Dude, Man, We Got Pot(s).

Before you call the DEA on me, I'm not talking the green leafy variety, however, you still can light up the type I'm talking and yes, they're high, but will not get you high - blind maybe, but not high.  Sorry, kids.  This past weekend boasted a lot of progress and a shit ton of hours spent at humble casa numero nueve.

I am over the concrete floor in the basement.  OVER. IT. DONEZO. My back, quads, and I will joyfully rejoice when that floor is done.  I may even higher a baptist church choir to come and sing when its final minutes of drying time are complete.  Could you imagine?  A baptist church choir in our basement rejoicing a concrete floor.  Man, wouldn't the neighbors be impressed??  Or they may just call the cops... Anyway, back to the floor.  After I tore up the faux(pas) floor, then the tile, then bean-e-doo'd the crap out of the nasty mastic, then simple green scrubbed it, then let it dry for a week, THEN this weekend I acid etched the floor to ready it for its finishing phase.  Let me tell you, that acid etching stuff is straight out of a cartoon where the bad guy is trying to dunk the good guy into a vat of bubbling acid to strip him of his powers. They're freakin' sharks with laser beams attached to their freakin' heads. Mua-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!  (Austin Powers reference. No? Do I hear crickets?)  I had to armor myself with acid proof gloves on my hands and feet, hence the weird looking feet fingers.  They look like Mickey on crack.  I'm classy.  

*a cleaned, etched, read-to-paint floor. glorious!*

Dad and Adam worked on the pot recessed lights in the kitchen.  We were originally going to have 6 total, but 5 (even though that's an odd number and throws the symmetry off - it gets me every time!!) was the magic number.  We decided on 5 pot lights because 6 pot lights turned into being more like a jersey shore tanning bed than a kitchen.  The wiring was ridiculous.  It was a cluster fudge.  It was an all around fire hazard and how the house didn't burn down before we got to it is beyond me.  You think I'm kidding?  Ask Will and my Dad.  Disastrous.

*look! pot(s)*

Meanwhile...back at the ranch. Oh wait. We are at the ranch. Whatever.  Ed sheet rocked the bathroom.  Dudes and dudettes, that bathroom looks like a room again and it's beautiful.  Ok, not as beautiful as it will be someday, but it's far more beautiful than it was.  Next up is some tile work and getting Ed to begin building that gorgeous vanity.  Oooohhh ... I just gave a hint away....do-da, do-da. (sorry I didn't take any pictures of the sheet rocked goodness. I guess I was THAT tired.)


The very last project of the weekend was completed Sunday night at about 8:30pm.  It was a long-ass day.  Hell, it was a long-ass weekend!  We can see on the back deck at night.  Can you believe it?  Me either!  It was so dark out there due to the lack of peeps with lights in our immediate vicinity (just how we like it!) that we needed lights.  The kitchen wall is naked. Oh la la!  It needs insulation and vapor barrier, but before we could do that the wiring had to be completed.  Annnnd being the complete pain in the ass that I am, I wanted  requested two lights out on the deck.  Well, fast forward to the siding issue and let's just say Ed got mad.  Anyone who knows Ed knows he doesn't really get mad.  He frisbee'd a siding tile so far into the woods with such vengeance he almost took me out and the neighbors truck.  Of course he did so outta frustration and I'm happy to say he got it right and we have happy a tile, a happy Ed and a happy glowing light.  All is good in the world.

*new switch that wasn't there before. my dad is crafty*

So, friends, pals, chums, mates until this (3 day) weekend ... cheers.  

This is the Part Where We Get Disgusting.

