FrankenPiper recovers
Posted by Sarah in home, miscellany on Jan 19, 2012 | 1 comment
In the first week of the new year, we found out Piper had cancer. Mast cell cancer, which is vastly to be preferred over the osteocarcoma that our dog Lola developed. This week Piper had surgery to remove three lumps and the vet couldn’t locate her lymph node which seems to make a good case for it not being involved. All the lumps were subcutaneous, so there was no cutting of muscle tissue.
Piper has drugs and has had humans home with her all day for the last couple of days, so it’s safe to say she’s not that unhappy in her current circumstances. In two weeks the staples come out and in the meantime she’s taken JUST FINE, thankyouverymuch, to using a step stool to get on our bed. Also, peanut butter and bacon treats.
Let it Snow
Posted by Sarah in books, geek toys, home project, movies, tv on Oct 26, 2010 | 0 commentsFirst real snowfall has hit and like most mountain-dwelling Coloradans, I’m happy to see it. I’ve been looking forward to winter – something unique for me and definitely a result of our new locale. While I haven’t missed all the folk who can’t drive well in snow and the Nervous Nellies who make it more dangerous for all of us, during the drive home I got to see the wind shoving clouds over some mountain peaks at close range. It made it look like the mountains were shaving off bits of cloud with each gust and it was just generally excellent. Immediately I was less annoyed about the painfully slow drivers in front of me and enjoyed the slow cruise home.
The last couple of posts were of the home improvement progress. With any luck this weekend will see us nearing completion on the project.
I’ve got new Kindle skin love rocking right now, too. Since I’m contemplating a NaNoWriMo stab next month I’m trying to wrap up Dreadnaught and not get sucked into any of the ridiculous number of books in my Unread folder.
Random TV notes: I’m still really enjoying The Mentalist, Medium, Castle, Criminal Minds, The Big C, Modern Family, Community and Gray’s Anatomy. I find myself fast-forwarding through Chuck more than I’d like and I’m still utterly on the fence with this season’s Supernatural. To be honest I’m rather wishing they’d actually ended it last season, as this is feeling a bit like Buffy season 7. Related, Lifetime has been replaying old Gray’s eps (I discovered this as my DVR has its own brain and recorded them) and I had forgotten how much awesome used to be jammed into every episode. This season is feeling like that. I also have to credit the Spouse for making me watch Modern Family. Without fail it is laugh out loud funny in EVERY episode and will invariably leave me chuckling long after. I feel like an idiot for missing it so long.
In film updates, Splice. What a fucked up, creepy and skeevy film. It was engrossing, however, unlike – say – IRON MAN 2. What the hell happened with that? It’s like they decided in lieu of a plot to insert Mickey Rourke and 10x more guns than the first one. Oh, and a whiny nagging Pepper. Ugh. Spouse says: I guess we won’t have to worry about seeing the 3rd one. It’s the second major film disappointment in recent memory (up there with Robin Hood) but made me feel good about not having shelled out cash to see it in the theater. I am, however, still wanting to see RED on the big screen.
Not quite endless
Posted by Sarah in home project on Oct 15, 2010 | 0 commentsI only did about 5 impossible things at work this week. Clearly I am a rockstar nonpareil. The end result of course is that, for a change, I am bone-weary.
Once I got home I changed some lightbulbs (so exciting!) because they were of different finishes – apparently one was soft white and the other daylight, which made the bedside tables look a bit annoying. It turns out that since I last bought CFL bulbs the technology has come a long way. Now the bulbs are tiny enough to be hidden by pretty much any lampshade and I’m happy with the end result. The emergence of two new bedside lamps means the two mismatched ones will be relocated. I think it’s time to finally say goodbye to the tall halogen lamp in the corner of the living room.
The house looks a bit weird with all the walls blank. Not exactly blank, mind you, because of all the color but no photos, mirrors or the like. In fact, given the huge space in the middle of the living room/dining room/stairway I’m kind of tempted to leave the walls blank because the color seems to be more decorative now that you can see all of it. I imagine this decision will be debated for months in my head.
The project is winding down. There’s a bit of electrical which is still to be sorted but tomorrow we’ll cut drywall patches, nail in the flooring patch and get ready to paint. Re-paint in some cases but I’m excited to see how it will all turn out.
I’m thinking about participating in NaNoWriMo this year. A story outline is working itself out in my head, I think.
End of work week
Posted by Sarah in hausfrau, home on Jun 23, 2009 | 0 commentsSort of. I’m done with my shifts at the club, but I felt like I worked TWO shifts today. While the inside-house paint project is done for a couple of months, the deck isn’t entirely finished. I stained the decking last week but hadn’t finished the railing. Since we used as much of the OLD railing possible, I had to get paint to cover the old paint job.
I picked the paint up today and got all of the new railing covered. Tomorrow I finish the old section of railing and then I’m honest-t0-goodness done with paint until after my EMT exam. We’re going to have some company on Friday, so it also means that the deck will be completely finished by then.
The weather was just about perfect for painting- sunny with a light wind, even though the internet weather was calling for rain. Being this close to the mountaintops makes just about all weather forecasting irrelevant. Mostly we look at the radar and then see how things roll in. I was a bit more than half through with the paint job when the wind kicked up and some cloud cover cropped up. When it finally felt like it might rain, I checked the sky and could see sun and blue sky just to the other side of the clouds and decided to gut it out. Sure enough, barely sprinkling.
