Dust and Chaos

As you may, or may not know, much of my home has recently been in a remodel phase of its lifespan. Chaos, construction dust, and restaurant food are words which help describe this latest adventure.

The chaos has settled down… somewhat. The pervasive dust is still in process of being hunted down and duly eliminated. I have been on a quest to put dust, and all such creatures associated with it (i.e. dust bunnies), on the endangered species list. (Please do not contact the ASPCA or local Humane Society… no real animals have been hurt in the process of cleaning).

I have found being able to once again use my kitchen for something other than a bedroom - is actually enjoyable. A 2+ month hiatus from cooking has proved to be educational to say the least. Here are some things I discovered…

• Restaurant take-away food can be quite expen$ive - and fattening!!
• With a limited amount of restaurants in my area - I am quite sick of all of them by now
• Microwave warmed-up restaurant food gets real old real fast
• Eating leftover delivery pizza for days on end will drive your taste buds insane

Surprisingly, preparing food at home can be relaxing in a way - and delicious (even if it is being done by a low rate amateur, such as myself). Let's just say that Food Network worthy I am not! Pretty sure there will still be those times when I’d rather just have cold cereal for dinner, or go hungry - than to put forth the time and effort to cook for just one person.

ugly food photo
shamelessly stolen from the internet

However, one good thing about being single and living alone - I am the only one who has to suffer from my culinary attempts. That is unless you dare to come over for dinner!!  I’ll cook something fabulously mysterious - betcha I won't even know what it is!!

Under construction

It's been a few weeks since I've written anything here... sorry 'bout that, but I have a really good excuse (I promise!!). This past year has been a time for my mind, body and spirit to be "under construction". Realizing that physical surroundings can have an effect (good or bad) - it became clear that some construction was needed for my home.

Basically it boiled down to the fact that I need to have more light in my home. The decor choices of my parents was soooo them, but really not me. Here is what the living room used to look like...

Wood paneling & wood burning stove.

Most light was promptly swallowed by all the brown colors.

So the remodel adventure began on January 3, 2011. It's not over yet... but the end is getting closer! First step was to move all the furniture out of the room (not an easy task). Then it was demolition time... now that was kinda fun in a way!

Stove now in the basement, built-in bookcase temporarily relocated.
But most important - the paneling is GONE!
(along with the sheet rock it was glued to)

New sheet rock was put in place!

Bad news: I added quite a bit to the project... the hallway, my bedroom, 7 new doors & 2 new windows.

Good news: my bedroom never had paneling on the walls (much easier to deal with).

Bad news: now where am I going to sleep during construction?

Good news: my parents made the kitchen large enough to do double duty!!

Yeah, that's my queen size bed... in the kitchen!!

At this point in time there is paint primer on the walls, and all new trim and moldings around doors / windows. I am currently in the process of caulking everything in preparation for color to go on the walls - then the carpet can be laid - then I can move furniture back into the proper rooms (especially my bed!). Finally there comes what could be the worst part of the entire project... total cleaning of everything in all rooms, because of all that sheet rock and wood cutting dust that's everywhere!

When will I have time to post something here again... who knows. Guess it all depends on how long I want to sleep in the kitchen!

A big THANK YOU goes out to my wonderful neighbors and friends - who have generously donated their time and skills to this project. Without them, none of this could have been accomplished!!

Thou gorbellied folly-fallen giglet

Last week was supposed to be a fun adventure-filled trip to Cedar City, Utah - where I would attend the yearly Shakespeare Festival. The tickets were purchased back in April in high anticipation of attending this event - yet alas twas not to be.

Instead I spent my week of vacation at home - a "staycation" if you will. Not a bad way to spend time off work, but I did feel badly about backing out of the trip and making family members take the journey without me. But please don't think of me as a roguish pottle-deep moldwarp (or some other Shakespeare-ish type of unpleasant being). They had fun even if not graced with my scintillating presence. There were a multitude of reasons why I did a staycation this year - and it was actually not all that bad.

I spent most of the week in a productive way. I obtained multiple bids from various companies to put a roof and siding on my new back porch. The roof is now in place - and photos will be posted when the siding is finally installed in a few weeks from now.

I also spent an entire 11-hour day sorting through all the paperwork and accumulated items in my Dad's den. It's been three years now since he passed away - so it was about time I did something about it. I filled the recycle garbage can with shredded papers and such - then organized or disposed of the rest. It was amazing some of the things I discovered - among the clutter were many treasured items (which of course I kept).

Tasks like this make one step back and consider all the clutter we accumulate in our own lives and homes. If I were to die tomorrow - I do not envy the person who must go through all of my possessions. Perhaps it is time to make my home a "house of order" - to scale down to the necessities and eliminate clutter from my life. Wish me luck!!