S & S House

Well, here's the little gem from the outside.  I was going to put these pics on the last post but the blog site was acting squirrly so I gave up.  Sometimes it does that but who am I to complain because so far blogging has been free.

Right there on the left of the house behind the white fence/gate is a great big cement pad. Perfect for the Malibu.  I understand however, it will be getting the garage and the new, fancy modern cars will be relegated to the cold winter winds and rains.  You can tell who S loves the best when it comes to his cars.

S hates the color of the house.  He doesn't seem to like living in a peach color house.  Maybe he wants fire engine red.  Guess I'll have to ask him about that.  LOL!

I realize this isn't my house and as a parent I should butt out but don't you think this wall would look better with another window in it right there on the left? 

The bedroom in the back has two windows in it. One on each wall, so adding one to this wall would be well within sticking with the design of the house.  I know S has and knows how to use a reciprocating saw.  Okay, nuff said, I'll hush up now.

It's a cute house.  A perfect starter home which will easily lead them into their next home.  The kids should be proud of all the wonderful things they are doing to make it theirs.

As you can see, my son and I  have different priorities when it comes to getting a home ready to move in.  Here's S yacking on the phone and watching Cars on his TV.  Nope, the bed isn't up, the dresser is still in the garage along with tons of boxes but the TV's on the wall, the WII is set up, the cable is on and all the other gaming goodies are ready to go.  YEP!  We are definitely of two different generations with different priorities.  LOL!

I have to admit he did a beautiful installation.  Can you see any wires running down the wall to the power?  NOPE.  I bought D a Seesnake last year for Xmas.  It's this little doohicky you feed into the wall and it has two LED lights fixed to a itty bitty camera so you can see inside the walls.  

Sarah got mad at S because he kept sneaking it around corners  and spying on her.  She can't wait until we tell him to give it back.  The joke could be on her because D's found a bigger better one he'd like.  Guess who'd get the old one if Santa bought him a new one for Xmas this year?  Yep....most likely S.

As you can see, watching Cars is really draining my poor child.  LOL!  Alright, this is where I have to admit he and D brought over three huge loads of things to be put in the house.  You know, little stuff like washer, dryer, side by side refer, queen bed, furniture, etc.

To say the guys were pooped by evening is an understatement.  D went home, I stayed and ate with S and painted a little bit more.  Then I went home to a nice hot bubble bath waiting for me.

Dang I love that thoughtful hubby of mine!

New house....

Well S & S finally bought a house.  They were looking in WC, Concord, CV and ended up in Livermore.  The one place that son of mine didn't want to be because of his commute to the city.

Anyway, it took them about 10 months to get a house.  They put 12 or 13 bids on houses but were constantly outbid by speculators.  To say they were getting frustrated is an understatement.

They lucked out on this one and bought it from Uncle Sam.  It was a bit tense for awhile because  of the Freddie Mac/Fannie Mae mess but all turned out well in the end.

It's obvious S is a homeowner.  Look at those pants he's wearing.  I didn't have the heart to tell him those might end up being his dress jeans for awhile.  LOL!  That boy is definitely my kid.

He got in the habit of finding a corner where he could pull up the carpet and see if there was hardwood floor under it.  He struck pay dirt on this one.  The original red oak floors that were installed in 1954 when the house was build were still in tact.  

Anyway, D and I spent last week with S cleaning and painting.  We got the walls of the living/dining room and all bedrooms done.  The woodwork, kitchen and bathroom will get done next week and the week after.  

The workers have been there the past few days stripping and sealing the beautiful red oak floors.  They are turning out fantastic.  Today (Saturday) they'll put the last coat of sealer on them.  The kids will spend tomorrow and the rest of the week finishing up some of the trim work and moving in.

The bathroom is pretty much a mess.  It had the original toilet dated December 1953 in it.  S pulled that out already and installed an American Standard toilet that is guaranteed to flush a bucket of golf balls without any trouble.  Can't wait to test that puppy.

I'm catching up on cleaning my own house and PAW's Embroidery stuff.  I've got to get my tush in gear and finish staining the closet door today because I just know I'll be helping the kids the next couple of days.

Soooo....off to work I go.  I'll post more pics later.  Especially of the beautiful refinished floors.

Airing My Dirty Laundry...

