Guessing Game

What is the most destructive animal in New England?  Coyotes?  Bears?  Wild house kitties?

Whatever you've guessed, it's wrong.

It's mice.  In my opinion, anyway.

Last winter when they were looking for someplace to get out of the cold, mice invaded our shed outside.  They destroyed anything paper or cloth-like, made nests in fertilizer, and poohed all over every surface.  It took Hubby the better part of a three-day weekend to clean out the shed, and then later on get a dumpster service to get rid of all the spoils of war.

And now, over the weekend--A family of mice (or one member of the family being a real jerk) has destroyed my central air conditioning.  They snoodled right into the unit outside at the first mention of cooler weather, and not for the first time.  Last time it was just some wires.  This time it's the whole kit and caboodle.  The compressor's toast, and the air handler in the attic too.  Should I feel bad that they perished in the resulting POOF?  No, no I do not.  Does this make me heartless?  I don't think so.

The resulting cost is similar to that of a small car, and our home insurance does not cover acts of "rodent damage."  I could seriously cry.

I know that it's going to be OK.  We have options, and the silver lining is that today is the first day of fall.  Not exactly air-conditioning weather, and this didn't happen in July.  It didn't destroy our heating system as well.  For these reasons alone I'm thankful.

But still.  Mice eating, and then blowing up my air conditioning.  Ugh, it's always something.

Today's Special

After 2.5 years of living in this house, we're finally getting around to decorating some of it.  Recently I had a thought:  that if I had to go through another winter of being stuck in our house because of the weather, I would need some stuff to look at besides bare walls.

Check it out!

I had an idea (from Pinterest) to repurpose an old window as a menu board.  We do write a weekly menu (and actually stick to it 90% of the time!) and I thought that this would look cool.  And I was right.

I got an old window from my friend Danielle, whose mother collects them for art projects.  Brian cleaned it and then touched up the frame.  Then he got some chalkboard spray paint and did the panes.  Voila!  Our very own "specials" board.  Not expensive either, just had to get the paints.

Next up, adding some oomph to our living room.  We're at least two years away from re-doing our living room so I think we can hang some things over the couch.  And taking down the awful wallpaper in the hallway and painting.

The Bathroom Reno Chronicles

This weekend was like starring in our own episode of "Renovation Realities" on the DIY network!  Brian and I enjoy watching this show and laughing over some of the unfortunate (and often self-created) incidents while people renovate their kitchens.  (Usually a kitchen, sometimes a bathroom but not really much else)  We however, do NOT like being that couple.

Scene:  a master bathroom.

Budget:  A little, not a lot.  Luckily there's no big plans, just ripping out white beadboard that clashes with the rest of the woodwork, painting, etc.  Oh, and changing out a light over the sink AND getting rid of the godawful vanity top.  I've hated it since we bought the house, it's a light tan (fake) marble and just....ugly.  Previous work:  Brian replaced the exhaust fan to a quieter model so I wouldn't wake up at the crack of dawn with him when he went to shower.

Time Frame:  unlike the crazy couples on the show, we don't have a deadline.  The bathroom is going to be workable the entire time (minus a shower or two on the weekends.)  Neither of us is using vacation time to make this happen.

First weekend:  trim comes down like a dream.  Only to discover that there's no WALL behind the toilet.  So the rest of the weekend is gobbled up in un-installing the toilet, and then drywalling, patching, mudding and sanding the wall.

The following weekend is all about the light that needs to be replaced.  We chose a pretty brushed nickel model, which Brian quickly gets hooked up.  And then takes down....because the medicine cabinet doors are brushing against the fixture.  Another trip to Home Depot, re-wiring, more patching.  The end result is great, ta-daa!

This past weekend is vanity replacement time!  Fun times were not had.  Thankful again there's no TV camera footage of the issues and foul language.  The kids are tired, cranky and craving attention.  Hubby's tired, grouchy and made three trips to Home Depot.  Thanks to daylight savings time and HD closing at 7pm on Sundays, we had no sink overnight.  Better than no toilet, right?  So we're looking to unwind over a hot meal and Sunday night TV.  Only no one's defrosted the chicken, and we're making do with sausage.  Finally I just fed the tired kids some leftovers and we settle in for the evening with Rizzoli and Isles.  Only to get woken up at 5:30 from our poor old pup, and it's off again to the races.

