I am being very productive today. I’ve found that listening to a book on my MP3 player actually boosts my productivity. I’m listening to True Blue by David Baldacci. It is pretty good. Some cheesy one-liners but still good.
I snuck up on John last night as he was looking at my Christmas present. He was looking at multi-tools otherwise known as Gerbers. I would like to have one.
Christmas lights in Austin are a struggle. Some people just haphazardly through up lights in their trees and on their houses. It makes John and I laugh. One of our neighbors vomited Christmas decorations all over their yard. Seriously, I do not think there is an inch of grass showing because they have so many lighted things whirling and twirling. They are playing music and have a countdown to Christmas … all within a few feet of our house! The word tacky is not nearly strong enough!
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Termits?
I just re-read some of my former posts. Every time you see the word termit - please change to termite in your mind. Silly me!
Former house owner
This is a post I've been meaning to write for a little while.
When we were closing we met with the man who owned our house for 30 years. He was a very kind soul. He was pretty adamant that he wanted to close at the same time we did. We all were at the title company and he told us stories about the house. His wife was the one who planted the roses and the mini magnolia bushes. Our lot is bigger than most of the other lots in the neighborhood because there is a finite amount of room in between the two streets. So, there is a road ... houses ... then road. There is not enough room for 4 houses, but there is way too much room for 2. Therefore, they put three houses in between the roads. It allowed for bigger lots for those 3 houses. We are the middle house. The neighbor to the east is a complete busybody. There are 2 fences between our yard and their yard. Not sure why. But, they've all ready peeked through both of the yards to look at McKenzie! Trust me, this is no small feat. They also knew exactly what we were going to be doing with the yard. How? They pumped the people we hired for the lawn for information! Anyway, back to our sweet old former house owner. Once we had closed. He stood up, shook John's hand, and then proudly handed over the keys to him. He came across the room to give me a hug. I felt like he was blessing John and me to take over his home and to be happy in it.
When we were closing we met with the man who owned our house for 30 years. He was a very kind soul. He was pretty adamant that he wanted to close at the same time we did. We all were at the title company and he told us stories about the house. His wife was the one who planted the roses and the mini magnolia bushes. Our lot is bigger than most of the other lots in the neighborhood because there is a finite amount of room in between the two streets. So, there is a road ... houses ... then road. There is not enough room for 4 houses, but there is way too much room for 2. Therefore, they put three houses in between the roads. It allowed for bigger lots for those 3 houses. We are the middle house. The neighbor to the east is a complete busybody. There are 2 fences between our yard and their yard. Not sure why. But, they've all ready peeked through both of the yards to look at McKenzie! Trust me, this is no small feat. They also knew exactly what we were going to be doing with the yard. How? They pumped the people we hired for the lawn for information! Anyway, back to our sweet old former house owner. Once we had closed. He stood up, shook John's hand, and then proudly handed over the keys to him. He came across the room to give me a hug. I felt like he was blessing John and me to take over his home and to be happy in it.
Popcorn
I love popcorn. I LOVE popcorn. I could probably eat popcorn every day for dinner. I do not love popcorn ceilings. Actually, I don't have anything against popcorn ceilings. They don't mortally offend me in any way. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for John. John is mortally offended by popcorn ceilings. Our new house (the very old house) has popcorn ceilings. So, we decided we would scrap off the popcorn. Aiyiyiah! On Monday night, life was wretched. We couldn't get the corn to actually come off the ceiling! It is messy. Stuff is constantly falling all over you. Its pretty rough. By yesterday we had figured out how to remove the popcorn. A combination of ammonia with water sprayed on to the ceiling plus a scraper pretty well removes the stuff. I'm listening to a fluffy novel on my Sansa clip so I actually have been enjoying the popcorn removal a little bit more.
The texture on the walls is a whole other story. The texture is HIDEOUS. It looks like dripping blood. There's no way we could add paint to it without being totally creepy. (We are thinking about a light, light gray with white accent colors.) Last night the walls defeated us. We spent a good deal of time sanding. We even have a rotary sander and the walls just laughed at us. Blugh!
I am taking pictures to document all of this just haven't had the time to upload them yet.
The texture on the walls is a whole other story. The texture is HIDEOUS. It looks like dripping blood. There's no way we could add paint to it without being totally creepy. (We are thinking about a light, light gray with white accent colors.) Last night the walls defeated us. We spent a good deal of time sanding. We even have a rotary sander and the walls just laughed at us. Blugh!
I am taking pictures to document all of this just haven't had the time to upload them yet.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Closing Time
The end of the beginning has arrived. John and I closed yesterday. There was a wee bit of an issue with termits. We don't have termits. We have a silly termite inspector. $180 later and everything is going to be just fine. WE CLOSED ON OUR FIRST HOME!
