Updates on house

We've been busy!!

We've painted the kitchen "grape leaf green" and the cabinets and trim "tawny port" which is a deep mahogany type color.

The above curtain is in the kitchen - I made it! I saw the fabric, and knew that was what I wanted in the kitchen.

I also made curtains in the living room. Those were more difficult, since they were bigger, and the fabric was also a pain the tookus to work with - it was silky, which meant that it slid everywhere while trying to work on it!

Don't worry - those aren't stains in the above photos - just a weird lighting phenomenon.

We've also done some decorating in the living room. It has a somewhat asian-inspired feel to it. The MIL helped us out there-she had tons of scrolls to hang on the walls. She had previously done her living room in a similar style, but has recently redecorated.

Looking a gift horse in the mouth...

When I first read the headline, I felt really bad for this family.
Then I read the story.

Are these people nuts? You win the chance of a lifetime - you get a house built for you - a DREAM house no less, and you SQUANDER it all away? You live in a decrepit house with a faulty septic system, and hundreds of volunteers raze it to the ground to build you the most gorgeous house within miles, and you use it as collateral for a $450,000 loan for some business venture? What is wrong with these people?! That wasn't enough? It's not like they were paying a mortgage, I am sure of that. (that would kind of stink if ABC built you a house and stuck you with the bill LOL)

Wow - some people just don't know when to quit.

killer squash

This is the zucchini that I found in the garden. It is HUGE. I made a quiche with 6 cups of slices, and also set aside 2 cups of shredded to make muffins tomorrow. That's after I cut out a lot of the middle section with the seeds that were the size of pumpkin seeds!

Wallpaper Saga

There is wallpaper in the upstairs hallway that we wanted to take down. Easier said than done.

We pulled on the paper, and it came down pretty easily! Yay, this will be easier than we thought!

But wait -

There's more...

Ok...ugly brown paper is a little more difficult to take down, but still do-able.

awww....nooooo.....

there's a THIRD layer...

from the 1950s! (I think...maybe the 60s?)

And BOY is that stuff hard to get off the wall! We're vinegar and watering this bad boy (which does not make the hallway smell very good).

This wallpaper is right on top of the drywall-which is not cool.

I'll let you know how it goes.

pics from the house

Here are some over-due pics from the work on the house:

Our supercool wetbar area in the basement (it has some more stuff on it now):

Old colors of the kitchen cabinets:

Cabinet doors on the garage floor waiting to be painted-the drawer has been painted the new color:





Old yucky countertop in the basement:

Tiles that we will be putting over the yucky countertop:

Futon I picked up down the street for $45. We have gotten a new slipcover for it, and it's in our living room.

New paint for the alcove in the bedroom:

Does anyone else think potatoes?

This is one of the headlines from the Boston Channel.com (channel 5).

Missing Tubers Rescued from River

I honest-to-God thought they were talking about potatoes before I read the article.

house update

We're in!
Sorta...

Most of our stuff (there's a few random things left at the apartment-and boy do I mean random) is in the house. It's not put anywhere in particular, mind you, but at least it's here. Most of the things are in the correct room, or the general area. We're sleeping on a mattress on the floor, seeing as how we haven't put the bed back together.

We also have cable/internet/and a phone. Well that's a lie, we have a phone line but not an actual phone. So I suppose it's perfectly pointless. I guess I have to add phone to the list of things I have to get tomorrow - along with shelf paper, since 3 rolls of the sticky crap aren't enough for all of the shelves to be lined - who knew?

Also of note - we couldn't figure out how to get mattress and boxspring up the stairs - didn't seem like it would fit, until the little bro realized there was a piece of loose molding, which came off easily in his hands, and was obviously how the previous owners had gotten their mattress out of the house. (good thing we didn't opt for the king-sized bed)

A special thanks will definitely have to go out to my little bro, my aunt, my parent- in-laws, and our good friend from up in the Lowell area (you know who you are) for helping us with the long and tedious task of moving.

Just when I thought it was done - oh yeah - we have to unpack these #@($&#*@ boxes too!

She will be loved - Buena vista social club

Another fun song to share with you.

