House delays

My very small inspection delay has turned into a longer delay due to an inspector's inability to get his butt out to my house.

So that means I'm living in my surrogate house basically until my St. Maarten vacation in a week. Don't get me wrong, my surrogate home is lovely. And I'm eternally grateful for it. But I would really, really like to live in my newly renovated house.

So this is disappointing.

However, let's look at the bright side:

• Things have been crazy busy at work and this gives me time to organize and schedule a few things that I haven't gotten to yet.
• The kitchen will be installed by the time I move in.
• I won't have to pay for a Rogers bill for a long while now
• I will have a lovely vacation before I have to worry about painting and doing all the little fix-it things to my new house.
  

In the grand scheme of things, this all works out well and there have been very few surprises along the way. So now I'm off to sort out those extra bits I need to do: selling some appliances, furnace servicing, duct cleaning, paint and backsplash selection...

If anyone wants to buy a perfectly good refrigerator, please let me know.

at work, at night

at work, at night
Originally uploaded by christing-O-

I have got to stop working so late.

It's getting ridiculous! Get here at 8:30am, leave at midnight? Not good.

It sometimes feels like it's the only way for that big long list of things that are really important to get done... to get done. So I keep going. And I think about leaving. Then I remember that OTHER thing that I need to get done as I will otherwise never get to it tomorrow. And then, oh ya, there's that other thing that I should print out and send in. Oh, and that email I should really send - they've been waiting for me forever. And on it goes...

And it's not like if I get home late that I can sleep in, because I suck at sleeping.

I can't wait for my vacation. I really need it. One more week.

My life is the web

So, my life WAS my house and my renovation. And, don't get me wrong, it's still going on and it still rules at least 20% of my brain on any given day.

But lately, it's been work, work, work. Which means web, web, web.

I ran an event today for Women in Technology and it was good. I was happy. But it was a LOT of work. On top of it, I was SICK. I'd actually tried to stay home and then remembered that I had to be there for the event. So I got dressed in about 2 minutes, downed some medication and hoofed it in, miserably. Despite feeling totally crappy and probably getting about 10 other people sick, I was glad I was there. I got to see a bunch of people I love and never get to see.

And then there projects for my web intern, whom I'd forgotten is only in on Mondays.

And then there were project schedules, blogs, newsletters, social web campaigns, meetings to set up, resource requests to make and emails to respond to.

Only at the end of the day did I find out that an inspector had been to my house and stopped all work until I got a permit for something else that I didn't have a permit for. Ugh. So we're going to be a couple of days behind at this point -- but still planning to move there next week. I lost a few productive days this weekend being sick on the couch, too, which only means that my non-scheduled house prettification scheme will be a little behind. But life goes on.

If I could just stop working until the 10:30pm. I thought I left it all behind in Web Agency world.

Photo by Kristi

At SES08

At SES08
Originally uploaded by mars_discovery_district

This is what I've been working on this week.

I've been a blogging, twittering, flickring, slidesharing, bookmarking and general social-webbing mad woman the past two days.

It has really been a completely amazing two days, professionally speaking. I turned something around totally last minute and did a stellar job. Really successful.

It's so great to feel totally confident and proud of something you do. And to know that you're doing it for a good cause: to bring people together who are trying to change the world. Sometimes I stop and think about what I do and I remember that I'm part of something truly amazing.

And on top of that, while I'm supporting and catalyzing something really important, I'm doing work that is really fun. Sometimes I can't believe it's my job.

sick

sick...day 10 / year 2
Originally uploaded by TeeRish

I feel sick.
My stomach doesn't like me at all. I want to throw up.
I have that tingle in the back of my jaw and throat that means it all wants to come up.

And my head hurts.
My eyes ache.
My jaw feels like it has locked shut.

Ugh.
I want someone to take care of me. Feed me crackers and tea. And keep me warm.

Instead, I'm working on my kitchen layout with cold feet.

Time to vote!

Well, I've got to pick a kitchen layout on Tuesday.

So take a look at my options. Go look at the pictures, leave comments and tell me, gently, what you think. What I should consider changing.

I may not do what you say, but I might. And I will thank you for your suggestions.

Also: today is my anniversary!

Looking for deals

Well, the results are in and I need a deal. I have a budget and I'm within the budget. But I know something will come up.

I know SOMETHING will go wrong.

So I'm looking for deals. I got my stove deal. And now I need a fridge and over the range microwave deal.

Because I just remembered that I'm going on vacation to my timeshare in St. Maartin in December. Now, we got a crazy excellent deal on the flights. But it still costs money.

Soooo, who's got a deal for me?

And also: how is it possible that I JUST missed the IKEA and Home Depot kitchen sale? Seriously, they could have waited ONE week. Sigh.

Oooh, that hurts!

Have you bought a major appliance lately?

You know, you see those low-end $500-models and you think, "Oh, it's fine, it still cooks and it's the right colour."

And then you get sucked in. And then you go to Lowe's and you see this amazing gas convection oven with a double oven and it's like half price and you think you can't POSSIBLY leave it behind! And so suddenly you have this kick-ass appliance and now all the crap appliances would look even crappier beside it so you have to drop even more money on a Bosch dishwasher.

Sigh. You go in thinking, "Maybe I'll look at some kitchen cabinets" and you come out $2000 in hole.

But I have a kick-ass range. And you will all be jealous when you finally come over for my house warming. (Please.)

Yikes - reno demo

Well, it has begun. The house is being a wee bit ripped up. Whoa!

I don't really have a front step. The floor? Well, I was afraid I might go through it. Renos are dirty business. But I'm so excited. There was a picture of my plans on the wall with a list of tasks beside it for all to see.

My kitchen was unidentifiable. I didn't think I was going to do this. I was just going to do something small. And then the drawings with the "cool idea" had to come around. And now there's no turning back. What have I done?!

The plan is to be able to move into my house at the end of this month. That doesn't mean that it will be done, completely, but that it will be a place that I can sleep in and shower in. Take-out food might be in order, but I'm not really doing anything upstairs anyway.

Well, clearly, no one will be going to a housewarming chez-moi anytime soon. But you're all welcome to come over and celebrate when it's all done. (As if it will EVER be ALL done!)