the.finale[finally]

for those of you still hanging onto your seat edges, with white knuckles, gasping in anticipation, for the final reveal, of our decision.... fear not! the time has come!!

taking into consideration the voting that did take place, and well... our preference overriding anything we didnt agree with [lol!], we finally came to a decision yesterday on this over-dramatized naming game. 

and the winner is.... [...drum-roll for those that deem it appropriate...]

678

haha, how anti-climactic... i do apologize. the fireworks and pyrotechnics here were amazing, but we neglected to anticipate the trans-media loss of spectacula as it were. oops. ;]

now for those of you that were questioning the reasoning behind all of the names we presented in the first place, [and dont already know the reasoning behind this one...] 678 is fairly simple. its like our theme number, lol! 06.07.08 was our wedding date, will forever be our anniversary, and well, its a pretty stinkin cool coincidence considering the story behind it. lol! 

the.story[super.quick.version]

we got engaged 01.11.08. originally we set an anticipated wedding date of 08.08.08 [also a coincidence id never even realized till this very minute, lol!]. this date was originally chosen as pretty much the only time that would work between our two graduate school+summer scheduling arrangements as well as the photographer [love yah lace!]. well as a few weeks went by this date became more and more of a scheduling nightmare [to say the least] and we were getting frustrated trying to make it work. well my mom, being the genius she was, candidly suggested we just move the thing up to spring break [which at this point was like a month away, lol!]. she was kidding of course, but as has become a small trend, her joking inspired reality. i thought about it for two seconds and said, well... no, not spring break, but we could maybe pull it off first thing this summer! obviously she went pale [or maybe thats just my memory being creative, but its a fun image either way]. so i called the photographer and asked her to check her books and see what she had available. we tossed around a few dates [completely irrelevant of what they were - we were simply trying to coordinate her openings with the available times at the museum - i.e. "the wedding place"] well there were two dates that she had available june 7th, and may 29th i think it was. well may was still too early id only just be moving back to texas [from colorado - grad school - i think you follow] so we opted for june. and then it wasnt till a while later that we actually wrote the date out in numbers and realized our awesome coincidence, lol! and there you have it. the story of 678. our anniversary, and now maybe just a little more. [lol!]

that was pretty quick right? for me anyway... ;]

thanks to all that helped in the process, we do appreciate the comments, the ideas, and the love from all you guys. 

stay tuned for further updates involving 678 and well, everything else, lol!

reconstruction[the.conclusion]

picking up where we last left off...

sunday.

sunday was another fun & exciting day of work, although there wasnt quite as much destruction... for the most part anyway, lol!

we got started fairly early again, meeting the masons out at the house around 8:30-9ish to get them access to whatever they needed and get ourselves started on the day. yes, we missed church on sunday [blasphemous i know, but i doubt god will sweat it much, hes got bigger things to worry about im sure]. so first things, finish up the hanging fixtures for petes sake!

well one of them we decided not to modify, the aqua colored one, we just loved it the way it was so we didnt mess with it. we've got plans to design the room somewhat inspired by the fixture, so while karen was putting finishing touches on the fixtures we were messing with, i got started on installing this thing. 

now to preface this, i had never in my life until this point wired up a hanging lamp [or much of anything else for that matter]. but thanks to some awesome d.i.y. books my amazing mother-in-law sent us, i was confident in my ability to decipher brightly colored step by step graphics [lol, isnt that what i do all day at work anyway?]. so i got out the new ladder [yes it is alu-min-ium-as they say 'down under' - and that did worry me a little], my pliers, screwdrivers, etc. and got started. 

well needless to say, anything new with no real prior knowledge has a learning curve [much like the installation of new door hardware], and this was certainly no exception. after a long series of trial and errors [mostly concerning the damned length of the chain vs. the length of the wires, grrr...], a multitude of redos, and a dash of making the friggin thing fit; not only had i installed the aqua fixture, but i had also wired into it one of the other lamps [that we decided wasnt worth the hassle to disassemble in order to modify] in the same box and they were both functional! score! i hadnt even electrocuted myself! =] and karen was a great helper, i assure you. she was a champ at holding the fixture over her head on the little step latter for endless lengths of time while i cursed at the stupid chain links, wires, caps, plaster, and other uncooperative elements - this lamp had a freaking attitude that would rival some family members of mine, lol! ;]

not to mention during some times when i didnt need her help [while i was on the ground splicing wires or experimenting with some part] she had snuck off upstairs and finished disassembling the last studs in the attic that we'd left the night before - double score!

