Delusions of... Everything

Photo a Day in February: Day 15 - 19

Wow, I'm really not very good about posting these Photos a Day in a timely manner...

Day 15:  Phone

This is my phone at work.  Happily I can report that it doesn't ring very often and when it does it's usually someone I enjoy talking to.

(notice how I didn't take this until the 17th?!  I kept forgetting while I was at work.)

Day 16:  Something New

This cutie patootie was given to me by my family for Christmas.  I love it, especially since I'm the only one who drinks coffee in our house.  Now I have a fresh cup every time... So sweet!

Day 17:  Time

Sorry about the blur, it was the only clock available and I just couldn't get a clear shot.  I wanted to do a fancy shot of "the passage of time", but I never got around to doing it.  So here you go!

Day 18: Drink

The picture says it all!

Day 19:  Something you hate to do

My daughter and I went to the mall today and while I don't necessarily like going there, I don't HATE it.  Especially when I get yummy lotion and bath goodies from Lush.  But I do hate waiting at traffic signals or in traffic period.

Photo a Day in February: Day 9

The theme for today is front door.

Snow Day

Today we are getting some rare Seattle snow.  The weather gods kept predicting it, but we don't usually pay attention to all the hype.  Because of the water and mountains surrounding the area it's always hard to predict snow and many times the threat of snow is just a threat.  Recently a new high tech satellite system was installed to track incoming weather and apparently, this time, it helped predict the snow accurately.

Yesterday at 4 pm this is what my back courtyard looked like.

And the front of my house.

This is how the courtyard and the front of the house looked at 9:30 this morning.

This is the hill in front of our house.

And our vehicles, which are staying put today!

How's your Wednesday going?

From Office to Spare Room

Last year some time I made a post about our small back office and how it had become more junk storage room than office.

 

We decided to move the computer out to the main living area and got one of these handy pieces to put it in.

Then we moved the desk into Star Wars Son's room.

Recently Handy Man and I treated ourselves to a new bed.  A fancy pants bed.  A Temperpedic bed.  It's heavenly.  We got out the tape measure and decided that our old bed would fit in the old office... Barely.  So when they delivered the new bed we had them move the old bed into the new spare room.

This weekend I got some bedding for it, found a lamp at the thrift store and put up some "art".

I think it looks nice and cozy.  We are having out of town guest a couple times this summer and I'm very happy to have a nice room to put them in, instead of the basement band room!

What home projects are you working on?

Hump Day Haiku

 

Feel a sense of calm

in a garden oasis

in my own backyard

The House Where I Grew Up

On Monday I went to my parents house to drop off a gift for my mom.  This is the house I grew up in, left at age 19 and never looked back.  The same house my parents have lived in for 46 years.  The house where improvements were only made out of necessity; installing a new furnace to keep warm; a sump pump to keep the basement dry; and a new roof so pans could be used for cooking instead of collecting water during the rainy season.

Yesterday, while visiting, I was looking around the house trying to find some connection.  What I saw instead was clutter beyond belief, not quite bad enough to be on Hoarders, but it's pretty close.  The clutter you see is organized.  It's neatly stacked on 6 and 8 foot tables, one of which is right in the middle of the already small living room.  The "stuff" is also stacked all along the walls in the dining area and kitchen.  A few months ago my mom told me they took down the dining room table because they never used it.  It's been replaced by an 8' table which has stuff stacked on top and underneath.

I used the bathroom while I was there.  The original linoleum is almost worn through to the subfloor.  The tub enclosure has many of the original square tiles missing and even more are cracked.  I can't see how they can use the shower without water leaking to the basement.  The sink doesn't work, there is a plastic tub in it to catch the water that is then dumped in the toilet.  I just used hand sanitizer that I carry with me.

As a bonus their 3 cats walk all over the counters in the kitchen... uh, yeah.  By the way the coutnters are pink, 1950's pink.  Before you get too excited and think, "how totally cool and retro that must be", it's so not.  In many places the Formica is broken and peeling away.

When I was about 10 years old the dishwasher broke down.  That was 38 years ago.  For a while my mom used it as a cupboard.  I think my dad finally took it out but it might still be there, I didn't go into the kitchen.  There is only so much I can take.

My dad has never wanted to spend money on the house unless it was necessary (read above).  Now that he's been retired for close to 20 years, there is no money for  improvements.  There is barely enough money for taxes and medical bills.

Sitting there looking around I realized I haven't had a connection to the house I grew up in since I left it, I also realized I have no connection to the lifestyle my parent lead and hopefully I never will.

