Need a Little Christmas

Haul out the holly, put up the tree before my spirit falls again.  Fill up the stockings, I may be rushing things, but deck the halls again now...And I need a little angel sitting on my shoulder.  I need a little Christmas now. - Jerry Herman

I learned that song for one of my Elementary School Christmas Programs, and this year it seems to pop into my head quite often.  In an era where everyone seems short on both time and patience, it's easy to lose sight of the Reason for the Season.  This year seems to have flown by, and once November hit, things went through at warp speed (as evidenced by the fact that I actually started writing this blog the Sunday after Thanksgiving, and here it is, December 30, and I'm finally finishing it).

For those of you who haven't seen my house at Christmas, I LOVE to decorate...I'm not kidding you.  Outdoor decorating starts the week before Thanksgiving, I have two bins of lights and garland for outside, plus additional figures, wreaths, swags, etc. for outside alone.  When it comes to inside, I more than 30 bins, plus assorted boxes of items, not to mention my Christmas trees, and the items that are freestanding, simply covered with a garbage bag to prevent dust.  I start decorating Thanksgiving day, and don't finish up until late Saturday night.  I recongize that, compared to most homes, I seem to have a lot of decorations, but the first year I had my own place, it was on the Christmas Tour for the local library, which meant I went all out.  As an accountant, there's something inside of me that says "you bought all of this stuff, if you just let it sit in the basement, you're not getting your maximum use for your dollar."   This year, someone hinted that, because of the hectic schedule I've had lately it would be perfectly okay to cut back on the decorations.  While I appreciate his concern, I know that he is much more easily irritated by the sights and sounds of Christmas...down to the level of saying that Christmas songs don't count as music.  For him, and for those around him, that may work perfectly well.  For me, it doesn't, there's something calming about the glow of the lights from my trees (yes, trees), and this year more than ever, I've needed that.  In fact, as I sit here typing, I find myself glancing over to the Christmas tree in my living room and a kind of peace comes over me.  Don't get me wrong, I know that Christmas is about the coming of our Savior, which is more important than making sure that I get every decoration out and in place.  At the same time, this year  it was important that there was "no highway option" taken in my decorating.  Things that were happening around me that weighed heavy on my heart, and I needed to do something to help me prepare to celebrate Christ's birth.  Fortunately, I have a fantastic family that helped me get everything decorated in just a few days.

The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas was more chaotic than I ever remember it being before. Between caroling with the church group, Dad's family Christmas party, and a crazy schedule during the week, I didn't start Christmas shopping until December 23rd, yes, a whole 48 hours before Christmas.  That is something I don't care to repeat any time soon.  Honestly, I prefer when Christmas falls during the week, rather than on a weekend, because that seems to have presented some challenges as well. Christmas Day arrived much sooner than I would have liked, but I actually was ready, and the Miracles of the Season weren't lost on me.  Mom's last chemo treatment was in early December and she struggled to bounce back this time around, but she started to improve last week, to the point that she actually had a craving for a glazed donut, and when she ate it she wasn't disappointed.  Up until then, everything had a metal taste to it, which made eating a bit of a challenge, so I am happy to report that she had two helpings of the prime rib I made for Christmas dinner (I am also happy to report that the prime rib was edible, and we didn't have to resort to peanut butter sandwiches). 

The week between Christmas and New Years has sped by, and in a little over 24 hours we'll be saying goodbye to 2011.  I, for one, will not be sad to see this year go, as this year has been a rough one.  The weather in January and February seemed to have been an omen for things to come.  In May, a woman who was like a second mother to my brother, and actually to me, passed away suddenly.  Shortly thereafter, a dear friend and neighbor of my parents suffered the first in a series of strokes that have rendered her unconscious, and she and her husband are now living with their son and daughter-in-law.  (Their granddaughter and her husband and baby will soon be moving into the house, and we're very excited to have them join the community, something to look forward to in 2012).  Mom's cancer diagnosis in August, and subsequent chemotherapy treatments made for a tough Fall.  This past week brought more bad news, as dear friends of my brother were dealt with their own personal heartache that has left me feeling like I've been punched in the gut as I ache for them.  Through all of this I am so thankful that I have my faith, as I don't know what I would have done otherwise.  I know that everything that happens is His will, and I'm not always meant to know why things happen.  As a fellow blogger, who's dealt with her own personal heartache has said in the past, I simply need to trust that if He has brought me to it, He will get me through it.

So, as I look forward to 2012, I welcome the new year and am excited to see what He has in store for me.  I am excited for new neighbors, and for celebrating Mom's recovery with a girls' trip to Hawaii, as well as for those things headed my way that I am not yet aware of.  And, I'll admit it, I wouldn't be in the least sad if one of those things would be to bump into Alex O'Laughlin while we're in Hawaii...(yeah, right like THAT's going to happen, but a girl can dream, right :-). 

I hope your 2012 is filled with joy and happiness...and know that no matter what the year brings, come next Thanksgiving, if you're in need of a little Christmas and are in the area, stop by.  Because, no matter what 2012 has in store for me, next Thanksgiving I will again Deck the Halls, and the bedroom, and the office, and the laundry.....

We interrupt this construction project for another construction project

I know that I haven't posted much lately, but, in all honesty, there's not a whole lot that's changed.  The rec room is close to being finished.  Close enough, in fact, that I ordered my TV today and am going to the store tomorrow to pick up the last big item...an electric fireplace.  There are only a few things to do yet in there, finish the few ceiling tiles, add the track lighting in what will eventually be the bar area, move the filing cabinet into the other room and add shelving to my closet.  The bathroom, however, still has a ways to go, the tile floor is complete, but the ceiling needs to be installed (including the gridwork), as does the sink, toilet, and exhaust fan.

