In!

The carpet has been installed! Wahoo!

Now...who wants to watch the kids while I organize the basement?

Bullet Updates...All Over The Place

• I was telling someone the other day that I've been busier than usual lately, but I can't really articulate what's been going on. It seems as though I get up in the morning and go go go until it's time to crawl back in bed. A large part of it has been the work to redo the basement, but that's been in a holding pattern for the past week or so. We were all set to have the carpet installed last Thursday, when the installers discovered wetness under the existing carpet and declared that they wouldn't put in the new carpet until we took care of the wetness. After much research, J caulked and sealed the areas that were wet and they held up under a pretty heavy storm the other afternoon. We're all set for the carpet to be put in on Monday. I. can't. wait. I'm eager to post before and after photos!
• Our weekends have been very full lately, too. That's certainly not helping me to feel as though time isn't slipping away. A few weeks ago, we had my nephew's graduation party. Two weekends ago, we were in northern Vermont for KL's daughters' birthday (the baby turned 1 on June 30th and S turns 4 on July 12th, so KL and her husband decided to just throw a joint party. It was a lovely time, and it was fabulous to see everyone and for the kids to play. I have to say that the 4th didn't really feel like a holiday, but we did get out and enjoy the nice weather. The fireworks display for Concord, though short, was a really good show and the kids loved it. All the way home, Ella kept saying, "that was so amazing!" It was quite sweet. On Sunday, the weather was gorgeous and we had a cookout with Mom, Cait and Jeeps and Katie. It was such a nice day to just relax on the deck with family and friends...and it was the first time we'd been able to enjoy the deck since Memorial Day! The weather, for the record, seems to have finally taken a turn for the better. All of that rain was INSANE!
  
• I've been hitting the gym a lot lately. I'm definitely back in my 6 day routine and am loving it. Once again, there's a new trainer, but this guy is GOOD. He works for the Gold's in Manchester, too and he really knows his stuff. I'm loving the new routines he's given me and have broken through my plateau.
  
• In a bizarre twist of jockiness, I've totally become a true Red Sox fan. Previously, I would only really care if they made it into the playoffs, but now I watch the games at the gym and be sure to tune into them when I'm at home (I'm even listening to games on the radio when in the car!); I'm learning about the players and am interested trying to get to a game with the kids when they're a little older; last night I was overheard to say, "too bad he couldn't get a little more heat on that" to which J replied, "who are you?"
  
• Last but not least, in anticipation of removing the futon out of the kids' room (to be used as the couch for the basement once it's finished), Liam and Ella are now in big beds! Since last Thursday, my monkeys have been tiny little fish in the ocean of their full-size beds. So far, so good, though. Ella had a couple of rough nights, during which she declared that she wanted us to throw away her new bed and that she was going to sleep on the moon (she gets points for her imagination, eh?). After receiving several compliments on their beds, though, she now professes deep love for her new bed and they've fially been getting some much needed rest.

Lax

I'm not ignoring you, I promise. I've been buuuuuuuuuuuuuuusy.

I've said it before, but it bears repeating. I've been dreaming and talking about and planning The Great Basement Cleanout for so long now that I still can't believe that it's finally happening. Not only is it getting done, but it will all have happened within one month...ONE MONTH! The heat is in and J painted last week - it looks great. The carpet is going in on Thursday and then I can begin to load stuff back and set the basement up the way I want.

I am so excited. So much stuff had accumulated down there over the years that I forgot how large of a space we really have down there and there will be plenty of room for a dedicated workout space, quilting area and, most importantly, more play space for the kids. I can't wait to post before and after pictures!

Some other projects, which were on my to-do list have kind of been side effects of the Cleanout and I'm happy to report that our bedroom has had a massive floor to ceiling cleaning and is now looking fabulous and the downstairs bathroom wallpaper has been steamed off and we know what we're going to do in there in terms of painting. That'll be next.

So, aside from being caught up with all of the work with redoing the basement, we also daytriped is to Vermont yesterday for KL's daughters' birthday. I had been wondering how she was going to handle it. S will be 4 on July 12th and the baby turns 1 on Tuesday. KL decided to have a joint party and it was such a nice time. It was a smaller crowd than usual, but we had a lovely time and oh God it was so cute to see the kids all play together. KL's sister got some fabulous pictures that I'll sort through and post when I have a moment (I know, I know, you're thinking you'll most likely see them sometime next year...not true, I promise!).