so in the end, the first lamp[s] took a few hours to get up, but i/we was/were successful and i took a step back admiring with pride this thing that i had accomplished. until i felt a tap on my shoulder. hm? i turned to face my wife whos standing there looking at me like im an idiot and holding the fixture that goes in the entryway, lol! we werent finished, this was no time for taking a break, and she wasnt about to let me forget it, lol! ah, wives... so i clambered up the ladder to inspect my next victim. well the entryway fixture was a slightly different situation. there was no nice little electric box pre-installed with all the trimmings and ready to go. this was two wires hanging out of the ceiling, daring me to mess with them. ah, i see. well that was fine by me, no biggie. a half an hour later with the help of my trusty drill [god, i love that drill!] i had this thing wired up, installed, and ready to test. flip that switch baby! *insert awkward silence and darkness* hmm... well what the hell? i know i wired the damn thing right... 

so i climbed back up, switched the wires, try it again sweetie. nothing. shit. alright what am i doing wrong? i switched the wires back to the way i knew they were right and ventured down to the basement. had i tripped the entryway at some point? well when i got down there all the fuses were in order and nothing was out of place, so i thought id just reset a bunch of them and see if that worked the kink out of the system. so i start flipping the switches back and forth and then i hear karen hollering through the floor above me "its on!" sweet! "but..." shit. "but the lights in the parlor[as we've decided we're going to call it from now on] turned off when this one came on." huh? how is this even possible? i have the fuse switched into the off position and the light in the entry is on, while the lights in the parlor are off like theyre supposed to be. wtf...? so i flipped it back to on, they switched back obviously, and i went back up stairs scratching my head...

well, luckily, two of my cousins are electricians by trade, and this is obviously an electrical problem, so i made a few phone calls and called up cousin wade. after his initial shock of finding out id not only bought a house, but did so in cincinnati, with my wife? wife? lol! where has he been lately? haha. anyway after that he talked me through a few things and we discovered that some idiot had wired a 3-way switch wrong and while its not a real fix, we did figure out how to manipulate the switches in a way that we can turn the entry light on and off at the switch we want to control it. good enough, thanks cousin wade! 

well after i got off the phone with wade, i was perturbed with a light switch that im guessing the same idiot had installed up-side-down, and decided to fix it right quick. heh, up until this point i hadnt shocked myself at all when i was actually handling the wires, but of course on the simple task of removing the face plate and flipping the switch right-side-up, i managed to get myself not only once, but twice, lol! yes, thank you, i appreciate the applause. moving on... 

so after i "fixed" the light switch, we moved onto the dining room fixture. this was another one that karen had finished modifying that morning,and possibly my favorite fixture of them all, i might add. im afraid the pictures of these guys dont do the mod justice, but you'll see eventually when we get some better ones. so anyway, back up the ladder, score, this one was in great shape. an even better box to work with than the first one, and the lamp had tons of chord to work with. this one went up like a breeze, 10-15 minutes tops. the only part that took any time was figuring out the two switches in the dining room to get the thing to turn on and off, lol! its a little redundant to have 2 switches that operate the same light on opposite sides of a 12ft space, but nothing surprises me in this house anymore, lol!

at this point we decided to take a quick run to grab some food and run to the hardware store to get a few s-hooks and a plant hook for the second light in the parlor so we could properly hang all these things where we wanted them. a quick check on the masons [moving on fantastically! we had half a rebuilt wall!] and off we went. lunch was the local taco bell, because neither of us had had it in a while, or felt like cooking, and it was 3 doors down from the local hardware store. lunch was delicious, as usual, and the hardware store was fast, and we were home before we knew it, with everything installed and adjusted to our liking. and now the moment youve all been waiting for!

luckily you can see them all if you get at the right angle, heh. 

well, at this point we decided we better move on to other things on our to do list for the day. we hit the grocery store to re-stock the kitchen cabinets for the week, and by the time we had dropped those off at home it was slowly starting to get dark. we went back to the house to see how things were coming along and then milled-about the house trying to decide what else we wanted to tackle in the near future while we waited for the masons to finish up. not too long after we'd assessed the future rehabbing situation, they were finished and we went about paying them and closing up the house for the day. the wall looked great! see for yourself!

