Fall into puppy love.

Autumn has long been my favorite season.

I love everything about it. The cool nip in the air, the changing leaves, harvest festivals, fairs, blustery days, and the beginning of the holiday season. 

My babies seem to like it too. 

 

This is Penelope.  She's our 8 year old great pyrenees rescue puppy.  Calm, quiet, docile and laaaazy.  But she does look very pretty in the leaves.

 

 And this happy boy is Coach.  He's ours as of a month or so ago.  He used to be my brother's dog but due to some... domestic issues... Coach had to relocate.  He's been doing great with us.  He's about 10 years old and is a golden retriever.  His favorite past times include playing with a tennis ball and humping his pillow.  He's my happy old man :)

A little less magic every year.

This weekend was full of emotional lows.  Get low, get low, low, low.  I wont delve into the nitty gritty details.  Good news is I'm feeling slightly better after three days of ridiculousness.

Bad news is that the reason I'm feeling better is that I'm filled with anger.  Anger is easier to deal with than sadness any day.  Not surprisingly my anger is directed towards my lovely MIL.  

Close friends will remember the drama after my father died and the roller coaster of holiday related passive aggressive behavior the year after.  It seems that absolutely nothing has changed and the world must still seemingly orbit around her. 

I'll hit the bullet points if you don't know what I'm talking about.

• 2009 Dad has cancer.  Enters hospice.  MIL needs hysterectomy.  Her surgery same day as Dad's passing.  DH had to leave deathbed to sit in waiting room for hysterectomy to support MIL.  MIL still complains family wasn't supportive during HER tough time.  (No, I still haven't gotten over it.)
• 2009 Christmas.  Brother overseas for holidays.  First year without Dad.  Most of extended family in California, invite mother to CT for Christmas.  Plan to host Christmas at apartment so Mom and I will be kept busy.  Discuss with MIL in November.  She agrees and seems supportive.  
• 24 hours later MIL calls DH and claims we stole her favorite holiday, went behind her back and that we don't care that she had a rough year.  (MIL mind= hysterectomy > dead father)
• MIL completely unwilling to compromise.  States she will have Christmas alone if we do not agree to come to her house as same time as usual.  Still no reference to my mother's being in CT or her prior willingness to share.  Eventually 'compromise'  that we can have late dinner and she'll do early lunch Christmas day.
• Christmas Day: MIL 'lunch' happens at 3pm.  *rage*
• New years to date: Minimal contact with MIL.  DH visits alone for most for events and I work most holidays.  MIL laments that 'no one ever visits anymore.'  Truth in fact.

We spent last years Thanksgiving (I left early for work) and Christmas (was supposed to be at work but got the day off last minute) at her house crammed into her tiny kitchen doing all the work for her.  Of course no one is allowed to bring anything to holiday dinners, but SIL and I are expected to show up and do her bidding.  Especially ironic when SIL is expected to finish making food that she cannot eat (gluten allergy) and I'm expected to prepare food I wont eat (pepperoni.) Then we must thank MIL for having us and tell her how delicious everything is.  (Note: Dear MIL, turkey should NEVER come out of a microwave. I never knew something with the consistency of a pencil eraser could be so dry.)

Which brings us to this year.  The year after we bought a big new house, with a huge dining room table and a big kitchen.  Once again my brother will be overseas and once again I crave the distraction of hosting friends and family at my house.  October comes and DH discussed Christmas with MIL.  

It's like talking to a wall.

"Christmas is my favorite holiday."  Really?? You must be the only one with that feeling.  It's not like I gave up my family to move to a different state to be with your son or anything.  (I love my husband but yes, I do still get very bitter about this.)  I shouldn't expect to get to see them every year, that's just ridiculous. 

"It's the only time people visit anymore."  Did it ever occur to you that the reason no one visits anymore is because you act like a raging thunder@#nt so often that we just can't bear to be around you?!  Remember how before this all happened your we got dinner together every week or two?  That was because of ME not wanting to take your baby from you, not because he was dying to see you.