Yesterday was such a boring day and today is rapidly becoming the same.  I haven't done laundry in two weeks and here is the result. Shameful I know but I really hate laundry.  If I could wear cheap, inexpensive, biodegradable disposable clothing, I would.

I did laundry and stayed in the kitchen all day yesterday folding and cleaning.  I had three loads that were already washed and just needed folding waiting for me when I woke up.  

Being Irish, I still think when I sleep the leprechauns are going to come in at night and clean up after us.  So far the little buggers haven't shown up.  I'm thinking they can't get off their barstools long enough to visit my house.

When D got home from work around 3:30 yesterday I was still in the kitchen folding and cleaning.  To say I was dead on my feet would be an understatement.

This counter was a bit of a challenge because there were so many different things to tackle and most of them took me out of the room.  That means resisting the urge to get started in another room when I visit it.  A non fatal disease I suffer from.  I think it's called, "nonfocalitis".

Anyway, I got the box on the right put away.  It contained the China tea set mom gave me.  I was a good girl and actually put it in the china cabinet.  GO ME!  The little black picture on the counter, I actually put in the guest room and will hopefully hang it next week sometime.  You can't see it but there is a big hand embroidered picture laying flat on the counter.  My mother in law made that back in the 70's.  It's real cute.  I painted the frame last week and actually put the picture back in it yesterday.  Now it too is sitting in the guest room waiting to be hung.  At least it made its way into the correct portion of the house.

The island was nice because it was paperwork that I threw away and paint/stain I needed to put away.  Easy, piece of cake, a cinch, a 5 minute job.

Look at this table, it's a mess and I created it all by myself.  This morning however, it looks great.  I put the pomegranates Nana gave me in a nice metal bowl on the counter.  That way they not only look nice but are easy to grab, clean and eat.  YUM!  I had one for breakfast.  Gave each dog a little taste and they all loved it.

Anyway, I got the clothes folded, went through tons of papers and either threw them away, filed them, or put them in the bill folder to be taken care of on the first of the month.  I even cleaned the desk in the kitchen and got rid of stuff.  Yep, I had a garbage bag and dumped stuff without giving it a second thought.  boy did that feel good.  I think what felt the nicest was actually polishing the wood on the kitchen table and making it look pretty.  Considering the table is almost 30 years old, it's in great shape.  

Well, I hear D is done cleaning the pine needles out of the rain gutters so now I don't have an excuse not to stain another door.  I didn't want debris on my new stain and cleaning the gutters was a great excuse to be lazy.  Soooo....off to work I go....more staining and laundry.  Yep, just another day in the jungle.

Socks...

I spent the weekend away from home catching up on shopping, visiting mom in the hospital and taking stuff to Nana.  

Today I'm supposed to be cleaning house and catching up on the truckload of laundry that needs to be done.  So far I've paid one bill and have completely ignored the goodies I bought at Wally World last night on the way home from Patterson.  I'm thinking they'll still be on the table and counter when I peek my head out the door after I've completed typing this.

Anyway, when your sister asks, "So...do you want your birthday present now or do you want to wait until your birthday to open it?", my answer is always going to be, "NOW!".  Of course that was the correct answer.  It just so happens my feet are cold this morning so I've been wearing my brand spankin' new socks created by the loving hands of my sister Nana.  Aren't they cool?  They are loud and flashy kinda like my personality is at times.  Yep, these puppies scream my name.  

Look how cute they are.  I had to post them on my blog for the world to see.  My sister is a very talented person.  Actually, I don't know how my parents did it but all of us girls are talented in our own variety of ways.  At the very least we are all artsyfartsy.  As with most Americans, we're limited by the time we have available to get normal things done, which takes away from the time we'd love to be creative.  I believe most of our kids have inherited the creative gene in a variety of ways.  It's always refreshing to see what everyones been up to.

So, thank you so much for the great socks Nana.  I appreciate all the time and effort you put into making them.  Also, a big thank you to Nana's grandkids M & T for dying the yarn.  The colors are terrific and the socks are fantastic.  I love them.

Now....what's the top of my counter look like?  Maybe I can find it sometime today.  If I don't post on this blog in the next 4 days, send in the rescue squad to come and find me.  

Have a great day everyone!

When I got home, D was in the garage aka the Vortex (because things get out there and disappear forever).  Anyway, I went out to talk and catch up on what he'd been up to today and the next thing I knew I was putting a new cord on his reciprocating saw.  He tried to convince me the saw came with the cord all chewed up when he bought it new.  Yeah right, like I fell off the turnip truck yesterday.

