OT House update for DD

Well, since someone inquired about the recipe page, I thought I would update
everyone on the house my DD bought in July which is what is taking the time
away from my other activities. When she moved in with us almost 18 months
ago, my life as I know it essentially shifted 180 degrees and most of my
activities related to quilting were drastically decreased, including nightly
quilting and working on the recipe page. But it was a good thing since my
resume now includes the title of "grandmom" - or "Ba" as my DGS calls me now
(he hears my DD calling me from the bottom of the stairs and MA evolved into
BA). I understand that Baba is "grandmother" in Ukrainian so perhaps he is
just bilingual! Such a smart boy he is!

Anyway, my DD bought a house on July 1st and closed 29 days later. She had
grand ideas of renovations but had no idea what this actually entailed. So,
as of today, the kitchen has been gutted, new wallboard has been installed,
taped and spackled twice. All carpets have been ripped up - exposing
wonderful wide plank wooden floors. Two of the three bedrooms have been
painted - the third one is planned for this week. She is having the
bathroom renovated by "Bathfitters" if you know who they are. They
essentially make a mold of the bathtub and surrounding walls and create a
new skin for that area. All new walls and fixtures. Cheaper and easier
than replacing the tub. She has already found a new sink and vanity and
just needs to chose a new toilet. The floor will be replaced as well with
new vinyl flooring. Downstairs, no painting yet but she got smart and hired
a painter for the hallway, stairs, kitchen, dining room and living room.
All new carpets and vinyl flooring have been ordered. We bought the new
kitchen cabinets last week at Ikea and she bought a new kitchen sink and
faucet yesterday. She's replaced all the yucky ceiling fans with new ones
or new lighting fixtures. She bought all new appliances (washer, dryer and
fridge) but still needs to choose a dishwasher and stove for her kitchen
along with choosing between several countertop samples. She's done all of
this by herself with some help from two close friends on occasion and of
course me and my DH. When she is doing this, I am watching the baby which
is why I'm not quilting more. Nothing compares to baby hugs and giggles so
no complaint from me there! Plus pushing the stroller is helping to
maintain my "girlish" figure.

We have already moved all of her boxes into her basement which allows me now
to park in my garage again - woohoo! With each trip we make, we take a car
load of stuff from the basement as well. Once she finishes the major stuff
and can actually move in, she just needs new curtains or shades and some
small pieces of furniture. We have installed new locks and a new
programmable thermostat. The house is going to be beautiful and a wonderful
home for her and my DGS. It's only 2 miles from me so close enough to get
to on a moments notice.

As much as I am looking to getting my life back to normal (or semi-normal),
I am going to miss his babbling in the morning and kisses as I leave for
work. We have quite a conversation in the morning while I have my coffee
and I think we understand each other quite well. But, I am looking forward
to getting back to more quilting in the evening - and actually finishing the
recipe page! The webpages are all designed and ready to go, it just takes
time to enter each of the recipes. But it is high on my list.

Stay tuned - will announce the housewarming date soon!

--
Alice in NJ, Royal Cybrarian
http://www.ourcyberfamily.us/
"Just about the time a woman thinks her work is done, she becomes a
grandmother." Edward H. Dreschnack

AliceW wrote:

Well, since someone inquired about the recipe page, I thought I would update
everyone on the house my DD bought in July which is what is taking the time
away from my other activities. When she moved in with us almost 18 months
ago, my life as I know it essentially shifted 180 degrees and most of my
activities related to quilting were drastically decreased, including nightly
quilting and working on the recipe page. But it was a good thing since my
resume now includes the title of "grandmom" - or "Ba" as my DGS calls me now
(he hears my DD calling me from the bottom of the stairs and MA evolved into
BA). I understand that Baba is "grandmother" in Ukrainian so perhaps he is
just bilingual! Such a smart boy he is!

