Demo Days

Eduardo pulling up the kitchen floor

It's Wednesday. I'm tired. Ha, not good for only the middle of the week. Yesterday we did our usual and went to the gym before heading over to the house. When we got there we decided to rip out the rest of the carpet in the two remaining bedrooms. We also had to wash the upstairs railing and banister with the special stain removing spray we have. That took forever, and I am not convinced we even got it all that clean. We still don't have running water, or a new roof, but those are both on the horizon. And my bladder thinks it would be nice to at least have a bathroom over there. (NOTE: I’m not one of those girls that has a problem going pee outside in general, but I do have a problem going outside when I’m in a neighborhood, and could be arrested for indecent exposure, or have an awkward first meeting with the nextdoor neighbors.)

Oh, and Daddy and I went and donated blood after work too! The Red Cross was having a blood drive in Lexington, and apparently only 35 people showed up. So I am glad we went. Neither of our significant other's came, because they both have an understandable aversion to needles. I don't care for them either, but I just don't look and I'm fine. But I digress.

Today we are going to start priming. Our idea is basically to prime every surface we can and paint. We got a five gallon bucket of expensive primer to hopefully cover the stains and the smell. We hope.

I'm really enjoying the renovations, and I like heading over there and plugging away at various things, but somehow I am feeling really tired out at the moment. I think I need some kind of break, but I'm not sure if it's just from the house, or like a day in bed reading or what. I've just been going nonstop since we got here in some way or another, and I don't know. I feel really good about the things I am doing, yoga, and the gym, and the house, but I'm so freaking tired, that I'm not finding time for some of my other goals.

But it's hard to feel like relaxing or taking a breather when there is a lot to do, and the house is still in the works. I feel like we have done so much since we started only a week ago. The house really does look different with all the cleaning out we have done as well. It looks more positive, if you can imagine that, and it no longer looks like someone else's house. I guess what I mean is that the ugly painting our house was has been transformed into a blank canvas again! And that is exciting.

The house still smells terrible, and I am a little worried about that, but hopefully the paint will help.

* It's now...7:15 pm. And I know I sound like a broken record, but I'm SO...FREAKING...TIRED! It's exasperating. I am pretty much worthless after seven PM these days. I literally don't have the energy to hold a pen which is why I am writing in this journal right now instead of my regular one. Nothing hurts, I'm not sore, but everything on my body that can be lifted (arms, legs, eyelids) is dog tired and wanting to call it a day. But the evenings are my only time to do other stuff, so I don't want to just lay in bed and watch TV...yet at the same time that is EXACTLY what I want to do....sigh...

Well, anyway to recap the day. We skipped yoga and the gym this morning. Even so we didn't get to the house until around 9:30. Today the plan was to paint, but that changed at Dad's recommendation. So instead we took up the rest of the flooring. Eduardo handled the kitchen. I helped pop up the edges of the vinyl that we were trying to take out and then he took a really big, heavy crowbar and shoved it underneath and pushed it up. It was very hard work.

I sometimes find myself in the position where whatever we are working on doesn't require me to do anything, but I try to make sure I don't just sit around. So I have been doing a lot of sweeping, and general straightening up while we work. After Eduardo got most of the kitchen floor up, I got to work on the bathroom. I think that is why my arms are so tired right now. It is definitely not easy work. It's either from that or from when we took the kitchen appliances outside. The refrigerator was the heaviest, but the stove was no lightweight either.

Dad came by around 11:00 I think, and brought the dumpster. We loaded all of the carpet and debris that we have so far accumulated into it, and it felt so good to get it all out of the house! Then dad and Eduardo got to work on the cabinets in the kitchen. They kind of had that under control so I was switching between taking stuff out to the dumpster and hammering down the millions of staples left from the vinyl floor. They are everywhere...actually, maybe my arms are sore from hammering? Anyway, I kept plugging away at that (It's very tedious in case you are wondering) and the guys dismantled the kitchen. We are saving a few of the cabinets to use in the laundry room and the garage, and also the sink. We need to save as much as we can, and those things were in pretty good condition. Eduardo took out the broken toilet and vanity from the bathroom. Dad and Eduardo pulled the soffit that was above the cabinets. I cleaned up all the debris they kept throwing on the ground, and sweeping, and hammering staples. We were able to get the whole kitchen ripped out, so that's good. It's just a big empty room now.

