drumroll please...

So here you have it... the "after" pictures of the big remodel.  I can't believe it is FINALLY done.  Whew... that took FOREVER!!!  The room is so big that is it difficult to give you the *true* before and after shots... the before room had weird angles to the entrance, so it was hard to really describe how fucked up it was.  These pictures do not do the room justice either.  However, just trust me when I say it ROCKS!!!  As those of you that own homes know... a house is a never ending "work-in-progress."  This translates into, now the rest of the house looks like dooky and we have to fix that.  We have now painted what will be the nursery (one day, don't get your panties in a twist- this is not some secret code of an announcement) and are in the process of ripping out the disgusting carpeting that we walk on.  We are pleasantly surprised to find the original, hardwood, parkay (sp?) flooring underneath to be in decent shape.  Decent enough for us to get 'er fixed up and consider 'er a keeper!  

We also are working with our gardener to fix our landscaping.  It's a total crack-up b/c when it was just mediocre grass, all he cared about was cutting it and getting his cash.  Now that he is "taking ownership" of the landscaping, he's all about doing it *all*.  It's cute, really.  The front lawn kicks ass... for California standards.  No one out here really appreciates a nice {green} lawn.  That's the Michigander in me furiously watering everyday to keep a green lawn when everyone else has succumbed to the desert climate and has planted a "rock lawn."  WTF is that?  Can you imagine playing on a slip n' slide on THAT lawn?  No way Pedro!  Anyway... our back yard is not yet complete, so when that project is finished, I will post pics.  Again, by California standards, our back yard is HUGE.  By Michigan standards, the backyard is more the size of a deck...  however, I have adjusted and I will take my *HUGE* {green} backyard and one day tell my children wild stories of lavish rolling hills that I once called "the backyard."

Last night was our "Budget Gourmet."  I feel that it was fairly successful.  I'm sure my guests may disagree... tough!  I ended up settling on a sushi making party.  Each couple had to make 4 rolls of the same recipe for us to sample.  Later we had a small contest to select "recipe."  Joyce & Ruben won, deservedly so... with the fabulous presentation and rolls that actually stayed rolled.  I think I just bought myself an evening of baby-sitting too (the prize was 2 movie tix).  I don't mind, their kid is cool.  And they just got "Guitar Rock-Star" (or whatever it's called), so the kid and I can ROCK OUT while the parents are out.

Next... I'm desperately trying to finish the DingDing* scrapbook prop.  I hate that I have procrastinated.  We are shooting next weekend, so I have no choice but to finish today.

*This is an Indy film I have a few small parts in.  I am portrayed as the "Scrapbooking nut job."

Once the film in complete and all that biz, I will show n' tell.

shit slinging monkeys and kick-boxing

So the room addition is coming along nicely... it's been a great distraction from the hell that is my life. The drywall is up and mudded, and the exterior has been laid, still waiting for the final layer (colored layer) of stucco to be applied... then the outside will be DONE. So the door guy tells us we have to paint so that he can come in and put in the doors... he also tells us that if we buy and paint some moulding, he will put that up for us as well. So last weekend we bust our asses trying to primer and paint the master bedroom, the walk-in closet and the bathroom. OMG... it SUCKED... there is NO way we were going to finish in two days! We gave it our all and got it primered and the first coat in the master. We actually got the whole bathroom and closet done. Easy since it was all white (ceilings and walls) and there was no worrying about the edges, etc. The master will have cream walls, with a french blue accent wall, and a white ceiling... thus the pain in the ass with the different colors right next to each other...edging and all.... AGH!

So, we're on a roll and so Monday rolls in. The freaking "door" guys basically messed up every wall in the master... so apparently we have shit slinging monkeys as contractors... HELLO??? YOU ARE IN THE DETAIL PART OF THIS PROJECT YOU GORILLA'S... DON"T JUST BANG AROUND LIKE IT'S NOTHING. So... now we have to re-do the walls... and by adding the doors and the moulding the guy also has to remud parts of the walls, due to the frame, etc. SO WHY IN THE HELL DID HE TELL US TO PAINT IF HE KNEW HE WOULD BE MESSING THINGS UP??? GO FIGURE! So, we are re-painting and fixing the damage done by he SSM's.

