iRenovate

Life has been busy the last few weeks. The queen moving in, the new dog, a week vacation at my parents cottage on Lake Huron, and this weekend we are in Chicago for my cousins wedding. It is on Sunday afternoon on a rooftop deck overlooking Wrigley Field. During a Cubs game! It's great to be here in the summer and I look forward to being at the wedding and spending some time with the family. Renovations will resume at the normally slow pace after we return.

P.S. This post is from my new iPhone. It rules.

Meet Wally

After seeing Wall-E we knew that's what his name had to be. He's a five month old rottweiler (with maybe a splash of some other breed too) that we picked up from the SPCA. He is the most chill dog ever and follows the Queen around everywhere. We've already grown quite fond of him.

Ding Dong the Toilet's Gone

The Queen is all moved in. Renovations are nowhere near done. Boxes fill the second bedroom and furniture overflows the house. With things piling up I tackled the project of removing the throne in the basement. A toilet sat in the middle of the room with no walls around it. The plumbing wasn't built into the floor causing the toilet to hover over the rest of the space like a holy throne. While it was a lovely sight to behold, it took up valuable storage space. After 3-4 trips to the hardware store to get the correct plumbing supplies the toilet is gone and the plumbing is all capped off. I'll build some benches in the back and this will be an extra area for storage.

It is so difficult to live in a rowhouse while renovating it. The small space, coupled with an open floorplan mean keeping the place clean and tidy is near impossible. When more than two people are working, it's almost mandatory for people to be in at least two rooms. This means tools, building supplies, and messes are scattered through the house. Also, nobody tells you that when you are doing a DIY project the amount of stuff you have to buy. Not just tools. The house is filled with 3 different kids of drywall, 5 different plywoods/OSB, and a plethora of drywall, painting and miscellaneous building knick knacks. All necessary and all taking up precious space.

Tonight I am picking up even more building supplies - 15'ish sheets of plywood. Joy!

In all honesty, this post was just made to move the last post down the page and out of sight.

Goodbye Loki

Dear Loki,

Thank you for the short time you were with us. We loved the way you spooned with us when we slept, the way you chased the ball in the park, coming home to you after a long day of work, and waking up to your (sometimes annoying) wagging in the morning.

Making the decision to put you down was one of the most difficult decisions we've ever had to make. We tried so hard to work through your issues and wanted to keep you so bad. 99.5% of the time you were the perfect fit for us. We were worried when we saw your aggression towards kids, knowing they must have done something to you before we got you, but we took you to a behaviorist and worked through it. We were worried when you bit my parents puppy, but thought we could work through this too. After you nipped the dog walker, your increasing aggression toward the dog walker, and toward your dog-buddies you walked with we came home dreading the dog walker's note because we didn't want it to say anything bad. We understood you may have to be a sheltered pup, but we accepted that. I wish you hadn't lunged at me the other night. While you didn't break the skin of my neck you scared me. It scared me, but I still really wanted to keep you. The vet and the behaviorist disagreed. I could deal with your issues, but we were afraid that eventually you'd hurt somebody else.

We're so sorry, and we miss you so much. Wish you were here.



-Corey & The Queen

*This post may be deleted later.

A Thank You Letter

Dear Momnipotent & Dadolescent,

I can't tell you how much I appreciate your help in renovating the house. From installing crown molding, building a foyer, fixing doors and steps, the never ending task of attemping to make my house plumb and level, painting, caulking, drywalling and even allowing the use, and in some cases purchasing, a multitude of tools are all very much appreciated. The house has come a long way (though not as far as we had thought) since you originally saw it.



Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Sincerely,

-Me

Drywalling Machine

Since drywalling is a pain in the butt, I figured the Queen should do it. Doesn't she look happy?



And for a random pic, here is my impression of an angler fish.



Pretty good, no?

Etsy Lust

If I could, I think I'd fill the house with all things etsy. It's a great place for good cheap art, pottery, or whatever assorted knick knacks that your inner consumerist desires. While I don't have a need for their stuff, I do have a want for it. So that leaves me filled with etsy lust.

(click the pics for links to the etsy sites)














I'm sure my male friends would think me a wee bit effeminate for liking this stuff. I'm ok with this. Is it so wrong that I prefer things like etsy, Project Runway and HGTV to fantasy football, baseball and action movies? My old football and rugby teammates would laugh if they could see me now...

+ + +

My DVD set of Mad Men showed up. I watched the first couple of episodes last season, before losing track of it. This show is one of my all time fave shows up there with HBO's The Wire.



I can't wait to see the new season starting this Sunday.