Celebrating

This has been a big week of milestones for our family.  So many changes and celebrations.

Wednesday:

• 10:00 am job interview for me
• 2:45 pm phone interview
• 4:30 pm we got word that the sale of our Des Moines house was final.

Thursday:

• 11:30 am a big old bunch of cash was deposited into our credit union account.
• 1:00 pm the very large 9% HELOC loan on our primary house was paid off!!
• 2:45 pm Star Wars Son presents his speech for the senior project graduation requirement.  (More on this next week where I will hopefully have a link for you to watch the documentary he made)

• 5:15 pm Went to Dancing Daughter's student led conference.  She totally rocked her power point presentation.  (More on this next week too!)
• 6:15 pm Went to the Pub for dinner to celebrate the sale of our house, SWS reaching all of his graduation requirements and Dancing Daughter being a confident amazing student.

Friday:

• NO SCHOOL!!
• 7:00 pm (doors at 6:30)  Big concert at our house!!  Yes we are crazy!  Yes we might regret this!  We are hosting three amazing local hard core bands in our basement tonight!  This will be SWS's band, Act of Bravery, debut concert!  The two other bands have played venues around the city and we are thrilled to have them playing at The Basement Breakdown!! 

Any local facebook friends reading this are welcome to come!  Message me for the address!  We need all the grown ups we can get.

This and That Thursday

Short and sweet post today...

All the inspection stuff on the house has been worked out and today Handy Man will start on the two things he can fix and we hired out for two of the other jobs, hopefully all will be done by next week!  We are officially under contract and the closing date is set for the middle of May.

I've had three interviews at a place where I really want to work.  The position would be challenging, but very satisfying.  I should hear next week.

Today I'm leaving to go here...

to do this...

and hopefully take more pictures like this ...

and rest, read and laugh.

So I won't be around for a few days.  See you when I get back!

I'm so Distracted I Forgot to Title This Post...

What's been happening in my world the past two weeks?

Two weeks ago tomorrow our house (the one that's been a rental for a couple years) went on the market.

Within 8 days, without even having an open house, we had 3 interested parties.

Two of the 3 interested parties submitted offers, insulting low ball offers.

Upon hearing there was other interest in the house the first couple, who fell in love with the house, adjusted and re-submitted their offer.

We countered.

They countered.

We agreed.

Inspection tomorrow.

Appraisal forthcoming.

Fingers crossed for all involved.

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I had two interviews for a job I'm really interested in.  I should hear today if I was chosen.

If that falls through I have a phone interview for a different job this afternoon.  I've never done a phone interview and don't really know what to expect.  Anyone have any experience or advice?

This and That Thursday

Saturday, March 27 from 8:30 - 9:30 pm is Earth Hour.  I posted about it last year with suggestions about how to spend an hour with the lights off (hubba hubba!).  This will be the third time I've participated and I encourage all of you to participate and invite others to take part!

What is Earth Hour?  According to the organization’s website:

Earth Hour started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia when 2.2 million homes and businesses turned their lights off for one hour to make their stand against climate change. Only a year later and Earth Hour had become a global sustainability movement with more than 50 million people across 35 countries participating. Global landmarks such as the, Sydney Harbour Bridge, The CN Tower in Toronto, The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, and Rome’s Colosseum, all stood in darkness, as symbols of hope for a cause that grows more urgent by the hour.

In 2009 hundreds of millions of people around the world showed their support by turning off their lights for one hour.

Earth Hour 2010 will continue to be a global call to action to every individual, every business and every community. A call to stand up, to show leadership and be responsible for our future.

For more information, visit the Earth Hour website here.

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Remember that first interview I had after being laid off?  The one that caused me to really think about my situation and to have this epiphany?  That position is open again.  Yesterday I saw it advertised on Craigslist.  I am so tempted....

For those of you who watch Lost... Do you really think it's possible they will wrap everything up to our satisfaction in the 7 remaining episodes?  Yeah, me either.

I joined a blogger book review site and received my first book to review.  I'm reading it now and will be sharing my thoughts sometime in April.  Stay tuned!

Our renter moved out yesterday.  The house has been turned back over to us.  Handy Man has already spent some time over there replacing doors.  Full on work starts today to prepare for selling; painting, replacing molding, finishing doors, replacing light fixtures, roof and gutter cleaning, refinishing the hardwoods, going to the dump.  I'm tired just thinking about it.  If everything goes as planned it should be on the market in 2 weeks.

I'm going to visit Asthmagirl tonight for a much needed hair color, in preparation for the job interview I have next week!