Clocks Buena vista social club

I heard this several times in Aruba - I thought it was pretty cool, and thought you might like to listen too! :-)

House Update

I'm too tired to post pictures, so maybe there will be some in tomorrow's post.

I painted one wall in the bedroom alcove green - the gallon of paint only cost $5, it was in the mistake bin at Home Depot - it looks great! I have to finish a couple more walls, but needed a step stool to get the tape up.

I bought a futon from a guy down the street, and he drove it to my house and even helped me move it into the basement! Too bad it's WAY too big for the room, and the boy and I are just going to have to move it again, but it was very nice of him!

I have put two coats on the fronts of most of the kitchen cabinets. Hopefully I can finish the backs tomorrow. One of the cabinets is a slatted door (I think I might have just made up a word there, but you get the idea) - it's a PAIN to paint in between all the slats.

I measured the living room and the family room to make little graph paper diagrams to figure out where to put the furniture.

Oh yeah...and my streak is still alive...everytime I move, I get pulled over. without fail. I am proud to say I have never received a ticket though.

Now it's time for bed.

Happy Birthday to me!

What did I get for my birthday you ask?

Why...

I got a...

HOUSE!

:-D

We spent the day signing papers, cleaning, and cleaning, and moving some stuff, and cleaning some more.

Here are some before shots of the downstairs of the house. I took these pics before we did anything to the house. I was going to take some after pics, but it was dark, so you couldn't really see anything.

I'll take more photos tomorrow during the daylight, and you'll be able to see more.

Den:

Dining Room:

Den:

Kitchen:

I took the most photos of the kitchen, because that's where I will be doing the most work in the next couple of days (mostly paint).

Stay tuned for more! :-)

packing and packing and packing

Everytime I pack a box or two or theree, I think I'm getting somewhere...then I look around...and there's MORE to pack....

The living room is almost completely full of boxes - floor to ceiling, wall to wall to wall to wall.

Today I visited with my grandmother in the rehab hospital in Andover - it's nicer than most hotels I have stayed in! How do I get in?? (just kidding!) She seemed to be in pretty good spirits, and was happy to see the honeymoon photos I brought by with the boy's portable DVD player.

Then I went home to get some boxes to pack up my place. We ordered some pizza while I was home - mmm...veggie deep dish from Mandee's - I forgot how good that is! Mom gave me (hopefully) more boxes than I need, there's a lot.

Home again home again, jiggity jig, and I started using some of those boxes. I also made the boy dinner (he wanted - pizza, of course) so I mostly ate salad.

Anyways, tomorrow is the first day of summer work. It shouldn't be too bad - Mon-Wed 8:15-11:45. Then I have to go back home to Groveland to get copies of the marriage license.

wedding pics

our cake - isn't it pretty? The bride - that's me!
Cutting the cake - do you see the Alfred Hitchcock - like shadow behind the boy? :-)

For more pics check out my Shutterfly site.

JFK is scary

Not the president - the airport.

This is why I don't like flying in/out of there.

I have had to do it now four times in my lifetime - and that is four times too many. It's crowded, too busy, and just plain bad.

On the way back from the HONEYMOON, we were taxiing for an hour waiting while 25 planes went in front of us.

Just as a restatement from earlier - I do not have a problem with our 35th president.

sunburn

Yesterday was spent in York fishing with my uncle - we didn't catch much - he caught a 20" striper, a crab, a skate, and a lobster! We didn't keep any of it - we thought about keeping the lobster, but the poor thing only had one arm. The boy caught a crab, and I caught - NOTHING. Well, I did catch a sunburn. A small one, only where it seems we missed the sunscreen. The boy used spray sunscreen on my back, and it is obvious where it missed! It's not too bad - I've had worse.
Last night we went to my aunt's church for a roast beef dinner. It was delicious.

Today's plans - clean and pack some more of the apartment. Hopefully I will get to grading some of the papers I have stacked up as well.

David vs. David

Who will be the Goliath that is slain?

Cook sounded great. Did Archuleta sound better?

Was anyone actually listening to Rueben as he sang, or were they just watching the video clips?

