Friday, What can kim accomplish when she is irritated?

     Yesterday was a cluster in so many ways, but is actually put a bee in my bonnet and made me move.  I went to the chiropractor for my back and it helped.  I am a little stiff and sore today but nothing like last week.  I had so much to do and so many plans and everything derailed.

     I was desperate to get down to the paint store to get another can of paint.  I didn't get to the painting until about 2:30 due to us picking up our friends mom.  I was able to use up the bottom of two cans of oil based enamel.  Then friend's  stopped by which was nice, and then our neighbor (the one who lost both legs, one in Vietnam and finally the other a few years ago) Stopped by with pants he had to have tomorrow to go up to Spokane to the doctor.  It was 4:30 when I finally was able to get to the paint store, but no, got a call from the Veteran's home that my mother was ready to leave.  That made me laugh.
 

I painted this fireplace, and taped it to save money.

     I decided to go to the paint store as I was only a block away, but when I got there is was super busy and I did not want my friend's mom waiting too long, so I just left my order and went a picked her up.  I was concerned because her daughter would not be home until after 7 and I knew she was hungry, this meant that she would have to find something to eat and she really should not be in the kitchen.  So I asked her if she wanted to get a sandwich or a burger?  I was so tickled when she got this huge smile on her face and wanted to go to Wendy's.  That was my mom's favorite place to go.  She ordered exactly what mom used to order and it was so cute. I got her home and then back to the paint store.  It was now 6:00 and I had my Lil sis picking me up for dinner. So a race home to change out of paint clothes.  We had a nice time and I so enjoyed my time with her.  (Hubs was at rehearsal)

This poor piano gets shoved around all corners of the room.

     Then home to finally paint, it was 8p.m.  Got the paint clothes on and remembered Clem's pants.  Hurried and hemmed those and walked them over, then had to visit for a minute (Clem can talk more than me, ask Sluggy I can talk)  Back to the paint by 8:30 and I painted all the trim that was left in one hour.  I was delighted and pi$$ed.  I kept telling myself I should have done this myself, but then With my back going out directly related to painting doors (the doctor showed me) I knew I could not have done the whole thing.  But it does prove that my painter is slow. Today he can give everything a second coat and tomorrow he can do all the caulking.  He will be out of here. Hallelujah.

Pockets doors to dining room.

     I think by Sunday I might have some of my house back.  I can hardly wait.

     Today, I have to get a wedding dress hemmed and an army jacket altered and two pillows done among other things.  No messing around today, I am on a roll.  Now if everyone would just leave me alone. I will be able to sew and paint later.  There is  so much oil based trim in this house.  (  9 doors, plus built ins and fireplace all the crown molding and foot boards, beautiful unless you have to paint it:))

    Slug's remember the notebook you gave me?  It is true.....

Have a great and productive day staying positive while you are in the negative.

Kim

Thursday, slow but....

     I swear the guy painting upstairs is slow. He is always running up and down stairs and out taking a smoke break.  If he does not finish that ceiling and those walls today I am going to freak. I was able to get part of the fireplace painted last night and also a coat on the first side of the pocket doors. We have 7 doors to trim around and paint up to, and his finish work was not good.  So he has to redo all the edges of the doors. He will not be paid for poor work.

     The handy man is in putting the trim up in mom's room, we should be able to get that set back up sometime tomorrow or this weekend.  That will be so nice.  I can have my basement back.

     Hub's and I just picked up our friends mother to take her to the veterans home to see her husband.  I had to laugh as I supposed she would be ready.  What was I thinking?  It was like reliving my life with mom. She was in the bathroom and I had to actually turn off the TV, holler and find her. She then had to fix her hair and go find socks and put on her shoes.  We had to find her glasses and her purse and each of these things took several trips around the house.  She needed help with her socks.  Then I had her write my phone # down to put in her pocket so she could call for me to pick her up. She left the number on the pad and I had to go back and make her take it.  It was almost 1/2 an hour to get her into the car.  Then she was lost when we got to the home, but there was staff to help. Hubs and I had a good laugh about it.  The patience you need to deal with dementia in all of its forms.
      
     I am so sick of this and I am sure you are sick of me being sick about it. Who takes 5 hours to put trim around a room and then doesn't finish, not even 1/2 done?  It is ridiculous.  At 40.00 and hour I have now put over $1000.00 into mom's room and I did the painting. Haven't even gotten the bills for the carpet.  I do have to say the carpet people were in and out in an hour.  That was tearing up the old and gluing down the new.  I am just shaking my head and I want to scream.

     I do have to say that the ceiling and walls are done but now we need to do the rest of the trim and it has a 24 hour dry time.  I guess I am putting on my paint clothes. This contractor has 2.5 hours left to finish his work.

Have a great and productive day staying positive while you are in the negative.
    
Kim

Wednesday, 1st chart of the year, grumpy and sore

Well I finally completed one chart.  It has been hard as the shop is slow and every extra penny I have earned has gone into the house.  Every time I get some extra money I feel like I can take less out of the bank.  Right now I have $200.00 in cash and hope to have more by the end of the week to pay the painter.  I am getting so low in my savings account and it has me stressed.  Once the money is gone it is hard to put back.  I am trying not to let it get to me but it is.

I did make myself do a little sewing yesterday and it was hand work and today I am going to try and recover a cushion, but my back is screaming if I sit at my machine for any length of time.

The carpet has been laid in moms room and it looks nice. I need to call the handy man to put the molding up.  I will take a picture when it is finished. I am excited to get one room done.  Well actually two rooms.  There are still doors in the shop and bathroom that need painted and also the bathroom downstairs, but I can do those later. Might try and talk daughter into coming down and doing this for me.  Hmmm what can I bribe her with....?

 Hubs and I are going to take another dresser out of mom's room and take it to the storage as it is not being used and just makes things that much easier when we move.  I am trying not to be blue and grumpy.  Trying to be positive.  With the house all torn up and Hubs in stress, bleeding money, slow contractors, slow shop, back out of place and general malaise from the dark short January days I am having a hard time.

Let's see:

Mom's room is almost done
I do have some work in the shop
Things are progressing even if they are not done
I can take action if I want to, I just have to want to.

Have a great and productive day staying positive while you are in thee negative.