We picked out tile for the bathroom and carpet for the rest of the room/closet. We checked out fixtures and cabinetry for he bathroom too. So, there IS a light at the end of the tunnel. A far, distant, glimmer of light.. that fades in and out from time to time, but exists... even if only in my imagination.

So... since it has been decided that I am at maximum capacity... I have taken up kick-boxing at a local gym. I have only committed myself to one month of this, just in case I hate it or just get lazy again. I figure this will also help with the rage inside my head... punching on a helpless bag of whatever it is inside those things instead of punching people that make me mad. It's cheaper than getting myself out of jail.

let there be stucco...

F.I.N.A.L.L.Y. a new update with the house. That you see there my friends is in fact stucco. It's not the right color YET, but in 14 days it will be. Nice schedule these construction workers are on, yes? The inside has drywall too... along with 2 layers of mud. This is progress friends, progress. A big WOO HOO to that.

In other news... there is none. Nanner nanner nanner.

no picture, because I'm a loser!

This weekend flew by so quickly, I totally {almost} forgot to post. I'm trying to post at LEAST once a week, if not more often, but shooting for at least weekly.
There isn't too much visual progress on the house. Nothing worth taking a picture of at least. Supposedly the electrician was over and did his job. I just trust that he did.

It seems that everyone is back at work and school... or at least where they are supposed to be. Only means that there is no more slacking to be done. Crap.

The weather out here has been very rainy and windy and cold. I don't typically mind it at all... actually really like it... except when it's time to run a marathon. The OC (Orange County) Marathon was yesterday. I drove up to OC on Saturday, went to the expo, picked up my free sneakers (which I actually got for Tony, I'm a strict Asics girl), got some work on my latest project done up in the hotel room, went back down for the pasta dinner they arranged for the runners and went back to the room to watch a movie (over-priced on payperview) and went to bed. Woke up the next morning at 3:30 a.m. to have my coffee and breakfast and layed back down until 5 a.m. IF you want some TMI... the early coffee thing is to get "stuff" moving so I can unload BEFORE the race, thus avoiding the "football squat" in the gross porta potties later. Yes, TMI. Anyway... I was registered for the full marathon and let me just tell you now... I was not prepared to do the full. This year just was no conducive to training for a marathon. The 2 weddings, getting pregnant, becoming un-pregnant, and then getting bronchitis... those are my excuses and I think they are pretty good ones. Anyway... at mile 12 ish, I stopped the race and was taken to the end. DNF. That's right people... a big Did Not Finish. I'm OK with it too. I cannot waste any more energy worrying about that DNF. Really... who cares, right? There are plenty of races to be run. The weather was miserable and it's not like I was going to run a PR. I'm not typically a quitter... but this race just wasn't meant to be for me this year. I do want to try it again, next year or the next. It seems like a really good race overall...

The Chargers won their first play-off game... so Tony is happy about that and all is well in the world until next week.

happy holiDUH!

Let's see... the house is coming along nicely. Tony thinks it might be done early. With the holidays, I'm not so sure. We'll see. We decided to get some central heating and cooling since the house is torn up anyway... what better time? I must say it is VERY nice to be snuggly warm... we even got one of those programmable thermostat dealios, so it can be warm when we wake up, yet cool while we sleep... ahhh... JOY! Yes... even in California we need heat. Should you have forgotten, San Diego IS a desert and if you remember your geography lessons from 6th grade, it gets cold in the desert at night.

With all great things, there comes a little pain... and that pain is that there is DUST everywhere. UGH! So I am currently going through my studio, top to bottom, dusting. This makes for a GREAT time to clean, organize, and PURGE any and all things that are no longer cool.

The holidays are such a fun time to get together with friends old and new. I just went to lunch with Wendy who used to work with me. She looks so adorable, all pregnant and such. Stupid me forgot to take pictures of us... but I'll get another chance at her baby shower. I had lunch with Jean and Lindsey yesterday, where we did our gift exchange and guess what I got?? Still guessing? Well... I got a SEWING MACHINE!!! This is the last of the craft groups that I want to learn and I will be complete. That is until something else emerges... but I am SO FREAKING EXCITED to start sewing!!! (Oh yeah, didn't take pictures of the lunch either... but again, I get a 2nd chance at Bill's b-day next Saturday.) There are so many projects in my head that I think I might explode!! We're having dinner tonight with some more friends... I promise to take pics.

