Halloween Weekend

Our favorite trick-or-treater -
Luke in his green M&M costume

A quick synopsis of Halloween weekend:

Friday we had a little shopping excursion in LeClaire, followed by dinner at Azteca with delicious peach margaritas. I was tempted to buy a light fixture for the kitchen, but luckily we checked the length before purchasing as it would have hung too low

Saturday I was up early to drive up to Ames for homecoming. Quick meeting, fun tailgating, and I was back on the road to Davenport by 2:00pm. Had to get back for our first trick-or-treating experience! Mom and Jord accomplished a lot while I was gone, so we were all able to sit back and relax for the evening. 

Sunday we woke up early to get to work. We got some painting done, put up the house numbers and mailbox, mulched and seeded the front lawn. Dad brought over a roast and mashed potatoes for dinner - it was ready just as we were wrapping up for the day. All in all, it was a productive weekend!  Still a lot to do, but the list is starting to dwindle. I'm hoping that by the end of this week we can get back to normal - after all, we have a lot of TV to catch up on!

Mortgage Due

Carpet tiles for office

We sent in our first mortgage payment on Tuesday. Only 359 payments to go! It was so nice to have that lag time between our last rent check and the first mortgage fee. Now back to reality!

Carpenter is making progress. The house is 95% finished with molding, baseboards and quarter-rounds. The painting remains to be done, which Jord and I should be able to complete this Sunday. I’m not sure what Carpenter is planning on starting next, but I’m hoping he’ll tackle the tiling for the fireplace. There are plenty of projects to be done though! His wife happens to make curtains, so we’re commissioning her to take on the living room/dining room window treatments. I’ve found some that I like online, namely at Pottery Barn, but they’re so expensive! We’ll see what she will charge and go from there.

We finally purchased some rugs. We’ve been looking since they finished the floor, almost five weeks ago. It seems like a waste to spend all that money on hardwood flooring, only to go out and buy area rugs to cover it up! I found two chic styles on Overstock.com – one for the master bedroom and one for the living room. I also purchased carpet tiles at CB2.com for the office and sun porch, along with a light fixture for the dining room. Sarah is being kind enough to pick these items up from CB2 to save us the exorbitant shipping costs. We’ll have them when she gets in town next weekend for Luke’s birthday!

The Painters Left Their Key

That means they are done, right? Well, their version of done differs from my version of done, but at least they are gone. I’m happy to have that part behind us! It only took seven weeks, when they told us it would take about two. Jord still needs to do a walk-through with them to point out all the mistakes they made – not to have them fix it, just to let them know that we aren’t exactly happy with the quality of work. We are going to do the touch-ups ourselves, as their finishing touches don’t quite meet our standards. Maybe I’m being a perfectionist, but for the amount of money we’ve spent on painting, it should be perfect. My mom offered to spend this Saturday re-painting the front door. I love the color but when you get close it looks awful, plus they didn’t use a high gloss like I had asked. She is also going to tackle the broom closet, using the same paint from the front door to make it durable. What a charitable thing for her to do on the weekend! I’ll be in Ames for an AΓΔ House Association meeting and Homecoming tailgate, but hope to be back in Davenport in time for trick-or-treating.

To give you a wrap-up of the last few days, this was the weekend of painting. Jord and I spent most of Saturday and Sunday in the living room, painting baseboards and quarter-rounds. It took a surprising amount of time for us to tape, sand, and paint two coats. We’re total amateurs, but it’s all done so we have one room down, four to go. We also painted the interior of the china cabinet and put the finishing coat on both chandeliers that I was working on. Although my hopes of having the painting and yard work done this weekend were not met, it’s getting there.

The sliding glass door was ordered on Saturday. The same company that is replacing the picture window will do this job as well. They dumped an advertising sign in our yard that they want us to keep up until they are done, 4-8 weeks from now. I’m afraid it might end up in the garage for the time being. One really great bonus of ordering both the window and door right now is that we qualify for a tax credit. The salesman tried selling us on insulation as well – which we need installed in the exterior walls and the attic, according to the energy audit – to qualify for an additional tax credit, but we’re still mulling that one over. We know it’s something we need to have done; it’s just not at the top of the priority list.

