2011: The year in review

Cupcake clock at our NYE party

Oh, how time flies.

I could have sworn that I did nothing this year, but upon reflection, I guess there were a few things:

• I got a new boss, a new title and two new employees
• I launched four major projects: The MaRS refresh, MaRS Mobile, Mod Media Makers and the MaRS Commons. A bunch of smaller ones, and another major one ready to launch this month.
• The bathroom renovation was completed (a 3-week project that turned into 6 months)
• We fixed the heating duct that leads up to the bathroom and guest room. By "we" of course I mean my family
• Renovated the master bedroom, moving the closet from one wall to another, changing the layout entirely, finding out the exterior bricks were "melting" and that we had rotten wood and mould. Replaced it all before putting in insulation, drywall, painting, flooring, trimwork and baseboards.

It's been a long time coming

It feels like forever since I lived in a normal house.

A house that wasn't storing boxes of hardwood. A house that has a banister around the stairwell. Where I didn't store paint stripper on my landing and nail up my curtains.

This long weekend, my mom and dad again came to help out in the fight against crappy-house-syndrome.

I exaggerate. My house is not crappy. It's wonderful. Despite everything, I am still in love with it. But it is as much, if not more work than a marriage. With problem children.

However, I am very much to blame. I'm the one who wanted to move the closet to the other wall of the bedroom. I'm the one who actually thought it could be done in a long weekend. Who foolishly believed it wouldn't disrupt our lives for longer than two weeks. A month, if you considered the furniture moving, painting and cleaning.

How to achieve the worst-case scenario every time

I believe I may have a talent.

I have the uncanny ability to make a renovation take at least 10X longer than the original plan.

We've been working on the master bedroom. Part of that "small" project was moving the closet. And putting down flooring in the entire upper floor. It was supposed to be about two weeks. Max.

What went wrong?

There's good news and there's bad news

We decided to sound-proof our master bedroom walls. And move our closet over to that wall to further sound-proof and optimize flow. You've seen the diagrams, right?

So my dad came over to move our electrical outlet so we could have a lamp beside the bed and a light in the closet and all that jazz. And he finished the demolition on the drywall (basically, I had not gotten very far, so he did pretty much all of it). FANTASTIC! YAY DAD! (I smell a lot of Father's Day loot coming...)

And my mom came to help too. She love being productive, so in between helping my dad, she painted the shelf in my bathroom vanity and started painting the back of the front door red and started re-painting where my heating duct had been put in and the wall had been re-drywalled. FANTASTIC! YAY MOM! (We'll forget about the trim-paint situation. It's just another funny memory.)

All happiness!

And then it started getting complicated.

Project "Too Much!"

Against my better judgment, we're about to embark on yet another renovation project: the master bedroom.

We moved the bed so that Gordon can get out his side. Now you can't fit on EITHER side of the bed. Super annoying. Plus, the closet is too deep by five inches. I know, I can't believe I said that either. But it does take up five extra inches for something that we can't actually use. (Plus we can hear our neighbours having sex and we'd like to do something about that, so we will while we're renovating. I digress...)

First up is our existing set-up. As you can see, the path around the bed is extra squishy.

Below is what I call Option B.

Old houses aren't for the faint of heart... or those who have lives

It all started with the damn duct you see here poking innocently out of the wall.

Well, that, and a contractor who didn't really LOOK.

As our contractor turned a three-week bathroom project into an over-six-month project, he also managed to tile OVER the hole in the wall for the duct. After I pointed it out to him (he hadn't noticed) he "fixed" it but breaking a new hole in the wall and placing the vent over it. He also told me that the duct was blocked down about five feet by what felt like insulation. He told me that he had looked UP from the basement to see what the blockage was and whether he could pull it out. He said he couldn't reach the blockage from the basement.

What I didn't know was:

Are you feeling like screaming too?

Holga Scream.
Originally uploaded by ollycoffey

I know. I said I was going to be OK with less.

And then I gave myself more. And I'm OK with not doing everything.

What I'm not OK with is everything not being done. The door still off my bathroom vanity. Still with no hinge to fix it. No completed website for my friend. Just more questions. No finished gap-filled basement cracks. No financial plans laid at my feet. No floor washed.

Did focus on ONE thing. Got it mostly done and sent for review. All else? Like that blog blitz? Nopers.

Project Home Repair, Part II

Home Repair
Originally uploaded by Kristin Brenemen

I think I lost my mind yesterday. It started with a simple can of Gap Filler and a couple of hours to use up before dinner was ready.

I started looking at the gaps that I'd need to fill. In my house, I mean. With the furnace on, I put my hand over light sockets and outlets. By door mouldings and windows. Yep, yep; yep, yep. All of 'em needed some work.

And then I went to the basement.

I knew, from my government Energy Audit, that there were some problems down there. But I had to find them first. I'll tell you: basements -- especially ones from the 1840s -- have a lot of nooks and crannies. A lot of dust and cobwebs. A lot of dark spaces where you don't really want to stick an unprotected hand.

But I did it anyway.

Wedding plans, the update

Wedding Ring Heart
Originally uploaded by Troy B Thompson

Two weeks.

All I can say is: thank goddess for lists.

We've all got a number of items on the list. I'm checking em off, slowly, slowly.

