My beautiful mermaid

My darling husband told me I could do whatever I wanted in the guest bedroom. So, of course, it has a mermaid theme. I really wanted a mermaid painted on the wall but I have no artistic talent. Enter: Stephanie. My little sister Stephanie is very talented. Check out these pictures and you will agree with me.

The outline.

I had an idea of how I wanted the mermaid to look; I found a picture online so that's my Macbook open to the picture.

I love her hair.

Steph worked really hard on my mermaid and you can tell. She did a some different color blending and shading and it really pops. If anyone needs something painted on a wall (nursery?) she's willing to charge like $50. That's ridiculously low if you ask me, but she's still in college, so I think it'll help build up her portfolio.

Christmas lights and the toilet

I had some time off and was able to cross quite a bit off my to-do list. One thing Joseph and I had yet to tackle was hanging Christmas lights. I knew we were going to install a new toilet Saturday, and then the Holiday party for work was Saturday night, so I decided to surprise Joseph and hang the lights myself on Friday. Luckily, my sister Steph offered to help me out.

Hanging Christmas lights.

Steph up on the roof.

The Christmas lights was a fairly easy project; there wasn't really any large disaster....other than being unable to find the lights I wanted. But the next day was Toilet Day.

I watched a video online about how to replace a toilet....it looked super easy. The video was a minute and a half long. Piece of cake, right?

Uh-huh. Because my projects always go just how they should.

The old toilet.

We got the old toilet up and I told Joseph, "We have a problem."
The flange is completely rusted.

I cut myself pretty bad ripping out the old flange.

Joseph screwing in the bottom.

New toilet.

I'm not even going to go into everything that went wrong on this project. I just hope we installed it correctly. My biggest fear as a homeowner is that I have mold growing in my walls or some slow rot somewhere that I won't be able to see until my house collapses.

But let's think positive.

If something is missing....

I had today off from work, and I got to spend some time with my Mom, Grandma and Dano. It was a fun day; we went to World Market, Pier One, Styles for Less, and Walmart in the little shopping center by my house.

At Walmart, my mom picked something up (I cannot tell you what it is because Santa is going to be bringing it for the Nelsen family) and Dano and I said, "I thought you have one of those."

Nope, she gave it to Megan (sister Megan, lives in Texas).

I said, "Didn't you need my scotcheroo recipe because you gave the cookbook it was in to Megan?" We are noticing a pattern.

A couple minutes later we were walking through the seasonal area, and I noticed a train set. I said, "Mom, whatever happened to your train set?"

Dano said, "She gave it to Megan."

Dano was joking, my mom just can't find it....it might be in the garage or the black hole she calls a closet, but the train set hasn't been seen in a few years. My mom just cracks me up; she will give you the shirt off her back if she thinks you want it.

The Nightmare of the Closet Doors

One thing that has been driving me nuts since we bought our house is the closet in the guest bedroom. When we first did the walk-through, it looked like the doors were just off the track; I figured it would be easy enough to put them back up. When we moved it, I tried putting the doors back on the track. Well, I couldn't. The track was bent up really badly. OK, so next step. Buy a new track. I measured the doors, took my measurements to Lowe's....they did not have a large enough track. I took my measurements to Home Depot and the guy sold me a track.

"Are you sure this is big enoug?" I asked the guy. "My doors are an inch and a half thick and this says 1 3/8."

Home Depot man is sure.

Well, guess what. Track is 48" long and my closet opening is 45 1/2. All I have to do is cut it with a hack saw, easy as pie according to Home Depot guy.

I don't know who can cut through that with a hack saw but Joseph and I could not.

I was able to use my dremel tool, but that took me a good 15 minutes...and it was 15 minutes where I was a little scared that I was going to cut myself or get hit with a flying shard.

So I have my new track cut, I screw it into my closet (which is not easy....your arms start to feel funny for lack of blood flow from holding them up with a heavy drill) and I get my closet doors.