Last weekend I demonstrated and shared my (and Mandy's) impeccable destruction abilities and my mastermind plan with the super hero bean-e-doo.  The mastic adhesive that was left over on the floor from the faux(pas) tiles was thick in some places and directly adhered to the concrete we wanted access to.  No Bueno, Amigos!  We want a cleaaaaannnn concrete floor; not a jacked up with black crap concrete floor.  So, Friday night Ed and I went to the house to do some work before our oldness set in and our bedtime rolled around.  Ed finished up the plumbing in the bathroom (which has come quite a ways, btw)  and I became acquainted with the super bean in a 5gallon bucket.  I spread the super bean all over the mastic covered floor and actually heard the concrete sigh a sigh of relief -- like it was thanking me for saving it.

 

Looks like an ice rink, doesn't it?  

So, the super bean was left over night to work its super hero work and flex its super hero muscles while fighting the evil mastic that's trying to take over the concrete floor (insert evil laugh here).  On Saturday morning Ed and I headed back to the house to check on mastic fighting super bean.  The super bean flexed its muscles all night and it was exhausted.  So, I grabbed my new squeegee and started jumped right into the super hero action cleaning up the defeated mastic.  High-Five!  I squeegee'd the old-motor-oil-like-mastic into piles and then put Oil-Dry on the piles to soak up the grossness.  

After HOURS and HOURS of clean-up - I'm talkin' scraping up Oil-Dry, shoveling, more squeegee-ing, Simple Green scrubbing, vacumning, more scrubbing, more vacumning, etc. - it was clean.  I have to say, after all of this work (this room is huge) I was a hurtin' pup (much like someone else we all know) and I was FILTHY and DISGUSTING.  So, want to see what the room looks like naked??  Drum roll please ......

Do you see what I see?!  The picture doesn't show a completely dry floor, but it's 85% dry.  Do you see how gross my feet are?  The top half of me and me fingernails weren't much better.  I went upstairs to see what trouble Ed was getting into and he had done a sheet-ton of work!  Get it?  Sheet rock? Shit-ton?  Ha ha. I'm so clever.  Anyway, Ed finished cement boarding the shower and put up one wall of green mold resistant sheet rock on the window side wall of the bathroom.  

I am excited.  We were both too exhausted to rock the other walls, but a few nights this week will take care of those other walls.  This weekend proved to be a very productive weekend.  We have a 100% set in stone plan for the basement floor that is rad.  The bathroom will be taking shape quite nicely in the next two weeks.  Then, it's on to the kitchen. Oh, the kitchen.  

We Lift Things Up and Put Them Down.

Ed and I spent the entire weekend at the house working away and also working on our muscles.  As a matter of fact, don't be surprised if you come to the house you hear Ed and I speaking something like this:

Since we have bid our hasta la-bye-byes to the furnace, we have to do a lot all of the contractor work our awesome sauce contractor, Tom, was supposed to be doing (well, besides refinishing the hardwood floors and plumbing).  This has it's pros and cons.  Pros: We gain homeowners fix-it how to knowledge and some biceps/triceps/a more toned physique.  Cons: It get's done in two times the amount of time because it is usually Ed and I and 2 or 3 other people - not a truck load like Tom would have.  Am I complaining?? Heck no!  Bring on the challenge!  

This weekend brought about some surprises and discoveries and awesomeness by siblings!  (I love the word awesome; it's such an all encompassing word.)  First off, THANK YOU Will, Mandy and Adam! Will came down to help Ed with the electric - considering he's a badass pro - and Mandy and I, well, we lift things up and put them down.  Remember the basement/rec room with the fireplace and icky floors? 

We destroyed them.  Mandy and I took up those floors with ease and neatly piled those cat-pee-smellin (oh it's AWFUL!) wannabe fake wood boards in a hot mess of a pile in the garage.  Underneath the faux(pas) flooring was more flooring which looked original.  I was able to take these tiles up carefully and with ease, but they left a black not-so-sticky-anymore adhesive which, according to Google, is called Mastic or Cutback adhesive and *could* contain asbestos.  Before you freak out, take a deep breath.  The tiles removed came up like glass creating minimal to no dust/particle fibers in the air and the mastic will be removed with Bean-e-Doo, a environmentally friendly (and lung no-harsh-make-you-pass-out-from-fumes friendly) soybean adhesive remover that when done working its little bean magic, will turn the mastic into a motor oil type substance that can be scooped up and cleaned up with kitty litter.  How cool is that?!  Keeps all potentially harmful fibers out of the air and is tree-hugger friendly!  My mother-in-law would be proud! 

