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Post by ohblondie on Jun 21, 2014 7:44:53 GMT -5
Still cranking out the work.
Moving ahead with deck work. Dear daughter got the original part of the deck stained. It looks so wonderful. Once the door gets installed she will finish staining it.
Starting to gather clothes for round two at the laundromat. This will be a quick trip only a few small loads.
Party is tomorrow. Also have a barbecue to go to at noon. (I can sit home forever and have everything happen the same day). So food prep for both parties starts today. Shopping for fruit sAlad and vegetable platter chips oriental coleslaw.....think that is it. Oh, need to make cupcakes too.
Time to get moving.....
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Post by lucie on Jun 21, 2014 8:13:57 GMT -5
Actually, the summer started today! And it is never too late to make a goal. You are all doing great job, dtesposito ohblondie ellen
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Post by ellen on Jun 21, 2014 12:57:53 GMT -5
Congrats everyone on getting so much accomplished. And, yes, do join us Outfromundah! It is raining right now...so I can't work outside, although I did get a little bit accomplished this morning. I am going to work a little while in the house. The rain shouldn't last long, but at least it will settle the dust and cool things off a little bit...or at least until the sun comes out in force and makes it very steamy!
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Post by ohblondie on Jun 22, 2014 8:08:48 GMT -5
Party is today. I am so excited! I am cooking food like crazy because I couldn't get it made too far ahead because of a lack of room in my fridge. Yesterday afternoon I remembered I did not order a graduation cake for the party. Last night I ran to the store real quick to get a balloon for my other daughter's birthday and they had a big sheet cake with the correct colors so I grabbed it had them write her name on it and I'll pick it up this morning.
I think I have all of the food except the cake cupcakes and cookies. I will grab those on the way to the party I also want to grab some grapes to throw in the fruit salad. We can get in the restaurant at 1:30 the party is it three so at 130 will cut up all the fruit make a fruit salad I cut up the extra vegetables for the vegetable platter and will set out the bowls of chips and all of that. And once 3 o'clock hits i will put out the hot food and we uwill be good to go. I keep feeling like I have to have an open bar for everybody that silly it's okay for their own drinks, I'm spending enough money for the food.
Off I go
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Post by dtesposito on Jun 22, 2014 8:26:33 GMT -5
Ellen, I hope you had some relief from the heat yesterday, anything you get done outside on a hot day is bonus.
Ohblondie, have a wonderful time at the party, you were very smart to use the restaurant!
Yesterday I started a different but related book project (can't seem to stay away from books for very long). I'm going through my actual bookshelves where I keep my nonfiction books (as opposed to the extra boxes of them) to purge what I don't need there, which will make room for any "must have" books that I run across in my box purging. I'm finding many I can get rid of, which is kind of miraculous, since the last time I worked on these books I really did think I was paring them down to the essentials. This time around I'm letting go of some old books that started my interest in certain subjects, so I guess you could say they have sentimental value. But again, I have too many of them. Keeping a few is fine, keeping a couple hundred is not. It took several hours yesterday, and I've only finished one and a half of the two SMALL bookcases. There are still two large bookcases to go. I'm going to try to not make the huge mess I made doing my other projects, which means that today, I'll have to stop in between book work and do regular maintenance stuff. Easier said than done for me.
Diane
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Post by sidestep on Jun 23, 2014 8:02:28 GMT -5
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Post by ohblondie on Jun 23, 2014 11:51:13 GMT -5
Party was a smashing success. We had a good group of people----well a good “crowd” of people! Everyone relaxed and ate and conversed and laughed and had fun. Food was good. Having it at the restaurant was so much easier. Though deep down inside I wanted it at my house.
I am relieved that this Summer 2014 goal has been achieved and can be crossed off my list. Now on to the other goals.
Over the weekend I noticed that my discontent with the current condition of my home grew to a point where it was nearly intolerable. No room in fridge, no room on counters, wastebasket in the bathroom tipped over. Can’t sit on the sofa. Kitchen floor needs to be swept. EVERYONE should be seeing this and chipping in – and when it isn’t done – I am accused of being the bad housekeeper and it is my fault. I think I lost it when I WAS THE ONE putting away all of the leftovers. Husband was on the sofa “sore”. Well, helping his friend move tables and chairs in the restaurant did not help. (They were stacking them in the corner so that the floor could be stripped and waxed.) I think I need to move my family venting to my personal thread…………You guys understand………..
