Almost there!

Okay here are the pics for those of you asking me. It is almost finished. Man it feels good to have those workers leave my house and to just clean up. I find the overstimulation of banging, grinding, constant noise along with sawdust EVERYWHERE and fine, fine dust in every nook and cranny....well a tad bit overwhelming. But they have left, I have vacuumed a million times and gone over everything with a dust cloth or a damp cloth. I am exhausted but I cannot let the sawdust and dust just sit there!! Thankful to have Monday off work to be here to oversee- thanks Laura! And evenings to get to the cleaning and a little drywalling. Will it ever end?

So we are seeing a hint of the completed vision for a new family room.

The lino people still have some messes to repair....or tear it out and start again (to be decided) BIG SIGH!!! , and the hardwood installers (great guys) still have the two steps into the family room to finish up. But we are really close!! We now have a beautiful dance floor...well at least until we get some furniture back into the room.

I am blessed! I am tired! Life is so good!

The Reno's continue, Gratitude List

The back hall is done. But not without a list of problems. Ah renos. I was so discouraged.

At coffee break on Thursday I heard a few more reno issues from a few gals at work. Mine were small in comparison. The problems will get fixed eventually ...but I tell ya - this scrapbooker cannot live with a crooked toilet for much longer!!

I love the new back hall. Today we painted the back door and so.....all is complete - well at least as far as we can go until they come back and fix all the .....mess ups!
The front hall light is installed too. I was at work for this adventure as well. The switch box for the light sits 1/8th of an inch lower than the switch box beside it. WHAT WAS HE THINKING!!!!

Again - this scrapbooker can not live with this! I will phone them tomorrow. ....sigh again!

Used to be workers were looking for work and cared about how it was done. As if there reputation was at stake. Man if I was this careless at my job I would be fired. At least I should be!

Enough complaining. I need a little dose of reality here.
So here is my random list of the next ten things I am thankful for. The first ten are here.

11. In ground sprinklers - man, what a great invention. No more moving that sprinkler around the yard every half hour, getting sprayed in the face with every adjustment.
12. The colours on the wall in my "office" - still like them a year later.
13. My husband - helping me with painting the back door this afternoon, then bringing me a refreshment (as in Corona)
14. Summer. I think it is here..finally!
15. That the vegetable garden has been reduced to a few herbs and one large pot with a tomato plant in it. This I think I can handle!
16. The upstairs hall looks fabulous - finished painting it last night. Wow - should have done that sooner.
17. My washer and dryer. We finally replaced the old guys last Christmas and our clothes have never been cleaner nor have I been able to dry them so fast. I did not know what I was missing.
18. My job with the Saskatoon Health Region (hence the reno and 17 above)
19. The most comfortable bed in the whole world.
20. The downstairs shower - it is NOT energy efficient, which means if you turn around and face the jet stream you may get your faced ripped off but man it is wonderful on the back after 6 straight hours of using a paint roller on an extension pole.

Have a blessed week everyone. I am hoping to have time to play with my new flocking! I will try to post the process. ohhh awe
Julie

Family

Yah, I know what your thinking....yah right busy with renos and work! Like when did she have time for this? Last Saturday night around 10pm actually - I was way too tired! A few of the gals from work got together for some scrapbooking at the store. I left David to finish up with the base boards and other miner stuff - until midnight. I don't do midnight very well.

Blacks had a special on 5X7's last week.....so there will be a few scrapbook pages coming up with that size on them. At least once the renos are done there will be some pages. I am also working on a little something for my sweetheart and that is all I can say because he reads my blog - don't you dear. Hello?

So you may have to just put up with photos and other stuff for a while. It is hard to mess up the den with scrapbook stuff right now since it is the only room in the house with some semblance of order to it. Ah, but by next week!!! well, maybe next weekend things will start coming together again and the dust, literally, will settle.


Blessings!

Julie
PS - have you got your Google Reader set up? I want to know - was that link helpful?

RSS this may be for YOU!

RSS stands for "Real Simple Syndication." See the word SIMPLE in there?

If you read even one blog regularly, RSS is for you. It will save you time, I promise. It allows you to stay connected with different websites and blogs especially those that are updated regularly. Once you are set up, all your favorite blogs are listed for you and those that have a new posting are highlighted with the new post. Yup - it is all there for you. No more going to 10 different sites and seeing if someone posted. It is like sitting down at your computer and saying - "Hey computer, make me a list of all my favorite blogs and show me every one who has a new post that I haven't read yet." And there you have it - a list of all the blogs you visit and any posts you haven't read yet - all on one screen.