DJ confirmation of music - check
Vows - check
Flowers - check... well, I left them a message at least.
Last room - uh, we're working on it.
Kid food - working on that one, too.
Outfits - yes, yes, yes!
Hair - chosen and booked
Makeup - check
All the stupid little details - mostly check
Honeymoon bookings - check

Now all I need to do is have a bachelorette, not get a migraine, and get these goddess-damned renos done. Check, check, check this week, apparently! WHEW!

I have a sink, though it doesn't actually shoot water out of the tap or drain or anything. I have a vanity that's right-side up. I have a fan and lights that don't turn on. But it's definitely shaping up. Supposed to be done Thursday! And window installation starts tomorrow and should be done Wednesday. WOOT!

And I'm sure the flowers will work out too.

It's all coming together

Who thought that planning a wedding and house renovations at the same time was a good idea? I'm sure it wasn't me. I'm sure my fiance didn't say, "I don't think that's a good idea."

Oh wait.

In any case, it's happening.

In my defense, the bathroom was supposed to take about three weeks. I'll admit, I tacked an extra week onto that estimate in my head. Did I think it was going to be TWO MONTHS?! Not exactly.

But here we are.

I really know how to party

Meet my chimney.

Until this weekend, we hadn't been very well acquainted. And now? Well, now I'm sad that no one willl probably ever see my chimney except in this blog post.

Previously, the chimney was falling in. It was in sad shape. I knew it when I bought it. I was told again when they were working on my roof last fall. And now I knew it was time to do something about it.

Meet my dad and my uncle. They arrived Saturday morning, sussed out the sad state of the stack. Ensured that it was sufficiently safe to get up there. And told me that if I hadn't done something soon, then one day we'd have died of carbon dioxide poisoning.

"Mind you," says my uncle, "If you're going to go, it's a good way to go."

Good to know.

birthdays and bathrooms

My bathroom's under renovation.

It was going to go camping for this, my birthday weekend, but it fell through. No big deal. Now I get to spend quality time at home.

There's lots of stuff here I could talk about: the weird window situation. The heating duct that goes nowhere. The raised floor over old reno garbage. The sketchy wiring. It's OK though. I knew it would be the case. So we're redoing it all. And it'll be lovely.

In the meantime, I share my toilet with our back office. But I get a view of the backyard too, so it's not all bad.

And I got a birthday pedicure, so it's actually all good.

busy schedule?

busy schedule?
Originally uploaded by flik

You know you're busy when you stop blogging. And stop thinking about blogging.

What have I been doing?

Deep breaths

I'm sitting here in front of my computer on a Saturday morning.

It's quiet.

I can actually hear my computer humming. My stomach gurgling, telling me it's probably time to eat breakfast. I drank my homemade london fogs this morning while looking at the grocery store flyers. I wrote my list of to-dos. Thought about going to the contents-sale around Withrow Park. Decided I really just wanted to sit here. In front of my computer.

Sometimes I'm just that good

I don't know what happens sometimes. But sometimes I'm on fire.

It seems like it has a lot to do with productivity or at least perceived productivity. But check out this weekend of ass-kicking:

I'm so tough

It's not often that I get to use a saw, a drill, a stud finder and measure, mark, cut, pre-drill, sand, measure, drill.

My mom and my aunt Jane visited last Tuesday. We went out for dinner like other families do when they get together. (I rode my bike back home and they drove - we arrived at the same time. I love it when that happens. Everyone always thinks that riding a bike is so inconvenient, but really it's awesome: free transportation and parking, free exercise, pollution-free. And less stress biking around the city than driving around the city, let me tell you!)

another day, another renovation

It's been a crazy couple of weeks -- always something going on.

But this particular project had been planned since my mom's birthday/family reunion, just before Thanksgiving. My uncle told me that he was a whiz with the bricks and mortar.

And the next weekend we had available get down and dirty with my house exterior was this one. So my aunt and uncle came over with my mom who was the main "helper".

art

It had to happen sometime.

I had to put art up sooner or later. My walls have been completely bare and cheerless.

And I had a day. A day when I didn't have any particular plans. As I drank my tea and finished reading my recent House and Home, I got inspired to unearth an art project that I'd dreamt up over three years ago at IKEA.

Fenced in

It was a rather productive, busy weekend. My favourite kind, really.

Friday was obviously very hectic -- it being the first day back from vacation, afterall. So I tore some hair out but finally got out in time to meet my mom and Marlene at my house. I showed Marlene around, as she hadn't seen my place yet. She appropriately ooh'd and ahh'd. Whether heartfelt or just to make me feel better about all the stupid work, I appreciated it.

Apparently, I'm a dirty girl

It was another weekend of working on my house, mixed up with fun times.

First up: Thursday nights are for artsy-coolness, so after the tenant pub night at work, I met up with my cousin to check out our step-cousin's art store and a friend's art show opening.

Next: Fridays are for suckers. Leave work on time. Bike home. Take frozen dinner items out of freezer. Pick up car, loaded with boyfriend's bike. Pick up boyfriend. Drive to bike shop. Drive home. Make yummy new pasta dinner recipe (lemon pepper shrimp linguine). Have Sarah over for fun dinner. Drink lots of sweet wine.