Green is the grass. . .
. . . and dead is the lawn mower. The ignition cord broke late last summer, and Jeremy has been jury-rigging it ever since. You know, first he had to fiddle with it once a month, then every two weeks, then every time he mowed the lawn, and then today the cord broke off three times.
So it’s time for a new mower. (For the record, I’ve been offering Jeremy a new mower ever since the cord broke the first time, it’s been his choice to keep going!)
Apparently a mower is a mower is a mower, which makes for pretty simple shopping. I only spent about 1/2 hour on the research, even though a purchase over $100 usually warrants at least two hours in our house. And it looks like we can get a decent lawnmower, even in a month when we’re pinching pennies: a Craftsman push-mower with 21″ deck and a bag on the back. The name, deck width, and bag are all upgrades from what we had (no-name Home Depot), and we’re not paying a whole lot more than we did last time. That mower lasted 4 years with Jeremy’s belated TLC. I expect that this one will last at least that long.
And then it’s time to upgrade to that programmable robotic mower. . .
Saturday, 07/11/2009 - Written by Angela at 2:04 pm - 1 Comment - HomeWork, Our Little World, Toys & Gadgets - Permalink
Curtain conundrum
When we first moved into this house, we started paying down the short-term debt from our wedding. We did a good job.
Then we took a break, remodeled the bathroom, enjoyed some time with a little disposable income, and even added on to the house. Meanwhile, we’ve still been making payments on our student loans. About a year ago I noticed that the balance on one of Jeremy’s loans was under a thousand, and over time that started driving me crazy.
WE HAVE PICTURES!
Shouts out to Dave!
We’ve been so wrapped up in completing and living in our beautiful house that I believe I’ve neglected to mention the very first person who made it possible. BNB Builders were wonderful (Brian and Benny Laliberte, Claremont, NH), but from whom did we get their name?
That’s Dave Numme, folks, computer whiz. Jeremy used to work with him at Staples. Maybe I did mention this last winter - Dave read a blog we wrote about looking for a builder and shot off an email to Jeremy about BNB Builders. And without that email, none of this would have been possible.
Thank you so much Dave, for taking the time to put in a word. I’ve been wanting to invite you and your family over for dinner, but I hesitate because I know you’re so busy… I just want you to know that we haven’t forgotten, and we’ve been thinking of you with grateful hearts!
Sunday, 11/09/2008 - Written by Angela at 10:34 am - No Comments - Friends and Family, HomeWork - Permalink
We’ve got it all!
First, as you’ve probably noticed, we’ve had some trouble with our website: Site5 moved our site to another server, and in the process shut the whole thing down! It’s mostly working now; Jeremy only had to threaten to withdraw our business three times to get it done. So we’re still with Site5, but only for this last year, during which time we’re going to sign up with another service, get our site running, and then make the final switch when our prepayment runs out next fall. Fun stuff.
I had my second cataract surgery today, and this one went much better than the last. My vision is just unbelievably amazing now, although you can’t really grasp the change unless you have such terrible vision as I did. I was a -16 and am now a -3. I read the 20/25 line with my first eye last week, without glasses. Um yeah, amazing, considering that before the surgery I couldn’t read the big E. I could see it well enough to know that something was there, and of course I knew what it was, but I couldn’t physically read the letter. Two days ago, with correction, I read the OFDL line (20/20) without stumbling or hesitation, and then even the 20/15 line, for the first time EVER!!!
My new vision has its limitations, but I can now see well enough to walk around without glasses, so if I can ever find a dress I like, I can drop the geek look to go out dancing with Jeremy. Actually, seeing might make that harder….. I wonder how much of my learning to follow had to do with not being able to see where I was going? 
Our house is amazing. We’re trying to get around to taking pictures, but Jeremy has once again over committed himself (sigh, we go through this every year…), so we’re trying to knock off some of his responsibilities in order to get some of his life back first. Next step is to finish the church website.