Next up is painting, and then I THINK we'll be ready for curtains, framed art and rugs.  I'm looking forward to posting a photo of the finished bathroom in all its glory!  And finding this post later on and laughing at it with Brian.  We'll get there.

A Very Scattered Wednesday Post

-My calendar, both personally and professionally, is looking ridiculous for March.  I'm wondering how to clone Brian and I and see how we can get things done.  Doctors appointments (my first with the kidney specialist), birthday parties, school stuff, etc.  Aughhh!

-But on the good news front, Maureen is coming to visit this weekend!  We're going to eat delicious food at home, and do some serious knitting.  It sounds so, so good.

-Piles of snow everywhere.  It's all anyone can talk about, that and the condition of the roads.  It's getting depressing.  Spring is coming, right?

-We had a pipe freeze in the house again. With the re-zoning of the house, it only took out the bedrooms while the rest of the house was toasty.   Brian and I went out to a nice sushi dinner last Friday and afterwards we had a romantic time trolling the local 24-hour Walmart and scoring the last two space heaters in the place.  Brian's finally isolated the issue in the garage, and we're making amends so this doesn't happen anymore.  And hurrah...no broken pipes when it thawed!  I love plastic pipes.

-Speaking of house things....we're re-doing the master bathroom!  No more pale, newspaper-background paint and white beadboard.  It's going to be lovely when it's finished.  Right now it's not-so-lovely and on it's way to being trashed.  When it's done in hopefully a few weeks though, it's going to be pretty and so worth it.

-Knitting for some babies being born on Brian's side of the family this year!  Now that the Wallaby sweater for Will is done, I'm working on a scarf for my old assistant, Leona.  It's in bright pinks and purples because she loves brights best.  THEN bring on the baby knitting!!!

I guess that's all the news that's fit to print.  

That Neverending Cleaning Thing

The Craft Room Cleanout marches on.  The floor is finally clear, but every surface is littered with stuff.  I've got all of my knitting needles tossed into a laundry basket, which is kind of pointless since they're all poking OUT of the basket.  I've put aside a bunch of yarn from leftover projects and single, lonely skeins (Looking for love on Match.com) that I'm putting to use in a new yearlong charity project.  I'm going to make hats and mittens for the local Youth and Family Services outlet, and donate them at the end of the year.  And man, do I have unfinished projects, a lot of cross-stitch stuff mostly.  Some baby blanket squares that just need to be sewn together, then donated.  Some things require more work, but many are just a couple of hours away from being a work in progress to a finished object!

two things I learned at Christmastime this year...to avoid excess stress, upload pics throughout the year instead of all at once and WEAVE IN YOUR ENDS, DAMMIT.

But now it's time for another game of:   Finish or Frog?

This damned, damned sweater.  I started it in March of 2012...at the wedding of my brother in law in Pennsylvania. Literally....I was working on it in the church during rehearsal.  All that's left is button and neck bands, and short sleeves.  Why is that, you say?  The sleeves have too many stitches to do them on double-pointed needles and FOR SHAME I have not yet taken the time to learn the Magic Loop method.  From what I understand it will take a Youtube video or two and I'll be good to go.  So....laziness?  It stays in the "finish pile."

This is a cute sweater.  I started it...oh I don't know, two years ago for my niece?  It certainly won't fit her now, and I screwed up royally on the lace bottom.  But for some reason I just cannot bring myself to frog it.  Maybe I'll put button bands on it and give it a good soak, then put it in a pile for gifts.  The only person that knows there are mistakes is me.  Well, now YOU know, but are you gonna tell??  :)

An adorable baby blanket that I started last year.  It's more complicated looking than it actually is, the hearts are pretty easy to make.  What happened with this project is that I started working on other things and didn't note where I was in the pattern......so I'm going to frog it.  Perhaps I'll start it again later, it seems less maddening to do that than try to figure out what the hell I am supposed to do next.

 My 2012 Ravellenic Games project.  The idea is to start a project during the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics, and be finished with it by the end of the Closing Ceremony.  There are people out there that start adult-sized sweaters during this time, AND finish!  I chose a shawl, the Marrowstone Shawl to be exact.   Major fail, I got the lace edging done and never went back.  I should've chosen a freakin' hat.  Time to frog, my dear, no matter how pretty the lace is.

