The Fintons

Stairs

So the next thing we did after the living room floor was the stairs.  We actually had no plan to do the stairs, but our dog Logan decided to have an accident on the new living room floors.  An accident so big that it ruined some part of the floor next to the stairs.  We were on the floor trying to fix the floor, and when we were done, it still smelled like dog pee.  We didn’t understand how that could be possible.  So we were touching around and Brandon noticed that Logan had soaked the carpet by putting his hand behind the part of the carpet that was soaked.   When he did this we noticed that behind the carpet the stairs were amazingly, finished.  So we sat there and deliberated for a minute, and figured what the hell, and started tearing up the carpet on the stairs.  And this is how they ended up.

Nice eh?  This was one of our easier projects.  Only took around a day.  We just had to pull up the staples from the carpet and clean up a little.  Next, Erik’s room.

Tags: House, Renovations

Living room floor

So the first part of the camp that we worked on was the living room floor.  Undoubtedly, the worst part of the house (next to the “closet/bathroom/whatever” room that was off of Erik’s bedroom).  The carpets were urine stained – our dogs kept peeing in the same spot because some other dog had peed there before as well.

This is the floor before.  I had tried everything I could to get it clean.  But alas, nothing worked.  So we started pulling it up.

As you can see, we found another carpet under the gray carpet that was there.  When we pulled it back it was so moldy underneath that we all started to sneeze and feel sick.  You can see the mold here, and this spot was actually one of the “better spots.”

The carpet pad that was under the green carpet had disintegrated.  Mostly it was dust, but in some spots it was still semi whole.  All of it though was stuck down to the floor.  Brandon and I had to scrape every inch of the floor to get the carpet pad off.

We then ended up painting the floor with oil primer to seal in the smells, then latex primer so that we would be able to stick the tiles down, as you can’t stick them onto oil primer.

And here it is done.  We had to pull the tack strips that were around the pellet stove up as they were for carpet.  Brandon put new trim around there though so it looks great now.  Our only problem is that the kitchen floor, and the floor in Erik’s room is higher than this floor.  We are trying to work around it, though.

This ended up taking us around a weekend to do.  As with every project that we have done something happens that we didn’t expect, and we are tied up fixing it before we can move on.  Nothing is easy with us.  It was fun having our living room in our kitchen for a weekend.  At least this time didn’t require us to relocate Erik upstairs into our bedroom.  That’s always a joy.

Next up will be the stairs.  I should be studying though.  I reallllly should.

Tags: House, Renovations

Burdock and Pricker Bushes

For those of you who have followed our lives at all over the past six months you probably know our house is home to more than just Patti, Erik, me and the dogs.  We also get  exciting visits from mice and, our favorite, bats.  After a summer of being terrorized by the bats we decided it’s not going to happen again next year…

Our solution?  More than a case of clear caulk, a couple cans of Great Stuff, and some excitement getting tangled in black berry  (prickers) and burdock bushes.  Today was a perfect day to do it.  The sun was out, the temperature wasn’t too cold, and best of all the bats had moved out for the winter allowing us to seal all the cracks in the siding without fear of trapping them in the house (and giving them incentive to find their way INTO the house.

Undertaking this project should also help reduce the drafts we feel throughout the long cold winters!  (Maybe it won’t feel so cold in here?)

So, only time will tell.  Hopefully we reduce the drafts in here (we’re also winterizing where we can and adding insulation and such) and just as important, if not more, we’ll be rid of our bat problems!

Our next projects?  Cleaning the shed and getting rid of the mice that seem to think our walls are going to make a good home!

Tags: House, Nothing at all, Work

Why man, why

I swear I can hear bats. I SWEAR! I make Brandon sit with me in the silence so he can hear them too. So we are sitting here, looking around, looking at each other, looking at the floor… And, then, yep, nothing happens. It’s still silent. So I proceed to think I’m insane and Brandon proceeds to go to bed.

As Brandon is one hell of a sleeper he falls asleep almost immediately, I do my thing, he does his snore thing, and then, I hear, the bats. Seriously.

