Man down....Man down

We have officially had our first encounter with medical attention needed due to a house project gone bad! It really wasn't that serious but did require a few stitches and an update on the tetanus shot. If you haven't guessed, it wasn't me it was my beloved husband that had to endure this bit of immediate care madness to get his finger sewn up. If you don't know Adam's history, his childhood and even early college years had many trips to the ER and I think getting stitches is second nature to him at this point.

In our married life we only have had one ER run and that was due to a cat bite at the clinic he worked at for awhile. We felt a bit silly going to the ER for a cat bite, mind you it was a small little tiger I think that bit him or a really ticked off male cat, but the ER doc on call said you should always go to the ER for a cat bite due to all the nasty in their saliva. Your hand or arm can swell up huge in a very short time if not treated properly, who knew? Anyway I'm tangenting, you probably would like to know how this little incident occurred.

The story goes as follows, I was having a fun night out with some of my good friends that I grew up with and we were out to dinner. I knew Adam was going to work on removing a door casing for a portion of a door in the current closet so the door could be drywalled closed. That seems easy right? Not so much when your door casings are metal and you have to do a combo of using the reciprocating saw and a pry bar to get it out. So I look at my phone when I'm leaving the restaurant and I have 3 missed calls from Adam on my cell and 5 missed calls on my blackberry, that is usually not a good sign! I call to see what is going on and I get the following "Looks like I'm going to have to get a few stitches, OK got to go they need to check me in and told me to get off my phone." That is not a nice way to leave your wife when all she knows is that you have been using a saw on metal and your getting stitches.

I got a call back a couple minutes later and he said he was removing the last piece of metal casing and was using the pry, his hand slipped and hit the mangled metal and he looked and saw a hand full of blood. He mostly got his left index finger but a bit of his middle finger as well. On his index he hit the vein so he had to apply pressure quickly.

After about 2 hours at immediate care and a trip to CVS to get an antibiotic and some vicodin, if he need it, he made it home with a few stitches and his two fingers wrapped in gauze and other stuff. So needless to say I think his home construction duties might be on hold for a few days since he is left handed and probably shouldn't really be applying a ton of pressure to that area of his hand. It's OK he has finals next week and needs to study for those anyways, now he has no home items to distract him. I think he could find an easier ways of getting out of me nagging him to get something done next time :)

What's been going on?

Holy cow that might be the longest break I have ever taken from blogging! We have been doing stuff, I just keep forgetting to take pictures and work is really busy this time of year so I haven't had my few extra minutes at work or in the evenings to post anything.

Things that have happened in the last 6 weeks:

We got the closet framed in the master bedroom, now just waiting for Adam to start drywalling so we can finish that room.

We knocked out the wall in the 2nd bathroom that we will be moving to make the bathroom bigger and able to handle a stand up shower.

Put in some recessed lighting above the fireplace, we felt like our living room was dark and didn't want floor lamps everywhere. I've decided cutting the hole for this is a skill and Adam definitely was better with his circles this time then last, you live you learn.

We got rid of 2 1/2 tons of trash, I'm not exaggerating, it was literally 2 1/2 tons, you have to pay by the ton when you take it to the junkyard. I finally don't feel like the neighborhood blacksheep since there aren't windows, doors, and a bunch of other random stuff all over the place inside and out. Adam actually moved about 6 tons of trash over a 2 day period, ask if you want the full story. Lets just say junkyards aren't open on Saturday afternoons and Sundays and it is a good thing to find this out before loading a moving truck with 2 1/2 tons of trash when it had to be returned by 5:00 that day.

We were wanting to wait until closer to the end of the year to get a dining room set but ended up finding a sweet deal through World Market and they were having friends and family days this weekend so we ended up getting an additional 25% off. Basically it is a table with 2 leafs so if fully extended it can seat 8 people. We ended up getting the table 8 chairs and an 9 x 6 rug for $400 less than it would have cost to get the table and 6 chairs at the normal price. And to make it even better Adam and I both agreed on the table, it has some contemporary aspects that I like but still has classiness about it so that trendiness doesn't outdated it in a few year.

Here is a pic and it even includes the rug I bought, which I didn't realize until we got home and I was looking at it online:

Our house is starting to look normal

As I promised here are some pictures of the "new" and definitely improved living room with the long awaited carpet installed. It isn't fully decorated yet but you get the idea.

Before:

After:

I don't think I have posted the front door and entry way since it was completed. Below are pictures of the front door with the new trim and the finished slate tile entry.

Before:

After (In the picture at the bottomyou can see some more details of the carpet and tell that it has flecks of darker colors in it. I think this is going to be great with having a pet and potential munchkins down the road, you really can't see anything on this carpet as far as dirt goes):

This is the other room we had the carpet installed in the "3rd Bedroom/Office" it is currently holding some stuff that we moved out of the To-Be-Master Bedroom so that we can start working on that.

Another thing we got done this weekend was installing the first of two windows in the Master Bedroom. Of course the old ones were originally installed completely differently then any of the other we have worked on so this ended up being an all day affair to get the window to fit. At least we know now for the next one.

An exciting thing we were able to do this weekend was meet with a contractor to talk about the closet reconfiguration for the Master Bedroom. I had to run to a Baby Shower, but by the time I got back and talked to Adam they had figured out how to make my side a walk-in closet. These must be two men that know how to make a woman happy :) I was then instructed to figure out any custom shelving/design that I wanted, to make sure it would fit the dimensions they had discussed. I was right on that and I think we got that all figured out yesterday evening. Now we just need to reconnect with the contractor and see when he can start the job.

