I feel stupid

I can't figure out the mobile posting thing.

So if a picture of corn pops up like 8 times, you'll know hitting the send button REALLY hard doesn't make it work better :)

(btw, 300 ears of corn, 5 bushels "put up" today...peaches and cream - yum!)

Kitchen Update - Long

Soooo like the 4 of you following my kitchen destruction are probably wondering what happened?

Water damage my friends. Lots of water damage.

I started taking out the kitchen sink side. Once I stuck my head under the sink, I smelled something funky. It took TWO DAYS to take out those cabinets. I bet you I pulled out 30 4 inch nails. Anyway, when I got to the sink my oak subfloor (the one on top, I have another wooden floor underneath) was dirt instead of oak. I guess I've had a slow leak for who knows how long.

Not covered by insurance because they said it was a maintenance issue. I really agree with them and didn't push. Besides, I had already planned to get the kitchen replumbed because the bath was already done.

So for several days I cleaned. I was picking up pieces of subfloor with my hand. I had to tear out drywall, remove insulation, cut out all the bad floor and replace it with concrete board. My plumber dude also came by and removed the old bad plumbing that came through the floor and put it in the wall where it belongs. Cost wise, it didn't cost me anything extra to repair the damage. Mom gave me a piece of scrap drywall. I had a piece of scrap concrete board and a leftover roll of insulation. But boy did it take a TON of time.

So now, on the sink side, I have one cabinet to hang up and a frame to build to hold the countertop where the new dishwasher will be (I pulled the old one, it sucked). I already have my plywood and concrete board for the countertop tile that will be in sometime this week (I did order the granite!). I bought a new sink, a huge single bowl. I have to still pick out a faucet. But anyway, sometime next week I should be able to call the plumber to finish the copper line stuff and install my sink and faucet. A little bit of paint/drywall mud and that side will be done!

Now, remember the side that was so gross that I primed? Well I had an idea. Visualize this...a living room that shared a wall with the breakfast nook, but in order to get to the kitchen you had to walk through the bedroom hallway. Well I fixed that first thing, several years ago with my handy dandy reciprocating saw. Now my living room feeds into my breakfast nook.

So really, the hallway was handy but in a 1040 SF house, it was wasted space. So just as soon as I get the kitchen done, I am knocking down a wall in my bedroom and I'll gain an extra 3 X 10 in my room. Also, the hall closet is much larger than my current closet. My current closet will be...wait for it.... transformed into a built in area with another bathroom sink. THEN the kitchen closet which only holds junk (that can go into the basement) will now be accessible from my bedroom. Are you following me here? Yup, shower stall and potty. Now I know it is weird to have the sink away from the toilet area like that (they will be about 6 feet away), but you work with what you have.

So that will create a 3 foot weird area in the kitchen. Well I've already slid my fridge into that spot and I have to move the cabinet that goes with it after I build a wall. That will give me a place to put my last wall cabinet that was going to waste and....drumroll please.... a 7.5 foot countertop to the left of my kitchen stove. The 3 middle feet will be my home office and it will get it out of my bedroom (going from 100 sf to 130 SF and losing the home office part - my bedroom will be HUGE lol). I'll add in storage organizer type things for laundry (my washer and dryer are across from this). And it will be lovely.

So anyway, when I finish I'll post pictures.

In like 2 months. haha

Meal Plan Monday Week of 5/31/10

I've been slacking lately. My kitchen isn't done. My house is a wreak. I've not been planning out anything at all. Heck I barely managed to make it to vacation-land (and notice I've not even uploaded pictures from that yet? slacker!)

So in an attempt to get back on track, I am doing Meal Plan Monday again. Ohhh ahhhhh

Now keep in mind, I can't boil or bake in my kitchen for another month easy (don't you love home improvement projects that take like 4 months?).

Monday
B - Eggs & Sausage
L - Home made Pizza and corn @ Nana's house
D - Spicy rice (They marked down all the precooked shrimp yesterday to 2.99 a pound. So I am going to throw some of those in with some sausage, chicken breast, zucchini, onions and carrots. I'll prob use some Tabasco in it too.)

Tuesday
I have three pieces of white fish to do something with. More than likely I'll just steam it a little in the electric skillet. We'll have a salad and cantaloupe too. I'll also make cucumber/onion slaw for the week.