And you know why? You know why I’m the only one that hears these so called “bats”???? Because they hate me. I’m truly convinced. They do.

I’m not crazy. Well partially not. This is just what happens when bats are torturing you. I bet you’ve never had it done to you. If you did it would drive you crazy, too.

Tags: House

SCARY!

So I have been recently exposed to the world of Ann Coulter. Who the hell is this lady? She is the kind of person that should be hung by her toes for public enjoyment. Kidding, kidding. But seriously, she needs to calm. I think she believes that if she can be as conservative as one possibly can be, she will be popular. Apparently she’s right. I can’t imagine she honestly believes everything she says. How could she??? Her aggressive nature…it must attract people. If you read her work, I dare you to count the number of fallacies in one article. Ha.

We keep getting visited by bats. No one tells you the bad parts about living on a lake. There should be a handbook to every house before you move in.

Tags: House, Politics

Sorry

Sorry I haven’t updated in awhile. I haven’t had the internet!

School is almost over. I have been working so hard I can’t even tell you. I have barely had any time to think. I had a huge nutrition project that was due this week but since we’re leaving on Thursday I got it done and handed it in last week. Then I have my huge writing project that needed to be done by the 29th, but again, as we will be gone, I have it almost done so I can hand it in this wednesday.

Brandon and I moved some of the stuff out of the house too. Who knows when we’re going to close, but, we have to do it sometime.

So I haven’t slept. My insomnia has returned full force because I’m on no meds. And all of my Dr.’s can’t get their head out of their asses to help me fix this problem. I’m currently waiting a call back from my family physician. I hate them all.

I got a new phone. Well I got an iPhone. Without the internet, and Brandon not having a phone, and well, I just wanted one. On Apple blogs they keep saying that they should be coming out with a new phone this summer, but, whatever. I hate Verizon, and I hate AT&T. So it’s just a matter of two evils. The iPhone at least has all of the apps, and the unlimited data was cheaper than a blackberry.

So we’re all nervous about the finances with my father. I really have no idea about probate laws. It’s all a guess. From what I can figure out my mother isn’t responsible for my fathers debt since it was all in his name. But, she still has the house, so I have no clue. I get to spend some time while in FL figuring it out. Well hopefully.

Tags: Family, House, Mac, School, Sickly

The camp

So I have gotten a few things done in the camp finally that has made it feel more like home. I have the curtains up and the way they are going to stay for the most part. The curtains that are upstairs on the sliding doors are too long and need to be hemmed, but as for the lack of sewing machine, it’s going to have to wait until I can borrow one. I got most of Erik’s room done. I just have to grab some red paint to paint the shelf on his headboard. Then I’m going to paint his hands and have him put his hand prints on the wall. I am also going to pick up some blinds for him today, and a curtain rod to hang up the curtain in the doorway between his room and the bathroom (just for now, until we get that room done). Speaking of, this weekend is going to be filled with fixing the floor back there and getting a new water heater. Well not Saturday, but Sunday.

Saturday I’m taking Brandon out for his birthday. We are going to a nice wine bar/restaurant and then are going to go play laser tag. Neither of us have ever done it, so it will prove to be interesting. Haha, we’ll probably be horrible, but it’s all in good fun. Then we might head back to the restaurant we were originally at because they have live music on Saturday nights starting at nine. It’s also a wine bar, and we all know how much Brandon and I love wine…

I’ve got all of the pictures hung up here as well. Most of the furniture is here, besides our bed. We are using Brandon’s old bed right now, and it’s proving our theory on our bed that is currently still sitting at the house. Brandon and I are both suffering from back pain. Once you sleep on our mattress for awhile, you can’t sleep on anything else without hurting. So, we desperately miss our bed. Hopefully we can get it within the next couple of weeks. It’s going to require a trip with the trailer down since it’s so big. We are also hoping for a purchase offer on the house…sometime, like, now. We know it’s only been a little over a week, but, well, we need to sell it.

