Updates to the Updates.

Well, I'm feelin' a girl without a project.  I mean, I have a slew of projects that I could be working on surely, but I have yet to land on any one.  Therefore I feel asea.  Awash in directionless aim.  Hence, updates to the updates.  Besides, you're wondering anyway, right?

Ah, the master list.  Finn is checking it twice.

In excellent news, the garage is still working!  Woo hoo!  It has rained, it has snowed, and whooie, the garage is still working.  What a relief!  Insert fist pump here!  Cha-ching!

Mike wants to run the power line overhead in the spring.  Our friend Eric has kindly volunteered his tiller.  So, I dunno.  Ideally underground is visually best and safety-ier but overhead is less taxing.    Maybe?  We shall see.

In the mean time, my pal John smartly suggested using yard staples, like I had used for the grass seed bird netting, to tack the electrical line down, lessen the tripping hazard aspect.  Thank goodness (on this occasion) I have packrat issues.

'Tis the day of horrible photos.  Thanks phone for focusing on the wrong thing.

But hey whatev's, the garage is working!  Yay!

We haven't seen our neighbor to the east in a bit.  I hope he's not over there stewing and getting madder at us.  I started to wonder if maybe instead his underground downspout pipe is cracked much like ours, maybe it's not the sewer line, but pffff, that's a stretch of a distance, who knows.  Yes, I'm itching for an idea that's not the sewer.

There's something underground not holding and draining water properly and the only way to find out is have *waving hands in circular motions* stuff inspected.

In the mean time I'll give them cookies again this year in the hopes that will appease them 'til spring.

Oh, I hit up the ReBuilding Exchange to check out their door situation.  And ehhhh, not gonna happen with them for us.  Their doors were worse off than ours, plus it's a crap shoot to find the exact size needed or one I can make the right size, we can't do wood in the back anyway plus the amount of work involved to improve said door, fit it, etcetera etcetera etcetera.....yeah, nope.  I like the premise of their whole thing, I just can never make anything from them work for me.  Maybe someday.

Got the macrame planters moved in time for the Christmas tree, whew, thank goodness.

Seriously, no joke about the bad photos.  Maybe I need a light kit.  Yes, I moved the paws over here.

Mike's much happier with the plants being in the window itself.  I am too though I'm still getting used to portions of the window being blocked.  I've always enjoyed the expanse of glass unabated.

Ack!  So sorry.  But you get the gist, yes?

I'm trying the heavyweight bubble wrap from our backsplash tile shipments as a Finn sill-jumping deterrent.  It helped at first but he's now "eh screw you Mommy, nice try, I''m jumping up here anyway."  So heh, that'll need reevaluation.  Stubborn guy...I do what I want (nsfw), snap snap!  If Finny boy could snap.

Still working on a design for the opposite wall in the kitchen.  Gone through a few iterations and while I thought Mike would pick my more artsy fartsy unusual idea, he's so far for a more normal idea. ???  My line of reasoning is that if it is unlike the kitchen itself in design, it will make more sense.  I know that doesn't sound like it makes sense but it does.

You will be different.  Somehow.  Someday.  With drawers.  Drawers!  Holy drawers please.

Hm.  I'll draw a few more ideas out.

Ugh but Menards ticked me off again.  I had gotten a few (very minor, like seriously, turns out pennies) price adjustments on our deck supplies as items went on sale the week after we bought everything.  That invalidated well over half our receipt for their 11% rebate.  Ugh I am so mad.

I've been saving up those rebates to purchase this counter for the kitchen and supplies to make that opposite wall happen.  Ugh.  So mad.  Pennies.  Grrrr.  Throwing a real kink in my kitchen budget plan.  If they know I did the adjustments, I don't see why they can't issue a rebate on the remainder of the price paid.

I'm doing that two hands crossing paths and missing each other thing -- not seeing how one precludes the other.  Ridiculous.  Frustratingly crappy policies they have sometimes, knockin' some shine off my affection for them.

Anywhoooo.

Right, Battle Downspout continues, of course.  It became a solid sleeve of ice inside again, then when warmer weather hit the whole chunk slid, destroying the plastic bendy straw extension thingie at the bottom.  Sigh and ugh, heh!  This darn thing is such the attention hog all right.

Snap crackle pop.  Busted.

At the store, I blindly almost bought another of the bendy straw things but thankfully it was in the same aisle as gutter/downspout parts so I duh smartly opted for a less expensive metal elbow which I screwed into place.  That hopefully will not break nor fall apart and be less high maintenance.

I know, the rock supports.  Hey, what can I say.

Oh Mike's work had a sort of mini-get-together thingie a couple weeks ago.  His boss Ken was telling me he's all excited to build a headboard not too dissimilar from the one I created, using up his scrap lumber pile.  Super cool!

A coworker of Mike's, Juliana, it turns out is a big fan of my lil' blog and reads all the time.  Heh, shucks, thanks Jules!  I'm totally blushing!

She was scrolling through posts at this shindig, showing her boyfriend Al all the stuff I've done.  They bought a fixer-upper that they're working hard on so they can relate.  She cracked me up saying, "Mike is one hell of a lucky guy.  He goes off to work then comes home to a new kitchen!"

Mike and I got home and we're standing in said kitchen chatting about the kitchen when I mention Juliana, how flattered I was that not only is she reading along, that she loves it, but that she's right, Mike is a lucky guy despite my apparent nuttiness.  Mike then halts everything, "look, here's how it goes.  You are crazy.  I know you are crazy.  I have two options:  either resist and quash the crazy or go with the flow."  He starts dancing around in goofy circles and says, "I go with the flow because the ride is so much fun."

So ah ha!  I was right!  He does love the crazy!  Yay!  Hahahaha.  Bwah ha ha ha, scheming....

And speaking of kitchen, that same evening Mike finally realized we have to change our counters; I figured it two projects prior.  He said it so sincerely too, it was cute, like it was a sudden surprise.  I laughed a hearty laugh.  Not at him of course.  At least, because our kitchen is so dysfunctional with minimal counter expanse, there's not much to change.  Someday.

Oh, right, I repainted the hall bedroom just after Thanksgiving.  Hang on, gotta go find out the name....Nautica's Baltic Brown (looks better on the walls).  I had one paint chip in my hand on the way to the store but changed my mind, per usual, on the spot.

Ok ok, I'll look into a light kit.  This photo doesn't do the paint justice.

It was a spectacle, sitting at Thanksgiving dinner with my parents and I tossed out that I was painting the room brown.  "Brown?!?!" said my dearest husband.  "Yes babe, brown.  It's too late, I bought the paint."  My mom got a hearty chuckle out of Mike's facial expressions.  "But it'll be like poop and that's gross!"

Oh I'm so embarrassed by these terrible photos today.

It's not gross.

You're gonna have to trust me, it does not look like baby poop brown in person.

The room is now totally the color it was meant to be.  I think you all will agree with me here, despite the awful photos of a room impossible to photograph.   Ever experience that, where you paint a room and you're all like, ahhhh, yes, this is how it was supposed to be?  Feels good.

I couldn't fight the piss poor natural light situation nor room size.  Dark and woodsy and cozy was the way to go.  Works quite well with the mural.

I'm not even sure if Mike has seen it despite walking by it daily.  Or he has and he hates it and he opted for the "if you can't say anything nice...."

Heh, ah well.  All's well that ends well.

Feelin' short on photos, especially and definitely good ones, plus missing my sweet Christmas-loving pea so here's a nice one of Hailey when she was less than a year old.

Have a fantastic holiday week everyone!