Eduardo had to go to Chili's for a shift so we quit at 3:00. I ended up going to the gym and pushed through for my standard 5 mile run. I can't believe I had the energy to do it. I ran to Meijer to pick up a few groceries as well. I was so tired I skipped getting my bottled water because it was way in the back and I wasn't sure I could carry it all the way to the checkout anyway.

I passed Dad picking up a dumpster on my way home and we went for a soak in the hot tub as soon as we got back. Then I made dinner and threw in some laundry, and....now it's 7:30 and I am ready to call it a night. I wanted to stay up and do some organizing, and contemplate a few writing projects I was thinking of starting. But nope. Not going to happen. I'll be lucky if I finish my cup of coffee before I fall aslee....

Bye bye kitchen floor!

Pulling up boards

Demo downstairs bathroom

Dad with the dumpster!

Dad coming to help!

Taking down the cabinets

Nothing left but the kitchen sink!

Goodbye hideous soffit!

Out with the old!

Unloading

Our trailer being dropped off.

We had a busy but good Monday I think. But let me back up. Yesterday we went to Menards and ordered all of our kitchen cabinets, interior doors, sliding doors, and stain/odor resistant primer. It was a hefty bill...like $2000 I think. It was not too bad ordering it all (Dad helped a ton in getting the right cabinets, and helping us know what we needed), but it was a bit stressful to spend that money. To tell the truth, it was a lot stressful.

Today, since it was Monday, we wanted to get a good start on the week. We did yoga, went to the gym, looked at a set of appliances for the kitchen (that Eduardo found on Craigslist). Our truck finally arrived and  unloaded the whole thing ourselves, and we finished pulling all the staples out of the floor, and removed the bar upstairs!

I'm pretty peaced out again, but a couple quick thoughts:

1.) Moving furniture cross-country is a pain. All of our furniture got damaged in some way. From being scratched, to full-on broken. I'm not sure it was worth it, and it was pretty disappointing. If we were to do it again I think I'd try to get rid of the smaller stuff, it's not worth trying to pack. Oh well though, it's done now.

2.) Eduardo has been combing Craigslist (something I don't have the patience to do) and he found a set of kitchen appliances for $650. We have been debating back and forth about whether or not to go for stainless appliances, or white as I had planned. He has been leaning toward stainless, and I agree that it would be the most aesthetic, but trying to fit the cost into our budget is tough. Anyway, the set he found was white, and upper end, from a nice house. We went and looked at it today. The frig is much bigger than the one we currently have, but otherwise everything fit perfectly. I guess it's a gamble, but we ended up getting the set, plus a dining room table, for $600. I think it will look great, but who knows what other people will think. The fact is though, we just don't have $3000 to spend on new appliances, especially because we decided to go for new cabinets. These are the kind of chances we are taking. We could have gone with old cabinets and new appliances. I guess we will see.

Carpet Cooties

Eduardo pulling staples out of the floor.

02/23/14

Almost everyday I have been writing for the day before, because I have been so freaking tired the night of, that I can't stay awake long enough. Yesterday, despite skipping the gym, and having a lazy morning, was no exception. We got to the house around 9:30 with a list of things to get done. The first was figure out how to get the rest of the popcorn ceiling down. We figured it out, and with the help of some duct tape, and a mop and a spray bottle we got almost all of it down. My hands and arms were sore from the day before, so as silly as it sounds, just holding the spray bottle and squirting it was exhausting. Lol. Yes, I know, I need to work out my arms more! Eduardo had to get up on our tallest ladder to reach some of the spots and my job was to stand on the first step of the ladder to stabilize it, and hold on to his legs and the ladder. I may or may not have wiped my nose on the back of his jeans a couple times while I was stabilizing...It was really cold inside the house and my nose was runny, and I didn't want to leave my post.

Next we started ripping out the carpet. I don't know why certain things gross me out more than others, but carpet is definitely one of those "things". We cut the carpet into manageable pieces, rolled it up, and started hauling it out to the garage. I wore my rubber gloves (my good work gloves are in the truck that is supposed to be delivered tomorrow) and a mask. Even so, I was still pretty disgusted. And it stunk really bad of smoke, and mold, and who knows what else. As we rolled it up I was able to witness what 20 years of stains looks like...uggg. I think in the future I will probably replace my carpet ever 10 years, just on principle.

