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!