Did anyone else notice that the song that David A. sang (the new one that no one knows) had a line that sounded A LOT like the song "Don't Cry Out Loud"? It was driving me nuts!!

We'll have to wait till tomorrow to find out.

And now...it's time for Hell's Kitchen!

first post in May

Wow...I can't believe it took me almost two weeks into the month to post!

I've been a very busy girl!

I'm buying a house, I'm planning a wedding, I'm cleaning my house, I'm crocheting, I'm grading papers, I'm planning a field trip, I'm planning a concert, I'm FINALLY hearing from my photographer for the first time!!, I'm conducting band rehearsals, I'm playing in band rehearsals, I'm playing in concerts, I'm attending bridal showers, I'm painting ceramics, I'm getting into fender-benders (don't even ask me about that one! stupid screw scratches in my bumper!), I'm getting my hair cut, I'm attending meeting after meeting after meeting, I'm babysitting (adults no less...grrr....), I'm figuring out how to arrange furniture at the reception, I'm rewiring the auditorium lights and mapping them, I'm making phone calls trying to organize all these things, I'm volunteering time to help at the snack shack at track meets, I'm attending first communion celebrations, I'm logging RSVP's for the wedding, I'm...

BUSY!!

'nuff said.

I'm also reading the blogs of people who actually take the time to blog...and I found this. I think I have students who would like to hire this guy to help them play the flute!!

Tomorrow is meetings with the Reverend and the organist. I think I am supposed to have a NVCB band rehearsal and the HS coffee house somewhere in there as well...

BUSY!!

my one day of vacation

Today was the one and only day I had this week where I didn't do ANYTHING. I think my couch has a permanent butt print. Don't get me wrong, there were plenty of things I could have done, and many things I should have done...but I did none of them.

and it was great.

American Idol

I am shocked. Carly is gone. How is Brooke there over Carly? Or John Michaels (or Michael Johns - whatever his name was).

And how cool was Lord Andrew Lloyd Weber??

wow...

Ok...so I haven't written in a while.

I've been very busy.

We've been doing wedding stuff...house stuff...life stuff.

Lotsa stuff.

We signed our purchase and sales agreement today. Lots of signing and initialing.

This is vacation week. It's half over. :-( ::sniff sniff::

I promise I will write more.

I swear.

Well, I'll try...

I think I will...

Maybe...

offer accepted

WOOT WOOT WOOT

they've countered the counter-counter offer

We're back in the counter offering.

They've countered.

We're offering a final offer.

Wow...

Craziness!!

counter offer....counter-counter offer

We offered.

They countered.

We countered the counter.

Boy is this confusing.

But we've talked them down by $7 thousand so far.

House Hunting

Ok,
So we've been looking at houses for a long time now. We've seen over 20 in person. Out of those, we've seen some nice ones, and some not so nice ones.

But today we saw THE one.

So we put in an offer.

:-O

death of a who

ok...so I killed the Who from my earlier post, since the music was driving me crazy.

One Semester of Spanish - Love Song

HA!!! This would be me trying to speak Spanish. :-)

Sax No End - Clarke/Boland Big Band

Peter shared this with me today - wow! Listen for the soli section with the entire sax section playing together!

so worn out

I need a long weekend to recover from my long weekend.

Friday was spent shopping with my sis and mom looking for a dress for my mom for the wedding. We found one - woot!

Saturday started with shopping (woot! again) with my flower girl and her mom. We found the rest of her outfit - and she looks adorable!!! :-) The rest of the day was ...

MY BRIDAL SHOWER! :-D

It was so much fun - my sister did a great job - all the way from San Diego! We made wine charms (I brought home 37!), and I won $108 in scratch tickets from playing "Stump the Bride".

I'll have to take pictures of some of the crazy cool things that I got. My aunt made me a beautiful quilt! (I know you'd appreciate that Kelly) I got my supercool-everyonewantsone-youknowyoudo pistachio green KitchenAid Mixer. I made cookies tonight in it, and I used the new stacking cooling racks I got this weekend too.