We pulled out the carpet, the padding, those vicious looking tack strips and some of the staples. It seemed like a lot of the particle board underneath was in rough shape, and moldy. Upstairs by the doors to the deck the wood was actually wet. The steps were time consuming and a little difficult, but we just kept at it and finally we got it done. We only have the two bedrooms left to do tomorrow, or Tuesday, or whenever we get to it.

The black carpeting turned grey that was in
the pink and purple bedroom

The pink and purple bedroom. UG-LY!

1st tool Eduardo broke.

Tack strips and self portrait.

Popcorn Ceiling

I had one of those mornings where I wake up and move to get out of bed, only to practically fall off of it onto the bedroom floor because my body is so stiff and sore. I feel like an old car. I need to lay in bed and idle for a few, test all my joints and gears before attempting to move. Unfortunately I had to pee, and a hot cup of coffee was calling my name, so I opted for the suffering and the ninety-year old man hobble to coffee maker.

Despite all my complaining though I feel good. It's a good kind of sore. Not the "I sat in a chair all day and can't feel my legs" variety. I'm sore because I am using parts of my body that haven't been exercised in a while...or every maybe, and I like it. Hopefully it doesn’t last too long though.

Yesterday after the gym we went to the house to re-wash all the walls we did before using the inferior method we started with. Then we moved on to the kitchen, dining room, downstairs hall and bedrooms. Washing walls is certainly one way to become intimately acquainted with a house. And I think intimate is the right word. Running your sponge or scrubby over every wall, in every nook and cranny, observing all the holes, and dents and the other bruises and scars of the house you learn a lot about the place. You become familiar with all it's uniqueness, and it's flaws. I've seen how blind people will touch another person's face to create an image of them using their hands. And that's what it felt like to me when I was washing. I was creating an image of the house with my hands.

Anyway, Dad stopped by around...2:00 maybe, and he started pulling doors out and ripping off tile and in general taking things apart. I think Eduardo and I were a little surprised. We'd spent the last two days patiently washing and cleaning, and then Dad came in and started ripping things out! Lol. But we quickly got in on the action. Eduardo started pulling off tiles in the downstairs bathroom and they pulled the door off the bathtub, and I started taking doors off and stacking them in the garage. Eduardo pulled off trim while I stared scraping the popcorn ceiling upstairs. It came off pretty easily with a spray bottle, water and a scraper. I wore my safety glasses and a mask, and in my own opinion looked very professional;) Dad thought it was a bit of overkill. Lol. I think that is why my arms are so sore, from having them over my head all afternoon to scrape the ceiling. Anyway we demo-ed and scraped until about 6:00, which is an hour later than we stayed yesterday. Plus we were an hour earlier because they were supposed to drop off our truck yesterday morning but we got a call on our way into town saying that it was delayed until Monday.

When we left the house last night it was a disaster! The shavings from the popcorn ceiling was all over the carpet like snow, and there are nails and pieces of wood and piles of garbage all over. I could tell that the general state of disarray was stressing Eduardo out. I get that. Just because we are tearing the house apart doesn't mean it has to be messy right?

Today the plan is to clean up some of the messes we made yesterday, figure out how to scrape the rest of the popcorn ceiling off in the high tricky spots, and to maybe test prime the banister and the walls to make sure we have the right kind of primer before we do the whole house. Seems like a good idea to me. And I am ready to get started....right after I peel my achy body out of this chair and make myself another cup of coffee.

Original downstairs bath

Beginning demo

Ready to scrape the ceiling

Dad removing old fixtures

We are ready to renovate!!!

Popcorn ceiling...on the floor

After scraping off popcorn ceiling

How to reach the high spots?

Removing the doors and trim

A New Begining

(FINALLY! We are getting to the actual remodeling part! Yay!)

20 years of nicotine. Yuck.

I'm super tired, so I'll keep this short. Despite getting up pretty early today, we didn't make it to the house until around noon. We did a bunch of other stuff, yoga, had our first workouts at the new gym, etc.

Chore one was washing the nicotine stains off the walls. The story we got from the neighbor was that the woman who lived there was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer from a lifetime of heavy smoking, so she decided to redouble her efforts to smoke as much more as she could in the time she had left. I guess she had an alcoholic husband who chain smoked too.

