Remodel Wordle

Here's a wordle I did as I waited my turn in the shower late last night. You know, we could really do without the ceaseless pattern of hot-humid-thunderstorm! By tonight, we'd like to get the place sealed up so we can turn on the air. 90+ degree weather coming this week... Oh, and the windshield is costing us over $200. Guess that blows our fantastic appliance deal!

Demo Day 4

For those that are counting, it's technically Day 6 of the project, but we did nothing on Wednesday evening (bball game) and Friday evening (dinner and grocery shopping). What a week! I've got quite a story from tonight, but I'll ease into it with pleasant news first. Our cabinets are coming soon, our floor is waiting to be picked up this week, and we have 2 out of 4 appliances. We went with Clark's scratch & dent stock and found both the cooktop and wall oven we were looking for and saved over $400.00! The oven was still in the box; just in as a "changed our minds" item. The cooktop scratch is on the underside where it will go unseen, so we felt really good about those two steals. Still need to get the fridge and dishwasher.

So today, we worked hard to basically finish demolition, with the exception of the main wall frame we're removing. We have to wait until next weekend to bring home and install the engineered lumber beams that will replace the wall. Everything else is down to the bone and ready for reconstruction. This evening, we worked to install our new front and back doors. Here's the whammy..... The back door went in with no major issues and looks fine. It just needs finished off with some trim work. We took a short break for supper and then decided to go after the front door. Just as Andy removed the old door and threshold, a severe thunderstorm blew in from out of nowhere and slammed us for all we were worth! We scrambled to close windows and put something in the doorway (the 2 old doors propped up!), then ran to the driveway to get the oven we'd picked up this afternoon out of the truck and into the garage. By then, we were experiencing straightline winds and I came around the driveway to see Andy looking fit to be tied. A branch had just snapped off of the neighbor's tree and done a swan dive, butt end first, into our car's windshield. Down in the bottom corner, it was shattered like a golf ball had hit it. Poor Andy was beside himself; I just kept telling him, "this is something we can deal with... It was out of our control..." We waited out the very worst of the squall line and resumed the door installation in some steady rain and occasional power flickers. After a much more difficult installation, including many references to how jacked up and non-square our house is, we finally got the front door in. It looks super; just needs some paint! By the time we were cleaning up to prepare for bedtime, the windshield had gotten worse and spidered much further. We put in a request to Safelite to see about getting it replaced tomorrow. What a bummer.

So today's our anniversary...what a memorable day! Last night, we did squeeze in our annual dinner at The Melting Pot and it was fantabulous! Can you believe it's been 12 years? I love him crazy and I know that, one day, we'll look back on this remodel and all its little quandries and laugh about them! Well, it's late and I could get a wake up call from the glass repair fellas in the morning. I'll try to get some end-of-demo pictures up this week before we start on drywall.

Remodel Part I

A few "before" shots of this1970's masterpiece!

Here's the nasty linoleum found under the laminate (shame on the previous owners!).

Tedious labor!

Welcome to our temporary kitchen in the garage!

We just tucked the kiddos into bed and Joel, who's been keeping abreast of the looming storms expected tonight, says, "You guys just be available tonight when the storms come, okay?" Cracked us up! Anyway, we made some decent progress this PM on demo. Andy got home around 2:30 and we ripped up the livingroom carpet down to subfloor. There are a few things they don't warn you about on DYI programs: no one ever shows the homeowners meticulously pulling staples out of the subflooring. I mean, someone went WAY overboard with those staples! Also, you rarely expect multiple floors to rip up in the kitchen. We encountered laminate (easy), followed by a vintage linoleum (a real pain in the tushy), finished off with a stubborn USB board (the devil's spawn). Andy worked VERY hard tonight to finish the kitchen. I've accepted my job as wingman (running refuse to the dumpster, pulling nails, cleaning up, and throwing my weight into some pulls as needed). Demo Day 1 and we're down to subfloor in 2 of the 3 rooms. We'll take it...

Play Ball!