Wednesday
D - Marinated grilled chicken and corn on the cob (using Ken's low fat Ceasar on the chicken, it is good!). I'll also save a zucchini to grill. Oh and cantaloupe, we have two of these to eat up this week.

Thursday
I'll take one of the Wednesday chicken breasts and make chicken salad out of it. We have fancy rolls to put it on. We'll do the salad and cantaloupe thing again.

Friday
I'll grill ham slices and make mini sandwiches out of them. I'll also make broc salad.

Saturday
Chicken Casserole (chicken breast, carrots, gravy, broc & stove top top all mixed up together. Sounds gross but it is tasty). This might turn into leftover day if i have lots of leftover.

Sunday
I am going to do a pot of navy beans with sausage bits in it.

Whew I think that is it. And that should use up all my fresh stuff.

What are you cooking?

Back!

Back from vacation! I will post pictures soon :)

We are still here

(splits on the back of the sofa)

Not a lot going on.

• still tearing up the kitchen
• still going to work
• still going to gymnastics

• sold the condo, closes in 2 weeks
• pretty sure I've sold the truck
• pretty sure I've sold the camaro
• that just leaves my big house and I am getting a lot of interest in it so I'm not upset it hasn't sold. It will be soon.
  
• I am trying to catch up on 18 months of neglect on the little house. Lots of yardwork to do, lots of crap to get rid of. I pressure washed everything, that made a big difference. Not only is the kitchen getting redone, I am having the last of the plumbing redone. I also also getting a new roof and getting the 2nd driveway resurfaced. I am also adding a little concrete walkway from the 2nd driveway to the front porch. I should have money leftover to remove the sliding basement door and replacing it with a steel door and concrete block wall. And really,I should have money left over to redo the wiring in the basement and start sub diving the area into rooms for future expansion. My budget is 10K, it will be interesting to see how far that will go.
• we had a candy free Easter. It really can be done! The eggs have quarters & stickers in them.

She cried when she saw the videos which made me cry. She slapped those little hands to her face and was like "it's just what I've ALWAYS wanted!" then did a rather good soap opera sob fest. I should hide presents in her bed more often!

I think that is it for now. We leave for vacation in like 3 weeks!

Dollywood

Ready to GO! (in my favorite summer outfit, hippos!)

Waiting patiently for her tram.

My child could live off of pickles.

Dolly was there. There are some very scary looking people there :)


On the zebra (I am going to get a picture of her on all the animals this summer!)

On Rosa! (she loves to name things)

On Flowery (I love it when the names make sense!)


On the pig

(No picture of the rollar coaster that I rode with my child TWICE. I get like super duper bonus mommy points for that. Little daredevil loved it.)




On the elephant, that is 2 times faster than Dumbo. Um yikes. We call this Dumbo's cousin.

Osa Dality the duck (not all names make sense) . Feverlla is the duck behind her. Beverty is wearing the the green shirt.

Riding Juju-ja Canada. Can you tell she sits on my lap when I do updates? Tell them this, tell them that - what a stink!

Check out what I won in the giant crane game! Yay me! The pink one was $12 LOL BUT the yellow one was $2 woot! lol They are 2 feet tall. They let us take our season pass picture with them lol

Shopping Spree

I did try to do a budget for the year. But it didn't work out. I'm a junk store, thrift shop, yard sale, consignment junkie!

First, Big Lots has several styles of real Crocs marked at $10. I bought Natalie one pair in purple, one in turquoise. Yay!

Her purple is darker and prettier!

Second, hit up the big consignment sale tonight. Look what I scored!



(I know, if you don't cloth diapers you are like what the heck? Tie Dye diapers! Love em! )

I also got a swimsuit with the built in floaties, 2 Little Einstein DVDs (Easter basket!), 2 Dora DVDs and an Elmo DVD. I got $80 worth of movies for $18. YAY I also got a cute disney skirt for the kiddo.

Then I hit up the $1 tag sale at my consignment store. I am buying up to size 6X right now. They had 18 pieces of clothing from 4T-6X in winter styles. Lots of gymbo! I have all her clothes for next winter now. Anything else I find between now and next year is just gravy.

I got Natalie 5 leotards at the consignment store. The purple long sleeved was $3, the two tank (she picked out that leopard one instead of mama's favorite blue one) ones were $2.50 and another short sleeved one not pictures (green and purple) and long sleeved fuzzy pink were just $1 each. Fancy leotards can cost $30! eeck! (BTW, have I mentioned how much my child rocks gymnastics? lol I'm so excited because she's so stinkin good!). I think these will last a couple of years, she is an XXS now and the largest one is a small.
Bye for now!

