Monday, April 1, 2013

Is it really April already?!

I hate not having time to blog, but I really, really hate not having time to read. Unfortunately both of those things have gone by the wayside since my husband and I moved into our first house three weeks ago. I read one single, solitary book in the month of March (at least it was a really awesome book though...review coming soon...I hope...). I knew I'd be busy, but busy just doesn't cover it! I don't normally write posts about my personal life, but I can't resist sharing some of my adventures as a new homeowner (and there is a bookcase!).

First of all, I don't want you to think I'm complaining, because I'm really not. I've been looking forward to buying a house for years and I'm truly grateful we were able to reach that goal. I have no regrets, but the one thing I've learned these past three weeks is that being a homeowner means learning to live with the unexpected. And boy has there been some unexpected! So we're just rolling with the punches.

But first, the fun stuff! -- With the help of quite a few awesome relatives and friends, we've gotten 5 rooms painted and the majority of dust, dirt, grime, & animal hair cleared away. Honestly, I don't even want to think about how long it would take us to work on this place if it were just the two of us alone. The house needs a bit more TLC than we had anticipated, so I can't even put into words how lucky and thankful we are to have such amazing people in our lives who are so willing to help.

But clearly the most important thing when writing about a move on a book blog is bookcases and I'm happy to report I have my first one up and filled! Trust me, I need a LOT more of these, but at least it's a start. This one is in the eat-in kitchen area and is the new home for most of my cookbooks. There are two more boxes that didn't fit on the shelves, plus two boxes of food magazines and recipe binders I need to find a place for. My brother declared my collection "absurd," but he did so while hauling said collection from my in-laws' basement so I can't really argue too much with that! And as ridiculous as he thinks his sister is, he still carried every last box I asked him to. We haven't even started on the "regular" book collection, so I can't wait to hear what he thinks of those boxes!


And then there's been the not so fun stuff -- In three short weeks we:

1. Woke up one morning to water EVERYWHERE in the basement. (unfinished slab, so no real damage thankfully). Dry basement my ass.

2. Had a major plumbing/sewer problem and had to get the pipes cleared not just once, but twice!

3. The old but "in good working condition" furnace started leaking and wasn't worth fixing so we had to replace it. My husband was really bummed about this whole situation until he realized the new thermostat connects to WIFI and he can control it with an app on his phone. So forget the whole "way to a man's heart is through his stomach" thing, cool technology is definitely the way to my hubby's heart.

4. A squirrel (?) was trapped inside one of the walls and scratching desperately to get out. He had way too much energy/desperation to have just dropped dead so we are hoping he did find an escape route. (Note: don't leave the attic entrance uncovered, especially if it's in the garage and the previous homeowners left a giant pile of firewood underneath it. The squirrels just might think you built them a special staircase.)

5. Realized the hot water going to the washing machine didn't work. Once we got the valve fixed, we found out there is a leak somewhere that isn't visible even after cutting into the walls, so our next project will be tearing the laundry room apart, getting a new hot water line, and fixing up all the water damage the prior owner was ignoring. Fuuun.

6. One day the cold water pipe to the (brand new) washing machine started shaking so badly the whole house was vibrating and it sounded like a helicopter was landing in my house. A friend of the family who is a plumber declared he'd never seen anything like that in his life (greeeattt). So he took the brand new hoses off and started investigating only to discover the idiot installation guys hooked them up backwards. Turns out the side that says "this end water supply" really should get hooked up to the water supply and not to the back of the machine. Go figure. Here I am thinking this is something I couldn't do myself, but since I can READ, I really do think I would have done a better job if I had tried.

7. Took down an ugly ceiling fan to discover it wasn't installed properly and was about to fall on someone's head at any moment. Thankfully we dodged that one because with our luck it would have hurt one of the many people here helping us!

So if you've been wondering where I wandered off to, now you know! I have a few posts for this week and a pretty massive Bookish Finds post in the works that I'm really excited about. I still may not post as often as I normally do, but it feels good to be back!

