A Termite Threat Calls for a BIG Black Circus Tent!?!

Mom had found some suspicious sand-like deposits near a couple door frames and hired a termite company to come check it out and give her suggestions on what it is and how to fix it.  The guy determined that the sandy stuff Mom had found was in-fact drywood termite pellets and he also found a couple strange mud tube cocoon-like structures that were evidence of subterranean termites that live in the ground.  Long story short, he suggested a combination of in-ground pesticide that would essentially create a protective moat around her house and a tent to kill anything living in the wood.  So we packed up photos and things in plastic to protect them and did all the other preparatory prerequisites from the list the guy gave her, then she packed an "essentials" suitcase and moved in with me for a few days!

Re-Fi...DONE!

I'd locked in a rate of 4.125% with Kern Schools Mortgage on August the 12th and then had to endure the waiting game to see if all the documents get processed and become official.  Not only was this refinance a good deal financially considering I bought my house with an interest rate of 6.75% and would be dropping more that two points, it was a necessity to get out from under the WORST mortgage company ever!!!  When I first bought the house I was with Taylor, Bean and Whitaker for the first couple years and never had any problems, but then that company went under and everything went downhill from there.  My mortgage was bought out by a company called CENLAR (Central Loan Administration and Reporting)...who had nothing but complaints and a Better Business Bureau rating of an "F"!!!  I was right there with them, I had only problems from the get-go!  The first thing that CENLAR did was raise my monthly payment on my 30 year FIXED loan, claiming they needed more in my escrow account?!?!  By the time I got out, over $1,000 (of MY money) was unaccounted for and lost forever!  One of the biggest questions I had for the Kern Schools Mortgage broker, was related to the process they use when they sell loans and I was relieved that they don't typically sell loans and even if they did, my payment would still be made to KSFCU because they'd always be governing the loan.  SOLD!   

Hard work...Yard work!

 I was over at Mom's house to help her dig out one of her Phoenix Robellini 3-headded palms so that we could attempt to re-plant it a bit deeper.  One of the three heads was starting to fall to the side and appeared to be dying because it was too far out of the dirt and wasn't being supported.  Knowing the plant was way to big and rooted for a simple shovel, Mom picked up a digging bar.  That thing was AMAZING!!!  It sliced through roots like butter and was strong enough to pry that ginormous plant up out of the ground (a shovel would have surely broke)!!!  It took hours of digging and prying but we got it!  We decided to slice off that 3rd head and pot it separately (hoping it would come back to healthy eventually) and just re-set the remaining 2 heads.  Ultimately the planting was successful, but unfortunately we ended up nursing a couple wounds from the ordeal.  Mom hurt her heal from hours of stomping on a shovel, and I bore a whole into my palm with the digging bar!

The guest bathroom gets a makeover!

I've been wanting to add some color to my house...nothing too crazy but something other than the tan, taupe like color called "Kilm Beige" that is throughout the remainder of the house.  So when I went to choose a color for the bathroom it took a few tries.  I did make sure to stay in the same saturation level as the taupe so that even when the color changed from room to room it wouldn't be so vibrant or different that it'd come smacking you in the face.  On the little paint sample cards I went across the color spectrum but stayed on the second tier to ensure equal saturation.  I finally settled on a grayish lilac purple color called "Sensitive Tint".  It looked really good accented with grays to dull it down and not make it too girly or eggplant colors to add a more jewel-toned richness to it...as you can see, I did both!  The master bathroom has hopes of becoming "Livable Green"...pictures to follow (someday)!  :-)

One More Renovation!

Wayne bought this headboard and footboard combo from a yard-sale I think.  His plan was to stain it and give it to Mom to use in her guest room (which was Wayne's old bedroom).  The only catch was that it didn't come with the metal supports that hook into the two pieces so he figured he could weld something that would work.  In the meantime, I offered to do the staining for him in return for his help, tools, and expertise with laying my new concrete on the side of my house!  It was a deal, so I got to work!  My concrete came out great, as did the stain!  Unfortunately, Wayne got busy with life, responsibilities, and his job so the bed-set remains in my garage at this point.

Tweaking a good thing to make it GREAT (for me anyway)!!!

I found this decorative metal tree at Home Goods and it was the tree itself that originally caught my attention but to my dismay it came in an antiqued coppery-gold color that did NOT match anything in my home but I just couldn't help myself.  I bought it and headed strait to LOWES to pick up some spray paint!  After a few coats of a semi-gloss black it fit right in to my existing decor!

Mom's new couches arrive!!!