Art

This is her friend. The skirt wasn't long enough so she extended it. She is a cowgirl with a lot of money, that is what she has so many hats. The skirts on the left are her laundry. The yarn is her lasso. The fan, in case she gets hot. The umbrella, in case of snow. And yes, the friend seems to be packing a revolver and a shotgun along with her perfume and purse. This is what happens when you buy the wild west and pretty girl sticker packs.

I blew $50ish on art supplies. She's been putting together some interesting things!

Quick Post

We are still here. This is the update bullet style!

House(s)

• I have a buyer for the condo. She is looking into her financing options tomorrow.
  
• I have all my cabinets and appliances from the woman I bought them from now (it was three truckloads - yikes!).
• I still do not have my electrical done on the stove side. I have to wire the stove cord because THEY TOOK IT OFF. Yep. Nice huh?
  
• I took down one of the two wall cabinets on the sink side and was ecstatic to find normal plain drywall! WOOT!
• I am going to build granite tile countertops. That will take my 1940's kitchen to at least 1998!
  

Natalie

• She rocks gymnastics!
• She can do a backbend for a little bit then she loses her balance.
• She can balance on the bars on her belly and swing just a bit.
• She can do full splits and lay her belly down on the floor. No other kid is close to being able to do that.
• She still does not like the floor tramp so I am going to buy her a mini tramp.

Misc

• I am ready for vacation.
• We are going to the adoption event in Pigeon Forge in July. Anyone else going?

Day Three - I mean oops - Four

I didn't get to any kitchen work on day three. We were running around town on errand after errand, it was crazy.

Tonight I put the cut up cabinet on the wall. It probably looks fine but I can pick out all the places I messed it up. The hardest cabinet to put up is the one after the fridge, it is SO HEAVY! I pulled the fridge out and got the temp screws in there but my arms just can't handle any more. So I'll put the permanent ones in there tomorrow hopefully. I rolled the fridge back to catch it if it falls lol

My plans for tomorrow are to visit THD, get drywall anchor screws and a drywall mesh thingy. The cabinets had TWO screws holding them up at their previous house. I am way more paranoid than that. Not only do I have at least 4 screws on the studs I am going to add a few drywall anchor screws too. If I ever want to replace these cabinets, the drywall will have to come out hehe

I am happy to say the fridge cabinet is the last one for this side. I'll have to make something for the area to the left of the stove. And on the other side I'll only have to hang two cabinets and only ONE will be cut! YAY!

End of Day Two

This is how my day went:

7am - mama, wake up! (nooooooooooooooooooooooo)
mubble around the house until 10am when Nana picked her up so I could work (she doesn't like saws/sanders/drills)
10-12 back in bed - oh yes I did!
12-4 got ready for my open house. One guy showed and was very pleasant. I spent the time mostly cleaning my car.
4:30 - make my first cabinet cut. Crooked.
4:33 - cry
4:35 - make my second cabinet cut. Crooked.
4:37 - cry. get a beer. play games online
5:00 - try to even out the cuts - it is looking better
5:02 - cut through a nail or something and the entire cabinet falls apart
5:03 - learn exactly how cabinets are put together - sand/cut and mess with cabinet
6:00 - mom picks me up at we go to THD to look at countertops. I buy glue. A BIG BOTTLE of glue.
7:00 - we go to Lowes. I find a granite tile for $3.48 a tile and I am thinking about doing granite tile counter tops. It is cheaper overall than laminate and I think would look better. Lowes would do the cuts for me and I wouldn't even have to rent the saw.
7:30 eat dinner
8:30 - back home. I cut and sand that cabinet. I nail and glue that sucker back together. I am a little worried. I bypassed the regular gorilla glue for wood gorilla glue. The fact the glue smells and felt like elmers doesn't give me a ton of confidence in it. I guess we'll see if it works.

So this one little cabinet is all I did today. I really did think I'd be done with that side by the end of tomorrow. Now there is NO WAY. I still need to sand the trim at the top and bottom so it will fit flush. (flush-ish, my walls aren't straight)

And what I cut off (plus a mound of sawdust)
To non-kitchen to do list tomorrow is a mile long. So my kitchen goals are to buy small drill bits, reinforce this cabinet (because I took a big chunk out of it inside), hang it, and hang the other cabinet. That's it. Anything else is gravy.

