Shoo Lie Loo

Snakes??

So yah, I recently heard that a friend of mine has a mom living a few streets over. She has an old house, not unlike the one that I live in.

Difference? She has snakes in her basement!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now, living geographically where we do, I realize that poisonous snakes are a one in ten million chance. However, a slithering, tongue-lashing, zero-legged reptile of ANY kind in my house or even in my yard will probably result in an instantly fatal cardiac arrest for me.

I can't explain my fear of snakes. I've never been bitten by one. I did have one slither across the path at Shabbona State Park when I was out walking with my mom when I was a kid, and, yah, it scared the snot out of me.

And my dad, being a conservationist, would find random animals. I once verbally requested that he put a garter snake in a bucket for me. I was determined to make friends with it. It was small, and it was non-violent. Until it lurched at me (like any wild animal would). I picked it up. I let it roll along my arms as I squeamishly tried to love it. I could do turtles with ease (and great love). Frogs - no prob; would seek them out at twilight. Salamanders, a bit slimy but doable. Toads - hated their pee, but didn't mind them and loved to marvel at their lumpy backs.

Somehow, though, I never got around to loving snakes.

A few weeks ago, I was delivering Hogwash to an acquaintance. I dropped the bucket off on her porch and we were chatting.

As I turned to leave, I noticed a small garter snake slither beneath her bushes. Well, that was all it took for me to high-tail it to my vehicle (ignoring the yard completely and walking into the street to access my van). I did the whole girly squeal and expedient tippy toe walk of someone who's about to set off dynamite! I haven't seen a snake since, but now, I'm convinced they are all around me...

So hubby, who's at a terrible new job and experiencing lung problems because of it, will be set on  a quest to first scour our ol' basement for any non-legged friends and then seal any potential access points. I'd be naive if I thought mice and bugs can't make it into our old house. Thank God we have three cats (two of which seem to somewhat care). I understand that cat saliva is poisonous to snakes?? Hallelujah!

Anyhoo, a spider or an earwig can surprise me. Even a mouse. Even a RAT! I think I'd live thru the initial shock. But a snake....that's worth calling 911!! So please, let this new/old house be snake free. I have no evidence to support any snakes living here, but, I'm also not willing to take any chances!

CHOMP

 

Remodeling My Resolutions

For those of you who have been following my blog (thank you, by the way - big hugs to you), it's no secret that I'm a fan of the book The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin, the best birthday gift my mom has ever given me. Without having read that book, I might not even be keeping a blog semi-faithfully.

Each month, Rubin experiments with new ways to increase happiness. And some of them are ridiculously simplistic.

Decreasing clutter, for example. To some, living in chaos is no big deal. But to many (arm raised high in the air here!), it adds layer upon layer of stress until you're heaped with confusion and feelings of defeat.

After years of living in such chaos, your mind and body adjust - really, we just give up (humans are remarkably adaptable - I default to the episodes of Hoarders where humans live for years with no running water or electricity and somehow survive amidst the jaw-dropping piles of human waste and trash bags).

While Chris and I are not hoarders, neither of us are blessed with very orderly brains. We each deal with a very messy room in a different way:

Example A (Chris): calmly gathers the clutter into a box, bin, tote, bag or hamper and shuffles it to another room to be dealt with at a later time. Then relaxes in giant comfy leather recliner to unwind from the stressors of the day.

Example B (Kimm): stands in the middle of the room, arms at side, fingers twiddling madly, eyes scurrying here and there, licking lips, completely confused amidst the mess as to where or how to start; Kimm then storms around the house spouting out frustration at the mess while feeling utterly incapable of doing anything about it.

Now, I'm not saying either example is bad....they just don't work!

I had set February, my first full month as a stay-at-home-mom, as "De-Clutter De House Month". Little did I know I'd be down sick for a week with pneumonia and that Lucy would follow immediately for days with a viral stomach bug.

And why....oh why....did I pick the shortest month of the year to defeat this Goliath (or at least buy him and the Philistines some lunch to talk out our differences, ha ha)??

Even with the extra day, being Leap Year, it's the busiest month in our family's calendar year! We have birthdays coming out of our ears, Valentine's Day AND our wedding anniversary!

So, looking at one of the four calendars I keep updated on my iPhone today while I removed more clutter from the house (I'm selling unused clothes and other goodies on a local swap site), I realized I had to be insane. My living room is piled with stacks of stuff that I've either donated to charity or sold online that has yet to be delivered. Organized chaos for me because I know exactly which stack goes where and to whom. But it's still there until it's been picked up or delivered!

And that could literally take the rest of the month. And that is just the stuff that's lying around in boxes. I've scarcely gone thru the masses of books and toys the kids have outgrown or the random rick rack a house somehow seems to conceive the longer you live in it.