Mom finally made the decision to revamp her living room!  We moved out the old couches curbside to donate them to charity (all except the big square pillow from the ottoman that had lost a wheel--that went to Ginger and Baylie).  This part was a bit harder for her than I expected, not physically, but emotionally because she was attached to the memories of our childhood in relation to the couches.  These are the new ones that she picked out...all of the sides on the love seat and the couch electrically recline!  The rocker also reclines but manually.  It was by far the best piece...crazy comfortable!!! The company delivered and set them up for her on July 19th!   The tables arrived a few days later and the TV console was hand-built by yours truly!  The set is beautiful and super comfy!  The entire living room was updated and rejuvenated!!!  

July 12th, 2011--Found a TV console that FITS!!!

For the past month and a half my TV has been perched on top of my coffee table because I had yet to find a console that meets the measurement specifications of the pre-cut wall inset where my TV hookups

were!  I'd searched everywhere from Target and Wal-mart to Woodland and MOR furniture without anything jumping off the racks at me!  On Tuesday July 5th, Mom and I finally stopped in at ASHLEY furniture and not only did she find a console that worked with her new flat screen but I TOO found the perfect one that fit my cubby!!!  Mom's house had some specifics that made it hard to find the just right console too!  At her house it would have to sit atop the bricks that gradually round around the sunken room so again the standard 60" was too long and most weren't deep enough to fit her existing music deck.  Anyway, in a crazy turn of events she came across one that matched the other dark wood furniture she'd recently purchased and I found one that was in a cappuccino color (in between a dark wood and black) that not only matched my existing decorations and furniture but they were both measuring tape approved!!! 

So we both purchased our finds and they were finally in for pickup at the warehouse on Tuesday July the 12th!!!  As soon as I got it home I began building!  I slid it in, hooked everything up and it all fit with only about an inch to spare total!!  I turned out exactly how I'd hoped because I wanted it to look as built-in or made to order as possible without paying for a custom build!!!  My living room finally looks a little more "grown-up" and a little less like a hodge-podge of "college leftovers"!!!  :)

Uh Oh...that's not supposed to happen!!!

It's Monday, June 20th, 2011 and I'd just gotten home after teaching summer school and running errands.  When I tried to unlock my back door to go inside the entire lock mechanism came out WITH my key!!!  Now, I'm no expert but I am pretty sure that THIS is not supposed to happen!!!  When I mentioned this to other people everyone quickly jumped to the conclusion that someone had tampered with the lock trying to break into my house.  I wasn't so convinced because the lock had been giving me trouble for weeks now.  Every time (before this) I

 had to jiggle the key around to get it to turn and the last couple days I actually had to steady the knob with my other hand to remove the key.  It seemed to be getting looser and looser until today, when it simply gave up and fell out I guess?!?  I gotta get it fixed one of these days though because I've already locked myself out a few times by twisting the bottom lock as I leave the house (out of habit) but from the outside there's no way to untwist the lock so I then have to go around to the front door to get in!  Problem is, installing a new lock means a new key or a locksmith to come out and key it the same as the rest of the house and all of that is just a pain--hence I have not yet fixed it!  

I Bought a NEW 55" Flat Screen TV on a whim!?!?

So I've been living in a real house for nearly 4 years now and although I've wanted to upgrade from my 32" college-sized TV to an adult-sized flat screen, it just hasn't been in the cards or finances until now!  Well, that's not 100% true...I had every intent to buy one back in 2009 but that just happened to be the year that Baylie tore her ACL and I found myself paying for an emergency surgery, meds and numerous checkups!  After taking some time (years to be exact) to pay off said expenses, I did some light research on big flat screen TVs and was beginning to think about making this big purchase.  To be honest, I had just gotten some unexpected news about my dad getting engaged and was in need of some SERIOUS retail therapy...next thing I knew I was standing in the TV row at Best  Buy in a somewhat overwhelmed catatonic state.  I couldn't seem to get anyone to help me and/or answer my questions so I decided to get out of the one store in Bakersfield that smells like a mixture of armpits and dirty feet and go some place where employees work on commission!

 I drove across town and arrived at Urners where I was approached almost immediately by a not too pushy salesman.  In chatting I found out that he was the father of 2 daughters (one of which was a teacher) and a son...I instantly saw my angle!  I asked him what he'd recommend to his own daughter who wanted size, quality, and performance without spending a million dollars.  The battle was between a 55" Sony and Mitsubishi flat screen TV...at first they were toe-to-toe, both were smart TVs with similar resolution and price but THEN he gave me the sound demonstration!!! 

The Sony had two built in speakers that output decent sound and had an optional sound bar you could pay extra for.  The Mitsubishi TV on the other hand boasted 12 built in speakers that delivered 5.1 Dolby surround sound--I was SOLD instantly!!!  Sure someday I might splurge for a home theater speaker system, but no time soon that's for sure so this was the best option for me right now!