It is easy and makes all your blog visits so much more efficient.
If you follow these instructions, you will be subscribed to your favorite sites and already saving time by the end of this article. Want to get started? Go here!

And when you are all set up come on back and click on that blogger icon and get me on your reader....or copy and past my address from my main page and add to new subscription.


Let me know how this is working for you! I know it is going to allow you to see all the blogs with new posts in very short time. But hey you actually have to open the blog to leave a comment....so may this not discourage you three or four who do leave comments vs the other 68 who read and move on commentless - I know you are out there. :)


Looking forward to finding out how its going. Let me know if you use an RSS feed now.

The reno continues

I painted from 6am until 10 pm last night. But it is all done...well except for a few flaws I noticed in the daylight today...sigh. I can touch those up. I soaked in the tub for half and hour last night - took that long to get all the paint off my hands and nails. :)

Yesterday was soo busy but a lot was accomplished. The electrician came this morning and is hopeful the new hall light can be installed this week before the floor goes in. YEAH!! I wish I were not sitting in an office for the rest of the week. I may have to make a few quick drives home on my lunch hours. Will I be able to concentrate?

The maple awaits the installers.

The front hall - all painted and awaiting the electrician and then the floor installers.

The laundry room - this took several hours to paint yesterday. Do you know how many little bits and pieces had to be moved or painted around? I love the new colour. It is not quite as yellow as the picture appears. Now we wait for the linoleum to be installed on Thursday.

What do you think of this colour? For our mantle over the fireplace? To cover the old oak mantle? ....Me too. But the gal at Benjamin Moore assured us that it didn't dry this colour.

It is a very rich deep dark yummy chocolate - almost black, but not quite. I love it!

Today I am thankful for:

1. The smell of summer in the morning. Oh how it lifts my spirits!
2. The electrician who is very busy is willing to get this done this week before the new maple floor is in.
3. The sweetest husband in the world, who phones me three times this morning before taking off on a business trip all week.
4. leftover Chinese food from last night, to take in my lunch today.
5. A very clean looking laundry room - makes me want to do laundry!
6. Beautiful yellow tulips next to red geraniums in the garden.

7. The constant squeak in my Mazda got fixed yesterday under warranty. Oh thank you!!
8. I got a parking spot RIGHT outside the Dr office at 8am this morning. (downtown too)
9. I found someone to take away all the garbage piled up in the garage - hopefully today.
10. Harold is home this week to be here when all these workers arrive.

I am off to work at JSI - if I seem a little distracted, it is because my brain is still trying to make sure all the little things get done before the workmen descend on us later this week and next.
Blessings!
Julie

Scrapbookers are so creative!

You have to visit Sheryls Blog and see what she did with a $3.00 gun rack - that's right a gun rack! Now really aren't scrapbookers just sooo creative? I just love the irony in this creation! And it is so beautiful - pink - it has to be the perfect colour for a former gun rack. Check it out!!

Reno update

The renos have begun. So scrapbooking is having to take a back seat right now. Along with blogging, photo editing, reading and a little sleep.

The floor people called to say the flooring was ahead of schedule, arriving Monday - that is in two days. We have been busy! Lots to do before all this Maple can sit in our family room and acclimatize. Kind of like buying fish - you know you have to leave them in the bag of water IN the aquarium for a few hours...never mind. So we have been ripping stuff out since we both arrived home from work Friday evening.

Next Thursday the lino goes in the back hall - also 24 yr old lino so it has to be replaced - or in this case covered up. So floor boards et el have to be removed and walls painted - Sunday afternoon?

Our garage at the moment - waiting for "James" to haul it away. Thank you Cheryl!!

The carpet gone - only 6, 472 staples to pull out of this disgustingly dirty floor! The painting started.

I am starting to picture the new room! We tried 4 - get that FOUR paints on the left wall before we settled on Brandon beige - very rich. That is sasparilla chocolate on the end wall. mmmm

What a cutie!

Whew! - busy day and it aint over yet! Stayed tuned!

Paul's Baptism

Hambly overlay and an assortment of rub-ons made for a very fast page. Gotta love overlays!

Music Recital

Two Page Layout of Allison and Paul. Both Paul and Allison earned their Royal Conservatory Grade 8 piano standing. They are both so talented. It was worth all those years of driving to lessons and getting at them to practice. Proud Mama? You bet!!

Used the Paper Loft "Now and Then" and used the new heidi swapp clear extras - very nice. The letters are Paper Loft and Tech Tue stamps with a little gel pen on them. See? I am using my stamps! And no flowers on Pauls page.

Just Stop and Think

Watch this and then, please, just stop and think.