Basement = No Progress

Do you remember the deal?

Dear Husband was going to do three things with the basement... that is... (1) tile in front of the fireplace, (2) paint, and (3) carpet. 

Deadline?  {{Yes, there is a deadline now.}}  April 15 - tax day.

So, mid-February {{when we had all of that snow}} I took the kids to my mom's house for the day. 

I came home.

He had....

... ripped the trim from the basement bathroom door {{yes, the now infamous basement bathroom as mentioned in the Marriage Ref post - guess no one is using this bathroom anytime soon}}.  Was this on the "official" to-do list?  No.

Ahem.

Moving on.

A few days later he had...

Tiled?  No.

Painted?  No.

Carpeted?  No.

He had... ripped of the drywall from the top half of the basement.  And... after that... he ripped down the bottom half.  Now, he is redoing the walls beside the fire place. 

Here is his explanation... as best I can understand:

Bathroom trim:  It is not on there correctly and is uneven.
Basement dry wall:  It was uneven.
Fireplace wall:  No one sets a fireplace in a cubby hole... the wall needs to be flat/flush.

He tried to appease me with this little goody...

... a homemade bird feeder.  You can't tell but it has little perches and everything.  Okay... fine... I'm NOT mad... but the deadline still sticks.

Paint Help

I wrote this e-mail to Southern Hospitality.  I'm not quite sure if she will respond, but it was worth a try.  I find lots of inspiration for paint colors and decorating in general on her blog.  Check out the bathroom in her most recent post... isn't it gorgeous?  Alas, I am still confused about what to do with my space.


Dear Southern Hospitality:

I read your blog through google blog reader and I think that you are the perfect person to help me and other readers as well.

I was wondering if you have any ideas on the best way to paint a split foyer home. We just moved and we want to put a green color on the walls. However, in a split foyer home... all of the walls run together. Our foyer wall is connected to the living room wall... and the back of the living room is connected to the entire hallway. Is there a suggested way to break up the walls so that we don't have to paint the entire top level g-r-e-e-n.

I am sure that I am NOT the only person who lives in a split foyer home and I thought that maybe you would have some ideas that you could share with me and your other readers fans.

I have attached pictures for you to view or you can view the pictures and a post about this request on my blog at http://napmom.blogspot.com/.

Sincerely,

p.s.  We are aiming for this type of green, which is what we had in our last home, with a beige couch and black accents.  Also, I did NOT decorate that country kitchen (in the picture above).  It is more of a Tuscan themed kitchen now.

If anybody has any suggestions on how to paint JUST THE LIVING ROOM green (or any other creative idea) then please let me know.

More Snow

Napmom's life update...

Snow (Episode 1)

We were snowed in underneath an unbelievable amount of snow.

More unbelievable snow is coming.

I didn't blog about the snow because we reconcreted the basement.  Remember?  And the computer is in the basement.  Remember?  More about that later!

I do have Snow (Episode 1) pics to share someday.


Snow (Episode 2)

We are ready.

1.  I printed some math worksheets from the internet... you know... so we don't forget everything that we have learned.  {{Ahh.... I can feel the mommy praise coming now!  Do they have merit badges for this type of stuff?}}

2.  We have the kite paper necessary to make Waldorf Window Stars as seen at Pink and Green Mama. 

I took this picture from pinkandgreen mama's site without asking.  But this is her little princess' star... and since I am linking to her blog... and giving her ALL of the credit... I hope I'm sure she won't mind.

3.  Lulu's dad is delivering 2 Wii games that we can ALL (sans baby Bro) play together at one time (Mario Kart and Super Mario Wii).   

4.  I'm going to make meatballs in the crockpot - Em's favorite meatballs (other than the ones she gets at camp).  Yummy!

5.  Fairy Grandmother has all of the necessary supplies for the kids to make Valentine cookies!  Double-yum!


House Update

Everytime "we" do something to the basement, "we" have to unplug all of the computer stuff and move the computer desk.  Then Dear Husband has to listen to this question, "When is my computer going to be up and running," until it all gets hooked back up again. 

I offered to let the computer live on the main level of the house until these basement projects were completed, but "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooOOOO"... so... guess what... all of a sudden... now it sounds like a great idea to move the computer upstairs.

Don't get me wrong... we have NO place for the computer and we will be crazy cramped... but it is necessary... for the sanity of all MOI!


Upcoming Projects

Tile in front of the fireplace.

Paint the basement a real pretty and light blue.  A very, very, very light and airy blue.