My embarrassing "before" pic of my home office....it looks quite lovely compared to now! Right now I'm just tossing whatever can't be dealt with (think back to Example A) to shut behind a closed door. But sadly, I really doubt there will be an "after" pic before the month ends. My project room/office/creative hideaway will probably still be a messy shell. Just hopefully not as much as it is now.

And here's the clincher...the part where a clinicallly A.D.D. mind could turn to hoarding....I have an antique miniature rolltop desk that I just bought for a steal that I cannot WAIT to get my hands on!!

And a velvet-lined wooden jewelry box.....

And there's still this sewing table....

And the antique magazine rack....

And my antique mailbox.....

I have plans for all of these things, big plans! But I can't get to them if I literally can't "get to them"!

So I must continue to forge the path to a funtional home. I'm not looking to be a picture straight from a 1950s issue of Better Homes and Gardens. I'm certainly not STUPID. But I'd like to be able to find things on a fairly regular basis, to walk thru rooms without staring at small "to-do" piles and, most importantly, to set a very good example of responsibility for our children.  

 

 

 

Monthly Challenges - February and March

As I hear the sounds of three young children bickering upstairs, I will quickly post my blog update to keep myself accountable.

Having just recently finished Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project, I'm challenging myself for the month of February to de-clutter, organize and clean my house. I've started today by hauling out three bags of trash and several bags of donate/sell stuff. I have a long way to go...but, it is only day one.

For March, I'm going with Rubin's recommendation to "write a novel in a month", based on a challenge she herself heard of and conquered. The goal is not to write something worth publishing but rather to get the stagnant creative waters once again flowing as I look around to see the world in a new way (as I look for scenes and plots, etc.).

So, off I go to prepare a snack for the hungry pack of wild youngsters upstairs and maybe tackle another couple of bags!

Cheerio!!

New Floors In Progress

 
 We got this laminate flooring for a steal. Someone ordered 89 boxes of it and then decided it was the wrong shade. For us, perfect at $14/box. Foyer is down and about half of the living room is done. Yay!

Radiator Cover - Suggestions?

Preview Post - JUNKMARKET Style.

Front Porches

Oh what a wonderful day!

We worked on projects outside all day - all on the front porch.

I love the sunshine as much as most people, but there is something so soothing about laboring underneath a shelter while still being able to feel the fresh spring air all around you. (It also makes for fantastic ventilation...)

There has been much ado about our front porch.

Lavina, the previous owner, was talked into buying this house by her husband. According to her daughter, the two things that sealed the deal were the fireplace and...the front porch.

Our neighbors tell us that Lavina used to sit outside on the front porch daily and just enjoy the fresh air. You can tell that her family fixed it up to make it comfortable for her. They installed ceiling fans and blinds, screened it in and added the two French doors. It might not be the most attractive porch on the street, but I'd bet it's at least the biggest.

My mom also loves the front porch. She is just waiting for us to tear down the screens (which are in rotten shape and mess up the view) and the doors to make it nice and open. And, once we've done that, sweet ol' Mom expects us to head straight to The Cracker Barrel to get a set of rocking chairs.

The kids love the front porch because it's like an outdoor room. They could literally ride their bikes on it. Hopefully this summer we will spend a lot of time out there doing messy crafts and things while staying cooler than if we were in the middle of the yard (and keeping the house cleaner at the same time).

Chris has recently informed me that, after doing extensive research via his iPhone, he is planning on growing his own tea and tobacco - the front porch would be a nice place to initiate the process, although both his planting devices and produce would quickly be scooted off.

The animals in the neighborhood, both wild and domesticated, seem to enjoy our porch, too. We have had a cardinal fly in to hop around, make an assessment that there wasn't a feeder up there and then fly off. Various other birds like to hang around in the overhangs and gutters (oh, goody). Squirrels like to play on the railings. And an unknown number of cats have visited (both on the porch and beneath it).

Every country song singing the praises of front porches now makes sense to me.

Have I mentioned we also have a back porch....? No? Well, that's probably better left alone for the time being....(ugh....)

 

Mailbox - Repurpose or Repaint?

Not that I don't love birds, but this mailbox has seen better days. Thoughts are to turn into a unique birdhouse or repaint into something more interesting. Ideas?

Before and After

It's been a relatively uninteresting Tuesday. However, I feel compelled to keep blogging so I don't fall into the A.D.D. crack that I'm prone to, never to return to the blog.

I posted a bunch of photos from the house - these are all "before" pictures, except for the repainted radiator. It's not placed where it will ultimately go, but it has been finished!

I would really like to post pictures of the elevator shaft, as I find that to be one of the most intriguing features of the house, however, lighting is poor. I just couldn't get a good shot.

