Updating the Kitchen

So it's been slow going over here when it comes to our house updates.  I say update rather than renovation because really we haven't much in regards to "tear it down, put it back up".  It's all been about paint jobs and cleaning up so far, plus there's all that time and especially money that's needed.

Our kitchen wasn't really horrible, I mean, it was completely functional once we put some appliances in.  But seriously, that countertop?  The sponge-stenciling?  No thanks.

This probably looked great in 1987.

It's a bit of a strange kitchen, I guess.  The kitchen in this house used to be in the dining room, which when you see that you'll understand why they put this in!  It used to be a breezeway, the door behind Jed there is actually the garage door.  Here's a look at what it looked like when we first saw the house:

I did not have a pic without Jed wandering around looking surly.

They did some things that we would have done differently, such as moving the sink underneath the big back window.  Plus, the location of the dishwasher means that you can't be in front of the sink when you're loading it, which is kind of a pain.  It's also freezing in there!  We had to put a space heater in this winter to keep it somewhat comfortable.  But, we do have awesome brick walls in there, and vaulted ceilings, so there's that.  Also, those stencils above that little cupboard in the back?  Cats and fish.  They had to go.  So one paint job and a new countertop later:

You can probably tell that these are not the most recent pictures, as it's a nice sunny day outside but really it's January and we just got 3 inches of ice or something (also, I needed pictures of my kitchen looking tidier than it does today).  Hopefully I'll be able to get some better ones too when we do something else to the room.

I'm kind of going for a funky-retro vibe.  I buy accessories in bright colors like hot pink, lime green and orange to complement the colors.  The countertop is laminate, but it's black and textured (and thanks to a former work connection of hubs', free!), so I don't knock it.  We also removed the cabinet that was above the microwave.  It was just completely useless, I actually had to sit on the countertop to get in there, and I'm pretty tall.  We still have plenty to do, the main things being replacing the lighting (ceiling fan and track lights), painting the cabinets (white), adding shelving (above the sink, where the cabinet used to be, and maybe above the "cat corner") and replacing the flooring.

Another big project that I've decided I want to do in there is to add a built-in kitchen bench in the corner where the small table is now.  We would need to take measurements to make sure it fits, but I really think that it's feasible and might help with resale when the time comes for that.  Damn you Pinterest, you fill my brain with too many ideas!

Trying To Ignore the Shiny Objects

So, apparently I'm not very good at this blogging thing.  I obviously haven't posted in a bit, for a myriad of reasons.  I get anxious about what to write about, about whether it sounds right, about whether it's something that people will want to read at all (all like, 2 of you).  And I'm just lazy.

Maybe lazy isn't the right word.  I think it's more like completely unmotivated, which unfortunately seems applicable to many facets of my life.  So, with that, it's January and with the new year comes a slew of goals that are normally abandoned before anyone even starts wondering whether or not it's a leap year.  The majority of my goals are family goals, though, something Hubs and I both want to work on to generally improve our lives.  It's kind of sad how basic they are:

-Keep the house clean
     I hate cleaning.  A lot.  A lot lot.  But we've started making an effort to actually do the dishes at night (what?!)  and pick up the toys (I know!), even do a load of laundry and put it away (shocking!).  As for the rest, Jed's sister is on our cell phone plan, needs a way to help pay for it, and does cleaning on the side- win win, right?

-Eat healthier
    We know how to eat healthier, we just don't do it.  I want to try making some freezer meals, using my crockpot more, etc.  This is my goal before I get to working out, I know that if I try to radically change something all at once I will quickly give up.  And we have to stop eating out so much!  Which leads to...

-Fix our money
     Pay bills.  Don't spend it on stupid shit.  Should be easy enough, right?

-Grow the business
     Jed basically took over his dad's remodeling company after he lost his job last year.  Things weren't working out when he used to work for him, but he's really motivated to make something more out of it this year.

So those are the basics.  We really want to turn things around this year, at least get started on a good path (

-I tried to come up with some yellow brick road analogy, but that particular road just led to a discovery of lies and "Oh, I had it all along," but guess what, I don't have a pile of cash and carrots and Mary Poppins hiding anywhere.  Great movie, though.


    

Saturday Night

Cookout at the parents house, with their friends.

Two+ bottles of wine and a shot of Jack.

Walking with my brother and his girlfriend in the dark, in the rain, with the express purpose of jumping in puddles and getting soaked.  The absolute best part of the night.

Trying to make sense of ignorance.

Hoping for deep friendships that stand the test of time, forever.

Secretly shedding tears, realizing that finding a job is eminent and the time of spending every day with Baby Girl is coming to an end.

Another Saturday night.

First Post About The Slowest House Reno's Ever

So I wanted to document our house renovations somewhere, and thought that maybe if I put it somewhere that other people would read about it too, I'd be more inclined to do things.  Or to make Jed do things, really.  You know, more motivation than people actually coming over to the house and seeing it in real life.  The internet counts for more than real life, obviously.

Please note that any before pictures are very badly shot.  They were taken quickly when we first toured the house, and I had no thoughts that I would be sharing them with anybody.  With that, please note that any after pictures are probably also very badly shot.  I'm learning.

First up, the bathroom, before:

Don't think it can get any brighter, huh?

Extremely tiny, and it's the only one in the house.  We make it work, though.  The two shelves in the cabinet slide in and out, so that's nice and helps make that small storage space really useable.  We just store Romy's bathtub in the tub when we're not using it, but I'll be glad when she just sits in the tub alone. 

And after:

Bam!  Bright-ass green.