Also, I've begun something pretty major that I'm not ready to write about yet, but will when the time is right.

So, all in all, life has been busier than usual, which is saying a lot. We've been having a crappy, cool (that's not a bad thing, really) rainy summer and it's not been any fun for the kids. In fact, J just put our a/c in last week and that the latest that's ever happened. I can't believe that next weekend is the 4th of July. What are your plans?

9 Days

Since last Saturday, Cait and I have done a MASSIVE cleanout of the basement. First cleaning and organizing the unfinished side and then hauling a ton of stuff over from the finished side. This project - which I've been dreaming and talking about for years - is finally coming to fruition and I can't believe it. I've picked out and ordered the carpet, the baseboard heat was installed on Friday (previosuly there'd never been heat down there), Caitlin did the majority of the wallpaper steaming, and there are just a few boxes for J to sort through. The refrigerator is the only big thing left to move, and we'll do that once we know when the carpet's going in for certain.

Yesterday, J and I cleaned out the garage while another niece entertained Liam and Ella and it was fabulous to move more stuff over and out. Between donating items to Goodwill, the church yard sale and just generally throwing things away, we've gotten rid of a ton of stuff, and I'm in awe of how much we still have. When I first ordered the dumpster, I though for sure that we wouldn't come close to filling it. I. was. so. wrong. That puppy is FULL.

At the church yard sale yesterday, Cait scored some great pieces of furniture. I picked up another wooden bin organizer (to put in the basement once it's done, natch) for just $5 (and it's in perfect condition!). We inherited one organizer from N and the kids, and it works well upstairs. I was thrilled to get another one and for such a steal! I'm not normally a yard sale type of person, but Cait and I checked out a couple of other sales on the way home yesterday morning, and I picked up some great kids' books and a step (with risers!). Cait also found a cute pair of lamps for a great deal and I was happy that we decided to check out what else was going on in the neighborhood.

So...in a nutshell, life has been busy, busy, busy and dirty, dirty, dirty.

The Great Basement Cleanout took me on several walks down memory lane, most of which I would rather have left alone, but it's been a cathartic experience overall and it's liberating to be free of so much stuff. Of course, the entire point of redoing the basement is so that the kids have more space to play, I have a dedicated quilting area and also a decent place to workout at home, so I know there's more stuff in our future.

I'm wiped out, but so excited! I couldn't have done any of it without Cait's help and support. A GINORMOUS public thank you to her for taking time off from work to get down and dirty with me and clean our lives out. We love you, chicken head.

Musical Me

I made an almost obscene amount of mix tapes during the '90s.

They're pretty good, actually. So good, that Cait and I went out the other night in search of a stereo that had a tape player and finally managed to find one (yes, ONE...every system out there is made for damn iPods now). I've been breezing through themas we work on the basement, forcing Caitlin to glimpse into the mind of a late teen/early 20something Heather. I hope it's not too traumatic.

Days One and Two

The Great Basement Cleanout is well underway and man are we making progress. There is a ton left to do, but we're knee-deep in making headway. An unintentional side effect of all of this is that I cleaned out my bedroom closet and sorted through an embarrassingly overwhelming amount of clothes. I honestly had no idea how much clothing I owned. Today, I dropped off two and half ginormous bags of clothes at Goodwill - 72 pieces! The best part is that it was all stuff I'm too small for since I've lost weight. Bonus!

While I'm not crazy enough to share the state of my bedroom, here are some before and in progress shots of the unfinished side of the basement.

Deplorable, I know! Check out the horrible "storage" door thingies that were left behind by the "handyman" former owner. I HATE THEM. I call them the refrigerator doors. Finally, they've been removed and are currently residing in the dumpster.

That horrendous, useless, storage unit in the middle there? (The one with the paint cans?) I never would have thought to try and take it out, but Cait suggested it and we discovered that it wasn't attached to anything, so J went to town taking it apart and holy hell what a difference! Excellent idea, Cait!

Check it out! The ugly storage doors and center unit are now gone! I'm so happy! We have so much more space now to sort and haul everything over from the finished side to store while the carpet is installed/wallpaper is stripped/painting is done/baseboard heat is installed. This may not look like an improvement over the "before" shots, but trust me it so is (and it's even better now).

