On Monday of this week (June 17), I mowed my lawn for the first time. It took about 30 minutes. It was a quick 30 minutes.
As the week dragged on and I got two vacation days (Thursday and tomorrow) and two days off (Friday and Saturday), I got a lot of work done. We have just minor stuff left to move...with limited room. But the house is starting to take form as we get things organized.
On Thursday, I replaced one of my lawn irritation system's sprinkler heads. It truly is more of an irritation than irrigation. On Friday night, Megan and I spent the better part of two-three hours putting together a grill...that said it would only take about 30 minutes...and it wasn't fully assembled as we had one defective wing nut that the punch operator didn't punch through and a few missing screws.
On Saturday I got to go couch shopping. :( But we decided on a couch I've nicknamed the "baby seal" couch because it's so soft it feels like you're sitting on the hides of baby seals. The saleslady about choked she was laughing so hard.
At least we had our earnest money and some housewarming gift money to put toward a love seat for our family room. We stopped off at Ashley Furniture in Cheyenne and then I had to mess with the sales lady. She was like, "Your couch will be shipped from Arcadia, W --" and I was like, "WHERE'S THAT!?" And she looked at me really weird and I was like..."I'm just joking with you. We went to college in Winona, Minn., and it's right across the river. I know Arcadia well." And she was like, "Oh!" and started laughing. Megan, of course, was like, "You're such an ass."
We also snagged up the breakfast nook high-top table at the Home Depot (God, I hate that place...I can't wait until Cheyenne gets a Menards) thanks to the generous gift card my mom and Randy sent us for a housewarming gift. We also picked up some solar landscaping lights thanks to a gift card Tom and Carol sent us for my birthday. Those will be supa fly in the yard.
Then, after coming home and dinking around the house doing some organizing, I set out to swap sprinkler heads in Station 2...only to find out that you can't swap. Then my misadventures in lawn irritation systems began. I twisted one sprinkler head back on so tight I thought I practically ripped the pipe. So, I proceeded to dig to make sure it was OK. Sure as shit, it was. But the first sprinkler head I took off, I realized was pointed wrong during my test to make sure the other sprinkler head was still working. So, I attempted to adjust this head only to find out that the wet soil and the wetness in general secured the pipe to the head...so when the head came out of the ground, so did part of the pipe. Shit! Luckily for me, it screwed back in. I'll give it another run tomorrow when it's actually my watering day to see if I got the head in the right position.
Until later...
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Moving Day ... part deux
Isaac and the Mormons (that sounds like a cool name for a band) helped me move today. It was like Isaac, six guys and myself and we moved all of the big ticket items from my apartment into the house. It was awesome, because it went so fast.
I'm sure we were quite the sight, since Isaac recruited two elders who are currently on mission...so they showed up in black slacks, white shirts, ties and their elder nametags. I felt bad for the guys. But they were good sports about it and pretty funny, too.
Unfortunately, the house is in disarray and needs proper organization. I can't wait for Megan to come home from her cousin's wedding... the house needs a woman's touch...sort of.
It got hot today. About 80-some degrees. And the house finally warmed up on its own. It's been cold in the morning. And as LLB III said, "It's kind of cold in the morning when you first set foot on those hardwood floors.
But, when the digital camera comes back from Wisconsin, I plan on taking some before photos because there will be some work that has to be done.
I'm sure we were quite the sight, since Isaac recruited two elders who are currently on mission...so they showed up in black slacks, white shirts, ties and their elder nametags. I felt bad for the guys. But they were good sports about it and pretty funny, too.
Unfortunately, the house is in disarray and needs proper organization. I can't wait for Megan to come home from her cousin's wedding... the house needs a woman's touch...sort of.
It got hot today. About 80-some degrees. And the house finally warmed up on its own. It's been cold in the morning. And as LLB III said, "It's kind of cold in the morning when you first set foot on those hardwood floors.
But, when the digital camera comes back from Wisconsin, I plan on taking some before photos because there will be some work that has to be done.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Moving Day
So, we closed on the house on Monday, June 9 and it's Thursday and moving is going slow. We launched the redesign at work, so Monday and Tuesday were absolutely nuts for me.
On Wednesday, I took Megan down to the airport so she could go to her cousin's wedding over the weekend and I got the electronics set up. Internet came this morning, now I'm waiting for dish this afternoon.
Other than shuffling boxes and transferring residences, there's not too much to write home about in terms of repairs. I did some minor caulking this morning and I've trimmed up two trees. ...Unfortunately none of those trees are the ones that REALLY need trimming.
The one tree I trimmed on Monday was blocking access to a path that goes to the backyard through a gate. I trimmed up some limbs so that it was easier to walk through.
Today, during the internet installation, I found out which lines were which. I knew which line the electrical was -- obviously -- but I couldn't distinguish between the cable and telephone line...and I hadn't been paying too close attention upon moving in because I had other things to worry about. But all three lines weave in and out of tree branches and something needs to be done.
It was nerve-wracking and an anxious afternoon on Wednesday through our mini-hurricane. The wind speed picked up. I'm not sure how fast it was going, but it was pretty fucking fast. That's right, not only was it fast...it was fucking fast. I watched for a bit and the trees moved and the cables moved with them. I was very happy to see that the lines didn't snap -- what with only my third day in my new house?
So...I guess my options are either I fool with what I can -- cable, phone lines -- and then get an estimate to handle the electrical...or I just get an estimate for the entire cleanup and prepare to shell out $300-$500 for cutting and clean-up.
But, in the long run, $500 is small bones to head off any problems...and for $500, they might even trim all of my problem tree limbs, including the one that is almost resting on the neighbor's roof and the one in front that is almost touching my roof.
On Wednesday, I took Megan down to the airport so she could go to her cousin's wedding over the weekend and I got the electronics set up. Internet came this morning, now I'm waiting for dish this afternoon.
Other than shuffling boxes and transferring residences, there's not too much to write home about in terms of repairs. I did some minor caulking this morning and I've trimmed up two trees. ...Unfortunately none of those trees are the ones that REALLY need trimming.
The one tree I trimmed on Monday was blocking access to a path that goes to the backyard through a gate. I trimmed up some limbs so that it was easier to walk through.
Today, during the internet installation, I found out which lines were which. I knew which line the electrical was -- obviously -- but I couldn't distinguish between the cable and telephone line...and I hadn't been paying too close attention upon moving in because I had other things to worry about. But all three lines weave in and out of tree branches and something needs to be done.
It was nerve-wracking and an anxious afternoon on Wednesday through our mini-hurricane. The wind speed picked up. I'm not sure how fast it was going, but it was pretty fucking fast. That's right, not only was it fast...it was fucking fast. I watched for a bit and the trees moved and the cables moved with them. I was very happy to see that the lines didn't snap -- what with only my third day in my new house?
So...I guess my options are either I fool with what I can -- cable, phone lines -- and then get an estimate to handle the electrical...or I just get an estimate for the entire cleanup and prepare to shell out $300-$500 for cutting and clean-up.
But, in the long run, $500 is small bones to head off any problems...and for $500, they might even trim all of my problem tree limbs, including the one that is almost resting on the neighbor's roof and the one in front that is almost touching my roof.