Christmas when I grew up was a time to be with family.  ALL family.  We rotated holidays among the grandparents and siblings to everyone got a turn and everyone compromised to make it so that we could SEE each other and spend time together.  Being around such a self centered individual makes me not even want to celebrate the holiday.  I'd rather volunteer to work than be embroiled in the MIL family circus.  It's the only way I feel that my DH doesn't feel forced to choose.  When it becomes our family Christmas vs MIL's Christmas he is stuck in the middle.  I can't force my husband to not see his mother.  So once again I'll take myself out of the picture.  Another holiday lost.  Seems like the magic is gone from this one anyway.  

Marathon Nursing...

Before I was a nurse I would have thought that 60 hours in 6 days is a long week but no biggie.  Having just come to the end of that 60 hours I can tell you that I am thoroughly exhausted.  My feet hurt, my shoulder hurts, and I've had a headache for the last three days.

Over the last 72 hours I've been screamed at, shoved, pinched, elbowed and peed on.  We had one patient in 4 point leather locked restraints and another patient who tackled the staff 2 separate times, dowsed their sitter in a pitcher of water, threw their food tray at us, threatened us, faked a 'seizure' and threw themselves on the floor claiming they had 'fallen' and that we made them do it.

We had patients who were wannabe hero's, obsessive compulsive control freaks, drama queens, uncontrolled schizophrenics, rich b*tch diva's and also some of the most inspiring people I've ever known.

My co-workers this weekend were phenomenal.  The floor was hell on earth and basically everything but a full out code happened.  But even with crazy patients and belligerent visitors and no breaks we had each others backs.  No one was left to fend for themselves and we pulled together.  I've never felt so proud of my unit before.  

Today we sent home a few patients who'd been around quite a while by a surgical floors standpoint.  Some of those discharges had us doing cartwheels down the halls and some of them we had to hug twice before letting them go.  A smile and a thank you goes a very long way to a worn out nurse.

We know when you are hurting and we can tell when your scared.  I wish we had the answers you wanted and could always tell you everything was going to be alright. We can't take away the pain completely but will bend over backwards to get you whatever relief is available.  We can't take away your fears but will hold your hand and make you laugh and explain all the doctor-jargon so you understand.  We won't always give you everything you want, but I promise we're doing everything we can to make sure you have the care you need.  Try not to be upset with us when we are frustrated that  you worry more about your meal tray than your meds*.

We're your nurses.  It's our jobs and our duty and our calling to help you in your time of need.  

For the last few days I was your nurse. I'm tired and it's time rub loose those tight shoulder muscles, snuggle with my husband and my furry babies, and get to bed.  

No worries though, the next nurse is just around the corner to take up the reins.  See you in 24.



*In healthcare you'd be surprised to find out how often patient's prioritize customer service over medical care.  It's incredibly aggravating. 

Bathroom Dilemma

Alright, y'all.  Our bathroom currently looks a bit like this: 

I know... not a lot of progress since yesterday.  Things take time when you are a DIY novice! 

We're leaving the mirror up since it is the only light source in the room and our new fixture is not going to use the same wire locations.  Since we're planning on doing accent tile up that wall anyway we wont be painting or doing anything else to the wall for now except fixing the hole.  Once we get the floors and other walls finished we'll have our electrician come in and rewire the new fixture in for us.  If we were just swapping fixtures in the same spot I'd try it myself, but since we need to move wires I'd rather leave it to the pros.

The floor is now scraped smooth.  It's obviously not beautiful but it should be perfect for our project.  Based off of the advice from family and friends and the information I've found online we don't need to scrape down to plywood if we're just laying down new mortar and tile.  It just needs to be mostly smooth with no major high spots.  Check!

We've removed all the trim inside the room, spackled any holes or dents in the walls from old pictures and bathroom fixures, let that dry overnight, sanded this morning and then did a second coat of spackle.  I'm waiting for that to dry and then I'm hoping I can get to painting.

....


Wait, isn't there still a giant hole in the wall???


Yup. 

Sh!&.

Okay.  So new plan:  tomorrow we're going to get a new piece of drywall, cut to size and hang that up.  Then we have to spackle that thing in place, prime it all and THEN I can start painting.  I plan on painting the room and doing the floors afterwards because the thinset has to cure for 72 hours once the tile is down.  And if I drip paint all over it wont get on my pretty new floors.

Anyone know how to hang drywall with pipes sticking out of the wall??  Thank god for DIY videos on YouTube.

