Amy J. Bennett

Now THAT felt like a weekend.  I was home 90% of the time and CLEAN was the key word.  Boy howdy, after 2 months of a house in disarray, it felt GOOD to clean. 

We got our old bedroom completely cleared and Scott took down the chair rail.  I’ll be calling the carpet people in the morning to schedule a cleaning.  As soon as the walls are patched, I’ll be able to paint.  I’m still looking out for their new beds and then they can move in!

I got the playroom completely cleaned.  All of this mess is gone, gone, gone.  We are back to looking like a playroom.  Tables are cleaned, bins are organized.  I even vacuumed in there.

I moved all my stuff out of my dresser and into the new one I got from IKEA.  All of my clothes are super organized.  It feels SO GOOD not to fight my closet and dresser for clothes.  And they’re all now in the closet so it’s fantastic not having to go back and forth between rooms to get stuff.  Wow, that sounds so lazy but it really was a pain to leave the bathroom/closet just to get underwear and come back to get dressed.

Scott got our A/C working this weekend!  Hallelujah!  OF COURSE it’s only going to be in the 70s this week but that’s ok, I’ll take it.  Our power bill is always at least $90 and can get near $250 in the summers so after getting our $63 power bill this weekend I’m fine with cooler weather.   

Other than that, I did stuff like washing our tile floor down for the first time, washed our hardwoods that were dirty once again from all the A/C work, laundry was going all weekend, we went grocery shopping Saturday.  Just STUFF I’ve been needing to do and never felt like I could catch up given all the addition stuff going on.

It feels good to go into the week with everything behind me.  It’s my long week in the office but I feel so much more available than I was last week to leave.  I even have dinner planned for half the week.

We are still not 100% done on the addition.  We are still waiting for shower doors, mirror and our cabinet doors/drawers.  Really hoping to call it finished this week!

Hope you guys had a great weekend and have a good Monday!

James
1st- Standalone, I think this was a great performance. However, all I could hear was Glee’s version and I much prefer theirs. And I’m not even a Gleek.

2nd – Again, James attitude is a little grating. At the same time, it’s nice to see some confidence with this type of song. He sounded great though and I liked his version.

Scotty
1st- Very smart song choice. He sounded fantastic.

2nd- I felt like this was too cheesy for this late in the game.

Lauren
1st- Beautiful. I felt like she stepped it up with that Martina. There was one note I gasped Everyone loves Martina and it plays well to Lauren’s similar strengths.

2nd – I hated it. I hated the repetitious “evil” and I don’t think the style fit Lauren at all.

Haley
1st – Did not care for this. Another screaming performance.

2nd – Haley was mad and all that emotion played well to the song. Gorgeous vocals and a great performance.

Favorite: James and Haley’s 2nd

In trouble: Either Haley’s 1st or Lauren’s 2nd should send them home.

Who’s winning? Tough one but I think we’re looking at a Scotty and James finale. Scotty had been on the top of dialidol since day one so I think I’m sticking with him, especially once Lauren is out.

So we’re *this close* to be being done with the addition and we’ve learned a few things along the way.

1. I love air conditioning!  I used to think I could get along without it.  I am always cold and usually have a jacket on.  Well,  a few nights with your house above 80 and it has you standing in the freezer and taking cold showers begging for some cool air.  I completely believe that theory that people get more violent in hot weather.
2. Usability matters.  When designing a space, it’s great if it looks pretty, but if it’s not usable, then it’s worthless.  Say, for example, you put your shower head on the opposite end of the shower door so you have to climb into the shower to start the water. *cough*
3. Details matter.  Scott, bless his heart, just threw up all the light switches one night at random places.  Some were at 51”, some at 53”, some close to the door, and some further away.  As I was going through the rooms before they sheetrocked in, I noticed this and it was amazing to me how my hand expected it to be in one certain place without even thinking about it.  Even now, our closet is a few inches out from the door and I’m having to get used to it.
4. Knowing where your furniture goes beforehand matters.  Yep, we would have moved the fireplace a few inches this way and the french doors a few that way.  We did spend time laying out the furniture but even a few inches off and it really makes a difference.
5. And even more, you need to know what color scheme you are going with.  It’s hard to pick carpet and paint colors when you don’t know what the rest will look like.  I picked a picture from my old bedroom I wanted to keep as a starting point. Sure, you could go with a neutral, but even though you need to know what undertones to go with.
6. Having a detailed budget is key.  Maybe a no-brainer but wow, it’s so easy to go above your budget. Little things like foam and door handles add up fast!
7. Related to above, make sure to budget for closets!  It’s not something your builder will need to buy but it is a huge cost and will really bust your budget fast.
8. Let Craigslist be your friend.  Everyone knows about my $75 fireplace by now.  But on the flip side, use it to sell all those little extras.  Like maybe an entire box of tile that didn’t get used and can’t be returned *cough*
9. Some things are worth fighting about.  I hate to be sexist but in my experience, guys just don’t think about how some things are going to turn out.  As long as it gets done, it’s good for them.  And sometimes, it’s worth fighting about.  Number 3 caused some raised voices around here but it was worth it.  And Scott admitted he should have paid more attention and we made up.
10. But some things just aren’t worth fighting over.  When you get home and see a tile is a little out of place but it would require the entire floor to be ripped up, just zip it.  No one can do a thing about it.  It’s not the end of the world and there’s no point in making someone feel bad about it when there is nothing that can be done short of starting again.