The state of the house has the word “defeat” written all over it And maybe a little of the phrase “I don’t give a shit” too. It's giving up manifest in a house. It is obvious they stopped trying to do or take care of anything. I was thinking about that as Eduardo and I scrubbed and scrubbed the walls. And I felt like not only were we washing away grime, but also that depressing, helpless mentality. We are not just cleaning, we are wiping away the hopelessness from the walls and the house. I feel like we've adopted an abused animal and we are in the process of rehabilitating it. Well, at least that's what it felt like:) Maybe I'm being a little too philosophical.

Anyway, the walls are covered with yellow tar, and so we spent several hours washing them with marginal success only to realize half way through there was a better more thorough way to go about it. We have to re-do half of it tomorrow. But we are not deterred. In fact, I think we are both pretty pleased with the small amount of progress we made today. It was cold in the house, and my fingers were freezing even in my rubber gloves, but we took a pee break and went to get coffee at Panera and that rejuvenated me. We also found a pretty good radio station out of Canada, so we had tunes while we worked. It's weird, but fun to be at "work" with Eduardo. I almost feel surprised to see him there. It's pretty great though, and we both had a really great first day. We packed a picnic lunch of chef salads and had our first picnic in the new place. I was kind of afraid to sit down anywhere because it was so filthy, so we ended up each taking a stair.

It was snowy and then sleeting outside as we washed and scrubbed and listened to music! So even though it was super gross in the house, it was a pretty kinda-cozy first day of work.

We've been talking with dad about replacing the kitchen cabinets instead of trying to paint them, and we priced them out yesterday at Lowes for $1400, but then he found a better deal at a store called Menard's for $1000. So we have decided to do that instead of spending days sanding and painting the ones that are there. He also found really nice bedroom doors for $44 a piece. They were really sharp too! I'm excited. Can’t wait to go shopping!

Pretty winter day!

Our first lunch in the new place!

Chef salads!

Why we had to wash the walls first.

"Krud Kutter" worked great!

Driving Cross Country: Part 4

We made it! We made it! Our cross-country drive was a success! Yesterday was a shorter day than any of the others, and thankfully the weather and roads were much better than the night before. I was really excited when we finally crossed into Michigan. Compared to every other midwestern state we drove through it was definitely the prettiest. There are a lot more trees here, I noticed, and I really like that. And almost every sign we saw within the first 20 miles were for micro-breweries, wineries, or distilleries...Cool! I'm not convinced the wines here will be any good, because I don't think the proper growing conditions exist here, but I am certainly interested in giving them a try.

The last hundred miles seemed like forever though. Not because we were driving slower, but just because we were anxious to finally get here. We were in the "home" stretch! It was almost surreal being in Port Huron when we finally got off the freeway. It's strange to see something so familiar after so many days and miles of the unfamiliar. We made it to the coffeehouse around 5 and Daddy was outside unloading a dumpster. I jumped out of my car and gave him a big hug! We were pretty excited to be here.

Even though the drive went well, Eduardo and I were still pretty stressed out the whole time, as I think is normal on such long trips. We were worried about the vehicles, or getting broken into, or breaking the TV's on the potholes in the road, or traffic, or road conditions, or leaving something in the hotel....Neither of us mentioned any of these things to each other along the way, and I think it's just as well, but they were in the back of our minds all day, and they hovered over us as we slept, making each night of rest at least slightly less effective than it would otherwise be.

Last night after dinner with Dad and Tina, Eduardo and I grabbed a couple beers and headed out to the hot tub, and both voiced our relief about the fact that all of our fears were unwarranted. We kept saying, "we made it", and the relief I felt, I could hear in his voice. Last night we slept like two people without a care in the world. And it was great!

Today starts a new adventure for us here, and I feel rested, and refreshed and ready to jump in. We are going to go down to the house, and make a list of what needs to be done, Eduardo and I are going to start the day with a yoga work out, I am going to get some boots, we are going to check out the new gym I joined, I am going to set up my office, we are going to unload the pickup...Lot's to do, but I am looking forward to all of it! 

*Before I go to bed, some closing thoughts. We went to the house this afternoon to take a look around and get our bearings. It was pretty much how I remember it....which is filthy and stinky and disgusting. It's hard to imagine we spend 55K on that place when I am afraid to touch anything in there without rubber gloves. It's just so gross. I feel gross after being there. BUT we are going to fix all that. Starting tomorrow. Our plan is to wash all the walls tomorrow, or as much as we can do. I can't wait to get started!

The back yard was beautiful though! All white and covered with snow! And I am really excited about that if we have the house long enough to use it.

