The most relaxing day ever

Here we are, Sis, BIL, and baby, hangin' out at my bro's house. He bought a house I Kansas City and this is our first pilgrimage out to visit. It is a great place!   It kind of makes me want to move to suburbia. Kind of.

We have 3 adorible pups running around and I have 4 nephews, and 1 niece to keep us on our toes. I have to say, myself on the toes - quite a bit less than the parents.

I have seriously spent about half of the day figuring out how to use my phone. Yes, the same phone I have had for the past 2 years, but I have to learn this stuff some time...

Ok, back to relaxing.

Still going project crazy

Left over stain... Front porch and stairs.  I wish I could just snap my fingers and have it all done.

Coming together

Finally!!!! I feel like I am getting things done.  I don't know what happens, but I go through ages where I am a complete slug, then everything comes together at the same time.  This is a good thing.

Here is the update.  I just put the finishing touches on the table.  I will have pictures of that once it is installed in the dining room.  Currently it is drying in my garage.

The rental bedroom is just about done.  A couple pieces of trim and it will be finished.

The floors... What can I say... That was not a good idea.  Why didn't you all step in and say something.... Yes they needed to be done; should I have been the person to do them? I can emphatically say NO!  That was so much more work than I thought it would be.  I found myself mid project thinking in tweet form.  I think I started out with Sis is riding the power tool, then went to debating if inhalation of dust or how I look in the mask is worse, then no one should be doing this, to I am laying on my back and I can't move to everything hurts to I am at the mid project cry stage to friends don't let friends do ridiculous projects to does a wood floor truly need polyurethane?  I think that is where I ended my thoughts in 140 characters or less.  Seriously, I couldn't think in longer spurts than that.  It was just sad.

For the most part I am done.  I did not end up doing the polyurethane, so I will have to do that at another time.  For now the floors look good.  I have to thank BFFBase and son for helping me move all of the furniture out and then back in again.

So, there is a lot of good that came out of this.  I moved everything out of the living room, dining room and my bedroom.  I did not put it all back in.  I donated a LOT of stuff that I just didn't need.  It seemed like I was just storing stuff.  So, I now have clutter free spaces.  And, realistically I got it done in 6 days.  While it seemed horrible going through it the truth is it wasn't that long.

I have some tips for people who are insane enough to do this project on their own.

1.  The sanders are more powerful than they look.
2. Trying to sand paint off of the floor is useless.  Stain is ok.
3. Just because the old stain is off of the floor doesn't mean that the floor will look good.
4. Sanding is a 3 person job.  The sander, the sweeper and the extension cord holder.  Seriously.
5. You WILL have gouges from the sanders.
6. Make an appointment with you Chiropractor, Acupuncturist AND Massage therapist.
7. You should not only read the directions on the stain, but follow them.
8. Should you not follow them, you can manually scrub every square inch of the floor with mineral spirits after waiting 2 days in the noxious fumes for it to turn to a tar like substance.
9.  It will take longer than you think to dry.
10. The directions on line at the manufactures web site are not the same as they are on the can of stain, so plan accordingly.
11. Make more appointments will all above reference body workers. You may want to book out for the following week as well.
12. Moving straps and those furniture slide things are great!!!
13. HIRE A PROFESSIONAL TO DO THIS PROJECT!

I could have sworn I took more before pictures, but it seems that I did not.  At least you can see some of the difference.

Now what you have been waiting for:

Mom, don't be hating on my picture... I know you can see the dust on the floor.  I am hoping that when I get the polyurethane on there it won't be so obvious. (That was her big warning, the dark floors will show dust) :)

How hard can it be?

A new project!!!!!  I am so excited!!!!

I am going to refinish my wood subfloors.  Sounds a little strange, I know.

Here is what I have going on at my 100+ year old house.  I took up the carpets when I moved in and there was wood floors underneath.  Yeah!  There are in ok condition, but not beautiful.  So, about a year ago I had someone come in and look at them to be refinished.  They told me that my floor are actually subflooring.  Apparently back in the olden days they used wood planks as subflooring.  Now, as it is, I have been using my subfloor as floor for about 6 years.  I think it is time to spruce up my floor.

Anywhoo, I am going to be here on my own for a couple of days so there will be no one to walk on the floors as I am finishing them, and I don't have to kick anyone out for the weekend.  This is the perfect (only) time to get them done.  It should be pretty inexpensive, and I think it will make a big difference.  I will post before and after pics later.

Wish me luck!