The closet doors go up. And they won't move because they are too close together. I force the front one to move and I end up scratching up the back one with the screws from the wheels.

DANGIT! The stupid track is too small and no one has one big enough. And Home Depot guy is an idiot. And I am an idiot for believing him.

Next step, buy new, smaller closet doors. Now, I waited a couple months because I was just sick of it. But Joseph's family is coming into town and his brother and sister are going to be staying with us, so we have been working on the guest bedroom. It is painted (see previous post) and we decided we would tackle the closet doors finally. We got two doors at Lowe's and some door pulls.

I am drilling a hole in the door for my door-pull.

I had to use a screwdriver to pop out the wood so that I could put my door-pull in.

It looks GOOD.

Here is Joseph screwing on the wheels to the top. We figured we were almost done. Oh, but it just can't be that easy. We got the doors into the house (we drilled the holes in the garage) and put the back one on. We were not able to get the outside door on. We pushed and pulled, grunted and swore for about half an hour. Why did the bigger doors go up but my smaller ones won't??? Finally, I stood the door up and took a look at it. The wheels would not meet the track....the track was too close to the front facade (see below picture for the facade). The reason the wheel on the old doors worked was because the metal bent forward so that the door was further back, away from the facade.

So, we had to move the track.

Unscrewing the track so that we can screw it back in.

The doors are FINALLY up!!! That is Joseph peeking out.

And you know what, they're not even painted. I don't even care anymore....we'll do it later. I am just SO HAPPY we have closet doors. I may have cried a little. And they are flush to the wall so we did a DANG good job.

Busy Saturday

My work has a Season of Sharing. We "adopt" children and purchase Christmas presents and do other nice volunteer work. This year, we also were responsible for a Christmas tree at a Children's hospital. Everyone made a little snowman decoration (that was our theme) and a group of us went Saturday morning to decorate the tree.

After the tree decoration, I ran to Target to get a gift for Danielle's baby shower later that night and then headed home.

I left Joseph an item on his honey-do list; to paint the guest bedroom. His family is coming for Christmas and we are going to have his brother Michael and his wife Sarah staying with us (the rest of the family will stay in the house they still have here in Phoenix). When we first painted our house, we painted every room except the two bedrooms (one is a guest bedroom and the other is an office) and the laundry room. Painting EVERY other room in the house was just
exhausting; we had to stop somewhere and we were ready to move in already. But it looks FABULOUS. And Joseph has some mad painting skills; he refused to take the outlet covers off the wall because he can just paint around them.

Here he is painting the corner without any tape. It looks like a professional job. Just so you know, I helped when I got home. I did the baseboards, windowsill and other small areas that he couldn't get with the roller.

Just when we finished with the bedroom, we had to clean up and leave for the baby shower.
One thing I love about my department is that if there is ever a baby shower/housewarming/etc., the people really come through for you. I know they did when Joseph and I had our housewarming this summer, and they really came through for Danielle and Brannon....they got some AWESOME stuff!

Jen put the kids to work handing out the presents. Here is Danielle and Brannon, the proud soon to be parents.

After the baby shower it was kind of late, but Lowe's was still open, so we picked up our Christmas tree. I didn't get any pictures of it...I have no idea why because I am crazy about Christmas.

One blessing in disguise; I already have most of the homework for this week done because I accidentally did it two weeks ago! And while it was an aggravation two weeks ago, it is REALLY nice this weekend, because I have a test next week. I'm pretty sure having homework, a test, and my busy Saturday would just put me over the edge stress-wise.

Moving furniture

My mom and I were lugging a desk up the stairs, and as always seems to happen, in the middle of the staircase we both got the giggles.

Laughing while trying to move furniture just makes it harder. I have no idea why I always start cracking up, but I do.

So we are laughing, and my grandma is watching us stand in the middle of the staircase, holding the desk, not moving at all, and she says, "Hold on Deidre, I'll come up there and help you!"

My grandma weighs 80 pounds.

