Bathroom Update

After much delay and a number of discussions with the business owner, the plumbers (American Plumbing Services) finally finished up 2 weeks ago. Since then, we've took a little break to retreat to the coast and hosted a holiday sweater party (watch for the upcoming post and associated pictures). The work on the bathroom does continue, albeit at a slow pace. To say that we have run out of steam is an understatement! Regardless, progress is being made.




















The above picture shows the framing for the wall that will separate the bathroom from the utility room, the pocket door neatly stashed in it's pocket, and the white oval on the wall is the interior of the medicine cabinet. The area on the right, with the pocket door, is the shower stall, and the toilet and closet will be to the left of the vanity/medicine cabinet.


The above picture is of the shower as it currently stands. The Wonder Board is up, and awaiting tile. We picked out a great glass mini-subway tile in greens and browns for the accent tile while the majority of the shower will be a white ceramic subway tile. We have a lot of work to do before we lay any tile, but I'm trying to keep the goal in mind.

Re-post: Home Depot Contest

If I had enough guts, I would do this myself.

Please take a moment to help my friends Julio & Stephanie. They are awesome, and completely deserve a killer prize

Here is their blog posting:

Have you heard about the Home Depot $25,000 Holiday Gift Card Contest?

Do-it-yourselfers are currently posting videos on You Tube showcasing home improvement projects in dire need of attention. On December 17, a winning entry will be chosen, and Home Depot will award some lucky homeowner with a $25,000 Home Depot Gift Card.

What can we say? We couldn’t resist! So, if you haven’t already submitted an entry of your own, we’d love it if you would click on the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Mr6WrO-ADA

View count accounts for 20 percent of the points awarded to each submission, so we really need to get as many people as we can to watch our little video as soon as possible because the contest ends this weekend. If you’re a horror movie fan, you may even get a chuckle from our submission. We can pretty much guarantee that our entry is one of a kind.

Thanks in advance for watching!

November 26

C and I were fast asleep during the early morning hours of November 26th when I heard a few tones coming from somewhere in the house. I stirred and drifted off again. The tones returned. They were familiar, but distant and slow coming.

"What is that?" I said, trying to place the tune, and figure out why I was hearing it at 4:30am.

"I don't know." C responded.

"But you do hear it?!" I asked, seeking confirmation of my sanity

"Um-hmm" He drifted

I recognized it! It was Edelweiss playing from my childhood music box, which had been my Mother's before mine. It resides in our office, on a shelf along with her ashes and a few other special belongings of hers which I chose to keep.

I sprang from bed and hurried down the hall to quiet it, and to try to make sense of why it was playing when it hadn't been wound in years. Had the cat knocked it over? Was a shelf falling down?

Once in the office, I saw that all was in perfect order. The music box sat undisturbed. I opened it, expecting to see the gears spinning as they do when it is winding down. It was still. No sign of movement to explain its tune. All that was left to do was accept the unexplainable, and say "Hello Mom."

Utility Room Tear Down

We have been working on adding a bathroom to our former utility room. Here are some pictures of the mess...

Rufus Update

On Thanksgiving we took Rufus for a long weekend with some potential adoptors. Upon arriving at their home I was shocked to see what a perfect house it was for a big dog, yet they had not previously had one.

They called last night to confirm that they love him, and are making him a permanent member of their family. YEAH RUFUS!!!

Found - Stray Doggie

Last weekend we saw this guy wondering the neighborhood, and he would take off anytime we tried to approach him. On Wednesday I came home to find my darly husband laying in the street trying to make friends. Little did I know at the time, but he had spent the over an hour sweet talking the big guy buy the time I got home. We spent another hour before he ran off. Thursday the guy stopped in long enough to eat the food we'd left for him, having noticed his too thin state the night before.

Today we were working on the house (surprise, surprise) when Rocko started romping around the yard. I looked up to see that our friend had returned. We spent some time working with a neighbor to try to get a leash on the doggie, but no luck. Well, Rocko is smarty than us! He ran into the back yard, and his buddy followed him. We quickly closed the gates and have kept him captive since.