Ed took care of a lot of plumbing in the bathroom and we scored an almost new deck/patio set for our favorite price: F-to-the-R-to-the-double-EE!  If not for Adam and his work van, we would have lost out - Thank You, Adam!

We also discovered something in the front yard that Ed and I are stoked about!  Ready?  We have fruit trees!!  Yes plural; as in multiple different varieties of fruit growing in our front yard.  We have an apple tree, a pear tree, a peach tree, and a raspberry bush.  We also discovered we have mint growing in the front too, which my dad scowls at; I smile and say 'fresh mojito's, anyone?'.

3 Days, 60 Miles, and A Million Blisters.

A non-house related post that touches everyones life and heart.  Just about 11 years ago I lost someone very, very dear to me; that day changed my life forever.  Just about 5 years earlier, I had lost someone very, very dear as well; that day too changed lives forever.  In my life now, I am graced with knowing survivors of multiple ages. 

11 years ago I lost my mother to Breast Cancer.  My father lost his soul mate of 25+ years;  my sister and brother their mother; my son his grandmother; friends their rock; and the world a special light of never ending kindness and joy.  She fought a long, courageous, difficult battle that involved remissions and bone marrow transplants and one too many hospital stays.  

16 years ago the world lost another amazing soul far too soon; her name, Karen Shebanie.  A husband lost his wife of 25 years; two daughters lost a mother; I lost my second mother; my mother lost her best friend; my best friend lost her mother.  Breast Cancer took her away from us, too.  She fought a courageous battle with gusto and will stronger than I've ever seen.  

6 years ago I learned that my amazing Mother-in-Law is a 20+ (almost 30) year Breast Cancer survivor.  She fought this disease while raising three little kids.  My cousin, a multiple diagnosis cancer survivor (including Ovarian and Breast) at the young age of early 40's.  These women whom are near and dear to my heart have stared death and cancer in the face and told them "not today, not tomorrow, not ever will you take my life."

These women are the women I admire and look to for strength.  Not celebrities or sports gods, no.  Real people fighting a real disease and a fight that could cost them their life.  I admire my mother for gracefully enduring the pain and suffering she did without complaint and how she always had a smile while doing it, even if it was killing her.  I admire Karens strength and humor and dedication to her girls and students even though she was in insufferable pain - she too never left a day without a smile.  I admire my Mother-in-Law for her victories and perseverance and I'm lucky to have her and I cherish every day, she's a tough cookie and an amazing women. 

So, why the tearful, gut-wrenching, tugging on your heart strings, post?  Katie Butler and I are taking on the challenge of the 3-Day Susan G. Komen walk for the cure. Our team is Baby Got Rack and it's a 3 Day walk, 60 miles being held in Boston in July (22-24). Why are we doing this?  We are doing this because this, to us, is helping to save lives.  This is a cause that hits home and if we can be a part of something that will prevent another little girl from loosing their mom or grandma too soon, then we want to do that.  We are walking to honor our Mothers.  We are walking to celebrate my Mother-in-Law and cousin and their victories.  We are walking in hopes that one day we won't have to walk any longer because a cure has been found.  So, if you're reading and have made it this far, thank you.  If anyone reading this would like to donate to our fundraising goal of $4600., please click the link below.  If you have already donated, Katie and I greatly appreciate your help and so do countless amounts of mothers, daughters, sisters, grandmothers, cousins, aunts, and next door neighbors.  Love you all. 

Click here for the 3-Day Donation Page to Baby Got Rack.

Decisions For Dummies.

