Let's fix the house, buy some vodka and get to writing!

In the haste that was all of last week, I forgot to mention that we finally got our roof fixed. We knew when we bought our house (four years ago) that there was a gap in the roof around the chimney, but it hadn't been an issue until last fall/winter. Rather suddenly, we discovered that rainwater was leaking through this gap. It went down, down, down the chimney, supporting a growth of mold in the attic, damaging the wood framing the fireplace in the living room, ruining some magazines and books, and finally puddling in the basement next to the furnace. Sound like fun, right?

Don't ask me why it took so long to get it fixed -- I delegated the assignment last year when we discovered the leak! Actually, in all fairness, my handsome partner did try to plug the leak earlier this fall, before the rainy season started. And for a couple of weeks we thought it was successful, until one afternoon when my mother heard a drip-drip and saw puddle of water in the living room. (That happened to be the same day the storm drain backed up in the driveway and we ended up with a half-flooded basement. I cursed the heavens that night, loathing their heavy clouds and buckets of rain.)

So finally, finally we got a couple of roofers to come bid on repairing the gappy flashing around chimney. One of them gave us an amazing price and a guarantee on his work, so we scheduled the repair. It's been raining for a week now but... not inside my house! Not anymore! (If you live in the same town as us and need a recommendation for a roofer, please ask.)

I'm very excited to share our other big home improvement project from this week: We put new carpet in the craft room! I wish I had a "before" picture to show you. Just try to imagine, if you can, white and yellow shag carpet. It was in decent condition but man-oh-man was it ugly! There was also something off about the texture. I don't know exactly how to describe it, except to say that it was very coarse. It just didn't feel right when you walked on it.

I've been keeping an eye on a local carpet store to see if they had any remnants in an appropriate size and type for the craft room. There was one remnant, one both perfectly sized and colored for the craft room, hanging around the store but it had a SOLD tag on it. The sale date was last June. A couple of weeks ago, I finally asked one of the salesman about the remnant. "Do people ever forget to come back for these remnants? Do you think the buyer might have changed his mind?" The salesman said he could probably cut me a new piece from the roll for nearly the same price as the remnant. I skeptically allowed him to run the numbers for a piece of carpet and installation; I couldn't believe the price. "That's it? That's all it would cost? And it would be installed?!"

"Yeah, that carpet is on sale. We've had a hard time selling it."

Of course no one else wanted the carpet. It is a flat, ugly brown color designed for a commercial space. But our craft room has rustic orange cabinets and it would match perfectly. The "ugly brown" actually compliments the room beautifully. So I went home to check with Nate, got two thumbs up, and scheduled the installation. Three days later, viola! New carpet! And it was ridiculously inexpensive. I know it's not exactly pretty but doesn't this look, well, kinda nice?...

 

Apparently the break I took last week from doing electrical work was enough time off because I got back at it this week with vigor. I am very pleased to report that all of the light and switch boxes are in place, and there is new wire running to them! Now I need to add a wire from the power source to these fixtures and get everything installed. Maybe I'll be done this coming week? I originally though I would try to connect all four sets of lights (utility, closet, hallway, bathroom) by going from light to light to light, but after a couple of hours of investigation and testing yesterday, I have determined that each switch just needs to have a line straight from the main power source. If you don't speak electrical-ese and that didn't make sense, just know that I have to buy and run a little bit more wire to finish it up.


My daughter got her first little haircut this week. It wasn't really a full cut, just a little trim. Her hair is long in the back (specifically on the crown of her head) and relatively short everywhere else, so it had grown mullet-ish. Not a big deal since she's a toddler, and you maybe wouldn't notice since her hair has a little bit of curl. But after it gets washed, ugh! It's like a little rat-tail going down her back. So on Thursday night at the end of bathtime, after a particularly difficult day and an evening of nothing but fussing toddler, when Nate was gone to youth group, I got out the scissors and whacked off the rat tail.

Is it cute now? Not really. Still kinda funny looking. But at least it's not hideous anymore. :o)

While we're on the subject of firsts, I had a very strange first this week: I bought vodka for the first time. I've been in a handful of liquor stores and even purchased hard liquor a time or two, but this was my first time buying something for myself. (The other purchases were of apple brandy for my MIL to make her amazing apple jam.) I got the vodka thanks to Jennifer Reese's very annoying book, Make the Bread, Buy the Butter. She suggests you buy vanilla beans in bulk from Amazon, a cheap bottle of vodka, and try making your own vanilla extract. Gee, doesn't that sound like fun? Apparently I'm game because I ordered one ingredient and went to the liquor store for the other.

Actually, what really swayed me is that you can make several different kinds (maybe every kind?) of extracts  with vodka and the right ingredients. I purchased hazelnut extract last month and found it to be... well.. wanting is the kindest descriptor I can use. (Disgusting and disappointing are more accurate adjectives.) So I figured if I get the vodka to make vanilla extract, I could try my hand at hazelnut, too. And maybe some orange extract. Doesn't that sound yummy? Too bad it takes a couple of months to distill! You'll have to check back later for a report on my home-made extracts. I have high, high hopes.


I got some good (?) news at work this week: The management team asked me to take over the responsibility for a big, important data analysis project that we do once a year. The person who currently does this project is retiring in March and we are not going to fill his position (due to budget cuts). So they are distributing his workload. This is actually really good news to me. One of the reasons I wanted a promotion (the one I was vying for at the end of 2012) is that I am a little bit tired of my current workload. It has become routine and generally fails to challenge me anymore. I'm sure this big project will seem easy and routine in a couple of years, but for right now, I am really excited to do something new and big and important.


Last but not at all least: You might recall that one of my 2013 goals (#12) is to do some creative writing. I've had a few opportunities in the last couple of weeks to sit down and write; many thanks to my husband for running errands with the kiddo and providing the necessary free time. I drafted an outline for a brand new novel and even started writing the opening scene. I have about 6,400 words under my belt. I am amazed and pleased at how well the project is going! I hope Nate will continue to support me as I work toward my goal. Maybe this time next year I really could be ready to publish? Wouldn't that be a dream come true.