After such a great start, I had high hopes for having everything done by early October.  Now, I'm hoping that everything's done by the middle of November.  So, what's the big holdup....another construction project.  You see, our church voted to undertake a major remodel project this year on the 45+ year old building.  Some of it was necessary, our roof was leaking; some of it was cosmetic.  And, of course, one of the members of the building committee was my brother.  While he didn't head the building committee, he wound up being the one to go up to church every night to make sure the doors were locked (the construction crew was pretty forgetful), hear the concerns/complaints from congregation members, and be the all around Johnny on the Spot, so he didn't have a whole lot of time left for his big sister's little basement project.

That still left Dad to keep plugging along until he too got sucked into the church project.  Along with the remodeling in the existing church, as a part of the construction project, a storage shed was to be built.  To save a little bit of money, rather than have the construction company build the shed, members of the congregation were asked to volunteer.  Two pretty awesome men (and, by default because he was the son of one of the volunteers, one awesome former Sunday Schooler of mine) stepped forward.  When it became apparent that nobody else was going to help, my dad offered.  Unfortunately, that meant my project came to a SCREECHING halt (although I understand I am in good company, as one of the other builders has a list of things he wanted to accomplish this summer at home).  The build seemed to take forever because, while they weren't building the shed, the construction company was responsible for organizing when the concrete was laid, as well as when materials would arrive.  On several occasions, there were interruptions because the materials weren't there at all, or if they were, there weren't enough.  My personal favorite was when the Project Manager sent out a nasty email reminder because someone (not any of the volunteer builders) promised during a construction meeting that a certain portion of the shed would be finished by Monday so that the concrete could be poured.  Our mighty construction crew worked through the weekend downpours to get the work done (mind you, they couldn't have started any earlier because this Project Manager didn't order the materials in time), how nobody came down with pneumonia is still beyond me.  And, guess what?  The concrete wasn't poured on Monday...or Tuesday....or, well, you get my drift.

This wouldn't have been bad, with the exception of a couple of things.  When this project started, I approached the head of the building committee and our minister and asked them if they were going to include language in the contract that encouraged the builder to complete the project on time and on budget.  Specifically, I suggested we include penalties for every day the project ran over.  I was told that that was rediculous, and that I (actual words) "had absolutely NOTHING to worry about."  Even after the project started and things were progressing extremely slowly, the response every time I asked if we were going to be on time was "There's nothing to worry about, (insert The worship area will be done for J&A's wedding in August; the classrooms will be ready in plenty of time for Sunday School and, my favorite, EVERYTHING will be done well before October).  HA!!! As you may have guessed, I've had several times where I could have said "I told you so." 

And, through it all, the two people who've interacted with the project manager have sung her praises.  Let me tell you, this chick must be HOT, because that's the only reason I can see for these guys praising her up and down every chance they get.  I know at least one P/P/D I work with reads my blog, and that she would CRINGE at the emails that come from the project manager to members of the building committe, as well as the volunteers for the shed. No client should be spoken to in that manner, and that's what we are, her client (perhaps someone should remind her of that).  Right now, with the deadlines her folks have missed the mark on, she should be treading very lightly.  When I equate it to my job, it would be like me not only missing the deadline of a project, but by first having the software up and running on September 10, when the client needs to use it to complete a tax return by September 15.  Not exactly a stellar performance if you ask me.

So now, the shed is finally finished, and Dad is getting back to work on my basement.  Hopefully, it will be done by the end of the month.  If it isn't, perhaps I should ask a certain project manager to step in.  On second thought, probably not, otherwise I'd be lucky to have the basement done by March.

Warning Signs

Warning signs are a part of our every day life:  Deer Crossings on the Highway, Wet Floor in a public restroom, Do Not Open While in Midair on the airplane (okay, okay, maybe not EVERYONE would say that's a part of every day life).  No matter where you are, there's bound to be a warning on something to remind you what to do or not to do (just in case you ever wanted to use your hairdryer while in the bathtub).  I'll bet that most of you, like me, have the ability to tune out at least some of these because of repetition.  And, if its that deer crossing sign that you drive past every day, only to see a deer lying dead on the side of the road 3 miles AFTER the sign, ignoring the sign isn't the end of the world.

How about those less obvious warning signs?  The ones that aren't bright yellow with an exclamation point through them.  You know what I'm talking about, they're those little subtle changes it's easy to overlook, like when the gas gauge drops below 1/4 of a tank and you decide to drive past the gas station because it's raining, or your significant other tells you (s)he's "fine" and you know it's not but decide to accept "fine" as an answer.  Eventually, if you ignore the signs long enough, something bad is bound to happen.  Most often, the "warnings" that we choose to ignore are those that our body is sending us (like a sniffle) until they become bigger issues (like a nasty cold or, worse yet, pneumonia).

That's what's happened to me lately.  I've been under a lot of stress from a lot of different forces, and my body's tried to tell me to slow down, but like most of us I've ignored it.  I mean, come on, in this day and age, who am I kidding, stress is a part of everyone's life, and we all just deal with it.

Unfortunately for me, when I'm stressed, my body likes to attack me, literally...