Changes... Changes

There are so many changes happening. First We will talk about the good changes. At my office we got new floors! They are looking pretty spiffy, and they will look great after the base boards are in. I also got a new table for my office, so now it is starting to feel complete.

Some other changes... RMR is going to be moving out to go to school in Portland. Yeah for him! He was accepted into the doctorate program. I think that is great for him, but I will miss him. Next, at the office Sis has move into her new office. It is beautiful, and I got to work over there the other day when our floors were being installed. BFFparty is going to be leaving the office to move on with her internship for school. It will be great experience for her moving into psychology.

It's funny when there are a lot of changes, I feel a little off kilter. Like my little world has been jostled a bit. All of the changes are good and I am happy for everyone involved.

Summer fun

I like summer.  I like the sun for limited periods of time.  I like to swim in the lake by my parents place.  I like the longer days.  But, wow is it HOT!  Whew.

I have been wanting to get into wood working.  So, I bought an antique table and I have started to refinish it.  I am doing this in my parents garage.  They have the tools and the space, and it is just a short jaunt for me to get down there to work on it.  Besides, now that they are in Florida for half of the year, I don't get to see them as much.  This is a very good reason to get my butt down there to visit.

I am so excited, I have the whole table stripped, and just have a few more coats of sanding to do then I will begin the process of staining.  If the stain doesn't turn out good, I will paint it.  I know this will sound like famous last words but... how hard can it be?

The finished product...

Another Birthday has come and gone

The big Three Nine.  It's here.  I knew it was coming, but it has always seemed so far away.  It is not far away any more.

Ah well.  I'm good with it.  I think I had a very small wow, that is one year from forty moment, but it passed quickly.

Happy Birthday to me!!!

The grand idea

I have been thinking for quite a while now that I would like to have a small farm.  Maybe more of a homestead. I like projects, I think I could be quite good at it.

Here is one of the reasons...  I have some concerns about food.  I don't want to sound like an alarmist, but I do have some concerns about GMO foods.  It is everywhere.  I think it is wrong.  The question is what can be done about it?  I don't think there is an easy answer to that, but I do think that I can not sit by quietly and let large profit driven companies dictate what I am eating and my health that results from it.

I have been doing some research and finding out disturbing facts.  I will post them to share as I get them.

Anyway, Sis and I have been talking about it and we agree.  We are starting to move in that direction.  We have had for the past several years an organic garden that has gotten bigger and more productive, and now we are considering getting a couple of chickens for eggs.  Keep in mind that we live in Chicago.  It is a very urban area.  We will see how it goes.  I will keep you posted.

New year, new ideas

I have always thought of myself as an idea person. Lately not so much, but overall I have ideas. The question is do I do anything about them. The answer is yes and no. Here is what I am thinking. It is time for me to take action on some of the ideas that I have. I am not ready to spill the beans on anything yet, but I will let you know when I think of something.

One thing that I have decided is that I watch entirely too much television. That has ended. I will watch TV when I am going to bed and when I am with the main squeeze. I have given this a test run, and I have found that I think a lot more when I am not watching TV, I get a lot more done, and I feel better about it. This is good. Fact of the matter is, I have felt a little brain dead lately.

Another action that I am going to be taking is keeping in touch. Blogging is a part of it, and seeing people is the other part. I have hermitted myself for a while now, and it is time for me to be my social self. Not in a party animal way, but get out there and see my friend again. Those of you reading this know what I mean. It seems like I have disappeared for a while. I know it, and sorry about that.

Next on my list... (don't worry, it's not a long list) is taking the time to make myself feel good. Stuff like doing my hair nice, and wearing cute clothes. I have them, but sometimes it is just easier to throw on a pair of jeans with a sweatshirt. Well, if I am going to do that, the least I can do is brush my hair and touch up the make up. It makes me feel good. I am also considering working out again. I have not done that in a while either, but I did hurt my knee last year and I am still having problems with it. BTW - I suggest wearing knee pads if you are going to tile a floor.

I think that's about it for my list of new ideas to be implemented. I don't like to call them resolutions because then I would just stop doing them.

Way, way too long

As the title may point out, it has been a while since my last post. I'm not sure what happened, but I put writing aside and moved on with other aspects of my life.

What aspects you may ask??? I think one of the main things is that I have a boyfriend. I started seeing him last Thanksgiving, so this is a year plus relationship now. As with any new relationship, I wanted to spend all of my time with him and my writing suffered for it. No guarantees here, but I will try to keep up a little bit better.

Actually, technical geek wannabe that I am, I am thinking about starting a video blog. We will see how it goes. You will be the first to see it here.

Stay tuned...