Down the rabbit hole of redecorating

Our summer has been pretty spotty so far with lots of rain and instead of cooler temperatures, we have gotten a lot hotter ones. Right now, as I write this (in the office) the weather outside is gray, and wet (rain, rain and more rain) and it’s HOT. As in sticky, uncomfortable, yucky HOT. Oh my god, the hotness is unbearable. And this unbearable hot weather makes you want to do one thing and one thing only… hide under the A/C and sleep it off.

If only we had the luxury of doing that… but we don’t, because we are still in the middle of getting the house ready. Has this become a broken record? YES IT HAS, but there is NOTHING else happening in my life, so suck up my peeps.

But, we are so hating the weather down here south, because, most of the project that we have going at home need major cooperation from the weather gods, since we need sunny, non-raining days in order to work in the backyard by the shed. And those plans have gone to hell, due to the inconsistent weather patters we have been experiencing of late. We had put on hold at least 4 projects that we cannot do inside the house – And it’s driving me up the wall (actually “bat shit crazy” would be a better term) since these projects will give me:

a) shelf’s! So I can put my collection of cookbooks away
b) A finish vanity to store the makeup, jewelry, and knickknacks in the bedroom, making room for my underwear/sock drawer in the already limited bedroom closet.

The projects that have been completed center on the mass building of IKEA furniture we have done. Side note, we have become such experts on this that we no longer look at the instructions; we just KNOW how to build the damn thing.

But all that building has paid off since we have made progress in other areas.

Living room: Sort of done, or at least the component that holds the TV, DVD, Wii, games, and all the other crap that fall into the living room.

Kitchen is 90% done.

Entrance of the house or “foyer”: we decided to turn this small area into a sitting/library area and MY GOD, we just can not come up with the layout that we like, we have moved the furniture a thousand times around the room and we are still NOT happy with the way it looks (NYBoys do you hear that???).

Dinning room is off the kitchen and we have plans for that one, but they are on hold, because we need to build something and of course we need to be OUTSIDE to do it.

The ROOM: There is a room that we are totally on board with and that is the back room, which we named “the room”, because if there is a multifunction room, this one is it. It’s the Laundry room, the music room, the office, the art room, the dog room and god knows what else it’s going to end up being used for. But this room, is done*, (well maybe not the laundry that we put there yesterday).

The Bedroom: The 2 most important things are there, the bed and the TV.. ‘nff said

We of course are not finished; we have not put up any painting, frames, or anything that can be placed on the wall. We have not set out lamps, or any decorative stuff. We have not even painted a wall! We decided to wait for our Design Helpers/insperation (NYBoys and BFF) to arrive and lend a hand in finally whipping the whole house into shape. Because we all been there, any type of redecorating will start with something new needs something new needs something new and before we know it we are down the rabbit hole, into parts unknown.

*I would show you photos of our progress… just as soon as I find the digital camera in the mess!

Hoping, begging and praying

With only 3 days in, June is just misbehaving I’m here hoping and praying that things will just get better on all fronts soon, because the next thing for me to do is to go certifiable or slip into an alcohol-induce stupor and sit in a corner rocking back and forth.

The saga continues. Last night, we had a bit of rain (because, of course, THIS move cannot be easy at all, we need to have DRAMA all around it) and had to delay the plan of moving some of our stuff from the old house to the new house.

We got it done, but under very wet conditions. Picture: poor Tom running back and forth between the car and the front of the house, trying (and failing), to protect the boxes from getting soaking wet.

But the icing on the cake?

While we were emptying the room that has been my closet for the past 10 month, we notice that a corner of the carpet was wet. As in “a drowned rat” wet. We first thought that Rufus, the 150 pound dog, had taken upon itself to show us a bit of defiant behavior and peed just to be naughty. While Tom yelled at the dog and pretty much freaked him out, I proceeded to clean up the mess. And during the clean up, I realized that it was not pee, but water, plain, water. After feeling the joy that the dog was not being rebellious and I was not cleaning PEE, panic set in.

Where in the hell was the water coming from?

Cue in the “tragic music”…

I looked up… and holy shit, the ceiling was leaking! As in very slow and painful leaking – it was like the house was fucking crying people!

Cue in the “you crazy” music.

More panic set in… and the “what if’s” started:

… the ceiling cave in?
… It fell on my clothes?
… The whole house can collapse!

Then the praying:

… Please don’t let anything happen until we are out of here.
… Hold off 3 more days!
… Holy shit, we are screwed!

This morning as I was getting my clothes for work, I looked up and the ceiling was bent – as in, its just straining under whatever is there (Tom and I refuse to even considered going up the attic to see what is up there) pushing it downward. We have completely cut off any feelings we may have on the old house and we want nothing more to do with it. We just want out.

I yelled at the house:

“3 MORE DAYS…THEN YOU CAN DO WHATEVER YOU WANT!” JUST GIVES US 3 MORE.DAYS!

I tell you… someone up there is just asking for me to give them the finger.

Not a crack head or prostitute around

Sweet Baby Jesus. I.HAPPENED. the earth moved and we.are moving to a new home.

I’m still pinching myself. After living in the hell hole, Tom’s house for the past 11 months and searching high and low for the past 2 months, we have found a house.

That we both love

That has enough space for everyone – pets included

That is updated (as updated it could be for a house that is 89 years old.) with nice dark wood floors, and smooth color coordinated walls! And it’s all ours, for the right price, in the right neighborhood, with the right feeling.

