Here's To: Uncertainty

So I'm kind of freaking out. Our kitchen/garage/living room remodel was supposed to start last week but due to some logistical mishaps we are a little behind. No big deal- it just gives me more time to think of all the things that could (and probably will) go wrong. It's just kind of terrifying to think of FINALLY starting a project I've been planning for almost 2 years and keep thinking of things I forgot to account for. Or even WORSE, second guessing EVERY DECISION I'VE MADE. And this is all happening during the busiest semester at school I've ever had. Ahh...
Joe has to go back to work in April though so we kind of have to get started. SO, we will be demolishing our kitchen next week and even though I am totally stressed and nervous and scared that I'm TOTALLY out my league, designing this entire remodel myself- I can't wait. It will eventually be awesome. And honestly- anything is better than what we have now. A camping stove in the middle of the desert is better than what we have now. So for those of you who are curious- let me just show you THE PLAN:
This is the floor plan of what we have now:

And THIS is the floor plan of what it is eventually going to be:

What we have now doesn't look so bad from above, but those of you who have been here before can testify- it SUCKS... HARD. You walk in the front door to a CLOSET! Who designed this?? And the so called 'Breakfast Area' only gets used for Vegas's kennel and the microwave table. Oh that's right, I forgot to mention we only have TWO 2 foot wide counter top areas- I've seen motor homes with more counter space. So we put a table in the breakfast area to hold our microwave to give us just a little extra room. Ugh. Actually, it might be easier to list off in bullet form what else I hate that's getting ripped out:

• The ugliest cabinets I've ever seen
  
• The faux wood formica counter top. I don't know how anyone thought they were fooling people with that.
  
• The dishwasher that takes 3 1/2 hours to do one load of dishes
  
• The refrigerator that has a broken ice maker
  
• The oven from the 60's that hasn't worked since the day we moved in (2 1/2 years now without a working oven... AWESOME)
  
• The baby-poop-brown carpet that is covered in dog hair and stains. We knew we were going to eventually replace it, so anytime anyone spilled anything we just wiped it with a towel and made no attempt to clean it. It's pretty gross.
  

I just can't wait to NOT be embarrassed about this crap house and actually be able to have people over and cook in an oven and not keep our microwave in another room because there's no space. I know it's going to be stressful- all home renovations are, but it can't get much worse than what it currently is. So here's to uncertainty, and all of the excitement and possibility that comes with that!

P.S. this post is pretty positive- I apologize. I can probably guarantee that the next time I'm on here I won't be in such a good mood =)

Here's to: Long breaks

So I think the reason I haven't updated this since the last shitty thing that happened is because, well, that's the last really shitty thing that happened. Ha, and now I'm writing on here AGAIN because God has sent down his crap angels to shit all over everything once again. What is it this time you ask? Well, gather around folks...
It seemed like any other ordinary morning, except for the fact that it was my second day back at school- no big deal. I got up, walked out to the kitchen, grabbed a glass of water and gazed through the front window thinking about what the day was going to bring and what wonderful opportunities lay ahead of me... that's when I saw it. The river of water coming from the garage- coming from exactly the area where the hot water heater is. I rushed outside (still in my PJ's), threw open the garage door and what do I see?? Not only is there water all over the floor and on the platform where the water heater and furnace (both of which were probably installed in an era when Eisenhower was in office, judging by their rickety-ness) but water is also POURING out of the top. Now I'm scrambling- I turn off the gas to the water heater and now I'm looking all around the water heater for a water shut off valve but can't find one anywhere so I turn off the water for the whole house. I call the service number on the heater and they say they'll send someone out within the hour. Needless to say I'm still here waiting, an hour and a half later, missing class and not able to wash my face because I have no water.



I almost want to start a betting pool to predict when certain things in this house are going to fail. If you asked me a month ago, I would not have given you good odds. We got a complimentary water heater flush from Roto Rooter & when the guy was done he proceeded to showed me how EVERY connection to and from the hot water heater was done incorrectly (little tip guys- don't have one of the installers that only gets paid a base fee for installing these things, install YOUR water heater- they WILL fuck it up). Not only done incorrectly- but ILLEGALLY! YEAY! But I didn't want to do anything about it because we're getting a new tankless hot water heater in the spring, so no sense in replacing something that we'll only use for a few months.
Anyways, I'm still waiting here, but I have a pretty good suspicion that he's going to tell me I need a new hot water heater. FANTASTIC. And the hilarious thing is, I wouldn't even be surprised.
Well as I kick back, wait for the repair guy and eye a bottle of Southern Comfort that will make me feel a lot better about this whole situation I can't help but think, here's to the next looooooong break.

