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Monday, July 19, 2010

Menu Planning Monday...

Sunday:
Breakfast: Nada...slept in since DH had drill
Dinner: Goose-loaf (ground goose breast mixed with onions, carrots, spinach, eggs and breadcrumbs baked at 350 degrees for 1 hour.) sweet potato fries, broccoli

Monday:
Breakfast: oatmeal w/berries
Dinner: Shrimp Stir-fry (didn't have this last week) w/veggies and rice

Tuesday:
Breakfast: Eggs w/turkey bacon, bananas
Dinner: Grilled Chicken Salad

Wednesday:
Breakfast: French Toast w/peaches
Dinner: Beef Roast w/garlic mashed potatoes, green beans, salad

Thursday:
Breakfast: Oatmeal w/raisins
Dinner: Chicken Pot Pie, salad

Friday:
Breakfast: Eggs, toast, apricots
Dinner: Leftovers

Saturday:
Breakfast: light
LUNCH/DINNER: Family Reunion

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Chest of Drawers...

Yesterday, I went on a mini-shopping spree. I went to Marshall's and Ross not specifically looking for anything...but ended up walking out with a few things...firstly this dress, for a friend's bridal shower I am hosting in September. I also found a cute stained glass window accent for my MIL and a small basket to work as a hamper for our downstairs bath. Please excuse the crooked picture and the weird trying to take a picture with my phone with only one hand...lol
Then, I hit the Salvation Army Family Store. And I found THIS chest of drawers for... $14.99!!! YES $14.99...there are barely any scratches...only missing ONE knob and in excellent condition. I knew I could take this and tackle this as my first foray into furniture remodeling. I headed to Home Depot and about $35 later, I left with my choice of stain, new brushes, new knobs and pulls, and a drop cloth.

A few coats of stain and a day later...I have THIS:
It's home is in our family room to act as a storage chest. Up close it has some imperfections. I didn't get all the little scratches out and I was a bit impatient with the stain and got a few particles in it and a few bubbles....but I love the imperfections. It adds character and warmth to it. I am not 100% on the pulls...but I think they work for right now!

What do you think? Are you working on any new projects?
Linking up with:
Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

Friday, July 16, 2010

Office Progress...

Since starting on the basement remodel...we kinda filled our spare bedrooms with a ton of stuff. The upstairs spare bedroom got the mis-placed living room furniture and all of that clutter...and the downstairs office/spare bedroom got the mis-placed basement clutter. This is where we were keeping tools, de-humidifiers, parts, purchases, plus all of DH's video game, computer game, nerd-gamey stuff. Oh and PLUS we had a bed in there and a desk.
We decided to tackle the office as our first room to de-clutterize. Main reasons being, things that were supposed to be done in there...i.e. nerd-gaming, computer-gaming, home management, bill paying, guest staying just couldn't be done. So with this room having so many uses and functions, it was imperative for our home organization and my peace of mind that we get this done. Most of the work is for Dh...since this was his "man-cave" for a long time, it's mostly full of his fun stuff.

We started by moving Dh's old desk out of there, (this is now MY daycare desk/work zone.) the full bed that was there was replaced by a twin, and moving in my office desk from upstairs.

Then our laundry room fiasco (read about it here) happened...and water seeped all the way from the laundry room through to this room. We had to move stuff around, dry it out and re-box all of Dh's nerd-gamey figures/cards.

I forgot to take before "before" pictures, but here are the current pictures of the space. We did move a bunch of junk out and threw away a lot of old papers, debris from remodeling and Dh' started going through his nerd gaming stuff.
This was covered in dust, and drywall dust (from when Dh installed our cable and other such lines with a friend around 7 months ago.) Now, this is a nice representation of some of Dh's favorite mementos...and things that reflect his life. Next is Dh's "nerd closet." To be truthful, I'm a bit miffed this is as full as it is...I feel as though he needs to purge much more than this. But I understand his points...there are THOUSANDS of dollars worth of game pieces in here with books and actual games. Ideally, I'd like a bit more home storage to go in here...a safe for important paperwork and such. I guess I can deal with this for a while longer until we (God willing to have even 1) have a second baby, then all my stuff will need storage in here as well. I think we have too many hobbies and not enough house! :)


This is a box of books, cables, old girlfriend pictures, paperwork and random stuff I packed up when I removed a bookshelf from this room a year ago. We had decided I could have the bookshelf for the daycare, but someone took forever clearing it off...so I did it and this is what happened to all that stuff.
Here's the twin bed with MORE boxes on it. Some are full...others are empty, but God forbid we throw them away...we might need them!!! 2 points to whomever can spot the kitty :p



Notice the U.G.L.Y bright red carpet from Dh's teen years?? He still loves this carpet...I hate it. Blood red...really?
This is all the paperwork from the desk. This is the "hub" of the home and in order to move the desk we had to unload it. We are going through it bit by bit (that's my job, sigh) and shredding old documents and financial records. The little pile of paperwork to the left of the boxes in the foreground is what I've gotten through so far.