Lastly....a pair of plain vanilla socks for me that I started in the old house.  I moved 18 months ago.  (Have you noticed that "Projects for me" always take a backseat?) I'm at the toes of the first sock.  Finish Pile.

And now, instead of "having to" buy a second bookcase, I have room for things!

Weekend Photo Fun

Saturday Adventures:  The Karate Kid and Mr. Cool, getting ready for the Easter Egg Obstacle Hunt at karate.  It was so much fun!  At first Sean wasn't interested because he thought "I'm not old enough for karate."  So I told him that I was old enough for him and we'd go together.  Once he realized that it was picking up eggs and getting candy, he was allllll about it!  

Hunting for Easter eggs in the Family Egg Hunt at my parent's on Sunday.   Gorgeous day for an egg hunt! (And yes....Sean adores those Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sunglasses!)

Family trip to Home Depot yesterday.  That's usually how we celebrate Patriot's Day, with some sort of home project.  'Cause that's how we roll in our house.  This is the Big Kid "driving" a tractor.  "Mom, if you're gonna take my picture, I don't want to smile.  I wanna look like I'm really driving it!"  

Procrastinator by Nature

The title says it all....I'm so bad at getting things done on time.  I tend to lose myself in things and always think I have more time than I really do.  I'm guilty of unloading the dishwasher while waiting for a bagel to toast.....and then burning the bagel.  Supposed to be looking up something on my bank statement?  The computer only seems to go to Facebook or Ravelry as soon as I sit down at the keyboard!

I was spending a little snow day time flipping thru magazines and I came across an article published every month for the Happiness Project.  Forgive me, I get a lot of magazines and can't remember which magazine this came from.  Anyway, I read magazines in the order in which the articles catch my eye and the Happiness Project ones are usually one of the last.  I was reading it today though, and an idea for more happiness in your life resonated with me.  The writer had an idea for something called the Power Hour.

No, it's not an hour of exercise, but I could certainly use that too.  It's an hour-long exercise in the war against nagging things.   You know what I'm talking about when I say "Nagging Things."  Every woman in the world has that list of nagging things that never get done because there are other, better things to do.  The writer suggests taking an hour a week to do these things and by doing that, your happiness level will go up.

At first I thought....it's probably hogwash.  Then I thought back to some time in the past couple of weeks at work.  My housing certificates and our occupancy permit have been framed yet sitting on top of my filing cabinet for over a year.  I keep blowing the dust off them and thinking "Someday the maintenance super will hang these for me."  He splits his time between many housing sites though, and really only has time to "fight the fires" at any of them.  So one morning I said "Well, why the hell can't I hang them??"  I brought a hammer and some nails to work and voila!  My certificates now grace my wall.  I even got an inexpensive wall clock and hung it in the otherwise bare lobby.  Residents noticed it right away and remarked at how nice it looked.  What surprised ME is how much I noticed and how good I felt getting those things done!  Ok, I'm game to try this "Power Hour" thing.

Here is my list of naggy things.  Cleaning makeup brushes.  (I have sensitive skin but never take the time to clean them.)  Organizing my closet.  (there's at least a dozen pairs of shoes, a few scarves, perhaps some Christmas wrap and I know a yoga mat on the floor in there.)  Cleaning out the car and buying a new air freshener.  (the one I bought last week although works nicely, is the same scent as the one that I bought when Will barfed in the car two vacations ago, and now I associate that scent with THAT scent.  Sorry, Febreeze.)  Going through photos and uploading them to Shutterfly.    Clearing off the living room shelf from clutter and finding a place to donate our old curtains that I have folded and piled up, despite them not fitting a single window in this house.  Taking time to figure out what's wrong with the auto soap dispenser in our bathroom instead of just leaving it there and hoping that it repairs itself.  Going thru all of the kids books and weeding out the "baby level" ones that they no longer enjoy.  And the best one:  Sitting down and learning how to use iTunes to put music on my iPod for the car, instead of not knowing how and proclaiming myself 'Too Stupid to use iTunes!"  Today, I'm picking one and spending some time on it.  Can't wait for the "happy" to wash over me.  :)

Dress My Windows

Good Gawd, I hate curtains.  I hate how I always have the wrong size window for what I am looking at, and why fabric for windows is so damn expensive.  Plus, with the exception of our family room, I hate that the previous owner had such gaudy taste in curtains!

