Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Quick update
We had quite a busy weekend! Bob painted the living room blue (I'd say I helped, but I only primed about half a wall before my hand was sore and I had to give up). It looks really great! I hope to post some pictures soon. :) He also had his new John Deere tractor delivered on Sunday morning. Of course, he couldn't use it because of the rain, but watching him ride it around the lawn to the shed was frickin' hillarious! He was just bopping along with a smile on his face. I'll have to take some pictures when he first uses it, which will probably be sometime this weekend. We bought a new TV for the upstairs living room last night at Best Buy; a nice little 22-inch flat screen. We didn't want anything too big for that room, but we still wanted something. If we go shopping for furniture this weekend, we may start getting the room set up and be able to use it soon. Happy day!
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
The little visitor
The first week when we moved in, we had a little visitor; we'd see him when we were downstairs watching TV: a little, long-haired, striped cat. He'd come to the windows and meow, then go to the next window down and meow, then go on his way. The last time he was spotted was Friday the 17th, after midnight (and after I had gone to bed).
Well, last night around 7:30 I went downstairs to check what would be on TV, and wouldn't you know, my little buddy was in the window watching me. This time, I decided to meet him. I went upstairs and out the side door to find him in my back yard. He's a small cat, and seemed a little scared of me, but I crouched down and put out my hand for him to smell. Within 30 seconds, it was like I was his best friend - ha! He let me pet him for a while, then went to roll in the dirt where the deck used to be. He'd roll around a bit, come back to be petted, then go roll around again. I went inside, turned off the basement lights, got my phone, and when I came back outside, he was still there! I took a seat at the picnic table and he followed, jumped on the seat on the other side, jumped down, and then continued across the yard. I watched him go behind the shed near the daffodils... then he crouched down real low. The next thing I knew, he was under the fence and into the neighbors' yard. I must have interrupted him while he was making his evening rounds (although this is the first time I had seen him in daylight).
I didn't tell Bob about the actual encounter... he likes kittens more than cats, and probably won't appreciate that I was encouraging the cat to stick around, but I don't mind. I like having a little buddy. :)
Well, last night around 7:30 I went downstairs to check what would be on TV, and wouldn't you know, my little buddy was in the window watching me. This time, I decided to meet him. I went upstairs and out the side door to find him in my back yard. He's a small cat, and seemed a little scared of me, but I crouched down and put out my hand for him to smell. Within 30 seconds, it was like I was his best friend - ha! He let me pet him for a while, then went to roll in the dirt where the deck used to be. He'd roll around a bit, come back to be petted, then go roll around again. I went inside, turned off the basement lights, got my phone, and when I came back outside, he was still there! I took a seat at the picnic table and he followed, jumped on the seat on the other side, jumped down, and then continued across the yard. I watched him go behind the shed near the daffodils... then he crouched down real low. The next thing I knew, he was under the fence and into the neighbors' yard. I must have interrupted him while he was making his evening rounds (although this is the first time I had seen him in daylight).
I didn't tell Bob about the actual encounter... he likes kittens more than cats, and probably won't appreciate that I was encouraging the cat to stick around, but I don't mind. I like having a little buddy. :)
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Tulip news
When I got up this morning, I checked the weather and saw that it was going to be 91 in Wallingford today... yikes! I made sure to open all the windows before I left for work; Bob said it's too early to turn the air on and I agree, although I'm afraid it may still be stuffy when we get home tonight. When I was opening the living room windows, I saw that my tulips had finally blossomed! Unfortunately, I think the front window is the only place they can be seen from, as they were planted behind the bushes. I'm going to transplant the bulbs sometime this summer so they sprout up near the daffodils on the side of the house. We also have some tulips by the back fence, but I haven't checked to see if they bloomed yet or not. I am really loving all the flowers around our house. We have a forsythia bush, several rhododendron, a pink flowering willow tree, a flowering pear, and a lilac that is getting ready to bloom (as well as several other shrubs that appear to have buds on them as well). Very colorful! I'm just glad my allergies have decided not to act up. :)
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Busy weekend!
Bob was out most of the day yesterday mowing our HUGE lawn... we're going to be leaving in a little while to buy a tractor. The push mower takes way too long, and, even though it was in the 80s this weekend, it will be much hotter in the summer, and I don't think he or his back can take it! But the yard looks great! I did a little raking under some of our bushes to get rid of old leaves and sticks, and cleaned out the little birdbath as well. Speaking of birds, we also have some living in the roof of our carport. They have been going in and out of a vent that once had a screen on it, but they have pried that halfway off and now fly in and out all day long. We'll probably pick up a new cover while we're out tractor shopping. :)
While Bob was busy in the yard yesterday, I vacuumed most of the house (wherever there weren't boxes) and swept the floors. Housework isn't that bad when you're cleaning something that's yours!
Speaking of housework, we spent a few hours over at the old apartment today cleaning up and taking down our awesome blinds (that may or may not work in the house since we now have smaller windows). I have to tell you, I am SO HAPPY that I will never have to clean the bathroom at the apartment again. I HATED that bathroom. It took forever to clean since there was no ventilation in there and soap scum and mildew would build up over a short period of time. Yuck! But I do like our bathroom (cleaned that yesterday as well). It only takes five minutes to clean, and I've been using a tile spray after showers so the grout doesn't become all nasty. The only downside to our bathroom is the white tile floor... and that's only because you can see all my hair on it! I'm constantly picking up hair in a tissue after I dry my hair; trying not to get any tumbleweeds in there! Eventually we may consider putting wood floors in the bathroom and kitchen, but that's a project that is several years down the road. For now, I'll just have to make sure there are always tissues around!
