Monthly Archives: August 2009

Moved

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We just loaded up the 2nd 4-vehicle caravan of the day. The house is empty, except for some cleaning supplies and food in the freezer. Everyone else has left, but I stayed behind to post one last message before I am without internet for a week or two-
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I will try to get a blog post with pictures to update everyone on the renos, but for now I will leave you with this:
Leaving behind 5 years of memories is hard, even when you are moving on to greater things. Nothing will replace your first home, where you brought your babeez home for the first time. And as much as I swore up and down that I hated living here, I will truly miss this house.
Wish us luck as we start the final phase of Operation Acreage :)

Moving Day

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I have moved many times in my life. The acreage marks the 12th place I have lived in 28 years. I have packed my belongings and moved across the country, across the province, across town. I have almost always enjoyed moving. And tomorrow, oh my goodness, is finally our long-awaited Moving Day!
It is a day that we have been looking forward to for a very, very long time.
It is a day that we thought would be many years in the future. Who would have guessed that we would have found our acreage so soon?
And yet, I am sad tonight.
Sad, because this is the last night that I will sleep in our duplex. Our entire relationship has evolved in this home, quite literally. Leith & I started dating on November 27, 2004; he & Mike moved in to the duplex on December 4, 2004.
We dated here, we broke up here, we reconciled here, we were engaged here, we were married here, we were pregnant here, we brought our girls home to here.
I’ve endured more trials and tribulations in this house than I ever thought imaginable. I remember when we lived downstairs and our roommates partied all night, dragging their chairs across the kitchen floor. I remember the disgusting “boys” bathroom upstairs, wearing flipflops to take a shower. I remember Leith’s bedroom upstairs, and how it would be so cold in the winter (and yet now, as our nursery, it is never cold). I remember when those were the problems in my life!
I remember painting our bedroom when the duplex was finally only ours. No more roommates! The ownership, after years of living in other people’s houses, of choosing my own paint colors. And then the sudden decision, the weekend before the wedding, to paint the entire house for the gift opening!
The thrill of putting away our wedding gifts and getting rid of the remnants of our bachelorhood. The joy of seeing a little “+” on the stick, and painting the nursery yellow & green.
My yellow kitchen.
The crazy basement shower.
The past 5 years of my life have grown in this home.
Leith isn’t even home tonight. His last night was last night, and we hadn’t decided that tonight would be our last night.
My house is in boxes, the closets are empty. The kitchen is still a disaster of trying to live while pack at the same time.
Everything is waiting … the new chapter is about to begin.
And yet, I am sad.

Renos Day 14 & 15

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I am soooooo slacking right now. I am supposed to be finishing up packing for our marathon moving session tomorrow, but instead I am blogging.
There is a point during packing (& also un-packing) where you get down to the piddly little stuff and you just can’t work up the enthusiasm to keep putting junk in boxes.
Where are my matches???
(Just kidding. I think…)
Anyway, here is your daily dose of buggy-goodness :)


Day 14:
Thursday was one of those uber-productive days that left me feeling like I accomplished nothing. I think I’m starting to crack…
I managed to get all the Ikea doors, shelves and drawers on with the exception of the blasted corner cupboard which was missing the one freakin’ screw I needed to finish installing the freakin’ drawer!

Sigh.


Our faboosh bathroom guy finished tiling the tub surround in the main bathroom:
Seriously though, I was supposed to have seven screws, and they only gave me six. This whole “special corner cupboard” makes me want to throw things. Screw you, Ikea.
(Ba ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!)

Day 15:
TODAY was more productive-er than yesterday. Leith and I met the flooring installers in the morning and got everyone up and running. Then we headed to Rona, where I proceeded to have a complete and utter meltdown while looking at bolts.
Yes, people. After 6 months of more stress than I have ever handled in my life, I finally snapped at Rona because I didn’t know what the effin’ difference between an M6 and a 3/16 bolt is Leith, dammit!!!
And I cried the whole way back to the acreage.
We knew it would happen sooner or later. My dearest Gramma apparently bet on sooner.
Anyway…

When we got back, Levi came over and helped Leith move our beautiful appliances up the stairs and into the kitchen. No appliances were hurt, so no one died.