Anyway, my DD bought a house on July 1st and closed 29 days later. She had
grand ideas of renovations but had no idea what this actually entailed. So,
as of today, the kitchen has been gutted, new wallboard has been installed,
taped and spackled twice. All carpets have been ripped up - exposing
wonderful wide plank wooden floors. Two of the three bedrooms have been
painted - the third one is planned for this week. She is having the
bathroom renovated by "Bathfitters" if you know who they are. They
essentially make a mold of the bathtub and surrounding walls and create a
new skin for that area. All new walls and fixtures. Cheaper and easier
than replacing the tub. She has already found a new sink and vanity and
just needs to chose a new toilet. The floor will be replaced as well with
new vinyl flooring. Downstairs, no painting yet but she got smart and hired
a painter for the hallway, stairs, kitchen, dining room and living room.
All new carpets and vinyl flooring have been ordered. We bought the new
kitchen cabinets last week at Ikea and she bought a new kitchen sink and
faucet yesterday. She's replaced all the yucky ceiling fans with new ones
or new lighting fixtures. She bought all new appliances (washer, dryer and
fridge) but still needs to choose a dishwasher and stove for her kitchen
along with choosing between several countertop samples. She's done all of
this by herself with some help from two close friends on occasion and of
course me and my DH. When she is doing this, I am watching the baby which
is why I'm not quilting more. Nothing compares to baby hugs and giggles so
no complaint from me there! Plus pushing the stroller is helping to
maintain my "girlish" figure.

We have already moved all of her boxes into her basement which allows me now
to park in my garage again - woohoo! With each trip we make, we take a car
load of stuff from the basement as well. Once she finishes the major stuff
and can actually move in, she just needs new curtains or shades and some
small pieces of furniture. We have installed new locks and a new
programmable thermostat. The house is going to be beautiful and a wonderful
home for her and my DGS. It's only 2 miles from me so close enough to get
to on a moments notice.

As much as I am looking to getting my life back to normal (or semi-normal),
I am going to miss his babbling in the morning and kisses as I leave for
work. We have quite a conversation in the morning while I have my coffee
and I think we understand each other quite well. But, I am looking forward
to getting back to more quilting in the evening - and actually finishing the
recipe page! The webpages are all designed and ready to go, it just takes
time to enter each of the recipes. But it is high on my list.

Stay tuned - will announce the housewarming date soon!


It all sounds ever so exciting! Give that baby a hug from me too, when
you see him again.

--
Kate XXXXXX R.C.T.Q Madame Chef des Trolls
Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons
http://www.katedicey.co.uk
Click on Kate's Pages and explore!

Nice to hear the update Alice. So glad you dd and the baby are getting
through the work. She is really lucky to have you and DH near
to help.
Taria

Taria wrote:
Nice to hear the update Alice. So glad you dd and the baby are getting
through the work. She is really lucky to have you and DH near
to help.
Taria

Well, in return for all the help, she said I could use the back room of
the basement for a quilting machine if I wanted. Of course, with all
the help we've given, now I have no dollars for said machine! But, it
would make a sweet studio the times I babysit! And it has an outside
entrance so I could get fresh air and true light while I sew. Could
even have a quilting party and she wouldn't even know it! hmmmmmm....

The house is sweet though. I see lots of opportunities for quilts.
She doesn't have the time for quilting just yet, but she says she needs
lots of quilts since the heating oil and gas prices are supposed to
skyrocket this winter so she says she needs to keep her thermostat
turned way down.

Alice

oh man Alice, that sounds like a lot of work! thankfully this house
didnt need much done all we have done is to paint our bedroom and sofias
in colours we like, but it takes so long and in the meantime you cannot
unpack properly and all that.... we will tackle a bath renovation at
some point, but probably minor, i.e., change cabinets, maybe floor. your
daughter has a lot more energy than me, if she is doing all that!

AliceW wrote:

Well, since someone inquired about the recipe page, I thought I would update
everyone on the house my DD bought in July which is what is taking the time
away from my other activities.

