Author Archives: Kellie W

This weekend we should have been a little more productive, and I’ll get to that. However, we needed to also stop and celebrate that Ciera was chosen to be the 7th grade STEM teacher next year, go her! Chad also received a new job offer which will put him back to mechanicing full-time again, only about 5 minutes from home and no more having to drive the coastline every day. We took the time to celebrate both achievements (which suits me fine as then I don’t have to cook). A win-win for all! Ciera and I also took in Stroman Middle School’s One-Act Play. They did Anne of Green Gables and I think they did a great job. Lord knows I never did anything like that and still have zero desire to be on stage.

Now for the work – we went into the weekend knowing we were going to take out one of the hall railings and install the new. This is for the shorter side that overlooks the entryway. Well, we did that, but while we were tearing out the old, we both had the idea to extend the floor over the entryway making it a 10×11 usable area. This is going to become the “exercise” area (when we are done) and what I have as the current temporary exercise area will once again become a walk-in closet. This caused us some delay in the work project as a lot of discussion, measuring and visualization. We did put the handrail up, but it is now temporary. More because Mr. Binx and I are klutzes and well, we don’t need to go crashing down (although it would make for a funny story). Believe it or not, we did actually get some of the flooring done upstairs too.

Well, this weekend no real indoor projects happened as Chad got his cortisone shot in his hand on Friday and I insisted that he could only supervise. This means, he doesn’t trust me to do a whole lot. I get it, he is a perfectionist when it comes to this work so I’m not going to take it personally. I did install a new sprinkler system and replaced a couple sprinkler heads (believe it or not). I think the last time I had this much mud on my hands was when I was little making mud pies in the alley.

We did look at the planters I want to line the house with as well as started to discuss whitewashing/limewashing the bricks (thanks Jesse for the idea)! The other success was to get the outdoor cameras charged and set up. Papa will be able to see Ciera’s garden grow and see all of our hummingbirds! They are pretty cool. If he is lucky, he’ll get to see the squirrels torment Rodney (that is a hoot, not for Rodney, but I get a good laugh at it). Not a big weekend, but Chad’s hand comes first or there will be a massive halt on all projects and that would not be good.

We are still at it – we will be for a while as you all know. I didn’t get anything posted last week as I was in Corpus Christi with Ciera on Sunday and I’m sure if I tried to have posted something, it would have been an epic failure, so here is our last 2 weekends of work. It doesn’t seem like a lot and probably a true statement as we are on hold for some of it as we are waiting for materials to get in.

We have ordered all of the new banister parts and the wood stair pieces that are needed so we can finish the upstairs hall flooring. It is all supposed to be in this week, so fingers crossed by the end of next weekend it will be done. Most likely wishful thinking as Chad gets his cortisone shot in his hand on Friday, so it may end up being a TV weekend. I cannot complain as I definitely would not want to go through those shots/pain.

One of our setbacks was with the hallway outside of my office. Chad needed to put a second coat of paint on the wall so we could hang my office door. There are two windows on the one side of the hall and we knew we would be replacing the trim, so why try to tape and paint it, just remove the trim, paint and then we could put up the new. Well….take a look at the window now, it is broke. We thought we would replace these windows as they have a weird boarder on them, but not right away. Guess the house had different plans (or rather Chad).

We then decided we better start getting some quotes on windows, ugh. I knew windows were expensive and I know not everyone has seen every room in this house, but we do have A LOT of windows. We think we know who we are going to go with and waiting for the final quote to land in the inbox. They anticipate 3 days of work, ummmm that is going to be fun. Rodney will be happy as he’ll get to go have his play days, but the kitties, well that is going to be a nightmare, from them being scared to then probably figuring out that they could escape, thinking it might get a little crazy.

Speaking of the kitties, their cat hall is almost completed. We have to do the caulking yet and once we get the banister stuff in, then we can finish up the floor. Getting there!

The final thing we accomplished is my office door did get hung. Yahoo!

This weekend we did a lot of “things”, let me explain. 🙂 Saturday was spent tilling up the backyard for Ciera’s garden. Now, we all know I cannot grow a thing and all things I try to grow die…hence Ciera’s garden. However, picture this garden area as my new pool. That is EXACTLY what this area will become once Ciera finds her perfect home away from home. As Ciera grows veggies, I’ll just keep dreaming of my pool! The plus, I’m not ready for the pool yet so I guess free veggies for a season is a good thing. If I were to opt for the pool, then nothing on the inside of the house would get done, so I’ll just keep dreaming of my perfect backyard. A win-win situation (for now).

