Its Quiet Now

Things have been a whirlwind of activity since I came back from North Carolina. Over the weekend I had 4 guests at my house (that only has 2 bedrooms, both occupied, haha), and it turned out to be a really great weekend!!

Kirsten, Lindsay, Jenna and E all stayed with me and Jen and every day some combination of that group ended up doing something fun together. Friday night, Jenna and Lindsay joined me and Shera at the movie theater to see the movie "Marley and Me". It was a really sweet movie, and yes, I did cry. (I also had some annoying people sitting behind me, which further solidified my support of this incident in my mind).

On Saturday we all slept in pretty late (most of us until at least noon) and spent pretty several hours just hanging out and enjoying each other, laughing a lot. Finally around 2 we decided to try and move the treadmill to the basement. At the same time we decided to take showers so we could eventually go out and maybe get some lunch. This whole process (4 girls showering, taking the treadmill apart, moving it to the basement and then putting it back together again) took about 4 hours. Kirsten and I were pretty proud of ourselves after we carried the treadmill to the basement though!

We only got as far as the kitchen (and that took 4 of us) before we realized it would definitely need to be taken apart.
Kirsten and I were so impressed with ourselves! The steps are way too narrow for more than 2 people to carry anything, and that treadmill was heavy!

Here is the finished product! We even remembered where all the screws went! (and you can see all the work I need to do on the basement! Whew!)

Since the treadmill process took so long we ended up going out to dinner instead of lunch. We still had fun, and the treadmill is now out of the dining room!! The fun wasn't over yet though; that night J came over with E and we all played Cranium and really had fun! (We played on my new dining room table!!!)

Sunday was a pretty normal day, with Sunday School and church. They were having a special lunch after church, but Jenna and I had Olive Garden gift cards that we wanted to spend, so she and I; along with Shera, Melissa, and Bonita went there for lunch. After lunch we headed to a Bone Marrow Donor Drive in Delaware to get ourselves listed on the National Bone Marrow Donor Registry. It was VERY easy to do this! All we had to do was fill out some forms, swab our cheeks with q-tips and we were finished! We may never be needed as donors, but its really nice to know that if we are a match for someone, they will be able to find us.

After the Marrow Drive we all headed home, and I was exhausted. I had been surrounded by people all day, every day for 4 straight days and while I had a blast and loved every minute of it, I was ready for some rest and alone time. In fact, I actually went to bed around 9:30! I was exhausted! It was a really great feeling though. Not only did I get to have a lot of fun with people I really love, but I got a lot accomplished on my house as well. My living room and dining room are clean, and cleaned out of junk. The dining room table is put together and the treadmill is in the basement. It feels so nice!!

Unfortunately, Monday brought a return to a normal work day, and with it a lot of busyness. I actually got up early and was able to accomplish a lot, but I feel like I pretty much worked non stop all day, which was pretty tiring. Its never bad to feel tired after you have actually accomplished things though. :)

I also finally had a plumber come out yesterday! Unfortunately, he had some good news, and then some pretty bad news.

The good news is that the leak with the washing machine is a simple fix and my friend Frank Varaso is coming over this morning to take care of that! The bad news is that the shower leak isn't a plumbing problem at all. The leak is happening because water is getting into the walls because the walls and the tiles are so old. That's pretty much what we thought it was, so I guess it was nice to have it confirmed, but it also means that the only way the leak will ever stop for good is to completely redo the bathroom...ripping out tile and walls and replacing everything.

Needless to say, I don't have the money for that right now, so we will have to work on temporary fixes until I can save up some big bucks. Frank is also going to re-caulk everything in and around my tub while he is here today, which should be a good temporary fix for a little while. I am SO thankful for the friends I have here!!!!

I'm trying not to be too bummed about all of this, I know my house will be a work in progress for a really long time. Still, I haven't had a ceiling in my kitchen for a year and a half now, and I can't put a ceiling in there until I can redo the entire bathroom...so its going to be a while. Someday though...someday...

Kirsten left to go back to college on Sunday, Lindsay also went home on Sunday, E left yesterday and Jenna left today; so the house is back to me, Jen, Gizmo and Beth. It feels kinda strange actually to have it so quiet. Of course, Frank is on his way over to work in the bathroom and we have a dog trainer coming this afternoon to help us with Beth, so it won't stay quiet for long. Beth attacks anyone that comes to the door, as well as anyone touching each other. She bit the mailman (didn't break skin, though), and Frank (again, not hard) and tried to bite J. She only does it if she feels like someone needs protection, which makes us think she came from a home with a lot of violence or abuse. The dog trainer is going to help us break her of this habit. (Though it has somewhat worked to our advantage since now everyone on our block is terrified of coming near our house because "the wolf might come after them").

I still also have a lot to accomplish on the house before clubs start up again. The basement needs to be cleaned out, and the dining room primed and painted, and then the paint on the banister needs to be stripped and then the banister stained. I have about 2 weeks left, and with more than half my to-do list checked off I'm still feeling good about everything!

OH! And I forgot the most exciting part!! Look what I got yesterday:

That's right! No more chewing up computer cords and phone chargers for Gizmo!! I only bought one because I wanted to make sure they were worth it, but I will be buying more soon. They work like a charm!! Gizmo just sniffed my computer chord and then wanted nothing to do with it. I also have one over my phone charger. I need to get a few more to cover another computer chord as well as Jen's chords...and probably have a spare one or two in case we have guests that want to protect their electronics (they are easily taken on and off, which is really nice!). My cat is ridiculous...but will NOT win this fight! :)