I am not one to easily make decisions without mulling it over and over and over again.  Once I make a decision, I go back to mulling over that decision making sure I made the right choice; reassembling this house has been no different.  You see, Ed loves the mechanical and technical aspects of gutting a home.  Me, I love putting it back together piece by beautiful piece.  But, of course, piecing the house back together requires decisions - some of which have been made, others not so much.  We pretty much have the bathroom squared away decision wise in terms of color, tile, sinks, faucets, sconces, etc.  The colors for the house are narrowed down and they're beautiful (well, we think so at least).  Connor, we found out, is quite good at making decisions.  His room will be a killer shade of green and one wall black.  Black you ask?!  What the hell kinda mother am I?  I bet you're thinking soon he'll be sporting a blue mohawk, start wearing eyeliner and painting his fingernails black.  Oh, you little sillies.  No, no, no.  The black wall in Cmans room will be chalkboard paint!  Isn't that the coolest thing ever?  Cman thinks so and so do we.

However, the kitchen is whole other story.  We have a general idea of where we're going with it, but Ed and I cannot decide (woah! no way) on lighting.  Well, we know we want recessed lighting, but over the sink we can't put a pot there, so we have to get a pendant light.  The only thing is this, we have a eat-in-kitchen-bar-extended-counter-thing that had two pendant lamps over it - uneven lamps, but lamps.  Because the dining room is so close to the kitchen (the open flooooow baby) and we have an incredible chandelier in mind, we're worried all the lights will be too many in too confined an area.

So, what do you think?  Recessed over the eat-in counter and just one lamp over the sink? Or two small pendant lamps over the eat-in counter to match the one over the sink and just hope it doesn't look cluttered or competitive with the future chandelier?  Just when I think I've decided and Ed gives the ok, I'm back to Googleing images to help me...make a decision (for dummies).  

Who Shot the Mama? But Did Not Shoot the Deputy...

(I know they aren't the lyrics, but it's the first thing that popped into my head when I saw the picture. Thanks, Bob Marley!) There's one member of our little clan whom I have (so far) failed to really mention.  This one member REALLY, REALLY loves the new casa and makes us believe that our selection and purchase of number nine was essentially for her and no one else.  I have never in my life seen a happier dog.  Yup, I speak of the one and only, Mama (or Stella for those who aren't familiar with her moniker).  The back yard is Mom's little mecca of all things deemed most important to a pup.  Since the yard is fenced in, she has freedom from the leash that once restricted her. (And P.S. anyone reading whom has a pup that loves to play and would benefit from a fenced in yard, Mama is taking applications for friends to come over and play.)  However, this new found freedom also means new found exhaustion and fatigue.  You see, Mama runs and runs and runs AND runs until she has run herself what some would view as dead.  See what I mean? 

Then, she gets up and runs some more.  Last week when the heat was hovering around 90 degrees, Mom was still running; honestly we all weren't quite sure how.  When we got back to my Dad's after a long day working, Mama passed out.  When it was time for bed, she slllooooowwwwlllyyy raised her exhausted body from her dog bed and limped - as if she were a dog 10x her age - to bed.  At first we thought that she had hurt a foot or buster a pad, but when we realized it was from achy muscles we chuckled.  This dog had literally run herself out; and for those of you whom have met her, know that she is high energy...so yea, that's how much she runs.  


Before we bought this house, I would constantly hear Ed say things like: "I want my own lawn to mow" and "I want my own garage to put my tools in" and "I need my own throne".  Well, the lawn hadn't been mowed in almost a month; it was a mini-jungle.  Seriously, it was taller than Mama stood.  My amazingly-awesome-kick-ass Dad bequeathed his Honda mower to us to use for an indefinite amount of time (read he's so excited to have it out of his garage, I thought he was going to throw a party. Who likes beer?)  This mower has been sitting idle for 13 YEARS, plus, I remember using it to cut the lawn when I was a youngin'.  So, it's old.  Ed (because he's AWESOME) fixed this sucker up, got it running like a sewing machine and wah-la!  Ed got his wish...a lawn to mow and a mower to mow it with.  Awww, a happy ending.  It even fit in the back of the GTI.  What up, hatchbacks?!    