We did get the second vanity installed in Ciera’s bathroom, so the vanity area is 100% completed. We will start on the shower area next weekend, not a big fan, but it has to be done. Since we had a few extra hours on Sunday, why in the world would be just sit idle? Ok – can you tell I would have been fine with being lazy? Nope, we started on what I’m calling the “cat hall”. This will be an area where we will hide the cat boxes but will have some storage above so I can put all of Rodney’s towels (he does love his baths), all of his bling (collars) and all that miscellaneous stuff that comes when you treat your fur-babies like kids. Oh, how I need to get a life. 🙂 until then, well, a cat hall it is.

I know it will not look like much, but Ciera’s vanity area is painted, trimmed and one vanity is in. We found out (shame on me for not looking earlier) that the faucet we wanted to use will not work with these vanities, so new ones are needed. That will be a Lowes/Home Depot/Google search tomorrow.

Obviously, we need to also hang the mirror. The new light is up, but as of this posting, I don’t have a picture of it (I blame Chad, hee hee). It will all be completed next weekend, so we will have before and after pictures next week!

The office is finally completed! Ok – so I’m waiting for my shutters to come in (1st or 2nd week of April) but that is easy-peasy for Chad to install, so I’m saying my office is done! Chad also textured and primed Ciera’s bathroom… well the vanity area. We are going to get that 100% completed before we tackle the shower and tub, I don’t feel right totally upsetting her normal morning routine. We are getting there and that is all that matters, each weekend a little more complete.

We did have a couple surprises this week, as I have said, this house dictates what and when we do things. First the springs to the garage door broke – no big deal, we would just go get new springs, Chad would replace them and on with life we would all go. Nope – you cannot get the springs we needed for a couple of weeks. Ugh! Therefore, we called a local garage door company to come and fix it. I have to say, they were great and come to find out one of the previous owners had the wrong springs installed, so now we have a working garage door with the right springs. Thank goodness! We also encountered a surprise when Chad removed one of the vanity lights in Ciera’s bathroom. The picture will be below, but why in the world would you put the electricity through the right spot? Not in this house – let’s put it off to the side, so you have to move the wiring to the right spot to even hang a new light! It is now fixed, but these little hiccups always take extra time away from what you think you will be doing. It is ok, we are just going with it, as it will all look fabulous soon.

This weekend we did get my office moved to its official location in the house and I will have completed pictures next week. I have organized chaos right now as I had half of my office stuff still in boxes, so this week I’ll get everything unpacked and in its proper place. I took the week off with Ciera (her spring break) so I have all the time to get it how it needs to be. We also took out the final vanity in Ciera’s bathroom and have the tile laid and grouted. Ignore the yellow walls – we have to retexture the ceiling and walls, but it is starting to come together. She should have the vanity area functioning by the end of next weekend and then we will start on her tub/shower area. It will be fabulous when we are done and cannot wait to show the completed work if it turns out anything like we are planning.

I know, most people would say that the office is not the priority, but as you all know I literally live in my office, so once it is done, I would be ok with the rest of the house sitting. I just need to have a pretty place that feels like me for my workday. We only have to paint the trim and I can start to move into my new space. We also started to put the new flooring in the hall, to connect with the office. Naturally, the floor was not level, so fun and games there (otherwise I am betting my trim would have been painted and I could have been moving this week). Oh well, all is good as my house is starting to look like “me”. Yes, I know I share this living quarters, but I really don’t think Chad cares what I come up with. HA!

This weekend, it was all about the paint, in my office that is! I found this color for my office in Little Elm, and I still cannot shake it, so it is back. I have the deep red wine color that really pops once all of the trim is bright white. The walls are painted, new ceiling fan is up, and new air vent are all completed. Chad also started painting the hallway, but it is not exciting as it is boring white – there is a purpose behind the white, but not going to ruin the surprise. This weekend, fun with flooring (I so hope) then, I can start the move into my office (my home away from home). 🙂

We had the set back with the colds/Covid going through the house and started to get going last weekend before we had to make a very quick trip home to Nebraska. However, we were back at it this weekend. We won’t do much if anything next weekend as we will be back home in Nebraska as Chad’s mom passed away. Look for updates the following weekend. This weekend, Chad got the office and part of the hallway mudded and primed. We did go get the new office door and paint and fingers crossed he doesn’t have to work late this week as then the office will be painted and then we can work on installing the new floor. Regardless, progress!