happy with the days work and ready to get on with the rest of the day before it was pitch black out, we left them to finish cleaning-up and went on our way to continue the night. 

we ended up doing laundry [no, not yet with our own washer and dryer, we still need working plumbing for that to happen... soon though, this weekend even!] and went home to quickly put away our clothes, get dressed and primped, and have a very, very, short dinner. ...why you ask??

because we went to a concert! lol! i know, on a work-night too! oh, that crazy wife of mine... so sunday night we went to see girl-talk[definitely not parent, grandparent, or closed minded people appropriate - but killer music if youre into this sorta thing]. one of karens absolute favorite bands! ...well... its really more like a guy, a few turn-tables, and a laptop. its kind of an electronica/dj situation. but we had a total blast! karen got her dance fix for a while and we sweated buckets in the dead center of the throbbing crowd as we danced for hours and had a great time. it was a ton of fun, a great concert, and im pretty sure i saved the life of a crowd-surfing girl who i caught from hitting the ground and tossed back up onto the wave of arms, lol! it was so much fun! however, by the time we left we were soaked to the bone with sweat and it was like 34 outside, lol! needless to say we froze all the way home before a quick shower and then jumping in bed. i think i finally drifted off to sleep a little after midnight, but it was totally worth it. if for no other reason that to see the joy beaming off my wifes face. she had the time of her life and im glad i got to be there to share it with her.  =]

well. i think... yeah, thats it. l0l! youre caught up now. yesterday was a total snore of a normal work day, today is proving to be much the same. the only real beacons of excitement in our week are a friend of karen's birthday dinner tonight and the plumber coming on friday to fix our plumbing!! so stay tuned for more updates, go vote in the lightning round if you still havent yet, and ill touch base with you soon!

concluded!

demolition[a.two.part.series]

not to detract from the previous post - read it if you havent yet! - but life goes on in spite of naming things, lol. 

so anyway, i figured id fill you all in on our weekend. 

saturday.

saturday we woke up and got a nice early start. we met the mason out at the house around 8:30 and they were already setting up and getting started, awesome. after making sure they had everything they needed and getting them underway we decided to leave them be for a while to do their thing while we planned the rest of our day. 

we went and had a short breakfast and discussed the days to do list and figured out our plan of attack. the first thing on our agenda was a trip to the store to get some lightbulbs for the new light fixtures, a ladder, and few other odds and ends. 

well everything didnt go exactly according to plan, lol. we went to walmart to get the ladder and lightbulbs right on schedule, but then when we were leaving walmart we decided to stop at the dollar store. theres all kinds of awesome finds in there for super cheap, and we always forget something, so we thought maybe we'd catch ourselves in time to not have to go back to the store in a few hours. at the dollar store we ended up finding all kinds of cleaning supplies for really cheap and a few other items that we needed - but we probably browsed the entire store in the process, lol. 

after the dollar store we noticed the burlington coat factory right next door and i mentioned id always wondered what was in those things. it says clothes and home decor, etc on the sign, is it like a tj-max or something? well we decided to check it out, why not? haha! well we had fun there, all kinds of goodies! i ended up getting some new socks and some new work shoes [my poor old ones i think ive had since high school, not exactly the epitome of fashion these days! lol!], and theyre pretty snazzy id say. we also toured the home decor section and found some christmas stockings we liked for a bargain so we figured wed go ahead and get em =]

anyway, after way too much time shopping, lol, we decided we were done and wed better get back to the to do list. we dropped off some stuff at the apartment and then went to the used appliance store to see if we could finally get the rest of our appliances! [we still needed a dryer and karen wants a garbage disposal] well we ended up finding a commercial sized dryer that looks nearly new to me for a great deal, so check one off the list!

after picking up the new-to-us dryer we finally made it out to the house for our days labor - granted, it was a little after noon by now, we'd managed to waste a lot of time shopping, lol! when we got back we checked on the demo progress of our masons after unloading the dryer. they were really getting into it and everything looked great, so we went inside and started our work. 

as i already mentioned, we bought new hanging light fixtures for a great deal at the salvation army a little while back, and that day we'd bought some new lightbulbs [energy saving, highly efficient, compact florescents of course!] so obviously those items were on the agenda for the day.

we spent a lot of the afternoon modifying these guys and at one point had to run to the hardware store to restock some modification tools ;] but didnt end up getting around to installing them on friday. as daylight wasn't limitless and they werent completely finished yet, we decided to finish them on sunday and move on to other things. 