Kim

Tuesday, frustration abounds

     I did very little yesterday although al the doors are ready to hang and the ironing is done.  The rest of the day was on the couch.  I just made Denver omelettes for dinner.  It will be grilled ham and cheese tonight.  Easy as my back is not cooperating.

     The painter is not doing a second coat on the trim and does not want the door put back up.  He is behind and I am ready to go up and start painting, even with my back.  I am determined not to pay him more than we talked about.  He has 14.5 hour left, I have no idea how he is going to get the other 1/2 of the room done in 10 hours with out help.  But I want my house back and the mess gone.

     Now the carpet layers are here tomorrow at 8:30 and I need that room clear, so that means we will have to move all the doors out and into the family room that already has a bedroom set in it.  Hubs is out walking the dog and he is going to freak!

     I am going to go upstairs and get some paint and touch up the one door I had to paint while it was up.  We had to have at least one bathroom with a door for privacy.

     The earliest I can get into the chiro is Thursday, I sure hope they can do something, becasue what ever I am doing is not working.

     Have a great and productive day staying positive while you are in the negative.

Kim

Monday, Monday's weekly what?

     This is the post that I write to review all the ways I tried to save money last week and to list all the things I plan to do to save money in the coming week. However, I did something to my lower back and I don't know what.  I have noticed a real sharp twinge off and on for the past several months.  Usually when getting into or out of the car.  Yesterday it spiked just after I was done giving the doors their first coat on the second side (does that make sense?)  I had just finished and was sitting down at the computer and zing it zapped and never got better.  Church was miserable and when I got home I put the ham in for dinner and took a pain killer and laid on a heating pad the rest of the day.  I did not sleep well last night, not that the pain was too bad
just that it was there.

The hall with no doors, but a new light fixture replacing the frying pan one that had been there for 60 years.

     I might have to go to the chiropractor if I can't get this to abate.  It is really bothersome.  I am in my pj's right now and I plan on getting in and painting the second coat on the second side of all the doors after this post.  Then tomorrow we can hang all the doors.

I do feel like we are making progress  but it is so slow.  It is also so expensive and I am running out of money and as the shop is not busy that makes it all the worse. I just keep telling myself that it will be okay. 

Things I did last week to save money
1. Cooked and ate all meals at home
2. grocery shopped for only things needed
3. Used storage foods as much as possible
4. bought cereal for Hubs .99 a box limit 3 but will go back.
5. painted doors to save hours of fees from painter
6. accepted three large steelhead that hubs filleted and smoked lots of fish in the freezer and snacks for crackers yum
7. Did all the usual things, hung laundry, picked up pennies, and even found $2.00

Here is one finished corner of the living room.  There is also a new light fixture there to replace the one that was broken.  I am such a stooge as I am so excited about these light fixtures.  It does not take much to thrill me.  But I have looked at the old broken things for over 20 years and to have this just gets me over the moon.

I am going to try and save money this week by:

1. finishing the doors
2. get the doors installed
3. cooking at home
4. using what we have for cooking and eating
5. sew as much as possible
6. Helping painter where I can to save his hours.


I really hope by next Monday to be in the downward spiral of this mess.

Today I am going to:

1. give doors the last coat
2. finish the ironing
3. sew as much as possible
4. figure out as many ways to use the large ham I cooked yesterday.

Do any of you have any ham dishes that you like to cook?  I need ideas.

Have a great and productive day staying positive while you are in the negative.

Kim

Staurday, Up to my neck

     My life right now is painting doors.  Five  doors to be exact and also shelves.  This oil base paint takes 24 hours to re coat so it is a pain, but boy is it beautiful. So yesterday I painted one side and today I will re coat then tomorrow they will be flipped over and I will paint the other side and Monday the second coat.  That means by Tuesday they will be dry and ready to install and then Wednesday the new carpet comes in and mom's room can be put back together once the molding goes in; I can hardly wait.

This whole room is taken up by doors tipped every which way. What a mess, but I am moving forward.  That is what is important to me.

I need to do at least three loads of laundry today and run a load to Lil sis's. I also think I will try and get the ironing done as it is piling up terribly and it gives me an excuse to watch crap TV.  :)

I purchased a ham on mark down this week and I plan on cooking that tomorrow for Sunday dinner, so I foresee a week of ham dishes and soups.  Yum.  Plus I will freeze some of it for later.

I certainly wish I had the money to hire a whole paint crew and get this done faster.  I would like to just not do any of it myself.  I find painting nerve racking and tedious. I move quickly and having to slow down and be meticulous is irritating to me.  But if it saves me money and I can do it and I will. Trust me helping with the painting is saving me $40.00 an hour.

Shelves for the built ins in the Living room

It has really been a blessing to have mom's room waiting for carpet.  At first I was a little miffed that I had to wait until the 29th to have this room finished, but having a place to paint all the things that needed painted is great.  You have to have the room above 50 degrees for oil paint to dry and we would have had to do this in the garage and put out space heaters.  Also the car would have had to be outside and that would have been one other thing for hubs to whine about.  I guess I need to count my blessings and not be so impatient.

Well I have my day planned;

1. start laundry
2. paint all doors second coat
3. flip shelves and coat
4. take a load of clothes to Lil sis's
5. do some grocery shopping
6. get the ironing done
7. finish taping tile in master bedroom
8. scrub master bedroom shower
9. paint tiles in master bedroom


Don't know if I will get it all done, but I will certainly get something done. Do any of you try to do things yourself to save money?  I mean house projects like this?

Have a great and productive day staying positive while you are in the negative.

Kim

Friday, Time passes too quickly

I loved the way these lights turned out, as you can see everything in this bathroom was that bright gold.  I love gold but it is chipped and scratched and over 20 years old.  So even though I would live with it, this might turn new buyers off.  Plus we had to replace the shower doors that were falling apart. 

 You can see the jury rigged master bath shower with the broken door. The man came to take measurements yesterday to replace this.

I keep trying to keep things cleaned up but it is hard with construction.  We are slowly getting lights and fixtures replaces.  All the old are being recycled so that makes me feel better.  This gold trim will be painted each individual tile.  You can see in the above picture where I started taping with blue paint tape.

I did get quite a bit of sewing done yesterday and today I have another doctor appointment and I am getting my nails done.