When we first moved in (actually when we were LOOKING at the house) I noticed that although the house was empty, there was a load of curtains in the washing machine.  Cue to moving-in day, and well, let's say that the seal on the washing machine is incredible.  And if you leave wet curtains in there for months, mildew will permeate in the washing machine and whatever's in there is definitely now trash.  Looking at the curtains though, I knew that they were destined to end up in the trash even if they were mildew-free.

Except one of their kin was still in the kitchen as a valance.  Every time I looked at it I resisted the urge to tear it down immediately.

I never took a photo of the window while THIS was up there.  It was ugly, trust me.

So imagine my surprise while I was at Christmas Tree Shops last week, just poking around.  BAM!  Country-style valances in blue, and only four bucks a pop!  

I dragged out the iron today and Brian hung these beauties.  So much better!

This is such a little thing, but it feels so much bigger in the progress department.

Next up--getting some drapes on the slider door out to the backyard.  Because even though no one can see inside (It's all woods in the backyard with no houses directly behind us)  it still feels like we're living in a fishbowl.

Newness of it All

It's been a crazy week, with trying to get a routine down.  Even though we've been living here 2.5 months now, it all feels new again.  Will almost missed the bus yesterday, but luckily ran like heck to get there and the bus driver waited for him.  :)  I miss having the bus stop directly across the street from my house.  But, if he does miss the bus the school is at mile .75 of my 2.6 mile commute.  Not that I'm rooting for that, mind you.  He seems to be enjoying school for the most part.  He's back to being super-tired at night, and now there's a new thing called homework.  No arguments yet.

Next week we'll have something else new:  Seanie is starting preschool.  Can you believe it's that time already????  I certainly can't.  He will go two days per week, and tomorrow I am taking him there to check out the place.  Oh, I do hope it goes well!

How about one more new thing...  We've replaced the screamy dishwasher!  Hubby just finished hooking up the new one.  It only took three trips to Home Depot.  Any homeowner knows that at least two trips is customary.  

So we're off and running....without much time to get used to the "new" again.  We're getting there, though.  In the next few weeks we're bound to find a groove.  That's the hope, anyway.

Tax-Free Weekend

I've always looked at tax holidays as a gimmick just to get people to flock to stores and buy a bunch of stuff they don't need.  I've done enough of that in my life, and 6.25% savings isn't enough of a reason to go out there and buy a TV for the sake of no sales tax.  However, this was the first time I actually was looking to purchase something and it coincided with that!  Happy to participate and stimulate the economy, Massachusetts.  It also didn't hurt that we had a 10% off our entire purchase at Lowe's, either.  That is one of the things that's great about moving to a new house, all these companies send you coupons and stuff.  In fact, I've got a 20% off Bed Bath and Beyond one that I may go out and use later!

So, the dishwasher in this house.  Absolutely HATE IT, it is so loud and it screams kind of like a woman.  We wait to run it at night as we're going to bed, it's so disruptive.  You can only turn up the TV so loud to drown it out before it wakes up the kids.  And the fridge...the freezer on the bottom is great and I love having an icemaker (when the ice isn't freezer burned...ugh that's gross) but the ice eats up a lot of room.  We'd been talking about getting a chest freezer for the garage.  So dishwasher and chest freezer:  PROCURED.  To be delivered in the next ten days.  Which is fine, because Brian spent a good amount of time clearing out the rest of the boxes in the garage while I was yarn-shopping yesterday.  (Have I said lately how awesome my husband is??)  

We were shopping kids-free, so it was kind of like being a kid in a candy shop.  We picked up a pot and pan rack for the kitchen cabinet, so now it's easy to put away pots and pans, instead of having to put some on the floor and counter while you are looking for which one you need.   We walked past the lighting department and this chandelier caught our eye.  Now, the chandelier in the dining room is functional, but kind of dated and ugly.  So why the heck not??  Brian installed it this morning, and it went quickly and smoothly.  

BEFORE:

AFTER:

 

Lastly, the paint department.  I love looking at paint swatches and trying to decide on colors.  We picked an off-white for the boys' bathroom and I'm looking forward to painting hopefully in the next few weeks.  And we have swatches all over our bedroom, from purples and grays to ocean blue and even an accent red.  Not looking to start soon but it's never too early to start planning.  

