a make up bag, stuck in the corner of the file cabinet. See, back in the corner? Sure nuff, that was the small container with my good jewelry, and the file cabinet was the safe place I put it in. Really, it was a good spot, don't you think?
So, Sunday, I wore my real pearl necklace and earrings. And Les never knew that my valuables were missing. SHHHH, don't tell.

A Big Day

I don't know if we have mentioned this, but our youngest daughter Katy and her husband Kyle are expecting their first baby!!! We are all VERY excited about that. So, today, some of my wonderful friends from Cottonwood hosted a baby shower for Katy. (Thank you so very much, it was very special.)
Of course, I went with her, and we had a wonderful time.
She received so many beautiful things for "Nora", and she enjoyed visiting with friends she doesn't see often.

While we partied, Kyle put on work clothes and helped Les work on the house! YIPPEEE!!
We don't have pictures of them working, because I was busy partying at the time. But, when we got home, the walls in the kitchen had sheetrock. That was so great to see.

This picture is confusing, but it is the short wall where the stove will go, with cabinets above it. I was so motivated that after they left, I painted the inside of the cabinets.

They look so much better. Pretty soon, we will be able to put stuff in them. 

Right now, Les is putting the subfloor down to get ready to install the tile.

 I think that then, we will bring the stove in, and bring in some of our supplies to be able to use the kitchen.

 I am REALLY ready for that. 

In Case You’re Wondering

A word from Les.

For the last 2 weeks I’ve concentrated all my efforts and energy into our master bath room/laundry room makeover because we realized it was the area that needed the least attention and able to be checked off the list fastest.

1. That gives me the feeling that I’ve actually made some visible and measurable progress and inspires me to press on.

2. It brings comfort and security to my wife.

3. It makes us both feel more at home and a little less in a construction zone.

It all began with painting the shelves in the laundry room and closets so we could start using them. Next was the installation of the new vinyl tile flooring, followed by changing out the vanity countertop along with the beautiful vessel sink and vessel faucet. Despite the popularity of these items in the magazines and on the home improvement shows, the how-to’s and necessary hardware are hard to come by. That step was a real mind-bender as it took two days and six trips to the plumbing store. Getting that done felt really good.

Then yesterday I proceeded to build and install additional shelving to fill in the gap between the countertop and the existing closet. These will be quite handy. While I was on a roll, I built a multi-function wall mount table top for folding laundry, sewing, etc. Today was a really fun day of creative building and improvising. I took the original mirror to a glass shop to have it cut down to size to fit in a really nice decorative picture frame. Then I built a custom size wall-mounted / drop down ironing board, complete with pad and cover.

Tomorrow I’ll start repairing some wall cracks and redo some of the tape and bedding, as well as feather out the crow foot texturing. Then the finishing touches on the painting will wrap it up. Yee haw! That will equate to a whopping 10% of the overall interior work to be done, but it will spell PROGRESS.

Life in the Village

Since this adventure began during the holidays, I’ve been called upon by five different men inquiring about my piles of old A/C equipment that was ripped out; cast iron tubs and sinks ripped out; and old galvanized and cast iron plumbing pipes. They each have been very polite to say they collect scrap metal to take to the recycling place for a little extra income. It felt good to help these self-motivated men out - but they really helped me out in return by removing those ugly piles of junk. After all, I am the new neighbor on the block and I don’t want the front yard to look like a war zone.

Last week some friends took on the task of putting the chain saw to those over-grown trees that were leaning against the house and on the verge of causing damage. The result of course is that now I have two huge piles of branches and limbs in the front yard again. I didn’t know when I’d come around to having the time to load them in the trailer and haul them off. But today, another man knocked on the door asking if he could do that for me for a very reasonable cost. Like the others, his regular job was slow and he needed to make a few extra dollars. Boy . . . was I glad to oblige because that would have taken me a whole day and probably three plus trips to the landfill.

