The basement, part 2

This actually may be a 4 part series...b/c it is going to take me a little while to finish this project! But at least I am 1/3 of the way there! And it is sooooo nice to survey all one's hard work and take pleasure in a job well done!

Since I had all the work done prepping the floor (ie, cleaning), once I got the paint I was able to get right to it...so brushed out the edges with a hand brush and then rolled the floor.

Tom insisted I wear a heavy duty respirator and I think that was a good idea...this stuff is pretty strong-smelling!
Done! Well, that section of the floor anyway...now it's just a matter of waiting for this to dry completely and then I can move on to the next 1/3 section.

How things have changed

This weekend marks the 3 month mark that we have been living in our home. Now that we are settled in a bit more, I am realizing how different this is from the college/dorm life that was our world for the first 6 years of our marriage. Here are the differences that have really stood out to me:

1. No more constant interruptions!

We not only lived in the dorm but T also was responsible for the building and people in it. That meant, anytime there was an overflowing toilet or a serious argument among room-mates, or even something more serious than that, it fell to my husband to resolve it. It wouldn't matter if he worked all day (and he did!), he would still have to be "on" when he came home from work b/c with nearly 300 students under his care, there was almost always something going on that needed his attention. Often, he would work a full day, come home for dinner, then have to go out for meetings and I wouldn't see him the rest of the night. AND there were the fire drills...I will never forget the more memorable one where the fire alarm went off in the middle of the night (someone had burned popcorn!), I had to get Kira out of bed, wrap her in a blanket and wait outside with the rest of the students while they figured out what the problem was. Kira was about 4 months old and it was the dead of winter. That was interesting!

But...I wasn't lonely without him! God provided people for me to pass the time with, I had a wonderful neighbor across from our "house" that worked with T but lived in the dorm and we used to hang out a lot. There was also a family that we were really close with that we used to get together for dinners on a regular basis. And of course, if I ever wanted to look for something to do, I had merely to walk outside my door into the lounge and there would invariably be something going on.

2. Privacy!

This second note kind of goes along with the first. This type of job that T had for 6 years does not allow for much privacy. I remember the first year we lived in the dorm, T was tickling me one night in the bedroom and I was laughing really hard...all of a sudden we both heard on the other side of the wall, clear as day a voice say, "I can hear you!" Living in a dorm is similar to living in an apartment complex in that there are people on either side of you but in our case, these walls were VERY thin and we always had to be quiet as not to disturb our neighbors...

3. Peace and Quiet!

I have to say, I am especially enjoying this one. 6 years of listening to one commotion after another, be it some guys having a wrestling match outside our door, an impromtu praise and worship time in the lounge, the constant clicking of the main door unlocking (this drove me crazy!), a talent night or concert in the lounge, there was always something going on and we could never get away from it.

This is not to say we didn't enjoy it while we were experiencing all these things...but God places us in circumstances for a season and we enjoyed it while it lasted b/c that was our normal and we had never known different. Now we are in another season of life and we are discovering what it is like to have a home with so much quiet, hardly any interruptions and privacy!

Friday was such a nice night hanging out with my dear sisters and extended family. The reason for the get-together? Gmom and Gpop's 60th wedding anniversary! So we all schlepped the 7 grandkids to mom and dad's where the babysitter was waiting. The kids had a nice time, and although I complained initially about having to leave Kira behind, I think she had a good time hanging out with the kids and she absolutely loved petting Christy and Christian's little yorkie Lilly.

Sigh. Wish they all lived closer and we could hang out more often but I am thankful that we had a great night together none-the-less!

Our basement

So I decided to start the seemingly endless project of cleaning the basement in preparation for painting the floor. Tom and I had talked about painting the floor and we both knew that the floor would need a good cleaning before painting it. That being said, I decided now was as good a time as any to get started since Grandpop was done working on the boiler which has, up to this point, been generating a lot of dirt (see our new little red boiler on the left of this picture!). Grandmom W came over yesterday to help me get started. She has always been a great cleaner...she helped me in cleaning lots of things in our house before we moved in so I knew she would be a good one to ask for directions as to the best way to go about cleaning this sooty concrete floor! So, we decided it would be best to work on small areas as to not track new dirt on freshly cleaned spots...

First, we vacuumed this section, then we got two buckets, one to wring out the mop and one bucket to rinse the mop in when we done with the area. She had me wet down small 2'x2' areas at a time, sprayed it with bleach and mop it up. Then keep spraying and mopping this one small area until my mop wrung out almost clear water. Only then could I move onto the next small section. I worked this way during Kira's morning nap, then again last night. So this small section is sufficiently clean but it may also need to be primed with a special kind of primer before we paint it. I am going to the paint store today to talk to the guy about it.

Why am I smiling??? I actually kind of like doing stuff like this, haven't been able to do as much with Kira so I am enjoying getting my hands "dirty" again. And it will be so nice when it's done b/c I'll be able to take pleasure in my hard work! :-)

The beach...ah!!!!!

Things have been getting pretty busy lately, in-between playdates, doing my coupon runs, organizing the house and visiting with family, I was afforded the opportunity to spend some time at my in-laws beach house the past two weekends in a row. To say I love the beach would be an understatement. There is something so relaxing about the beach. Thankfully, our daughter loves it too and since she just started walking only a few weeks ago, she is even more enthralled with the beach!

I know, I know, it's been a while since I posted but I just haven't been able to find the time recently and all of a sudden it has been a month since I last posted...GAH! I thought I should post some pics of Kira's room, since I haven't included that in our pic updates of the house, I really am happy with how it turned out. And yes, I do like green!

Hanging out in the living room! If anyone has some ideas for where I can find a cheap area rug, let me know! I am taking my time now though fixing up and "beautifying" the rest of the house, we are pretty much out of money right now so we have to wait a while now til we can save up some more money to finish the basement. But at least the top floor is done! These pics are from a party I had at our house for Kira's birthday with my side of the family a couple weeks back. Both my sisters and their families, my parents and Gparents were there that day, I think it was 18 people in my small house...crazy but fun!

Another pic of the bathroom, all decorated now. I think the bathroom and Kira's room are my favorite rooms. I do not fancy myself a very creative decorator but I actually really like how these two rooms turned out in particular!