Slacking

I got scolded yesterday by one of my fellow followers who pretty much told me I’m slacking on my blog! So yes, my new name is Slacker. And no, I do not want to lose any of my followers….. especially the ones from Russia, Netherlands and Canada! The last time I posted was on Tuesday November 1^st about the pinterest challenge, I’m sure your sick of looking at that and my mooshy love story …. Since the last post I wrote so much has happened! I may have been slacking in the virtual blog world but I have been working hard on my new home. Yep, we’ve got the keys! We closed on Wednesday November 2^nd, 2011 and since then I have been focusing most of my energy and spare time there.

Day 1 began our first trip to home depot (which I pretty much feel like I’m going to be living there for now.)

We bought a trash barrel, bags, spackle, sanding sponges and scrapers so we could start working on the walls in the living room. We didn’t want to start working on the house the first day because the oil tanks didn’t have any oil in them. I called to have them filled but the soonest they could come was the 3^rd. I dropped everything off at the house and had my first guests Keeana and Mike to visit.

Day 2 was a little less work and a lot more showing and planning. Thankfully the oil was delivered which cost a pretty penny but at least we have heat. We brought Johnny’s parents, Adriana, James and Logan over to see our new project and showed them around so they can imprint in their minds the before and after of our home. If you need a refresher of what the house looks like click below. http://ih3art.blogspot.com/2011/10/house-hunting.html 

Day 3 of owning our home was a Friday. Sadly we had a wake to attend for our friend who passed away during the big snow storm and we did not feel up to going to the house afterwards. Instead we took comfort in pizza and video games.

Day 4 marks the day of our most important purchase – 4 rolls of toilet paper, hand soap and paper towels. We also bought paint for the living room, brushes, rollers, tape and a ladder. Saturday after the funeral we headed to the house and began working on it. We patched the dents in the walls and did a lot of sanding. I sanded the whole ceiling! So tedious! I decided to reward my wonderful mother and the men in my life (my dad, my hubby, father-in-law, and 3 of my 4 brothers) with some Pizza. I came back, Pizza in hand, walked in the kitchen and looked around and asked where are the cabinets? Actually just 1 cabinet had been taken down at the time and the paneling.

I asked Johnny, if we were shown the house in this condition would we have still bid on it? No way! But I know it has to get worse before it gets better. So bring on the demo! It was pretty scary looking in the kitchen so I sent myself away to do a different task while the guys had their fun. I began scraping the walls going up the staircase and I ripped all the carpeting off the stairs. I think we got a lot accomplished in one day.

Day 5 we made our third trip to home depot. I’m proud of the ryobi tool kit that we purchased. It came with a drill, a blade, a flashlight, two batteries, a saw and a tool bag!

We also bought some 2x4’s, ceiling paint, and a portable light. My father-in-law Jack worked in the kitchen while I sanded the patchwork, taped the windows and began painting to trim.

Day 6 was a Monday so back to the real world and work for me. I wasn’t able to get to the house until 6:30pm to begin working on it. Along came my Mom, Paul, Sheila, Keeana and Mike. I sanded the ceiling a little more. I had plans to paint more of the trim until we stumbled upon a brilliant idea. The paint on the trim was chipping so we decided to strip it to see what was underneath …. And there it was, beautiful dark wood.

At first, for me it was hard to visualize what it will look like especially because I had something else in mind. I was going for a more modern look but if we decided to strip all the trim it will be a rustic style. The big question of the day was - to paint? Or to strip? Its official, after talking to Johnny, we decided to strip it.

 If worse comes to worse and we hate it then we can paint over it again. Stripping the paint is more satisfying anyways!

Day 7 is today. I never know what’s going to happen until I get there!

FYI we appreciate all the good opinions advice that we have been receiving!