Finally!

When my grandfather passed away in July 2008, I never would have guessed it would take three years to get my parent's old place on the market. After remodeling my grandfather's place, moving the parents in, remodeling the old place, it is finally done. The real estate agent came Friday to list the property. I've been trying to find the link to post but so far haven't been successful. As soon as I can, I will edit this post and add it. It has been a long three years and much has happened to hold up the progress. Along with the declining housing market and crappy economy, there was my mother's battle with breast cancer and my father's lung cancer and overall failing health slowing us down tremendously. But it all finally finished and on the market! It is a huge sigh of relief from all of us. I hope the place sells quickly. I'm trying to be optimistic that it will. The sooner it sells the less I and my parents have to try to keep up with and I can finally get a house of my own! Woohoo!!!

A Little Bit of Good

This morning my mother went for a endoscopy exam. No problems with it thank goodness!

Tomorrow, my father goes to get the definitive diagnosis and treatment plan from the medical team. I'm so hoping it isn't cancer. All of us think it is though. Hopefully, we will be wrong.

Also, Wednesday, I have my interview at Macy's. I'm excited and nervous. I hope I get it. I don't care what the hours are, what position it is, or what the pay is. I just want a job!

The stress of the last couple of days has made me phyiscally ill. I woke up this morning with a headache and an upset stomach. I'm better now, just a little tired.

Yesterday, I worked in the bathroom at my parents old place. There was water damage that had to be repaired. I removed the toilet, took up the tile, and cut, chipped, and clawed away at the rotten subfloor. I finally got that replaced and filled. Now it is ready for the new tile whenever my parents arrange for that.

Ho Hum............

At the moment, I'm uninspired. I really can't think of anything to focus on for a post. I have ideas and thoughts running around my head, only to desert me when I begin to type. While I focus on different things throughout the day, in the evening, in the quietude of home, all those clever little things I thought would be a great topic, just disappear. Poof! They're gone! So if this weaves like a drunk, just over look tonight.

I still have not heard from the blind date fella. I assume I won't and have moved on. I will not call him strictly on principle, but also, I'm not that desperate.

I still wait patiently for Jeff to sweep my off my feet and to our fairytale wedding, after a whirlwind romance of course. Ain't holding my breath on that one either. But at least we email occasionally.

I'm helping my father paint the old place. That has been a chore, but I actually enjoy it. I can really get into a zone while painting. There is much to be done there and at the other place still. It will be interesting to see how it all comes together at some point.

Not much to worry with for school at the moment. So far, so good. I'm certain that will change as the semester progresses. I'll enjoy it while it last.

For now everything seems to be in the familiar holding pattern. It's like watching a status bar for a download using an old dial-up modem. You tap the screen to see if it's stuck. That's the way it feels anyway. Not bad, not good. Nothing to get depressed over. Nothing to get excited about either. It is what it is. I'll just keep watching the status bar for now.

Ginger House

My father and I finally completed the house for their little dog, Ginger. That has been a chore and time consuming. She is really gonna like it though. That thing is heavy! We couldn't pick it up, and that was before we put the roof on it! We had to use the hydraulic lift to place it on the trailer before we added the roof to it, to move it to the new place. We also shingled the roof to match their house. Next is to paint it and get the fence up. What a huge project for such a small dog! She is worth it. She is the sweetest thing and she makes my parents very happy, so whatever it takes. The thing weights at least 350 pounds. She only weighs, at the most 10 or 12 pounds! But she will be joining them soon at the new place when the fence is up. I'm sure both she and my parents will be very happy about that. I can see her wagging her tail now!

What I Did Today

There was a building here......

Now relocated to here.

New Windows!

The old single pane windows.

The new double paned insulated window and patio door.

The front with the new windows.


Twenty windows and 4 days later, all have been replaced.
The difference is amazing! No road noise inside and
much better looking from either side.
Money well spent!

Now on to the next project!

Renovations Update

Today we started replacing the windows. What a chore! It really isn't difficult. Time consuming yes. Difficult, not really. Since, neither I nor my father have every replaced sashes before this is certainly an adventure. The first and only window completed today took 3 hours. The rest shouldn't now that we have an idea of what to do. Only 19 more to go.

Now my parents have decided to remove the ceramic tile from the kitchen/den/laundry area that they paid $3,000 plus materials to install. Great, every time I think the to-do-list is getting shorter they add a major undertaking to it. If all of this gets done before Christmas, I'll be surprised.

School starts for me next week. That cuts out 2 full days a week to devote to any of those projects on top of what ever time is taken up by their doctor's appointment and stuff. At some point, it should be finished. Lord only knows when!

Forward Movement

Well, I got up early to help cut some more trees! We made a great deal of progress today. Only a few more and we can start construction on my father's new shop/junk building. It was hot today. Why he didn't want to do it last week while the temperatures and humidity was lower is lost on me. Hopefully by Friday, we will be done.

We also measured for replacement windows for the house. Once again, why they waited till now is beyond me. That would have been the first thing I would have had done. My parents are certainly bass ackwards.

Even with all the head way we have made over there, I wonder if we will ever be done! In another 2 weeks, it will have been a year since this all started. At least the list is shorter now.

The Red Door

Before

After

Now the front door is painted and a few shrubs are in place. Next is the pine needles. The grass will have to wait till this fall. Currently it is too hot and dry to sow the front yard. It is slowly getting there.

Passing Thoughts

Sadly, we have lost MJ and Farrah, even Ed this week. I enjoyed each in their own way. They will be missed.

It's about time for school to start back. I've got to register for classes next week so I get the ones I need. I hope the coming semester is better than the last two.

