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!