the next thing on our list was some demo. we are curious about whats actually behind the plaster in the exterior walls - is there exposed brick? wood lath? wallpaper? mold? something even more dreadful that we cant imagine? haha, so we decided to tear up a corner of the stair wall that was already in need of patching anyway to find out. well it appears there is in fact brick behind a layer of some kind of cement/plaster combination - which is in pretty bad shape and crumbles easily if you mess with it - but the brick looks great from what i can tell. good to know! moving on. 

next we want to rip the carpet up off the stairs because its just hideous and totally out of place - so we started ripping, lol! turns out there are really nice wood stairs under the carpet and padding, however some idiot painted them an obnoxious red-orange color at some point... so we're going to have to figure out what we want to do with those. after uncovering one tread and rise we decided we knew what we were in for there, on to the next item.

so heres where the fun really starts. for those of you who havent seen the pictures of the house, you can do so by following the link on the left sidebar. but for those of you that have, you may remember that the stairs to the finished attic were enclosed in this really ugly surround that appeared to be a bead board of some kind with a door. also, in the attic there was a dividing wall that someone put up at some point [and very, very, poorly i might add...] that was just terribly ugly and we wanted to pull out. i like the idea of coming up into the attic in a nice open space with that skylight flooding the whole thing in light. so we decided to start demo on these little elements. =]

well this was a fun project to say the very least. at first we were trying to be really careful and we took the door off its hinges and tried to deconstruct the door frame, but soon found that in this little surround there were no nails or screws to be found... weird... we searched very carefully to find hardware we could remove and disassemble this thing piece by piece, but there was nothing in sight. 

after climbing up to the attic and inspecting the railing/top of enclosure we were still having no luck and trying to pry anything off wasnt working either, this thing was pretty solid - should have been my first clue it wasnt just a bead board, lol! well after tinkering with it for a while i got impatient [anyone noticing a pattern here?] and sat on the ground in front of the railing, reared back, and kicked with full force, haha! oh-yeah, it buckled, hehehe! but it worked, and very easily. so i kept kicking and popped a nice piece of it off at which point we discovered this thing was quality even if it was ugly. 3/4" tongue & groove with some pretty odd square nails hidden in the joints [which is why i couldnt find them...] so we've pretty much decided this thing was original to the house or at least pretty old - definitely not the shotty construction of all the other additions that some owner had put in along the way. well it was definitely sturdy and after seeing my success karen sat down too and the two of us pretty quickly knocked the rest of this thing out and then slowly and carefully [heh] dismantled the parts and made a nice pile at the base of the stairs. after pulling some nails and cleaning up the area where the surround used to be, we were pretty satisfied and decided to move on to the wall. 

at this point it was starting to get dark out and the masons were leaving so i went out to survey the days demolition work and see what was left to do. 

obviously theyd made some awesome progress - both chimneys down and the holes temporarily patched and the entire section of the wall down too - theyd even begun some re-bricking!

so they left and we got started on the rest of our fun for the evening. we started carefully removing some screws and trying to disassemble the dividing wall's elements but i gave up with that fairly soon as well. the screws that were holding the drywall to the studs had been painted over pretty well and were impossible to find, so eventually i just started popping the drywall off and trying to do it as carefully as possible to salvage the drywall if we could. karen took my handy drill and came behind me unscrewing studs and after maybe half an hour to 45 minutes we had the thing pretty well down. it was awesome! we were so excited with the space even though there were still a few studs left up! additionally karen pulled up the carpet in a corner of the attic and we discovered that we had some really nice 3/4" t&g hardwood floors in the attic as well! score! theyre definitely in need of some tlc from the corner we looked at, but after a little refinishing wed have a seriously gorgeous hardwood floor up there! [which also leads us to believe that the other places weve seen a little wood under the carpeting is probably the same stuff!!! awesome!!!] 

well by this time it was definitely dark, and around 6:30pm, so we decided to call it a day and go home to have some dinner and watch a little tv. after a pretty long day it was nice to relax in preparation for sunday's adventures, and we were really satisfied with all we'd accomplished!

well... i hate to leave you hangin, but lunch is over so we'll have to continue this saga next time! stay tuned, theres awesome weekend results yet to come!

[and if you havent already, go vote on yesterdays blog!]