Mom and I really lost it and I had to put my end down on the stairs before I dropped it.

Sighhhhh

I do not have much time these days. I have been wondering if I bit off more than I can chew. My finance class is really tough, and the homework takes me quite a few hours to do. Well, I also signed up for a cake decorating class (which I have been wanting to do FOREVER) but the timing was just....not the best.

I didn't realize the prep work that went into a cake decorating class. You have to bake a cake, make frosting to frost the cake, and make additional frosting (in thick, medium, and thin consistencies) to then decorate the cake. It takes awhile. And since my cake decorating class is Monday nights, that night is shot for homework, so I have really been trying to manage my time.

To top everything off, I was doing my fiance homework this weekend and I was almost done....and on Monday I found out I had done the homework for week six.

We are on week four.

So. Cake decorating class Monday night. Tried to do a few problems after, ended up finishing it Tuesday night. Had to work Wednesday because of the holiday (love the paid holidays, but it screws up my schedule and I lose my Wednesdays off....if you want to know why ask me and I'll get into it further....if you don't care I won't). So I had to work today and go to school after rushing to finish my rather difficult homework last minute. I have been a bit grumpy the past few days and Joseph is such a sweetie.

The good news? I got my test from last week back and I got a 106.79%!!! Woot woot!

I am rather proud of myself.

And despite what my mother will tell you, I don't think I am smart. I just work hard.

I have pictures to post of my little stray cat I am trying to befriend (his name is Tag) and also pictures of Joseph and Patrick when they were treating the house for termites....I'll get around to it eventually.

And since the beginning of my post is a little negative and whiny, let me throw out a positive note: Robert and Patrick, you are two of my favorite people. Joseph's brother Robert came out Saturday morning and helped him rip out the backyard. Robert then stayed and helped Joseph and Patrick treat the house for termites. Two very wonderful boys.

This one's for Kristi

BlackCat Boots

Look at the little stinker.

Check out those blue eyes.

BlackCat Boots is really attached to Joseph. If I can't find him, I just look for Joseph.

He was batting Joseph's foot and challenging it to fight.

The Babies

This is why I don't get anything done and my house is a mess. Look at these cuties!

They like the crotch-area. I don't know why.

It's not just my crotch. Apparently any crotch will do.

I started laughing and they all stopped what they were doing to stare at me.

What day is it?

I am tired. I have to plan my life so far ahead that some days I think it's already Thursday....but it is Tuesday. I have a final tomorrow that I have been studying non-stop for. The stinking professor doesn't lecture; she assigns group presentations and that takes up the entire class period. I have about nine different chapters to sort through.....I have exchange rates and fiscal policy and market structure information floating around in my head right now.

And all I want to do is make booties. I have to say that I am rather proud of my self-control. I am withstanding the urge to make booties. My Mom bought a little book that has ten different bootie designs and I have made two so far. That reminds me, I have been meaning to photo copy the book so I can give it back to her.....

I have been meaning to post pictures of the booties....and the kitties for that matter....but between my busy weekend and my cramming for my final, I just haven't found the time.

I am really looking forward to taking tomorrow off and spending some time with my Mom.

More Home Improvement

Joseph and I did some home improvement this weekend.

We went to Lowe's and got two new fans. There is a lamp there that I have had my eye one for awhile, and there was a display on sale for $20 less, so I got my beautiful lamp. Joseph is modeling the lamp shade here. :)

Here is one of the old fans; we have two of these in our house and they are ugly. Plus, neither one had lights. We could have added light kits, but I didn't like the fans to begin with.

I put the first part of this fan together to be hung up. Joseph and I learned the hard way that if you drop a screw, it can fall into those little holes. We found that out when we put up Jennifer's fan. (Don't worry Jennifer, I was able to get the screw out...Almost got my finger stuck but it turned out alright.) Joseph came up with the idea to put cling-wrap on the fan, shown here.

Here is the finished product. Isn't it sooo much better?