Carpet the main area of the basement.

Breathe a sigh of relief!  {{That's my part.}}


Weekend Events

Great Backyard Bird Count
We have seen tons of birds at our bird feeder and the squirrels are staying away. I can't wait to start documenting our sightings!

Valentine's Day

Heart shaped pancake molds?  "check"
Small gift for each child?  "check"
Pizza dough for heart-shaped pizzas?  "check"
Chocolates and strawberries for homemade chocolate dessert cups?  "not yet"
Something totally romantic and sweet for an oh-so-deserving Dear Husband? "workin' on it"

What are you doing for Valentine's Day?

Even More Home Improvements

Before we can put down the concrete in the basement, we had to replace the sliding glass door.  Well, that is, the door didn't NEED to be replaced, but because of how the concrete was going to come up over the lip of the door, it had to be replaced NOW or NEVER. 

So, in the dead of winter, "we" {{we = Dear Husband and my amazing brother-in-law}} replaced the sliding glass door.

View from inside the house.

View from outside the house... taken as I was sitting in my lawn chair watching Bro play outside while asking "How much longer?"  My poor brother-in-law.

The door eventually made it into its correct spot, as you can see in this picture that was taken the-day-after.  Yes, I know, there is some molding work to deal with... we are babystepping here folks. 

On this day, Daddy was showing off for mommy teaching Bro how to chop wood.  Of course, to chop the wood he would set one piece of wood on the large stump (that you see in the picture) and then start chopping with the axe.  When the wood split, it went flying in different directions.  We joked about what we would do if a piece of wood flew into the sliding glass door and the whole thing cracked.  COULD YOU IMAGINE????

Bro helped Daddy stack the wood... always the little helper.

Another funny story...

We all know that one of the things that I really cherish about Dear Husband is that he is such a good helper.  I say this all of the time.  It's not like either one of us does more work than the other (ahem); we are both part of this game called "Life" and just working to get it all done.  The other day, when I said something about Dear Husband being a good helper, he looked at me and said (in a totally sweet way), "You know... you refer to me as a helper.  But, being a helper would imply that YOU are actually doing something and I am merely ASSISTING YOU.  But... you see... I don't ever see you doing anything.  So how am I the HELPER here?"  Of course, he followed that up with some laughing and some hugs... ha ha ha ha ha!  Can I even begin to tell you how much I love this man??????

Home Improvements

While it was wonderful that someone (thanks Ariane) thinks that I graciously no-baked my way though Christmas.  There is something that I am not being so gracious about... and so... since I have been such a pain in the bottom... I haven't blogged about it... and that something is... my basement has gone from bad to worse... and what once looked like this...

now looks like this...

... and I am not happy about it. 

And, it's only gonna get worse (if you can believe that).  


Why?  There is a 2-inch dip/slope in the floor... and the Powers-That-Be (ahem - Dear Husband, Fairy Grandmother, and Luvs2 Boat) want to fix the dip.  Why?

•  "You want it to be right." - Fairy Grandmother
• "The furniture will sit correctly and NOT wobble, if we fix it." - Luvs2Boat
• "You are going to feel like you are falling over when you walk on it, if you don't fix it." - Fairy Grandmother
• "A 2-inch dip/slope is tacky!" - Dear Husband

I am not a patient person.  If it was up to me (and I don't seem to have a vote here) I'd tile in front of the fireplace and carpet the main flooring area... and be done with it.  Voila!  Instant office, lounge area, and play area!!!!!


Instead, we are going to:

•  rip up the floor;
• tear up a bit of the wall; and 
• repour the concrete... I think that's the plan.

Then we will:

• tile in front of the fireplace;
• fix the walls;
• paint the walls;
• put down the carpet.

Notice my use of the words "we will" and "we are going to," while none of this involves me at all.  ha ha ha ha ha!


For now, I am extremely grateful for all of the help that we are getting with the project and that the basement will be so wonderful when it is finished, but I am having a very hard time being p-a-t-i-e-n-t...


Remind me to tell you about the first time "we" painted a room in our first house... again I use the term "we" loosely... it was a classic case of how my impatience can get the best of me... I clearly cut off my nose to spite my face on that one.  I'll tell you the story someday... and you'll wonder why my husband stays married to me... I think that it's because I'm such a good cook!  And, Fairy Grandmother knows the story and she will call me soon to say, "Napmom... you cannot tell that story on the internet!"  Oh yes I can!

How do you deal with home improvements in your life?