This week, the chandeliers in the sun porch and office will be installed, along with the exterior lighting. It might take awhile to install the light pole we are replacing in the front yard, as the previous one is buried in cement. I was really hoping to have it done by Saturday for trick-or-treating, but I don’t see that happening at this point. Carpenter is finishing up the quarter-rounds and molding work, so it’s up to us to paint and be done with the project. It will be nice to have that done so we can arrange what little furniture we have!

Chicago List

Bears Game, Cubs Home Opener, Christmas Party '09, Architecture Boat Tour

Jord and I created this list about a year ago when we decided we would be moving back to Davenport. We signed the lease for the last time and I thought we should have a plan to make the most of our last year in Chicago. The list went through several revisions over the last 12 months, but the intent was always the same: enjoy all that Chicago has to offer before it’s too late! Now, we know we’ll be back to visit and there’s always time to finish up the list, but the quick weekend trips here and there are usually rushed and have an agenda in place.

I’d say we experienced a lot in our last year: Bears game, Bulls game, Chicago Fire soccer game, countless Cubs games, Tea at the Drake, Architecture Boat Tour, Willis Tower, Wrigley Field tour, Kayaking, Goose Island brewery tour, one last apartment party (Christmas ‘09), Movie in the Park (To Catch a Thief), Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier, and various bars and restaurants. Numerous things were added to the list just from receiving Groupon emails that sparked our interest, such as a Beer & Bacon tasting and a sailboat ride on Lake Michigan.

Those that we didn’t get around to include attending a Blackhawks game (although we went to the championship parade last spring), Devil in the White City bus tour (Jord hasn’t read the book, so I need to find someone else to join me), Frank Lloyd Wright walking tour (we lived in this neighborhood, so we’ve experienced the architecture on our own), and drinks at the Signature Room (this is something that I still plan to do). There were many restaurants that we didn’t make it to, as our list basically revolved around food. We also had some Chicago friends and family who we wanted to touch base with before leaving, but the last few months got away from us.

Now that we’re back in Davenport, I’ve been brainstorming for things to do here. The list hasn’t expanded too much beyond the obvious – Figge museum, River Bandits games, St. Patrick Society happenings, downtown festivals – but I think between working on the house and spending quality time with family, we won’t have to worry about filling our schedule for awhile!

Wrigley Tour, Blackhawks Championship Parade, Goose Island Brew Tour, Tea at the Drake

Projects

Luke helping Mom with the tulip bulbs

Tuesday night my mom and I started spray painting two chandeliers, one for the sun porch and one for the office. I love chandeliers and aspire to have one in every room, minus the master bedroom where we require a ceiling fan (which happened to be installed today). This is just the beginning of my painting projects. Once those are done and installed, I’ll move on to painting the interior of our built-in china cabinet. I found some cute red knobs from Anthropologie for the cabinet doors, inspiring me to paint the inside red. All of our china is still in boxes, so I’m anxious to finish this and get the boxes unpacked. I also have to paint the broom closet – forgot to have the painters do this and since we’ve exceeded six weeks with them at the house, I’d rather just do it myself at this point. And I can’t forget about the furniture, including two chairs and a dresser. I’m painting the frame of the chairs white, then sending them to the upholsterer with fabric we found at IKEA. The dresser will be black and is reserved for the office. Just wait for the before and after pictures!

Since my mom had Tuesday and Thursday nights off from swim team this week, she generously agreed to help me during her extra free-time. We did our painting Tuesday, so tonight we planted tulip and muscari bulbs as well as the shrubs we bought weeks ago. These were two things I just couldn't seem to start without her assistance. Even though it’s getting a little late in the season for this type of planting, we wanted to get it done and will just hope for the best come spring. Grass seed and mulch still need to go down - we're aiming for Saturday if the weather cooperates. We were delayed by the painters, who we hoped would be done weeks ago. Hopefully this weekend will mark the completion of the painting and the end of the majority of our yard work for the season!