Joseph installing the new switch, so we can control the light dimming and speed of the fan from the wall.

We had a bit of trouble with the first one...I have come to expect some sort of snag or another as we install something new. On the first fan, the plastic clip for the light kit was slightly warped. Joseph was having a really hard time getting it to connect. He was getting tired, so I gave it a try. I was struggling with it too, but in looking at it, I figured if I could get the corner in first and then stretch it out, the other little pieces would slid into place. Joseph was hovering near the foot of my ladder, saying, "I don't think you're going to get it. Let me try, you're probably tired. It's too warped to fit properly." I said, as nicely as I could, "Joseph! Could you please think positively!" He smiled and said, "You're right, I'm sorry. You will get it in."

Two seconds later the plastic clips snapped together.

The second fan went much more smoothly, and we finished it in half the time that it took us for the first.

Now, we just need to switch out the lighting in the kitchen, living room, and outside....

And I just want to take a second to express appreciation for Joseph. I had to work this Saturday, and we had friends coming over for dinner after I got off work, so I asked him to clean the house and also to fix our bedroom door.

Our bedroom door hinge is not screwed in tightly enough, and the door sags down so that you can't close it properly. We screwed the screw in tighter, thinking that was the problem, but it came back out again; the hole is too large for the screw. It has been driving me nuts since we moved in. Joseph fixed that while I was at work. He also cleaned the entire house, went grocery shopping, and made dinner.

I got such a sweetie nerd-boy Handyman. :)

I would like to add, that I don't usually have a honey-do list for Joseph, because we do it together. I think we are a good team.

Handy(wo)man

Today I unclogged my sink drain. I am glad I learned how to take apart a U-bend because Joseph a) doesn't know how and b) has no desire to learn how. Not that you couldn't probably figure it out pretty easily.

I can still be proud of myself if I want to. The water goes down the drain very nicely now that I cleaned out all the junk and hair.

I don't have any particular pictures to post; I showed Joseph the hair-clogged drainer-stopper and his reaction was, "What is that? Ew! Ugh! Go do something with that!" as he turned his head away so he didn't have to see it.

That's alright. When he hit his head on a nail yesterday, I couldn't look at the blood.

He hit his head on a nail tromping around in the attic. He calculated and measured to figure out where in the attic to drill to have the ethernet go through the wall and come out of a hole he drilled in the den. Then he drilled another hole to have it come out into the office. So he now has internet hooked up to his X-box. He has a specific reason why he didn't want it wireless...I don't remember. He uses big nerdy words that i don't fully understand.

I'd like to think we're both pretty handy.....

Monster Fridge

Look at that handsome boy washing the dishes.

There is the very narrow kitchen entry.

Old fridge that is now sitting in my living room....does anyone need a fridge?

We cleaned it.

New Monster Fridge.

It has an ice maker AND an interior water dispenser. Woo hoo!

Are you sick of kittens yet?

Boots wandered too far outside of the nest so Mama

picked him up to take him back home.

I was trying to make a card but Monster wanted to

check out what I was doing. Callie was curious too.

Sorry about the leg shot...I wore that skirt to work

with my new shoes. Everyone complimented me

on my skirt but no one noticed my shoes!

Two very lovable kittens.

Growing kittens

I was trying not to name the kittens since I am just giving them away, but

they have such distinct little personalities that I couldn't resist.

This is sweet little Callie. I still don't know what sex any of

the kittens are, but she is such a lady she just has to be a girl!

I call the grey one Hisser and the one peeking out from under Mom is

BlackCat Boots. The kittens are still nursing

but like to check out the food bowls.

Hisser climbing on me.

BlackCat Boots is very adventuresome and likes to climb.

The other one is Monster. He (she?) is the biggest and

fluffiest. And I think it's funny that I can say there is a

Monster in the closet. Although they only sleep

in there now.

They think I am a jungle gym.

Callie and Monster play-fighting.

Monster is kind of shy and likes to hide behind the corner.

Monster and Hisser play fighting.