Our other dilemma is tile placement.  Due to how narrow the bathroom is (34.5'' wide) we are going to have to cut some of the tiles into narrow strips.  The question is do we cut them so the strip is in the transition area at the bathroom door (see picture below for dry-run) OR do we cut them so that the narrow strips of tile are along that far wall when you enter?

Leave any advice or opinions below!  Thanks.

October Adventures

We're on vacation this week and since we aren't financially up to much travel right now we decided to spend the week working on the house.  (You aren't really surprised much are you?)

I've got to say my biggest problem is that I just don't tackle one project at a time, I tackle twelve.  During the last week I've worked on ripping out our overgrown flower beds and my container vegetable garden, attempted to keep up with the mountains of leaves falling, demo'd a bathroom, primed the staircase, tested paint colors on three different walls, sanded stair treads, primed the oak window casings, and generally watched as my house became a chaotic warzone.  I need to learn to focus. 

Our biggest priority is the half bathroom renovation. This is what it looked like when we moved in: 

 Peach colored walls with brass fixtures, oak trim, ugly cracked tile, almond colored toilet with the seashell printed seat.  (Thankfully the previous owner took the little dog statue with her when she moved out!)

 Peach, orange, pastel vomit?  What color would you call it?

 Oh hello, broken crystal handles for the seashell sink (yes, I wish I had a better picture showing that the inside of the sink is actually a seashell imprint) in cracked black and white marble on top of the most hideous custom (!) oak cabinet to ever grace a bathroom.

Topped off with the silver scrolly mirror/sconce light fixture (and yes, my mother is law has already called dibs on this piece, surprise surprise.)

You can see why it's been on the renovate list since we've moved in.  It was functional, yes, but certainly didn't reflect Jim or my personality at all and was not the bathroom we wanted our guests using for the rest of our lives.

Over the last few months we've been picking up pieces for the bathroom and by doing this we've been able to hunt the sale rack and specials and keep costs down.  (Yay!)  We've gotten our floor tile, our vanity, faucet, new light fixture and last night we picked up our new toilet.  The things I didn't budget for that I should have were the tools we'd need!  Since Jim and I have never done anything like this before we needed trowels and floats and spacers and all sorts of tools.  We've managed to borrow the big ticket items (ie. tile cutters) from my father in law and I had a stash of some tools that used to belong to my father so that helped but it did add up.

The first item on the list was pulling out the old vanity.  We didn't think it would be that big a deal.  Turn off water lines, unhook faucet and drainpipe, pull out vanity.  Sounds easy, right?  Not so much.  The shut offs were inside the cabinet and the holes they went through in the old vanity back panel were not big enough for the valves to fit through.  So we could remove the vanity cabinet but the back panel was stuck to the wall.  Jim tried the dremel and it seemed to not cooperate so after some hammer whacking and crowbar shimmying we got the panel pulled off the wall a bit and Jim went at it with the sawzall. 

This is where things got real. 

About 30 seconds in and I hear a clunk and a hiss and then cursing. 

Long story short we ended up with this:

Yes, I ripped apart a wall with my bare hands...  

Somehow the tip of the sawzall cut through the drywall and nicked this hot water pipe.

Of course it was inside the wall at the time and the only other water shut off is the main one for the house that is in the basement and ON THE CEILING.  So Jim goes tearing off into the basement with the ladder (of course I had it upstairs for my painting extravaganza) when this godawful screeching starts. 

Imagine the chaos: WHY IS THE ALARM GOING OFF, GOOD GOD WATER EVERYWHERE, GET A BUCKET! A BUCKET WONT HELP ITS IN THE WALL, GET THE LADDER, SHUT THE ALARM OFF, IT'S NOT ON, WHY IS IT SCREECHING?! OH GOD THE WATER IS POURING ACROSS THE ALARM PANEL, GET THE FUZE, WHICH FUZE? THEY'RE NOT LABELED! F*&^ IT TURN THEM ALL OFF UNTIL IT STOPS SCREECHING. SH*& NOW I CAN'T SEE TO GET TO THE SHUT OFF VALVE, WHERES THE LANTERN???

