Sorry about the lack of postage...

...we've been busy elsewhere. We'll get back on here, though, just as soon as we get back from this weekend...and then next weekend is the big book sale...

When am I supposed to work on my house?!?!

Valentine's Weekend

What progress did we make on the house this Valentine's Weekend?

I cleaned a little to impress my wife.

I think she was impressed.

Cabinetry

Cabinets are awesome when they work right: containing your culinary equipment, they allow the rest of your house to breathe easy knowing a random skillet or dutch oven will mind its own business and stay in the kitchen. That crystal cake server that comes out twice in five years can rest easy in a cabinet, out of the way. Cabinets come with drawers, too, where silverware can lie in relative safety.

Cabinets also support countertops, which are awesome if kept clutter-free. How do you keep a countertop clutter-free? Lots of cabinets.

However, cabinets are really scary, so we should hire them out. Otherwise, we'll be in real trouble with the whole leveling process. Unless any readers have had experience with cabinets and know that installing them is really as easy as pie.

Slightly Daunted

All right, we've been looking at how much we have left to do on the house, and it turns out that it's quite a bit. Not all of it is DIY stuff, either, so we're kind of left with a laundry list that we'll need contractors or a lot of daring to attempt. And I still haven't finished the insulation...

While it's still cold, we'll continue going through our stuff as we have been, and we'll be planning the next stages of renovations. If we could get that kitchen done, it would be a huge load off. We have a very reasonable quote, but we'll have to reexamine to see what portions we're willing to try so we can afford to get started soon. I'm confident that God will continue to take care of us and move us along, though.

Peace!

Another Box

Annie and I spent some more time in the garage room last night, and another box full of unwanted material resulted. Plus, Annie got to use some of those revolutionary Space Bags. You know the ones: you put your clothes in and then you apply your vacuum to shrink away your storage woes. I was impressed. What'd really help solve our space issues, though, would be to get some good cabinets in the kitchen...

One huge box

Saturday, Annie and I took a couple of hours and went through a number of belongings. We ended up with one big box full of things we realized we don't need. I imagine we'll continue tonight, since we don't have anywhere to go, and the weather outside is frightful.

Pro 22:13 The slothful [man] saith, [There is] a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets.

Weekend Fun

It's Super Bowl Weekend. Go Saints.

Also, perhaps we'll set aside an alarming number of ugly and/or useless things to sell at a church fundraiser later this year. Also, we're starting the process of pricing out the kitchen renovation this weekend. We need new flooring, new cabinets, new walls...that's about it, really. Wow, it doesn't sound like very much when you put it that way.

Ugly, useless things need to GO

All right, at this point I'll be happy to see some progress with the boxes that are all packed up in the garage. We've been living without much of that stuff for six months now, and perhaps it's time to start going through it and seeing what we can live without. Annie will be out for most of this evening, so I'll jump in with both feet. Maybe I'll finally have something to post on Freecycle...

Tax Credits

Did you know that you can take a 10% tax credit on whatever you spent on insulating your home in 2009? I'll take it! With that and the new homeowner tax credit, I might just be able to convince the government to give some of my money back!

Ice

So, I didn't do anything to the house yesterday, per se, but I did shovel the walk and clear the ice off of Annie's car! And then I coughed a lot.

Not Much Got Done This Weekend

I'm recovering from what I believe to be a milder form of Annie's recent illness. Instead of tunneling my way under the house Friday, I could be found tunneling further under the covers.

It may be a while before I can get underneath the house, though; there is a lot of ice and snow in the way.

So how did I put forth effort to benefit my household? I started the taxes. I seem to recall something about a new homeowner tax credit...