Tomorrow and Tuesday, the kids are off to Mom's so Cait and I can work uninterrupted and J is going to prime and paint the porch (which is still the crap brown color of the original house...after Tuesday it will be a lovely almond to match the siding). That was the other big project for this summer and since J was already taking the next two days off (originally for child minding while Cait and I worked downstairs), I came up with the brilliant idea that he could bring the kids to Mom's and do the porch! Do I know how to plan his time or what? I'm sure he'll be thrilled to get back into the office on Wednesday.

I've been talking about doing this for so long, that I'm still a little in shock that it's finally happening. We'll keep on keeping on and I think that, within 4-6 weeks (depending on how long it takes to get estimates and the baseboard installed), I will finally have the third floor of living space that I've been dreaming about.

Goals

I'm going to try something new. I'm actually going to make a list of goals for the next month (who says you need to start on the 1st?!). I have a lot coming up that I want to accomplish, and listing it here will help me to stay focused. I'm going to revisit my list on June 11th and see how well I was able to stick to my goals.

• Now that I'm back in the habit, maintain schedule of hitting the gym 6 days a week.
• To that end, lose 5 lbs.
• Cut back on Diet Coke intake (swear to God! I'm actually trying to cut it out completely...I know, who am I?!?)
• Research dumpster rentals, choose one, rent it and clean basement and garage (Cait's helping with this one in a major way - she's taking time off from work to help me). This is the biggie for this month and is essential to my plan of redoing the basement before the Fall. If I can't report that this task has been completed, I just suck.
  
• Blog at least every other day (this'll be a challenge).
• Clean and organize the pantry.
  

OK, feel free to keep me on task and ask me how things are going!

Quick Takes

• I loved El Presidente's address to Congress. He breathed some life, and truth, into that chamber.
  
• Nancy Pelosi does look a bit like the cat who got the canary, though.
  
• Man, I love Michelle Obama.
• Wow, given his reputation for being such a hardass, I would have thought that Rahm Emanuel would have a more commanding voice.
  
• My niece is going to be traveling to Africa late next week to spend most of March working with an organization that helps orphans whose parents died of HIV/AIDS. That's pretty damn awesome.
  
• After nearly two months, there's finally a new trainer at the gym. I met him yesterday and I think his goal is really to be a gym teacher, so I'm not too sure how well he's going to work out (no pun intended), but I'm going to make sure that I get all of my appointments in with him. I'm conflicted about the gym at the moment and have a lot of thinking to do.
• I've decided that my long-term goal for the year is to finish the basement. It'll mean organizing the unfinished side better so that I can facilitate the massive undertaking that will be clearing out the finished side. Then, we need to settle on a heat source, strip the wallpaper, paint, and get new carpeting in there. It'll be a huge, huge job but I really would like to have it done by the time it gets cold again. Finishing the space up the way I want it would give me space for a quilting corner, more play room for the kids, a dedicated area to workout at home and it would just be awesome to utilize a third floor of living space.
• I went out to very nice dinner last Friday night with some ladies that I knew from middle school. I'm loving facebook - it's totally giving me a life! I've really enjoyed reconnecting with people, but am most enjoying getting back in touch with the middle school crowd.
• We had to have our DVR replaced. J had noticed that the reception was choppy, especially if we paused something and then tried to watch it later. Over the past couple of weeks, the signal just became awful and I couldn't take it anymore. I could almost live with the choppiness, but the sound would go out too and I was about to lose my mind. I called comcast last Thursday night (actually, it was 12:30 in the morning and would you believe I was on hold for over 20 minutes?!) to complain and they were going to send someone out yesterday, but ended up having a tech in the area on Friday. J was hesitant and thought maybe I was being too picky (he tends to expect the negative and doesn't ever rock the boat). Within 3 minutes of his arrival, the tech declared that the box was indeed defective and he replaced it. I was bummed to lose all of the stuff we'd recorded (mostly, I was bummed to lose the Imagination Movers episodes...as were the kids), but I'm thrilled to have clear service now. We're re-recording the Movers as quickly as we can :)
• I'm simulataneously craving peanut butter and chocolate dipped strawberries. Instead, I'll be good and head to bed.
  

Life, Recently (In Bullet Points, Of Course!)