We’ve been telling everyone that this house is completely and totally a God-thing. As far as I can tell, nobody believes us. But we know all of the little things that have come together. We know that we have real furniture, a more functional kitchen, and an excellent replacement for the dying washing machine; all the necessities and so many fun things, little and large, just exactly suited to us individually and together. We have every desire of our hearts in this house. And for his birthday, I get to give Jeremy another one. All of this, all of this, is completely and totally 100% paid for. We always had exactly what we needed when we needed it. Not only have we not accumulated any further short-term debt, but when all was said and done, we had also met our savings target. Any of you who have done a construction project know how easy it is to break the budget. We came in under. If that isn’t enough proof for you, consider this: we accepted a rate lock on our new mortgage of 6.375% on Wednesday. Our loan guy sent me an email late Thursday afternoon telling us he was able to change the locked rate to 6.25%. 6.25 is exactly where we started in May; it is simply unbelievable that with all the rate volatility of late, we ended up in the same place, and after we had agreed to a slightly higher one.
Anyway, the house is beautiful. For the first time ever, I am pleased and even proud to invite people to my home. Dinner is prepared in a full kitchen, and eaten on a real table. By real I mean standard height, solid wood, a leaf, and six padded chairs. We have two new, comfortable, good-looking living room chairs. The handmade oil-on-canvas copy of Monet’s Morning on the Seine at Giverny, 1896 which Jeremy gave me five years ago, is hanging on a wall in a public space for the first time ever. Our furniture matches, the propane stove is just too cozy to believe, and I am at this very moment enjoying the built-in sound system.
Interesting thing about that, btw - we’ve had to turn down the subwoofer we built into the master closet. Apparently, it’s using the entire closet as a resonating chamber. How cool is that? The sound is just awesome. Sometimes we crank it up and just sit on the couch, scrolling through our favorite (loud and bass-heavy) songs. Unfortunately, this impulse usually hits around nine at night….
A working website, functioning eyes, a beautiful house: we’ve got it all!
Friday, 11/07/2008 - Written by Angela at 2:16 pm - 1 Comment - HomeWork, Our Little World - Permalink
A capella hurts.
Wow, it’s been even longer than I thought. We’ve been so busy and tired that the website hasn’t even been a blip on the radar.
First, for the house: siding is finished, outside is cleaned up, inside is painted, and we’ve moved in. Heating stove is coming Tuesday, kitchen peninsula is going in this week, counter will be here the week after, and we’ll be closing on the loan sometime this month. Just in time for the really high interest rates. Although, it’s true they’ve been so volatile lately, and the country has been so messed up, that who knows where interest rates will be next week? So we still have time for God to come through for us on that one. And He has come through on so many things with this project that I’m not worrying any further than wondering. That’s good, that’s growth.
I’m halfway through homework for week 7 of 8 in my online class - and week 7 doesn’t start until tomorrow. So that’s almost over, and it’s good. This class wasn’t anywhere near so horrendous as the last one - this teacher is far, far more reasonable, and even posts the assignments the Saturday before the official start of the week (Monday), so I get to start on the weekend when I actually have time. What a relief it’s been. When the class is over I’m going to tell him so.
Have you ever cantored a Mass a capella? Well don’t. It’s brutal. Even when it’s a duet. We’ll be without an organ for at least four-six weeks, and let me tell you, rehearsing for an entire hour and then starting right into an hour-long Mass, dragging people along with nothing but your voice, is EXHAUSTING. By the time I got home I didn’t have enough energy to do anything but collapse on the couch. And it really hit home how weak my vocal apparatus has become. I couldn’t talk. I’m not singing this coming weekend, so I have two weeks to tweak my posture, strengthen my diaphragm, and do some very targeted practicing before I have to do this again. Work smart, not hard. The good news is that one hour of vocal rest gave me my voice back, singing included, so I didn’t do any significant damage, but still…. unnerving.
Really. Brutal.
So, hope you’re all well. Now I have to go catch up on like three weeks of the websites I usually follow.