Then I am home to paint doors.

Have a great and productive day staying positive while you are in the negative.

Kim

Thursday, Soft Kitty

     The idea for my post title came from Linda at Practical Parsimony.  I was all ready to type up a rant on Hubs and she just made the comment,"have you sang soft kitty to him?"  She can be so dang funny sometimes, she just cracks m up.

     The painter who finally picked up a paint brush today, plays this loud country western music, which both Hubs and I detest.  But if it motivates him so be it. Hubs has rehearsal tonight and he does need to practice and the piano.... well nothing is as it should be.  He does have a very small way to get into the piano and it is tight so to speak.

He site reads very well both the violin and viola, but as he is switching clefts for cello parts he has to practice transitions, which he does sitting at the piano.  He was also called to play the piano at a church baptism and he needs to go over the songs.  So he is complaining (whining)  about the painter music.  I told him to go and tell the painter that he would have to practice and hubs cannot talk to a stranger.  This is why he was out in the woods for 28 years by himself.







Then there is his spot, he reads probably 4-5 hours a day in his spot, which has been moved. I tried to put his table and his light at a good angle and leave his spot open just in a different SPOT.  He is suffering.  Therefore I am suffering.

THE SPOT

He reminds me of our grandson Schmills who came up to me with tears  in his eyes and lip quivering to tell me that James would not let him have any candy out of the candy dish.  James who is 5 weeks younger than Schmills and a head taller had been told by his Father , "NO more candy."  This meant that James now had to stand and guard the candy dish. If he could have no more candy neither could Scmills.  It is this kind of behavior I swear, and I will have to put up with at least a week more of this.

I can do this.  Yesterday, I never sat down, I  cleaned Hubs room and bath, I cleaned the spare bath (that has a door) , I made a homemade lemon pie with my Meyer lemons from my tree.  I made four loaves of homemade bread and a large batch of shrimp Alfredo pasta and salad. I thoroughly cleaned the kitchen and wiped down the fridge inside and out.  All of this to make Hubs feel better and more at ease. It has not worked.

I can do this.  My new mantra.

Today I will live in the shop until I can reduce the pile.  I also have a couple of wedding dresses to alter.  Then after I have done enough, I will paint the door to hubs bedroom, it will be the first done and hung.  Then I will lock him in there for the duration.  I wonder how much a little door flap would cost?  You know like the ones at the bottom to shove food through?  Excuse me while I go and sing soft kitty.

Have a great and productive day staying positive while you are in the negative. 

Wednesday, Sheldon Cooper is upset....

     Hubs (Sheldon) is grouchy and I guess I don't blame him.  He is a creature of habit and I have ruined his habitat.  Actually it is getting to me also, and I am not sure what to do about it. We (actually I) have the whole darn house torn up with the painting and fixing.  There is not a room to peacefully go into that has not been touched in some way.  Hubs is a creature of habit and he cannot tolerate change well.  I have moved all the furniture to one end of the very large living room so the painter can do one end at a time.  Hubs spot is now in another spot.  How can he read? How can he function?  But after getting frustrated (actually angry) with him, I realized I am bothered also.

Mom's room is well destroyed and full of doors now.  I will be painting one at a time as I can do this and save money.  I need to get the sawhorses and I don't dare ask Hubs.

 My brilliant idea was to paint these in mom's room as the carpet is destroyed and it is warmer than the garage.  Great idea but now there are no doors upstairs and that is awkward. I did leave the door on the spare bath.  So I really need to at least get the door to the master done today. I don't know why I can't think ahead better.  I just run full speed with an idea and some times those ideas are ..... less than stellar.

 Hubs has a procedure today at the doctor so we are not taking the babies.  But I still have to take a meal in and I am having trouble with too many irons in the fire, so I guess Hubs angst is also mine.  I just react in a different way.  I think the fixtures that go above the sinks in the master bath turned out great and now I just have to get the handyman to put them back up.

This house is really a mess and I do need to do something about it.  As in clean and at least have a surface that is not covered in crap.

1. master bath needs to be put back together as much as possible and then get the door back on so Hub's has some sort of sanctuary.

2. the spare bath upstairs has large furnace vents that I am half done cleaning and it is filthy.  I need to get those done and stacked so we can at least have one bathroom that is okay.

3. I need to clean the downstairs bath of paint crap and use the slop sink in the laundry.

4. Spare room has rugs and pictures all over but needs to be better organized so it functions.

5. As hubs has been cleaning the kitchen nothing is really clean and put away, which drives me crazy.

 so I need to get up there and clean and organize his efforts.  He also has a huge steel head to fillet and gut so I am letting him do that before I get in there and Kim clean.

6. I can't do anything about the family room with all the furniture from mom's room until the carpet is laid.

7. I think I will make a nice dinner and dessert for hub's and my friends while I am cleaning the kitchen, this will help him feel better.

8. I need to pick up the oldest little and take her to dance class at about 4:30.

9. Maybe get in a little sewing?  

My day is planned,  what are you going to do?

Have a great and productive day staying positive while you are in the negative.

Kim

Tuesday, I gotta go back....

     Got a call from the boob place that they need a more invasive picture of my left breast.  Probably do to my dense tissue.  So I will run back in this afternoon.  Not happy about it as the bruises are just fading from last week.   But it is what it is and I will survive. (*&^%$

     I feel like I am spinning my wheels here and I need to get serious about finishing something.  Yesterday was all running around and yes I did get things done but still 1/2 done things everywhere.  Which drives me nuts. I spent over $200.00 on painting supplies for the front room and no paint yet.  Just prep stuff.  Egads! I still need to move the furniture to one half the room and will do that shortly.  Hubs is up practicing. He has to play all the cello parts on his viola so has to jump from cleft to cleft and it has him really working. I think they open the first week of February.

     The painter is due in at 10 today to start prepping and taping.  I am so excited, but also over  whelmed.  Too many irons in the fire. I just want things finished and you have to wait for this and that.  Now because of my boob fiasco I have to reschedule the workman for the shower measurement.  So that will be done on Thursday. It is always delay, delay.

    

The paint on the light fixture turned out great I think hopefully I can get this up today and the other three taken down.





















    I liked how this turned out also.