(do not ask why this shot was so poorly centered.)

I mastered the stoopid flippin’ corner cupboard that caused me to go to Rona in the first place to find a suitable replacement (instead of driving alllll the way to Ikea, which would have been inconvenient compared to melting down in public…).
The fun didn’t stop with the bolt though – it is definitely one of those stupid Ikea cabinets that requires you to install every little interior fitting before you do anything else with your life, lest you spend hours upon hours attempting to fit things together properly afterwards.
And no, I couldn’t just take it apart and start from scratch, because the tile floors have matching toekicks that are grouted both to the cabinet and the floor. It’s kinda permanent…
But I got it done.
And after typing all that, I realized that I did NOT upload the proper picture. This is the other half of the kitchen, showcasing my beautiful refrigerator.
Whatever.

The bathroom guy did the flooring in the main bathroom, and the full surround and flooring in our ensuite. It looks pretty spanky :)
I could only get a shot of the main bathroom though, because the flooring guys had to pour concrete filler everywhere to level the floor, finishing in the hallway:

Why on earth they didn’t send someone out to do this before the installation is beyond me, but whatever. Now the floors won’t be finished until Tuesday, but we need to be out of here by Sunday night. Hrmmm.
They were able to start laying the wood in the office and the bugz’ room though. I’m starting to actually imagine living here now!!

Tomorrow is epic Move In Day. We are taking truck load upon truck load of junk out to the acreage all day tomorrow. I don’t know where we will actually live, seeing as the flooring in the bedrooms was supposed to be done today, but I guess we’ll figure something out … After my meltdown, I have a little more room for chaos again!
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Gratitudes

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I am grateful for a lot right now, but I am so exhausted that I honestly can’t remember enough for a list.

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Besides the fact that I am 3 days late in posting this.
(I almost left that sentence as “I am 3 days late”, but then I realized what THAT sounded like, and hurriedly backed my cursor up, lest wild rumors begin to fly!!! Yikes!)

ANYWAY.
I am grateful for my parents’ and in-laws’ help, for Leith’s patience, for the bugz, and for the fact that I have survived the last 6 months’ insanity without becoming an alcoholic.
Yet.

Renos … still … Days 11-13

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Good lord, I am exhausted.
I am more tired than I ever was when the bugz were first born, than I ever was during those 10 months of sleepless nights.
Newborn twins are easier than renovating an entire home in 17 days!
Day 11:
Monday was the day the bathrooms began!! Woo! But I didn’t take any pictures. I can’t remember why because I’m tired.
I did take this photo of the bugz though:

We were waiting, waiting, waiting for the bathroom installer to show up. We were told 8-9am, but he didn’t show up until 9:30am. He missed the turn-off and went about 15 minutes down the road before he turned around. But once he got there, he was great! He has a very thick eastern European accent, and I can barely understand him, but he showed me an easier way to paint my rooms so it’s all good ;)
Totally off-topic, I know…
Anyway, on Monday, the bathrooms were started and we got the upper cabinets installed! I also went to Ikea to purchase the rest of my kitchen, sans children. Ikea is very pleasant without kids!! Woo-hoo! I took these pictures on Tuesday morning – shh, don’t tell!



Day 12:
On Tuesday, bathroom guy continued his work and Tile-boy came out to lay the kitchen floor! He also had a ridiculously thick accent, and he blasted 90′s Euro-pop from his car speakers all day :) :) It was great!
This is our one-ton truck. I don’t know if it’s a metric tonne or an imperial ton, but it holds a lot of garbage and has been an absolute necessity for 2 renovations. This weekend, it will be delegated to “moving truck” – I had to take a picture of it so that my Gramma would realize that everything will be held securely in it!
This is our firepit. Totally random, I know, but I thought I’d show you what’s left of our pine paneling and plank flooring. This is but a small, small fraction of the total amount of wood that was removed from our 1972 Original. That is a lot of wood, people.
The be-pigtailed bugz played on the deck while their daddy worked. We traded off bug-duty for the afternoon until they became grouchy and unruly. They are sick right now, which is not convenient for any of us – the full meal deal too: noses, coughs, sneezes, pukes and poops. Lovely, lovely bugz.