We do not intend to keep the new guy, but rather get him to trust us enough so that we may get him in the car and to the vet. He needs to be fixed and put up for adoption. He is super sweet, well behaved, and as far as we can tell his only issue is that he is scared from his life on the streets. But, he is coming around! Hopefully we will be able to get him to the vet sooner rather than later. In the meantime, Rocko gets to have a friend sleep over.

Returning to Work

After five days at home, I will return to my real job in tomorrow morning. I'm sure I will have a busy week, which will include playing catch-up after a total of two weeks out of the office. And, I have four new-to-me people joining my team.

As much as I enjoy my work, I will miss the time to focus on the house. The plumbers got the "rough-in" done, and now we have much work to do ourselves. Regardless, we spent much of the weekend playing. That said, we did work on the house all day today, so I guess that means "much of the weekend" is actually less than half of it. Hmm...

I used to dream about the day that I would own a home. I knew that I would take care of it and make it my own. Never did those dreams include the smell of rotting leaves as you pull them from gutters, or the heft of pine needle filled yard debris bags (4 bags of pine needles!!!).

Tomorrow, C also returns to work. After two weeks of training, he is entering a new program which includes a new employer. His return to work will be filled with excitement, unknows, and possibility.

Much excitement and activity lays ahead for us! But, for tonight I'm going to bed early with my Aunts newest book, Informed Consent. Check out her blog if you have a second. You'll see that my weekend was also filled with a wonderful visit, and a drive to Multnomah Falls.

Return of the Plumbers

Today marks the start of the enterior work for the bathroom addition.



The former laundry room has been cleared out. We got all the cabinets demoed, the carpert removed, and most impressively, all of our stuff stashed elsewhere in the house. Which left a blank canvass for the new bathroom, laundry room, and storage space. We modified our layout, opting to put the bathroom on the back wall (where the laundry used to be) and create a new and seperate room for all that laundry and cleaning business. On the positive side, this will allow us to add in a wash tub, which I'm sure I will use for dishes once we tear into our kitchen. The downfall is that we will have to immediately deal with the removal of the window 'cause a shower is going in its place.



As I type this, the plumbers are tearing into our walls, jack hammering our floor, and doing all that they need to do to gain access to set the new water and waste lines. They expect to spend three days here. At the end of that time the rough-in plumbing will be complete, and our work will begin again.

For now, I'm off to Home Depot and the Tile for Less (the only tile store I know of that has a bunny).

We have a cave in our backyard

The plumbers arrived this morning to dig the trench for the bathroom addition sewer line. They had been here a couple of hours, and I'd just arrived home from running errands when the lead worker bee told me he had something to call to my attention.

"You have a cave in your backyard." He said

"What? From the moles & squirels? Yeah, they are pretty annoyning." I responded in jest.

"No, you have a cave. It is about 12 feet by 3 feet."

"Shut up! You're kidding, right?" I protested.

"No, come around here. I had to get a light to see to the bottom."

"OH MY GOSH!!!!" I could see the cave.


Turns out the "decommissioned" septic tank wasn't completely decommissioned. Apparently this tank, which appears to be dug by hand with cinder blocks stacked up the enterior, is MUCH larger than necessary for a house our size. A typical tank would only be about 4 or 5 feet deep. This would be great news IF we were using it. Unfortunately that is not the case.

A truck load of sand will arrive in the morning. We have a call out begging our dear friends for assistance with the shoveling and dumping, and shoveling, and dumping.

I guess the attic ladder project may not be next afterall.

And, we're done!

We put the family room back together a little over a week ago, and have been putting on all the finishing touches. It is finally ready for it's blog debute...


New Doorway to Family Room, and Rocko


Interior with Curtain Divider


Work Out Space Behind the Curtain


Enterainment Space, and entrace to Laundry Room


Storage, Storage, Storage!!!

