Uh-oh. 2 months of projects in one week.

[politicat]

The good news is that I got a really unexpected, very interesting and lucrative contract that will run for the next three to four months, and will basically let us pay off every bit of debt except the mortgage (and will reduce that one significantly.)

The bad news is that I had my summer planned, with three trips (Phoenix, Indiana and Michigan), some really big projects (like replacing the shed - done; re-finishing the decks - mostly done; painting our bedroom - delayed; building slipcovers for all of the furniture - grossly simplified; finally papering my office - tomorrow; and some other semi- to- significant projects.

So we did the shed this weekend. I can totally endorse Rubbermaid/Black & Decker/ Apex/ etc plastic sheds. We replaced the 8 x 10 tin shed that was probably constructed in 1965 (and meant to be torn down by 1975) with an 8 x 6 shed... and actually gained effective storage space. The tin shed took about 6 hours to deconstruct and haul off to recycling, the site took about 30 minutes to prep, and the shed went up in less than two hours with minimal suffering. The worst bit was a) renting a pickup, and b) picking the shed up at the lumber-yard. We also gained a bit of yard space, and the neighborhood association now has no reason to complain about what an eye-sore we have sitting in our yard. (It really was horrid.)

I did the decks today. We have one in the front and one in the back, both red cedar and both about 8 years old, and they've been stained or painted every 2-3 years. I re-stained the front one, and painted the back one a lovely green shade (to complement the grey house and blend in with the foliage). They're drying now (and I'm tired.)

Tomorrow, I clean out my office and if I'm really lucky, will get paint and/or paper up on the walls. If I'm not lucky, I'll do so Wednesday. Either Wednesday or Thursday, I move everything BACK into the office, re-arrange in the process, and get ready to work. Friday, I cut and sew the slipcovers; the fabric has all arrived and is ready to go (a black twill for the dining room chairs and a grey rough silk for the arm chairs; I'm still waiting on some charcoal silk for the sofa).

Saturday, I sleep.

Oh, and sometime this week, I have to re-learn Windows...

[NMDemDist2]

1. congrats on the contract!

and I feel your pain, we have two weeks to get this house ready to sell

we're well along, the outside is painted, the lawn is looking good, the pool is almost to sparkling

I have packed about half our winter clothes, all the linens and today I painted the linen closet

i've gone through my closet and am down at least 50% but still have to cull the shoes

we should be working on painting the rest of the inside next week, but first we have to clean the garage

we gotta patch the formica in the kitchen, hang the new house numbers, put some color spots in front

sigh

but our goal is the same as yours, debt free and moved :bounce:

sorry I won't get to meet you this month though.. :cry:

[politicat]

2. Oh, no... culling the shoes.

I hate having to do that... I love shoes. I may not ever be able to wear the red satin, 4 inch, stiletto heels with the marcasite buckles again, but I want to be able to keep them!

I want to come down to meet you -- but I must admit that I'm kind of happy that I won't have to deal with 50 to 60 of my relatives and my mother's pals, all drunk or contact-high, line-dancing to The Achey Breaky Heart and karaokeing Sinatra's My Way. (Mom LOOOOOVES both line dancing and karaoke, but both make me cringe...)

So what was the decision on the formica? The numbers will go up quick, and you CAN clean the garage. It will go fast, fast, fast if you just pretend it's not your stuff!

We're thinking about going caving in September (we go on vacation after the kiddies are back in school), and while we were thinking we'd just hit something in the Rockies, I've always wanted to go to Carlsbad. Lemme think about it....

[NMDemDist2]

3. we're gonna try to patch the formica

:cry: my SHOES!!

and by September I'll probably have time to go check out the cave with you (I doubt I will before then LOL)

and yeah, that sounds pretty bad at you Mom's can't say as I blame you and the air quality has just sucked all winter and it hasn't gotten any better now that the weather has broken

[Warpy]

4. I've had one of their small upright sheds for 10 years

and it's showing few signs of wear. I did put it under a tree because the desert sun is hell on wood and plastic, alike, but my next door neighbor has a shed that predates mine in full sun and his is a little faded but still standing and in daily use.

I recommend them, too.

There's a tuxedo Persian cat who spends most days atop that shed, an additional decoration.

[politicat]

5. Awww.... the best type of decoration!

If I get 10 years' out of it, it will have more than paid for itself. I was figuring five.

Now, I just need to train the neighborhood cats to hang out up there. Give mine something to look at, and get them out of the traffic patterns....