OK…On my list remains the back door, the new sliding door, power washing and staining the deck and railings, moving the woodpile (done), re-tidying the corner where my son haphazardly made the pile, clearing out the flower garden (3/4 done) plus
OMG – I had the weirdest dream Saturday night. I woke up so scared – I made myself go downstairs to lay down on the sofa. I was afraid the dream would start again if I didn’t. I dreamed I was swimming in a beautiful blue, crystal clear pool. I was swimming along underwater and enjoying myself. I went to swim up to the top if the water and I could not. The weight of the water was forcing me to be immobile. I managed to get my handout and wave it but my body could not push against the resistance of the water. I found if I totally relaxed – I could get out and get some air. But it is hard to trust and totally relax when you are struggling for air. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out what this dream represented! So I am hoping my dream and my extreme frustration will work together in motivating me to get my act together. Focusing on my list will help me keep myself focused. I am so “Squirrel” (Love that movie “Up”)
May/Early June: *Clear clutter behind kitchen island (about 10 boxes)Much of it is paper that needs to be filed. I have about 6 black filing crates that I was using. Much can be tossed only some will be saved.(HALFWAY DONE) *Replace triple window in kitchen with sliding doors to the deck.(WAITING ON CONTRACTOR) *Get pool opened (RETURN LINE IS CRACKED-WAITING ON HUBBY TO FIX) *Get back yard tidied...OK- dehoarded. (99.9% DONE. ONE SMALL CORNER TO DO. I CAN FINISH QUICKLY ONCE THE DOOR GOES IN AND THE DECK FURNITURE CAN GO BACK ON THE DECK)
June 14th: DD graduates from grad school (DONE - SO PROUD OF HER) June 21: Grad school graduation party at house (DONE THOUGH IT DID GET MOVED TO RESTAURANT) *Sliding door needs to be installed by then. (WAITING.....) *Pool clean and yard immaculate (MY PART WAS DONE) *Kitchen and downstairs needs to be presentable. We will find another venue in case of rain. (SO NOT DONE.........FEELING SO OVERWHELMED AND DISGUSTED)
JULY/AUG/SEPT: (WILL START THIS LIST JULY 1, AND THAT IS NOT TOO FAR AWAY......ANOTHER WEEK?) Get upstairs 2nd bathroom empried (currently used as storage) Get upstairs hallway decluttered REMODEL BOTH BATHROOMS UPSTAIRS!!!!!
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Post by sidestep on Jun 23, 2014 13:32:55 GMT -5
Those look like great summer goals, ohblondie! Congrats on those summer goals you have already reached!
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Post by ohblondie on Jun 23, 2014 14:32:50 GMT -5
thanks sidestep
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Post by dtesposito on Jun 23, 2014 17:48:46 GMT -5
I'm moving my goalposts & extending my 'pile goal' to 7/31
Sidestep, yay!
Ohblondie, the party sounds like it was wonderful, congratulations to your DD. It sounds like things are coming together for action. What a cool dream! I love when dreams give us messages, and that one kind of smacked you right in the face, didn't it? What kind of stuff do you have in your bathroom and upstairs hallway--just junk to get rid of or will it require difficult decision making?
My nonfiction books are going much faster and more easily that I thought they would. That is partly due to the fact that I did have some spare storage space in the DR that I didn't know about (some of the boxes that I thought were already full weren't) and partly because I seem to have turned a corner with some of the "untouchable" books. They are now touchable, and they're getting out of here!!
Diane
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Post by ohblondie on Jun 24, 2014 7:04:56 GMT -5
Upstairs hall......boxes of clothes - I keep thinking I should sell but I think I will just donate. THere are a few boxes of "stuff" that when we were doing a dash and stash, they got tucked there. They will need to be gone through. I have cut the clutter in the hall considerably.
At the top of the stairs - there are items that will require more thought.
There are days I just do not know where to start.
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Post by ohblondie on Jun 26, 2014 7:40:44 GMT -5
I am starting to get a little bit nervous about the guy who is putting in the door. He is a friend of ours - we have known him for a few years and my husband helped him remodel our friends restaurant. (where we had our grad party)
We still do not have a date to install the door. And I am starting to hear comments here and there, made in passing. One woman had him fix her furnace. I canlt remember if he installed it or was just repairing it. Something still needs to be fixed and is not working correctly. Anyway he responds to texts and calls and says he will be there - but he never comes. Other people have made vague references but I have not pushed for particulars.
He did refer someone to us to put in the kitchen floor. I was very pleased with the work - but now there are a few spots where the vinyl is bubbling away from the floor.
Whenever my hubby asks him or ties to pin him to a date fro the install - we are getting vague answers...."oh, sometime next week" "Let me check with my helper" "We are behind because of the rainy week"
We paid for the door but have not paid for the installation.
Anytime he has done work for us- he has never bugged us for the money. We have never had to pay him up front or before the work is done. Sometimes he does not charge us and sometimes it takes a day or so to get the amount we owe. We always pay within a day or so of getting the amount we owe. So I am not concerned that we are getting ripped off. I am concerned that we might never get this done.