The main bathroom was drywalled by the time I packed the bugz up yesterday afternoon, and the kitchen floor was tiled and ready for grout. I managed to get the girls’ room almost finished – just one more coat of blue paint to go:


Day 13:
Today was a very difficult day. Leith worked all day, and I had both bugz. There was very little work to do in the house, as the bathroom and kitchens were being worked on and the bugz would not sleep. Not fun!
I tried everything – trapping them in the back of the van, going for a drive, making them put rocks in a bucket… :


But regardless, after the longest day of my life, my kitchen tile is grouted (by another thick-accented European!!), my bathrooms are ready to be tiled and the 2nd coat of blue has been painted in the bugz’ room. I measured for baseboards as well!


And my hardwood arrived!!! Oooohhhh!! They will start installing it on Friday and finish on Monday. My bathroom installer is a bit miffed about that, as he doesn’t see how he can possibly work if they are installing the flooring, but I’m sure we will all figure it out somehow ;)

I made a couple of trips back and forth today. I had to pick up the extra bathroom tiles and haul some boxes.
The bugz’ have been surprisingly helpful. We managed to pack nearly our entire kitchen and both bathrooms. All that is left is linens, towels and clothes. Oh ya, and furniture ;) But I think it will feasibly be done by Sunday! And I’m cleaning as I go, so that I will literally only have to mop/vacuum/sweep when we are done.
And if you had any doubt, here is proof that my sweet bugarooz are having fun while the insanity swirls around them:


Leith is at the acreage right now steam cleaning the basement carpets. On the list for tomorrow: run to Rona for baseboards and closet organizers, install the shelves and doors on my kitchen cabinets, and clean up for the flooring installation on Friday!
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Ten days in!

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It’s been 10 days, and we’re still married.

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Ha, ha, ha…
Today might have been one of those days where you yell at your spouse because you can’t yell at the person you want to yell at.
Not that we ever do that…
But the day is now coming to an early close, and all is well. Much was accomplished! We put the 2nd coat of paint on the kitchen, living room and hallway. The first coat was painted in the office and our bedroom. My dad got both bathrooms taped and plastered. I built all our base cabinets for the kitchen, and Leith’s dad built all the wall cabinets.
Leith made a couple trips to Rona, and I made an absolutely useless trip to Ikea to return what we thought was the wrong sink cabinet. As it turns out, after waiting to exchange it and then waiting for the kitchen employees upstairs for a total of over 30 minutes … sigh … we had the right cabinet all along. It seems that you cannot follow the directions that come with the cabinet; you must follow the directions that come with the sink. Which, unless you’re overzealous, I’m thinking that you wouldn’t necessarily open the sink and read the directions before you built your cabinet to set it into… But I digress. The base cabinets are installed, and the toekicks are in place, ready for the ceramic tile to be laid!
A story, in pictures:
Our wall cabinets, waiting…

Our master bedroom after the 1st coat:

The trim is done on the top half of the bugz’ room:

The kitchen evolution:

Plans for tomorrow?? Well, the bathroom guy is coming, and the flooring guy is coming! I am going to put the 2nd coats on in office and master bedrooms, put the 1st coat on the top half of the bugz’ room, and count the number of electrical plugs and switches we need!
Tuesday will be just as exciting! I am going to vacuum the basement, including all the nasty cobwebs in the storage rooms, paint the 2nd coat of the top half of the bugz’ room, and maybe pull up the peel-and-stick tile in the laundry room if I am feeling ambitious.
Leith and I have a hot date at the Big & Rich concert Tuesday. What a nice (and much needed) surprise :)

