Another Construction Tale

After reading #2's blog about her Home Depot experiences, I decided that I could offer a few Tips of my own.

Tip #1 - Because I was making such a huge order (windows, garage doors, front doors, transom, etc.) I opened a Home Deopt Credit Card and immediately saved 10% - even on special order items! This amounted to quite a savings!

Tip #2 - No matter how long they tell you the job will take to complete, double the time and add 2 weeks. That way you won't be disappointed when it is only a month more than you calculated!

Tip #3 - Always smile at the workers and make small talk with the GM - this will ensure that they will transplant some of the large bushes from the front yard to the backyard (without added costs) - Refer to earlier consruction story where Mr. Wonderful likes to buy the team lunch!

Tip #4 - No need to clean the house from the start of the project until completion - This is just a bonus for the hell that you have to live in while it is all going on.

Tip #5 - Take pictures of the progress to send to the offspring so they can see where their inheritance is being spent.

Have to stop now - part of the Team is in my home office finishing off the window!

A Life Motto

"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, martini in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out screaming, "WOO HOO, What a ride!"

Perfectly Stated

Construction Hell

We are in the process of having the front of our house renovated. I have come to the conclusion that I would rather live in a home that looks like a crack house than go through this intrusion again. The outside of the house was in desparate need of help as the previous owners neglected the cedar. A simple project of replacing the steps snowballed into a renovation that has placed me in "construction HELL". The guys doing the work are marvelous and Mr. Wonderful has taken to buying them lunch a couple time a week - I THINK THEY DON'T WANT TO FINISH BECAUSE THEY LIKE IT HERE!

The new front doors are in, the new transom is installed, most of the new windows are in (except the new bay window), the new garage doors are completed, and the new steps are near completion, also. They now have to begin the arduous task of bricking the front of the house while Mr. Wonderful and I disagree on the color of stucco that will grace our entrance. This will be followed by numerous trips to every lighting store this side of the Mason-Dixon line to find just the right lighting fixtures for the front entrance.

Suffice it to say, this has been a painful experience (I have shed you from the horrors that have brought us to this point of the project). I want to re-do the lower level of my home - I think I will make an appoinment with a contractor for 2020 - I should be over this by then!

That's A Vacation!

They say a picture is worth a thousand words...

I know it has been days since we returned from what will become our "annual" trek, but I am just now getting caught up!

It was a vacation, of sorts. I mean, most vacations are restful and romantic - NOT THIS ONE!! Sleep was an option on this trip. Romance was NOT an option! Drinking, dancing, laughing, eating, singing - these were requisites!

To quote Allison, "Ma, you partied like rock stars!" Yeah, we kept up with the youngsters! We experienced Islamorada, Key West, Dirty Martinis, Chocolate Martinis, Karaoke, and Dancing in the Streets - ALL IN THE SAME DAY!

Lots of memories, lots of laughs - Now, THAT'S a vacation!