There are three fixture about the sinks that also need to be sprayed.  So I hope to do that today if I can get them taken down.

     I bought two samples of paint for the gold tiles yesterday and both will scrape off.  So that is a no go.  I will get Lil sis over here and see what she thinks. She might be able to come up with a alternative plan.  I do think spray paint will work the best.  Now how to do that on individual tiles? We will have to make a template shield to go over and around each tile and cover all surrounding areas for over spray. Oh what a headache.  Maybe a shellac over the paint? A headache for another day.

     Today I simply have to make a list and knock some things out or I am going to explode with anxiety.  Everything is such a mess in the house and I do not do well in constant chaos (I know that is hard for you to believe). Last night when Hubs was at rehearsal, I really cleaned the shop, the family room, and started to clean up some of the master bathroom.  So today I really want to get the master bathroom cupboards cleaned out and clean up the contractor mess although I know that is ongoing, I don't like walking on scraps, and chunks of stuff.  As we had to take everything out from under both sinks, I have a box to go through.  I want the three large cupboards under the sinks to have very little in them. This way when we put the house on the market the deep cleaning/packing is done already.

Today:

1. help painter get front room ready
2. get painted lights hung in master bath
3. get three other lights down in master bath
4. wipe out and sort through three large cupboards in master bath and pack up excess.
5. Sew something anything just get my butt into the shop
6. go to boob doctor
7. find something for dinner

I am a very impatient person.  Shame on me. I need to practice patience.

Have a great and productive day staying positive while you are in the negative.

Kim

Monday, Monday's weekly what?

It is a new week and full of new plans.  How are you going to save money?  How have you tried to save money this past week? We all have 7 whole days ahead of us to make progress and get things done.  Here is a report.

1. I cooked all meals at home.
2. I used up many food stuffs from storage and the freezer
3. I painted a bedroom to save $350.00 (that was the bid)
4. I used my handyman's account at the paint store to save 15%
5. I did clean up and prep on home improvement to keep costs down.
6. purchased all meat this week from 50% off bin.
7. kept grocery costs down by shopping only what was needed.


I finished painting Mom's bedroom and it looks great.  Now I need to get in there and just do some clean up.  Then on the 29th the carpet layers will be here.  But in the mean time as I am bleeding money out for home improvements I am trying to find ways to save.
     This week I hope to save money by:

1. eating all meals at home
2. using foods from storage and the freezers
3. sewing, sewing to bring money in.
4. helping the paint contractor as  much as possible
5. sanding a spraying light fixtures in bedroom to save money

See what a slob I am.  This so needs to be dusted.  I am going to clean and sand and then spray this with brushed nickle paint.  This will save me from buying a whole new fixture.

This one also going to be sprayed. Let's see how they turn out!




Have a great and productive day staying positive while you are in the negative.

Kim

Saturday,Yeah!

     Okay yesterday I binge watched Netflix and did nothing in the bedroom.  I did no laundry, I cleaned nothing, I sewed nothing, I woke up to a dirty house.  Am I ashamed? A little but not enough to really regret yesterday.  It was a lazy day of fun.  Big decisions were made about the upstairs painting.

     Our front room is large and has a hallway leading off that has 6 doors.  It has very formal crown molding and trim everywhere, ceilings, floors, then the built ins and the pocket doors to the formal dining room, also a large fireplace. All of this trim is done in bright white oil base enamel.  Then the walls are a light grey green called candle bark. We cannot repaint any of the trim unless it is oil base.  What a pain.  But it does hold up and looks good.  This room was last painted  17 years ago and is in desperate need of paint.  We decided to let a pro do it. It will be so expensive but I think it is worth it.  It also take a load off my mind. I am running out of money, but still have a few thousand left to remodel with, I just need to be very careful as we still have the outside of the house.

     As I did not do anything really constructive yesterday, I have to get something done today.  I stayed up way too late last night watching netflix. It was fun. But today I already have on my paint clothes and I have a load of clothes in the washer that just spun out.

   So the plan for the day is to finish this post take the load of wash to Lil sis's, get a soda, return and paint the ceiling and then go back and pickup dry clothes, do some house work (Hubs has cleaned the kitchen all week) and then paint the walls of the bedroom.  I swear by Monday morning that room will be painted.  Then kitchen will be cleaned (as in the floor) and the upstairs will be vacuumed.

     I plan on getting hubs to help me move the small table out of the kitchen so I can get to that area and start de cluttering and cleaning /packing next week.  Goals, goals, will I get anything done?

Wait and see...

Have a great and productive day staying positive while you are in the negative.

Kim,
    

Friday, Am I getting anywhere?

All damage is gone and replaced with green board and we will put in a plastic trim which is more expensive, but if the basement ever has a water problem again it will be able to with stand stupidity.

     I feel like I am spinning my wheels these last couple of days. This is very frustrating for me as I am a woman of action. Not much action around here, but a whole lot of mess.  I did not sew yesterday at all as after the doctor I spent 4 hours trying to book tickets for my Aunt and cousin.  That was also a fiasco that left me frustrated and tired.  I think I was just off in a foul place and was not willing to leave.  I did finally go over to Lil sis's and help her with some last minute chores as she has company arriving today.  That perked me up some.  She has a way of listening to my grumble and making me laugh.  Sisters what would we do without them?

     Today was boob squash day and it was very painful.  I also have a high pain tolerance so I must say it was gasping painful.  But I found out I have very dense skin and tissue.  Probably why I was able to have all those pregnancies with no stretch marks and just have very good overall skin tone.  So you can call me dense and I will say, " Thank you, I know."  Hope I don't have to relive that experience for a long while.

     Mom's room is ready to paint, so I am going to try and get the ceiling painted tonight and the rest of the room tomorrow.  The carpet layers will not be here until the 29th and then all the trim has to be replaced.  Next week we are starting on the formal front room and hall and the master bath. They will come and measure for a new shower door assembly next week.  We are changing out all the old hardware that is chipped and nasty and also gold fixtures to to a brushed nickle.

     While that is being worked on next week I will be staring to touch up all the areas of the kitchen.  One cupboard, shelf and drawer at a time. I will start systematically in one corner and work my way around. It will be so nice to say another room is done. Don't have any reason why I could not have started on some of this, this week other than unorganized laziness.  Even my laziness is disorganized.  Who knew?