Up next:
The plumbers arrive tomorrow to put in the trench and sewer line for the new bathroom. And, C installs an attic ladder, thus creating access to store stuff up there.

Family Room Progress

Well, I've been a slacker. Sort of. C & I have been busy working on the family room and our at our real jobs. As a result I haven't posted any new pictures. But, that is all going to change right now.

The wall and ceiling paint are done, and the lights are in. As with many do-it-yourself projects we spent more time on these items than we anticipated. It feels sooooooo good to have them done!


Painted Walls



New Lights

We will spend the weekend trimming out the windows and doors. I hope to be moving furniture in by Sunday. Keep your fingers crossed!!

Time for Paint

I took the day off of work today to get started on painting. The sheetrock was finished up yesterday, and looks fantastic! I rolled around on the floor with Rocko last night in celebration of the room looking like a room, and not a construction zone.

I spent much of today priming, which took more time than I expected. But, I was able to get the finishing coat on the living room wall, and get the dining table cleaned and positioned in it's new spot. I'm very pleased with the finshed wall! You can't even tell that we knocked a portion of it down 2 weeks ago!


Now we are moving on to color selection. The good news is that C & I are agreeing on what colors we like, and those we aren't crazy about. We'll see how they all look with different light, and with the accessories I purchased.


As the weekend begins, we are expecting cooler weather. This will be great for C, who plans to spend much time in the attic running eletrical for the new lights! As for me, I'll have my feet on the ground and a paint brush in hand.

Sheetrock - Day 1

What a difference a little sheetrock makes!!!


Patch of living/dining room w/ new pocket door


Interior of family room

Pocket Door Progress

The remainder of the 3-day weekend was spent finishing the previously mentioned electrical work and insulation, but the icing on the cake was the installation of the pocket door frame. Nothing like a little fun with a Saws All to make a mess. Here, you can see the old doorway (right side) and the portion of the cut wall (left side) laying on the floor.


After the installation of the framing you can start to see how the flow from the living/dining room will change with the relocation of the door.


The door is awaiting its final coat of paint prior to hanging.

DC Pictures

Washington Monument
As seen from the Jefferson Memorial


WWII Memorial


FDR Memorial
You've got to love a man that loved his dog!


Mount Vernon
George Washington's home


Capital Building


Library of Congress
Ceiling in Great Hall dedicated to education reads:
"Poetry, Music, Architecture, Sculpture, Painting"

Family Room Progress

After two weeks of travel, it was time to get back to work on the house. I had a few week days at home to connect with contractors. It took some doing, but I finally was able to connect with tradesmen who were not only qualified to do the work but actually capable of returning phone calls! The sheetrock will be hung & finished on the week of the 10th, which gives us one week to finish up our portion of the work. YIKES!!

Yesterday was spent removing the old air conditioner, which left us with a hole perfect for a drive-thru window.


Today we are cutting a hole in the wall to relocate and convert the door to a space-saving pocket door. In addition, there has been electrical and insulation done each step of the way.

Going Home

I am flying home today after spending a week and a half in DC for vacation/work. I've had a great time visiting family, sight seeing w/ C, and relaxing too. But, there is no place like home! I'm excited to arrive in my lovely city, see my happy dog, and fall into all of the routines that I've created for myself.

Here is to home! May yours be one that you love.

Window #2

Work on the house continues. The goal for this weekend was to get in the second window. The plans for the window size changed a few times, ulitmately building our design around what was in stock at the Home Depot. I hate to give them that kind of power!!


Again, C did most of the work, and I ran around like a crazy woman trying to get everything else done while making myself available should I hear a cry for help. I was actually very busy getting ready to travel for work. But, I did manage to do a good deal of yard work, and both C & I went out with friends.

But, back to the subject at hand ... The demo showed us that the wall we were so pleased to discover insulation in, was in fact not insulated.

We took the time to add insulation, knowing that we will spend many a winter night watching a movie, or perhaps some really bad TV. (I just finished a Gene Simmons Family Jewels marathon ... I'm hooked).