--
Dr. Quilter
http://community.webshots.com/user/mvignali
(take the dog out for a walk)

Well, I don't think she realized what she was getting herself into and how
much time it would take. She is a single mom so is doing much of the work
herself after the baby goes to bed. She wanted to get all the major work
and painting done before moving in so the baby wasn't exposed to all the
dust and paint smells, but she is also having a friend help her and he can
only do the work when his own job allows. So, there's lots of frustration.
I've offered to paint for her, but she wants to do it. So, we take it one
day at a time and get done what we can with the time allowed.

You sound like you are getting settled in nicely. Even though painting one
room can disrupt the entire house! BTDT several times!

--
Alice in NJ, Royal Cybrarian
http://www.ourcyberfamily.us/
"Just about the time a woman thinks her work is done, she becomes a
grandmother." Edward H. Dreschnack



"DrQuilter" wrote in message
...
: oh man Alice, that sounds like a lot of work! thankfully this house
: didnt need much done all we have done is to paint our bedroom and sofias
: in colours we like, but it takes so long and in the meantime you cannot
: unpack properly and all that.... we will tackle a bath renovation at
: some point, but probably minor, i.e., change cabinets, maybe floor. your
: daughter has a lot more energy than me, if she is doing all that!
:
: AliceW wrote:
:
: Well, since someone inquired about the recipe page, I thought I would
update
: everyone on the house my DD bought in July which is what is taking the
time
: away from my other activities.
:
: --
: Dr. Quilter
: http://community.webshots.com/user/mvignali
: (take the dog out for a walk)

I totally understand. I get frustrated too because things are so slow.
Sofi goes to bed at 9 and by then I am too tired to do anything so after
the initial push we are mostly doing things on weekends, but we also
want to allocate some time to relaxing and playing with Sofi so as not
to go totally bonkers!

Like I said, our house didn't need much done (except for the bath that
is not in our style and will be a major renovation in the future) but we
decided to paint before we 'moved in' each room, and then there are all
the little details like making curtains, recovering chairs to match new
paint colour, etc.

As a result there still are things everywhere, 6 weeks later. It is
getting better, slowly, the 3 bedrooms are I'd say 80 to 95% done. But
right now for example I think we are at the point where we might admit
we need to hire an electrician. We tried to replace the light fixture by
the front door like a month ago and have been without power in that area
of the house since. It is a mystery why, other things on that circuit
work.... friends with experience with this kind of thing have taken a
look and are at a loss...

However, if anybody would offer to come paint/fix whatever for us, I'd
take their offer immediately! It is not that I want to do it myself, but
that I want to save money! Our mortgage is 50% more than our rent was!

AliceW wrote:

Well, I don't think she realized what she was getting herself into and how
much time it would take. She is a single mom so is doing much of the work
herself after the baby goes to bed. She wanted to get all the major work
and painting done before moving in so the baby wasn't exposed to all the
dust and paint smells, but she is also having a friend help her and he can
only do the work when his own job allows. So, there's lots of frustration.
I've offered to paint for her, but she wants to do it. So, we take it one
day at a time and get done what we can with the time allowed.

You sound like you are getting settled in nicely. Even though painting one
room can disrupt the entire house! BTDT several times!


--
Dr. Quilter
http://community.webshots.com/user/mvignali
(take the dog out for a walk)

Marissa, Our first house payment was over $900. That doesn't sound
like much but our rent had been $250. Talk about shock. That was
in the days of 13% + interest so luckily the rates went down and we got
a rate reduction loan. Talk about learning to live on the cheap.....
Taria

DrQuilter wrote:

However, if anybody would offer to come paint/fix whatever for us, I'd
take their offer immediately! It is not that I want to do it myself, but
that I want to save money! Our mortgage is 50% more than our rent was!

wow! that puts things into perspective!! our rate is 5.375... problem
is, you want to buy new things for the house, AND get used to paying
more....

Taria wrote:
Marissa, Our first house payment was over $900. That doesn't sound
like much but our rent had been $250. Talk about shock. That was
in the days of 13% + interest so luckily the rates went down and we got
a rate reduction loan. Talk about learning to live on the cheap.....
Taria

--
Dr. Quilter
http://community.webshots.com/user/mvignali
(take the dog out for a walk)