• Elton John was good. C's man, Jeeps, gave her tickets to the EJ show at the Verizon Wireless Arena for Valentine's Day. C invited me to go and it was a nice night. It was a pretty mellow show for the most part, which was fine with me. It was just the man and his piano and, let me tell you, he's making a mint off of this tour. The ticket prices were outrageous, but he did perform for ~ 2 1/2 hours straight and came back for autograph signing and a two-song encore. Sometimes, though, I feel like a little old lady. As nice of a time as we had, I missed being home with J and the kids. (Plus, the Verizon sucks as a concert venue. It was built to be a sports arena and the acoustics are muy terrible for concerts. We saw barenaked ladies there years ago and you could barely make out a thing they said. That said, it did work out better when it was a solo performer and one instrument - except for the songs I wasn't familiar with...then I couldn't tell what the hell he was saying.)
• I'm getting really tired of Cirie on Survivor. Was she really a favorite? She's running the game and is driving me nuts.
• Mom stayed with us for most of the week because she fell last Sunday trying to remove some snow from her well cover. Her left knee already gives her problems and no one wanted her to be alone in her house. It worked out well and the Muffins were in love with having their Nana here. She got some much needed rest and her knee was doing much better by the time she went home. I'm feeling...overwhelmed isn't the right word, but I suppose it'll do...anyway, I'm feeling significantly more pressure to get Mom out of her house sometime this year and I have a post brewing about that that I need to find the right words for. I'm struggling with finding balance between my desire to care for my mother and my husband and children.
  
• We bought a wet vac last night and J is having a blast (I think) using it in the basement. We've had issues with seasonal wetness downstairs since we've been here, but with the intense snow this winter and now a ton of rain coming down, the wetness is kicking into high gear and J is trying to get it under control so we can work on redoing the finished part of the basement this summer. Hopefully, our plan will work. I would love for the Muffins to have a larger play space.
• I think I developed some form of Stockholm Syndrome about winter. I'm very used to the snow and don't mind it at all. Now that it's been milder and we're getting rain, I almost feel fooled by Mother Nature. I don't like the ugly end to winter. The dirty snowbanks and the debris of winter is depressing. Plus, some of our snowbanks are massive. For a while there I didn't think they'd fully melt until June. Now, maybe, we're looking at late April. And, damnit, we have to lose an hour tonight. Daylight is overrated. Ugh.
  
• Tomorrow marks one month until the Muffins turn 2. I cannot believe my babies are almost 2! Where has the time gone?! I'm planning an Elmo themed party the Sunday after their birthday for grandparents, Godparents, C and Jeeps and J's sister and her family. I'm hosting Easter in a couple of weeks, too, so I need to get cleaning!
  
• For the record, I will not vote for Hillary if she is the nominee.
  
• I really want noodles.
  

All In A Day's Work...

I had my work cut out for me, big time...

This was the easiest part of all.

It was almost ridiculous how much crap I let pile up down there.

It took hours and hours, but the unfinished part of the basement is organized and tidy! I killed a gazillion spiders and sucked up cobwebs too numerous to count. I have a ton and a half of laundry to do (I set up 2 3-section laundry organizers and they are both full - seriously), but it's done.

The ultimate goal is to clear out the partially finished side of the basement so that we can strip the wallpaper, paint the walls, get new carpeting and install a third heat zone (hence why I call it "partially finished"...there's no heat down there and therefore we've let it become a storage area rather than utilize the space). So...we need the unfinished side of the basement cleaned and organized so that we can store the stuff from the finished side while we do the renovations. My vision is that the new finished side will primarily be a kid zone, but with an area for me to set up my quilting on a permanent basis. Also, J and I have been talking about getting a recumbent exercise bike, so that'd be there, too. I came up with this idea one night in bed when I couldn't fall asleep and it is a great idea, but God does it seem easier when I'm upstairs and only talking about my plan. For a while, I would get so overwhelmed whenever I would go downstairs and try to envision what I wanted (not to mention needed) to do. Now the ball is rolling, however, and I'm hoping that I can keep up the pace (I'd like to work downstairs on Saturdays and then have Sundays be for the four of us) and hopefully have everything done by the time snow flies. After today's success, I don't think that's too ambitious and I'm feeling less overwhelmed by the project.

Isn't it lovely now? (You know, for a basement...)

More storage!