old house. new home.: The Update Post.

I started this post about 3 weeks ago, with the intention of posting a few times in December - because we have a lot going on! But alas, things happened (good & bad), and here I am, a week before Christmas with no December posts yet. And, to top that all off, I am taking this time this morning to post, even though we have no tree, no shopping done, no food bought, and remodelling fixtures to decide on and purchase - all before Christmas.

This is what my original post read. It was written the week after Thanksgiving ...

So, I woke up Wednesday morning to find snow on my car! Then, I noticed it was actually snowing (barely, but there were flakes!). Then, as the day progressed, it kept snowing! December is awesome!

Bad news ... The contractor is not coming until next week now ... he has been working on some roof jobs that just have to get done before winter and the weather has not been cooperating with him. Boo for us, but at least we know that we've got the right guy!

Good news ... So, we've been working on getting some stuff done. See mighty list below!

Rain & more rain. So, before the beautiful snow started coming down, we had a bunch of those 34 degrees and raining days (the worst). During those days, Pat did some rain checks on our house. Up until the last day, we didn't notice any water in the basement, which was great because they said it leaked pretty bad (which is does when the rain is significant ... old house, dingy basement, no big deal). But, what he did find was a couple of items that are a little more pressing ... a) the gutter is pulling away from the house above the window in our bedroom, so the water is just pouring/dripping down the siding (it creates a this noise that is just loud enough to keep you awake and annoyed when you're trying to sleep); and b) the roof leaks. Stupid previous owners. But, so far as Pat can tell, we should be able to patch it for now ... and since our roof is so small, at least it isn't the biggest set-back ever, even if we did have to replace it sooner than later.

Den is set-up, with new rug!

My picture wall is back up in the dining room! YAY!

Blown the leafs - several times. The paternal parents gave us a bunch of stuff in their process of moving down south ... and Pat got a 'bad ass' blower, trimmer, etc. all in one, gas-powered tool. He has been pretty excited to use it each and every time something needs to be done yardwork-wise ... and I am NOT going to complain about that (I just hope he's still giddy next year).

AND, Decorated for Christmas!!! Wreathes, lights, music boxes, and more!!

And, so now here is the actual list and pictures of some of what has happened this month of December!

It has snowed quite a bit since then! And, for the most part it has been welcomed ... and hopefully it'll stick around for a white Christmas. Pat & I are having my family over to our house for the holidays ... which means that I better get a list together for food and go shopping. It also means that we have to get moving on buying those mattresses for the guest bedroom!

Contractors started working on the house!! YAY!! And, boy do they work fast ... even in small spaces! The kitchen ceiling is done ... demoed, drywalled, and painted! Now, we just need to pick out a lighting fixture and they'll be done in there! (Then all we have to do is paint the rest of the walls, the cabinets, replace the sink and counters, demo the floor, refinish the floor, and buy new appliances!) Great news though ... dishwasher is in and working - it truly is the best ever.

The master bathroom is demoed. We ran into a bunch of plumbing work that just had to be done once they contractors finished the demo ... we knew it was all going to have to be replaced eventually, but lucky us, we got to do it now! We have purchased the tile, sink, vanity, lighting, and faucets for that bathroom and they are all ready to go ... except paint, which we have to decide on still?

Dry wall is up on the ceiling ... with cut out for fan/lighting!

Old plumbing ...

New plumbing!

We had 3 different lines running to the cold/hot water and drains in the kitchen and back bathroom ... so the plumber corrected those and ran them all into the same line. He also took the drain pipe from the kitchen (that was running diagonal across the basement and being held up by the gas line) and married it into the bathroom drain. So, we now have much less piping in the basement, and our plumbing is all up-to-date!

We got new rugs for both the living room and den. The LR rug was not what we are really looking for, but should do for now (and by not what we are looking for ... I mean I want a different, more expensive, rug but can't spend the money right now!). We also aren't sure what we are going to be able to do for a coffee table or ottoman in front of the couch ... there isn't a ton of room with the door opening right there! So, I found a pretty inexpensive ottoman that has 2 smaller ottomans for seating/feeting inside, storage, and also the lids flip over into trays for drinks and food. So, for now, this is what we'll use ... and it's been working out really well.

Our garage was partially cleaned out before Thanksgiving and looking pretty good ... now it has turned into a dump zone for contractor stuff, demo stuff, and other stuff. Some day we will get that cleaned out and Pat will be parking in there!

Christmas decorations are up ... other than the tree! We just haven't been home enough to buy one and set it up. Hopefully we'll head out today or tomorrow to get one?