End of Day One

Crazy how this took like 4 hours to do. I brought two more cabinets from my Mom's tonight so after I get my saw from the big house tomorrow, I'll have more to hang. I have to cut down a corner cabinet, the kind that has a blind corner, to a regular single cabinet. Let's hope I can get it halfway straight.

So tomorrow, the plan is...
Open house for the big house
cut down a cabinet to a single and hang it
scrape the stucco wall above the fridge to make it flat
hang the cabinet above the fridge and put the fridge back where it belongs
wire the outlet
patch the big holes
put another layer of stucco on the wall

Then all I need to do is decide on a counter top (the green one was the previous owner) and a paint color. I'll also need to do the stove outlet thing. Oh ya, and stain the side of the cabinet that you see in the picture. What a PITA.

(I've edited this post 3 times now. I also have to put up the crown molding!)

I'm pooped! And I have two more days to work on this stuff. Yuck

Day One of Three

Linoleum is gone. Concrete for under the cabinets is finally dry. The soffit mounting wood strips are gone too. I knocked a new hole in the ceiling. Oops.




Wall primed. Big difference huh?



After the primer is dry, I'll hang the first cabinet. Then I'll hang the second one that goes above the built in microwave. There is an outlet hole in that cabinet for the microwave plug. So I'll cut the drywall (and after a trip to THD) I'll put in the plug in a floating receptacle box (I think I said that right). It is a nifty little box that grabs the drywall so you don't have to screw it to a stud.

Then I'll drill a hole in the stud that is to the left of the huge rectangular hole to pull the wire through. That wire will connect into a regular outlet. Then the wire will go through the hole in the floor to to live in the basement until I have time to tack it to the joists and connect it to a breaker.

The rest of my cabinets are at my Mom's so I won't be able to hang any more today. But I'll mark the wall where the other two will be hung. Then I'll start stuccoing the walls and fixing the 3 big holes in the ceiling.

I hope to get all of this done today.

Gynastics!

She rocked gymnastics tonight! They did a lot of stretching and she was way more limber than all the other kids. She also followed instructions WAY better than everyone else. She jumped just a little bit on the floor tramp, I don't think she liked it.

THEN

I'm messing with my camera. I look up. My child is STANDING ON HER HEAD. Then she sort of flips forward. I'm thinking - wow!- world record! Broken neck 20 minutes into first class. But nope, she just knocked her headband sideways. I've asked her not to do that anymore. She was mimicking the much older girls across the room!

She could already so all the bends, splits, rolls and jumps. She didn't play on the bars a lot and I'm not sure why. She loves pulling up and swinging on stuff (me). She also did very well on the balance bar and wasn't scared at all. I will see if the gymnastics thing continues - if so I'll get her a balance beam for the playroom (and put it on the floor).

One thing I noticed that she did, that the other kids didn't do at all, was constantly point her toes. She also walks and prances on them. I don't know if I've just not noticed this because she's wearing shoes or if she was mimicking the floor routine girls.

I am anxious to see what she does next week :) She just wants to wear a pink sparkle headband!

Disney Store Deal of the Week

I have a $15 store credit and $25 GC for the Disney store burning a hole in my pocket big time. So I've been surfing the outlet section!

You can get this cute purple coat for $14.99 right now. Sizes XXS-M. I don't have Natalie's coat for next year, I think I am going to order this one. They also have a pink & silver version of it. Go to the outlet and filter it by girl's clothes.

You all know I stockpile clothes for future winter/summers. I am surprised I DON'T have N's clothes already for next winter. I have like 8 pairs of jeans but only a couple of tops. They have all kinds of hoodies for $12 and tops for under $10. So for about $100, I could totally rock out Natalie's wardrobe - Disney style! OOOHH THE TEMPTATION! lol

Cute Crocs of the Week

The Keeley in bubblegum/fuchia. $24.99, available in all sizes. cute cute cute!

Blitzens have been marked down. Now is the time to buy them for next winter:


Like a moc but with a strap. Natalie loved her mocs! $19.99

And because you all know me, here is your cheap Croc of the week:

Purple, size 10/11 is in stock for just $9.99.

