Storm

Oh man, We had quite the storm blow through here last night! It would have been terrifying if not for the new roof, gutters and windows! We were safe and sound inside, but we did loose one screen, and a HUGE tree branch fell across the front yard and onto the driveway, just missing our vehicles! We were upstairs and I heard a cracking noise, and knew right away what it was so Eduardo and I went racing down the stairs and sure enough there it was. My first thought after seeing it was that I hope we can sell this place before one of those branches comes crashing through the skylight, or puts a dent in our beautiful roof! I'll keep my fingers crossed. In the mean time we need to figure out what in the heck we are going to do with that branch.

Garage Makeover

I finally had a good day! I can't believe it! I had forgotten what feeling like a normal person was like! It's great! It's awesome! SO we decided to take advantage of that and tackle cleaning out the garage. We still had all our work stuff all over the place in there and it was a mess. I can't lift anything but I could at least help organize everything. So "we" (i.e. Eduardo) spent all day hanging cabinets and straightening up, and we got it done, and it looks a thousand times better. It felt really good to contribute and do something other than sleep or try not to barf.

Before

After

Eduardo at work

Power Washing

We had grand plans for the decks, but now that we are down to the end (and out of money) we are realizing that there are things we just aren't going to be able to do. One of those is painting the decks. I was content to just leave them, but Eduardo decided to power washed them. Of course he picked a cold dreary day to do it too. So while I was warm and dry inside, he was out in the cloudy cold, sopping wet right down to his socks slowly scraping the grime and mold off the planks. It was really amazing how well the power washer worked to clean the wood. It looked almost new by the time he was done! It took a few days for him to get it all done, (plus he sealed it with sealer we got for free on the side of the road), but it made a world of difference. Take a look!

I helped for 2 seconds.

Cleaned deck!

Eduardo hard at work.

And getting soaked in the process.

But look at the difference!

Before

After

The finished product!

Finishing Up

Guys keeping it together while I fall apart!

I am pretty much useless these days. Between the nausea and the raging hormones, I don't have time left to do anything but be dramatic and overly sensitive about ordinary mundane things. It's exhausting I tell you! AND I can't drink coffee because the smell of it makes me want to barf! Did I mention that? Woe is me! But the good news is while I have been busy with growing a Tadpole, Eduardo and Dad have remained sane and are putting the "finishing touches" on the house and completing the last few things on the list of what needs to get done. Thank goodness. Somebody has to  keep their shit together otherwise we'll never get this done. I say finishing touches, but that makes it sound like they were caulking window sills, when in reality they were repairing a huge exterior wall and finishing the tile in the downstairs bath. The wall was damaged because of the leaky doorwall above in the master bedroom. So they had to pull off all the siding and board, clean it out, and then piece it back together again. It took several days, and a lot of patience, and they even had to dodge a few rain storms but they got it done. I am so glad they didn't need my help because I don't think I could have done it.
The bathroom came out really nice once it was finished. The feature tile really worked nice with the colors we chose and I am really happy with the way everything is coming together! We are in the home stretch! I can feel it!

The damage.

Rotten wood fro the leaky doorwall.

All the pieces of the puzzle.

Figuring things out.

Rebuilding the wall

Putting the siding back up!

Finishing up the bath!

Day 1

We officially moved in to Miss Meadowlawn last night! This morning I was up bright and early to make cinnamon rolls for breakfast (to combat the carpet smell), and Eduardo and I had our coffee (my first cup since we were home in Cali! WOo HOO!) in the living room and watched the morning sun come through the windows. Afterward Dad joined us for coffee and then we went on a bike ride. Not a bad first day hu? Things are lookin' up!

Carpet Crisis Averted!

The carpet has arrived!!!! 

06/03/14

We had the carpet installed today and the house looks done! I can't believe it! It seems like everything looked half finished for so long, then all in one day poof! It all looks finished! I love the carpet we chose. It really looks great. And I even like how it looks on the stairs. Oh man! I am STOKED! And the smell of the new carpet makes the whole house seem...brand new. All of the bad, old. yucky, smell is gone. Miss Meadowlawn has made a full recovery! 

We almost had an "incident" though. And by incident I mean me yelling and crying in Home Depot.What happened was that yesterday I got a call from the carpet company (working for Home Depot) saying that the carpet I had bought and paid for was discontinued, and that they were out of it, and that I needed to go back to HD (The Home Depot) and pick a new carpet and pay the difference! (When I bought it a couple weeks earlier the people at HD said it was in stock and carried on all the installation vans since it was so common.) I freaked out! I ran over to HD as soon as I got off the phone and looked at their selection, but nothing, NOTHING came close to the one we had chosen for the price. I almost cried. But before I did so, I went to talk to the carpet lady. It turns out it was discontinued, BUT...they had ONE more roll in the back! But was there enough to fill our order? We needed 109 yards, and there was 115 yards on the roll. Hallelujah! I asked her to go back and put a sign on it, and maybe chain a guard dog to it so no one else would take it. After she called the installers and told them to pick it up on their way to the house. I was so relieved! 

There were only two carpet guys, and it took them longer to do the stairs than the entire rest of the house, but they were still able to finish this afternoon, and what a difference! I especially love it after my scare yesterday. I admit I rolled around in it little bit after they left. Just to test it out. It passed with flying colors! How exciting! We are almost there!

New carpet and padding!

Testing it out:)

King of the Remote

We finally got the TV hung, and the Direct TV installed. It's pretty awesome. Don't worry, I know not to come between a man and his remote control. (LOL. Was that sexist?)

Carpet Drama

My Hero

We are in the process of moving down to Meadowlawn but I have discovered that the smell of the new carpet is EXTREMELY nauseating to me! I felt really good this morning but as soon as I walked in the house and took a breath I felt terrible! I wasn't in there 10 minutes and I had to get out. I went and sat in my car, but by then I was already so sick, so I had to run in and was dry heaving in the toilet and gagging more because then I could smell the carpet again! I started crying because how are we supposed to move in to the house if I can't even breathe in there? I was supposed to help Eduardo hang the TV today but I seriously cannot be in there. So instead we went to Panera to calm my shattered nerves (Yes, I am being dramatic, but I am pregnant, so give me a break!) and I took some Dramamine hoping it would help. We got there just before a huge downpour so Eduardo ordered a coffee ( I had tea) and sat with me and we played a game of Rumikub. I don't know why it made me feel better but it did. It was the perfect thing for me under the circumstances and I was really grateful to him for hanging out with me and my hormonally-challenged self instead of leaving me there and going back to the house as was the original plan. After the rain let up he went to Meijer to get some Fabreez and baking soda to put on the carpet to get rid of the smell. Hopefully it works. Just the other day Eduardo was saying how excited he was to move in, and now I feel terrible because I am totally ruining it with this carpet thing. But I can't help it!  Normally I LOVE the smell of new carpet, remember when I posted that photo of me lying in it?!? Ugg, just the thought of that makes me want to barf now! What are we going to do?