Who needs drugs when you've got siding to stain?!!

I think I'm still high from all the Cabot fumes. Last night marked my 3rd consecutive day of staining our brand new cedar siding boards that we received last week. I spent over 16 hours this past weekend staining, and thankfully the weather held out long enough on Sunday for me to do 54 boards all by myself. In 2 hours last night, 3 of us finished about 65 more and there's still 20 or so to go! I should be able to finish that last bit tonight, but after spending Sunday and Monday night in the garage surrounded by the fumes, I think it's starting to go to my head. ;-) And of course it's been rather humid lately so this stuff is taking forever to dry and I'm running out of place to put them to dry! They're spread all over the garage and many are even leaning up against the tractor to conserve space. So no parking in the garage for a bit longer! We're hoping that the carpenter will start the siding work in the next few days, but we still have more stuff to do before then like take down the outside lighting fixtures and getting a dumpster delivered to throw away the old siding. All I can say is thank goodness we're doing a significant part of the house with stone. No need to stain that stuff!

More work on the house and a new dress!

Ok, so the heat and humidity from about 2 weeks ago really tested the new AC system and we discovered that the upstairs wasn't cooling off as much as it was supposed to. So the guys are back at the house again today, as a matter of fact, to drop 2 more supplies in the upstairs bedrooms to balance out the air in the upstairs. So it should nice and really cool up there the next time we get 90+ degree heat! And to top it off, I asked them if they could look into the issue we have with the tub in the bathroom upstairs. We haven't used it in ages because of a leak which appears to be coming from the drain underneath. That issue has been on our To-Do list for about a year now, so if they can get that fixed we'll be golden!! Not to mention the fact that B will get to take a bath in "his" bathroom again.

In other renovation news...we received a delivery of lumber this morning for the siding. I have to admit - those cedar boards are beautiful! So we'll definitely have our hands full this weekend staining all of that before the carpenter starts his work on Monday. We have also signed with a stone mason and he will be starting his work as soon as our home equity loan goes through at the bank. Oh - and last weekend I borrowed a wallpaper steamer from a former colleague (Thanks J and I!) so that I can start the removal of the last bit of wallpaper in the upstairs hallway. Busy busy!!

Speaking of last weekend, one other task on my list of stuff was to get together with my cousin and her friends/family and go dress shopping! My cousin is getting married in October (finally - she's been with the guy for like 13 years!) and I'm one of her bridesmaids and I'm so excited! I haven't been a bridesmaid since my best friend Chel got married in 1997, but I think I remember the drill - LOL. Anyway, her only requirements about the dress was that is had to be black or brown. But of course we peppered her with so many questions about what she wants/doesn't want (can't have the bridesmaids outshine the bride now can we!) that she ended up caving in and showed us her wedding gown. It's absolutely stunning! So the 5 of us - 4 bridesmaids and her maid of honor started scanning the racks and I started trying on a bunch of dresses. This is the one we decided to go with. It will be a dark brown with a cream-colored sash. I have to admit, I didn't really like it at first (all that poofy-ness isn't really my style), but it's starting to grow on me.

And the maid of honor will have a slightly different dress. Hers will be a taupe/nutmeg color (more like the color of the sash in this picture) with a dark brown sash to match the bridesmaids.

So let me know what you think of the dresses!

Bring on the heat!

Cause we're ready! Last week, the first of several major renovations to the house was completed with the installation of central air conditioning. So long to 8 long years worth of window-unit nonsense! After growing up in a house with central A/C then moving to a house without it and having to deal with window units, I realized very quickly how much of a pain those things are to deal with. And after replacing all the windows over the past few years, well just say I'm glad I don't have to worry about those getting all scratched up anymore. So bring on the hazy, hot and humid weather! The crazy summer heatwaves that last for weeks! (Just not any droughts, ok? Food prices are high enough as it is!) Cause we are ready to sit back in a nice cool comfy house!

Next up - we need to secure a mason so we can secure some money and get the exterior renovations going. We've talked to 4 stone masons already and we have a really good feeling about 2 of them. One of them wanted us to measure for the square footage ourselves - what?? Isn't that what you're supposed to do? And another one quote a price that is way above the average. So stay tuned...

Rain...no wait...Sun...no...Rain...argghh!

It's May and it's really chilly out - what's up with that? Where are those 80 degree days we had back in April? And I think something is seriously messed up with the forcast models these weather people are looking at. For the second time in a few days, they have forcasted heavy rains. But the weekend turned out to be gorgeous and it isn't raining right now. Weird!

In other news, the home improvement projects are continuing. We have already decided who to go with for central air conditioning and we're hoping to have it installed and functioning before the hot weather sets in. We are also waiting to hear back from our carpenter regarding a siding quote and this Saturday we'll be heading down to the shore to pick out what kind of stone to put on the house. We're planning to have a mix of cedar clapboard, thin stone masonry and some cedar shake on various walls. And given the decrepit look of the house with the current siding, we can't wait to see how it will look when it's all done!

An update on the home renovations

Since Brendan was on spring vacation this week, I took advantage of the time off from work to paint the dining room (which I had started work on back in February.) Here are a few pictures of the progress.

Before - with the gingham wallpaper...


Wallpaper removed and the chair rail is installed...


After the rail is finished and painting is complete. These pictures really don't do it much justice. That red is a nice dark burgundy.

The new car

So far the new car is fantastic! Even Brendan loves it!

Nasty accident and a new car

As many of you already know, my poor hubby was in his second accident in less than a year about 2 1/2 weeks ago. A woman in a large truck took a left turn right in front of him (thanks to an SUV in the left lane of oncoming traffic giving her a space to go) but unfortunately J didn't see her and she didn't see him, so despite his attempt to swerve, he ended up smashing right into her side. Here's a few pictures of the destruction:


Unfortunately, the car was totaled, but since then he has gotten a brand new car thanks to the check from the woman's insurance company. It's a new Audi A4 (he didn't care much for the new BMWs) but the exterior color is almost the exact same as the wrecked beemer. And it doesn't stop there! The interior is almost identical too - black leather with wood-grain trim on the dash. LOL He loved his car so much, he wanted to replicate it with the new one. Too funny! I'll post pictures of the new one shortly...