Yeah.  It was not pretty.  Naturally the panel box for the alarm system is on the wall in the basement just under the pipe that got nicked.  But Jim eventually got the ladder and the lantern into the basement and turned the main water line off.  I turned off fuzes one by one until the screeching stopped and then we called the father in law.  Lesson learned, no demo after dark.  Ten o'clock at night on a Wednesday is not when you want to have to patch a pipe.  Stores closed, no plumbing parts means no water until Thursday, but thank fully FIL was able to come by that afternoon and create this beauty:

Look at that beautiful pipe!  No holes!  It keeps water where it's supposed to!  And best of all it meant we can turn the water back on!  Hooray for showers and laundry and toilets (ohmy!)

Today with the vanity out and the tile removed from the floor I've spent half of my time scraping up old thinset and the rest of the time figuring out how to remove a toilet.  DIY baby.  This bad boy is GONE now!

 So now I suppose I should get back to work.

 Ugh.... scrape, scrape, scape...

If I can move on the morrow I'll try to be back with a bathroom update.  Who knows, maybe we'll be able to get the new floor tile down!  I'll leave you with a sneak peak of what we chose.

Itty Bitty Pity Party

Alright folks, the title says it all.  

I need some love and support and someone to tell me it will all work out and we'll be okay.

I've been in a funk all day.  I've been tying to work on stuff around the house and feeling like I am steadily getting NOTHING done no matter how much I do.   It's exhausting and I am just so frustrated with myself.  I feel like I'm constantly doing something but somehow the place ends up messier than ever and I just feel like there are more things added to the To Do list everyday.

Money has been another big issue on my mind lately (yes, I know, welcome to life), what with the house and the never ending list of things that need to be done.  We were doing okay until I found out that one of our central air units died.   The estimate to replace it is $3,100.  

Frankly, we just don't have it right now to waste on an AC unit.  Good bye any hope of a vacation next year... that savings account just turned in to the AC fund for next summer.

Then, we got this lovely notice in the mail that we have 2 tax bills due within the month.  And they ring it at the sum of $2,400.  *kick to the ribs*  But wait, aren't all our taxes escrowed in with our mortgage payment?   Why yes, kind reader they are.  We'd already built in over 6k in taxes to our monthly mortgage payments, but somewhere along the line the genius bank/title company missed the fact that the acre and a half we bought is actually 3 separate lots (WTF?!) and they only factored in taxes on ONE lot (the house so of course it's crazy high).  So as if our taxes weren't expensive enough already I now have to find half this new tax money in oh... the next week.

*yanks out hair*

 AND THEN, Jim comes home and informs me that the MAIN ac unit is also no longer working.  *slams head on desk*  So now we get to call the HVAC guy out again and hope that this unit can be repaired instead of replaced... or else I'll be selling a kidney on the black market to pay for it.  July and August in CT is too hot and humid to go without any kind of air conditioning.  

So yeah... I'm in a mood.  




 

Nurse notes: Ep. 1

Things I learned while being a nurse:

1.  Chew your pepto bismol tablets people!  Unless you want to end up in the emergency room having to have a scope rammed down your throat because a mysterious quarter sized "metal" item has shown up on your abdominal xray after it gets lodged in the lining of your stomach.  I've got to tell you there were quite a few fun rumors flying around as to how this patient ended up with a 'battery' in his stomach.

2.  If you are a doctor/nurse/physician assistant/phlebotomist/CEO or whatever and you are in with a relatively minor ailment please don't act like I should drop everything and run just because you asked for some maalox or a new box of tissues.  You know better.  I have a million things to take care of and the priority is not always you. 

3.  Do NOT go to the nurse and tell them they are providing poor care to your loved one because they've been made of fast for a series of tests and are hungry or because the surgeon hasn't answered your questions yet or because your spouses test has been postponed (again!) or you've been waiting to be discharged all day.   I try to do my best to deal with people's venting because I know it's a frustrating situation to be in, when you are sitting by and watching your loved one wait for a test or an answer.  But please try to understand, in a hospital everything is triaged.  If your stable and breathing and someone comes in to the emergency room after a car accident your test is going to be postponed, your doctor is going to be in the operating room trying to save someones life, your questions will go unanswered for a few more hours.  And no amounts of belittling the nurse at the bedside is going to change that.  All that you accomplish here is pissing off the person who is going to be providing the most DIRECT care to your loved one.  I certainly don't piss off the people who come at me with needles!     *Especially with discharges people, I'm sorry, I know your stoked to go home, but that means that you are the most healthy person in that doctors responsibility right now which also puts you at the very bottom of his to do list.  And please don't get dressed and stand at the door just because the doctor said you are ready to go.  Chances are they will leave your room and proceed to visit their other 15 patients before getting anywhere NEAR a computer to put in your discharge.  And that's IF they don't go directly to surgery and leave the discharge to their intern.  Believe me, when everything is ready your nurse will let you know.  Until then, relax.

