Ba Hum Bug

Another Christmas season, and another Christmas that my boyfriend has to work. In the now 9 years of Christmas' I think we have shared...ONE. And what makes it worse, this year his request to have Christmas Eve off so he could have that with his side of the family was mostly ignored. He won't be off until late afternoon early evening. Maybe this is part of why I have come to mostly hate the Holiday season. The season is for giving and spending time with others, your family, the ones you love. But what does the season have to offer if most of your family has you feeling like an outsider and you can't spend time with the ones or one you love the most?

Working to finish caulking

I tried the tape trick that I saw on HGTV to keep the caulk from moving up the wall when removing the excess with your finger. I find this actually works.

The hardest part is getting the tape just right. If you get it too low, all the caulk you just put down will be wiped off when you remove the tape. If it's too far up the wall, there will be extra caulk that still needs to come off and that can get tricky to get off and still look as good as the rest.

At least the molding that has been put in is almost done being caulked. All the nail holes have been filled with wood filler and are drying. Tomorrow I'm hoping to finish the caulking and have the molding sanded. Then Wednesday it will all get the touch up painting to hide those nail holes.

Trouble Caulking

Okay, I learned today that I need help when it comes to caulking. Thankfully not too much landed on the floor and most stayed on the wall or was wiped off on some paper towel.

Recently, my Father helped finish put base molding in our master bedroom. He came over and cut it all to size and nailed it to the wall. He is busy with work and other projects so it was left to my Boyfriend and me to finish. All the nail holes were filled with wood filler and will be ready for sanding tomorrow. After filling all the holes with wood filler we attempted to caulk the space between the wall and the molding.

We are hoping even though it is dry we will still be able to get it off the wall and molding in those areas it's not supposed to be. Looking at the wall from a distance you can't really tell that there is caulk on it but you can see some places on the molding where there are some small globs. As you walk closer you can see it on the wall, and even more areas where it got on the molding.

There is still more caulking to be done, I think we will try a trick we saw on a home improvement show. The trick involves putting tape on the wall and while the caulk is still wet, after running your finer along it, you pull the tape off to leave a nice line and no caulk where you don't want it. I'll let you know how the next caulking adventure goes.

New Washer and Dryer

We recently purchased a new washer and dryer from ABC Warehouse. They installed the washer but could not install the dryer since it was gas. When we went to install it we had a little bit of fun.

The gas line that was already existing was a solid metal tube with litte flexibility. I had a hard time getting the tube to bend right so I could attach it to the dryer. The venting was another story in and of itself.

We had purchased a metal flexible tube to attach to the existing venting and replace the plastic flexible tube that was there. While trying to cut away this flexible tubing the existing venting fell apart. Everytime we touched the venting, since we could not see it was full of lint and were trying to clean it out, the venting would come off of the nearest connection. In the end we replaced all the venting except the tube that went to the outside. Instead of using the duct tape the instructions said to use, we used metal tape to help hold the tubes together.

It was fun getting the dryer into position. I had to hop up and over the counter because of how close I had to move the dryer to the wall before I could get the vent to connect to the dryer. And the gas line was giving me a hard time too because it didn't want to bend.

Eventually the dryer was in place, and I've now done a few loads and am loving my new washer and dryer. I'm very happy with them and love my boyfriend for picking them out.

"How are you today?"

If you are going to ask me how I'm doing, stick around for the answer. If you are not sticking around, don't ask me how I'm doing. I think it is rude for someone to ask how another person is doing and not listen to the answer.

When walking through a store, the store clerk should not ask how you are doing if they are not going to stick around to at least see if you are going to ask for help finding something. If they even say hello, they should see if you need help. If they are busy they can knod an acknowledgement that they know you are there and finish what they are doing then come and help you. They should not be asking how I'm doing while whizzing off because they are already helping someone else or running off to their break. If you're going to say something tell me who to find that can help or that you'll be with me in a moment.

So tell me how you are doing. Really, I'm sticking around for the answer.

DIY carpet installation

So far the new carpet in the Master Bedroom is looking great. We bought carpet from a local Lowe's store and rather than pay the money to have them install, we installed it ourselves.

My Dad came over to help, but none of us had ever put carpet in before. There is still work to be done. We only had an evening since both my Dad and I had to work this morning. The carpet has been cut and is looking great. We chose a burber carpet and it feels super soft under your feet or stomach (I'm currently laying on it).

I'm mad about one thing. I wasn't able to take pictures! My camera batteries died and I can't find the charger in the mess of boxes. The sad thing is I remember seeing it somewhere around here. But anyways, I'm mad because there is no proof that we did it all ourselves. We plan to finish the job tomorrow so unless I find the darn thing soon, there will only be pictures of once the carpet is all done and installed. I guess all that matters is that we know we did it ourselves and we can feel good about a job well done.

First nights

We just spent the second night at our new home. It doesn't feel like sleeping in your home though, to me it feels like camping. Like in a few days I'll be leaving. Even though I know I'm not leaving, I'm here to stay.

I expected the first night to be weird but not the second night. Or at least a little less weird. Alas, I still have that "I'll be leaving soon" feeling.

It probably doesn't help that we are sleeping on the floor, hard wood floor at that. We do have a bed ordered, it just hasn't arrived yet. I hope that when the bed comes that will hopefully help this feel at least a little less like camping, and more like living in our new home.