I have said several times lately that “It takes a village to remodel a house.” Thus far there has been a bunch of people who’ve helped me. To mention each one by name would be like sort of like rolling the credits after a movie. J

This is Harder than it Looks

 We made some good progress this week. We DID get the washer and dryer in to the house. Our friend Chance Yankie came over and helped Les with that chore. I wasn't home to record it, but here is the finished product.

After they finished setting these up, they decided to move the refrigerator into the house.I was home to photo this. 

 

 

 

It will sit in the living room until the kitchen walls and floor is finished. It is so wonderful to have appliances in the house. I quickly asked Les if the washing machine was connected so that I could wash some clothes. He said it was, but, when I turned it on, no water came in. He realized that he had not turned the water on, so he remedied that. 

He got the water on, but only cold. No hot water for the washing machine. We will have to call the plumber back to connect the hot water. For now, I can wash everything in cold. 

On Friday, he began to install the new counter, sink, and faucet in the master bathroom. 

 

 

So far so good, right. NO. We had bought a beautiful vessel sink a while back (remember the bargain at builders surplus?) . It did not come with instructions. Les has installed a lot of sinks, so he figured this would not be that hard. He was wrong. He went to Smith's plumbing and electrical supply for supplies, and some advice, came home and worked on it a while, then looked at it a while, looked on the internet a while, worked some more. He turned off the water, got the pipes ready under the sink, turned the water on, and water sprayed the bathroom. Turned the water off, worked some more, turned the water on and the pipe leaked. Turned water off, worked some more. Finally got the pipes fixed. Still could not install the sink. 

We also had a beautiful faucet I ordered online, which came with NO instructions. He worked a long tine trying to connect the faucet. Les is extremely good at figuring things out, and can usually look at anything for a time and understand how to work it.  He studied these fixtures a long time, but could not get them in. 

We brushed our teeth in the shower and went to bed. 

Something weird was going on with the heater. The new furnace was running for 20-30 minutes, then cut off for 4 seconds, then start again, run 15 minutes, cut off for 3 seconds. It did that constantly. Les finally turned the thermastat down very low so it would not come on at all. He brought in our fake fireplace, which kept the bedroom warm all night. Turns out, there is a setting on the furnace that needs to be changed. The thermostat was set on 70, and the furnace was working hard to keep it at exactly 70 degrees. We will have it adjusted to let it drop down more before the furnace kicks in, then warm it up more before it stops. Not a big deal, but topped off a rather frustrating day.   

Saturday, while Les was working, I made lettuce wraps for lunch, with supplies that were in the fridge. The electric skillet on the dryer worked well, but I don't have any spatulas or big spoons. All those type things are somwhere in a storage building. So, I used scissors to stir the ground chicken.

When I had the sauce ready, I used a plastic spoon and stirred really fast so that it would not melt. The wraps were delicious and it was good to have some home cooking. 

After FIVE trips to the supply store, and spending $150, he got the new sink and faucet installed. And, here they are. I really didn't want to show you. I wanted to wait until the bathroom is finished and have a big reveal, but I'm too anxious for you to see this. 

 Isn't it beautiful? We added some open shelves at the end for those things that we like to keep handy like toothbrushes, so they won't have to sit out on the counter. Did you notice the mirror is gone? Of course, he had to take it off to put in the new counter and back splash. I got ready for a church dinner last night, and church this morning with a six inch mirror. Last night was OK, but today, when I went into the rest room at church, I was "surprised" by my new hair style. Well, I need to not be so vain, anyway.

We moved the RV out today. Well, actually, I wasn't home. I've been in Fort Worth today and I'm spending the night with Melody, Brad, and Aspen, but, the plan was to move it out. We are so grateful to the Rutledges for letting us use the RV, and we really enjoyed staying in it for those weeks. 

 I won't be doing any more real cooking, though, because I was washing the pans in the RV. 

You don't think I would put a pan in THAT sink, do you.