We got tile!!  More specifically, bathroom floor tile and you know what?  It's gorgeous.  Want to know what else?  Ed picked it out.  Want to know one more thing?  We negotiated the price down to the cheaper tile price we didn't want.  What?  We're on a beer budget and have champagne taste.  This tile is marble.  This tile is light colored with gray veining.  This tile melts my heart.  This tile will rock your socks, guaranteed. 

The plumbers finished their work - ha ha ha ha!! - or so we thought.  Yea, well, in addition to the thirty breaks and countless broken couplings they found, they also found the furnace will not hold pressure.  Wah-wah.  Buzz kill.  So, we are faced with quite a few thousand to replace the furnace.  I personally think heat and hot water are overrated, but others (everyone except Katie) seems to disagree.  The mold guys - remember them?  They're the guys in the tyvek suites with capes. No?  Well, they came and saved the day with the mold-mobile and mold signal in the sky and a 20 yard dumpster.  I want to kiss these men.  Seriously, they offered for us to use their dumpster for $85.  Yep, let's slash that $600+ quote from numerous dumpster dropper-offers  and use the superhero mold guys dumpster for $85.  Score.  House 17, Kel & Ed 1.  We still have time to catch up, people.  Have a little faith.  We'll have a beer. 

Ok, well, I think I've covered this very busy week - one of which was full of craptastic surprises, superhero's in tyvek, and wore out puppy dogs.  We will be victorious eventually, it's just going to take (a lot of) time.  I'm ready to go back to Hawaii.  Now.  Please.  Is a second honeymoon before a first anniversary out of the question?  What's that?  I hear you whispering furnace in my ear.  Ya, thanks.  And here I thought we were mates.  That amazing swim with an endangered green sea turtle on the Big Island is still fresh in my mind.  I'll visit that for now I guess.  That water was so clear and so warm...

We Are Talkin' Cents, Baby...

So, do you remember a while back when I spoke about how Ed and I never pay full price for anything we purchase?  Well, we held true to our philosophy while making some major (and gorgeous!) purchases this weekend.  Check out the deals we scored!!  Ready for this amazingly gigantic dose of awesome sauce?  Can you handle it?!  I said ... CAN YOU HANDLE IT?!  Ha ha.  Yelling is almost as fun as using a wrecking bar.  Note, I said almost.


So, now that I'm done yelling at you (with a smile on my face, of course), I want to share with you a very proud moment for not only Ed and I, but for our wallets.  Remember I mentioned my favorite online shopping site ebates.com?  Well, using them at Lowes.com earns you a whopping 4.0% cash back.  Memorial Day weekend boasted a LOT of amazing sales and desperate need to boost the American economy.  Well, we par took in this attempt to boost the economy and for good reason.  Check it out...

• Frigidaire 30-Inch Smooth Surface Freestanding Electric Range:  Original price $899.00 + tax + delivery.  Total: $1039.00

Kelly and Ed price: $719 + tax + free delivery + 4.0% cash back.  Total: $746.00  Savings: $293.00 (!!) 

Next up: 

• Whirlpool 3.5 Cu. Ft. Front-Load Washer ENERGY STAR: Original price: $699.00 + tax + delivery. Total: $822.00

Kelly & Ed price: $424.50 +tax + free delivery + 4.0% cash back. Total: $441.00.  Savings: $381.00 (!!).  

So, are you all proud of us?  All and all, we spent $1187.00 opposed to the $1861.00 without sales.  We still have to buy the matching dryer and microwave, but honestly, this red house is expensive ( I know you thought that exact thought after seeing the gutted bathroom AND kitchen) and making sure there's enough to go around is more important than a dryer/microwave right this minute.  Priorities people.  We have landed in the world of adulthood and honestly, it's weird to be excited over appliances when I used to be excited over concert tickets by the 10x and the next road trip I was going to take.   Ah, how life changes.