For now, here is a pic of the house update... it's got a roof and a sliding door now! Whooop whooop!

busy busy elves...

I feel like I am working in Santa's workshop. I am busily (is that a word?) making Christmas cards and word banners for clients... and I am so loving it! The cards are coming out SO SO cute and I'm just getting started on the Merry Christmas banner, but I can already see how cute that will be!
I'm still nursing this cough. It's what I have left over from that horrible flu I had. It's sort of like left-overs from Thanksgiving dinner... it's never ending... but not as tasty. Because of all of the self-medicating I am doing with OTC stuff... I walk around with my head in space... it's really weird. It seems to be helping, just a little tiny bit. In general I feel like poo... but the meds help me get up and at least pretend to be human.

The re-model is coming along nicely. There is a roof, sort of. It's been rainy, stormy, and cold here in SoCal, so maybe that is going to slow things down? I'm not sure since I don't know much about the construction world. So, we'll see.

So...here's to Mucinex, Sudafed, Tylenol, honey and apple cider vinegar! May the buzz be with you!

House update and overall Holiday chat...

Well... I came home to THIS on Wednesday... pretty cool... it's moving right along... I hope that it's done before February b/c I want to get IN THERE and start decorating!!!

The long holiday weekend was FABtastic! Dinner at the in-laws was fun... we played HOOPLA (by the makers of Cranium) and that got everybody involved... of course! YOU can do it better than I can when YOU'RE NOT EVEN PLAYING!!! Tony had a memorable time trying to describe Tupperware... ahhh... good times.

Black Friday was a non-event for us. We got our Christmas tree up and ready to decorate, the few stores we went to were not packed at all... hmmm. Got my hair highlighted on Friday as well... can't really tell that anything was done, unless you have studied my hair and can notice things like that.

Saturday we woke up early and went to Rosarito to play paint-ball with the "gang." I had to at least try it... that was the rule. I did. In the second round I got pelted really good and I was out for the rest of the day. I have a narly bruise on my leg... I shot photos the rest of the day. That seemed to get me out of the spotlight. We all went and had lobster afterwards. I'm not a huge lobster fan, so quite uneventful, again. The border wait was subdued by the fact that we watched a movie on the DVD player.

Sunday we decorated the tree... I went to an Art Festival, that was just ok. Then I worked on some projects and all of a sudden it was time for bed. Whew! The weekend blew by so quickly, yet I feel like I didn't do anything. Oh well.

HONEY! We've got a MAJOR mole problem!!!

Have you seen what's dug up our front lawn??

The damn thing even built some skating ramps to boot...

ha ha... just kidding... I'm so funny! This is actually an update of the house remodel... the digging is to connect the plumbing from the new bathroom to the sewer line... yadda yadda yadda...

here's the back of the house too...

random stuff and some before pics

Random stuff...
I love to balance my checkbook. Even if I hardly have any money in it... I just love doing it (of course it's more fun when I end up with a hunky balance after all is said and done...).
I get to stare at mountains from my cubicle window. This usually only happens when the skies are clear... but it's kick-ass.
I LOVE October. Love it. I love that it rains. I love the weather. Since over half of my October was spent being sad, I will extend my favorite month through November.

Here are some pics, as promised...

Remodel day 1

Some very exciting things were happening at home while I was at work yesterday... the construction people starting to do their "thang." I know it doesn't look like much... but I needed to snap some pics to use as a "before" type of picture as well. I will post the "before" pics soon... but you get an idea with the banner above. I have to snap some of the inside too. The back room will soon be our MASTER bedroom, complete with two glorious chandeliers, a Jack & Jill bathroom, and a walk-in closet. YAY! No more doing the pee-pee dance while someone is taking a shower. I think the construction guys said it would be done in February... oh, I can't wait. With this remodel, I think the house will actually be bearable for quite a few more years.
I know what you're thinking... great, one more thing to be stressed about until February. Well... I know... but I think this one will be ok, since the "stress" is contained to our house. Besides, this is Tony's project... he gets to stress over it. I had my share with the 2 weddings. His turn.