Yes, our bathroom is so small that I don't know how to get a picture of the whole thing at once.  The paint is so in-your-face.  I picked it, but once it was on the wall, it was like "HAI I'M GREEN!!!"  I was originally wanting to do the dining room that color, and I'm glad I decided to do it on a smaller scale.  There's still work to be done, like the floor needs to be replaced.  It's tile that was apparently put in incorrectly (like a million other things in the house), and it's all cracked around the toilet.  We have large bathroom rug covering most of it to keep it down.  We're hoping to get the retro looking black and white small honeycomb tile.  

We also need to buy a cabinet to hang above the toilet.  I found one in pretty good condition at Goodwill that would've gone perfectly with everything, but it turned out to be way too big.  Which is why it's sat on the dining room table for the past two months.  

I need to find something to hang on the wall above the towel rack, though.  It's just a big blank space that would be perfect for hanging something.  I know that all of like two people look at this, but, suggestions?

Six Months

I can't believe that it's been six months already.  Six months since you made your circus act debut into the world, after so long of you being stuck in the same position.  You made a slight turn, I made one last push, trying to give it my all because I wanted you OUT, and you shot out like a cannonball.  You surprised everybody, not least the midwife, who had to throw the scalpel she had just picked up to catch you.  She was in the middle of turning, and had she still had her back to you, I don't know where you would've gone.

I was in shock.  I couldn't believe you were out.  This thing inside me, that I had such a hard time believing was a real-live human being, was out, laying on my chest, with those big lips and squished-up cheeks and that look of general disgruntlement on your face.  It was unbelievable how much you looked like your dad.  I just couldn't believe you were actually there, and you were mine.

You're still in our house, no one has come to claim you, you're really ours.  That's what we kept saying to each other, that someone must be coming to get you, there was no way that we had an actual baby.  We felt so unprepared.  We still feel that way.  But we haven't broken you yet.

You still look just like your dad, but you don't look anything like you did in those first few moments.  You're the happiest baby I think I've ever met or heard about or anything.  You were sleeping in four hour stretches almost right away, you rarely cried.  Even now when you really cry, I panic inside and sometimes out, because it happens so rarely, and it kills me. We moved you to your crib, and you had no qualms whatsoever about that.  You've slept through the night for months.  Sometimes it makes me sad that you can be so independent, because it makes me feel like you don't need your mommy to comfort you.  But then sometimes you do need me, and I love it.

You still let me read Goodnight Moon to you every night, without fussing much, if at all.  I hope it keeps up.

Going back to work is going to kill me.  I can't stand the thought of it.  But I have to, for you.

You roll around everywhere.  Sometimes I don't even know how you get where you are, like under the coffee table, or trying to pull up on the legs of your swing.  You sit up and play in longer and longer stretches.  I think your favorite toys are your Ikea Torva Strawberry person and your monkey Skelanimal, you always smile at them.  And of course the obnoxious loud singing cookie jar thing your Oma gave you.  You pull your legs underneath you when your sleep, and will go all night with your butt up in the air, but you refuse to do it when you're awake.  I think you don't realize you can.  But I'm not worried about it.  You'll do it when you're ready.

I can't wait to see what the next six months bring, but I'm in no hurry for it.  These months have flown by, and I realize that the rest of our lives will probably fly by even faster.

And I love you.  More than you know.

Glammin' It Up

Ah, the glamourous aspects of motherhood.

I wiggled Romy out of her jumper and very quickly realized that she was completely soaked.  I took her upstairs thinking it was just wetness, and maybe she was salvageable.  No.  There was stinky green crap all the way up to her neck.  This was a new specimen, likely brought on by her recent introduction to peaches.

We had to get in the bathtub, both of us still in our pajamas.  Let's just say thank god, again, for the removable showerhead, that thing is a lifesaver in these situations.  Got all cleaned up, had a little bit of tub time, ended up stripped down to my underwear and undersized Lord of the Rings shirt that I only wear for sleep now because dammit that thing will never fit me right again, and took her upstairs to put her down for her nap.  I rocked her a bit over her crib while she rubbed her eyes, and right before I laid her down...I noticed she had a big booger sticking out of her nose.

Which I promptly picked and wiped on my shirt because that was all I had.

Some of you may judge me, but some of you have been there.

Irked

Another trip to Target, another stroll through the baby aisle.

I was looking at rattles in the little infant toy section when something caught my eye, but not in a good way.  First, there was the hammer and saw for "Bouncing Baby Boys", then there was the purse and diamond ring for "sweet little girls" (links are for the gift sets with all the toys together, so the wording on the box doesn't match the individual packaging).

Really?  We need to start the girls off that young with the giant diamond ring?  And why does the wording make it seem like it would be wrong to give the tools to a girl, since that's not who they are intended for?  R's father works with tools all the time, and he used to be in remodeling, maybe we'd like her to have tools to match daddy's.  Most of the time, when you look at the baby items, there are "girl" items, and gender neutral items.  I have quite a few girl toys that were given to me as gifts, but I just generally prefer the neutral items ("neutral" being anything but, they are usually nice, bright, bold colors), as does J.  It just generally irks me.

Then again, there are some ultra-girly things that I like for R.  Things that tend more toward a magical realm, like tutus and her flower head garland with long ribbons curling down the back, and clothes with rainbows and unicorns.  But yes, she still has a few items with robots on them, and yes, I got her a little stuffed dinosaur for her Easter basket.  And when we have a boy, I will paint his toenails pink if he wants me to, no questions asked.

(Offbeat Mama has some great articles about gender, written much more eloquently than my disjointed rambling above.  Love that site!)