Projects

As if life wasn't full enough, I decided this morning that I want to do some craft projects. Slight problem, all my craft supplies are hidden in a crowded basement behind building materials. Hmmm, what to do?

Any of these pumpkin decorating ideas would be easy enough to do on Friday night before our open house on Sunday. (from How about Orange.)

• Witch legs!
• Paper Mache! (maybe not a great idea with the dogs)
• Pun-kin ornaments
• Cinderella's ride
• And wouldn't you know that Martha has lots more ideas.
• Franken-gourd
• Pincushion pumpkins

And separately, someday I hope to make these spider desserts.
I forsee a trip to Michael's at lunchtime.

Emily

This summer we spent a weekend the 4 y.o. daughter of friends. Emily has a propensity to not look very hard for her things (towel, stuffed dolphin, shoes.) I made the unfortunate mistake of indulging this behavior - warning warning DON'T DO IT. Oh well.

Ever since, when hubby or I don't look for something or just ask "Do you know where X is?" or "Have you seen Y?" the other responds "Emily, it's right ____, where you left it."

We moved this weekend, but still plan to come back to the house on a daily basis. Our emails and phone numbers haven't changed. So, if you need to find us, you know where to look, Emily.

My new favorite cheese

Yesterday, I was planning to have the lunch of champions - cheese and bread. A coworker encouraged me to try a new cheese instead of my typical cheddar - Dubliner Cheese. I must say, I'm very glad she did. I have a new favorite. We were at a loss to describe it, but the above entry says it all. "It has a robust tangy flavour; it pairs well with apples and grapes, or a well-balanced red wine. It combines the sharpness of mature cheddar, the nuttiness of Swiss, and piquant bite of Parmesan." Or put another way "YUMMY!"

Thanks, Allison!

Holy cleaner, Batman!

I just mopped the house (both floors, all intact rooms) in an attempt to clean up some of the dust from this week's demolition/construction. Holy moly! So so so so much better. It's not perfect, but I can see the hardwood again and the house doesn't feel gritty. I wish I had the energy to do it sooner. Maybe I'll tackle the other surfaces next, after a brief rest. :-)

BTW, I used 1 cup white vinegar to 1 gallon warm water. Worked wonderfully. Cuts through the plaster dust and dirt. It doesn't smell "chemically" or antiseptic. There is a slight vinegar smell that fades as the floor dries (good thing hubby is still away.) Eco-friendly and pregnant lady friendly too.

Registries

I went to Babies R Us today with Eugene. He's shopping for a crib for Ethan and I needed to work on the baby registry. Let me tell you, it's overwhelming. I know my family would prefer that I do my registry there, but OY! I don't want to be limited to their selections only. I've decided that I'm going to do an online registry that let's me add items from any retailer of my choosing. No limits on selection now! This also allows me to do some bargain hunting in the process.

I've got my Baby Bargains book in one hand, a browser window opened to Consumer Reports, and another browser window ready for searching. Let the shopping begin!

Water Bubbles

It started raining yesterday morning and continued to do so for 12 hours. It stopped briefly during the overnight, but has started again. Normally, a rainy weekend doesn't bother me. More time to curl up on the couch reading, watching a movie, or napping (most likely.) This weekend is different. On Wednesday and Thursday, the decking and studs for the first floor addition were put up. There's no second story floor yet (more to come on that in a separate post.) All this rain means that the addition could get wet. Luckily, we knew beforehand that it would rain, and rain a lot. Tarps were bought by the cartload. But I didn't expect this to happen:
This is one of three water bubbles that have collected in the tarps. I tried pushing the water out of them, but the angle is too steep and there's a lot of water. The tarps are stretched to their max now and the water is starting to drip through the threads. As a stop gap measure, I bought more plastic, laid it on the floor and found as many buckets as I could to collect the dripping water.

Tomorrow had better be a sunny day.

Pardon Our Dust

This weekend we accomplished in terms of demolition. The kitchen is gutted, except for the exterior walls. The floor proved to be a challenge - they had to jackhammer out the tile, then cut the two layers of linoleum and 1" thick plywood. At least one saw blade was ruined. The floor was finished this morning.

We had lots of help from friends on Saturday and Sunday and we made relatively short work of the guest bedroom and office. Both of those rooms are completely to studs. When you walk up the stairs you encounter a skeleton of the old rooms.

Just as everyone predicted, we made a lot of mess and there is a fine layer of dust everywhere. Our bedroom is the only dust-free room in the house. (Thank goodness for that draft stopper!) I am constantly washing my hands and feel gritty all the time. Yummy. We don't move out until Oct 1, so there's another 9 days of this. Thank goodness for neighbors who will let us use their guest room.

A big thanks to all who helped out this weekend, from big demo work, to clean up to holding the light while I cut wires. We are very grateful to you.