I didn't get home till after 10 on Saturday - showed the boy all the stuff we got and hit the hay.

Sunday - Easter with the future in-laws. Little Ring Bearer hunting for Easter eggs - he had to fight off the squirrels - one ran away with his egg! We hung out with family all day and caught up with all the goings-on. We didn't get home till after 10 that night either.

Then I had to start the work week - Monday all over again.

I adopted a who

Her name is Wahoo Who.
:-)

when I get bored

For no apparent reason, I decided to make a lemon poppy seed cake with cream cheese frosting. I obviously decorated with strawberries.

mmmmm

crazy nascar fans

I saw this in the BJ's Club parking lot.

Crazy nascar fans.

'nuff said.

Thursday blues

I despise Thursdays that feel like Fridays.

It's been a long week.

Monday: School, Elementary Band, High School Jazz Band, Moonlighters (home at 10)
Tuesday: School, Afterschool Lessons, Middle School Jazz Band (home at 7)
Wednesday: School, Afterschool extra help, Union Meeting, NVCB, JPs (home at 11)
Thursday: School, Staff Meeting, home for dinner, back to school for 5th grade orientation (home at 8:30)

and tomorrow there's a concert with the NVCB

LOOONG week

Saturday is more house hunting

LOOONG week

and I better do some laundry on Sunday, or I'm showing up to work on Monday naked.

Goldilocks and the many houses

We came up with a new take on the classic fairytale yesterday. It went a little like this:

Goldilocks and the boy went in search of houses with the very nice Margaret.

House #1: Goldilocks was entranced by the beauty of the outside of the house. It was adorable, surrounded by trees and a post fence. The front entrance was a gorgeous sunporch, however pink it may have been. When Goldilocks and the boy entered the bedrooms, however, they remarked, "these rooms are tooooooo small". So they left in search of the perfect home.

House #2: Goldilocks and the boy found much to like about the outside of the next house, but alas, there was an evil curse placed on the lock, and they couldn't enter the building. They had to leave the house unentered and move on.

House #3: This was the house Goldilocks and the boy were most looking forward to seeing. The road was lined with trees and the entrance of the house was cute as a button. The downstairs of the house was just the right size. Goldilocks and the boy walked upstairs - alas! It was tooooo small. Only a bed could fit into the room, and nary a piece of furniture more. So Goldilocks and the boy moved on.

House #4: This house was the scariest of them all! Surely there must have been some scary monster living here. The wallpaper was peeling, the linoleum was coming up, and it rained inside of the porch! They left in a hurry!

House #5: The fifth house was occupied by a very nice lady who took Goldilocks, Margaret and the boy on a grand tour. The nice lady told Goldilocks and the boy everything they wanted to know about the house (and more). Although Goldilocks and the boy weren't sure if this was the house for them, they decided to keep it on the list.

House #6: The path to this house was long and treacherous. The driveway was dirt and very long. Their carriage almost became stuck in the mud on the way there. There was a lot of land that came with this house and an above ground pool, but the living/dining/kitchen room was too small. Since all of these rooms were combined into one, Goldilocks and the boy couldn't see all of their furniture fitting into such a teeny tiny place - once again - tooooo small!

Goldilocks and the boy are still looking to find a home that is juuuuust right.

Stay tuned for more the next chapter.

callus, schmallus

I played some guitar (for the first time in a long time) this evening.

My fingers HURT!

It hurts to type anything on the left side.

i i h o yp nyhin ihou h l hn
(it is hard to type anything without the left hand)

owie

argh...cliffhangers!!

Terminator:The Sarah Connor Chronicles definitely gave a doozy of one tonight - blow up the car with the girl in it and leave us - how rude!!

the source of eating disorders

I am convinced it would be trying on dresses at a bridal boutique. Has anyone ever noticed that the sizes there are much smaller than in regular clothing stores? I knew that going in - however, this particular bridal store was deluded in their sizing.

I was trying on bridesmaids dresses (although, is there such thing as a bridesmatron? cuz that's what I'll be come August!) for my cousin's wedding. Well, let me rephrase - I was holding dresses up to myself to imagine what they would look like on while my other cousin tried them on. I picked up what should be my size, and a size larger...didn't fit. Not even close.