Renos Day 9

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9 days down … 7 more to go!
I am finally at the stage where I feel like we might just accomplish this gigantic task on time. Things are being rebuilt instead of demolished, so the progress is more notable each day. I like being able to see the results of our hard work!
We started Day 9 off with a trip to Ikea with my dad to get (most of) the rest of our kitchen cabinets. In case you were wondering, the 8′ butcher block countertops are really flippin’ heavy!!!
My dad got to practice tying knots … (No comment…) :
The bugz were very good the entire trip, not at all like Thursday’s visit ;)
Leith’s mom finished priming the living room and dining room for me, and Leith installed the new light fixtures and ceiling fan. I painted our kitchen and dining room green, and the hallway and living room a very light yellow. It’s all starting to come together:




My Ikea cabinets are patiently waiting for assembly:

Tomorrow we are tackling the rest of the painting (hopefully 2 coats everywhere!!) and the beginnings of the kitchen!
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Renos Day 6, 7 & 8!

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Well, well, well! Look who’s back on her renovation game!
After a few days off (well, off the physical labour end of things…), I was back at the acreage today! I had sent my camera out with Leith on Wednesday, but I forgot both days to send him a memory card. Oops!
So here’s the run-down of Wednesday & Thursday at the acreage :)
*ceilings primed and painted
*all light fixtures and switch covers removed
*bathroom drywall almost complete
*kitchen cupboards & counters torn out, decided to by a whole new Ikea kitchen…
*subfloor installed in the kitchen/dining room
Poor Leith!! That rotten subfloor took him over 14 hours to put in! He was beyond exhausted when I got there this afternoon, and I sent him straight home. I am so lucky to have such a hard-working husband. He did an absolutely amazing job too!
While he slaved away this morning, I was stuck at home with the bugz waiting for our bathroom vanities to be delivered. While the girls pretended to nap, I finally worked up the energy to start packing:

I managed to box up the main floor bathroom and everything in the kitchen that wasn’t food or breakable. I need to pick up some newsprint to wrap my dishes in…
After the vanities arrived, we headed to Rona for our daily gong-show. My dad met us there, because the back of sweet Constance was full of those vanities, so we needed a pack mule for the paint. I picked out all my paint (which will be a surprise) and all my lighting, along with this fantastic mirror:
Grand total? $750. Not too shabby. It would have been even better if I’d brought my wallet with me… So there we were, with 2 full shopping carts and 2 little bugz, holding up the cash line. We had to drive all the way back to my house to pick up my wallet and back to Rona to pay for everything. It was a 40 minute round trip. Grr. I was NOT impressed with myself!!! I was so embarrassed. The people at Rona were great though – they kept my carts safe until I came back.
When we finally got out to the acreage, the girls were SO HAPPY to see their daddy :) :) We brought him some lunch (even though it was nearly dinner time), and sent him on his way.
My bathroom supplies were delivered today:
Meanwhile, my mom & dad were out to help me. My mom washed all the walls for painting, after I sanded those 10 million nail holes, plus the inch of plaster Leith used in the kitchen (!!! He is NOT allowed to use drywall compound for that very reason…):
(I’m keeping one wall of paneling for texture, but I am painting it)

My dad finished drywalling the ensuite:

I took a picture of my cabinets, waiting to be assembled and installed!:

Everything under the sun has been moved into the living room for the time being! We needed the entire kitchen floor cleared for the subfloor installation. I’m thinking we might be able to move some back now that it’s done… :

This is, without a doubt, the greatest inside joke in my family’s history:
But he IS the lamp!

LOL!!!
Anyway, all joking aside, we managed to wash and prime every room but the dining room and living room!
(office, formerly blue with wainscotting):

(kitchen)

Here’s a quick “before” of our kitchen:
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That’s about it for now! My dad & I are going to Ikea tomorrow morning to pick up the rest of my kitchen cabinets. Leith will head back out to finish the bathroom plumbing and install all my lighting :) I’ll be out just after noon to finish priming the living room & dining room, and then I will start painting. I am so excited!!!
Stay tuned for more fun :)
PS, all 3 of us ruined our pants with paint…

tired

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we are tired over here. too tired to properly capitalize our words. bad grammar, people. that’s what renovating an acreage will do to you…