Blank Canvas

OK, we've been living in the new house for three weeks.  And it's really feeling like home, even to Joey.  Just this morning he let us know that he loves it here by lying on the kitchen mat and snuggling against the cabinets.  This is his way of "settling in" and accepting.  That, and he isn't Velcro Dog anymore.  :)

So now that we've been here for just a little bit of time, I'm starting to get decorating ideas.  My decorating theme in the last house....oh who the hell am I kidding.  There was no theme.  There was a couple of framed pictures, some things thrown around and clutter and chaos.  So if you consider that a theme, I was rockin' it.  Since we're going to be living here for quite some time, I want to take the time to decorate and make it feel like it reflects us and our taste.  But honestly, I'm not sure what "our taste" is.  I guess I will find that out along the way, it's kind of an adventure.  And thanks to Pinterest, a very fun one at at!

The first room to be done will be the boys' bathroom.  This one will be the easiest, since it's just paint for the most part.  Our realtor kept referring to this house as "the girl house."  It definitely has a very feminine touch:  pink master bedroom, cherry wallpaper in the family room, etc."  The bathroom for the boys is painted lilac.  With a fluffy white curtain on the window and the switchplates have flowers and makeup brushes on them.  Doesn't get "girlier" than that, I guess.  If they liked it, we'd keep it.  But since they don't, we're getting rid of it.

This is not a boys' bathroom.  Clearly not.  So it will be the first one to work on.  I'm thinking that with the green tile floor (which I'm not crazy about but not replacing) that green will be a theme.  Nothing too juvenile either, or licensed characters because the kids' tastes vary daily.  Sean loves Cars right now, and Will's really into legos.  And although they both love penguins and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I don't want to do either one as a theme.


Here's our pink bedroom!  (Complete with messed-up blinds that Joey attacked when he got spooked by the neighbor mowing our lawn.)  We will be purchasing new bedroom furniture soon and I am thinking that a light turquoise color in the walls would be really pretty.  Brian loves the idea of an accent wall behind the bed, like we have already.  Of course, both of us want this pink-striped-and-flowers wallpaper GONE.  That's as far as we've gotten though.

And our master bathroom.....very boring, quite blah.  No idea what colors yet, but the woodwork will (hopefully) be done over in white to match the beadboard, and this countertop is going.  Along with the faucet....that's definitely going too.

No hurry, the adventure is just beginning.

Suddenly Superwoman

Superwoman, I'm not. 

But in the past few weeks....I wasn't so sure for a little bit.  For instance, I finished three knitting projects on deadline in a few days time.  That NEVER happens.  One of them was even something that was languishing on the needles since June.  (that's a little embarassing...I'll be honest.  Esp since it's a sweet baby sweater for a baby that was born in.....August.)  I now have unrealistic expectations of what I think I can knit up before the holidays come screeching around the corner. 

I'm excellent at playing an Ostrich.  Deadlines approaching?  Things need to be sent back to school?  Deny, deny, deny.  I'm the Queen of Avoidance, of thinking I have more time to accomplish tasks than I really do.  But even I couldn't ignore just how full of stuff my basement is getting.  So I started keeping a tally of how many bags of stuff we can bring up, be it trash or donatables.  (It's a word because I said so.)  So far seven bags of clothes, toys and baby stuff out of the house and countless amounts of trash.  This house is going to feel much lighter and it's going to be easier to put it on the market come 2014. 

And work today!  Pumped to get going today, plunging through files, sending letters, shredding the huge shred pile....best Monday I've had in a long time. 

I don't know whether it's the fact that the sciatica is gone, or the job is calming down, or WHAT.  I feel great, better than I have in a long time.  But just in case I haven't morphed into Superwoman over the past week, I promise to *try* not to see if I can fly my Invisible Plane, or stop evildoers with my incredibly cool bracelets. 

The Best Toys

At this stage, the best toys aren't even "toys" at all.  The best toys are commonplace things, like laundry baskets or boxes.  These two boys of mine adore boxes!  And with the furniture that we ordered from Ikea, there was certainly a lot of cardboard.  While I was in Florida, Brian sent me pictures of the boys sitting in their cardboard boxes (which Will lovingly calls a "cabinet") with their blankets, and markers.  Later on the boxes became "planes" so they could fly down to visit Mommy in Florida.  The possibilities are endless.  So while it's driving me a little batty to have ample amounts of cardboard around the house, the creativity that's going around is really great.