[NMDemDist2]

6. we've had our Rubbermaid (12x8) for at least three years here in PHX

and you know what that sun does to stuff

i've also had two rubbermaid pool storage bench thingies for 5-6 years and they're in great shape still too, even the one that lives on the west side of the house with NO shade

edit to add, those bench thingies will be great to pack into too! :think:

[politicat]

7. So the Thursday update:

I'm amazingly on track. I was sure I'd have delays, and in some areas I did, but other things have balanced out, and I'm doing pretty well, all things considered.

Monday, I got the decks done. The front one may need another coat of stain at some point later in the year, but the weather has turned rainy, wet and cold, and so it's going to have to wait. The back deck turned out great with a single coat of forest green. I also painted the storm door we found at the re-use center - it's now a flat white - and the frames for the metal deck chairs (once grey, now flat black.) Unfortunately, our front door is a little shorter than we thought it was, and we need to buy a metal saw blade and cut an inch off of the bottom of the storm door before we mount it. (Still, $20 for the blade, 15 for the door and 8 for the paint is better than $140 for a new door, and this kept the other one out of the waste stream.)

Tuesday, I got the office sorted, a bunch of stuff put out for recycling and trash, and the paper up on one and a half of the walls. However, a weather system moving in late Tuesday brought a quite massive dose of humidity (at least, for Colorado) and when I got back to work Wednesday morning, some of the upper sections of the paper had pulled away from the walls - up where, even on my table, I couldn't really get a good amount of pressure. And by then, the glue had dried, leaving the paper slightly wrinkled. Oh.. hell. The good news is that the edges from about 7 foot up the walls down to the floor (i.e. what I can reach easily) were perfect. With the weather shift, more glue was not going to work.

So Wednesday morning, I pulled out the platform and got up to the top of the walls and ironed with my clothes iron, then stapled the tops of the paper to the walls with the staple gun. The paper has a thin, metallic striping, and the staples up at 12 feet blend in perfectly. Then I finished the rest of the room, stapling the tops and bottoms as I went. (The bottoms are covered by baseboards that I nailed on Wednesday night.) I am a disgustingly mercurial git anyway, so when it's time to strip off the paper and change it or paint, the staples will be easy to extract and the paper will come down without much hassle. By supper time, I had the paper finished, and I got a majority of the furnishings back in place by bedtime. I still have about 15 boxes I need to sort, and all four filing cabinets need some work, but I have a goal of one box per night for the next few weeks, starting next Tuesday, so that will go fairly well. (Some of the boxes are CDs and media, stuff that just goes in a cabinet because the only reason we still have it is to keep our legal butts covered if the RIAA comes a knocking.)

This morning, I set up the sewing tables and pulled out the machine, sorted the tool boxes and built four slipcovers for the dining room chairs. They're technically finished, though I have some hand work to finish - sewing on small, metal rings, and lacing a contrasting ribbon down through to fit them better. Basically, the dining chairs will look like they're wearing corsets when I'm finished with them. Until then, baggy is okay. I also ironed the fabric I'll be using for the sofa cushion covers, (5 yards of a grey raw silk) and took apart the outdoor chairs so that I can replace the canvas seats. The old canvas is now a pattern. I fitted the armchairs, and discovered I need to order more twill to finish both of them. Fortunately, I found a good source, and what I don't use for chairs, I can use for clothing. I've ordered black, grey, burgundy and cream. The hand work will have to wait until my hands have recovered - they're both stiff and sore from painting, lifting, shoving and smoothing.

So tomorrow's tasks are: Sew up the six cushion covers for the sofa, hem the outdoor chairs' canvas and replace, take down the sewing tables and stow, and move the big futon and frame into my office (after Mr. P gets home from work.) I need to convince the cat that she does NOT want to go outside and play in the rain (silly cat) and hopefully, put my basket and the rear frame on my bicycle. I will cut and stitch what I can of the armchair covers, but until the additional fabric gets here, I'm stalling. (I changed plans after I bought the last round of fabric. Silly me.)

But it never fails... I got the clothes line put up, and I've been able to use it exactly once. This is the rainiest, coldest spring since the year I moved to Colorado, for which I am profoundly grateful for the water, but I was hoping for some sun for the garden and the clothes.

[NMDemDist2]

8. wow, that wore me out just reading it! well done

and smart git you are to use your iron and a staple gun on the wall paper!

now you just need to post some pics for us :bounce:

[politicat]

9. I'll take pictures on Sunday.

We should have everything clean and tidy on Sunday afternoon, and the weather is supposed to improve, so I can get outdoor pictures, too.