April 2009 Archives

Now we're down to less than a month to go until the familial invasion, and I think we're in a good place. We had house guests the past two days, and through a massive push Saturday and Sunday, we actually got things clean in many areas. The former plan was to get things put away to the point where I could safely bring in maids without having them distracted from cleaning, but we actually found that together, we could do a good job at actual cleaning. That doesn't mean that we are now anti-maid, but it's amazing how much a little mopping can do for a room. The living areas are 98% clean and decluttered now; the bathrooms are clean (I have newfound love for Scrubbing Bubbles); the king sized spare bedroom looks like a hotel room, and the queen sized spare room needs pictures hung on the walls and a piece of furniture moved. The transformation has been amazing -- the difference it makes in how we feel in the house is so positive now.

We've also been doing work on the yard. Richard's out mowing twice a week, and we're trying to get some plants in to punch up the landscape beds. The bareroot strawberry plants that came with the strawberry pot the other week seem to be doing well for the most part. Today three more strawberry plants arrived -- alpine ones that remind me of my grandparents' house. I can't wait to get those in the ground and producing yumminess. I doubt I'll have enough strawberries to make jam or anything, but it will be nice to be able to open the back door and pick a few strawberries for a salad or to garnish a dessert. While it's still cool out, it's time to start prepping the planter boxes for the peppers and tomatoes that will be arriving in late May.

Now I'd like to convince some people to come out for dinner or for a weekend afternoon to hang out and have dinner :) We'd like to get a grill and a patio set, but I don't think that's mandatory for entertaining people. Planning a menu and executing will be awesome. I want to look at having a larger party in early June after the family is gone, and before the Nanog Philly trip.

I've got a ton of stuff to get in the ground, having finally formulated a plan for the front bed. I still need to get the hydrangea, foxgloves and daylillies, but it should be fairly simple to put in. Things have been busy, but to give a clue as to my mindset at the moment, I find myself REALLY looking forward to American Idol tonight. That is sick and wrong on so many levels, but it's where my brain is operating right now :)

Tomorrow Gbic gets her teeth cleaned at the new vet. We've definitely found a winner on the vet front finally after being here for a year and a half. Dr. Stephens was courteous, took us in on time for our appointment, was thorough both in gathering Gbic's history, and in examining and evaluating her, and he followed up when he promised he would. I'll never again go to a "corporate vet". Between the extreme overcharging at VCA Naper ridge and hideous lack of regard for anyone's time, and the constant hawking of the stupid "Wellness Plan" aka pre-pay us so you don't feel motivated to seek better vet care of Banfield and their complete lack of regard for anyone's time, I'm incredibly happy to have a vet who cares about animals and their owners.

I'd like to say that the roof went on without a hitch, but alas, there were still some issues. One lesson is get everything in writing. I'm not too terribly bent out of shape, it's only $56 for a sheet of plywood, but the fact of the matter is that the sales dude promised us that they'd not charge for one or two sheets of plywood. Furthermore their contract states that they won't add additional charges without confirming with me in writing prior to executing the work. Imagine my surprise when the owner presented me an invoice for the sheet of plywood they replaced. Lovely. There was quite a bit lacking on the communication front, and while the work appears to be done reasonably well, the other issues in dealing with this company prevent me from viewing this as a positive and recommendable experience.

In other news, it's definitely warming up here. A few bobbles on the road of some chilly weather, but we're all fighting through it and believing that spring is actually here. My plant orders have begun to arrive, and it's time to start potting things up and letting them work their magic. I've decided to have a stand of scallions this year since Home Depot was selling onion starts. Granted they looked crappy, but we'll see how they do.

The house is still in a bit of disarray, but we have a plan to knock that back and finish the job of making the house presentable at all times. I've been battling some sleep issues (which usually hit me this time of year anyway). Between the birds chirping incredibly early and the inbetween temperatures, it's sometimes tough to get a good night's sleep. I'm looking forward to the coming weeks as we reach the end of a marathon with the house.

We've lived in this house for a year and a half, but we're just now starting to feel brave enough to make some changes to the place. I guess replacing the front door was a big step last year, but the inside, we've pretty much left alone. The previous owners had reasonably decent taste, so we didn't really feel an overwhelming need to change things. As we've cleaned things up, and added furniture and accent pieces, we have started making that mark on the house. We're nearing completion on a big redo of the family room. Removing these horrible particle board shelves that were obviously never touched by the hands of a professional contractor and completing the necessary steps to repaint the big red arrow accent wall were the two biggies. Cleaner, brighter, and fresher -- a perfect way to head into spring.

Yes, yes it is April 5th, why ever do you ask? :) It's a nice driving snow -- everything is coated. Hopefully it will stay til morning so I can take some pictures of the trees with every branch coated and highlighted. We're in the midst of a huge remodeling project, so that explains much of the radio silence lately. Lots of paint, spackle, stain, and demo. For anyone who has experienced the Red Arrow of Doom in the family room (or experienced my bitching about it), you'll be happy to know that it is now completely and utterly gone. Kilz2 is a lovely, lovely product!

The roof was supposed to go on sometime this week, but with the snow, we might get pushed back to next week.

As far as baking goes, given some recent failures from internet recipes, I decided to go back to tried and true recipes: banana nut bread and an adaptation of the Marshy Muffins blueberry muffin recipe. 6 loaves later, I felt back on the baking buggy. Did we eat all of that? Hardly! I sent in about 4 loaves to the office with Richard, gave half of the rest to the mail lady and the UPS dude, and gave another half of what was left to the Peapod dude. That leaves half a loaf total for us, which was plenty. When we know for sure when the roof is going on, I'll bake for the crew.