I am also hoping we don;t have any problems this fall with the new furnace. I am just getting an uneasy feeling and I can't quite pinpoint it.
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Post by ellen on Jun 27, 2014 12:16:31 GMT -5
Ohblondie, I recognize those uneasy feelings, regarding getting work done on your house. We used a guy who was the best friend of my friend's husband. They wanted him to do the work...mainly to help him out and help him get established on his own. He had remodeled their house and all I could hear was..."He's not a carpenter, he is a craftsman!" Oh, yeah...maybe for them, he was. He out and out stole $8,000 from us and lied and lied. I told my friends, and they defended him and said, oh, no...he was so honest. Well, my uneasy feelings turned out to be the truth. At least you haven't paid your guy yet...but it gave me a very bad feeling about hiring anyone to do work here. I learned a very difficult, expensive lesson. Besides that, he stole from me. He stole two of my all time favorite things...a particular plant stand and an antique doctor's cabinet that I planned to use in the bathroom. I didn't notice them gone until we had already fired him, but he was the only person who had access to the place and I had left him here alone several times...because they made him out to be so trustworthy. I will never leave anyone alone on my place again. Me or my husband will be here the entire time. I don't care who they are or whose friend they are. Well, I didn't jump ship on the summer goals. We have had a lot of rain...and I haven't worked outside. A few days ago I potted about a dozen waterlilies. We had a little rain and it dried up enough to work outside...and then we had three days of deluge! I definitely needed to get the lilies potted because they were over growing the tank. I still have about 20 in that tank to do. I need to move another tank in the yard to make room for them. I am supposed to go ride with my friend in a few days, and I have so much to do. I have to get the house kind of whipped into shape. So that is what I am going to do today. I have already started, and will see how much more I can get done. I took a few minutes break to heat up a pot pie in the microwave. And then going to jump in and try to make some real headway. When it rains and rains here, it is such a mess....so much mud gets tracked in. Okay...enough of my idle chatter. I am going to jump up and see what I can accomplish. (oh, yeah...like I could jump if I wanted to.)
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Post by dtesposito on Jun 27, 2014 17:43:02 GMT -5
Ohblondie, I'm sorry about the friend/contractor person. It doesn't sound like he's dishonest exactly, maybe just gets in over his head and can't finish things, or can't always do well at the jobs he takes on. So you have to decide whether to call a different person and pay more, and get it done sooner (and maybe better, but not necessarily) or wait and save the money, and have faith that he'll do a good job. It can get tricky using friends for stuff like this. At least you have things to work on that don't rely on the door being done. Ellen, good about the lilies, that's income for you! We've had a rainy week here too, although it's very on and off. We had a beautiful cool day yesterday but today it's too hot. I am progressing nicely on my NF book project, the DR part of it is all done. In the LR, I still have a small stack of books that have to find homes in the bookshelves that I purged, there is room, I just need to make sure they go somewhere logical. I also have a couple of 3-foot high stacks of book in the LR that I'm getting rid of, I haven't counted them yet, because I only count them when I decide where they're going. I've already thrown away/recycled all the ones that were no good. Now I have to look at the remaining ones and decide if any should be sold. I have a feeling there will be several, because some of these books are pretty unusual. Then there will be some that I'll put in the trade boxes, and the rest will be donated somewhere. This part will take me a while yet, because I'll have to look many of them up to see if they're worth selling. But eventually they will all leave, somehow. The DR part went well. Several times I thought about allowing myself an extra box or two, since I had so many extra books that I wanted to keep. Each time I resisted. At the end, I had some books in a category that I was just not able to part with. So, I picked another category that had a lot of books, purged more of those, to make room for the ones I wanted to keep. I've succeeded in not increasing the storage space. Now, the space really is full, which means that if more books come in, I have to make even more difficult choices, or else concentrate on reading faster so I can get rid of a few NF books. Unfortunately, if I read a book and love it, I keep it. It really, really helped me to ask the question about being forced to read a book next. Any book I wasn't sure about, even if I liked the IDEA of reading it--if I pretended I had to read this book next--that often helped me to put it on the purge pile. Because if the subject was interesting and I liked the idea of reading it, but did not like the idea of reading it right NOW, chances are I'll never read it. Many books that I asked that question about, I thought, sure, I'll stop and read it right now! Those I knew I had to keep. The others, no. I'm going to try to work on the small stack of books that need to be put away in the LR next, then I'll consider the NF books done, even though I still have the books to decide how to get rid of. That brings up the whole subject of my "book job", which is another story, and not part of my summer goal! Diane
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Post by lucie on Jun 28, 2014 5:28:56 GMT -5
dtesposito you have done a great job with your books! Well done! I may have been difficult to purge any more now, but it really works like an onion - next time you do it, you realize you are able to get rid off another layer. So one in one out will work fine.
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