So, for the next 2 weeks there will be pandemonium of activities in the household, with packing (not very much, since I’m still living in out of the boxes from my previous dwelling) and lots and lots of “weaning out” – Tom has a lot of shit stuff.

I’m so happy about this move I could sit here and cry so many tears of happiness it will probably scare people off.

While I love the fact that Tom and I are now living in puffy sin and reap the benefits (less expenses, not eating dinner alone, funny-shared moments and on-the-spot-sex) I was not terribly fond of the neighborhood (nor the house) we currently lived in. I had to get use to the fact that crack heads, and prostitutes would be walking around my front yard, knocking on my door asking for a couple of bucks to buy drugs and booze. And folks, walking around on “red-alert” mode 24/7 take a lot out of you mentally.

But now, this neighborhood is full of trees, and wide roads and houses that have big yards and sidewalks! Image that, we can actually walk the dogs, not to mention ourselves! We drove by last night to scope out the surrounding and guess what? No crack heads, no prostitutes.

Just quiet, simple living.

We are at the home strech

Tomorrow night I will be sleeping in a new place, unfamiliar and with nothing of my own around me.  Yes, I will be taking my clothes and bathrooms stuff, but for the most part most of my STUFF will be sitting in a 10×10 storage.. awaiting until I can get them OUT INTO THE LIGHT again.

Since we will be doing extensive remodeling in Tom’s house, in the coming months, we figure it would not make sense for me to take my furniture and other stuff there, since then we will have to haul them out of the way when we are knocking down walls and painting and putting up tiles and all the stuff that goes with a remo event… better to have all of that stuff out of the way, and then bring everything back in when all is nice and CLEAN and with a designated place.

But, I know that I will be missing having my stuff around me.  My home and the things in it are my center, and I feel that this major change, while its all good and I’m looking forward to, will also call out to me to seek my stuff in order to keep my shit balance together. I have given Tom warning about this, and to just ride the wave, since its just a matter of me getting comfortable with the situation.  I also told him to have lots of caramels and cupcakes around me at all times.   Because it NEVER HURTS to have PLAN B in the background at all times.

My cats on the other hand are in for a rude awakening.  They have never shared the house, but with each other and having 2 dogs come into the picture will most likely freak them out… which means that they will be all stressed out and probably hide for quite a while. And that means that for a while I will not be able to have them around me to comfort me, so that is another thing that will NOT be working to my favor as well.  So as you can see the coming weeks its going to completely stress the shit out of me. I may blog more about it just to get it off my chest… or I may be absent for a bit, in order to organized my crap and come at you guys all nice and shiny new.

And for those following the odds… they are NOT in my favor people!

The weather gods, still fucking with me… Today while I was able to sneak in 2 runs to the storage with my cars (and a friends of mine – Thanks T!) full of boxes, the moment I got back home.. all hell broke loose and again we got soaked with rain pretty much for the rest of the day.

Tomorrow, the chances of showers are at 40%… I’m hoping that I have called in my dues, and they will give me a window of opportunity (about 2 hours) for me to get this done and then sit in my new gigs eating caramels and cupcakes.

The one where “I’m not Monica, from Friends”

I been packing my house like a wild person. I’m up to boxes, and newsprint paper, and tape and tape dispensers and markers that work and sometimes no so much. Pre-printed stickers for box identification, color dots for … ah, screw it, all this means one thing:

MY.HOUSE IS.A.MESS!

Now for those that know me… you know that this is driving me nuts. (Ok, ok.. more than nuts – I COME CLEAN PEOPLE – I’m ready to call it quits and walk out of the mess) See, I thrive on a orderly house… I’m not anal about it (ok, ok… maybe a tiny bit, but not like Monica in Friends) but, when my house is in order, all is right with the world.  It’s my center, some people paint, some play music…. Me? I love having my house tidy and clean and the towels all stacked up just right, facing.. ahh, where was I? O yes, the point is that this disarray is causing the world (at least mine) to be very chaotic, and NOT in a good way.

To make matters a bit worse, the weather gods, apparently, have decided to throw in another curve ball and have sent our way rain, upon rain, upon rain (People it has not STOPPED raining for the last THREE DAYS!). This pisses me off, since I cannot pile up the packed boxes to my car and place them in the storage. My living room is now an obstacle course that can make the Wipeout show producers proud.

My cats know that something is up and have begun to retaliate by leaving me presents around the mess, which of course I end up finding days after, when I move this box from there to there, in order to put the new box THERE, so I can walk to THERE.

*Sigh*

I’m at my wits end.  And poor Tom has been a trouper. He basically has smarted up and constantly uses the excuse that he needs to “prepare” his house for my arrival (he has a list from me) and has made the sane decision to stay the hell away from me until I’m properly moved. He knows that if he stays, nothing good will come out of it.

The thing is that this feeling of relief will not last very much once I settle at his house, because THEN we will start on the remodeling of the master bedroom and bathroom, and that folks is another whole mess!

The only highlight of all of this? The light at the end of MINE tunnel?

No, Its not cake…or ice cream… its not even the knowlege of a brand new pair of shoes (that I really, really deserve right now) its not even the peace of mind that is it will soon be OVER… its the fact that a trip to IKEA in the near horizon.