PICTURES OF PROGRESS

well the weather has dipped down to be a little chillier ... pretty normal for this time of year ... but what is unusual is the fact that j and n can go down to the basement (we have officially banished the name of the dungeon after we evicted the troll to make room for our sweet living space) ... anyways we can go down to the basement and it no longer feels like the arctic ... it feels toasty warm, sounds quieter and has a nice warm fuzzy pinkish feel ... that's right the basement is totally insulated and ready for drywall!

here are the pictures of progress ... please excuse the mess ... our basement has become the area for tool storage because n has taken over the teeny tiny garage with all her classroom stuff ... sorry j

the open stairs to the living room

where the couch will sit and the door to the laundry room

the laundry and freezer room

the bedroom with the angled doorway

the living room side ...

with the boxes built to hide the water meter on the one side

the gym side ...

now my favorite part ... dim the lights it's movie time

soon to be out with the old...

and in with the new ...

cheers ~ from a warm and toasty n

FRUSTRATION

some days there seems to be very little progress when renovating a house ... today is one of those days ... the happy helpers came over bearing gifts of some much needed building supplies and just as they were getting started they realized that they forgot a few things ... important things that need to be done before moving onto the new step in the basement ... they wanted to work on leveling the floor in the bathroom so the shower base will be flat ... which definitely needs to be done because from the bathroom wall to where the edge of the base will sit the floor has a inch difference in height from beginning to end!

well in order to do that the floor leveling stuff had to be bought (which j didn't have time to do this week because he has been crazy busy with work), also plumbing needed to be done so the tools had to picked up and rented for the weekend ... and if your gonna do a little plumbing and go to all the trouble to rent the tool well you might as well complete all the finishing plumbing jobs at the same time ... so that meant picking up extra water lines to move the front tap and deciding on a shower handle and shower head for the bathroom ...

that's all fine however nothing frustrates n more than having to run house errands in saturday traffic ... just by picking a weekend to drive around you automatically add at least an hour travel time to the job ... oh and add in that this isn't getting started until 1:00 pm because j and n had to parlons francais dans la matin ... well you get the picture

well n is unhappy to report that it took us a round trip of 3 hours just to pick up the tools and needed supplies ... the most disappointing part was finding the handle for the shower ...

most times n is happy to live in this particular city but there are certain times that this city doesn't feel so city it actually feels more like a small hillbilly town ... j and n drove to all 3 major hardware suppliers looking for the goods for the shower ... all we could find was tacky overpriced ugly crap and oh all of them came with a tub faucet which we don't need ... doesn't anybody make attractive stuff?

well we were about to give up because if the 3 major home improvement players can't get it together to supply this stuff who will? ... and then on our drive home we found a little bath specialty store that had the perfect handle and shower head ... so it wasn't a total waste ... it was just a little long to get a few key pieces

cheers ~n

update ... just a tad disappointed because it took so long driving around yesterday j and his happy helpers weren't able to install the new basement windows which totally would have been awesome but oh well i guess until next time

IN THE PINK

so thankful to have the happy helpers around again to help with the basement stuff ... the basement as n types is being insulated and it already feels warmer and sounds quieter :) ... pics to come after the weekend to show off all their hard work

cheers ~n

SO WE WALKED INTO A FURNITURE STORE AND ...

... we bought a dining room table ... last year we saw it for $900 then it went down to $700 and when i went into urban barn to get the clock and picture i saw that it was $550 ... so this saturday i took j in to show him some cool lamps and to look at the table again and we found out it was $450 now ... so of course we had to snatch it up and it will be delivered in a few weeks ... so exciting

we are also thinking of chairs ... 4 white leather to go in the middle and 2 black leather for the ends ... it's between these 2 ... i think i like the one with the square cutout better but we'll decide once we get the table

cheers ~n

TICKING CLOCKS AND PAINTED DOCKS

so i have been eyeing this amazing clock courtesy of one of my favorite canadian furniture stores for quite some time but it has been too expensive and i couldn't bring myself to spend that much ... however the other day i was driving around and i decided to go in to urban barn and the clock was on sale for 50% off ... oh and i scored a great painting as well

i want to put this on the wall between the kitchen and the living room and stairwell to the basement ... it is such a nice white and it will really pop against the chocolate brown walls in the house

not sure where this will go but it fits with our city, architecture, buildings, black and white theme that we have going on for our pictures

cheers ~n

IT'S THE END OF AN ERA

according to my favorite friends an era is a significant amount of time ... well according to j he thinks my hair has reached the end of an era ... the other day he said 'i've been noticing that you're hair has pretty much stayed the same since we've been dating ... you should change it up a bit ... i mean after all it is 2010' ...