When measured, I had to order a dress that was my size plus 8! We're talking 4 sizes larger than what I normally wear. And the woman didn't even apologize or have any sympathy for me. She was quite rude, actually. Not that I am planning on starving myself, or throwing up my dinner...but I can totally understand where people would be seriously perturbed by this. Seriously perturbed.

Do you remember Captain Planet?

I ran across a group in Facebook today called "F**** Heart...Captain Planet doesn't need him".

I laughed hysterically. Out loud.

Simply because I couldn't agree more. Earth, wind, water, fire....and.....heart???? What sort of power was that? Everything else was an element, and then there's .....heart??? Do you remember the sound the rings made? Earth-Rumble! Wind-Woosh! Water-Wahhh! Fire-Sssshhhh! and Heart-wopwopwop. How lame.

Quick! The world is in trouble! I know - let's cause an earthquake or use the force of wind to blow the badguys away, or flood them out, or use fire to chase them away...Ma-ti? what can you do? LOVE them to death?!?!

wop wop wop

The kid to beat on American Idol

Are you watching?

David Archuleta sang John Lennon's "Imagine" and it was INCREDIBLE.

I'm sure I will be able to find it on Youtube later, but for now, I just needed to share...

WOW!!!

wedding projects

This is what I worked on Tuesday with my aunt. We made the ring bearer's pillow, which although it is small, it took a LOT of time! The little ribbons that are hanging down are going to be where the rings will be tied on. We'll be using fake rings (no offense, little guy!) but I don't think we should trust a 4 year old with the real ones. (although that leaves the responsibility to the best man - we might be better off with the 4 year old)

Next we tackled the tie. Ok - well Debbie mostly tackled the tie, but that's besides the point. We had to figure out how to take an adult-sized tie and cut it down to fit a 4 year old, so he won't look like he's wearing a clown tie. We needed to make sure it would fit a kid...so...
Here's my flower girl wearing it. Isn't she a cutie? :-)

snack

This was our snack yesterday afternoon. We had ourselves some beer and some bread and oil. The dipping set was from my cousin for a Christmas present. We tried the rosemary and garlic seasoning for the oil. It was yummy! The bread was from Tripoli's bakery, where we have ordered our wedding cake. mmm...

Has there been a time it didn't look like this?

Seriously, there's been a lot of snow this season. At least, I think so. However, the rest of the country doesn't seem to think so. The headlines at Yahoo! over the weekend was talking about how the Northeast was getting hit with a snowstorm, that was breaking up a mild winter. So maybe it hasn't been cold, but there's been a lot of the white stuff!

sssh...quiet....I'm going hunting...

House hunting that is!

We were pre-approved for a mortgage on Wednesday, so we can now start the process of looking for a house! It's exciting, but a very daunting proposition. There is a lot of money involved. It is definitely something we want to do, even though it's a little overwhelming. We've only been looking at houses online so far, but want to start looking at houses in person. We've been trying to decided on a real estate company and agent to go through. (so if you're a certain tenor sax player whose wife owns her own realty office, we'd like to chat) hint...hint...

:-D

no more snow!

I'm done! I have seen too much of the white stuff. This winter has had a LOT of snow, and I think it needs to end! Mother nature has gone overboard with the snowfall this year. What ever happened to global warming?

spiders!

I am the future betty crocker

Did she just bake? If she did, I mean someone else...

Wednesday I made fish stew. It was very good. Downside: I showed up to NVCB rehearsal REEKING of fish. :-(
Another downside: I brought leftovers for lunch and stunk up Ms. S's room for her students coming in after lunch. She didn't seem to care, but the kids sure did! ;-)

Saturday I made Shrimp Tettrazini. It's spaghetti in a creamy sauce with shrimp and peas, then baked with a topping of breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese. yum!

I also made banana bread yesterday. New recipe with cream cheese and a cinnamon/brown sugar streusel in the middle. VERY GOOD! :-)

Tonight's leftovers, but I might bake some bread to go with it. We have a lot of leftovers to use up.