It’s funny here how you can always see around the weather. This summer has been beautiful – temps of about 70 and sun pretty much every day. We’ve had more rain than they usually get this time of year but everything dries so quickly that you barely notice it.
Tomorrow we have erranding to do and then it’s all school and relaxation for a couple of weeks.
End of the week roundup
Posted by Sarah in hausfrau, home, movies, travel on Jun 20, 2009 | 0 commentsThe inside upstairs paint projects are DONE. That includes touch ups where we changed lighting fixtures. There’s a guy outside right now hanging a gutter on the back of the house because they old owners didn’t have one. Gutters are the last home improvement for (at a minimum) the next year, if not more.
In terms of current home improvements, I painted the front deck post and have started painting the front deck bench. The benches were a gift from my in-laws for our wedding. When they’re pushed together and the backs are flattened, they become a picnic table. Very cool, but also makes restaining a challenge. I’m going to do it in two parts. 
All that remains is the railing on the back deck and the back deck bench. I’m very happy at the prospect of being DONE for a while.
In related news, I got an 83 on my exam which I’m pretty happy about. First exams suck because you’re never quite sure what the test is going to look like. I’m excited about class time in July.
With any luck, our plans today will include a trip to Frisco for BBQ and maybe seeing The Proposal.
House project, phase 1 complete (lots of pics)
Posted by Sarah in hausfrau, home on Jun 19, 2009 | 3 commentsPaint project upstairs is finished. Colors used: Sherwin Williams – Cavern Clay, Lemon Verbena, Golden Gate, Dormer Brown.
View from the front door. All the walls used to be the same color.
I’m really really happy with how the colors have turned out. I’ve said it before, but the Sherwin Williams paint chips are – without fail – balls on accurate. The color on this chip is the color on your wall, period. I pay a little more for the paint but I am never, ever surprised. Also, SW does a good job of sending out coupons and giving you deals if you’re on their Preferred Customer list (which you can do at any store by giving them your mailing address). Their deals are typically 20-30% off – I got all of
Left LR wall from the front door. New color: SW Dormer Brown.
the paint for these projects at 30% off. I used their Cashmere line, Low Lustre (if you care).
My tools for this project were the Shur-Line 9″ roller with padded handle and extendable arm, Shur-Line Edge Like a Pro, a 1″ paintbrush, latex gloves and Ziplock bags. I did a better job using those supplies (and no tape) than the “professional” who painted this place last. The only thing that required tape was light outlets and the one edge of cupboards because there wasn’t enough wallspace for the edger.
New color: SW Lemon Verbena.
I maintain that the edger is the single best paint tool innovation since the roller brush. It takes a little use to get the hang of it, and you need to wipe off the guides after every pass, but it is completely and utterly worth it. You CAN wash and reuse the pads, but I’ve been just pitching them after I’m done with the color.
The Ziplocks are invaluable between coats. Instead of trying to wash rollers and pads, sticking them in the zips until I’m using them again. It also makes for easy disposal when I’m
View from the dining/kitchen entry
finished – keeping me from getting paint all over myself when taking off the rollers. Buying a box of gloves is also much more practical than getting the little packages from the hardware store. Then you can just dispose of them whenever you’re done without feeling pressured to reuse them.
The basement project will be a lot more work and is going to be postponed until probably August, when I’m done with school.
View from dining/kitchen entry.
We’re having some folks over for a ‘deck-warming’ tonight. Mostly the house is squared away (hence the photos) but I’ve also got to review for my exam tonight.
View from kitchen/dining entry. New color: Cavern Clay.
Dining room from kitchen. Cavern Clay on the left Golden Gate on the right.
Golden Gate. Kitchen buddha matches the paint!
View from dining room. The mask covers our thermostat!
My fave shot of the dining room. Cavern Clay.
New sliding door.
Baseboards have been stained, we have to get paint for the railing.
Our mountain view from the deck.
Our room. Dormer Brown on back wall.
Gratuitous Piper shot!
This project is close to done!
Posted by Sarah in hausfrau, home on Jun 17, 2009 | 0 commentsGot the clearcoat done on the deck – now I’m just hoping that it doesn’t RAIN.
I’m painting the last living room wall today! I’m not PLANNING on painting any of the other rooms, but since my exam got postponed, I’m not making any promises.
Sooooo it turns out that I may be a color addict.
Posted by Sarah in hausfrau, home on Jun 16, 2009 | 0 commentsIt turns out, once I get started I can’t stop. I had full intentions of leaving the rest of the upstairs paint project (read: living room) until August. Then I started thinking, ‘HEY, those two walls are WAY smaller than the two I just painted. I bet I could knock those out in no time!’ And then I woke up at 6:00 am.
I put all the clean dishes away, loaded the dishwasher, loaded my Zune, and painted the first coat on wall 1. I’ll have enough time between now and when I go to work to do the second coat as well. Sweet!
The current debate is whether or not to maintain my two-color pattern. The dining room/kitchen has a gold/terracotta mix (one on each wall). The living room will either be 1) all moss-green (lemon verbena to be specific) or 2) one wall green, one wall tan. I won’t know for sure until I see the second coat.
I understand that some people like to live in white and off/white walls, I just can’t wrap my head around WHY.
I think it’s time for a toaster strudel and action movie. Or maybe studying.
Link to photos of current house projects.