It's been all about baseball around here this weekend. Friday, we attended a team cookout, where the boys got a chance to play and the parents worked on the team float for the Ball Day Parade on Saturday morning. This was our first year participating in Optimist Baseball, so Ball Day was a whole new thing for us. Amid questions about looming weather, the parade Saturday morning went off without a hitch. I loved seeing so many of my music students in their floats as they wound through town. The only downer was that some of those kids had squirt guns and, when they saw me, unloaded them on me. After a few instances, Andy decided to let them know I was around by shouting, "Hey look, it's Mrs. Walton!!" Needless to say, I was soaked even before the rains came. The kids had a blast! Right after the parade, the skies opened up and it was a hot, humid, and miserable afternoon with many of the day's games cancelled. We headed home to keep packing for the remodel.

Today, we went to Victory Field to see the Indianapolis Indians play. It was a super day! Many of the family members came, as it was baby Trevor's quasi-first birthday party. We spent the afternoon on the left-field lawn and Joel enjoyed seeing "experts" play. Most of us got a touch of sunburn, but it was a most enjoyable day. When we got home, we kept working on the house. See a theme here?

Monday, the Pod arrives and this remodel will be put into high gear. We've already chucked the kitchen cabinets in the dumpster and most of our daily life has been packed. Not looking forward to meal prep and dishes without a kitchen. We'll be doing lots of grilling, crockpot, and electric skillet meals. Joel and Hanna are enjoying the fact that we moved the livingroom TV and Wii to Joel's room. The computer is in our bedroom, along with the piano. Feels weird typing while sitting on a step stool between the bed and dressers! Soooooo much to do! As soon as we get the furniture and boxes out and in the Pod, I'll snap some pictures so I can keep track of the before and after. We are SOOO looking forward to the 'after'! Better stop for now...may not blog again for awhile; chances are we'll be falling into bed each late night. Wish us luck!

Insert Sigh of Relief Here

After a long school year of uncertainty, my future as elementary music teacher is finally in the books. The past several weeks, even months, have been filled with tension throughout the school, low morale, them vs. us ridiculousness, and lost sleep. We've lost some great teachers altogether; others have been forced to retire or move into other schools. Luckily, I was not one of them. Friday, the teacher's union voted on the proposed contract that would increase insurance costs, but save 8 more jobs. Last night, I got word that the 2-year contract was ratified. I am safe for at least 2 years.....let me rephrase that......our students will be receiving the imperative arts education they need for at least 2 more years. Since the dawn of time, specials teachers have bucked the perception that we are simply someone's prep period. Well, it's the contract language that states all classroom teachers are required a certain number of prep minutes a day that saved my position. So, despite the misguided notion that we are simply there to give the classroom teachers a break, it has saved the art and music in my school. For that, I am thankful.
We've spent the past 2 months in a wait-and-see pattern, so now we are late gettting started on our home improvement project! It's GO time!!!!! :0) Thanks to all who've been checking in with me and pulling for us, as well as arts advocacy in general.

Mother's Day by Joel

At the end of the school day today, Joel arrived in my classroom with a decorated flowerpot containing seedlings he had started in class. He also presented me with a Mother's Day "essay" (fill-in). It read (Joel's words in blue):

My mother is the most special mom in the whole world! She's as pretty as candy. She weighs 50 pounds and she is 20 feet tall. Her favorite food is mustroos (mushrooms). In the good ole days when my mom was little, she used to watch TV. I know my mom is sad when she lays down and I know my mom is happy when she remembers her list. (my personal favorite!) I think she looks funny when she laughs but I know when she is really angry when she breaks something. (???!!!) I wouldn't trade my mother for a toy train because I love her very much!

Too funny! I foresee a very busy weekend so...
Happy Mother's Day to all those moms out there!

Catch-Up

Pics are out of order!

Here are the pics of the new scrapping area that I've been meaning to post for quit some time. It's not 100% organized to my satisfaction yet, but you get the idea. I love it! Last weekend, I whipped up an "Organized Home" binder/scrapbook for a colleague's bridal shower. I love working right in front of a window and having Andy hanging out watching TV nearby while I scrap.

Before shot (don't worry, I still have the treadmill)...

Joel is loving baseball! The team he's on are truly beginners and it's comical to watch sometimes, but we are happy he's learning. He's so sweet looking in that uniform...the one that gets a heavy dosage of Zout twice a week! :0)