In high school when things got stressful, I noticed that I had a very flaky scalp, which I attributed to dandruff and bought some Selson Blue and "sucked it up."  When the flakes started creeping out to my face, I went to the doctor and was diagnosed with seborrheic dermatitis.  It's similar to dandruff and is a way that one's body can react to being stressed over a period of time.  So, I found some outlets to help me "de-stress," used some prescription shampoo to get things under control, and things improved.

I actually did pretty well controlling my stress the first two years of college, but Junior Year it hit me.  There was boy trouble, the classes were HARD, and I felt I was being pulled in many directions.  When I got home from choir tour that year my mom walked past the chair I was sitting in and did a double-take.  I had BALD SPOTS - 3 of them.  Two were the size of a quarter, and the third the size of a half dollar, running down the center of the back of my scalp.  (Kudos to my roomies then boyfriend now husband G, who, upon our return to college, said to me "I noticed them when I was sitting behind you in the van, but I thought it was because you were getting older, I mean, look at my receding hairline").  The diagnosis - alopecia areata, a condition where, because of stress, you lose your hair.  Essentially, my white blood cells started attacking my hair folicles.  Here's the scary part, the folicle is the area that contains the pigment...and if left go too long, the pigment will be gone and any hair that grows back will be WHITE - can you imagine white streaks in my dark hair?  Fortunately, after a few cortizone shots, the hair started to grow back.  Once again, I vowed that I'd find ways to keep my stress level under control, and went on my way.

In the 15 years since I've graduated, I've had recurrences of both the dermatitis and the alopecia.  But, I've been pretty good about paying attention to the warning signs and have noticed my hair falling out, or the flakes creeping past the hairline, before they've gotten really bad.  Yes, I've had a few more cortizone shots, and have an alignment of flake-fighting shampoos in my shower, but in all things have been okay.

Back in early August, I noticed a discoloration on the bridge of my nose.  I wasn't too alarmed (well, except for when one of my co-workers jokingly told me it was an age spot), so when the dermatologist couldn't see me for 6 weeks, it didn't bother me.  In late August I noticed two more spots on my forehead, so a friend of mine suggested I change my skincare routine, just in case it was a reaction to what I was using.  I did, and instead of it going away, I noticed another spot on my cheek, so I was glad to finally see the doctor on Monday morning.

When my doctor walked in the room the first thing that she asked me (actually, I guess it was the second thing, the first was to ask how my cousin, who she knows from med school, was) was if I had had a lot of sun exposure this year.  Um, hello???? I'm an accountant, we don't have time for such frivolous things like going outside in the sun.  Just kidding, kind of, but no, I hadn't had excessive amounts of sun.  And, when I am outside for a period of time, I am really good about wearing sunscreen and a hat.

Once she ruled out the sun, the next thing she asked me was if I had a lot of headaches?  Anyone who's worked with me knows I carry around the super sized bottle of Excedrine Migraine, so the answer to that was a YES.  Follow up questions:  Are they like migraines?  Have they become more frequent?  Yes to both.  How about my hair, am I losing it?  Not in patches.  Is it getting thinner? Yes.  How long has the dermatitis been creeping onto your face and in your eyebrows?  Quite a while, likely for about a year.  Within 5 minutes of walking in the door, my doctor had diagnosed me with a condition called Melasma.  Ironically, it's nickname is the "Pregnancy Mask" because it's seen most in pregmant women, because it's related to hormone changes.  Unless there's a second coming of the Messiah, that is CLEARLY not the reason I'm getting these spots. 

Because of my history, I had some bloodwork done yesterday to see if my Pituitary or Thyroid gland is out of whack, as that would be a reason for both the Melasma and the Alopecia.  In case anyone's wondering, yes, stress can impact either of those glands.  So now, it's wait for the results of that to see if I need to get that fixed.

In the meantime, I have two prescription creams (one for the flakes and the other for the spots) that I use every night.  It's also become quite clear that I need to find ways to destress.

There are some things that I can't change, such as the medical problems of my family and some good friends.  Those things I must leave in the hands of a higher power, and pray that he helps me to know what I can do to help these people, as well as to give them (and me) the strength to make it through the hand that's been dealt.  As for work, that's one of those things where the stress level comes and goes with deadlines, just like it does for everyone else.  Once I make it through this next deadline, things will be much calmer.  Honestly, while it does get stressful at times, I actually like my job, which not everyone can say.  Knowing there's an end in sight helps, along with making sure I take a little time each night to do something just for me, either to blog, read, or meditate.  There are a few other stressors, not related to family, work, or friends, that I'm not going to go into here, other than to say that some people who discount me because I have opinions that they don't like, but at the same time expect me to help make them look good to others and also to help them achieve what they want financially.  Perhaps it's time to purge these people from my life and go somewhere where I'm respected and appreciated.

Sooooo Close

The project is getting much closer to being finished.  The team has been a little sidetracked as of late because Dad and John have been "redeployed" to different projects.  You see, our church project is still ongoing (must...resist...next...comment, let's just say it rhymes with "Hi old shoe foe"), and Dad's been helping to build a storage shed while John's been dividing his time between work, church counsel, many aspects of the church building project, Crimestoppers, friends' weddings and attending a few Brewers Games because he wanted to see them clinch the Central Division (which, with the help of MY Cubbies, he did get to see on Friday night).  My schedule wasn't exactly conducive to helping as of late either, since we were approaching one of the biggest tax deadlines of the year (9/15 is the deadline for extended corporate tax returns). 

That said, things have kept on moving, just slowly.  The ceiling grid is in, along with most of the panels, and the rest of the panels should be in by the end of the week.  The can lights and ceiling fan are also in place.