Dad has been a huge help, and again I don't know what we would do without him! 

Ha ha.

Yay!!! Meijer!!!

Almost there!

Driving Cross Country: Part 3

Today should be our last day of driving! I really enjoyed the trip until last night. We had smooth sailing until we got into Illinois. And while I don't want to blame the state itself for the weather, it seems like it got colder, darker and ICIER as soon as we crossed the border. Eduardo said he was fine, but I could feel my car sliding. It felt like the back of it was swinging to the left or right in certain spots, and I just didn't feel right. But at the same time huge semi's and tons of cars were flying past me (and Eduardo since he had to wait for me). We ended up stopping after a particularly bad patch at a Love's. I kind of felt like I was making it up, since everyone else on the road seemed to be fine (including Eduardo), but I was unable to convince myself of that. And I wasn’t willing to bet my life, or someone else’s on it either. I felt even more convinced once we got back on the freeway and the road got the worst I felt it had been, i.e. I was slipping and sliding and counter steering, and telling Eduardo to slow down, and then up ahead we saw a car off the road in the median, and a pickup in the ditch to the right. Apparently I wasn't the only one slipping. It was really stressful.

But the whole day before that went by great, and fast. It didn't take too long to get out of Nebraska, and in the morning I was able to watch flocks of geese flying north. There were tons of them, all going the same direction.

You learn interesting things while on the road. Things you wouldn't normally. I learned that Eduardo would rather be stuck in a room of beavers than raccoons. I learned that the biggest city in Wyoming is not so big, I learned there is a Robert Henri museum in Nebraska, and that John Wayne was born in DeSoto Iowa. I learned that my and Eduardo's speedometers are about 5 mph off.

You observe things you normally wouldn't as well. In Wyoming it was the sky, In Nebraska it was definitely the ducks/geese and the tumbleweeds. In North Island, Nebraska I noticed a truck driver calling into the local radio station to request "If I Can't Have You" sung by Yvonne Ellimen.

And you spend a lot of time thinking about random things. I thought some time about shiny things. The ducks were shiny as the flew overhead. The cornstalks were shiny in the fields. I thought about coffee, and the fact I'd only seen 4 Starbucks the whole way, one in Fairfield, one in North Platte, one in Lincoln, and one somewhere between the Mississippi and here. I thought about how the scrubby brush of the west had slowly given way to grasslands. And I thought about the buffalo that once would have been abundant in such a place. I thought about how annoyed I am that we still call Native Americans "Indians". I'm even more annoyed that Columbus didn't believe it when people told him he hadn't actually reached India. What a stupid mistake to persist so long. I thought about the fact that there wasn't a single tall building between Salt Lake City and Lincoln Nebraska. I thought about all the times I've thought it would be fun to go on a road trip and eat only at diners all along the way. I thought about how that did not work with my resolution to eat healthier once we left California. I thought about why someone at exit 292 in Iowa would decide to name their restaurant "Machine Shed Cafe".

After several days on the road, it is actually possible to get so caught up in these strange wonderings and observations that you actually forget you are driving. I lost about 40 miles in the middle of the day yesterday, just because I was so busy pondering   how desperate people must have been to give up their lives and civilization and become a pioneer and head out here without cars and highways.  

I also composed a couple of pretty good (I think) haiku. I listened to music for a while, but I found it distracting. And I realized that most of the CD albums I have only really have 1 or 2 at most songs on them I like. So now I am considering adding the few good ones to my iTunes and trashing the rest.

And that is how I spent my time. I am anxious to get to our destination today, mostly because of the roads and the weather. I could handle driving longer, but the icy road stress gets old really fast.

Eduardo is taking his time this morning, and it's just as well. Assuming the roads are OK, we should get there around 5 or 6 tonight. We had a great night at our hotel last night, and we got almost the last room here! Everyone had to get off the road, I-94 was closed up in Michigan , and the roads were icy. But we lucked out. We had a great hot tub that was super hot (and great for my frayed nerves), and we had dinner at The Cracker Barrel! My salad has a piece of plastic in it, so they gave me my meal for free. And we have a great room that we are taking full advantage of.

I'm a little nervous about getting back on the road, but anxious to do so as well. I don't think we will go to the house today, but we definitely will head over there tomorrow. Only one more day till we get started on our fixer-upper. I can't wait to start this new, new adventure! We just have to make it there first!