...to be continued...

the.name.game[lightning.round!]

okay folks, so this is getting serious.

after getting little response to the first round of the game [thanks to those of you that did respond though!] we've decided to kick it up a notch. we're now starting the "name that firm" campaign and we really need your support. its going to be a tough time for our players, and we'll all be anxiously awaiting the results, but the time has come for you to step up to the challenge!

the rules of the game.

1. choose from the list of choices given and do one of three possible options:

a. pick a favorite and only a favorite

b. rank your choices in order numerically [1 being favorite, 2 second favorite, and so on]

c. add a choice of your own to the list and then do either option a. or b.

2. votes cast will only be accepted in the form of a comment on this post for ease of tracking. 

[you can cast your vote via blog even if you are not a follower of the blog or dont have a blogger account! just click comment and follow the directions on the pop-up screen. its easy, its fun, you CAN do it!]

3. you MUST vote! we dont care how you come to your conclusion, include a narrative along with your vote if you like [again, only in comment form! no floods of email please!], we would love to read it!

4. vote soon! theres no guarantee of how long we'll wait for you to cast your vote, time is of the essence, so vote now!

the list of possibilities we've come up with, jokingly or not, lol!

[in no particular order]

678

by.design

q.i.d.

luminate

intelligent.design

archi.morphic

arch.enemy

again, feel free to add options if you have something awesome and creative to share!

and remember to check the comments before voting, any name presented in the form of a comment as a "write in candidate" is fair game!

thanks and happy voting!!

reflection.election

it seems ive created quite a quandary for you loyal readers, i assure you it was unintentional. but your little imaginations are going wild try to figure out the 'why' of my last post [ahem! instead of focusing on the problem assigned to you! ahem!], so in order to satiate your curiosities, ill finally [although briefly] sit down and catch you all up on the goings on of our recent history. 

last week.

when i last left you all hanging, we had just mutilated our newly procured appliances, and had made a feeble attempt at restoring the rightful function of our doors. 

post last post... weve gotten a few things accomplished. 

monday after work we went to the mens wearhouse where i was fitted for my tux for kimberly's [sister kimberly, not colorado kimberly] wedding. some recent news on that, i was upgraded from lowly usher to full-fledged groomsmen not long ago, so now i actually get the pleasure of walking my own bride down the processional isle. how exciting. 

tuesday karen had class as usual and i spent the time waiting for her to be done with school updating the photos on the entire blog [you may or may not have noticed this update], watching robocop2 on netflix online, and preparing a delicious meal for us to share when she returned to me. and when we were both finally ready for dinner, oh how delicious it was. turkey tacos - YUM!

wednesday after work we went to this cocktail party/informational gala for a charity event that karen's firm is participating in over the next several months. its a competition called CANstruction [which id never heard of] and its actually a really great cause. any aec firm in cincy [actually this thing is global, but im only speaking locally - oh and for those of you not in "the biz," aec = architecture, engineering, & construction, but i digress...] is eligible to participate if they choose and the task is quite simple, although extremely complex. they procure as many canned food items as they deem necessary and design a sculpture using only said canned foods, a little tape [no glue!], and a lot of physics manipulation that even sir issac is baffled by. they decide a winner and theres some festivities, but in the end all the canned food goes to free-stores for people who cant afford food and thats the real glory. if youre interested in more information check out the official website.

thursday after work, while karen was in class i watched the rest of robocop2 - man i love sci-fi movies that are ahead of their time, lol! - and umm... oh yeah.. i did paperwork for my student loans for hours upon hours... yay for the ability to go to college.... ::shudder:: and never get out of debt afterwards...

friday was really just a break for both of us. right after work we went to the depot and got a few more items for the weekends work excursions then headed home where we had a nice dinner, opened some wine, and watched tv all night. 

now then, i dont remember the exact time frames on everything house related, but heres the house specific update:

i do know that on wednesday i met both a furnace guy and the new plumber out at the house [at different times though, lol] where we got the furnace serviced and repaired and all that business - our furnace is good to go! the plumber came by, took a look at everything, and said hed get back to us with an estimate later that night.

at some point we got the official email estimate from the newest mason and boy it was a beaut, makes me smile just thinking about it. 

i finally contacted a roofer who said hed go have a look at the house and call me. 

and now for the latest:

we officially hired the new mason and have him scheduled to come out this weekend, so by sunday night we'll have us a new wall!