Here's To: Being Caught Off-Guard

HEY! You know what's NOT fun? Being soaking wet, standing in the front yard trying to figure out where the water shut off valve is. Why was I trying to turn the water off? Well, it sounded like a fun activity but turns out, not so much. Oh wait, that's right- it actually wasn't voluntary. Let me take you through it:

We've been having trouble with our shower for a while now so I guess it was MY fault, not the piece of crap that broke. So our shower has one of those handles where its a single knob that you turn counter clockwise to adjust the water flow and then another handle behind it on the same knob that you can turn to adjust the water temperature. A few weeks ago tho I guess the 2 knobs were turned in just the right way so that we couldn't turn the water off all the way. FANTASTIC! So we fixed that but from then on we had to turn the shower on with a wrench, which is always fun. It makes me feel oh-so handy when I can use tools in everyday situations. So of COURSE the wrench ultimately stripped the tiny rod that's only half the diameter of a pencil and 1/2 an inch long leaving me with a running shower & having no clue what to do. And of COURSE Joe is out of town when this happens so I'm on my own! Cut to me, scrambling around the front yard looking for this valve because I have to take the entire knob/handle/valve out of the wall. BUT, I ultimately found it and fixed the shower so yeay me! Ha, never a dull moment!

Being a person who has lived in an apartment for the last 8 years, whenever something breaks or needs to be replaced I've become so accustomed to just calling maintenance to take care of it. Oh the luxury of non-responsibility! It is the BEST! People who live in apartments- USE THIS SERVICE TO THE FURTHEST POSSIBLE LIMITS!! You will appreciate it when things like this happen to you later on-TRUST ME. Haha, it just reminds me of a quote from comedian Mitch Hedburg: "I went to the Home Depot today, which was unnecessary. I need to go to the Apartment Depot. Which is just a big warehouse with a whole lot of people standing around saying 'We don't have to fix shit!'". I used to like that joke, now... not so much.

So thats the new project- fixing the shower so we don't have to use our roommates bathroom with the broken light and the bathtub that for some reason the floor of it is like its been coated in butter (I've almost died twice, I SWEAR). So, I'm looking forward to that. But for now... here's to being caught off-guard!

Here's To: Procrastination

Today: March 25th, 2010

So i'm sitting here looking at drywall that i've been putting off mudding and sanding fooooor about 3 days now, trying to just get off my ass and start. But procrastinating and writing on here is SO much more productive- right? Yeah I know. It's a good thing i'm so smart with my time management. ANYWAYS, let me give you a bit of backround because I know you're just DYING to know. So here goes:
My boyfriend joe bought a house in sunny San Diego, California back in November of 2009. We looked around for maybe a month and finally found something in Clairemont- an area about 8 miles north of downtown and 4 miles east of the ocean and Pacific Beach (which is where we really wanted to live but it's way too expensive-even now). On the upside, its a pretty big house by San Diego standards- 1,900 sq. ft., but the extensions the old owners added on took up a lot of the backyard so there's limited space back there. I wish we had a bigger backyard for our dogs sake- a 5 month old pit bull puppy, Vegas. She is a total cutie pie, but sometimes she turns into a tazmanian devil and will do multiple hot laps as fast as she can all around the house. Its actually pretty hilarious, but back to more relevant things.
The house was built in 1959 and the people he bought it from lived here the ENTIRE TIME. Which would be a good thing if the Bob Vila wannabe that used to live here hadn't made everything so damn janky & ridiculous.
CASE-IN-POINT: My personal favorite of just how mind boggling this guys 'repairs & improvements' were. In the hall there is a peculiar placed lightswitch ABOVE the linen closet door. At first we thought it went to a light in the attic since the access hatch is right in front of it. But after going in the attic and finding out it wasn't, we couldn't figure out what it went to. Cut to 3 weeks later we're showing people around the house and it's nighttime. I flick the switch to show them that it didn't do anything (or so I thought) and through the bedroom window to the right, I see the flood light on the side of the house go on. He didn't have enough wire (I assume) so he just put the light switch 7 & 1/2 feet up a wall! Who does that??!?! Edwin does (thats the guys name).
I can't talk TOO badly about him because he could come haunt us and jinx any remodels we do, which does seem to be the case so far. He died a few years ago and his widow finally sold the house. And we asked- he did NOT die in the house, ugh that would be so creepy. Ha, shit there I go with the bad-mouthing him. OK GOOD THOUGHTS!
Well, I guess I should get to this drywall for real. Joe comes home from Alaska where he's been for the past week and I was supposed to have this done 2 days ago. So until next time, here's to procrastination!
~Kt