 

With any luck, the carpeting will be installed on Thursday and when I get home Thursday night or Friday evening, I'll be able to move the furniture into place.  The couch and recliner were delivered two weeks ago (usually, it would be exciting to get furniture 2-3 weeks early, but I really would have been okay waiting).  Since then, it has been patiently waiting under sheets as the construction goes on around it. 

Since the furniture is here anyway, and the ceiling is now almost complete, Mom and I took some time this weekend to assemble the shelving unit that I got for my birthday back in March.  I think we did a pretty good job, and we did it without injury or curse word.  Woot! 

As for the bathroom, there was some progress there as well.  I was in Chicago for work last week, and when I came home Thursday night, I had a surprise waiting for me.  John had finished tiling (including grouting) the bathroom floor.  I know it wasn't an easy job, because the floor in the basement is not even, and I think he did a terriffic job.  In a typical year, I help John with his taxes in return for him being my handyman.  This year he went above and beyond the call of duty, so I need to get him something cool.  How much do you want to bet he'll want me to get him something Brewers oriented, just because he knows it'll KILL me to buy it. 

Once the ceiling is done in the Rec Room, we'll move on to the bathroom ceiling.  Oh, and if any of the P/P/D's I work for are reading this blog, I think it would be a GREAT idea for me to be on the road when this happens early next week, it's a much smaller area than the rec room, requiring a lot more cutting (and probably related cussing).  It may prevent WWIII from breaking out, just saying...

Cuddles is about ready for the project to end.  He doesn't like the constant visitors, and all of this new stuff is coming with new rules.  You may have noticed the white box-like thing on the left corner of the couch.  Yeah, that's a motion alarm that emits a high-pitched squeal when there's movement.  Seems a certain feline thinks that since this furniture is in the basement it's fair game for him to sleep on.  Unfortunately for him, both at my house and at my parents, he is not allowed on any furniture other than my bed and that rule extends to the Rec Room.  He behaves well upstairs, but the dark furniture shows his kitty-litter-dust paw prints and is a dead giveaway that he's been where he shouldn't be.  So from now on, the door stays shut when I'm not in the room.  Don't worry folks, he still has plenty of room to roam upstairs.

A Change in Appearance

I know I haven't updated lately, but we had some things going on at home that slightly derailed the remodel process.  I won't go into details here, but suffice it to say any future home changes (i.e. remodels and/or new purchases) will NOT be in process when my mom has her yearly doctors' check-ups.

The first change is in the bathroom, where the electrical is complete, the light is installed (although we're waiting until after the ceiling is installed to put the light covers on) and the vanity is set in place.

The Rec Room area has changed a lot since my last blog.  Four gallons of primer, three gallons of off-white, and three gallons of the faux finish later (oh, yeah, along with 4 more trips to the home improvement store to pick up "one more gallon" of paint), the painting was completed.  The laminate floor, which was given to me by my parents' most generous and awesome neighbors when it was removed from their house, has been installed in the bar area.  The doorknob on the bathroom door was replaced with a locking model, and the old doorknob has been repurposed for the closet door. 



Of course we still have a ways to go.  The tile floor needs to be laid, and the countertop, sink and toilet need installing in the bathroom (the final plumbing for that depends on me clearing a path in the disaster, oops, storage room so that the plumber can hook up the water).  We also need to get the ceiling measured so that my Dad can get that installed before the carpeting comes.  I've picked out my carpeting, and the guy will come on Wednesday to measure.  From there, it's about a week and a half for them to order it.  Then, the room will be ready for furniture deliveries.  The sofa and chair should be here in about three weeks, and I can pick up my coffee table at any time.  There will be future additions, including building a bar and decorating the walls, but by the end of September, for all intents and purposes, I should be able to call the rooms "done."

There is one individual who hasn't exactly approved of the remodel.  Cuddles isn't exactly excited about strangers or noise, so he hung out by Mom and Dad's house when the project started.  When he came home, and he suddenly couldn't travel through the walls anymore, he wasn't exactly keen on the whole thing, and he let me know it.  His curiosity does get the best of him, and he does daily inspections to see what has changed, but he doesn't seem to anxious to spend any real time downstairs.  Hopefully, once everything is in place, he'll realize it's not such a bad place to hang out.

There has been one casualty so far in the project.  The little stepladder I bought when I moved into the house to help me reach things in the upper cabinets and the shelves of my walk-in closet is now permanently covered in primer, paint and other construction materials and will be relegated for use in the garden and the garage. 



I will try to be more diligent in my updates, if my schedule permits.

And The Winning Color Is...

Green (tho I'm guessing those of you who've seen my place aren't shocked).

Mom and I painted the bathroom tonight with a shade called Mother Earth, it's hard to tell in the snapshot below, but it's kind of a mossy green color.

We did discover that we're going to need more paint for the Rec room than I originally anticipated.  Dad got about 3/4 of the primer sprayed in that room, and he'll finish that up tomorrow morning, while we make another run to the home improvement store.  I'm going to try a technique painting for the rec room called Bellagio Faux, which has an under coat and a top coat with some texture.  We only picked up a gallon of each paint, and I think we're going to need more like 3 gallons of each, oops (should have gone with the gut on that one I guess).  The undercoat is an off-white color, and the top coat is green.  I'm looking forward to when I get that done, but am guessing that's going to probably take a while.

