Refining the Five

Well, here I am again.  It's been four months since I last posted, and probably just as long since I looked at this list.  A lot has happened since August, and that's why I'm going to have to change my Five...again.

On September 15 we found out we were expecting Baby #2.

On September 21 I interviewed for (and was offered) a new job on the other side of the state.

On September 26 I accepted the job.

On September 29 we signed the papers putting our house on the market.  Again.

On October 28 I said goodbye to the friends and coworkers I'd enjoyed getting to know for the past ten years.

On October 31 I left my husband and daughter on the east side and drove 250 miles across the state of Washington.

On November 1 I started my new job.

Every weekend since then my husband and I have taken turns driving across the state on weekends to see each other.  Together we've driven over 4,000 miles in less than two months.

On November 17 we decided on an apartment (after I'd viewed about a dozen).

On December 16 I got the keys to our new place.  That evening Jason arrived with a moving truck full of our stuff.

In two days I leave for Christmas vacation and when I see my husband and daughter, I will probably cry because we will NOT be saying goodbye again.  We will be together for GOOD as of that moment. 

So you see...we won't be installing hardwood floors in our dining room, or ripping out the front patio to put in grass, or completing any of the other home-improvement projects we'd thought and talked about over the years.  Ergo...I am changing my Five again.  Please forgive me!

Old Number 3: Install wood flooring in the dining room.

NEW number 3: Send thank-yous to everyone who helped us move.

Old Number 4: Rip up front patio; replace with grass.

NEW number 4: Decorate Little Miss' new bedroom.

Me at 20 Weeks (Dec. 21, 2011)

#4: Take Little Miss to See the Ocean

At the end of August we took a week-long vacation to visit my sister- and brother-in-law and their 5 1/2-month-old daughter.  They live in Salem, Ore., which is a convenient 90-minute drive to the coast.  So after a week at their house, relaxing and enjoying their 1-acre plot of land with a lovely garden, we met Jason's other sister and her husband at a rental house in Rockaway Beach, Ore.  There we spent the weekend walking through town, playing on the beach, and enjoying each other's company while listening to the roar of the ocean just two blocks away from the rental house.  Kayla loved the beach and kept asking to go back to the "oh-sin."

 

Old #4: Take Little Miss to See the Ocean

New #4: Rip Up Front Patio; Replace w/Grass

#3: Make and Send Invites for Little Miss' B-day

I accomplished this feat in two days: One day spent buying and making the invites, then putting them in envelopes and addressing them, the next day buying stamps and sending them off. This year our theme is Cookie Monster, so here's the card (front and back, laid flat for scanning) I came up with:


Included was an invitation to participate in a birthday BBQ by bringing one's own burgers and buns. I plan to have cookies and milk (obviously) plus other snack-type items in addition to the BBQ for those who want to do that. It's crazy Kayla is just about two; seems like I just did her FIRST birthday invitations!

Old #3: Make & send invites for Little Miss' b-day
New #3: Install wood flooring in the dining room

#3: File the Pile on Our Desk

Okay, well, I guess I have to change this one because Jason actually did it for me. I didn't even realize he was doing it until it was halfway done, so there is no before and after photo, and I can't get credit for having done it at all! (Thank you, hubby!)

Old #3: File the pile on our desk.
New #3: Make and send invites to Little Miss' 2nd b-day party.

#4: Plant Flowers in My Porch Flower Pot

Two months after I said I wanted to do this simple thing, it's done! I spent $6 or so on this beautiful lavender-looking flowering plant and finally got it in the flower pot on my front porch. Hopefully it survives the summer...I don't have a great track record with potted plants.


Old #4: Plant flowers in my porch flower pot.
New #4: Take Little Miss to see the ocean.

#2: Get My House on the Market (Again)

WE DID IT! Finally, and a month and a half after my initial goal, but it's finally done. Our house is now listed on the market as active and available for sale through John L. Scott Real Estate Agency. Anyone want to buy a house?!? Creek out front, large shade trees, huge shop with room for storage and working space, large fenced in back yard with swing set, dead-end street (no traffic!), master suite "apartment" upstairs, huge front patio with tons of room for patio furniture with which to enjoy the view, French doors opening to the back patio (which has room for a hot tub!), wood stove heating which saves HUGE amounts on heat bills in the winter...I could go on. Check it out!

So...

Old #2: Get My House on the Market (Again)

New #2: Transition Little Miss to a Toddler Bed

#1: Paint My Kitchen

A week and a half ago my dad called me. "I have a week and a half off starting this Thursday afternoon. Do you want me to come help you do some things around your house, like paint your kitchen?"

Did I ever! He arrived Thursday evening.

Friday was spent assessing some things, buying final supplies, and, for half of the day, working (at my office). On Sunday morning Dad and I started scoring and soaking the wallpaper border. After it soaked we scraped it off the wall (it came off pretty easily, thankfully) and then started taking the cabinet doors off. I don't have fancy cabinets; they are homemade (by the people before us) painted wood, so they had to be painted, too. Yikes.

(Honestly, if I had known what a big job this was going to be before I did it, I would never have thought I could do it myself. Good thing I didn't know...and even better that my dad came to help me.)

So...after an 11-hour day on Sunday, a couple of hours on Monday morning and evening, and Dad doing touch-up yesterday, we finally have a finished product! Here are the before and after pictures, with a couple of "in process" photos in-between:

BEFORE: My dad inspecting the wallpaper.

DURING: The wallpaper scraped off the wall and littering the kitchen.


DURING: Cabinet doors off, almost everything painted.


AFTER: The finished product!

Old #1: Paint my kitchen.
New #1: Make/Send my new niece a baby gift.