The goals are in sight

This picture of the kitchen was taken pre-trim painting, but we did finish the trim last night. Now, I just need to clean the disgusting floor and the beer bottle strewn sink and then build the counter so we can move in on Sunday.
This is after the first coat of "Fiery Fuchsia" on the boys' floor. I did 2 more coats yesterday, and now we just have to leave it alone until we move in. Sebastian wanted a magenta room, so a magenta floor was our compromise.

And on the school front, Sebastian did get into 1st grade (good) but they want him to go to the school across town (bad). I'm sure that school is fine, but either I would have to drive him twice a day and waste a lot of gas, or send him on a bus so he can waste an hour or so a day riding around with a bunch of hooligans. The principal said to think about it, and he is looking into whether any of their 1st graders are definitely not coming back, and then we talk on Monday. We're going to tell him we want our neighborhood school or nothing. Sebastian really wants to walk to school. So, whether it's a 4 block walk to a school building or a 4 second walk to our living room, he will be walking.

Most ridiculous thing I heard all day

At the Kindergarten registration, after Sebastian, along with 10 other kids, had been under observation for an hour or so.

Me: I would prefer that he start in the 1st grade. What is your opinion?

Kindergarten teacher: My gut says he should start in K. We get a lot of fluent readers in K.* Because, really, if you miss out on that social component, it can never be made up. But the other kids always catch up academically.

*Exactly the opposite of what I was told in February.

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Imaginary diatribe directed toward the aforementioned teacher.

Okay, first of all, you are suggesting that Sebastian is somehow socially inept. As if he is incapable of relating to other people and especially children his age and younger. And second of all, have you even met anyone in this world? There are a hell of a lot of people out there that are decades older than my almost 6 year old who are unable to read as well as he can. They obviously "caught up academically". And there are also a lot of socially retarded people that have attended Kindergarten and it apparently didn't do them any favors. And you cannot tell me that the entire 1st grade class is full of impeccably well-behaved, well-mannered children and that Sebastian will be the only one bumbling around because he didn't spend a year sitting in a room full of 5 year olds being taught letters and colors and shapes that he has known since he was 15 months old. It is not his fault that you have a completely arbitrary age requirement. The boy next door just moved here from CT and is 11 days younger than Sebastian, but he gets to be in 1st grade because the cut-off date in CT is different so he could go to K last year. And I'll tell you what... he is not any more socially capable than my child. He just happened to be in the right state at the right time.

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And the worst part of all this, besides the fact that I am trying to completely remodel a house in 3 days at the same time I'm dealing with this bullshit, is that I don't even really want to send him. Why would I when this is what I get from these people?

Now I have to call the principal at 8am tomorrow to try to convince him to accept Sebastian into 1st grade. School starts a week from tomorrow. Will they have time to test him? Will they even bother offering that option? Who knows, since they have been too lazy to call me back or try to set anything up. The principals of the three elementary schools apparently get together tomorrow for their little draft process where they discuss who will take which children. "I'll take the dyslexic and the stutterer if you'll take the kid with the obnoxious mom." I can't wait to find out if we get picked!

I am a renovation addict and I have the best enablers ever

Jeremy was right. I do have a total addiction to working on this house. I can't help myself at all anymore. Yesterday was my little painting party in which we painted the walls in the boys' room and in the kitchen. The kitchen unfortunately needs another coat, but the boys' room only needs minor touching up. The bonus last night was that Dustin and Rob managed to get themselves caught in my little web and helped entirely strip the wallpaper off of Jeremy's and my bedroom's walls. Oh yes, that job is done. We finished up at about 11:30 last night. I didn't fall asleep until 1am.

I was back at the new house at 7:30 this morning. Yes, folks, I have an obsession. I realized that between the sleep deprivation and the paint fumes that I was really starting to lose my mind when I found myself thinking that it would be really cute if the house had a mouse hole. Someone needs to save me from myself.

Now, having accomplished a little more than 11 hours work in a 22 hour period, it is time to work on the other project: getting Sebastian into school. Kindergarten registration for stragglers is tomorrow morning. This is what they are making me bring him to despite my refusal to register him for anything other than 1s grade. The negative woman I have been dealing with told Jeremy on the phone that I will not be able to talk to anyone about Sebastian's abilities and needs, but she is going to be wrong. We'll see what happens. Considering Sebastian changed his mind again this evening and now doesn't want to go to school, anything is possible.

Let's hear it for the boys

So, not only do I have the best girlfriends in the world, but their men are super awesome, too. Last night, while I was getting covered in horrible dust from pulling down the ceiling, Quinn's fiance Rob was helping Jeremy prime the kitchen. And they didn't give up until the wee hours when the work was complete, so that was good. Cortney and her honey are slated to help us move in next Sunday, so Dustin gets to help, too.