We're loving our "new" office and family room.  So much has changed in this house in the past couple of weeks, with moving everything into the office, setting up the family room, etc.  Brian and I agree that the house feels cozier and there's definitely more space in the family room to move around.  There's still some work to be done:  the walls in the office are bare and need some decoration, we're going to get some baskets for the storage unit in the family room and we're going to do away with the toybox.  However so far, we're quite happy with the results.

Here's an Oxymoron for You

#79:  Replace the kitchen trash can with a fancy Simple Human one.

This blog post is brought to you by an oxymoron:  "Wow, that's a really pretty trash can!"

But it is.  I can't help saying it, it's really pretty!  (Yes, I'm aware that I'm posting about a TRASH CAN and am excited about it!)

When looking at photos that I've taken I always can't help but notice the ugly, gross white trash can in the background.  My eye is drawn to it instantly, and I'm always thinking "ugh, I should've moved that thing before I took the picture!"  We've tried re-arranging the kitchen but the spot that it's in is pretty much the only spot it fits.

The new trash can opens with a step of your foot, and you can lock it open.  And the best part of all?  Brushed stainless steel, meaning NO fingerprints.  Will and Sean gave it their best shot when we got it out of the box and it seems to be holding up.  Which is definitely an improvement over the old one.

One Fun Saturday

Saturday....ahhhhhh.  It was a completely chaotic week and I wasn't sorry to have it end.  We all woke up around 8:30am, which is certainly sleeping in!  I am so lucky to have kids that like to sleep.  After a fantastic breakfast of omelettes and potatoes, we were looking for something to do to get out of the house for a bit.  Ikea!!!!

With Sean going into a toddler bed and the boys sharing a room, we'll be finding ourselves with an "extra" room. Look who's getting their office/craft room back!!  And by craft, I just mean yarn stash because under the desk is where it's stored.  We'll send the crib and changing table to the basement for now, take down the Winnie the Pooh border, re-paint the walls a summer sky blue (leftovers from the nursery) and move the desk in there.  Then with the desk out of the family room, we'll be able to turn the whole room into a playroom.  Which is perfect, because that's pretty much what it is already.  Perhaps a little more space can make it so all of these toys are easier to organize.  A Mom can dream, right?  :)

So to Ikea we went, and spent a few hours looking at storage solutions.  We ended up purchasing a new TV stand with lots of storage, and a bookcase.  And all of it was way too big to fit into our car with the boys and their carseats, not to mention the double stroller too.  So it's all being shipped tomorrow.  

After Ikea the boys fell asleep in the car, and Brian suggested that we stop at this place that has cup singles for Keurig machines.  We recently became the owners of a secondhand Keurig, after mulling it over for some time.  Neither of us had ever heard of this place and were pretty intrigued.  As we pulled up in front of the plaza, I went absolutely bonkers.  Not only was there the coffee place, it was next door to a yarn shop!!!!!!  Brian wasn't entirely pleased to stay in the car with the two sleeping princes, but he was a good sport about it.  For his efforts I brought him a cup of coffee, and we got a whole bunch of new coffee cup singles for our Keurig.  The yarn shop was cute, small but lots of gorgeous yarns.  I came out with a couple of skeins to make a cabled winter headband for myself and a hat for Hubby.

I'd defintiely say that our weekend of "Nothing" is certainly off to a good start.  And mine is going to be three days!

To the Curb with ye!

Something about October makes me want to go through all of my stuff and get rid of some of it.  I don't know where it comes from.  But usually I start to itch with anticipation for throwing stuff away in the last week of September.  It's weird, I know.

Right now on the chopping block:  kids' toys.  WOW my kids have a lot of toys.  I half-heartedly started going through them a few weeks ago but right now I'm all about it.  I've sorted two boxes to donate to Savers, and put two big boxes of stuff away.  I plan on going through those boxes and putting some in the (finally vacuumed, hallelujah!) playroom, and some of them downstairs in the basement to be rotated later.

Next up:  toiletries and cosmetics.  I am quickly becoming the Queen of Lipgloss. And I don't use half of them.  So a little experiment perhaps, I try one every day.  And if I don't love it, it meets the trashcan.