Stay tuned for more updates :-)

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

Some persons are very decisive when it comes to avoiding decisions. ~Brendan Francis

Okay, I'm going to put this out there right away. When it comes to non-work related topics, I am NOT good at making decisions, and try to defer to others when possible. I don't struggle with what direction to take a work-related project, and am confident in the decisions that I make for clients and my team, but somehow that confidence gets left at the door (or, perhaps at the keyboard) when I switch from work-mode to personal mode.

Personal decisions are something I try to avoid. When it was time to go to college, I briefly debated one other school before choosing Lakeland, but I didn't want to have to choose. So, I only filled out one college application, and only put one school down to receive my ACT scores and FAFSA information. In all fairness, my entire family is rather indecisive. Choosing where to go for lunch on a Saturday while shopping has sometimes taken my mom and I more than an hour, back and forth saying "You pick, no you pick." When my mom wants to paint, she brings home paint charts with about 25 different shades of white, and looks at them for WEEKS before selecting "just that right shade."

On occasion, I can make a quick decision on something. Ironically, the bigger and more permanent the decision, the quicker it seems to come for me. Case in point, when I was looking to buy a place 6 years ago, I went to two open houses, then saw a family friend outside of her new condo. When I walked in, I knew that's what I wanted, and in less than 72 hours I had secured financing and placed an offer on my home.

Don't misunderstand me, I do have ideas for what I want, but when faced with CHOOSING something that I hadn't already predetermined, it's ugly. When I put in the offer on my condo, I knew which of the two layouts I wanted (it was rather simple, I didn't want a shared driveway for two reasons: (1) I was afraid that my neighbors would park on my half of the driveway when I was out of town, and when I came home I couldn't get into my garage and (2) there are a handful of people I know who I could see not using common sense and parking on the neighbor's half of the driveway, thus creating the same problem for them that I wanted to avoid. I also knew that I did not want yellow siding; I wanted oak woodwork; I absolutely did NOT want that frieze carpet, as I could only imagine how that would collect cat fur; I didn't want brass doobs or cabinet pulls; and I didn't want any wall sconces. Fortunately, because I put an offer in on a completed place, the contracter made the decisions on anything I didn't have an opinion on.

Unfortunately, when I jumped into this remodel, I wasn't prepared for all of the choices I was going to have to make. I don't mean the furniture, like when I initially furnished the condo, I had an idea of what I wanted, and both times I just knew when I'd found the right pieces. In the beginning, some things made my decisions easier. Picking a sink was easy - I wanted to stick with the same manufacturer that I had for my upstairs plumbing, and if I didn't want to special order the home improvement store only had two styles - oval and rectangular. Picking a cabinet was pretty easy, since I knew I wanted something to compliment what I had upstairs. So, I wasn't fully prepared for tonight's shopping excursion.

When I was done with work for the day, my mom and I went to a local flooring store. YIKES, not only did I have to pick the style of carpet (still didn't want Frieze, but did I want plush or burbur, patterned or plain, what color). Making that decision took a while, but I am pretty sure I have an idea. Once the laminate is laid in the bar area, I'll bring a sample home and make my final decision. Next, we headed down to the home improvement store to pick up the primer/sealer for the drywall so Dad could spray that tomorrow. Next up in the process is painting both rooms. Initially, I thought that I had things picked out, but I like the texture on the walls so much I've decided not to do the Venitian Plaster in the bathroom.

As for the rec room, I know I want to do a specific style of painting, but the colors are still up in the air. So, instead of bringing home paint, I brought home lots and lots of paint samples (at least they're not all white). I have been staring at these for the past hour and a half and am no closer to making a decision than when I started.

For a variety of reasons, I need to get the painting done this weekend, preferably finishing the bathroom after work, leaving Saturday for the rec room itself, so I need to decide rather quickly. Some of the folks I work with have a joke that stems from long ago. When we find ourselves trying to troubleshoot something, we'll go wash our hands and hope for an Epiphany on what to do (ironically, it does seem to work most of the time - probably because we stop focusing so hard on the issue at hand). So, I'm going to go to bed, and hopefully when I get up in the morning, I'll wash my hands and the color choices will just come to me. If not, then in the next set of pictures I post, expect to see everything painted white.

From Basement to Rec Room at Breakneck Speed

I haven't blogged lately for a variety of reasons, but primarily because my basement remodel had gone absolutely nowhere. When you combine my schedule with my Dad's (who, like me, never knows what his schedule's like in advance) and my brother's (who, in addition to his day job serves on the church counsel, the church building committe - which has seen it's own remodeling project go ahead in the past month or so, the Plan Commission and Crimestoppers...whew, when DOES that boy sleep), it's been a challenge.

The thing is, I have plans for using the basement this year, and at the top of the list of which is when Santa and his crew come to visit all of my friends kiddos. An ever increasing population of kids really would fit in better in a rec room than in my living room with all the dangers that come along with my glass tables, glass entertainment center, open stairway, etc. Plus, I have other reasons for wanting the basement done. Not the least of which is, at some point yet this year, we are probably going to get severe weather while I'm home, and I'd rather sleep on a couch than on a piece of scrap carpet on the floor - more on this in a future post.

So, three weeks ago this past Saturday I picked up the pieces needed to add another drop for my central vac unit, since otherwise I couldn't clean downstairs. The pieces sat there for two weeks while Dad worked and JT was occupied with about 50 other things on his To Do List, as well as a weekend getaway for a friends "Bachelor Party." Finally, my mother had had enough, and pretty much told the guys if they didn't get the vaccuum piece in, she and I would do it.

