Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Packrattery!

Whew, trying to get the new house organized is certainly a chore! And my packrattery doesn't make it any easier. As I go about unpacking all the boxes, I am trying to sort out some items I no longer need/use/want. These items are going into stacks on the living room floor, and eventually those stacks will be further sorted. I have books to sell at Half Price Books, larger items like a receiver and stereo speakers that I need to photo and post on Craigslist, items to put in a future garage sale, and clothes that I think I'm going to try to sell at a resale shop. I am kind of intimidated by the resale shop (what if my clothes aren't trendy enough and they refuse them?!) but I'm going to force myself. And at least I am making an attempt to pare down and simplify! Maybe without so much stuff crowding my life, I'll accomplish more quality things! Here's to me.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Things: Stop breaking!!!

Geez! Can't anything work?! Argh! Plugged in my computer yesterday, POP! and it died. Opened the oven tonite to make a pizza and yanked the handle right off!! C'mon now, things!! Sigh. Well, at least they are easy to fix - the computer was just the power supply, which I replaced myself (nose in air) and the oven handle can be screwed (or glued!!) back on. At least I get to get a new tattoo on Saturday! Yeehaw!!! I would post it but my internet connection is sucking right now and I just don't have the patience to wait for it! Anyhoo, so yeah, my mom, sis, and I are all getting star tats. They aren't all the same design, but we'll all have stars on our bods. I love tats, I want so many. Another thing I'd like right now is a drink. I had to settle for a bottle of Asti that I had in my fridge from who-knows-when. It was still really good, though. Yumm. And now that we seem to be on the topic of things that I want: some really obnoxious music. Of course my boyfriend's band is playing tonight, but I chose to stay home since I have sooo much to do here. (note: all I've done so far is goof off online, drink champagne, and break the oven.... maybe I should rethink this.)

Monday, April 14, 2008

All moved in!

We are finally all moved in to the house, even though we aren't quite unpacked (okay, okay, not unpacked at all, it's more like camping -- except less organized). All I have in the kitchen so far is the sink cabinet, stove, and fridge. Cabinets are in the process of being assembled and installed (we bought the Ikea Varde cabinets). Then dishes can be unpacked. We will add more cabinets as we go. I think the next one will be a drawer unit - I didn't even think about where we would put silverware! I guess it will have to just go on the shelf for now. Far from ideal, but... it's a work in progress! I can't wait to get my craft room all set up and start making jewelry again! I also have lots of projects around the house, and I haven't even thought about the garden/yard yet. Besides, I need to find a job first so I can afford to do all this stuff. Then I'll have money but not the time to do it, which is the reverse of what I've got now! But that's okay, it's still fun. It is fun to watch the cats getting used to the place. Ciggy likes to lay on the concrete floor in the gameroom, and her nails click across the wood floor when she walks. We're going to have to trim those! We could hear her walking around all night last night. Trey is laying in her usual spot: the living room floor. I wonder if she misses the carpet? They both seem to like the windowsill, and Ciggy is really enjoying our new sheets. Once they seem used to the house, we can start letting them go outside. I wish my Smokey was here to explore the new house and the yard. Once the fence is repaired we might adopt a couple doggies, and I plan on getting some fish for my craft room. I'd like a turtle, and I would name it Ignatius, but turtles always seem bored and that would depress me. So fish instead, named after all the famous philosophers. Sounds like a plan to me!

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Floor looks great!

So at nearly the last minute, we decided to paint the kitchen/dining room floor instead of putting wood down. At the paint store, I was looking through the Benjamin Moore faux finish brochures, and I found an example that would be perfect for the floor:
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I showed it to our wonderful friend Kris who can do amazing things with paint, and she said it was do-able! The base coat is a concrete paint in Grey Flannel, and it is topped with metallic crafts paints in Espresso, Rust, Gold, & Teal. Doesn't it look great?
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She did a fabulous job and we are absolutely in debt to her! This is one of my favorite things in the house now! One of the best parts? It cost way less than $100 for everything! Wow!!

Monday, April 7, 2008

Still packing...

I am in my own personal hell. Wait, let me try and remember, was sanding glue off concrete floors worse than packing? Hmmm.... well maybe they are about even. But I'm plodding along like a good little girl, taping boxes and labeling them and stacking them up. At least I don't have to actually move them! Such a waste, ya know... pack the boxes, move them from this place to a new place, and unpack them. The stuff is only in the boxes for a few days, it feels like such a waste. At least I don't have any aversion to unpacking the stuff! The house is coming along, we'll be moved before we even have kitchen cabinets and appliances hooked up - we don't even have a single bathroom sink hooked up yet - but I'm going to wait on touching up some of the paint because we keep banging things into walls and corners and door trim and just messing it up. So I'll wait till we are moved and stuff is pretty much in place, then I'll go around and touch up (and hopefully not make too much of a mess). I would post some pics (and I really need to get my sister's camera back to her, I can't believe in all this packing that we haven't found ours yet) but I need to figure out how to resize photos and whatnot. But I promise, pictures soon!

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Pitching a fit!

I have to start packing (my boyfriend insists - we move in 4 days) and if there is anything I hate, it's packing. It's too overwhelming! It makes me curl into a dead roach position. Ack! Noooo! Please don't make me! Booo hoooo hooooo.......

*sniff*

I hate you.

Thursday, April 3, 2008

A typical day, as of lately....

Now that I'm temporarily unemployed, even though I'm enjoying the time 'off', I am also struggling with establishing a schedule and trying to feel like I've accomplished something at the end of the day. Of course a lot of my time has been spent at the house, trying to get it ready for our move-in. Today I'll be doing some painting over there, and perhaps some light cleaning as well - it's unbelievable how much dust has been kicked up and tracked all over the place! I asked my dad if building a new house was so dirty and dusty, and he said no. So that seals the deal, next time we will just build new! lol! (I wish!)

Anyhow, a typical day is now comprised of waking around 9am (although the cats would love it if I stayed in bed longer but I told them I can't be as lazy as they are) and immediately making some 'coffee' in my Bialetti stovetop espresso maker. Then I'll get online and check email and apply for jobs and maybe read a couple personal finance blogs. After I 'wake up' enough I ponder the rest of the day: run an errand or two, do some stretching or maybe hit the gym (which I actually have yet to do, since working at the house has been serving as my 'workout' lately), what will I cook for dinner... all this usually gets me to about lunchtime, at which point I will get ready and make a bit of food and then be on my way to whatever I've decided I have to do that day. Evenings usually include cooking and watching some Star Trek Voyager episodes from Netflix. Bed around 9:30ish, sleep, rinse and repeat.