now before a whole bunch of people start hating on him i totally agree ... my hairstyle has run it's course ... it's been fun and i really have liked it but it's time to make a change ... so this weekend i was totally productive (while j and the happy helpers were slaving away in the basement) i was searching the internet for a hairstyle that i really like and would be a change but still keep my curls and look like me ... drum-roll please ... i found it!

here is my current hairstyle i've had for a very long time ... pretty much the same bangs and curls ... sometimes slightly shorter or slightly longer:

here is the new cut i would like to get sometime in the next few weeks:

still bangs and curls ... just a lot more layers and shaggier on top ... just have to talk to my fabulous hairdresser aka my talented sister and book time to get this done

plus i've decided i am going to get my nose pierced ... it's something i've wanted to do for awhile and if i don't do it soon i probably won't ... so i guess my new year's resolution is to change things up this year ... oh and to floss my teeth more

cheers ~n

EVEN MORE PROGRESS

happy helpers came back for a second weekend in a row and were busy finishing the last bits of electrical for lighting and plugs, strapping the ceiling, moving the last duct in the basement, putting in the base for the shower and we are almost ready for the basement to be insulated and then drywalled!!! ... can't believe that it is actually going to be finished within the next little while ... so excited ... and as you can see so is zoe ... she can't wait to be allowed downstairs and able to run around in a brand new space

cheers ~n

p.s don't you love our ghetto gate to stop the little one from going downstairs ... nothing like toilet paper, a box of unused textbooks and a pair of winter boots to stop her

QUARTER-IS LIFE CRISIS OR JUST SOMETHING FUN?

last night j and n went out for coffee with n's mom, dad and lil sis ... after the cheesecake and coffee n got a text from lil sis about her new nose ring ... and the conversation led to the fact that n should get her's pierced ... now n is turning 30 this september and isn't sure if she is past the stage of piercing her nose or who cares 30 is the new 20 ... still not sure what to do

PICTURES AS PROMISED

i am totally absorbed in planning, planning, and planning for the next few months of school ... and not to brag but it is some pretty awesome stuff ... must be a renewed energy from the new year and the fact that the classroom now has a smartboard to be all amazing with ... i just want to take a few minutes to update on the long ago promised pictures of the basement ... so without further adieu the lovely progress on the soon to be coziest space in the house ... just insulating and then the drywalling, taping and mudding can begin!

cheers ~n

HOW RUMORS GET STARTED

so with teaching the littlest ones things often get said that are quite humorous in the midst of their complete honesty and sincerity and it totally makes my day when i can come home to j with a funny work story ... it's a different story when the funny story involves you and it could turn into an accidental rumor ...

i had a consultant come in the classroom to check in and see how things were going ... we were chatting in the middle of the kids center time (which normally the kids are so involved with the activities they don't even notice what is going on around them) ... and she proceeded to tell me that she was pregnant ... very exciting ... for her

i then had a student come up to me and ask 'are you married too?' ... i of course replied 'yes' and she said 'that is so exciting!' ... 'i guess that's exciting' (i didn't think that my being married to mr. j was a big deal to them but whatever) ... she then said 'well yeah you're having a baby too!' ... at that exact moment her buddy chimed in 'you're having a baby!' and they just stood there with mouths gaping ...

time to clarify ... she is married and is pregnant ... i am married and NOT pregnant ... and now for some simple definitions ... married does not mean you are going to have a baby ... important lesson for the day

cheers ~from just a married n

WHAT THE WHAT ... PROCRASTINATION NEVER DOES ANYBODY ANY GOOD

why is it that when you have an important deadline it always seems to get left to the last minute? usually there is no real good reason but this time i blame christmas ... n is trying to finish a proposal to get some money for schooly type things and the beast is due this friday ... she is trying to get all the pieces done and still have it sound like she knows what she is doing and is super smart and deserving of the money but it sounds so lame and rambly ... enter j to the rescue to proof and help make things un-rambly ... and she still has 4 days left until it needs to be hand delivered and left to the fate of those who do the money giving ... enough procrastination ... she needs to get back to work ... wish her luck

cheers ~n