Today is 1-11-11…I decided to wait until today to write a check for Princess Nagger’s cafeteria account just so I could write that date.   Wonder how many ‘special events’ will take place today?   At least one special event is Random Tuesday Thoughts with The Un-Mom.  At least it should be a ‘lucky’ day, not rife with zombies.  I hope.

So my Christmas tree is still up.  Mostly because I haven’t figured out where all the goodies that are stashed under the tree will go, since I have to reorganize a few things first.  Maybe I’ll get to it this week.  Maybe.

Remember how FedEx damaged a box going to my best friend in Nevada last week?  They returned it to me (they repacked it into a different box and dropped it off a few days later sans the bottle of wine that apparently broke, of course).  Luckily the wrapped gifts were wine-free since I’m an over-wrapper.  Meaning instead of cutting the paper to the exact size needed, I cut a straight piece off the roll (so there aren’t any odd-sections still on the roll, or loose extra pieces not on the roll…OCD much?) I just wrap the item with the whole piece I cut off, so whatever is being wrapped is layered double or 2-1/2 times.

Which benefited me this time, since FedEx drop-kicked the box and caused a bottle of wine to break, bathing the rest of the contents in wine.  Luckily the wrapping paper and excessive packing material absorbed enough to protect the wrapped gifts, so I simply had to unwrap and re-wrap them to re-box and ship out a second time.   They charged me shipping to return it to me – a 20 pound box is not cheap to ship to yourself.  I have to file a claim for the damage they caused so they’ll credit me the shipping.  For their error/damage.  Thanks, FedEx (she said sarcastically).

We’ve been busy working on the Summer House.  I’ve mentioned before that our house was built in 1817, and at that time they didn’t have indoor plumbing, nor did they have an actual kitchen in the house, hence the Summer Kitchen (which we refer to as the Summer House, since it’s about 600 square feet of nice usable space).  It’s right out back of our main house, and we’ve been using it for our computer room/office/hubby’s music recording studio.  It was in need of restoration when we bought the house 8 years ago – a couple of years ago the hubby was motivated and put insulation in…but then didn’t do anything beyond that.  Which is why I haven’t shared pictures of the Summer House as of yet, because it’s kinda crappy at the moment.

This weekend we finally replaced the door with a nice new door that actually has a window – and blinds between the glass.  We’ve already noticed a major difference with no cold air leaking into the Summer House around (or through – the old one had some old holes from old latches or something) the door.  We also installed a doggy door next to the main door – but the dogs are major wuss’s and haven’t gone through the doggy door without being pushed, or having us hold up the double flaps to have them go in or out.  One of these days they’ll figure it out.  Maybe.

We’re taking advantage of the walk-in fireplace that once cooked many meals for the original owners of the house back in the 1800’s – we’ve cleaned it out, chisled off the plaster that protected the brick from the open flame (and wow, the brick has been preserved nicely!) and will be putting our old pellet stove in there to heat up the place (we just got a newer/nicer one for the house ).

There’s also a second floor – granted it’s not very big, but you can actually stand upright for 90% of it.  So we’re going to open up a couple of the sections of the floor to the first floor to make it a loft.   And that will become hubby’s new man cave/recording studio while Princess Nagger and I will spread out and take over the first floor.  A friend is going to custom build some  nice desks for our computer antics.  I’ll definitely share before and after pictures as we progress – we’re clearing out all the stuff by this weekend to hopefully start the sheet rock project on Saturday.  Which means I need to clear my wine making stuff off the dining room table so I can set up my temporary office there.

We’re also working on restoring the barn, too – the guys cleared out the unnecessary stuff from the barn loft, and a friend is going to convert it into a nice finished space.  I think having both the Summer House and the barn restored (and even more functional than they are) is going to be so cool.  And long overdue.  Besides, it’ll only increase the value of the house when we get ready to sell to move back out West.

I’m keeping an eye on the weather today – we’re supposed to have another big winter storm pass through here and potentially give us some snow.  This will be the third one in as many weeks, but those that are they keep calling whomever they call for snow in our area, but there’s apparently been a miscommunication and we’ve been bypassed more often than not.  Princess Nagger said they need to get it right and instead of us being in a bubble for the snow to bypass us, we need to be the snow-globe.  When they promise 6-12 inches of snow and we get a dusting, or 4-6 inches and we get barely an inch, their threat/promise of 3-6 inches today into tomorrow morning is on my “I’ll believe it when I see it” list.  Princess Nagger is jonesin’ for a Snow Day.

That about wraps up the not-so-random portion of this week – don’t forget to head over to visit Keely the Un-Mom – maybe 1/11/11 is some sort of significant zombie activity day.  Or not.


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21 Comments

  1. snow storms are so unpredictable some years. We re getting called to be dumped on more times then not and BAM! nothing. I can’t wait to hear more about your summer house. There is place here locally you’d probably love to see. It’s all the older homes from the same time frame that were moved out of the Valley so that the Dam could go through. They moved a lot of houses, some were donated some were bought out. A church or two too. They are Loyalist homes. I’ve see the summer house idea on a few locations. It’s always amusing to see a hosue and walk through and it’s has “no” plumbing. (they do hide some in the basement for the workers) . 🙂

  2. Your Fed-Ex complaints remind me of the opening scene of Ace Ventura (please tell me you know what I’m talking about.) SO funny.

  3. I just sold my other house and had to write 1-11-11 about 36 times on the paperwork so I am no longer interested in the date lol.

    I must have pissed somebody off, I haven’t seen the FedEx guy in weeks but a beautiful little birdie sent me a message saying I might today (weather permitting). YAY!

  4. I’ve noticed that about snow forecasts – it’s NEVER what they say it will be, and most of the time, it’s a lot less. However, my first winter in Ohio we got a snowstorm in early March (absolutely unheard of in Dallas) that was supposed to give us 3 to 5 inches – we got 18. That’s not the only time that’s happened since I’ve been up here, so we’ll see if we get the 6 to 8 inches they are saying we will. You’re right, it could be just 2 or 3, but it could be 2 feet.

    Who knows?

  5. Hello from the UK where it is 11-1-11 (we display day/month/year) which looks much neater. You’ll have to wait till November I suppose.

  6. I can’t wait to see the pictures of the Summer house and barn renovations. What neat projects. I would never embark on a task as seemingly daunting as making a loft space. Unless I was aiming to have the house fall down.

  7. You must get some pics up and share the home improvement bliss. I am looking forward to doing some renovations this Spring. Good luck with Fed-Ex.

  8. The summer kitchen sounds awesome! What a fun space to have. Pictures for sure, please. I’m sure the dogs will get the door, eventually. Like children and old people, they have to hate and distrust new things first.

  9. What a pain for that to have happened at least no damage to anything but the wine…and what a waste of a beautiful bottle of homemade wine! Had some of my dad’s homemade wine last weekend, Wonderful, I really should learn the art of it from him. I find it fascinating, but have never bothered since I can just get it from him. Now, he’s eighty, should’ve paid more attention.

  10. Your summer house is larger than the little hippie house hubby and I live in now. And we love this little cottage. I know you enjoy the rehab on your lovely home.

  11. Love old houses, but they truly are a labor of love. Every time I tell my dad that I want to buy one and work on it, he says “buy a lot and we’ll build you a new “antique” cape. 🙂

    We are due for 12-14 inches tonight. They have called off school already, and lucky me… I put in for a personal day three weeks ago. Whoo Hoo! Pajama day!

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