A week ago yesterday Dad brought his good friend over and he helped calculate exactly how much wood we would need to stud the outside walls. That night, the vaccuum piece went in. Tuesday, Dad got the wood, and he and Mom carried it into the basement that night. By the time I got home Thursday night, the studs were in, and they'd started the electrical. WOW!!!

Of course, with things suddenly moving at the speed of a Category 5 hurricane, I kept myself busy this weekend. Friday after work was Trip 1 of the weekend to the Home Improvement Store to pick up lighting fixtures, cable and boxes for the TV connections, faucent for the sink (no room for the actual sink in this run) and return a couple of things that we didn't need after all. Saturday brought Trip 2 to the Home Improvement store, on my list this time: Vanity, Sink, and some other odds and ends stuff. Then, it was on to the furniture store to "look" at furniture. An hour later, I had ordered a couch and a rocker recliner. Sunday afternoon brought Trip 3 to the Home Improvement store, this time we picked up the toilet, the countertop, and tile for the bathroom floor. We were going to buy paint too, but ended up going home without that, but with questions for the Drywaller. My spare bedroom/home office is currently serving a third purpose, as holding area for all of my purchases.

Things haven't slowed down this week, yesterday the Drywaller was here and put up the sheetrock in both rooms. Last night, the plumber got all of the connections set up. Today the drywaller did all of the taping, and tomorrow he's going to start spraying on the finish, if everything dries. I have a day trip to Baltimore tomorrow, so it'll be exciting to see how much things have progressed when I get home tomorrow night. They figure by Friday they'll be ready for the primer.

So, here's what should be left by the end of the week:

Buy and install ceiling kit
Buy and install the can lights in the rec room
Install the wood laminate floor in the "bar" area
Buy the Venitian Plaster kit to paint the bathroom and paint (*)
Buy the paint and paint the rec room (two colors - rag painting) (*)
Install the tile flooring in the bathroom (*)
Install the bathroom light
Install the bathroom vanity, sink, and toilet
Find a carpet square pattern I like (at a reasonable price) and install that in the rec room. (*)
Put on the wood trim

To some, that may look like a long list, but given how fast the rest of this project has moved, I have high hopes that this will be done by mid-September. That is, of course, if I can get all of the items with an asterisk at the end done...those are things that require my involvement, and given the fact that my family, friends, and my family's friends have pulled up their bootstraps, I really can't be the holdup now, can I?

Note to self: Put "Request PTO" on the "To Do List"

Oh, and in case you were wondering if I got everything cleared out of these two rooms, the answer is yes (with the help of the parental units)....just don't pay attention to the clutter behind the curtain (or, in the storage room).

Yard Work

Over the Memorial Day weekend, I took a break from cleaning the basement and did some work outside. I've been in my condo a little over five years now, and have never really been successful in getting the grass to grow on the West side of my patio, so I decided to rip out what was there and turn that area into another perennial bed.

After calling Diggers Hotline earlier in the week to make sure I wasn't near any buried utilities (even though I was 99.9% certain there weren't), I woke up early Saturday morning, grabbed my handy Maddock and started digging up the area and, with the help of my mom, we worked it up as well as we could. We also found out why the grass didn't grow well...seems that, like most masons, the guys who put my patio in were a bit sloppy, and buried the extra cement about an inch under ground...deep enough to hide, but not deep enough to let the grass roots take hold. Saturday night, Dad brought over the rototiller and we (yes, we...he actually let me use power tools - probably because it was actually my brother's) tilled the area, and by Sunday we were planting the grasses and flowers I'd bought. Take note: The entire time we were working on the project, the supervisor (a/k/a my cat) watched safely from his perch at the patio door.

Of course, what I had bought didn't quite fill the area, so I decided I needed to run to get a few more plants, and maybe, just maybe some sort of garden statue or animal to fill the space between the hose reel and the water fountain. Monday morning Mom and I made another trip to Plymouth, first stopping at Fleet Farm, where I got the most AWESOME frog whom the neighbor kids later named Ribbit and then went to the nursery for one more plant run. The rest of the project would have to wait, though, since we couldn't get the mulch until after the holiday.

Someone needs to tell my dad that his daughter is NOT a morning person, because he was at my house before 6:30 Saturday morning with the mulch, and was ready to get moving. Of course, he had the worse end of the deal, since he was the one carrying the mulch in 5 gallon buckets because the wheelbarrow tire had a blow-out the weekend before. My job was simply to spread the mulch. In the end, though, all of the hard work was worth it.

After two weekends of supervising, the cat is ready for the yard work to be over so he can get back to his normal life...all of this planting is hard work!

Dungeon of Doom

Wow! I actually do have a few readers of my blog, and thanks to those of you who've prodded me to keep going.

After a brief delay last weekend, I finally got started on the basement this weekend, with the help of my mom. My brother J had a crazy weekend so he got to skip out, but that's okay. We have projects for him when he gets home. For those of you who know my dad, you'll understand why it's going to be a much easier process if he stays away until the basement is clean and ready for remodeling (long story short...he doesn't do well with "purging" items). We spent a good portion of the day on Saturday and about half of Sunday cleaning what will continue to be the "utility/storage" room. At this point, it's about 80% of the way to where it should be, and since I'm working an hour from home on Friday, I should be able to get a little work done that evening. Hopefully by Saturday I'll have that room as done as he can until a certain totally awesome little brother gets a few things done (installs the tray under the washing machine in the laundry room above, plumbs the drain from said tray, etc).