Coupon Codes: 10off60 (16.66% discount - not too shabby)
CROCSAFF10 10% off
shipping is always free - zero tax too!

Click me! Click me! lol -----> Crocs.com

Kitchen Update

I've not done anything since last Saturday. I got a wicked stomach thing on Sunday, was sick for 3-4 days, had snow, watched the Olympics then - blink- a week gone with little progress.

So here is the first side, I have a galley kitchen. I didn't want to take a picture of the other side - it has everything piled to the ceiling :)


I don't think it looks that bad in the pictures. It looks old, but fine you know? What you can't see, is the super crappy quality cabinets, hinges that are loose and wobbly, an oven that cooks hot and can't hold a turkey, a stove range that has been known to shock me. So buh bye!

And the nasty surprise I had when I took it all down:

Does everyone see the ^*(^&*%%4 linoleum on the walls? It was all over my kitchen. Why would someone do that??

Anyway, this is my todo list to get this side in ship shape:

• Remove a piece of wood off the floor and the loose linoleum.
• Screw down a piece of concrete board.
• Remove the wall linoleum.
• Move the outlet and actually attach it to a stud. You know, like to code and stuff.
• Use the wire in the ceiling for an exhaust fan, like a white bathroom one.
• Cut through the drywall so I can have a switch for that fan near the existing outlet.
• Patch the huge hole in the ceiling.
• Remove the wood strips that held up the soffit.
• Move the random wire that comes out 3 inches below the ceiling on the wall then loops back into the ceiling. There isn't any wood there, all I have to do is beat out a little drywall, push the wire in, then patch it.
• Run a new wire from the box for the "new" range. The breaker is already newish so this will be super easy.
• Run another wire from the box for the built in microwave. I have extra room in the breaker box so I might as well give it a breaker of it's own.
• Patch & prime the wall.
• Hang the cabinets. Put in the base cabinets too.
• Mount the microwave.
• Find/buy/build some sort of shelving unit for the area left of the stove.
• Figure out my countertops. If the cabinets look great, I'll install granite tile countertops. If they look "meh" I'll go with the in stock in expensive tan specklish countertops at THD.

So all this should take - what - like 6 months? LOL I feel confident I can do all this myself except for installing the microwave breaker.

Then I get to start on the other side, it is twice as long. I've got the demo staged out on paper so it shouldn't be as bad.

I have to say, I'm enjoying NOT having a stove. The pressure of 3 hot meals a day is gone. We are living off of sandwiches & fruit and I LOVE it lol

Cheap or smart?

Sooooo

My kitchen is a wreak. It has old cabinets, old counters and old appliances. The only thing I love about my kitchen is the sink. It is white porcelain and deep, I love it. But anyway, I did a mini makeover when I bought the house. I took the linoleum off the walls (yes, the walls) and put down concrete board and tile on the floor (which I really hate now). I also kilz and painted the cabinets big time. They went from orange aged sticky yuck to nice and white. The only problem, the cabinets were beat all to heck and the white paint didn't hide that. I have wobble doors that drive me nuts too. Since the cabinets were "custom built" they don't have backs, just the drywall. Even though I painted the drywall (and you couldn't really see it), the incomplete look of my base cabinets always bothered me.

Sooooooo

Today I bought kitchen cabinets, a stove and a built in microwave.

All used.

A woman my Mom works with is totally gutting her kitchen and knocking out walls. She took out her 6 year old oak cabinets and all her appliances and is selling them at firesale prices.

For base cabinets, I got a single, a double, a triple, a sink and a fancy corner one. For the walls, I got a single, 2 doubles, a triple, the over the fridge one and the over the range one. They come with matching crown molding. The stove is a Kenmore in white, self cleaning. The microwave is just a year old, can't remember the brand.

These cabinets do not match up exactly to the configuration that I have now. I wanted more open space on the stove side so I might not use all the wall cabinets. I think I'll have to cut the triple down to a double. I really want a wall mounted pot rack so I can display my good pots. And I want a shelf I can grown herbs on.

So I paid $600 for all of this (the appliances were $665 new). I planned on buying a chocolate stained maple cabinet when I upgraded. I also planned on getting stainless appliances. But I think this plan makes more sense, I'd doing a yardsale makeover instead of an HGTV one lol I'll be sure to do before and after pictures, the cabinets are being delivered to my Mom's garage tomorrow. Demo of my old kitchen will start in 5 minutes :)