Handymen

So far we have two handymen working on the house – both named Paul so it’s a little confusing. I will hereby refer to them as Electrician and Carpenter (a la Karen Walker from Will & Grace) to simplify things.

Electrician is obviously working on our electrical needs. He had his eye on the dishwasher we replaced, so he’s doing some work in exchange for it. He has taken down all the exterior lighting and will put up the new fixtures once the painting is complete. Electrician is also swapping out all outlets and light switches. They had been painted over in the past and we opted to just replace them. We are working on finding the perfect lighting for each area of the house, so as we purchase those he will install.

Carpenter is working on, you guessed it, carpentry. First on his list is installing quarter-rounds and molding (some baseboards need to be replaced throughout the house and the kitchen currently doesn’t have any crown molding). Last night he measured, then we went to Lowe’s and purchased the materials plus 12 interior doors, a sliding glass door (to replace the wonky French doors in the den) and a garage people door. The doors will take about three weeks to arrive, so plenty of time to get everything else done first! We also asked him to add inserts around the dishwasher and microwave as the new appliances are smaller than the available spaces – right now you can see the pipes behind the dishwasher and the microwave looks like it’s floating in the middle of nowhere. In addition, Carpenter is making either a mega-sized drawer or cabinet doors for under the kitchen sink as nothing is there at this point – fabric concealed the space beforehand. I’ve also inquired about him making a kitchen bench to provide a breakfast nook, but we’re waiting to find out his estimate. He will be tiling the floor in front of the fireplace as well. I think Carpenter might be my new best friend – he’s going to be around a lot!

Exterior Painting

The exterior painting is under way! It’s actually been going on for awhile. First they had to do prep, such as power washing, sanding and testing the color, which began about two weeks ago. I’ve been anxiously awaiting the final product so we can put up the finishing touches – outdoor lighting, house numbers, potted plants and, of course, pumpkins! Last night I ran some errands before heading home, but when I drove up to the house I was astonished at how much was done. It looks like a new house! The shade of gray looks perfect, along with the white trim and yellow door. They still have another coat to do, but I’m already so happy with the results. I knew the house had potential when we first saw it, and now it’s finally starting to show!

Damaged Goods

I didn’t believe it this morning when Jord called me and said that the stove had arrived damaged. Sears has sent us two major appliances that have been damaged – the refrigerator had scratches and rust and the stove has dents. It isn’t clear if this is a manufacturer issue or a Sears issue, but it is unacceptable. The deliverymen installed the dented stove for us to use in the meantime, since we didn’t know how long it would be until the new one arrived. They now claim that the replacement will arrive with a pre-delivery inspection this Saturday. Shouldn’t they inspect all items before delivery? And why did we have to wait five weeks for the stove to arrive, and now they can get a second one to us in just two days? One good thing came from this: they realized that we don’t have the correct outlet for the stove hook-up, so we can try and remedy that in time before the next delivery. Right now the cord is stretched over the counter.  Now we need to try and get an electrician over before Saturday. I have to say though, I'm happy with the model we picked out. We didn't get to see it in the store as it was a special order item, but I think it fits the space just right.

Windows

Fairhaven has old windows.  We knew that, but they add a certain charm in my opinion.  They are all in working order even if they aren’t the most efficient.  This is one item we never put in the budget as it just didn’t occur to me that we would be replacing any windows, however; the painters uncovered a problem with the large picture window in the living room.  Apparently, the last time around this 60 year old window, original to the house, was partially painted to hide an issue.  Once our guys scraped away the paint, you can see the frame of the window caving in at the top in between the two panes of glass.  On Monday night we had someone come over to take a look, and he recommended that we replace the window.  The guy said he’s surprised that the window isn’t foggy or doesn’t collect condensation, so it sounds like it’s only a matter of time before it gets worse.  We’re now awaiting a surely expensive quote.  Do we just paint over the problem as the previous owners did, or should we bite the bullet and pay for the new glass?  Depending on the cost, I’m leaning toward the new glass.  To look on the bright side, we can get a more efficient window that will provide some protection to the new floors.  Rather do it now before the weather turns and the problem worsens.