I guess in closing I’ll say the best thing we’ve learned is it’s all worth it.  When you’re lying in bed and looking at the light you spent hours trying to find and watching the fire from a fireplace you found on a deal and you walk through a carpet you were scared to pick out but is so soft you could sleep on it and you walk on tile you spent hours deliberating over, well, it makes it a rich experience that makes you ever so grateful.

But…ask me again what I’ve learned when our first new mortgage payment comes due!

This post is linked up to Top Ten Tuesday

It’s been a whole 3 days since my last update and oh my, some great updates!

First off, we got to work on those awful closets.  Now it’s hard to get pictures properly of the new master closet since the door is in the middle of the wall.  I need some of those magic disappearing TV walls.

We emptied out our old closet…

…and bought some wood racks from Lowe’s.    Really glad we splurged instead of using wire racks.

To the right from the door:

I love that Scott has his uniform area there to the right.  That’s what used to hang in our tiny laundry room.

To the left:

 

Please ignore my pile o shoes and that green container of boots will be GONE.  Update on my shoes below.  I LOVE that all my clothes are out of boxes and organized without fighting to get something out.

Last night after our adoption training Scott bought the wood and created my shoe rack and one for the girls in our old closet where they are moving.  I stained it this morning and polyurethaned it tonight.  I’m pretty sure I broke a few staining timing rules but I couldn’t wait!

Look!  Look!

 

Holy cow.  Is that not fantastic?  I got rid of 7-8 pairs of shoes and Scott was able to grab two rows at the very top for his shoes too!

Now we are still not done with this closet.  We’re still planning to put a small dresser under that window.  The plan is to get rid of our big dresser in the bedroom and have a seating area instead of having a big dresser.  I’m going to love having all my stuff in one room!

OK, so that’s not it.  The countertop and backsplash got done on Friday.  Scott put in the faucets.  And we are STILL waiting on our doors and drawers from our cabinet guy.

Now all that’s left is the shower doors and mirrors that should be in by the first of next week!

It seems appropriate that we finished our adoption training today and tomorrow is Mother’s Day.  I’m so incredibly thankful for the wonderful mother I have.

And for all of you fellow younger moms, I can’t tell you how much it means that you are doing what you’re doing.  You have a choice minute by minute on how to take care of your kids.  And those mundane things matter. 

When you choose to fix another peanut butter and jelly, you’re teaching them trust. 

When you choose to break up another sibling fight you’re teaching them conflict resolution. 

When you choose to say it calmly you’re teaching them respect. 

When you choose to kiss your spouse in front of them, you’re teaching them appropriate intimacy. 

When you choose to sit at practice after practice you’re teaching them confidence and love. 

The list goes on and on.  I’ve seen and heard these past two weekend what happens when these little mundane things don’t happen.  And it’s not pretty.  Not pretty at all.    The simple things that can make the biggest difference.  Nothing good can happen until after these little things do.  So to you mothers, I say thank you for doing all the things that go unappreciated but please know they are the most important things to making your kids productive little people. 

And another big thank you to my mother who is the one who taught me how to make a mean peanut butter and jelly.  Love you!

Updates are obviously slowing down at this point.  We have been living in the bedroom since this past weekend.  We love, love, love it.  I love that it’s big and comfy and we all find ourselves hanging out there instead of the living room sometimes.  Finally, I feel like we have a choice where we can all crowd together.  And seriously the carpet is so lush I just walk around in there for no good reason at all.

Today the shower grouting will be finished.  He has all but the ceiling done and the guys came yesterday to measure the frameless glass.  I am SO pleased at how it’s looking.

 

The other big thing going on right now is the closets!  I really wish I would have budgeted more money (or ANY money) on the closets because it turns out they cost a lot!  We did get the linen closet finished and I’m so happy to have my CVS stuff out of the playroom closet!

I think we have a tentative plan for the main closet that Scott will be working on today.  I really need to get all this STUFF out of here:

So I can put this STUFF in THERE ^ so all these toys can be reorganized (given away *cough*)

Oh yes, keeping it real.  These two gigantic messes have been the hardest thing to live with these past two months.

We are getting really close!