So for right now, we're just relaxing in our new basement... it's so nice and cool down here! A nice break from the heat outside. We've had all the windows open since yesterday morning (although Bob shut them last night and it got a little stuffy); nice breeze upstairs! And he's as happy as I am about cutting all ties with the apartment today. As he just said "No more fucking apartment bullshit" with a huge smile on his face. :)
While Bob was busy in the yard yesterday, I vacuumed most of the house (wherever there weren't boxes) and swept the floors. Housework isn't that bad when you're cleaning something that's yours!
Speaking of housework, we spent a few hours over at the old apartment today cleaning up and taking down our awesome blinds (that may or may not work in the house since we now have smaller windows). I have to tell you, I am SO HAPPY that I will never have to clean the bathroom at the apartment again. I HATED that bathroom. It took forever to clean since there was no ventilation in there and soap scum and mildew would build up over a short period of time. Yuck! But I do like our bathroom (cleaned that yesterday as well). It only takes five minutes to clean, and I've been using a tile spray after showers so the grout doesn't become all nasty. The only downside to our bathroom is the white tile floor... and that's only because you can see all my hair on it! I'm constantly picking up hair in a tissue after I dry my hair; trying not to get any tumbleweeds in there! Eventually we may consider putting wood floors in the bathroom and kitchen, but that's a project that is several years down the road. For now, I'll just have to make sure there are always tissues around!
So for right now, we're just relaxing in our new basement... it's so nice and cool down here! A nice break from the heat outside. We've had all the windows open since yesterday morning (although Bob shut them last night and it got a little stuffy); nice breeze upstairs! And he's as happy as I am about cutting all ties with the apartment today. As he just said "No more fucking apartment bullshit" with a huge smile on his face. :)
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
The new digs
Bob and I have been living in the new house on Osage Drive since April 11. So far, so good! We made sure our first project was painting our bathroom from a hideous Pepto-pink to a nice, calming sage green. So much better! Of course, that leaves three rooms that are still various shades of pink, but none of them (other than our bedroom, which is only "white pink") are being used right now, so we're able to ignore them a little bit better than we could the bathroom.
The next paint job will be on the living room. The color isn't horrible (tanish), but because the carpet is tan as well, it leaves us with a rather "blah" feeling. Hopefully we'll s
pruce it up either this weekend or the coming weekend. The color we're looking at is a nice blue, and we'll use a slightly different blue on the paneled wall by the fireplace for contrast.
There are currently two big plans for this weekend: cleaning out the old apartment and mowing the lawn. This will be the last weekend we'll have for the apartment, and we still need to take down our window treatments, vacuum, clean the bathroom, clean the kitchen, and clean the fridge. Ugh. Not looking forward to all that cleaning. And I don't think Bob's looking forward to all that mowing, either. Mom and Dad will be coming down on either Thursday or Friday to bring one of their mowers that we can borrow until we get one of our own. I suggested that maybe we should hire someone to do the lawn since Bob's back is shot and he's also allergic to bees, but he declined. I told him I'd try to help a little, but he better get used to my complaining. :)
I'm starting to get used to doing the old chores in the new house, as well. Cooking has been more prominent this week, with meatloaf on Monday and salmon on Tuesday. I learned to take the battery out of the smoke alarm so as not to have to constantly demonstrate my cheerleader moves (running, jumping, and waving a dishtowel in the air) whenever I cook. It appears there may be some grease in the oven that's causing the smoke alarm to go off, so I'll have to take care of that in the next few days as well. Living without a dishwasher isn't too awful, either. We don't accumulate too many dishes, and are still using paper plates and cups for snacks. I was starting to get sick of the dishwasher at the apartment because it was leaving skanky food residue on our glasses and silverware, so it's nice to have everything dry and clean before I put it away after work. Laundry is going good, too. I like having the couches and TV right outside the laundry area so I can fold everything while watching TV. I think I can get used to this. :)
pruce it up either this weekend or the coming weekend. The color we're looking at is a nice blue, and we'll use a slightly different blue on the paneled wall by the fireplace for contrast.There are currently two big plans for this weekend: cleaning out the old apartment and mowing the lawn. This will be the last weekend we'll have for the apartment, and we still need to take down our window treatments, vacuum, clean the bathroom, clean the kitchen, and clean the fridge. Ugh. Not looking forward to all that cleaning. And I don't think Bob's looking forward to all that mowing, either. Mom and Dad will be coming down on either Thursday or Friday to bring one of their mowers that we can borrow until we get one of our own. I suggested that maybe we should hire someone to do the lawn since Bob's back is shot and he's also allergic to bees, but he declined. I told him I'd try to help a little, but he better get used to my complaining. :)
I'm starting to get used to doing the old chores in the new house, as well. Cooking has been more prominent this week, with meatloaf on Monday and salmon on Tuesday. I learned to take the battery out of the smoke alarm so as not to have to constantly demonstrate my cheerleader moves (running, jumping, and waving a dishtowel in the air) whenever I cook. It appears there may be some grease in the oven that's causing the smoke alarm to go off, so I'll have to take care of that in the next few days as well. Living without a dishwasher isn't too awful, either. We don't accumulate too many dishes, and are still using paper plates and cups for snacks. I was starting to get sick of the dishwasher at the apartment because it was leaving skanky food residue on our glasses and silverware, so it's nice to have everything dry and clean before I put it away after work. Laundry is going good, too. I like having the couches and TV right outside the laundry area so I can fold everything while watching TV. I think I can get used to this. :)
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