Five Years

Joe Strang with Luke after
the Regals victory

Friday marked our 5th wedding anniversary. How did we commemorate the occasion, you ask? We headed to Iowa City for the Strang’s annual football party and the Regina game. What better way to spend a milestone than with family! At some point I’m sure we’ll go out to dinner to celebrate on our own, or maybe I’ll cook once we have that damn stove!

On Saturday morning, Aunt Sarah stopped by for some delicious breakfast pizza and to take a quick look at our new digs. After she left, my mom and I popped over to an estate sale just a few houses away for a quick look. Figuring that I wouldn’t find anything noteworthy, I left my wallet at home. Big mistake! I cleaned the place out and found some great pieces for the house – a set of wingback chairs, an outdoor table with two matching chairs, and various knick-knacks. Luckily the house was so close and we took a couple trips back and forth to bring my new finds home. We then had an event to help out with, so we high-tailed it out of town. My mom has rounded up some business for us from her co-workers at Adams Elementary – another mother-of-the-bride asked us to assist with her daughter’s wedding. They asked us to manage the reception – lighting candles, preparing food, refilling the refreshment table, cutting the cake. We’ve done this a few times before to gain experience should our fictional event planning business ever become a reality. Each time the requests are a little different, so it’s always insightful. This event was out in New Windsor, IL, at the Big Red Barn. The site is idyllic for a country wedding, although a little difficult to find. My parents and I got out there at noon – we needed my dad this time as there was cooking involved. It ended up being a long, hard 11-hour day of grunt work, but we came away with another reference. Chalk it up to experience!

Sunday brought more landscaping. Our help has diminished, so Jord and I spent about five hours in the front yard working on the pavers. I don’t blame them – I’m sick of the yard work too! We have this little path from the driveway to the front entry that was in pretty bad condition. The pavers were crooked and not spaced evenly, plus there were weeds galore. So we removed all the pavers, dug up the grass/weeds and replaced the stone. The hardest part was aligning them, but Jord brought out the twine and we created a guide that worked well. Luckily the same stone was in the backyard, so we borrowed three more pavers for the front. Once we lay the mulch, that’s one more project that we can check off the list. The painters should be back this week to finish up the exterior, then we have a few last things to do in the front and we’ll be done until spring. This includes planting tulip and hyacinth bulbs, planting the items we bought at Green Thumbers, laying grass seed and installing the new lighting. Hopefully the weather holds out a few more weeks!

Bills, Bills, Bills

We were bombarded with bills yesterday. All the spending we’ve been doing over the last few weeks has caught up to us! It’s a good thing we’d been saving up for all of the splurging we’ve done on the house. That didn’t stop me though. I finally found a lantern to replace the sad-looking one in our front yard. And we picked up the ceiling fan for the master bedroom, along with a ceiling medallion to cover up the gaping hole from the old light fixture. Now we just need our handyman to come over and install.

This week we’ve been trying to unpack and get organized once and for all, but keep getting distracted. Errands consume our life lately, and it seems like every night we have to head out to Lowe’s or another home improvement store for something on the list. This pesky to-do list keeps growing instead of dwindling! But tonight we have to get serious as we have a visitor coming on Saturday – Aunt Sarah is heading to town and she wants to see the house. That gives us an excuse to try Happy Joe’s breakfast pizza at my mom’s suggestion – I was just going to get bagels. Now we have motivation to get those boxes unpacked and finally clean up the mess that we’ve been living with since moving day!