Oh yeah, and the light has gone out in our fridge, which is making me constantly checking things to see if they're cold. I know the light doesn't make things cold, but in my head, it's apparently all connected.

my face hurts...

Sinuses, coughing, sniffling, achiness.

ugh.

my new toy

A Pentax Optio W30 Waterproof Digital Camera.





IT CAN GO UNDERWATER!!! Up to 10 feet for 2 hours!





How cool is that?

Here are some pics of me playing with just one of the MANY functions on the camera. There are a lot of of editing features as well as filter, flash and other features.


A pic of me using the self-portrait function.

The same pic with the red filter on, so that the red colors are made more prominent in a black and white photo.

I'm a baaaad blogger

I need to write more. I know it. You know it. Everyone knows it.

I'm sorry!!

:-(

more snow?

I am SICK of the white stuff!!

Kitchen Rug

I crocheted this using regular run-of-the-mill worsted weight yarn. I held three strands of yarn together and used a size N hook. It didn't take me very long at all. It was pretty easy. I have a number of other rug patterns in the book I picked up. It's pretty cool.

too good to eat?

The boy got this piece of chocolate from work. It was almost too pretty to eat.



...almost...

Shopping!!

Things I bought today:

The pattern and fabric for sewing my ring bearer's pillow. Now all I need are two fake rings to tie on there. (no offense Jack)

The flower girl's basket, and all the stuff I need to make a small bouquet inside (except the flowers)

Yarn on sale at the Christmas Tree Shop.

Cadbury mini eggs - the kind that are chocolate with the hard candy shell - my favorite easter candy!

Cape Cod Cinnamon and Sugar Sweet Potato Chips - I haven't tried them yet, but they sound good!

Soulja Boy Red Sox Remix

Youuuuuuk!

oh this hurts

I know it's past Christmas, but this made me cry I laughed so hard.

Dinner and a Movie

Saturday date night! Woohoo!

We went to eat at Hooligan's Bar and Grille off rt. 20 in Marlborough. It was a so-so restaurant. Not too bad for a bar. I don't know if I would go back.

After we ate, we went to see National Treasure 2. I thought it was really good. A lot of adventure-packed fun! :-) I would definitely recommend seeing it!

Candidate Matchmaker

My matches:

48% - Bill Richardson (I haven't even heard of this guy)
45% - Hillary Clinton (the boy might have my head for this one)
43% - John Edwards (I liked him the first time around)
42% - John McCain (how is this possible??)
40% - Barack Obama (I am surprised by this, I thought it might have matched more)
40% - Mitt Romney (eew)
38% - Chris Dodd (I don't even think he's still in the running)
38% - Mike Gravel (who?!)
38% - Fred Thompson (Law & Order automatically makes this guy cool)
35% - Joe Biden (again, who?!)
35% - Dennis Kucinich - (is this the guy who has the wife that everyone ogles?)
33% - Rudy Giuliani (good for NYC, but will he be good for the USA?)
28% - Ron Paul (any relation to RuPaul?)
20% - Mike Huckabee (no surprises here)
20% - Duncan Hunter (for the third time, or is it the fourth?...WHO?!?!)

I guess I am somewhat middle-of-the-road, since I have a couple of Republicans way up there on the list. I guess I really am telling the truth when I registered Independent!

Cool Facts

These are some pretty interesting facts about the show Law & Order: SVU

Richard Belzer carried his role of Det. John Munch over from the series "Homicide: Life on the Street" (1993). He also played John Munch in "Law & Order" (1990) which had several crossover episodes with "Homicide", an episode of "The X Files" (1993), an episode of "The Beat" (2000), an episode of "Law & Order: Trial by Jury" (2005) and the finale of "Arrested Development" (2003). This is a record for appearances by an actor playing the same character in different


Many of the actors on the show previously starred on the HBO drama "Oz" (1997) including Dean Winters and B.D. Wong. Most notable, and ironic, is Christopher Meloni (Detective Stabler) who played a sadistic rapist and murderer on OZ and now hunts them on SVU.