We've known for a long time that we are outgrowing this house.  And based on the amount of crap that we have, we aren't exactly helping ourselves out any.  Since we're planning on putting this house on the market in less than two years, and if it actually sells quickly,  then this is that much more items that we will not have to pack and take with us.

Come to think of it, that's the beauty in simplicity right there.  Less stuff, less boxes to pack.  :)

Harnessing the Tornado

In deciding on re-doing the floor in the living room from carpet to laminate, Brian has started to plan.  As I've fondly said before, when Hubby has a project on the brain, it's all that he can think about.  (Well, he does remember to eat.)  At times I poke fun because of his tendency to plan every move, but really I'm grateful.  After all, it's because of his ability to think ahead that allowed us only a three-week disaster area when gutting the entire kitchen.  Not bad, if I dare say!

So in the plan, the first question is "How do we move all of our stuff so that this job can be accomplished?  The living room has all the usual furniture, plus a television.  Oh, and a fish tank.  The fish tank is specifically what we're worried about.  The very idea of moving a fish tank strikes fear into our hearts.

Enter Will.  He has a simple plan for everything.  Will wants to move everything via tornado.  That's right, tornado.  Send in the tornado, have it pick up our stuff, rip up the carpet and install the flooring, then call back the tornado to put our stuff back.  When I gently explained that tornados don't typically work like that, that they're pretty destructive, he kindly offered to build one.  Complete with a "nice button" that he would push before allowing it to suck up our belongings.  Upon coming home from preschool that day, he even had a "blueprint" for me that he drew at school.  Imagine if....building a tornado to pick up stuff, swirl them gently above your house and then have it place things lovingly back where they belong after the work is complete.  Harnessing that kind of power.  What a spacesaver, not to mention money and time going back and forth to a storage unit, or busting your back pushing everything to one side of the room!

This kid kills me with his imagination.  If only the world was as simple as a four year-old's take on things.

The Start of "The List"

As I've mentioned before, I am a chronic list-maker.  I also like to plan things up front big-time, so I know what to expect.  (Having children has made me realize just HOW MUCH that doesn't work sometimes, and sometimes the best laid-plan is just that...out the window.)

Anyway,  we've been meaning to sit down and have a conversation for a while now about selling our current home and when we are going to do that, where we want to live, etc etc etc.  We've batted it around a little bit in the past year, and we have arrived at the realization that our cute lil' starter house that we bought almost ten years ago (TEN?  Really?) for the two of us is now pretty much bursting at the seams.  The two of us, adding a dog and two children ten years later, and it's chaos.  We do the best we can at paring down belongings and trying to keep things not too cluttered, but it's really hard.

So today, we started making a list of the things that we think need to be done before we can put this house on the market in two years.  And we actually grabbed a notepad (Phineas and Ferb, natch) to jot these things down.

And after the list was written, I felt the need to sit down, perhaps with a stiff drink in hand:

Wow.  Flooring, carpet, painting, ceiling, countertops, wiring, roofing?  Piece o' cake.  (hahahahahahaha)

Will was sitting with us, making his own list:

"did we eat lunch?  Check.  Did we mop the floor?  Check.  Am I having fun, playing on the "bus" that I built with the kitchen chairs?  Check, CHECK!"

First up:We have decided to turn the living room and dining rooms over from carpet to laminate or bamboo flooring.  We are NOT crazy enough to do both at the same time, so the living room will be first.    Next up, our helper was only too happy to measure out and help price laminate, and to peek under the carpet to see what was under there.  Not what you'd expect....vinyl in the dining room and subfloor in the living room.

Can I just tell you how excited I am to be getting rid of this carpet???  :)

Tool Time (minus Tim Allen)

Today Will asked me to help him take some tires off his toy truck.  I never realized that they truck had come with tools for dis-assembly!

Anyway, we set out to do some work:  Will doing his first "tire rotation" and me changing the batteries in Sean's birdie soother in his crib.

Three important lessons for today:

1.  I taught Will the phrase "Righty, Tighty, Lefty Loosey."  Of course, I called it "Lefty Loosey-Righty Tighty."  I've since been corrected.  :)

2.  The most important part of the job is cleaning up at the end!  If there's no clean-up, it makes it harder for the people after you and somebody can get hurt.

3.  And the most important one of all:  Hey Will?  Handy Manny has got NOTHING on Mommy!  :)

Wordless Wednesday: Building a Crib