Delivery Snafu

The stove didn’t come today! The Sears delivery was from 7-9am this morning, so Jord stayed home until they arrived instead of bugging my dad or Tootsie to come to our rescue for the billionth time. They showed up around 8:15 with only a replacement refrigerator. Somehow the stove didn’t make it on the truck from the manufacturer and apparently it will now arrive on October 14th. What kind of service is that? We ordered the appliances on September 12th! First of all, why should we believe that it will come on the 14th when they have already rescheduled the delivery twice? Secondly, why do they think that we have an unlimited amount of two-hour windows to sit at home and wait for deliveries in the middle of the week? So we continue to live without a stove – total bummer!

Catch-up

Landscaping purchased
at Green Thumbers

Let’s play catch-up, shall we? A lot of things have been completed since my last posting, thus the reason that I haven’t blogged in a few days. We finally got to sleep in the house starting October 1st, just 3 ½ weeks after closing. Not too bad considering all the things we wanted done before we moved in. We still haven’t completely unpacked, but we’re getting there! We had to put up curtains in the master bedroom first thing. After two tries and multiple trips to the store, they were up. I still need to steam them, but they’re doing the trick for now. The first few nights have been good. Just getting used to the creaks and cracks that the house makes. I think I’ll sleep better once we have changed the locks! Too many people have had our key over the course of the last two months and it just makes me nervous.

So this means we are officially out of my parents’ hair. I’d like to take a moment to share my gratitude, even though neither of them read this blog (my mom isn’t into the whole “computer thing” and my dad just doesn’t believe in blogs, oh well). They deserve thanks for taking me in for six weeks and Jord for two; for all the delicious meals; for lending me the car, indefinitely (it worked out that my parents have an extra car, one of which I will be renting until we are ready to purchase one); and, above all, for all the help at our house and with the move. Without this support, the last six weeks would have been absolute craziness and we truly appreciate their generosity.

Enough about them, now back to the house. The masonry has been completed. That includes the tuck pointing, repairing the chimney and laying brick on the front stoop. It all looks pretty good, but will look even better once the painters are finished. Actually, the painter disputed painting the brick – he thinks it looks good as-is, but I just don’t think it will look right with the gray. He always argues with me and then ends with “Well, you have to live here…” Yep, that’s right, so why are you questioning me?

The interior paint is also done. I’m happy with all the colors we chose, but it still has that unfinished look because we have to add quarter rounds to the base boards because of the new flooring. Once the handyman comes in and measures, we can order those and have them painted and installed. I think that will really make a difference!

My parents and I went to Green Thumbers on Saturday morning to find some new landscaping. Jord didn’t join us as he just doesn’t like plants – he said whatever I liked would be fine. We chose a coral burst crab apple tree, two gold dart ninebark shrubs and a blue princess holly. Just enough to fill the space against the house where we removed an overgrown burning bush and lots of weeds. We’ll be planting those once the painters are done with the exterior – hopefully by next weekend before it gets too cold.

Jord and I escaped to Iowa City on Saturday afternoon for some tailgating with my cousins. It was nice to get away and not worry about the house for a few hours! On Sunday, our plan was to unpack all day and get organized. We took a break to go grab lunch at the nearby Subway, but when we got back I wasn’t feeling too hot. Turns out I got food poisoning, and the rest of the day was miserable. Won’t be going back there anytime soon! Took Monday off from work to recover and planned to try and get some stuff done – at least a blog post – but my brain just wasn’t functioning. One thing was accomplished yesterday though as we chose the exterior paint color. They did a test with the colors that we asked about, and we went with the darker of the two. I think it will look great with the white trim and yellow door.

We also received our first welcoming goodies from the neighbors! Cookies from the Foley’s down the road and pie from Dale & Allison across the street. Between those and the help we’ve received from several other neighbors through the course of the last few weeks, I need to start doing some baking for paybacks. We get the stove and new fridge tomorrow – that’ll be a good start!

Photos

I finally sat down and organized all the photos that we’ve taken at the house over the last several weeks and during the move. Please visit this Facebook album to view all the images of the work that’s been done thus far!