So, last night John was mowing and I was just bee bopping around. At one point I sat down in my yard and just smiled. It was a beautiful evening. It was quiet. (John was in the front yard.) McKenzie was running back and forth as fast as she could. It was incredible.
Oh, but I should relay the following story. My moment of bliss happened after this story. For a wedding present John and I received a potato. The potato was supposed to bless us and ensure that our life together starts out plentiful and remains that way. So, as John was putting together the lawn mower, I went to plant our potato. I looked up and there was a little blue birdy chirpping at me. It was a bit scared. I couldn't figure out why it didn't fly away. About that time McKenzie spotted the little blue birdy and she started attempting to attack. The bird hopped all over the place trying to get away from her. I was trying to catch McKenzie before she ate the bird. The bird was squawking at the top of its lungs. John was yelling from the patio that the mama bird was getting ready to attack my head. The mama bird was flying down toward me. Finally I grabbed McKenzie and ran to the patio. I saw the little blue birdy over by the fence a little while later. (McKenzie was banished to the house.) John mowed but said he didn't see the birdy. I'm not sure what happened to it. It was pretty dramatic!
John is at the house right now. (I'm at work.) Tonight we have a KUT event so I'll be burning the 10 p.m. oil. :)
So, last night John was mowing and I was just bee bopping around. At one point I sat down in my yard and just smiled. It was a beautiful evening. It was quiet. (John was in the front yard.) McKenzie was running back and forth as fast as she could. It was incredible.
Oh, but I should relay the following story. My moment of bliss happened after this story. For a wedding present John and I received a potato. The potato was supposed to bless us and ensure that our life together starts out plentiful and remains that way. So, as John was putting together the lawn mower, I went to plant our potato. I looked up and there was a little blue birdy chirpping at me. It was a bit scared. I couldn't figure out why it didn't fly away. About that time McKenzie spotted the little blue birdy and she started attempting to attack. The bird hopped all over the place trying to get away from her. I was trying to catch McKenzie before she ate the bird. The bird was squawking at the top of its lungs. John was yelling from the patio that the mama bird was getting ready to attack my head. The mama bird was flying down toward me. Finally I grabbed McKenzie and ran to the patio. I saw the little blue birdy over by the fence a little while later. (McKenzie was banished to the house.) John mowed but said he didn't see the birdy. I'm not sure what happened to it. It was pretty dramatic!
John is at the house right now. (I'm at work.) Tonight we have a KUT event so I'll be burning the 10 p.m. oil. :)
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
One more day!
John and I close on the house tomorrow!
I am so elated. We close at noon.
I talked to Paola this morning. She is John's brother Henry's wife. So, she's my sister in law. I only have one sister in law. Since I only have one, I'm glad I have her!
She has quite the story to tell about coming from Mexico to the U.S. yesterday. She was in north Mexico taking care of some things. She wasn't able to go back to Mexico City to get any of her stuff because of swine flu. She walked across the border, then boarded a plane in El Paso. She flew to Dallas then to Fort Lauderdale. She was so excited to be back! And, Henry was very excited for her to be back. I tried to convince her to come to Austin for a visit. What's new? I always try to get people to come to Austin to visit. :)
I am so elated. We close at noon.
I talked to Paola this morning. She is John's brother Henry's wife. So, she's my sister in law. I only have one sister in law. Since I only have one, I'm glad I have her!
She has quite the story to tell about coming from Mexico to the U.S. yesterday. She was in north Mexico taking care of some things. She wasn't able to go back to Mexico City to get any of her stuff because of swine flu. She walked across the border, then boarded a plane in El Paso. She flew to Dallas then to Fort Lauderdale. She was so excited to be back! And, Henry was very excited for her to be back. I tried to convince her to come to Austin for a visit. What's new? I always try to get people to come to Austin to visit. :)
Monday, April 27, 2009
House!
So, we close on our house on 4.30. I realized that I need to get a lot better about taking pictures and also sharing about our house. Inquiring minds want to know!
The house is not very pretty. It isn't very pretty at all. It is in a great neighborhood though. And, I love the floor plan. I say it isn't very pretty because it hasn't been updated since the 70s. I was recently introduced to a new term: sweat equity. John and I will put a LOT of sweat equity into the house.
The first thing we are going to do is scrap the popcorn ceilings. Then, we'll pull the carpet. Finally, we will have new floors installed. We are thinking Brazilian Rosewood or Brazilian Cherry. We are trying to decide if we have enough resources (aka money) to do the kitchen. It needs backsplash, painted cabinents, and new counter tops. Oh yeah, and a new floor.
The dining room is pretty awesome. We want to do a banquette of sorts. A long bench on one wall then a table and some chairs on the other side.
Carpet for the bedrooms. New paint. Ugh! We are going to be hemorrhaging money!
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