Let the painting begin...

We closed on the house on Wednesday so we are now home owners (Yippee!!!). Now the hard work begins. I spent Wed-Fri cleaning the house and getting ready for the weekend of painting. David spent Wed-Fri working very long hours because he had two deadlines. As soon as he got off work on Friday we picked up a pizza and headed to the new house and enjoyed eating dinner on our new deck. Yesterday and today has been spent cleaning and painting. The previous owner lived in the house for 30 years and was a smoker. It is a really strong smell but luckily it really seems to be limited to the first level of the house (living and kitchen/dining area). I did my research on how to rid a house of smoke so yesterday we washed the walls, ceiling and trim with a vinegar, water and baking soda solution. We went through nearly two jugs of vinegar in an area that is no bigger than 500 sq. feet. After all the cleaning we put two coats of primer on the wall, ceiling and trim. This should block the nicotine from seeping back out through the paint (gross, huh?!). As I write this, David is at the new house finishing up the priming in the living room. This afternoon we took a break to go to the paint store to pick out the color for the living and dining room. We went to buy samples and test them in the room and we already had an idea of what we wanted. That didn't help. After a long time of looking and debating we picked some out and then somehow David talked me into just skipping the whole testing process and buying a color. I think I was just tired of looking and caved in. I love and hate that David has an opinion on decorating. It's great when I want to go out shopping and browse around for hours b/c he likes it too but lord, he is as adamant as I am in what he wants and it's so hard to come to a decision. I forgot to mention that David's mom Pat took the train up from NC on Tuesday. Pat has been a tremendous hep by watching Henry. I could not have gotten a quarter of the things done and I am so grateful for her help. she is really enjoying her time with Henry but he is a handful. Henry is doing ok. He hasn't caught up with his sleep since last weekend when we flew to Chicago and back and he has been fighting me at nap time and bedtime. So, once we get in the house I am going to unpack at a leisurely pace and just focus on getting Henry back on track. Pictures of the new house to come soon. The place looks great with that awful Williamsburg blue trim gone. As David said this morning "I am sure this color looked good...in the 1700's"

My Cousin Todd

David and I have had some exciting news to share the past few weeks with our house and his job promotion but unfortunately some terribly sad news has hit our family. My cousin Todd at the age of 42 passed away last Tuesday. He was rushed to the hospital last Saturday and here I am back in my kitchen on Sunday after getting back from the funeral. It still doesn't seem real even though I cried my eyes out for a week and flew to Chicago for the funeral. I actually hadn't seen Todd in 18 years. That fact makes me so terribly sad. Todd's mom, my Auntie Jo, had a 60th b-day party about 5 years ago and for some reason I didn't go. I was living in Boston and I believe I didn't go because I had a job interview the Tuesday after the party. A job interview! I am sure at the time it seemed important but I really could have gone. I have always regretted it because here it is 5 years later and I have seen some of the family but not all of them. On many occasions I have told David how much he would like Todd and I really wanted them to meet. They both share a love for music and are both drummers. Todd was a funny, goofy, kind and intelligent person and will be sorely missed by his family, friends, co-workers and anyone that ever met him. My thoughts and prayers go out to them.

Obituary

More Good News!

I am happy to report that after a year working as an independent contractor, David accepted an offer as an Associate at the law firm he has been working at since last August. This couldn't have happened at a better time (with the upcoming purchase of the house) and I am so proud of David. David has worked very long hours for the last year and a half and although the hours won't change too much he will now have paid vacation, sick leave and all the other usual benefits that we often take for granted until we don't have them. I am really excited about the vacation because I was wondering if he was ever going to be able to take more than a long weekend since we are getting ready to take on a large house payment. Speaking of the house, our closing date is August 27th and I have scheduled the movers for 8am on Tuesday, September 2nd. The labor day weekend will be spent cleaning and painting before the move. I can't even begin to express how excited I am to move out of our current rental house and into our very own home. The rental property has tested my patience from day one. I think my next blog entry may be the "Top Ten Reasons I am excited about the Move".

No new pictures to post but check out some videos I have posted to You Tube. Sorry about the other video that are now gone.

Videos