Property Taxes Are FINALLY Due…
I know, why would I complain about that a bill hadn't come yet, especially one as large as my biannual property tax bill. But usually it comes in August... and due to this or that, it only just arrived. The interesting thing is that my property taxes actually went DOWN by about 13%, hardly something I was expecting. The payment site was getting slammed yesterday, but was up this AM. Done and Done.
home ownership
One thing that is cool about owning vs. renting is that you actually get to make decisions on stuff and then make changes.
We recently decided that we were going to spend a little money upgrading our master bathroom. I say master, because it is connected to the master bedroom, but there is little MASTER about it. It is relatively tiny and just not that awesome. It is fine for us, but it could be way nicer. So we decided that we were going to give it an overhaul. Nothing insane, no moving walls around or anything, just some new coverings. We are going to replace the vinyl flooring with tile, the fiberglass shower surround in tile, the too large vanity with a better sized one. We will also replace all the accessories, etc.
The biggest thing is the tub (no pun intended). The issue is we have a space of 60x30 for the tub, which is a standard size, but we want a deeper tub. Rebecca actually TAKES baths, so having a deeper tub would be a great improvement. BUT alot of the nicer tubs are 60x32 and that 2 inches would involve moving a door AND putting the tub REALLY close to the toilet. So we are stuck with 60x30. And finding that 60x30 tub is proving a bit of a pain. But I think I can make it all work.
In observance of earth day (and the fact that the weather was perfect) I redid the backyard yesterday. I pulled up all the old grass, tilled up the dirt, removed the 2 bushes on the side, installed the in ground sprinkler system, and laid new sod. It was hard work, but nothing too complex. And I am really happy with the result. The line for the sprinkler is under the grass, but it is not buried in the garden box. I figure we will likely redo the garden soon, and we can bury it then. And by we, I most likely mean rebecca and her mom. Or somehow involving her mom.
I really like the sprinkler system. I know, it is lame, because we don't have the much grass. But they rule. They pop up, cover all the grass and the garden, with virtually 100% coverage and nearly zero overspray onto the patio. If is weren't windy, you could sit there and have the sprinklers on with out worry of getting wet. One of the heads isn't perfectly straight, and it is pissing me off. Provided it isn't raining at the end of today, I will be out there cleaning up the yard waste, and I will try to fix it.
But yeah, owning your own place rules. Once the garden and sod are all good, I will take some pics. It will be a great yard for mason too.
ah, the joys of being a parent…
As many of you know, I drive a loud audi. It is actually probably too loud, but I enjoy it, so I am not feeling too bad about it. Anyway.... last night I drove home from work, as I tend to do, and I parked in front of the house. I parallel parked it in the spot in front of the house, so I was making a decent bit of noise. I parked and got out and as I was pulling out the keys to unlock the front door, it opens and rebecca is there holding a smiling mason. Not used to being greeted at the door, I asked what was up.
Turns out as I pulled up and was parking, mason was hanging out on the 3rd floor with rebecca. Mason pointed at the windows and said 'daddy'. That is awesome, my child recognizes my car by sound.
The joys of being a father.
The final steps…
so the primary reason there have been so few blog posts lately is directly related to mason. While his 1st birthday was this past saturday (10/21), the party is this upcoming saturday (10/28). Since we are having 30ish people at the house for this family gathering, we have been working to get all the random projects done.
As we approach the final days, we are actually doing really well. The downstairs has received a lot of attention, and it is looking great. The den is essentially done, with all the shelves up, pictures hung, etc. I still need to fix the hanging rug, but that isn't much. Quarter round, touch ups, etc are all done and the room is looking great. And the rug my mom found looks awesome on the floor.
The downstairs bathroom is also done, or as done as it is going to get before the party. I replaced the vinyl floor with a black granite tile, which came out good for my first time. I replaced the exhaust fan with a nicer unit that has an integrated light, which really brightens the room and looks pretty good. Mike and I replaced the existing 'vanity' style light bar with a nice 3 halogen unit (which took some work) and it too lights the vanity very well. I also replaced the old boring fixture with a nicer nickel one and we updated the pulls on the cabinets. Touched up the walls, swapped the shower curtain, and it is looking great. I am happy with that room. I would still like the change towel hardware and the counter top, but that isn't happening soon.
I also cleaned out a bunch of the closet, emptying a few boxes and making space in there. I ran a piece of PVC pipe through the wall and put the linux server in the closet to keep the noise out of the den. I also moved the humming AC adaptor for the Directv splitter in there too, much nicer from a noise point of view.
In the laundry room I hung a few shelves to get the paint cans off the floor and free up some space. We also got a bar to hang the brooms, etc from the wall, and it is kinda awkward, but it works.
Ralph is supposed to do the tile this week in the foyer, and then I need to chase it with sealer and some quarter round and that room will be done. Score. That will be it for that floor for now... We need to get the VW ads on the wall in the downstairs hallway and I want a key hook of some kind, and we need to get some pics into the picture frames on the wall in the foyer, but... it is pretty much there.
Upstairs I put the transition piece in and we swapped all the drawer hardware in the kitchen. We also put roman shades in the living room as well as the wall hanging over the couch. A few touchups and it is looking great as well.
We didn't do much on the 3rd floor. We put up the chair rail in mason's room (looks great!) and replaced all the closet doors/bathroom cabinet hardware.
So overall, it is looking great, as so long as ralph comes through on the foyer, we are going to be looking great on saturday for the party...
After all this is done, I will take a bunch of pictures for a before and after thing. It is going to rule.