4.  Pain.  If your blood pressure is 90/50 and heart rate is only 56 and your are barely conscious and haven't moved in 4 hours I'm not going to buy that you are a 10/10 for pain.  Also if you are requesting IV pain medication when you are in with a simple ailment don't be surprised when we offer you percocet.  If you can eat solid food and you are not writhing in agony we're going to give you pills first.  Then, and ONLY then, will we advance to iv narcotics when it's been proven that the pills don't work.  If you promptly fall asleep after the pills don't call me in three hours later and tell me the pills never worked and your a 10/10 again.  Plus please don't tell me "it only hurts when I move like this."  We expect you to move after surgery, we do not expect you to do situps in bed. 

Renovation / Work List (updated)

As a new homeowner I'm always thinking of things that we need or want to do around the house.  I thought it would be a good idea to make a list here that we could look back on when we need to figure out our next step or see what we've accomplished.  This includes long term dreams for us so I don't think this list will be completed for MANY years.  I'll try to remember to come back and cross off projects as we finish them.
 
Garage 

• Repair roof and siding issue along doorway and address roof runoff issues
• Insulate walls, doors, ceiling.
• Repair/finish of interior walls of garage
• Ceiling lighting? 
• Install some kind of ceiling with attic storage or leave open/create storage loft?
• Insulate garage door
• Install weatherstripping around doors.
• Replace non-functional exterior garage light (motion sensor?)
• Install stairs to exterior garage door
• Seal off floor 
• Install grate over floor drain
• New garage door opener with keypad for exterior access.
• Patch/prime/paint walls
• Rearrange storage shelves -move some to basement
• Modify work bench / pegboard for our needs
• Create trash/recycle area
• Create mudroom area- coat hooks, shoe/boot storage 
• Pet zone

Front Entrance/Deck/Parking Area

• Replace AC units with 1 unit and move it around back of house (The house came with 2 units that are over 30 years old.  They're just next to the front door and still working but who knows how long they have and I'm sure they're not energy efficient at all.  If we can't move the unit then we'll have to build up a cover to hide them from sight.)
• Remove half dead evergreen trees along front of house.
• Strip old paint from deck
• Repair deck and railings.
• Buy new porch light.
• Replace broken entrance lighting
• Remove one of old broken porch lights and rewire it to create exterior outlet source. 
• Replace front door and storm doors - we love this door are saving for it
• Replace doorbell.
• Build raised planter box 
• Create seating area on porch
• Mulch/plant garden bed along front and side of house.

 Guest Room

• repair trim
• caulk / prime windows and trim
• prime doors
• remove and spray old brass hardware (doorknobs/hinges)
• paint windows and doors
• paint ceiling
• paint walls
• reinstall doors
• prime and paint closet doors
• repaint closet
• build closet system
• rip up old carpet
• replace carpet.
• install window coverings
• furnish room and decorate!

Jack & Jill Bathroom

• remove giant frame-less bathroom mirror
• prime trim and doors
• remove old vanity (it's very short and way too narrow for the space)
• demo weird wall between vanity and toilet area
• patch wall
• paint walls
• remove shower tub enclosure
• install tub
• tile shower surround
• install glass tub door/wall
• demo floor tiles (damaged beyond repair)
• install new floor 
• renovate vanity- we'd like to either build it up taller and customize it to fit the space or replace it with something bigger
• Install double sinks? or large trough sink with two faucets?
• build linen / storage area next to toilet on guest room wall
• Install sliding barn door between vanity and toilet area

Office

• prime trim
• prime windows and doors
• prime closet door
• paint windows
• paint doors
• paint closet doors
• paint ceiling
• paint walls
• remove old carpet
• replace flooring
• closet system
• window coverings
• built in bookcases?