we officially hired the plumber and we're still scheduling when he'll do his thing, but hopefully soon. 

we havent heard back from the roofer... freakin roofers. i blame ike. its all his fault. theyve all got dozens of jobs replacing whole roofs after ikes little mayhem in ohio and no one will return my calls!

last weekend.

saturday we had a successful day. we got kind of a late start to the day. we slept in a little then had breakfast, then karen experimented with making some home-made orange marmalade [yeah... i'll let you know how that one goes in two weeks when its done, lol!] then we had to run errands to the bank and the post office and such. then it was time for a quick lunch before heading out to see about some new prospects from craigslist. this time around we were pursuing a dryer and a dishwasher, however while we were getting cash at the atm we got a call from the dryer guy and it was gone. one down - bummer. but! we did end up driving out into the super-suburbs [and i mean wow! crazy man, the little gated community was actually called the polo-fields if that tells you anything, lol!] and got a dishwasher! and, on the way to get the dishwasher we made a short stop at the local salvation army store and picked up 4 awesome hanging light fixtures for 25 bucks!!! pictures to come later, i promise. [and yes, oh yes, we're up to some modification mischief as usual, hehe]

after picking up the dishwasher we headed to the house where we unloaded and spent the rest of the daylight hours [which wasnt much at this point 3.5 maybe?] installing the rest of the new door hardware, and with the right tools this time around! and boy-howdy! it went so much more smoothly! ;]

sunday we did our usual church + shopping routine, although this week we hit the meijer [its like a walmart and its pronounced meyer, like oscar meyer, and yeah id never heard of it either before i moved here] and the target for some groceries and a few other essentials. after lunch we headed to the house and installed new weather-stripping to the doors and i repaired the window in the front door. by the time daylight was starting to fade we headed home for a lot more fun. we ended up doing our laundry [+ sheets & towels!], had dinner, and then cleaned the entire apartment. ugh, it was a long day. but overall a successful weekend! :]

and now, haha, the reason you guys are all still reading this, lol! [yeah, im probably guilty of stringing you along a little, heh. hey! its my prerogative! im the author! hehehe]

so at some point last week my brother calls me up - hes decided recently that he was going to buy a house, obviously im a great role model, and has been looking at stuff back home in the tx - and has decided he wants to build a house. and... drumrole, he wants me to design it! haha, so since then hes given me all kinds of specifics on the different things he wants and likes and whatnot and karen and i have been brainstorming. so if you havent already guessed, thats the prime reason we're feeling the crunch on deciding the name of this firm and seeing about getting our small business started. ive looked into llc's a little, the next step is definitely the name, lol! especially if we're going to issue drawings for anything, its kind of a must. 

so yeah, now you guys are pretty caught up, lol! its tuesday now and the only real news i have to report for this week is that we voted this morning. it was quite and experience, but it felt great! we got up at 5:15, were at the polling center by 6:15 and we're with the first 50 or so people though the door. it was a much more satisfying experience than my first vote - 2004, sigh... - and being that we're now in ohio, one of those highly publicized "swing states" its cool to know that your vote really counts. unlike in a state like say... the tx, where its already been called who will win the state before you even consider your options. 

alright, thats all ive got. its time for the wife and i to watch some election coverage before hitting the sack to try and recover a little of the sleep we didnt get last night, lol! 

happy election day!

the.name.game

so for a while now karen and i have talked quite seriously about starting our own... firm, for lack of a better term. this "firm" would cater to all of our little projects on a professional stage and be our public persona if you will. projects that weve discussed have ranged from karens art, my furniture, a gallery to exhibit the forementioned, an architectural practice, among a few other random ideas. now more than ever this idea is playing on us [for reasons ive yet to share, but i promise i will soon!], but we've hit a small snag. neither of us can come up with a name for said firm. we've been thinking about it for months and we've yet to come up with something we both really like, so i figure in an effort to spark some idea, ill ask you - my loyal readers - for your help! so far the only real suggestion we've had is "by design" which is a fun little double entendre, however im not completely sold just yet. so heres YOUR chance. give us some ideas! leave a comment and share your genius! who knows, we might like one enough to use it ;]

im all ears.

charged

happy friday!

so yesterday ended up being a good day for the house. 

we finally got the energy guy out and got both the electricity and the gas turned on and it didnt cust us a dime. awesome. the guy even switched on the furnace for us and made sure it was running before he left. 