     I pulled a lone sweet potato, some small garden potatoes, a garden beet and a parsnip along with a couple of carrots out of the crisper last night.  Most of the garden produce needs to be eaten in the next month   The potatoes are sprouting and starting to sugar.  Anyway I peeled and chopped and olive oiled sprinkling generously with salt/pepper and rosemary, then roasted and it was so good.  Tonight it is old fashioned hamburgers with chips. and left over veggies.
 
      I have a little more research to do on the inter net on spray painting fixtures. I just know someone on Youtube will have a tutorial.

     Any plans for the weekend?  Any projects?  Any fun?

Have a great and productive day staying positive while you are in the negative.

Kim
  

    

Thursday, some good and some bad things

     This has so far been an aggravating day, but I am trying to be positive and count my blessings.  The bid to fix the tape and sheet rock in mom's room was a lot higher than I expected.   This room with new carpet and me doing all the painting will run about 2 grand.  Not what I expected.  But the contractor (some guy I found cheap) that took forever to repair it before, did a really lousy job and when we started to tear things apart we found fistfuls of caulk rather than fixed sheet rock.  So to fix his mess is costing me money. You get what you pay for. So frustrating.

     I went to the doctor this morning for my wellness check and as usual that was a fiasco. Had to actually find a nurse after waiting for a nurse for a half an hour in a room, because they forgot  to tell someone I was waiting.  This happens all the time at that clinic and I actually got fed up and went looking for someone.  Then I have to go back for a boob squash tomorrow(not talking about hubs).  I refused a colonoscopy as I practically died from the last one, I also have to go back for a full body scan for skin cancer as I was a life guard with Hubs for about 3 years when we were first married, long before sunscreens. I went into the lab for blood work and they had to mine me as in three sticks.  First of all they don't want you to eat anything and then they want you hydrated. Grrrr.  I hate doctors and the whole medical community just makes me furious.

     Then I think to myself, "What a bad attitude, these are lovely people that can save your life and they are just trying to do what is best for you."  Yes, but can you do that with out touching me, or humiliating me, or hurting me? Guess the answer....

     The studio owner finally gave me her last check that she owes me and I was excited as I could put that toward the sheet rock mess.  Then I went to cash the check and it was no good.  I am sure it will be, but I have to keep checking back.

     I just went out to the freezer and found out that I have one package of chicken left and a package of hotdogs, one pound of bacon and two pounds of sausage.  That is it!  The rest was applesauce, frozen leftovers, and tomatoes. So the freezers are getting eaten down and I will have to start buying some meat.  There goes my grocery plan.  Grumble, grouch.

    I am just a little ray of Sunshine today.

     There is very little work in the shop and that always makes me nervous, but it is like this in January and February. Now I need to get on the phone and get tickets ordered for my aunt to fly out here.

     Count your blessings:
1. found a good sheet rock man who is doing a stellar job
2. the studio is paid off (I think)
3. I have medical care
4. I have great insurance
5. My blood pressure is very low
6. I have a roof over my head
7. I have clothes to wear
8. I have food to eat
9. I have a great family
10. I have friends I would go to the mat for.

I am blessed.

Have a great and productive day staying positive (POSITIVE KIM!) while you are in the negative.

Kim

  We finally had the hole around this cupboard trimmed and filled.  Now I can get up there and finish the painting.  The kitchen is getting to the point that t is just touch up on my part.  Also a whole lot of cleaning, but that is good.  Anything that is not necessary will be packed. I am so thrilled to get rid of the mess up there.

     I did not get to the kitchen floor, or mom's room yesterday as sewing took the whole day.  Which was good as I really stuck to task.  I was proud to me. I even came home and relined a pair of pants after dinner.

     Dinner was delicious.  The company was better.  It was the nicest restaurant in town, and spendy.  We have not eaten there in years.  Not someplace I would frequent. Hubs and I will take them out in turn, but to a different restaurant.  Not so pricey and better food.  Well not  Effie's that is only for true crazy friends like Slug.

     Today I have a slight headache and am not feeling on top of my game.  The littles are here and chaos is reigning. I just pulled my chicken and stock off the back porch and I thought it would be completely frozen, but it is not.  Later I will go up and chop up veggies and let them steep.  Then add homemade noodles.  Also will make up a couple of almond cakes.  They are easy and always a hit.

     Wednesday's are always busy, but that is the way I planned it.  Get everything done in one day and leave the rest of the week to do other things. Just wish I felt better.

     I might try and do a little cleaning in the shop as sewing all day yesterday really trashed the place. The handy man is working in mom's room today.  Fun with a saw!

     Time to get dressed and maybe get something done.

Have a great and productive day staying positive while you are in the negative.

Kim

Tuesday, Snowing,working,trying to produce

     Let me tell you I can do lazy better than any one I know.  I did not get nearly as much done yesterday as I wanted to.  All my fault.  The shop was busy so I had no excuses.  I just would look at the pile and go I don't want to do that.  Slap me.  Like who else is going to do it?  I did get some sewing done but not nearly what I should have. Too busy just messing around.

     This morning I do have to complete a bridal veil and get a pair of pants done before noon.  At least I have a timer on this, or I would probably find some reason to poop around some more. I am good at pooping around.

     But on a good note my kitchen floor is done!

 We still have to put back the skin on the kick plate but look! No more broken tile.  It looks so nice.  This has needed to be done now for three years.

See the molding is on the door frame.  we have been stepping over unfinished wood for over three years, even though I purchased this piece of oak trim board when we started to remodel the kitchen.  I had to go dig it out of the garage.

Please ignore all the dirt, doing this kind of work is messy, plus you can't get into clean when you have wet everything. I am very excited about this and it has made me a little braver about starting to do some clean up work in the kitchen.  One day at a time.

Last night I got about 1/2 this floor grout scrubbed. The new grout is so much lighter because the older grout is dirty.  We do steam mop the floor but we have never been down to scrub the grout.  I will have to use a bleach compound in some spots. This is one of the things I want to finish today. The floor looks brand new.

We had so much snow last night, the first of the season to really stick.  Hubs is out shoveling as I type.  He will probably get out the snow blower today.  I keep wondering when that thing will go belly up as we have used it for so many years.  But then again we have had years and years where we had no snow.