And here is the desk of destiny! I love this desk...but it's too big to be in the daycare space but we paid too much for it to just sell it. I think it will do nicely here, and I hope Dh takes care of it...*tear...I do miss it. Most of my things will be upstairs where I am most of the day...so this will be primarily for home bills and Dh's things. So, the decorating and set up of this room is going to wait until: 1) it's clean and orderly. 2) we have some time and money 3) I can find a pull out love seat.
I want to replace the carpet, with Berber or the same as the living area, paint the walls a nice soft color (perhaps with a bit of yellow and a bit of light green), replace the drop ceiling tiles and lights (currently ugly fluorescent) and paint the drop ceiling rails white.
I am hoping to find a love seat to put in here to be the seating AND guest sleeping area. I think it's too small for a sofa...but could hold the desk and a love seat. If you have any tips on where to look, primarily online, since I don't have ample time to actually shop...I'd appreciate it!
I want to remove the shelf (in pic #1) and the cabinets underneath. Perhaps we can put built-ins in the one weird cubby for more storage.
I am really excited to see this done! I've been under the weather the past few days, so I haven't wanted to do our hour in the evening...but I'm proud of our progress and can't wait to see it done!

After pics to come soon...

Monday, July 12, 2010

Menu Planning Monday...

Sunday:
Breakfast: Eggs, bacon, toast, banana, coffee
Snack:N/A
Lunch: FAMILY REUNION
Snack:FAMILY REUNION
Dinner: Turkey sandwiches, chips and salsa, pear

Monday:
Breakfast: oatmeal w/blueberries, milk
Snack: yogurt & fruit
Lunch: sandwiches, carrots, pears, milk
Snack: cheese and crackers, juice
Dinner: Chicken florentine w/pasta, peas, salad

Tuesday:
Breakfast: banana pancakes
Snack: Yogurt & fruit
Lunch: chicken florentine, pasta, peas, oranges, milk
Snack: berry smoothies
Dinner: Pork chops, roasted potatoes, lima beans, salad

Wednesday:
Breakfast: eggs, toast, oranges, milk
Snack: yogurt and fruit
Lunch: pork chops, potatoes, lima beans, peaches, milk
Snack: goldfish and juice
Dinner: Black bean and cheese quesadillas, avacado, salsa, salad

Thursday:
Breakfast: french toast, melon, milk
Snack: yogurt and fruit
Lunch: black bean and cheese quesadillas, avacado, salsa, milk
Snack: hummus and pita, juice
Dinner: Burgers, sweet potato fries, broccoli, salad

Friday:
Breakfast: oatmeal and berries, milk
Snack: yogurt and fruit
Lunch: Burgers, sweet potato fries, broccoli, melon, milk
Snack: ham and pineapple bites
Dinner: Shrimp and veggie stir-fry w/brown rice, salad

Saturday:
Breakfast: McJenny sandwiches w/egg and turkey bacon, fruit, coffee
Snack: Yogurt and fruit
Lunch: OUT
Snack: veggie sticks and dip, water
Dinner: Leftovers

Friday, July 9, 2010

Laundry room fiasco...

Last week, I had a flood in my brand-new laundry room.


It's taken me so long to write about it because I was annoyed for this long. Nothing major happened...I didn't even need to call a plumber.

The drain hose from the washer to the main pipe came loose while the washer was draining...so voila a flood in the laundry room.

Really the ONLY thing that saved us was the fact that there is a rather large dip in the floor (due to an old illegal drain that we covered up when we renovated the room. Now, I almost wish we had kept it! UGH!

Water got into the bathroom, into the water heater/water softener closet, all the way under the stairs and into the office. Luckily...very little got into the new carpet...but I know some soaked up into the drywall (I saw it first hand in the office)...and that worries me because the contractor put the wrong stuff in and talked hubs out of replacing with the right stuff.

Unfortunately, there is a tiny bit of dampness remaining downstairs...not actual wet spots...just damp smell. We have the de-humidifier working full force and I'm trying to keep the windows open and fans going to circulate air.

Any other tips or tricks to ridding a damp smell? Eventually, we know we'll have to replace the carpet in the office (it's bright red, btw) which we planned to do anyway...but I certainly don't want to do it now when I have so many other things to do.

Looking on the bright side; it could have been worse...I guess. And it certainly won't happen again! No, I'm not giving up doing the laundry...although that was a thought. DH zip-tied the hose to the hot water valve...so hopefully it'll stay in place now. **sigh**