Premature plantulation

This past weekend it was super nice and I couldn't resist planting a few things in the vegetable plot. It may have been a little early but a few of the sprouts were totally busting out of their little greenhouse and pushing the plastic cover off. So sweet corn, beans, and broccoli got planted.



This morning I saw a robin enjoying the broccoli sprouts. D'oh! Bad bird. I should have sic'ed Peanut on the bird but there was already a Peanut vs bird incident this weekend, and I don't want to encourage such violent behavior.

Plants planted!

It was a productive weekend all in all around the bungalow - my good friends Robb and Rolando came over to help get the garden going. Adam and I cleaned all the debris out of the vegetable plot and turned over the soil:



Rolando brought a bunch of plants from their place - some day lillies & sunflowers, and planted those among the other perennials emerging from the previous owners. So far we have tulips & rosebushes in the front and back, some blue flowers that I don't remember the name of, and some grass-like plants that don't seem to have any buds just yet:



Best of all, while Rolando and I were planting, Adam and Robb put the grill together, and Adam grilled up some tasty sassages from the Polish deli around the corner:

Dishwasher ordered!

This bad boy is on the way. Because Whirlpool is one of our clients at work, I get a nice discount. We're going to try to install it on the right side of the sink, where the space available is just shy of an inch too narrow. It would fit perfectly where those drawers are on the left, but then I wouldn't have the drawers anymore, and would lose a ton of essential storage.



Unless it's going to be a ridiculous amount of work, the plan is to cut into the plaster wall to the right and somehow make it fit. I believe I've convinced my father to take this project on. It'll be interesting, stay tuned.

Laminate floor ordered!

So much for my desire for instant gratification and getting the office makeover done this weekend, but things are definitely moving forward. After reading some reviews of the Costco laminate, I decided to just go with Pergo from Lowes. The savings wasn't really that significant, as this is such a small room. So I picked out Golden Bamboo by Pergo.

Just as an aside, I need to rant about Lowes' website. It's really terrible and quite difficult to find anything using the site's search function. Plus, it's totally confusing as to what is available in the actual store vs. what can be ordered online. I was going to paste a link to the laminate that I selected, but I wasn't in the mood to search through 2,000+ results to find the right product. Typing in "bamboo laminate" brings me to a product page for ceiling planks. I generally really like shopping at Lowes, but their website blows!

Anyway, I didn't realize the flooring had to be special ordered, but that's how it works. It should be in sometime later this week, or early next week. Until then, the office will remain in limbo.

Painting finished

Last night I did two coats of Bungalow White in my office, and it's looking quite good. A gallon of paint was just barely enough for two coats. I still have some edging to touch up, but I'll do that later tonight. I'm glad I went with the satin finish - it gives a nice subtle sheen that will reflect light but not look glossy. Pics later - it was too gloomy this morning to bother taking a picture.

Tonight we're going shopping to check out the dishwasher in person we picked out at Abt, and to Costco to see what their deal is on the bamboo laminate that I saw there a month or two ago.

The laminate flooring can't get installed soon enough - this morning I found yet another "accident" from Peanut on the office carpet. I hesitate to even call it an accident, because I *know* she realizes she's not supposed to pee on the floor! The plan is to get a few really cheap throw rugs that I can easily toss in the washing machine if (ha, I should just say WHEN) they get dog-soiled.

Sanding and Priming - check

Friday I sanded, and yesterday I primed the office. Per my dad's advice I'm just going to do one coat of primer, and I hope he's right. I picked out a color - amusingly enough, it's called "Bungalow White". It's basically an off white/vanilla - nice and light but not blindingly white.

Today we'll buy the paint, but I'm not sure if I'll get to the actual painting - we are going out to spend Easter with my folks for the afternoon. I could have been ambitious and gotten up super early this morning, but that didn't happen. That's okay - I can paint Monday or Tuesday after work.

Commence Office Makeover

So with 3/4 of a long weekend still before me, I am officially starting the office makeover. The plan is to first clear as much as I can out of the room, then begin sanding the wood paneling to prep for painting. I borrowed my dad's orbital sander, and purchased a mini shop vac to clean up the dust. As soon as the sanding is done, I'll start taping and then do hopefully just 2 coats of primer to cover the paneling. My goal is to have it at least primed, if not painted, by the end of the weekend.

As far as flooring, I'm still looking at doing a laminate bamboo. The goal is to get that done next weekend, so the furniture in the room doesn't have to be displaced for longer than a week.

Energy-saving appliance grant NOT granted

One of the first things I did after moving in last October was to submit my application to the Historic Chicago Bungalow Association to receive their $500 energy-saving appliance voucher, a one-time grant available to those who purchased and certified their Chicago bungalow. I was eagerly awaiting the voucher so we could purchase a dishwasher for the house.

In November I received a letter from the HCBA stating that they were out of funding for the year, but I would be put on a waiting list when funds became available in 2009. After a few attempts to follow up and check the status, I finally heard back. They no longer have funding for the grant, and do not foresee receiving any funding.

I'm pretty bummed, but I'm glad I can finally stop waiting and just buy a dishwasher. We're probably going to take a trip up to Abt over the weekend (ideally on chocolate chip cookie Saturday) to commence the shopping.

I'm still here.

Nope, this is not an April Fool's joke. So where have I been? Well, suffice it to say that it's been a VERY eventful last few months, but not the good kind of eventful. Without going into all of the rather unpleasant details, we're hoping to put the past 3 months behind and move on to better times. Needless to say, everything house-wise got put completely on hold, but now that spring is looming, we're hoping to get back on track soon with a few projects:

1. Deep spring cleaning. Next week I have a crew coming to do a deep cleaning. I'm going with a place highly rated on Angie's List so hopefully we will be pleased with the results. I was planning on taking off a week from work to do this myself, but it's honestly really something I don't mind spending a few bucks on. Speaking of Angie's List, I've been pretty happy with every vendor I've found on there. It's a very easy way to do research and find prospective contractors and get reviews all in one place. So far I've found it well worth whatever it is that I pay for it.

2. Replace the nasty carpet in my office. Due to some of the whirlwind of events of the last few months, we now have a dog, Peanut. And the cats are enjoying an extended vacation with my parents out in the 'burbs. Peanut is a very enthusiastic and energetic Jack Russell terrier. with LOTS of energy to burn. Unfortunately, as a result of some of the stress the household has been under, she's been having some accidents. Mostly in my office. So it's basically this kind of disgusting den of dog pee right now. I've been cleaning the carpet with carpet shampoo after every incident, but I'm sure it's not good for whatever's beneath the rug. My plan is to rip up the carpet (it was super nasty when we moved in and I've planned on removing it anyway) wand install laminate bamboo flooring in there. She won't pee on the hardwood floors, so my plan is to put some throw rugs that can be easily tossed in the washing machine. I'm still debating if laminate is the right way to go. I like the way it looks, but I also use the room as a sort of greenhouse, so I'm constantly watering plants in there. Getting water on laminate is not good... but I think it will be okay as long as I clean it up right away if there's a spill. Thoughts?

3. Get front porch steps fixed. So our stairs are made out of concrete cinderblocks and the bottom step is totally crumbling and breaking. I'm in the process of getting estimates to either just fix that step or possibly replace the whole thing with non-cinderblocks. I don't really love the way the cinderblocks look, and I don't think they have a particularly long lifespan. Not sure if the bottom stair was just due to break this year, or if it was as a result of the salt we put on the steps. Anyway, they need to be fixed.