The weekends goal was met! The second new window is in!


Up next, removing the bad old air conditioner, installing new lights & electrical, and moving the door. Plus, C is meeting with a contractor this week to get estimates for sheetrock installation.

In other news, check out this pic that I snapped tonight. Sleepy boy!


Earlier in the week, he was treated to a doggy cup cake. What a life!!

Progress - Window #1

Today saw progress on the family room. The first window is installed, and as I type this, C is putting the finishing touches on the exterior for the night. The patching of siding and paint will wait for another day.

We were both off of work early yesterday, which afforded us the opportunity to go to Home Depot on a weekday. This is key! However, as I stood in the parking lot watching my husband tie our new window to the roof of his car I began to wonder if we were in over our heads. Or at the very least, if we should have driven the truck!

With sunlight hours left to burn, we were able to demo most of the old window framing last night.

This morning, albeit closer to noon, we popped the old windows out. Rocko had fun discovering how to jump through the wall.


As normal we ran into issues along the way. By now we are pretty good at making it up as we go. I found myself getting in the way on this project, as much of the time there was work for only one person. C did a good job of being the worker while I tried to stay out of his way.

Without further delay, the first glimpse of the new window.

Next up, sitting in front of the TV, enjoying the breeze through the OPEN window!!!!

There is no turning back now! The paneling is in the driveway, and the family room is a total freaking mess ... it is great!!!

To our delight we found two walls already had drywall under the ugly 70's decor. Next step: mapping out the electrical work and replacing windows. We've also discovered that the room has decent insulation, so replacing the windows should be enough to improve climate control.

For your enjoyment I've included a before picture (taken during the house inspection 3 years ago). You'll have to hang out a little longer to get a glimpse of the after shots.

I've been inspired! I have a few friends who have the most wonderful blogs, and I check them daily for updates. Today is the day I join the fun, and put stuff out there for you all to keep tabs on the house, the dog, and me.

Other than the creation of a blog, I will be making a trip to Crate & Barrel today. Last year, for our wedding, C & I registered at Crate & Barrel. A semi-major purchase made in connection with that was our dining set (do you know that when you close out a registry you get 10% off everything you buy -- register for stuff that you are willing to pay for yourself, save some cash, and redecorate your house when closing your registry).

We waited about 2 weeks, maybe 3, for our table to arrive. The chairs had long since been sitting in the dining room awaiting their partner. We rushed out to the store, about 30 minutes from our house, and wedged the table into my tiny car -- this involved me scooting my seat up as far as I could. Naturally, we were stuck in rush hour traffic, taking us 2 hours to get home, all the while my 5'10" body was squeezed into a seat set for someone under 4' tall. As we started to unpack the table we discovered that it had major shipping damage. We immediately contacted Crate & Barrel, who ordered us another table, and told us we were welcome to assemble the defective one for use until our new table arrived.

The assemble went smoothly, and we turned out temporary table upright. The darn thing split in half and crashed into our new flooring. My husband rushed to see if his floor had been damaged! I got back on the phone with Crate & Barrel.

After 4 weeks, our replacement table arrived. We backed everything up, and made the drive to the store, taking my husbands truck and making sure to avoid traffic. The new table was assembled and in our dining room in no time.

Not but an hour later did we get our first scratch, from a deck of cards. Which was followed by a scratch from setting the keys on the table. Which was followed by a dent from a box of poker chips. Which was followed by many scratches from bowls and plates. All of this has caused us fear from setting anything on the table, and a dependancy on place mats!

Today, we return the stinkin' table. We will not be exchanging it. We've found a replacement which will go nicely with the chairs (I've had no problems with them at all).

Front Path - Before





Front Path - After





Back Fence - Before





Back Fence - After





Office Exterior Wall - Before





Office Exterior Wall - After





Office Side Wall - Before





Office Side Wall - After





Fireplace - Before




Fireplace - After