Joining the crowd

I'm going to join the crowd and throw out a bulleted list of updates, too!

• I've been a busy knitting bee. I finished a hat for my sis, I'm most of the way through a catbed for Smidgen, and I've started making the cutest little knitted trees - the house needed more christmas decorations that the cat wouldn't eat or destroy - garland and glass ornaments are not a good idea. Plus, I started my new sweater....of course, I will lengthen the sleeves because we all know I'm always cold. And can I say that I am digging Ravelry! Thanks to Miss Tooleri for letting me borrow her account to learn all the ins and outs.
• I have been brainstorming more yarn business names. Not that I've gotten anywhere, but at least I'm trying! Jumping through loops? Sweet tooth dyeworks? Maybe I'll just be "Nameless."
• I had a birthday. We won't be discussing my elderly-ness, but it was a fun day, and now I get to prepare for my party. House cleaning - here we come. I'm going to be having a terribly yummy cake and champagne and my favorite friends over and it will be fabulous! I was going to make an icebox cake, but decided that for my own birthday party, the less work for me, the better.
• I am not doing so well on my Christmas shopping. I just can't seem to find what I want at decent prices. Come on, stores! People are foreclosing on their mortgages - a little sale action, please! Plus, it is tough without a car. I can't just jump in my hyundai and pop off to the mall. Sometimes, I miss my car. :)
• The bathroom renovation has stalled. With everything else going on, I haven't been in the mood to make a big spackly mess. I think painting will have to wait til after the holidays. I've got a bit of tile work to do. Plus, I want to replace my medicine cabinet and bathroom lighting, and that's probably going to require some drywall action. So, it won't be a quicky job.
• I've been working on my kitchen remodel. I was originally going to leave the appliance as is, but now I'm thinking about migrating the fridge, flipping the dishwasher to the other side of the sink and extending the kitchen by about a foot or a foot and a half. This would make more sense with a visual aid, but that will come in a future post.

Okay - gotta run - so much partying to do, so little time!

Bigtime progress

Oh yes, things are moving along. The past few weekends have not been relaxing, but they have been productive. I now have a pocket door, a painted ceiling, bathroom shelving, a painted closet with a new light fixture and a set of shelves, and a regrouted and re-caulked bathtub. Plus, I cleaned out my garden plot for good measure.
Look at the transformation!

Bathroom door (courtesy of the handyman)
Before:

During:

After:


Bathroom shelves (courtesy of the handyman)
Before:
After:
Picture coming soon

Closet (Courtesy of Steve-o and I)
Before:

After:
Okay, you'd think there wouldn't be much joy in getting a newly painted ceiling, but let me tell you - it is awesome. I've been looking up and seeing crappy spackle marks for a year. And the guys my handyman brought in - they spackled so well and so smoothly that there was no need to sand. Trust me, this is amazing.

I was doing some work while the professionals were hard at work in the house. I painted the windowsills in the bedroom, cause they were looking a little beat. Then, to keep the cat out of her favorite place, I had to tape up the opening to keep her from jumping on wet paint. I left it on overnight for good measure, but when we woke up and there was still tape over the window, she protested by weaseling her way in.....somehow. We saw her get out, but we're not sure she went in the same way. Darn flexible cat!


Unfortunately, the handyman fella faltered a bit on the last day and sort of skimped on the finishing details. So, there are nail holes to be filled in, and a bit of damaged tile to be replaced. He did some extra stuff we hadn't asked for - like fixing an outlet, etc., but we would have preferred that he just did the agreed-to stuff completely. Still, he's the best contractor I've seen in DC....probably because he recently moved here from the Midwest.

So, now we get to spackle, sand, and paint the bathroom and seal some grout. I wonder how much spackle dust I've inhaled in the last 2 years.

The once and future homes

I'm scheduling a handyman to come by and do a bunch of jobs that have been lingering for a while. At this point, even though I'm not rolling in the dough, and with any luck, I'll be finding a new (likely lower-paying) job in the near future (please, please, please!) - right now, I can spare more money than time. So, he'll be fixing the patches in my ceiling and painting it, re-doing the grout and caulk in my tub, building me some -in-wall shelves and doing my pocket door. Hooray! I can't get him until mid-November, but I feel better just knowing it is going to get done! Since he is working near the sprinkler heads, I think I will be taking time off to supervise. Now, I just have to figure out the kitchen, and I'll be in much better shape for moving on.

According to my grad school real estate guru's suggested life plan, I should be buying my next house in 2008. Hey, the guy was buying houses with cash, so he must be doing something right. Between this and my planned home repairs, I've been thinking about what I want in my next house. After all, although the current one hasn't turned out to be the delight I'd imagined, if I can't learn something from it, what was the point?

So, what I would like (in no particular order):
1. An outdoor space for growing plant life, in pots or in the ground. I need greenery to keep me sane, and Smidgen eats greenery if I keep it indoors.

2. More storage space. I've purged, but I still need to hide away so many things - vacuum cleaner, pet carrier, winter coats, umbrellas, yarn, yarn and more yarn!

3. A covered porch or stoop. I like to sit outside under cover during summer storms. Right now, I have an anti-stoop. It goes in the wrong direction.

4. South-facing exposure and lots of windows in general. I lived in an apartment once where my bedroom ran the full length of the south side of the house (okay, it was only like 15 feet). I loved waking up in the winter and being able to sprawl out like a cat in the sun. So cozy.

5. Speaking of cats - An area I can fence in for Smidgen to go outside and play. Whether it's a porch, or a back patio or whatever. The poor thing meows at the door, and really likes going outside.

6. Normally-angled walls. Right now, I have walls with wacky angles and they look cute when nothing else is in the room, but they are a struggle when you try to deal with furniture.

7. No more hobbit holes. Above-ground living from now on, please.

8. Space for a crafty nook, or dare I dream - a crafty room. Somewhere to do quilting and sewing and embroidery and knitting and dyeing. A sink would be dreamy. Sigh.

9. Built-in bookshelves. I love books, their tidy shape, their portability, and of course, their insides! I wish I could have more, but no space!

10. At least two bathrooms.

11. A pantry - a little nook to store spices and pasta and cereal and all that beige food I seem to gravitate towards

12. A foyer, or a mudroom or whatever they call those pseudo-rooms where you can put your dirty shoes and wet umbrellas.

Okay, so maybe I can't get all this in my next house, but a girl can dream, right?