The List--The Daddy-Do Edition

I crossed four nagging little issues off my list this weekend. Or rather, I crossed them off after Dad did the work. Mom and Dad have intended to make the two hour plus trip all summer, but it never worked out until this week. Luckily they were able to come up before school started so I don't have to wait another year before having these items done!

Project #1--The Bedroom Door

Sorry, no before or after pics of this one but it makes no difference as they would look exactly the same! Ever since I had new carpet installed in April of last year, my bedroom door didn't shut anymore. The new carpet was that much plusher and stuck up that much more that it simply couldn't get close enough to latch. I needed Dad to cut a little off the bottom so it would latch again. Mission accomplished.

Project #2--Bathroom Faucet

I bought my new bathroom faucet about two years ago because I had a coupon at Lowe's. Since then it's just been sitting out in the garage waiting for Dad. And, unfortunately, I forgot about taking a before picture until it was too late, so behold the "during" photos.

Note the massive amounts of hair wrapped around the drain stopper. And there was much more in the drain. Gross, I tell you, gross.

But the after scene is a thing of beauty...

Oooooh, shiny.

Project #3 & 4--Kitchen Faucet and Garbage Disposal

Can you believe I've lived in my house for over three years now with no garbage disposal? Not a pressing matter, but inconvenient just the same. And the kitchen faucet has been leaky since day one... kind of annoying. I told Dad the faucet was something I'd like done, but I'd wait to see if he had time to do it during this round. He told me that, if I wanted a new faucet, it needed to happen before he put the disposal in. Good point, Dad. Of course, what I really want is new cabinets and such for my kitchen, but, unless my work pool won the $325 million lottery the other night, I don't see it happening.

So the faucet went in first. Before:

And after:

Once all was sealed with the faucet, it was time for the disposal to be installed and wired in. Before:

And after:

After seeing the deplorable condition under the sink, I decided that new contact paper was sorely needed. Apparently, there was a leaking problem that was allowed to sit at some point in the past. Add metal cabinets to this situation and that means a whole lot of rust.

Mom and Dad had driven up on Thursday afternoon and Dad was done with the door before I even got home from work! Then we made our shopping list and went out to dinner to celebrate Mom's birthday. After dinner Lowe's was our destination as I had another 10% off coupon. Dad spent a little time looking at John Deere lawnmowers as he is in the market for a new one. Then it was home to relax and eventually to bed.

We got up Friday morning and went to McDonalds for breakfast, then back to the house to start working. Dad and I made our first trip to the local hardware store about 10:00 a.m. The guy working there was very helpful and Dad had to share that he had everything we needed at home, but he was working 100 miles away. Once we told him what our projects were he told us we'd make at least three trips to the store that day. And he was right!

Mom and Dad had originally planned on heading home Friday, but when dinner time came and things were still not done, I hoped I'd be able to talk them into staying another night. My dad isn't as young as he once was and I knew he would be exhausted. Luckily, Dad had made up his mind by about 7:00 that they should stay another night. It was a good thing because it was about 9:00 p.m. before the last of the wiring for the disposal was done.

Though school is starting, I still have a few more items left on the list that I hope I will accomplish before winter arrives. I know that not everything will get done, but at least I've made a bigger dent this year than last... which was... none.

The List--Installment #2

Project #3--Sew Bedroom Curtains

Actually, these have been done for a little over a week. They were on the short list of things that I wanted done before my party last Saturday, and, while most things on the short list still didn't get done, this one did. It only took me ten months after painting the bedroom and buying the fabric!

The List--Installment #1

I am a big fan of lists. I have a list of things that have to be done at work (when I'm working, that is). I have a list of regular chores that need to be done at home. And then I have the summer list. This year's list is particularly lengthy since it is my first summer in three years that I actually have time to get some things done around the house. What's really sad though, is that when I pulled the legal pad out of the cupboard to make this year's list, I found last year's list still present... without a single item crossed off. So the items that didn't get accomplished last year were simply added to this year's list

At any rate, I'm pretty proud of having crossed two tasks off my list already this summer! And to celebrate the accomplishment of my tasks, I've decided to chronicle them with photos (before and after, as applicable) as I finish them.

Project #1--Flower Beds

The corners of my backyard are notoriously difficult to mow, so I decided to put in some new flowerbeds. Here is flower bed #1 before:

And here it is after. It doesn't look like much now, but I've planted some perenial seeds, so hopefully it will be pretty next year.

And here is flower bed #2 before:

And after:

Project #2--New Paint in the Living Room

I love the fresh look that new paint brings to a room, so I've been wanting to do the living room almost since I moved in. But the living room is a large room with lots of trim that requires painting right next to the carpet. As much as I wanted the new look, I was really not looking forward to actually doing the work. But, one week after commencing the project, I am thrilled to say that I am done!

Living room before (very before as this photo was actually taken over a year ago when I got the new carpet):And after:

So that's two projects done. I still have many more to go, but most are not as major as painting the living room (thank goodness!). I'm hoping several of them will get done this week as I am having a gathering at my house on Saturday and it would be nice to have my house looking nice when people are over. Here's hoping for the best!