Sunday, 10/12/2008 - Written by Angela at 5:19 am - No Comments - HomeWork, Our Little World - Permalink
The Good Stuff
Folks, things are really moving here in our wonderful world of construction. This past week, right after our entire week of painting, we’ve witnessed the birth of tiled floor, the delivery of a new washer and dryer, and even the installation of the laminate flooring, finishing up just this afternoon with the installation of the bamboo floor in the bedroom. It looks amazing. Really, really beautiful. It almost makes up for the disappointing tile. Well, ok, it more than makes up for the tile.
The pictures have petered out, in part because I am tired and don’t want to think about this more than I have to anymore, and also because Jeremy wants to “surprise” everyone. They’ll be back. You’ll have more than your eyes can handle in hopefully not more than a couple of weeks.
Brian and Benny are hoping to have the interior ready to go before Thursday. That’s right, Thursday. That means I’ll be spending tomorrow painting the door casings and closet inserts that are in the garage, and likely Monday and Tuesday nights touching up the installed versions and painting/touching up baseboard. And then we’ll start putting in our closet systems and MOVING IN!!
Of course, we’re still waiting on a closet in the current bedroom and my kitchen peninsula, but it’s ok if that takes a little longer. Just as long as I can move in. Although I wouldn’t mind closing on the mortgage sooner rather than later. Rates are pretty good right now.
Stalling….
I have homework to do. I’m not in the mood, yet I know it needs to get done so that I am free to practice for church this weekend. So I stall until I cannot stall anymore.
We spent every night last week (except Tuesday) and ALL WEEKEND painting the house. It is done as far as it can be, considering that the doors/casings and baseboard are not in. I had never painted a room without upper trim before; nevertheless, the quality of the cutting in along the ceiling is superb, if I do say so myself.
I LOVE MY JOB. I do not paint for a living.
My appointment with the retinal specialist last weekend went very, very well. My extremely myopic eyes are apparently very healthy for eyes so very myopic; ditto for the seven-years-diabetic aspect. My chance of retinal detachment is approximately 3%, which is as low as it gets for such a high myope / low as it gets for a diabetic - and retinal detachment is only a big problem when it goes untreated and causes scarring, which will not happen because I am going to have so MANY appointments after surgery.
Absolutely no signs of diabetic retinopathy, even after seven years. That’s what you get with an HbA1C of 5.8, thank you very much. And Steven the assistant was a riot.
For some reason, strangers tend to think I’m laid-back. I love it when they tell me that. I get a huge kick out of it, as does anyone nearby who knows me at all.
Tile went in today, grout happens tomorrow. We’ve had some adventures with that. Actually, it’s pretty good that this is the first “adventure” we’ve had since we obtained financing. BNB Builders are awesome. The best testimonial I can give is that we are still married at month four of a two-month project, with our twelve-foot-wide living room reduced to half for the past three weeks. That room contains a bookcase, two easy chairs, a desk, a desk-height filing cabinet, a small table and a PIANO… and we are still married.
Thank you. ::Deep bow::
Grrr, homework….
Tuesday, 09/16/2008 - Written by Angela at 7:43 pm - No Comments - Diabetes, HomeWork, Our Little World - Permalink
Like to paint? Paint with us!
Anyone who has a [very odd] desire to paint this weekend, feel free to give us a call! If you need our phone number, just email us and we’ll give YOU a call!
The votes are in!
It doesn’t look like it, but we’ve had numerous votes on the door. (I’ve been niggling at Jeremy every once in a while to set up a squiggly-word verification system as an alternative to logging in - hopefully that will happen and we can solve this problem.)
- Christine: white
- My Mom: white
- Jeremy’s Mom: white
- Elizabeth: white
- Rebecca F (who was able to post her vote): white
….And to think that Jeremy wanted to take a vote because he was sure red would win! White still means a little work to do, because there are little red specks on it in some places, but it’s going to be waaaaaay easier than trying not to get paint on the glass.
Many thanks to all who voted!!