"So where are the carpet pictures" you say.....

I guess I'm being a bit of a girl about this one. Since this area of the house looks reasonably like a normal house I want it to be "pretty" before I post pictures. So I will take some this weekend after we get stuff arranged and it looks more of what I want to show everyone.

Oh by the way the carpet is absolutely wonderful, I think we came home and just laid on the floor and talked for 2 evening before we got the furniture moved back in to the room.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and enjoys the nice weather!

Preparation

Well the carpet is coming this Friday afternoon, so we are scurrying around trying to make sure everything that we would like to be done prior to carpet is done and then get thing moved and the floors cleaned up. Poor Adam has had the raw end of that deal since my abilities to do some of the projects or move heavy objects isn't all that great. I think one of our guy friends and maybe my brother might come over to help move furniture. Adam and I moving heavy furniture together might end in a spousal spat, so I think the guys coming over to help is a wonderful idea.

Friday should be a pretty crazy day, I am taking a 1/2 day off of work that day because I am in my good friend's Kim's wedding on Saturday, so Friday afternoon we are doing the pedicure thing, decorating and then the rehearsal dinner. So I will hurry home to let the carpet people in, then get the heck out dodge, Adam will be home a few hours later to check on them and perhaps be there when they leave. We both have roles in the wedding, I as a bridesmaid and Adam as an usher so we will go to the rehearsal and dinner that evening. A friend from out of town talked to Adam a few weeks ago and asked if he could sleep on our couch or something this weekend due to the wedding, I'm not sure if that means Friday night or just Saturday. So amongst all the madness we will also have a house guest. If he only knew what he is getting himself into, poor guy. Hey but at least there will be carpet, right!

The Carpet Man is Coming, The Carpet Man is Coming.....

We went this weekend, actually Monday, to look for some carpet. We found something we liked at a good price at McCools Flooring in Avon and I called to set an appointment yesterday for them to come out and measure on Thursday. This particular carpet is in stock so we are hoping we can get it in our house sometime next week, I guess we will find out for sure tomorrow. It is a lighter frisse (sp?) with some flecks in it and it is Mohawk brand. One thing if anyone is looking for carpet, always ask about their in stock items b/c you can usually get at least $1/sq ft off of the normal price. For instance, ours would be a $4 carpet normally but because it is in stock it is a $2.20 carpet, and it is a good quality carpet. Adam and I worked feverishly last night to get the two rooms that need measured to a state of somewhat cleanliness, actually I did the cleanliness thing while Adam continued putting up the trim.

Which leads me to Adam's newest "Man Toy," this weekend while out looking at carpet we also made a trip to Lowes where Adam purchased an air compressor and a nail gun. I only kid when I say a toy this has made the trim go up very quickly and we have a lot more stuff we will need to use the nail gun for such as all the cabinet moldings that still need to go up, the toe kick, the window casings and trim, etc, etc.

This weekend we will work to do all the touch ups that need to be done prior to the carpet coming in, I'm so excited that after 9 months of living in this house we will actually have a room with carpet and trim. Actually, the living room will basically be finished other than decorating.

And just in case you are wondering I don't know if the septic system is fixed yet. While at Lowes we got come of that stuff that is supposed to help get the bacteria back in balance and help if the system is being sluggish. I'm just not worrying about it right now and delighting in the fact that we are getting carpet, and the only thing we can't really use at the moment is the washing machine.

Why do I live in the city and I'm still on a septic system?

Actually I don't know how much this has to do with a recent plumbing problem, but I have always thought it was weird that we have a septic system and well water and live 43 blocks from the middle of a metropolitan city. I know we are scheduled to be converted in the next few years but why did it take 50 years for that to happen? Questions I will probably never know the answer to. Adam was excited that we were on well water because it reminded him of being in the country, I also grew up on well and septic, so I suppose it is fine.

On to the plumbing problem I briefly mentioned. For some reason the water in the drainage line for the south side of the house is not adequately draining or not draining fast enough and causing back-ups, especially when using the washing machine. Adam spent one evening underneath the house ripping out some of the old cast iron and replacing it with PVC and also making sure the drainage was at the proper angle leading out to the septic line, that has been to no avail. He also looked down the septic line with his flashlight and didn't see an clogs or anything and said he could see for a long way, plus there wasn't any extra water in the septic line coming back to the house, so that wasn't it either. He then spoke with a guy at Economy Plumbing (his plumbing store of choice) and they said it sounded like something was clogging one of your plumbing vents so that lack of air release wasn't letting the water flow fast enough and thus the back-up. So last night my husband climbed on top of our house with the shop vac and try to shop vac out anything potentially in the vent, that had to be interesting to our neighbors. He did get an acorn and thought that was the culprit, but we were still getting the back-up. I don't know what the next investigative step is, but I'm thinking perhaps a professional plumber might not be too far down the list.

Needless to say this has delayed our putting up trim, and thus getting the carpet. Hopefully we will get back on track with that soon. Sorry no pictures, but I don't really think you would want to see the garbage disposal food that was trapped in our line then came out and went all over the floor, and the picutre definetly would not have conveyed the smell!!!