So far, I'm still on track to being done with the cleaning by mid-June (4 more weekends). If I can pull that off, I can get my building permit and we can start all of the "rough" work that needs to get done behind the scenes (extending the central vac PVC piping into the new room, running the necessary wiring for television, internet, and electricity, and getting the water into the bathroom). My goal is to have that all done so that the drywall can go in by the beginning of September.

So thanks to those of you who've pushed me so far. Once the clean-up is done, I'll start posting pictures throughout the remodel.

Have a great week!

Basement Bedlam

Okay readers, I need your help and encouragement.

Growing up in Wisconsin, a basement has been a part of most homes in the area, although they were often different. By my Grandma K, it was the place the laundry chute led to; by Grandma and Grandpa H, it's where Grandpa went to put that one last log in the woodstove before the 50+ people arrived for Christmas dinner; by my Aunt and Uncle G, it was where my cousin's really cool bedroom (and the rec room with the freaky electric fireplace) were; and, at home, it was where I hung out during Tornado Warnings (okay, and watches).

Whatever the purpose, I never really gave a second thought to a basement, it was a basement. There really wasn't something "EXCITING" about a basement. That is, unless you're my cousin P. In all fairness, my Aunt and Uncle K moved out to California when P and his sister were still in school, but if you ask me, he was just a little too obsessed with my basement when he toured the "under construction" condo during a visit. At that time, the place was empty, so yeah, the basement was cool.

A year after I moved into the condo, I had done a good job of filling up my basement, with Christmas decorations (don't forget, I have in excess of 30 bins, plus three Christmas trees); a crib my cousin C gave me in hopes that someday I actually do "get" a kid of my own (along with some dressers from my parent's neighbors, for the same reason); Grandma K's walker and wheelchair; my crafting supplies; and assorted other "valuable" things that "I might need" one day. But, hey, it's a basement, it's not where I entertain, so who cares if it's a disaster area.

Enter Cousin P once again. He and his wife M were coming to Wisconsin for a visit, and I offered up Staci's Bed and Breakfast for them to stay at, since I was going to be out of the country for work. The only condition...stay OUT of the basement. Note to self: P takes after his father and his grandmother...he's stubborn and he doesn't listen. To my horror, I learned he took M downstairs to look at the basement. How embarassing! I vowed by the next time the two of them came for a visit, I would have the basement cleaned up.

Four years later, I've acquired more, um, stuff and the basement isn't ready for any tours. I had taken a stab at it more than once, but for some reason it likes to become cluttered quickly. I did have great intentions to fix up the basement this year, since I had to do something with credit card points when the firm switched providers; I have several gift cards to a major home improvement retailer waiting to be spent. The problem is, I just really haven't had the time yet this year.

Now I find out that P and M are likely coming, along with P's sister, for a visit in July. Odds are about 100:1 that I'll need to be at a client that week, since it's quarter end, so the logical place for them to stay is once again Staci's B&B. Only this time, I know that P won't listen to me, and they're bound to want to look at my basement once again.

So, my readers, this is where you come in. Don't worry, I'm not asking you to come help me clean the place...instead, I need a little push from each and every one of you. I cannot start the organiztion this weekend, since I may have to work at some point, and I have a 1st Communion to attend in Chicago on Saturday, so I only have 8 weekends to get this all done. While it may not be fixed up, I cannot have a repeat of June '07. So, please, help encourage me to get moving and get organized. If you don't see reports of progress (and, in upcoming weeks, as I've gotten through at least SOME of the things, pictures to support the progress), send me a note to help me get moving.

Hopefully, I will soon be able to move from "Basement Bedlam" to "Rec Room Remodel."

Surviving Travel During the Great Blizzard of 2011

I got an unexpected call tonight from a friend of mine who thought I may be going stir-crazy in my hotel room. What an awesome suprise that was! One of the things that we talked about was her blog...she's got a natural talent for writing, so reading her musings about this or that is a great way for me to get my head out of my work for a bit. I had thought about blogging myself for a while, but figured my life wasn't really something anyone would be interested in. Not like H, who writes about her hubby and kiddos, or like another friend of mine, D, who initially started her blog as a way to keep everyone informed on the progress of her son, who was born super early (now, he's like any other 3-year old, but she still blogs about her family).

H told me tonight that she was suprised at who actually reads her blog. She uses her blog as a way to write something her children can reflect on in the future, but also as a way to blow off some steam when she needs to. She never really thought people would take the time to read it.
While I'm not foolish enough to think that my blog is actually of interest to many, I thought it might actually be a good place for me to blow off some steam and detach myself from work for a few minutes every once in a while.

All of this brings me to my first entry on my blog, the Great Blizzard of 2011.

Anyone who knows me will understand why I titled my blog what I did. It's a turn of words on my hometown, and the fact that I'm often traveling to multiple cities in a month. This week was supposed to be an "easy" travel week. There was no air travel, all I had to do was drive to Illinois for the week. Easy enough, right?

Over the weekend, weathermen started to go into their panic mode, as Stormageddon was supposed to bear down on Wisconsin and Illinois during the week. Usually, when the media gets this hyped up about a storm it fizzles out, so I didn't panic too much about it. I was, however, proactive about a few things "just in case." I packed some "comfy" clothes (jeans and a sweatshirt) in case I had to work from the hotel one day; I picked a hotel that was surrounded by restaurants, so I could walk to dinner rather than drive if the snow was a blowing; and I even packed my portable DVD player and 3 seasons of The West Wing, in case the DirecTV at the hotel went out.