Last night I had Lil sis take me to Costco to buy some protein drinks I like. They were $7.00 off limit two.  So I have enough for the next couple of months.  I am officially on my get all the Holiday pounds off diet.  My potato chip and M&M diet was not working. Although I gave it a college try.

Tonight we are invited to dinner by some friends, so I don't have to cook!  Yippee! But I do have a large package of chicken thighs defrosted in the fridge to make a large kettle of soup. I can take that into my friend and also another family that has the flu.  I do make a mean chicken soup with homemade noodles.

So today I really mean to knock out some work.  No dilly dallying. I mean it.  I am trying to convince myself.  Am I listening?  I hope so.

The list:  You knew there was going to be a list right?  I just could not help myself.

1. hem pants
2. make wedding veil
3. alter three pairs of pants
4. mend jeans
5. shorten coat sleeves
6. reline a pair of pants
7. shorten two pairs of pants
8. clean and vacuum family room
9. scrap all sheet rock spots that are torn and seal with paint so they can be mudded.
10. cook up chicken in fridge so I can de bone for tomorrow
11. finish cleaning grout in kitchen and steam floor.
12. police shirt
13. mend two items
     The littles will be here tomorrow, so who knows what I will get done. At least I will have a good start on dinner.   Will probably make a couple of almond cakes as they are easy.  I can do this with the littles in tow.

     What are you going to do today?  Anything fun? Anything you don't want to do that you are going to try and accomplish? Making any progress on your I don't want to do that list?

Have a great and productive day staying positive while you are in the negative.

Kim

Monday, Get that week in line.

     Here we have a whole week ahead of us to plan and try and save some money or at least make it stretch.  This house remodeling or I should say just fixing up is expensive.  On top of all my other money saving strategies I am trying to see where I can save with all this mess.

     Our handy man brought me another project to work on for him. So that will help with costs.  Also trying to sew and get money in will also help.  I need to be diligent.

My plans to save money for the week are as follows:

1. cook all meals from scratch at home
2. use pantry items and freezer items to cook with
3. keep grocery store trips to one if any with only essentials purchased.
4. sew, sew, sew
5. follow handyman and ask what I can do to help save myself money (he is older so he does appreciate a hand)


Things I hope to have done by the end of the week:

1. kitchen floor finished
2. mom's bedroom fixed and painted
3. appointment remade for new carpet
4. go through kitchen and touch up paint
5. empty all drawers and closets in mom's room
6. empty all drawers and closet in spare room.
7. start boxing up non essentials in Kitchen and hall closet take to storage
8. make a list of all things that need to be fixed in kitchen with handyman
9. figure out Aunts airline tickets and use points to purchase.

     So I have plenty to do, no excuses here not to try and save some money this week, by just working hard.

I was able to clean bathrooms yesterday after my nap and get the laundry done.  Took a load to Lil sis's to dry and had a nice visit.

Well I am off to see what I can get done this week.  How about you guys?  What are you going to do to try and save money?  Are you even going to try?

Have a great and productive day staying positive while you are in the negative.

Kim

Sunday, semi free day...

     Yesterday Hubs and I did the missionary loop which is 5 hours in a car going from apartment to apartment.  We took a door from one to have it replaced, patched a large hole in some sheet rock, found floor vents that were broken and all came home with us to replace. Hubs got the paperwork done.  This is off our plate for another 6 weeks.  We do have to do two more visits tonight but they are local, hubs can finish the rest in his spare time.

     We were home about 3:00 and took another truck load of things to the storage unit.  I can say all the Christmas is there now.  My next goal is to go through each drawer and cupboard and closet and remove anything that we will not use in the next 6 months.  This includes the kitchen.  I will do each room systematically. It is surprising what is lurking in closets and crannies.

     Our choir is singing today so we will leave here in a few minutes for practice. When I get home from church, I need to scare up something for dinner and then I plan on cleaning this house.  I need to do laundry and get meals planned for the week.  Starting Monday with a clean house and a plan helps me save money, time and sanity. I also want to really cleanup any mess in moms room from the sheet rock. Anything I can do to help speed up the handy man I will do as it saves me money.

     I  want to completely empty moms room, so I will need to move a rocking chair, two night stands and dresser.  The handy man and I already moved the bed.  It is easier to work in a clean slate so to speak. I am hoping to really watch and help the handyman so I can learn a new skill. I am fast and good with my hands I believe I can learn to tape and fix sheet rock.  Maybe?

     The shop needs love and I need to see what my week will be like as far as sewing is concerned. I do not have a horrible amount to do in there, so I think it will be easy.

     Well I am off to church, do you have any plans today?

Have a restful and peaceful Sabbath, I might squeeze a nap in.

Kim

Friday, Where did the week go?

     Good grief it cannot be Friday.  This week has zoomed by and the weekend is full it will be Monday before I can blink.  I guess having 100 irons in the fire can make time go by swiftly.

     All the tiles are relayed (right word?)  in the kitchen awaiting grout. We have moved the bed out of the bedroom and have assessed the damage to the sheet rock. This will be taken care of next week.  Anonymous posted that I should not be putting all my houses faults out where people can see them.  In defense this water damage was caused by us and our stupidity, not nature, not the house.  We will fix it and be honest with anyone who buys the place. We are not covering up damage we are fixing it.

     I feel pretty good about the week as I did everything I could to lower our expenses.

1. Did not eat out
2. used food from freezers and pantry
3. worked in shop to offset handy man fees.
4. traded an expensive musical wind chime that was dad's to the Handy man for services
5. traded curtain making to the handyman for services
6. Paid as much to handyman in cash as possible in order to not touch savings
7. cleaned up after handyman and helped where I could to save him time
8. pulled all the molding from bedroom myself to save money
9. received new plastic/glass ware for kitchen

So things that got done this week on the house:

1. front door latch and locks fixed
2. bedroom door latch fixed
3.fixed hole in the siding around kitchen window
4. replaced ugly old light in bathroom
5. assessed damage to downstairs bedroom and came up with a plan to fix.
6. started on fixing tile in kitchen
7. finally got one of the door lintels replaced in kitchen (one more to go)
8. patched nail hole sin bedrooms and sanded awaiting paint

     I did not get to finish the curtains I started but have them ready to sew.  16 straight seams and I am done.  It will just take a few minutes. I also had several more sets of police uniforms come in yesterday, which I have to sew today.  Several new recruits are leaving for the academy.  New uniforms just came in and they want each one to have at least one set for pictures.  I also had an emergency wedding dress come in yesterday, so that took up my time.