Loft Area

• paint ceiling and walls in linen closet
• install shelves in linen closet
• prime and paint closet door
• paint ceiling and attic door WHITE 
• prime and paint trim 
• prime and paint windows
• finish ripping up blue carpets!
• new flooring
• strip/sand/refinish stairs
• demo loft railing (good bye fish scales!)
• install new cable railing
• replace ceiling fan
• replace eyeball track lights
• install industrial shelving unit on loft wall

Foyer

• New Front door
• prime and paint windows 
• prime and paint trim
• complete stairs (strip/sand/re-stain)
• paint walls
• replace foyer chandelier
• evaluate entry tile
• foyer seating area
• replace coat closet doors

How We Did It: Buying a Home

A common theme since deciding to buy a home has been "don't give up." 

It's all to easy to look at the economy and decide to horde your pennies for a rainy day...to look at those student loans and bank statements and just think that you'll never get there.  Or you live in an area like southwestern CT and home prices are through the roof so you think you'll never break into the market without a winning lotto ticket.  It can be infuriating when you are doing everything 'right' but it still just isn't enough.

Don't give up.

Work hard.  Save what you can.  If your income changes keep your spending the same and put the rest away.  When I finished nursing school I went from being a nurses aid to a registered nurse and my income more than doubled.  We resisted the urge to move and splurge on a nicer apartment closer to work and instead funneled the extra dough toward paying off debt and filling the savings account.  After a year and a half I'd paid an extra 5k off of my loans and saved 10k.  Plus I did have to buy a (used!) car during that time, so we did have one new monthly expense.   The easiest way I've found to save is to set up automatic deposits to your savings account on payday.  That way the money just goes away before you've even seen it.  I've gradually increased the weekly deposits and it's amazing what a difference its made.  Even if you only do $25 dollars a paycheck over the course of the year it adds up!

Now, not everyone can make a major career change and there's no guarantee of a pay increase so if your income doesn't change look at cutting corners where you can.  Tip: Don't buy snacks/drinks from vending machines!   I'm still amazed at how much Jim and I wasted on buying soft drinks and waters at work.  Now we try to keep a stash of drinks in our respective lockers/offices so we're not always throwing money away at a $1.50 to $2.50 a bottle.  It helped a ton when we were living on my student income.

The other thing I learned was to keep your options open.  Jim and I looked at 100's of houses online and more than a dozen in person before finding the one we loved.  Our search area was huge and we didn't turn down houses that didn't fit in the 'dream house' criteria list.  We knew we were looking for something with privacy (my number one requirement!)  Hopefully 3 bed/2bath.  Garage maybe?  Open floor plan?  More than that and we had no idea but we looked at anything in our price range.  We weighed whether we wanted a move in ready house or a fixer upper.  Did we want something small and perfect or roomy and dated?  One level or two?  Lake community? 

Then we met with a mortgage guy at the local community bank and talked though our financing options and learned that there were many more choices out there than you find online.  Even for people in the low income end of the spectrum.  I was actually stunned to learn what we could afford. 

After all of that was the actual home buying process.  We found a house (which ironically belonged to the mother-in-law of our former realtor, can you say awkward?!) fell in love and then there was the tumultuous home inspection process in a 30 year old home.  One inspector, two contractors, a structural engineer, a radon repair crew and an exterminator later we had agreed on a price.  It. was. ridiculous.  But finally, we had a closing date.  That fateful day when your bank accounts cry but you drive home with keys.  I'll spare you all the details of the closing... it included lots of paper signing and check writing and bank documents and at the end of it all we were homeowners.

The moral of it all?  Don't give up!

Old pictures of the new digs!

This post is LONG overdue.  About 4 months ago Jim and I bought our first house!  We've been steadily making changes throughout the house since moving in.   Now I'll admit my first impression of the house was not all positive.  It had none of the finishes or small touches that I'd fallen in love with at other houses we'd seen.  It was 2100sq feet of brass fixtures and orange colored trim and miss-matching floors. I don't have any current pictures but here are the realtor shots from when we first saw the house.  Maybe you'll see some of the reasons why I did love this house...