As we continue to work on the old homestead, I will periodically update the photos with where we are in the project. I'd appreciate and welcome any comments, even the critics, to help us find direction. Advice is always welcome.

Ultimately, we want to maintain much of the integrity of the house, however, we are going to modernize it so that it makes sense for a family of four. (In example, we don't plan on hanging our undies in the dining room forever - we're just waiting to install a gas line to the upstairs kitchen/soon-to-be-laundry-room.)

For tonight, I leave it simple. My mind is a bit tired. I had an invigorating walk to the playschool to pick up the kids and then it was rush, rush, rush as usual to get Lulu to her lessons (tonight was swimming). Sometimes I find myself wanting to just sit and play Yahtzee on my phone or watch old episodes of The Twilight Zone instead of tackling projects (or even thinking about them).

And a good night of sleep never hurt anyone, either...

Upstairs Kitchen

Unfinished Staircase

Tackling a Toy Room

I am a fan of lists.

I found a very good (and free - bonus!) website for people like myself who like lists. Lists to keep those of us with lofty goals and a slight disability to view small term goals realistically on task.

So I stumbled one day, after struggling to compose my own "to-do" list on yet another sheet of lined paper (preceded by a volume of other, unfinished "to-do" lists from days past), upon the website tadalist.com. I admit - much like the cover of a book, the cute name struck me. And I had happy visions of announcing proudly "Ta-da, honey! I primed and painted this old chest - all in one day!!" As usual, I felt that this new list website would profoundly change my life.

Several Ta-Da lists later, I have found improvement in my overall project completion ability. If a project is not completely finished, it's at least made it past the halfway mark before I become distracted and move on to the next shiny object.

Yesterday, we (read: I) had this great vision of raking the entire yard, removing all debris, finding lawn treasures galore, restoring several planters, painting the porch rails, hanging birdfeeders, putting down grass seed and, at long last, sitting on our front porch sipping a glass of wine while soaking it all in. No list for this project - just the mental picture I had painted in my head of what we could accomplish (this being a very lofty goal to be started with two pre-schoolers in tow and it already being 2pm in the afternoon when we started).

In reality, as I posted last night, we filled 23 lawn bags with leaves, sticks and seed pods. From the front yard. Not the back yard. Not the side yards. Not the driveway. But, aesthetically speaking, we are much prouder to pull in to our driveway, minus all of the other things on my mental "to-do" list. (Additionally, we saw our somewhat snobbish new neighbors out in their yard today surveying their lawn, and now they have six tagged bags of leaves in front of their house...ha!)

Today, because it was supposed to rain, after Chris, Grammy and the kids came home from swimming at the YMCA, I surprised them all with a short, frank discussion on how our kids' parade of toys trickling down the stairs and landing in a huge disorganized puddle in our family room had finally pushed me over the edge. It was time to clean out the toy room (also known as "The Mississippi Room" due to the large wallpaper mural that nearly covers one wall with a snapshot of some unknown river in what appears to be the pre-autumn period).

And guess what? I did have a Ta-Da list for that... 

So, after printing out the list, Chris and I went upstairs armed with garbage bags, a permanent marker and ambition bursting at the seams (on my end...I think Chris was envisioning a somewhat more laid-back afternoon chilling with the fam...I've been called a "slave driver" periodically throughout our marriage).

And, again, we started mid-afternoon.

Grammy committed to watching the kids, who promptly fell asleep after a snack of crackers and cheese, while we wrestled with five years of toys - puzzles, coloring books, playsets with a gazillion or possibly more parts each, dolls and accessories, enough Matchbox cars to fill 25 toy car sales lots, trains and train tracks, a kitchen and all the necessary accessories (how many fake fried eggs does a child really need?), and enough blocks to build our own Empire State Building - to scale.

I knew it was going to take some doing - if I had just stuck on my headset and played my iTunes while I worked, I would have followed the list and gotten some of it done. But, with Chris' help, we really worked our tails off. I think I was motivated to work even harder than normal when Chris opened the door and stated, "Well, we can still get to the bed. I made sure there was a trail." right before we started. Alarming visions of those shows on compulsive hoarding were flashing threw my head, and I think that made me toss with much more fervor than I normally would. See, Chris has been sleeping on a twin bed in this room recently due to Grammy being down. She's in our bedroom, and I have chosen the couch. I declared out loud that I had no idea how he could sleep in a room in such terrible disorder - my mind would be screaming at me. That was when he added that, at night, it was also dark in the room, so the chaos was practically invisible. (I think I may have fainted a little when he said that...)

We filled at least five garbage bags with toys to donate to Goodwill and another three with toy trash (broken bits, chewed up board books, games with pieces missing, items that we couldn't even identify...)