Unfortunately, there was one thing I didn't think about: what happened if the power went out at the hotel. Last night, the lights flickered a couple of times, and when I made a comment about it on Facebook my cousin commented that I should call down for an extra blanket just in case. So, I did that, and I dug out my flashlight just in case the lights did go out for a while. I pulled out the power strip that I carry in case I get stranded at an airport (it's a great way to make friends while waiting for a delayed flight if you have a place someone can charge their phone - and it makes it easy to convince someone to let you plug into the outlet if they aren't giving up their charging capability), since it has a surge protector, and plugged in all of my electronic garb.

When the power went out a little after Midnight, I grabbed the extra blanket, turned on the DVD player (I needed some noise to drown out the drunk group of people who'd just gotten back to the room next door) and snuggled into bed. No worries, I figured, by morning everything would be fine. Unfortunately, when I woke up at 6:00, the power still wasn't on. Since I'd drained the battery in the DVD player, I couldn't do my kickboxing workout, so I figured I'd go back to sleep for an hour and hope the power was back on when I woke up again...WRONG.

So, I started out today with a fully charged laptop and a cell phone that had already lost about 13% of its charge...the major downfall of the iPhone, and no TV, Radio or DVD Player to provide me background noise. Immediately, I set the laptop to "conserve energy," hoping the power would come on before I drained the battery completely. I turned off the 3G on the phone to conserve what power I had left, and started my workday. Just before noon, the laptop gave me the "find a place to plug in" warning message, and I saved my files just before it shut down.

By this time, I knew that the hotel was going to be serving a complementary banquet lunch downstairs, so I figured I may as well eat. I was on the fifth floor of the hotel, which has 16 floors in total. Since they were operating on generator power, only one elevator was operational, and by the time an elevator going to the lobby reached the 5th floor, it was full from the first 11 floors that it stopped at....which leads me to my first real gripe of the day. What kind of architect designs a hotel where the stairs don't go down to the lobby? (I have more to say about architects, but will save that for another day). In some architect's logic, it made sense to have the stairs allow you to only get to the second floor, where you would have to exit to the outside world. I don't mind walking the stairs, but in the middle of a blizzard I really didn't want to go outside and walk around the hotel to go in the lobby entrance. All of this led to the very interesting approach of pushing the UP button of the elevator, catching it on the way to the top, and riding it all the way back down to the lobby, a process which took about 20 minutes.

Well before this point, I had come to the realization that it was very likely the hotel wouldn't be getting power back today, but they were still advising people to stay off of the roads, and from my hotel window I could see that the roads were not in any real driving condition. This made for a VERY long afternoon. I realize now that I probably should have packed a book, or at least a magazine, from home, but I never thought about what would happen if the power went out at the hotel. For all of my laughing at my co-workers who hadn't thought about not being able to get back to Chicago last night, and bragging about being prepared, I really wasn't. Of course, I did at least have enough clothes along, but I was going out of my mind from sheer boredom. At least I knew I wasn't alone...at lunch I met a group of 5 women who were so bored they went "shopping" at the tiny hotel gift shop to pass the time (I'm not sure if they bought the "Someone who loves me very much" T-Shirt, the glow in the dark Willis Tower statue or some "incidental" items, but that was the wide selection they could choose from, so I'm sure they didn't alleviate their bordem for long.

Finally, at about 4:00, traffic seemed to be flowing a bit better, and I was able to get a reservation at a nearby hotel. I packed up everything, made the trek out to the parking lot and loaded up the Trailblazer. I have never been so glad to have a radio in my entire life, but it made me feel like I was back in the real world. What's usually a 7 minute drive on Lake Cook Road from Milwaukee Ave to just East of I-294 took about 25 minutes. Only one lane was plowed, and there were some cars that had spun out or gotten stuck that I had to make my way around, but I made it to my new home away from home in one piece. I unpacked my suitcase again, and then settled in with my laptop in front of the TV, checked on the shipping status of my iPad and then got back to work.

That's when I realized how much I depend on electronics as a part of my daily routine. If I had drained my phone's power, there were only a handful of people who's phone numbers I had memorized...Mom & Dad (home, work and cell), my brother's cell, my aunt's home phone, and two people from work (and I wasn't 100% confident that I had committed one of them to memory). I couldn't even call my two best friends. In anticipation of my iPad, I've started downloading books for the Kindle app, rather than buying real books. I'd actually been hesitant to do that for a long time, because I struggled with the fact that I couldn't read while the plane was taxiing (which, when I was traveling to Houston, could sometimes be 40 minutes)...and now I have just one more reason to go back to my paperbacks.

As the Great Blizzard of 2011 dies down, I'm safely tucked away for the night, have eaten dinner, and I've been able to cross off two of the items on my "to do" list. Of course, when I went through my emails tonight, I got to add three more to the list, but at least I feel like I've accomplished something. Tomorrow, the client office is open again, and life will start to get back to normal. Anyone who's lived up North knows that after the snow comes the cold, and it's going to get COLD-D-D-D-D tonight, they're saying it will be about -6 without the wind chill when I head out in the morning. As I'm typing, I realize that I brought the snow brush, but left the ice scraper in the other car, so I need to allow myself some extra time to warm up the truck in the morning.

On the bright side, Phil didn't see his shadow today, so Spring should be right around the corner. Since the Milwaukee Zoo cancelled Groundhog Day in Wisconsin, I'm hoping Phil's prediction was for WI as well as PA. I know that it's cold across the country (who'd have thought the Frozen Tundra would actually travel to Dallas with the Pack), so I'm guessing wherever you are, most of you will agree.

Keep warm!