tired.
you would think that after only 4 hours of sleep on wednesday night (thursday morning?), i would have fallen fast asleep the second my head hit the pillow. nope.
instead, i was missing my bugz so i brought them to bed with me. they were fast asleep, but i couldn’t fall asleep. i tossed and turned for about 4 hours, but i didn’t want to put them back in their cribs. i’m missing my cuddle time with them. they’re missing their momma & daddy.
i’m missing their daddy too! he’s been sleeping out there the last 2 nights, working from 7am-11pm almost. he’s working SO HARD. (there, i had enough energy to use some caps…) i am forcing him to take the afternoon off once he is finished putting the subfloor in the kitchen.
note to all home renovators of the future: 1/4″ plywood that needs to be screwed every 4″ down & across will take you about 90 minutes per 4′x8′ board. soooo, 12 boards will take you approximately the rest of your life. pay the extra to have your flooring contractor install it.
happy things: my bathroom vanities will be arriving between 10am-2pm today, which is why i’m sitting at home instead of busting my tail out at the acreage. my mom & i are going to wash the walls tonight so that we can be done priming everything & have the kitchen painted by sunday! woot.
that’s another happy thing: my mom is coming out to help me tonight after work. yay!
i gave my mother-in-law the day off today too. she has been looking after the girls and helping leith every day since we took possession. in the past 2 days, she helped leith prime & paint all our ceilings and took down all the light fixtures for me.
i’m going to bring a memory card out with me tonight so that i can take pictures of the progress and give you a better update! lots has been happening :)
oh, and kit-kat had the most disgusting temper tantrum i have ever witnessed for 2 hours at ikea yesterday. not cool. i feel bad for her though – she is such a sensitive soul, and i’m sure this chaos is getting to her. tantrums aside, both bugz have been holding up well to the change. i think this weekend will be a turning point for all of us, and they will get the love and cuddles they need.

Thursday morning blagh

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Oh my…
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*No pictures to update yet. I was granted the day off from physical labour, but I more than made up for it with mental effort. Yikes. I did drive all the way to my mother-in-law’s house to give her my camera to take out, but didn’t put a memory card in it! Oh well. I’ll be out at the acreage by 9am, so I’ll do some quick “this is what happened yesterday” photos!
*The batteries in my toothbrush died a week ago. I’ve been using Leith’s. He doesn’t know. I got over the ick-factor on Saturday…
*Somehow we went from Only Bathrooms & Floors to Let’s Do the Kitchen While We’re At It. And that somehow turned from Let’s Refinish the Kitchen to Let’s Put in a Whole New Ikea Kitchen! Oh, and we decided this at 7pm last night … so I went with my mom & the bugz to Ikea, drove out to the acreage to get measurements, and stayed up until 2am building my kitchen online. I’m exhausted this morning, but excited. I’m off to Ikea later this morning to meet with a consultant to make sure I have all the right components, and then we are off and running. Unfortunately, stinkin’ Ikea uses a flash player for their photos, so I can’t steal a copy of the kitchen I chose. You’ll just have to wait for the finished product!
*Dear lord, I am exhausted!!! I’m actually afraid to make a coffee for fear that it may backfire and put me in a coma… My mother-in-law is coming to get the girls between 2-3pm today, which means that if I can survive the next 8 hours, I can have a nap before work…
*Leith is doing an AMAZING job on our new home. Really, truly, honestly. He is working longer days than he usually does at work – starting at 7am and closing up between 7-8pm. Last night, he was out there until 10:30pm, stayed at Levi’s and will be back there by 8am. I am so immensely grateful for his help.
*Tired…
*I can’t believe how well the bugz are adapting to this insanity! They have been unreal. Robot-babeez! They been shipped around and shuffled all over, and yet they are happier and more agreeable than ever. Thank goodness. They are such little sweethearts :)
*I need a secondary droid-brain to get me through the rest of this month. That being said, it will be wonderful once we are done this renovation. This entire year of $&*! has driven us to this acreage, so I am grateful for the stress and insanity. Life will be so quiet without the stress of vacancies, renovations, stolen trucks and bikes … you get the idea. I will only have one job and two bugz to care for. No more juggling my time. Just living. Ahhh.
Hang on kids, cuz my life is about to get goooood. :)