And the end result....an almost finished room. Sincerely...I think we hit the 90% mark! Double high-fives and shouts of joy....OK, actually we quietly slunk downstairs somewhat defeated and definitely sore. We brought Grammy and the kids upstairs to see the final results (duh...it's bedtime and they wanted to play in there....maybe not one of my better parenting decisions).

So now Chris doesn't need to navigate the path. He can walk straight into the room (well, past the rocking horse, around the train table and watch out for the firetruck against the wall) to get into his clean, fresh bed (for a few more nights until Grammy heads back to the Northwoods).

My takeaways from this weekend - Ta-Da Lists is the bomb-diggity, hubby and I work reallyr. well together because we fill in each other's gaps, I need to keep it in perspective and....I need to find a good chiropractor...

 

 

 

The Mystery Unraveled a Little Further...

Today's project was to buy a new van. Pending some other issues, we are waiting until Monday to complete THAT project.

One of the benefits of backbreaking yardwork (which was the back-up A.D.D. project du jour) is that you often get to converse with your neighbors.

While Chris and I watched the skies for threatening rainfall as we shoveled about 23 bags of leaves, branches and seed pods, an unknown neighbor came by to introduce herself. Forty-five minutes later and her cat Wendell using one of our eight leaf piles as a litterbox as we watched in resigned curiosity, we found ourselves covertly dancing back and forth with "we need to move on now" as she continued to talk.

However, truth be told, she was a wealth of information about the previous homeowners for at least the past 30 years and the goings-on of the current residents of our prestigious Chestnut Street. 

Chris and I have always been very intrigued by the Winchester Mystery House in California for its odd structures and designs, a la  Sara Winchester, the wife of the late inventor of the Winchester rifle. A psychic had apparently told her, at some point, that she needed to move from her native Boston to the West Coast.

The eccentric Sara Winchester required her builders to work 24/7 to appease the spirits with a grandiose house made of nothing but the finest of materials (and she was a bottomless pit of money) and also to confuse them with odd architectural designs to prevent them from following her. With the unusual staircases and completely odd architecture of our house, we had immediately begun referring to it as "The Winchester Mystery House of Kewanee."  

And guess what...there was indeed an "eccentric little old lady" who lived here. As we had suspected. And she barricaded herself into the dining room as her primary residence. As we had suspected. And she built on various additions and questionable upgrades. As we had suspected. And she had plopped a bathroom two feet from the grand foyer in our house because "she could". As we had suspected.

We also found out that this eccentric elderly lady had, at one time, turned her home into a home for elderly ladies. So parts of the picture become clearer.

This all still clearly, and possibly more so, propels me to go to the Kewanee Historical Society to uncover more mysteries.

Now - some hydrocortisone on my neck, a nice adult beverage and some blogging about the day's experiences have made me feel quite good. And I'm ready to tackle something else tomorrow.

But guess what....we FINISHED the project. The front yard, as proven by the pictures in the photo album, show the before and after shots of what we tackled today. And I'm awful proud of us. We worked as a family in the beautiful "day before spring" sun, each with our own rakes and each child additionally wielding a cheap plastic shovel. And Super Grammy came to the rescue at the right time to bring us additonal lawn bags (we seriously thought ten bags would be enough...?) AND take over childcare for the evening so we could finish without having to constantly run interference.

We have uncovered grass and hostas and renewed our belief in ourselves that we can complete a project.

The result? Sore....but very, very proud.

The Journey Has Already Begun...

My family and I were the unfortunate "victims" of the economic downturn. Actually, due to a number of circumstances, some within our control and some not so much, we ended up losing the cookie-cutter mortgage monster that we had bought back in 2005. Or so we think...the bank still hasn't told us what's going on.

In any case, being the proactive person that I try to be, I enticed hubby into venturing into a wild and crazy goal...one that I had reservations about from the word "go" but, once determined, embraced tightly like a child at the end of a kite string on a windy day. We bought outright a beautiful, unusual, mysterious Victorian home, circa 1901 (or so we think -- the deed isn't even specific about its exact year of construction).

The home has a huge, wraparound and enclosed front porch, complete with ceiling fans, five bathrooms and five bedrooms, an elevator, a dumb waiter, two kitchens, two staircases to "nowhere", an attic straight out of a V.C. Andrews novel and a lovely yard with mature trees with a full-on squirrel "farm". And we are finding treasures slowly as the snow melts.

It may sound like a fairy tale, and maybe, in some respects, it is. But we've suffered a lot to get where we are. And we will struggle to keep ourselves afloat. Follow along and offer your advice and your words of wisdom, even if cynical, to keep us going.

We are a diverse, curious family. We love change and challenges and wonder. So we hope to keep you interested and coming back for a bigger dose of what we are up to.

:-)