16 comments:

  1. I love the color of the kitchen. It looks great on the walls. I can't wait to see the rest of the house... And the bookshelves. :-)

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    1. Thanks babe, it looks really great in person...you'll have to come up again to see it sometime :) And hopefully I'll have more shelves by then!

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  2. Welcome back! Glad that home ownership is keeping you on your toes. :) Seriously, it is a wonderful thing - congratulations!

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    1. Thanks Sus! It's keeping us on our toes alright...though I'm looking forward to a full week with no emergencies/crises -- that would be awesome :)

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  3. For as much as I don't love renting, stories like this make me positively petrified of owning my own place. Hopefully things settle down for you soon and you can get back to reading!

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    1. There are definitely perks for renting Charleen -- here's hoping for a few less surprises in the month of April!

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  4. Oh man. Owning a home is great (just wait until next year's tax return!!!) but man I miss the whole calling the leasing office to send over a handyman part of apartment living sometimes.

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    1. The tax benefits will be nice after all these expensive repairs...

      We used to rent the upstairs of a two-family home and our supremely handy landlord lived downstairs -- I do sometimes wish I could still call him to come fix things. Which reminds me of the time a hose burst going to our sink and he ran upstairs in his pajamas at midnight to help...I guess it's always something!

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  5. Why hello my blogger friend who I have missed a great deal!

    1. I love your bookcase! I can't wait to see what the final count will be, and to think that one is just for cookbooks! :)

    2. Oh my..you weren't kidding about having a lot of water/leakage type issues. At least it happened in the basement and none of your stuff was ruined!

    3. I laughed so hard when I read the part about the squirrel. I know you probably didn't think it as funny as I did but your stories about your new house reminds me of a not as bad version of that old Tom Hanks movie that I can't think of the name of right now.

    4. I can't wait to read your bookish finds post and read this review of the amazing book!

    Glad you have had lots of helpers! So exciting to move into your first house! CONGRATS again! My husband and I hope to be doing that in about a year.

    Wow, I'm not sure I used enough exclamation points...

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    1. It's nice to be missed :)

      I am a bit afraid to find out how many bookcases I will actually need...

      The nice thing about all this craziness is that while it isn't funny in the moment, we are already looking back and laughing about it all -- if nothing else, we have some really great stories to tell! And you must mean the movie The Money Pit -- I haven't actually seen it, but with all our homeowner adventures, my mother-in-law keeps telling us we need to watch it...

      That review is definitely coming (P.S. the NetGalley review I posted today was not the book I was referring to -- That one was actually scheduled way ahead of time -- a rarity for me!)

      I hope when you and your husband buy your first house it won't be quite this eventful -- it really is worth it in the end though & house hunting & decorating are lots of fun :)

      And I know I use waaaay too many exclamation points, so it's all good :)

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  6. Welcome back Christine :-)
    I think it is very understandable now how I managed four books in March and you the one... You've really had a time of it! I hope things go a bit smoother from now on in...
    I love the book cases, having only seen your cookbook case, I can't even imagine how many books you own!
    Here's to a lovely month of April :-)

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    1. The answer to how many books I own is TOO MANY! They are truly my weakness. I suppose there are much worse things I could be *addicted* to...

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  7. No wonder you've not read much, but it's for a very good cause :) Congratulations on your move, and 3 weeks for all that work is really good. The previous owners left you a lot to deal with :/

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    1. Thanks Charlie, they sure did! Ever since discovering the lazy susan cabinet shelves were cracked, broken, disgustingly dirty, my family has made a running joke that the prior owner -- Suzan -- was lazy! We are no longer surprised by much of anything we find in the house or on the property...like the car engine we just spotted hanging from a tree back in the wooded area...we can't help but laugh!

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  8. It sounds like you've had a crazy past couple of weeks. Here's hoping it settles down and goes smoothly from here on out.

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    1. Yes, it's been quite an adventure!

      Thanks for stopping by Sarah :)

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I'd love to hear what you think :)