I'm taking my diet seriously now. I've had my pants altered for the last time. I stocked the freezer with Lean Cuisine and the refrigerator with bottled water. I've had it with not being able to wear my fabulous clothes because they no longer fit.

The renovations are finished at my parent's place. We have been working on the landscaping, since my mother rushed to purchase plants that needed a home. We are close to wrapping that up and can restart clearing my property. Woohoo!

My doctor's appointment is Tuesday afternoon. My problem has still persisted but not at the level it was originally. Thankfully, but there is still something not quite right going on and I'm gonna find out what it is.

Also, we are having an impromptu reunion for my high school Tuesday night. Unless I'm dead, I plan on being there. I hope they remember me. Maybe I'll have dropped a couple of pounds and can wear something decent.

Gotcha Covered

In the beginning

Half way finished

One more spot

Nice little corner

Completed

Now for the plants!

Crowbar 1 : Playhouse 0

There was a lot of love that went into building that playhouse.

And lot of happy memories over the years.
Another chapter closed.

Monroe Chainsaw Massacre

Before

After

I figured while my parents are at the lake house

I'd give them a surprise and cut some of the

small trees to make space for my father's new shop.

Renovations Update

The new roof and porch extentsion.

New post, first coat of paint and shutters removed.





New railing my father and I made, then installed.



Everything done except staining the floor and
putting in the landscaping.

Update

Sorry posting is so late today, I overslept just a little. I helped out at my parents' other place. We are finishing up the exterior painting. It has been an exhausting 8 hours today. Feels like a real job. Tomorrow we should be completely through with everything related to the outside of the house and can move on to yard work. Yippee!

Yesterday, wore me out as well. I mowed my yard then cut wood at my place while my father was at a doctor's appointment. I'm so butch with a chainsaw. I meant to take my camera, but in my haste, left it at home. I'll get some more pictures up soon of the progress. There are still many trees to fell on my property, then on to my parent's place to make room for my father's new shop/junk storage building. Sometimes I wonder if this will ever be through. There is just a lot to do with two people, especially when one is out of shape and the other is 71 years old!

Once all that is done, then on to fixing up my parents' old place to get it ready for the market. Hopefully, by then the housing market will have rebounded a little. Of course then there is starting construction on my house and moving two houses full of furniture, then work in my new yard. Maybe by the time I'm 50, it will all be completed.

Hammers Away!

I'm glad to be home after helping my parents at the other place this morning. I'm wore out. I didn't do that much today, but I feel like I ran a marathon! I installed a closet organizer, hung a few pictures and a mirror, and help put the handrail up on the front steps. Not very much compared to most days. Next week should be rough. We are on spring break all next week so my parents have already came up with their separate list of things they want me to help out with. I guess somewhere in there I'll make time for some of my own projects. Right now, it's time for a nap!

Damn! That Hurt!

Another 7 hours up and down ladders, nailing over our heads and banging our thumbs. My father and I are wore out again, but the new fascia board is up. He bang his thumb pretty badly yesterday with the hammer, enough to bring blood and need a band-aid. I did it today so he wouldn't feel like he was the only one that does that. Mine wasn't nearly that bad, but I'm sure the nail will be black tomorrow. I said to him yesterday when he did it, "No wonder your hands are so big, you've spent years flattening them out with the hammer!" He chuckled a little. Tomorrow we should finish up some trim moulding that needs to be replaced outside, then we can move to painting. (more up and down the ladders) I really don't mind too much, it helps tighten up my butt. So progress is being made, albeit slowly, but we are moving right along.

Such a Bang Up Job

I helped my father for a few hours today over at the other place. We worked on the front fascia board. It had to be replaced. As well as a portion of the overhang. We installed new louvered vents in the overhang last week. Tomorrow, we will finish up the back of the house and move on to the next project. It will wear you out climbing up and down ladders, and driving nails over your head backward. I'm sure my father is exhausted at 71, cause I sure am. I bet I sleep good tonight. Once all this stuff is done, we move own to clearing a spot for his building and my house. That's the part I'm looking forward to the most.

More Banging About

My father worked on installing the other railing today. We made go progress. Tomorrow we should be finished with the last rail and the trim work on the porch. I hope so anyway. Then on to painting a second coat. I was surprised how much we got accomplished today. Since the doctor lowered my father's blood pressure medication, he has much more stamina. He actually kept up with me today! I'm glad to see the improvement.

After the porch is finished, it is on to the overhang around the house. There are a few spots where the gutters ran over and caused a little bit of rot. We are just gonna replace it all and install new eave vents while we are at it. Then we get to paint that too!

Then we move on to the shutters. The need to be removed and painted and then reinstalled. It seems like we have a lot of work ahead of us. I hope before to long we can start on some yard work. I've got some ideas for their yard. Of course, my mother has some of her own. Mine are just better!:) I'm looking forward to that.

When all of that is done we can work on his building for all his junk. And hopefully find time to clear my property of some of the trees. The goal is to have the bulldozer work done at the same time they are working on clearing a spot for his building and fixing the yard. We'll see out that turns out. With all there is to do, I don't see how it will all be done and all of us moved by the end of the year. At some point we will have to get their current place ready to put on the market as well! I need a vacation just thinking about all the work. Somewhere in there I'll attend classes and do homework.

Porch Progress

I snapped some pictures of our progress on the front porch on the way back from feeding my parents' pooch this morning. As you can see, there are still some more rails to install and much work left to do in the front yard. Overall, it's coming along nicely, albeit, slowly. Such is outdoor work in the winter.