Tags: Decorating, Holidays, House

Moved

So we’re living at the lake now. We need more space for our clothes. I got all of Brandon’s clothes away, but most of mine are still in a suitcase, and I ran out of dresser space. Great…. I’m going to have to become creative or find some new dressers with more space. The walls are so empty though it’s driving me nuts. I’m going to head out to Wal-Mart today after Erik takes his nap so that I can get some picture hangers. I need to find a hammer though….this may be a daunting task! Once everything gets moved in and gets organized maybe I will feel better. Right now I feel completely chaotic and that there is nothing I can do about it so it stresses me out. If anyone knows me well knows that I have to have a clean house, with no mess, and complete organization. I HAVE to know where everything is. Right now, things are everywhere. Poor Erik, found the Shrek case today, but the Shrek movie is in the dvd player at the house in Binghamton. He started crying when he opened it and it wasn’t there. *sigh* Hopefully Brandon remembers to get it today when he stops at the house.

I still haven’t gotten any of my paperwork from SU. I’m half tempted to call. I don’t want to be an annoyance though. Early registration starts on the 12th, and I really wanted to do it then because the classes that I need to take, there is only 1 of each because I’m taking them at night. I want to hopefully get into 3 classes as well so that I can get my degrees done and over with sooner. At least Erik has a stay at home Mom now. The only time I won’t be here is when I’m at class but Brandon will be here. It will be nice to have something to do. I need to get Erik into a play group or something. He needs some social interaction. Hell I do too.

Well my good friend Steve shall be coming home from Aphganistan soon. Don’t know when, because as he said wouldn’t want terrorist killing a whole bunch of Joe’s on a plane. Didn’t know he was with a bunch of guys named Joe but whatever. Okay lame joke, all I have been doing is watching Sesame Street, Dragon Tales, and cleaning. I can’t even paint or draw or try and learn things with Erik because everything is everywhere, oh, and the table is at the house!!!!! No table kind of, deters a lot of fun tasks one can do with their child. *sigh* Hopefully this weekend. I want my couch too. And my curtains. I realllllly want my curtains. I hate having open windows. Every time anyone walks by they can see in the camp completely. It’s fun.

I’ll take pictures of the camp once everything is in here and it’s done. It’s all painted, but it’s a huge mess, and everything is everywhere, and it looks like chaos, so no pictures just yet. Oh and no curtains, did I mention that?

Tags: Friends, House, School

Got accepted at SU!

So I got accepted at SU. I haven’t gotten any of the paperwork yet, but I talked to the lady I had an appointment with and she let me know I got in. I’m excited. I start on the 19th of January. I should be taking 3 classes, but all when Brandon is home so we won’t have to worry about a sitter. Yay.

So we have been moving/cleaning the house out the past few days. I’m dead. Literally. I don’t feel well at all. I have had this sinus head cold thing for over a week now, and it’s just making it worse. I just want to sleep all day, but we can’t. We were supposed to list the house today, but we had to call and ask our realtor to push it a day back because we weren’t quite there yet. *sigh* We have an appointment to do it tomorrow though, at 4:30. Remember to vote tomorrow! I have to go to Binghamton to do so, but that’s okay. Vote anyway!

Tags: House, School

I’m sick

So I was in the hospital since Friday. Nothing major, but I’m home now. The hospital, however clean it’s supposed to be, gave me this horrible cough from the heat. Lovely. I got more sick when I went to the hospital. Just my luck!!!
So we took our family photos for our christmas card the other day. I love them. Every single one. We are restraining ourselves from showing them to everyone because they are absolutely perfect and definitely the best ones we have ever had. At christmas we will let the cat out of the bag though and let everyone see them. The one above is a small preview. One of the 2 I’m letting leak because I can’t resist! Yes I am holding the remote for the camera. Hence why this is the one that I put up, because it’s not nearly as good as the rest.

So our house is finally painted. I looks amazingly better. We were quite impressed. Another step closer to selling it. We are hoping to list it by November 1st. Praying.
Haven’t heard anything from SU yet. Getting nervous. I really hope I get in. AHHHH!! I can’t wait to move and get on with our lives.

Tags: House, Love, Sickly