Week ending 9/25/09

On Saturday and Sunday, I spent an hour getting the second window shade up and then C and I worked on the slatwall for the garage. We got all 4 of the 2' x 8' plywood panels up and it looks great! I have to finish putting all the screws in and then block out the space for the door opener, site the slatwall and mount it. Then the best part of all comes - I get to buy accessories and put our stuff away! I am very much looking forward to being able to easily get to our recreation equipment.

Total hours to date on windows and doors: 311.25

Here is a before picture of the front section of the righthand wall of the garage where the slatwall will go.

One panel up:


Two panels up:


And all 4 panels up. I love how it brightens the space and finishes the wall. We used 3/4" birch plywood which is smooth and sturdy enough to hold a screw.

Week ending 9/18/09

C is on vacation for two weeks, and we spent 2.5 hours on Monday, his first day, replacing the internet cable in the attic. It goes from the box on the outside of the house, through the attic and to our hub. We've had unreliable internet forever and it's hugely frustrating. We've tried all sorts of fixes, and this is about the last thing we can try until we have to, {shudder of terror}, call in Verizon. We also spent 2 hours planning how we are going to finish the wiring and some other house jobs.

Here is the box on the outside of the house where the wire from the street meets the wire that goes through the attic into our wiring hub. The box was here when we bought the house, so no telling how long it's been here.



We are planning on doing some fun stuff and more mundane chores while C is on vacation.

On Friday, I unpacked yet another box from the garage (still there from our May 2006 move) and spent 15 minute sanding the back door.

Hours on windows and doors to date: 310.25

Week ending 9/11/09

On Monday, I spent a half an hour sanding the last coat of shellac. I tried the new support belt I bought and loved it. All the bending and using arm strength from weird positions is much less taxing while wearing the belt. It's one of those black elastic things that goes from your ribs to your hips and cinches tight.

On Wednesday, I spent another 45 minutes sanding. I didn't get as much time as I wanted though - I thought I'd have 2 hours and could finish sanding this coat. We had plans on Sunday and the Monday holiday threw me off and I had to catch up today on other household tasks. I'm bummed that I already missed my first deadline in the October 9th goal. I'm going to rewrite my board and hope it doesn't keep stretching out with each mini-deadline.


Hours on windows and doors to date: 310

Here is the hub we've been working on. All the wires for the phone, internet and cable tv come into this spot and then go to the various components. It's messy, I know, but that's how these things are. We are going to clean it up a bit once it's more final and then this closet will (someday) have doors.

Week ending 9/4/09

On Thursday I spent half an hour finishing the last coat of shellac and updating my whiteboard where I keep track of the project. I' beginning to sand this last coat.

Hours to date on windows and doors: 308.75

One ongoing project is organizing, decluttering and unpacking the house. I just finished a scary box from the move in May 2006. The move was very messed up and things since then have been chaotic. I think I've moved the equivalent of 5 times. Each box has been opened and jumbled up numerous times and the garage may as well have been shaken like a snow globe. Unfortunately, there is no end in sight and this will be ongoing for a while.