The Honeymoon is Over

Hey Cammon (as you have been calling yourself lately),
Well, now that we are feeling more settled into the house, we are starting to make our long list of projects that need to be done urgently and over the long-term. We fortunately didn't have to paint many rooms, but we did tackle your room to return it to its chocolate and pinky glory. Your daddy is very fond of saying that your room is his favorite in the house because everything is so well-coordinated and cute. We also had to paint your bathroom because it was a dusty blue color that just perfectly clashed with the towels and cute shower curtain I just bought. You should have seen your daddy in that narrow room, balancing himself with one foot on either side of the ladder so he could paint all the way up to the ceiling. You do have a nice skylight in there, so it is bright and cheery, even though the walls are the same simple tan as most of the house. I think I might still paint the guestroom back to the lush "Eiffel Tower" color that is better coordinated to the furnishings, and maybe the office will be our next project.

We already had a cabinet guy come check out the kitchen to (hopefully someday soon) get back to us with an estimate of the cost to add new doors and drawer fronts to the existing cabinets. They are not in bad shape, so I think the facelift is a great way to make it look like a brand new kitchen without spending $30,000. The appliances and countertops are new and very nice, so we were excited to not have to worry about those big costs.

The laundry room is not exactly what I had been fantasizing about.... It's much smaller than I remembered. The washer and dryer are forced to be located backwards of the way I would like them, which means the dryer door opens to the center of the room and I have to do some awkward balancing and stretching to put clothes in. The door won't even open all the way because it hits the washer! I have no idea how to make that better. There is absolutely no room for a cute rug or a fold-down ironing board. Looks like I will be ironing in our bedroom in front of the TV. Oh well, ironing is not my favorite pastime anyway!

Joe Dog seems to be adjusting to the new backyard. He LOVES to get out on a leash and drag me behind him running. Only stopping to sniff the occasional bush and pee on some unsuspecting neighbor's mailbox, he forced me to complete about a mile run on a few occasions. I know it is good for both of us, so I am going to try and make an effort to get him out a few nights a week. In this miserable heat, we usually don't head out until you are already in bed, so that's around 8:30 or 9:00. I am currently refusing to wear the light-reflecting belts or vests, but let's hope I don't get almost run over and change my mind. The neighborhood seems pretty peaceful anyway.

It's just going to be a bit of a challenge to figure out what to do with our bedroom. It is a little oddly shaped with one wall going at a diagonal slant, and we are having a difficult time spacing things so that they can still be accessed easily and be functional. Not to mention the fact that there are huge sliding glass doors that go to the patio tons of windows that let in a LOT of heat. Daddy actually arranged for a guy to come tonight and give us an estimate on tinting all the windows on that side so that they would be more heat-resistant and more energy-efficient.

Did I mention the most interesting addition that I have no idea how to tackle? There is a long-neglected garden in the backyard. It is sectioned off as a raised bed but the fencing is falling over and the plants are out of control. I can tell what the plants are because the previous owners left some seed packets behind, but I don't know if I have the discipline to keep it up. There were tomatores, zucchini, green beans and maybe some yellow squash. I would feel terribly guilty just tearing it out, but it may be for the best...

I feel tired just thinking about all of it. New doors for the patio, expanding the deck to drop in a hot tub, cleaning up the front garden and installing some pavestones, decorating the front entryway... Anybody know of a great place to find an antique bench? I just have to remember that we are on a budget and have to take little things one at a time. Time is more valuable than money, but sometimes it can seem that you never have enough of either!