on the subject of furnaces, heres our story. in most of the houses we looked at the furnace was ancient and in questionable shape at best. but. this house was different, we actually got really lucky with this one and the furnace was installed in 1998 and appears to be in great condition. it works, i can tell you that from feeling the heat when we walked in the door yesterday evening after it had been on for a couple of hours, however we do need to have it serviced. some of the pipes arent installed properly and they arent venting right either. so just to be on the safe side we're going to have it serviced and we also need to install a digital programmable thermostat [or two or three, lol].

also, we got one of the masons estimates back [the one that was technologically challenged, heh]. it was a little odd to say the least. he only gave us prices on the labor, they seemed to be a little random on their pricing [it costs 250 to take down one chimney but 6-800 for the other one??]. so the fact that he didnt include any materials or equipment and that the labor was as high as it was to begin with, makes me hesitant [to say the least] to take this estimate seriously. not to mention he wrote in there that he wants a 3rd of the money upfront and the remainder after which there is no way im doing. ive had a number of people tell me not to pay anything upfront because youll ultimately get screwed. and if this guy doesnt have any kind of official invoices or anything anyway... nah. ill use someone else. hopefully ill have another mason and a roofers estimates pretty soon.

additionally, i finally got that other plumbers information today. i called and gave them all the information and now im just waiting on a call to confirm a date and time to have them out to get the estimate. i gotta say, this process is starting to get a little frustrating, especially when these estimates arent as low as id like them to be. but we've gotta get the work done and it IS a learning experience, so we're doing and well and having fun. hell id say we're doing really well, im sure its not near this smooth for a lot of people to get estimates for work. this whole contractor thing is just hit or miss and it really sucks. i dont understand what happened to honesty and integrity and just plain good business practices. until the last couple of years of experience i never would have imagined that people would agree to give you an estimate and then never answer or return your calls again. or that a firm would just never respond to a job inquiry. seriously? how does a large architectural firm [or dozens of them for that matter] just never respond to multiple inquiries from an interested individual. i understand that times are hard, but common courtesy people! if someone sends you their resume, you at LEAST say "sorry, but we dont have anything available." at the very least... thats just common courtesy, have we lost even that?

anyway, im not going to rant on that business today, just happy thoughts about the house for me, haha! so this weekend, we're going to do more house work. karen is planning to completely scrub the entire interior of this house and make it immaculate. ugh, sounds like a lot of work. additionally, we're going to get a chainsaw and some hedge shears and do some more yard work [a large part of that being the removal of a felled tree in our backyard that is currently destroying a section of our fence - apparently there was some damage from ike at our place after all]. between those two, im sure we'll have more than enough work on our plate to keep us busy, but we're also looking into getting some appliances for the house to try and get it up to livability. there are no, zero, nada appliances in the house right now, so we're looking for all of it. stove, oven, fridge, washer/dryer, grill, you name it - we need it. so we'll be looking on craigslist to see if we can find anything [we've already spotted a few items that have caught our interest] and if we dont make any progress there, who knows. re-sale shops, rich neighborhoods garbage, lol, we'll see.

well anyway, thats your daily update. any thoughts or advice on any of the above projects is welcomed [as always] and i wish you all a happy weekend!

post.script: ive been addicted to a couple of friends blogs for a while now, and it might just be me, but i love getting to be part of their lives, thoughts, ideas, experiments, or whatever else they share. if you havent already checked out my linx section, do so - you might find something you like.

justin's blog - an obituary for mediocrity - is filled with a lot of insight into the current state of disrepair our country has let itself slide into both economically and more specifically on a city-planning level. he asks some great questions [and i usually add a few of my own] that hopefully we can eventually answer and make strides of change and hope in our futures. 

claire's blog - two c's in a pod - just awesome, awesome stuff. claire and chance love to "dish" about their favorite restaurants, pets, and local hotspots back in austin,tx as well as a lot of really great results theyve had with crafty stuff like furniture rehabbing. its just fun and intelligent to read and often has fantastic photos! [did i mention claire and chance are awesome photographers?] not to mention shes got a list a mile long of awesome links to check out if youre into that crafty stuff. :]

kim's blog - running in circles - just a friend back in denver sharing some current events as she takes a leap into marriage and just takes on life in general. shes got a great sense of humor and sarcasm and a playful appreciation for life and the fun little aspects of it that many of us enjoy. 

"theyyyr grrrrrrrrrreat!"