     So today it is sewing and cleaning and cooking.  Tomorrow we have to do our missionary rounds to Grangeville, Kamiah and Orofino which will take at least 4 hours if not more.  We have to deliver smoke alarms and a new vacuum. Sunday the choir is singing so we have to get to church early for that. Then it will be a new week. Time is flying.

     I have to make 4 important phone calls today.
1. call friends s about dinner invite
2. call Aunt about plane ticket
3. call mission headquarters about time lines
4. call sister in law about trip

     I ques I will do all of these as soon as this post is up.  What have you done this week to save money?  Any plans for the weekend? Are you making progress on any projects?

Have a great and productive day staying positive while you are in the negative.

Kim

Thursday, I knew things were too easy...

     I was excited yesterday, things were going along smoothly here.  The handy man was able to replace the front door locks and handle which has not worked well ever!  I actually have 4 keys to the front door!  Then he started to replace tiles that are broken in the kitchen.  Yeah!  The littles were all over the place but I finally got them down for naps, then baby boy woke with a high fever and bright red cheeks, he was pulling at his ear.  Poor thing.  So the rest of the afternoon was walking a sick baby. So much for getting any sewing finished.

See the new lock set, I will sand where the old stuff was and this door will be painted.  I am going to paint it bright red.  I love a red door on a blue house.  It is the Swedish in me.

 





















 Two of these tiles are replace and the other two will be this morning.  Then we only have two left.  It was hard to work in the Kitchen with this going on , but I persevered. I was able to make two large loaves of French bread and a meal yesterday all while hopping around this mess.

I went into mom's room to start cutting in paint and removed the first piece of molding.  As I was removing it, I discovered that the sheet rock around some of the room was destroyed by water. We had this all fixed about 8 years ago and it now has to be done again.  So call the carpet installers and put that on hold and suck it up.  This will be a lot more expensive.  Part of me wishes I had just left it, but then if the new home owners found the mold we could be in trouble so better it is taken care of.  Dang it.  We were going along so well.  Now I have to deal with this mess.

This sheet rock will have to be replace  as it is just a crumbling mess.  I am so upset about this, but there is nothing I can do but get it done.

You can see the mold here.  What a mess.  I want to cry and scream, like that will help.  So Called the carpet people put that on hold and when the handy man gets here to day, show him another job.  I just love spending money,  NOT!














     But let's end on a positive note shall we?  I delivered a meal to my friend, (baked ziti, home made french bread and salad) And they had a gift for me which was so thoughtful and nice.

     I swap out my dishes every week when I deliver a meal.  I also save all my cottage cheese and sour cream containers, and cool whip containers, and then I reuse.  But I would love some new glass reusable storage things, I just won't buy them.  I have one covered (glass ) casserole that I am swapping out all the time.  Look what they bought me!

     I am so excited.  I have wanted a set of these forever.   It will be so nice to clean out my (fake) tupperware cupboard and put these in.  They can go in the microwave and in the oven.  Yeah!

 Then this nice covered cake or casserole pan.  I have one of these, but having two makes it extra nice, as I am always taking a meal some where.


     Hubs had pit practice last night and the cellist is not showing up, so he was given cello music.  He dreads playing it as once they find out he also plays the cello he will never get to play violin again.  As it is he is playing viola mostly. So he is playing all the cello solo's on the viola.  He has so much transposing to do and rewriting.

     I am trying not to let  the bedroom set my back to much emotionally.  It is what it is. I just have to keep moving forward, just not quite as fast.

     I have to get into the shop today:

1. hem two pairs of suit pants
2. hem bridesmaids dress
3. hem ball gown
4. finish up curtains (I did get some work done on them yesterday)
5. police uniforms

Then I need to revamp how I am going to clean up this bedroom mess. It is always something. Onward and upward.

Have a great and productive day staying positive while you are in the negative.

Kim

Wednesday, Littles, chaos, progress

     I tried the downstairs bedroom paint last night and it does not match good enough when dried so  I will have to paint that room.  Dang!  This has to be done before Friday as they are coming to lay the new carpet.  This means that this evening and tomorrow I will have to paint this room.  I will do the cut in tonight after I remove the damaged trim. Then tomorrow I will roll out the rest.  The paint was really thick and it dried lighter than the paint that was on the walls.  I will need to thin it out.  Just one more aggravation.

     But we did get two other things done yesterday that have been nagging.  This light fixture was a rotting gold mess.  You can see the line where the original fixture was.  We still have to paint this bath. Then I have to clean out all the old caulk from the shower and redo.  I feel like we are really making progress on the house.  It is just so expensive to get these little things done.

     We also had the outdoor window to the kitchen fixed.  When we had the kitchen  remodeled a few years ago, they replaced and enlarged the kitchen window over the sink and then just left a hole in the outside of the house. Just this gaping hole, what a mess.  Anyway I went out with the handyman and dug through the wood pile and found several shingles from the project and he was able to feather them in and patch.  Now all we have to do is paint.

     Six tiles on the kitchen floor are being replaced and the repairman is working on replacing the front door handle that sticks.  We will have a new dead bolt with keys!  Finally since my purse was stolen we have not been able to open the front door with a key.  It also has been sticking and you have to kick it hard to open it.  This is always a good impression when selling a house. We could put a sign up, KICK HARD TO OPEN.  What do you think?

     Yesterday I took a large bag of spag/marinara sauce I had made and frozen out of the freezer and made a large pot of pasta.  We ate on it last night and I will take this to my friend for her dinner.  I will make a batch of french bread later today. I have to think of something for dessert and may just go ahead and make a cake.

     The littles are here and they are fighting over the same toys, what fun.  It is tag team wrestling here at grandma Kim's.

  So today's plan to move forward is, survive the littles:), bake bread and a dessert, take Addy to dance, drop off dinner, hem two pairs of suit pants, finish some curtain panels, and paint all the edges and corners of downstairs bedroom.