And the reason I was pulling down the ceiling was that Amanda and Christine's misters, Nathan and Stephen, were coming today to replace said ceiling with brand spanking new sheetrock.

You probably remember this hole:

Which I spent a horrible couple of hours expanding to look like this: And this:

Which Nathan finished off because he is far more fantastic at demolition work than I could ever hope to be. (Lucky him.) Then, when all the really dirty work was done, Stephen waltzed in to help slap up a new ceiling. And here it is:Meanwhile, I was learning how to cut sheetrock to repair a big hole where the refrigerator will go and painting the the pantry. Voila! I still need to do a second coat and paint the shelves white. The top has 2 coats already.

And this is what the boys' room looks like after priming. It should be a smidgen darker blue when it's all done tomorrow night. That's when the kitchen will also be painted. I can't wait!

With one eye on the Trident

Sebastian: So, I'd really like to taste something, but my throat doesn't really want to do any work...

Yes, I am a liar

I had every intention of not working on the house all day. And despite what Jeremy may have said about home renovation being crack to me, he's wrong. It's more like crank-- lots of energy, but less confusion/rage. Not that I really know about these things of course. Test my hair if you want.

Anyway, the roofer did call at 7:30am, and I did run right over. That is true. But if you can get a roofer, you take him. The good news is that everything has been tightened up, and it will be pretty easy to tear down the chimney. Have I told you about the chimney? It's in "imminent danger" of falling down and is also shifting some of the interior walls. Just a smidge. So, it needs to go. Hence, the power vent I talked to the other nice worker man about yesterday. But I was too afraid to tear down and roof over the chimney and then have the power vent not work out. So I will have to hope for another 7:30 phone call in a few weeks. At least then I will already be at the correct location and not have to scramble madly for some random clothing and a pair of flip-flops and run 2 blocks without eating any breakfast.

And while the roofers did their do, I got a lot done. The boys' room is ready to prime. I knocked down a shelf where the refrigerator will go, pulled out approx. 100 of the 1 million hooks lining the pantry walls and shelves, removed a few nails and screws, and took down the wall mounted can opener, pencil sharpener, paper towel rack and over-the-sink mirror (this should only happen in a bathroom) and the wood behind it. Then I spackled the place. Prompting me to wonder yet again if there weren't more holes than wall.

Then I took the kids to rent more of their crack (DVDs) and bought a toilet seat to replace the horrifyingly moldy padded one that they so generously left for us. And I did the grocery shopping since our diet has been about 33% decent breakfasts, 33% take out, 33% pasta and 1% chewing gum.

So, I lied. I didn't do anything fun with the kids today. And I broke my promise not to take them to the new house until Daddy came home. So hold out hope that Daddy is a better parent than I tomorrow when I clear out for the IKEA roadtrip!

Photos you've all been waiting for

I actually remembered the camera today, so I can show you all just what we've been up to as far as the work required on the house. I had 2 awesome helpers today without whom I would have accomplished practically nothing. So, thank you thank you thank you, Diane and Amanda!

Remember this floor? This is the living room. The behemoth floor sander, which fooled me by looking like my mother's old Hoover, was practically impossible to lift, so it definitely wasn't making it to the second floor bedrooms. It was going to be the living room, or nothing at all, in terms of sanding, so I got started.
This is about all I managed. The light brown edging was some sort of paint that, instead of sanding away, got all gummy and ruined the sandpaper. It was expensive sandpaper. So, I avoided that paint and then gave up completely.
At which point, I turned around to discover this apparition on the wall. That door had always been open previously, so I never noticed it until today. Creepy!

I abandoned the living room for a slightly easier project-- the hallway. Note the hideous blue flooring. I'm not entirely sure what it was made of, but it came up quite easily.

Leaving me with this wood flooring which, despite needing a paint job, is infinitely nicer than that blue mess.
And as for the boys' room, it is almost done thanks to Amanda (and to Di for watching the kids). I thought Amanda was just going to stop by and take a peek, but then she hustled me with the old "I've never stripped wallpaper before; is it hard?" and then did a whole wall by herself in record time. She's terrific like that.
I drastically underestimated the amount of spackle I would need, using half the container on just the long wall (at right). But this whole thing is a learning experience and I'm loving every filthy, dusty minute of it. After 7+ hours of work today, though, I am beat.

Tomorrow, I will try not to accomplish anything other than phone calls until Jeremy comes home. Then, we prime the boys' room!

Another day older and deeper in debt

I accomplished most of my list today. Maybe more. I made my calls, but had to leave messages. But most importantly, I bought the refrigerator. It was pretty painless considering I had to find one that was both small enough to fit in our pantry and large enough to hold food for a family of 4. Oh, and it needed to be reasonably priced.


Done and done. It arrives Tuesday.