Now electricity is something I usually leave to him because it's one of my least favorite things to do.  I'll tackle it if he's not home and I really, really want something done (I don't get that desperate very often).  This time he brought over the saw and a new cord and expected me to replace the darn thing.  He wanted me to splice the new cord onto the old just after it came out of the saw housing.

Nope...not good enough.  The next thing he knew I had the saw in two pieces, cut the old cord inside the housing and was ready to go. He came over with these little metal dohickies I hadn't seen before and showed me how to splice the ends together squishing the metal piece forcing the ends together.  I added electrical tape (so as not to fry him when he turned on the power), put the little beast back together and as you can see by the picture, the saw works and D didn't get electrocuted.

What I learned about Doxies

Okay...okay...mom gives me her big doxie, Dave puts it in the entry hall until I find where I'd like to put it and all is fine.  We leave the area and hear Nisie growling.  When we come out to see what's happening, she's got her hair on end and is growling at the doxie statue.   Nuttie thinking it's a threat to her pup starts growling.  Neither notice the statue isn't moving or paying a bit of attention.  Neither notice it isn't breathing or blinking but they are both growling.  It's absolutely hilarious.

The statue has been in the house 4 days now and Nuttie will finally get close, sniff it and decide it isn't real.  Nisie still hasn't figured it out.  She stands a respectable distance and growls.  I might actually have to take her in, put her next to it and knock on it so she can hear it's plaster.

I used to think dachshunds were intelligent but this little exercise is making me think again.  LOL! 

Nano Speakers

I wanted some speakers for my Nano so when I'm working I don't have to rely on the earbuds.  I  looked at some at Ross but they just seemed a bit icky.  So I head to Wally World and here's this pretty pink triangle shape box with a speaker on each end to match my nano.  It didn't give any specs on power or the speakers so I thought, 4 batteries, small, pink and I can return it if it's a bust.  Oh did I mention it was $10.  I've used this almost continuously for the past 3 days.  THEY'RE GREAT!  I've used the goofy thing so much right now I'm recharging my Nano.

If you need simple speakers, no bells or whistles I'd highly recommend this little unit.  As you can tell, it's compact.  It just has a simple on/off button on the top and the nano regulates the volume.  It'll work with iPod or any MP3 player.  Just put your MP3 player on the little shelf, plug into speaker and off you go.  There aren't that many products I'm amazed by but I have to admit this is one of them.  S wouldn't like it because it isn't a super whoopie blast your ears out 'system' but they work great for me when I'm cleaning, redecorating, painting....you know girlie stuff.

Meet the New Baby

Okay, okay...you know when you're not looking for something and it jumps right in your face.  Well that's what happened to me.  I was minding my own business cruising Craigs List (first mistake) and there it was!  Right there!  A listing less than 30 minutes old.  Destiny, yep that's it.

It's a 4 year old EMP6 with 4 hours and 142 stitches on it.  And it costs less than I paid for my first one.  Yepola, that's destiny.  Now I get those excited fluttery feelings in my tummy and grab for the phone.  Of course I prepare myself for the guy to say, "Sorry, sold!"  No siree, we make a date and up to Roseville we head. 

I was a prepared shopper.  I had six cones of thread, fabric hooped and ready to go and a pattern on a flash card.  I even threw in a bobbin.  Talk about not wanting any excuses not to use the machine.   I put the little beauty through a small pattern and it works great.  Okay, okay, not perfect because I used his cheap thread but I can live with that.

So now I have two machines and am ready for Christmas.  Now if I could just get Dave to work on the website.  Not having my name out there is killing me.  I've got the toys, I just need the work.

I donated a couple of totes and Zoobies to a local children's charity auction.  It takes place November 15th in Alamo.  Here's hoping I can pick up some Christmas business from that.  If not, it's an expensive lesson learned.

The New Baby

Here's the old EMP6.  Happy healthy and with a mere 712 hours and over 22 million stitches on it.  Yep this baby has many more miles to go.  I think my goal is to have the numbers so darn high the counter can't go any higher.  Yep, great goal.

I need to put aside some time to see if the new machine will fit next to the old one.  It's a bit inconvenient having a machine on my hooping station.  I'm a little lost when it comes to hooping Zoobies because there's a machine where I usually work.