     Tomorrow I will be busy in the shop and I will need to move all the furniture out of the downstairs bedroom and paint.  We will also have to take a load to the storage unit. So much to do.  Yikes.  I would also like to get the downstairs bath done this weekend.  I would just like the basement to be done so I can concentrate on the upstairs.

     Upstairs, it is the kitchen and the master bath that need the most work.  We also have  a great deal of painting to do in the front room and hall and then onto the outside.

     It is always an adventure here, but when you are trying to get things done and move forward without spending a bunch of money you have to expect the adventure.

Have a great and productive day staying positive while you are in the negative.

Kim

    

Tuesday, Bangings and doings...

     I finally got some sewing done yesterday, my oh my can I procrastinate when I want to.  We have a handy man here today and he has already replaced a light and is working on restoring some siding on a window in the kitchen.  Then he is onto the tile floor in the kitchen.  So the house is full of noise and hopefully progress.

     We need to use up our garden potatoes.  I pulled frozen corn and meat balls and marinara sauce out of the freezer.  I scrubbed and cooked up extra potatoes because the  chickens are really starting to lay again and we have a plethora of eggs.  One of our meals this week will be fried potatoes mixed with eggs and onions.  Use what we have and stay out of the stores. I must concentrate on using a good bushel of potatoes in the next month.

















       I almost forgot that good friends of ours brought over a stalk of brussel sprouts and I had them outside in the smoker.  Hubs found them yesterday, so I processed those and froze them. I love brussel sprouts roasted.  We will get at least 4 meals from this stalk.

     Today I will sew and I have to touch base with the carpet layers.  Also need to sand some of the spots in moms room that I have filled and perhaps touch up the paint.  Just waiting on a call from carpet company with their time frame.

     I did take a load of laundry to Lil sis's to dry last night and when I got home our 13 year old TV decided it would not switch channels any more. The remote will not make it switch nor will the manual button. You can still stream netflix and such on it but cannot get it to switch from the channel it is on.  Great!  Hubs watched the news on the internet last night.  I can get a small TV from Lil sis, and we do have a very small one hooked to the wall in moms bedroom but no cable hooked to it. I refuse to let hubs drill a hole into the middle of the wall.  He can do it right and proper or go without the news.  Don't worry he will figure it out.  I don't even mind him hiring this done, but he will not jury rig and mess into this basement.

     I also have to do some investigating of a new shower for the master bath, which looks like it is going to be a problem.  I will work on that after I get my sewing done today.

     So many irons in the fire, but we are getting some things done.  Thank goodness and our pocketbook.

Have a great and productive day staying positive while you are in the negative.

Kim

Monday, Monday's weekly What?

     I am going to try and start having regular weekly posts on What are you going to do this week to try and save money?
(while you accomplish something.)

     You know you have to plan, you can't just wing it and expect to save money. Well you can but it is harder.  I really think it takes a little planning.  You know how Sluggy plans her meals, and other also do this.  Now they don't always stick to the plan but it does help. Do you have a budget of how much you get to spend for the week? Do you know or have on hand what you will cook? Do you have any idea of what you will have to spend for the week and where you can shave off a few dollars?

     So these are some of the things that I plan to do this week to try and save money.

1. Cook all meals at home.

2. Use food from freezers and pantries to feed us and use up surplus.


3. Keep thermostat down a few degrees and wear sweaters and use blankets when we watch TV.  (It has been an unusually warm winter so far)

4. Have carpet laid in mom's room.  Save money, by removing the molding, painting and touching up the paint, painting and replacing new molding.Try and find molding scraps in garage so we don't have to buy any and if we do use a gift card for the purchase.

5. Sew, sew, sew.  I have been very lazy, yes lazy, I think paying off the house ruined my work ethic.  Like I need to have a fire under my feet to produce.

6. Only go to store for fresh food and milk.

     I am pulling Swedish meat balls from the freezer and scrubbing up some garden potatoes,also will pull frozen corn from freezer.  This should feed us for at least two meals.  Then I will scrounge something else.  We have plenty of cheese and boxes of crackers in the storage for snacks.

     By the end of the week I hope to return and report what I have accomplished and how it has saved us money.

     What things are you going to do?

Have a great and productive day staying positive while you are in the negative.

Kim

Saturday, So proud to me!

      Yesterday Hubs and I actually put the molding in the family room.  We did it!  All by ourselves.  This would not have been anything 20 years ago, but now it is quite an accomplishment.  It took us about 10 times as long and we were both a sweaty mess when it was done, but it is done!  I was very proud of us.  I was proud to me.

     After hubs tried to pound in the first nail, I realized this was not going to work.  Give a man a hammer that can't hold his hand still, pretty funny.  So I had to do all the nails, he did the cutting.  This was also hard with the shaking, but when he did not make a perfect cut I just sanded the corner until it fit smooth.  It took us a really long time but it is done!

     I now have to put press and seal down and carefully paint the boards.  We were not going to paint them, but the basement is SO NOT SQUARE that there was fill that had to be put in and that fill will discolor so I will go along and carefully paint this edging.

     Look we were even able to do corners and cut a hole for the TV antennae.  Hubs and I used to do major remodeling work years ago, but with both of us so arthritic and his tremors we have given up most of this.  However as we need to sell the house and money is not growing on any trees around here, it is nice to know we can do some of these things, although they are much harder to do now.

     So today, I am going to do a little more filling and then put strips of press and seal on the carpet and paint this, then we can put the room back and call it DONE!

     I do have a bride coming from out of town at one, and I have to do a couple of loads of laundry today. But I am just so ecstatic that we were able to do this at no cost to us.  The trim boards were in the garage. We did not hire this done.  Such a savings.

     Now I am going to get to work, and later this afternoon carefully remove all the molding in mom's large bedroom downstairs as they are going to replace the carpet this week.  Some of the molding is water damaged and will need to be replaced.  There are several nail holes that need to be filled.  I found the paint in the garage for touch up and will try some today.  If it is discolored I will need to quickly paint that room before the carpet goes in, as I am a very sloppy painter.  I hope the paint is okay that would be such a blessing.

     Well I am off to get me chores done.  Moving forward.  What are you doing today?  Anything fun or exciting?

Have a great and productive day staying positive while you are in the negative.

Kim