 So...I bought it, paid cash (well debit, but it's essentially the same thing), and turned down the extra $75.00 delivery and installation fee so that I could take it home with me right then!  I got it out of the car myself and used a skateboard to "carry" it around to the front door...then pushed it into the living room.  I had a momentary heart attack when I realized the box was bigger than the entertainment center cut-out cubby hole!  Luckily the TV was well packed in Styrofoam and ended up fitting PERFECTLY into its new spot with about an inch margin on each side...seriously couldn't have done better if I'd measured (which I didn't)!!!  I got it all set up and working by myself and temporarily perched on my coffee table...next order of business...finding a TV console that also fits into the dumb wall cut-out!!!          

A Pink Extension Cord!!!

Ahhh the joys of yard work...it's a tough job but somebody has to do it--oh, wait that's me!!!  It's a bit hard to think back to all the random things that happen in everyday life especially when I'm trying to do so nearly 6 months after the fact but according to my bragging text message that I'd sent to mom this all went down at the end of May 2011 too--like I said, May is busy!!!  I was diligently doing yard work, trying to keep up with the "Jones'" (who all but one have professional gardeners).  I'd already finished mowing both yards and weed-eating around the edges when I decided to go for broke and trim up all the bushes too (at least in the front yard)!  I began by going all "Edward Scissor-hands" on my coast live oak tree out by the sidewalk because that darn thing grows in crazy directions and needed some serious shaping!  Sadly, I'm no arborist and have NO idea how to properly prune such a tree so I got out a ladder, plugged in my Black & Decker Hedge-Hog and started chopping!!!  I finished when I was adequately satisfied with the tree's new proportions and then made my way over to one of my Robellinies (Date Palms).  This is where the mishap occurred, you see the date palms are still pretty low to the ground and they'd gotten pretty bushy through the spring season so I had to either be squatted down or hunched over to prune out the under layers and when I was about 1/2 way done my saw blade snagged my extension cord and gardening was over!  Lucky I wasn't electrocuted but slightly perturbed that I had to stop in the middle and leave a bush partially pruned to go to Lowe's to buy a new cord.  Imagine my surprise when I saw this beauty on the store shelves--PINK!!!  Not only was it a fabulous color, it boasted a beefy 14 gauge, 13 AMPs with a lighted receptacle PLUS it was the perfect length for my yard 80 feet (50 is not quite enough and 100 gives me too much, leaving me with a tangled mess)!!!   I know these things are abnormal to get excited about but when the job always falls to me these things matter!!!  :-)

Classroom Upgrades...Spring Break...April 2011

Highland High School went through modernization a few years ago and most teachers were given brand new blue desk chairs...I actually opted out of the order because they really weren't very comfortable and my old hand-me-down chair was actually quite comfy--just a bit of an eye sore!!!  To be honest, I forget exactly when I decided to reupholster my chair but I'm pretty sure it was over my Easter break sometime after I'd run across the most PERFECT (albeit gaudy) plaid material!!! Highland's mascot is the

Scotsman and he dresses in a Royal Blue and Kelly Green plaid kilt and this material was IT...and at a low low clearance price of 70% off (which brought it down to less than $2.00 a yard) a downright steal!!!  For my

first reupholstered desk chair I gotta say it came out looking pretty good!  Thanks to mom giving me the idea to use the old material as the pattern because I was trying to decide how to measure everything out and was a bit

scared I'd get it all ripped apart and never be able to get it put back together again!  Admittedly there were a couple of humpty-dumpty touch and go  

moments where I had one stripped screw and a couple extra parts with no place for them to go, but with a bit of frustration and some creative thinking everything seemed to come together in the end!  Once I got it back to school a bunch of people wanted one just like it!  :) 

New Plaster in Mom's Pool!

There has been a few reoccurring rust stains that keep appearing in the bottom of the pool and it was getting so rough especially on the edges of the steps that the only solution was to re-plaster.  Most of the work was done from February 7-10 but due to rainy weather some of it had to be postponed and it was finally refilled on the 25th.  They were also able to fix/fill a couple of spots where the cement had lifted away from the tiles (thanks rogue tree roots) with a special grout--now you can hardly see the problem spots! Anyway, after the pool was drained I had gone over to see the progress...the sandblasting part had already been done. I was a bit afraid of what the dogs would do because they normally sprint to the back yard and immediately jump in the pool...I'm not sure they'd even notice the water wasn't there, so this day I kept them on leashes just in case! Once I led them down the steps I let them play around in the empty pool--I think they were rather confused about the whole thing! The worst part was that all this work kept the girls from being able to swim until spring break (April 2011) because after the new plaster was done it had to be submersed in the water to cure for over a month and I didn't dare risk claw marks in it! This made going to "Gramma's" house a challenge because they would stand at the door begging, barking and whimpering to go out to swim and we couldn't let them! O-well, they've been spoiled (admittedly) and they lived through it obviously! The pool looks brand new again and the steps are no longer pumice stones for feet and swimsuits! :)