Baby Hands

Owwweeee. Ok, yes, I do not have callouses built up as my co-worker pointed out. But that's not ALL of it. My thumb is torn open from drill vibrations, but my pinky is pained from the stupid guy at Home Depot dropping 5 sheets of concrete board on it. Surprisingly, it's not really discolored, even if it hurts like the dickens still. Maybe I'll have a nail for the engagement photos yet!

Progress has been slow. Since the last update, we've....completed nothing. There have been steps made on the bathroom (quite a few, has a light, and a vent, and fixed plumbing, and drywall, etc...), steps on the family room (Bob the Builder is fixing the joists today. Yay!), steps on decor (curtains made, fabric for cushions bought, etc...), and much, much cleaning. Just wish things would get FINISHED so that Chris could quit being Mr. Cranky-pants.

And, btw, concrete board (cement board, rock board, backer board, etc) is a creation of the devil. Yes, it smashed my hand, and that started my hatred, but it also stinks, is crumbly, hard to cut, dries out your hands, and I could go on for the rest of the page. Long version of complaining short: hire someone, kidnap someone, bribe someone, do whatever you can to avoid the blasted stuff.

Diet desperation

Ok, engagement photos are in 2 weeks. And...I am not the skinny little thing that I used to be. That's not to say huge. Just...I don't want pictures taken like this. So, attempting something called the 11 Day Diet. I'm on day 3. It's a little extreme, though somewhat similar to South Beach. Going well so far. We'll hope that this puts me on track for some stellar photos. So, for lunch today, I had 1/2 a cup of oatmeal and 1/2 a chicken breast. (I know, weird.) And Chris had Chipotle. How is this fair? Sigh. Obviously, not so much following the vegetarian thing at the moment.

Penn State Man Cave

Here is both my shame and my pride. Getting close to being a shrine... Yes, I painted the logo, the Irish plate, and embroidered the paw on the curtains. Chris's mom did the OSU and PSU quilted hangings.

House update

Oh my, oh my, oh my.

Good news:
- Almost unpacked
- Most outlets switched
- Fan up in kitchen
- New washer and dryer
- Handles on drawers in kitchen

Not so good news:
- Bathroom still demo'd
- Water damage and evidence of termites under the family room floor. Termite people coming out tomorrow, then we need to repair from the ground up before laying the hardwood we thought would be a 1 day project.
- HEAVY condensation on the central air ducts. They're not wrapped. Need to do that.
- Light on new fan not functional yet.
- NEW lawnmower quit working 4th time we tried to use it. Fortunately, Sears swapped it out.

So...the joys continue.

Books, books, and more books

Quick rundown on books I've read recently:

Poison Study - AWESOME. 1st book for Snyder. A+
Magic Study - 2nd book in the series. Still pretty darn good. A
Fire Study - Yeah, read reviews that kinda warned about this...not so great. Too many "reminders" of what already happened. Still a good story, and obviously, want to remain in the world! B
Elfstones of Shannara - HATE this book. And this is my 2nd time. Why? Dunno. C-
Eldest: Inheritence Series, Book 2 - Pretty good. I guess. Pretty standard fantasy, journey book. B-
Cherry Cheesecake Murder - Cute. Fairly predictable. Lightweight. Good plane or beach reading. B

Mountains of Money

Now it comes as a shock to no one, including us, that houses are expensive. But how QUICKLY they become expensive has been a little daunting. Of course there's the mortgage, and the utilities, and the insurance, and all that. And there's the little things, like realizing you need a different kind of light bulb to relight your dining room. Then there's the slightly bigger, but equally anticipated renovations, like painting, and door repairs, and stain, and handles, etc... BUT, what has started to kill us is the stuff that has pushed its way up the priority list. Did we plan on eventually renovating the bathroom? Yes. Did we think it would be now before we realized the drywall was shot, and the wrong type was installed to begin with? Not so much. Did we plan on buying a washer and dryer? Yes. Did we mistakenly think they were on the home warranty? Yes. Did we have to buy them last night because the washer has entirely quit working? Yes. Then, to not feel left out, our little appliances have been dying. And not the microwaves. Oh, no, they know we have 3 of them, they're replaceable. My blow dryer, Chris's alarm clock? Yeah, dead.

It's still a great process, and we'll work through it, but if the coffee pot goes on strike? I'm out. Oh wait, we have 2 of those, too. I win, Mr. Coffee!

Moving Day Pictures

Yes! I'm finally posting them! Took me long enough!

Kyle worked hard.

How many people does it take to put together a table?

Mike and Kyle and the disaster of a kitchen.

Chris and the ladies (Amy and Kelle)

Monster didn't work so hard...

And thanks to Tim, Jen, and Matt, even if they didn't make it into the pictures.