First off, this is the view as you drive up to the house... hello deck and under-deck patio with walk out basement... I dream of a pergola on the right side of the deck with an awesome dining area and a hanging bench/hammock underneath the deck.  I'd like to make an opening to the yard from the front of the deck as well. Right now there is a gate off the far left corner of the deck to the driveway but it's not convenient to get to the yard.

 

 This area on the right side of the house gets the most sun... Hopefully we can put in a garden eventually!

 

This is the front side of the house.  Look at those WINDOWS! Love!  That two car garage also had me at hello.  Unfortunately then we go to a front deck covered with astroturf, hideous brass light fixtures, half-dead evergreens in a 'flowerbed' full of stones and 2 ancient air conditioners.  I've got lots of work to do out there!

 First look inside... On the upside, look at that 2story living room?  Lofted second floor open to the entry way and the living room, with windows galore!  If you can see it past the yellow walls, ugly trim and metal fish scale-esque railings... or the broken fan, giant eyeball track lights or HUGE hideous brass chandelier in the front entryway (not shown, and already taken down, thank god!)

 

Another interesting detail in this house is the fireplace.  I have a love hate relationship with it right now.  I love having a wood burning fireplace... but the staggered brick and weird slanted wood over it??  Ehhh.  Not my deal at all.  But it's slowly growing on us as I get rid of the 80's brass and dated decor around it.  We'll see if we end up refacing it at some point in the future. 

 For now the only thing we've done with the fireplace is had it cleaned and inspected.  Safety first!

 

Dig those awful brass and crystal chandeliers??  Gone, gone, gone baby. 

 

 The dining room is open to the sunken living room, and that whole wall to the right side of picture is sliding glass doors... Yup, the whole front of the house is sliders.  9 total  I'm still not sure how to deal with them.

Now you see the kitchen...  More wood, bad florescent lighting and a bad tile job with grout that runs from off white to just plain gross.  Add in a tiny wall oven and microwave that is original from 1981... oy.  Also, who makes a lower breakfast bar?!  Those stools shown?  No normal person can sit at them and get their knees under the counter.  It's just weird.  BUT, it's a huge kitchen, with TONS of counter space and storage several pot lights and that massive island??  It's got a nice cook top in it and means I actually don't have to cook with my back to the rest of the house.  There's also a really cool pantry unit next to that door (to the garage) and a little coat/broom closet on the left side of the picture.

Kitchen and dining room are open to one another... I just wish they had the same flooring throughout.  There is tile in the kitchen, laminate in the dining room, hard woods in the living room, carpet in the master bedroom, another tile in the bathrooms and a third type of tile in the entryway... and that's all on one floor!  I dream of someday ripping it all up and putting in hardwoods throughout the whole first level so it all flows together instead of being chopped up.

The second floor has a loft area and then two bedrooms with giant closets.  The bedrooms share a jack and jill bathroom.  We haven't done any work upstairs yet except starting to paint the trim white.  There both pretty basic rooms.  Need paint and new carpets and some closet systems so they can actually be useful.  There's also a tiny linen closet upstairs that has no shelves so eventually we need to finish that off.

This is the view of the master bathroom.  It's tolerable, and hey, it's a master bath, but I do wish the vanity area was closed off from the bedroom so I could get ready in the morning without waking Jim up.  Same goes for him waking me at night when he comes to bed!  The door to the right goes to the tub/toilet room and there is a door on the left that goes into our walk in closet (YAY CLOSET!)  Eventually we want to remodel the bathroom and make it all one big room instead of two little ones.  We dream of putting in a jetted tub... okay, I dream of it, Jim doesn't really care as long as I don't paint the room pink.  Right now it's just one of those tiny tub/shower fiberglass unit things.  And everything is original so the fixtures all leaked and the tub/toilet are cream colored.  Not good.  The first thing Jim and I replaced when we moved in was the faucet. Pictures to come someday... lol.

Weird little cubby next the the sliders.  Like I said, still getting used to sliding glass doors everywhere.  Also getting used to the cats walking through the vertical blinds.... I really need to find new window/door coverings that block light and provide privacy (it's the bedroom!) but still can be pulled easily out of the way to let light in!

 I'll finish up with the yard... it needs work.  No more white picket fence please, and there has to be a better way to divert water than that horrible plastic sheeting but for now we're taking it a day at a time.  I love how private it is and that it's all ours! :)