The kids had fun at the lake, which they deserved after being dragged around on endless errands and being forced to watch DVDs while we work. And work we did. Jeremy and I spent 2.5 hours stripping more wallpaper and spackling. Now 1.67 walls are totally ready to paint. We're getting there.


Tomorrow is floor sanding day. I'm not overly excited about this task. Especially now that I think we will just repaint the floors instead of trying to get them back to wood. I also get to meet with a man about converting our furnace to a power vent instead of using the leaky, tipping chimney which will kill us all with carbon monoxide.

We will soon be penniless. Remember when we were debt-free? Boy, those were the days, huh?

Thank you all for your support and offers of help. Don't be surprised if I take you up on them!

Hey! I DO have my own house today, dammit! (And I'm insane.)

As of around 10:25 this morning, we are official homeowners. Well, I guess the bank technically owns the house, but let's ignore that technical shit, because our names are on the deed, not the bank's.

First, I almost had a freak out during the walk through when I realized for the umpteenth time just how much work I had to do. But, we still went downtown and signed the papers anyway. Then we came home and rounded up Christine and the crazy kids so she could see our new abode. And I realized for the umpteenth time that I actually like the house, despite how sloppy it is. It's like Britney Spears-- it could be cute if you cleaned it up a little. And I also realized the house is sturdier than I feared. The kids were running headlong into walls (prompting the admonition "watch out so the ceiling doesn't fall on your head!")-- and the walls stayed up! That is way better than I expected.

We went out for a celebratory pizza and then went to the new house (third time today, for those keeping score) to start ripping down wallpaper. The kids watched a DVD while we tore up their new room to prepare for "Utah Sky", their color choice.

Jeremy left for a concert, and the kids and I went to the farm to get our CSA share. Here comes the insanity. They had organic peaches for only 40 cents/pound. They were so cheap because they were canning quality, ie. starting to rot. Luckily, I only had $2 with me, so I didn't get into too much trouble, but as I turned on the car and looked over at my box of rotting peaches and realized I had to go home and immediately start canning them, I knew that not only am I an official homeowner, I am also an official crackpot. A very tired official crackpot.

So, I went home, canned a quart of peaches and 2 half-pints of peach butter, fed the children dinner, and then took them over to the new house (trip #4) so I could strip more wallpaper. One wall is (almost) finished. It is the longest wall. It only took about 4 man hours. Somehow, I don't think I'll be finishing the room tomorrow like I hoped.... Oh, and I forgot to feed myself in the midst of all this.

On tomorrow's docket, I will be:

1. calling a roofer.
2. calling about window replacement.
3. calling to switch the phone.
4. buying a refrigerator.
5. going to the lake if the weather is nice.
6. stripping wallpaper until I fall asleep standing up.

I am living the dream!

The pick of the pics

Here's a little slideshow of our recent trip to the NH seacoast. There are periwinkles, interesting rocks, children, and even a rainbow, among other things. There are not hairy moles, blurry landscapes, or thumbs. So, I think it's reasonably watchable.

I heart bumper stickers

They may be conspicuously absent on my own car, but I do love a good- or a crazy- bumper sticker. Christine has spotted a couple recently that defy all good sense and good taste. I have to paraphrase, since I didn't see them myself, but they were:

You are proof that cowboys humped buffalo

I'm only speeding because I have to poop

Then on the way home today I spotted my new favorite. My old favorite was:

Who would Jesus bomb?

My new favorite is:

Jesus is coming-- Look busy

I may still be a "flatlander" but...

I think I am officially now a New Englander. Despite temperatures topping out at about 70 degrees before the windchill, I did go boogie boarding at every opportunity in water I'm estimating as being about 65 degrees.

The weather for our trip left a little to be desired, but we made the best of it and had a really good time. My sore elbows are finally better (who knew boogie boarding was so tough on the joints?) and I'm gearing up for 2 weeks of home renovation starting Tuesday. Well, 2 weeks before we move in. Then, at least 2 years after that. I'm so optimistic it borders on insanity.

Our closing is first thing Tuesday morning, so by lunch time Jeremy and I will be homeowners! At least his business trip for this week was cancelled. That gives me more opportunity to get some work done. I have my calendar all worked out and I'm going to do my best to stick to it. I've got some terrific friends all lined up to help me and I guarantee to return the favor at the earliest opportunity.

I'll do my level best to keep you all updated, but the rest of the month is going to be nutty getting the house ready and possibly sending Sebastian to school. Keep your fingers crossed (Kathrin, hold your thumb) that I don't pull down the wall with the wallpaper!

Greetings from the ocean!

Well, we're here at the beach and the weather is spotty. Many aborted trips to the water, only to hear thunder and have to walk back to the house. But on the bright side, it's a lovely day today and I got in a few good runs on my new boogie board.

More pictures and stories to come when we get back to Bratt... Have a great week!