Monday, December 13, 2004
So much to do, so little time...
It’s Monday again, obviously, or I wouldn’t be at work writing the blog…
The weekend went alright – Rob has demonstrated yet another amazing skill, he can drywall! I had drywall delivered to my place on Friday afternoon, and even though they put it RIGHT in the driveway rather than on my deck like I had asked, it worked out alright. We carried it in, very slowly because that stuff is pretty heavy when it’s two sheets taped together, to the house on Friday afternoon, then walked the dogs, and then carried the sheets down in to the basement. That was about enough work that evening for me, so we called it “Stage 1 – Complete”, and went to watch TV. Rob is very good and patient and fantastic to do work with, because he doesn’t yell at me, and we have a fun time doing whatever we’re doing. I did tell him that at my parents’ place, loading anything anywhere that required two people, especially if one of them is my father, is a bit of a problem. There are orders barked, and because he’s not the most physically endowed man in the world, things invariably are harder to move around, and someone’s end slips, and then there are shouts of “tilt your side! Tilt it!” and “I AM tilting – you tilt YOUR SIDE!” and then “LIFT IT, lift it… No, LIFT it!” and then “Quit yelling at me!” and then “Where are you going? Don’t you want to get this in the house/car/wherever?”
So when we lifted the heavy sheets of drywall, which are actually two sheets taped together (which I believe I mentioned), and they hurt my hands, and I had to say “I’m gonna drop this if we don’t set it down for a minute…”, Rob didn’t yell at me at all to “lift your side higher” or “tilt it” or anything. He just said “OK.” And we set the sheets down so I could get a better grip. It was great!
The sheets were gently maneuvered into the basement, the only casualty of which was a lightbulb that was clearly in the way to begin with, so it was promptly executed, SMACK, by a sheet of drywall. That’ll learn it! Then, I had a doctor’s appointment on Saturday (yes, my doctor works on SATURDAY! Amazing!), so I had to navigate icy roads to get in to town to see him while Rob worked on the basement. When I got back, man, it was fantastic! There was drywall up all over the place! There were holes cut where they should be, and it looked very different from the giant open concrete room I had there before. We worked on it together for a while (well, I tried to put in the screws to hold the drywall up, but mostly ended up poking holes in the drywall with the drill and swearing profusely).
We stopped about halfway through the job and went to find something to eat. We stayed at Rob’s place on Saturday night because we had more parties to go to (I tell ya, it’s nonstop partying with this guy!), and on Sunday, we stayed in town visiting with Rob’s family most of the day. So we didn’t get back to the drywalling until Sunday evening. I over-ordered, of course, and have six sheets of drywall to take back. We have one little section that will be finicky to finish. I say “we”, but really, Rob is the one who did all the work. He measured everything, and did all the cutting, and fitted the finished sheets onto the wall. All I did was put in screws with the drill, which you would think would be easy enough, but, well, see above re: swearing profusely.
The room looks amazing. I think I would have paid more money for my place if it had had the room in it. I mean, it makes the whole basement usable. It makes the laundry equipment more accessible (in that if you were sitting downstairs watching TV, which is what the room is kind of designed for, you would be more inclined to do laundry without having to run up and down stairs every half hour or so to turn cycles on or off or put stuff in the dryer… I hate doing laundry for that exact reason). If someone wanted to, they could put in a nice bathroom downstairs with a nice Jacuzzi tub, which was my original plan as well. I was going to set up a nice theatre room, install a bathroom with a Jacuzzi tub, and then make the main floor into more of a guest-entertaining area where I’d have some Nice Furniture and laminate hardwood flooring.
Only now, I don’t have to worry about it. I just wanted to drywall the basement so my house will sell better. I had it framed up last year, and then never did anything with it. I had lofty plans! I was going to do the work myself! I was going to save money and make the house more valuable! But, as you know, I’m lazy lazy lazy, and did nothing. Well, lazy and lacking surplus funds.
So while I have not accomplished much in the way of packing, the basement is well on its way to being done, which makes me feel a lot better about the way time is flying by. I still have Christmas shopping to do, but it’s all fun stuff, and Christmas is a fun time of year, so I don’t mind at all. The animals have all been curious about what is going on in the basement. Rumble came downstairs to watch and sit on my shoulder for a while. Smudge frolicked around as the walls went up, although she was not at all keen on the noise the drill made. The NoodleDog and Cooter won’t come down the stairs to the basement – I think because they are kind of narrow and are not covered with carpet, so they might slide around and fall down. Cooter just looks from the top of the stairs, and the NoodleDog won’t even come near the stair area.
Now, though, it’s Monday, and the week looms ahead. I can’t believe it’s December 13th already – less than two weeks until Christmas. I still have so much to do to get ready to move. It just seems like time is flying by. I wish everyone happy Christmas shopping and safe travels this time of year!
The weekend went alright – Rob has demonstrated yet another amazing skill, he can drywall! I had drywall delivered to my place on Friday afternoon, and even though they put it RIGHT in the driveway rather than on my deck like I had asked, it worked out alright. We carried it in, very slowly because that stuff is pretty heavy when it’s two sheets taped together, to the house on Friday afternoon, then walked the dogs, and then carried the sheets down in to the basement. That was about enough work that evening for me, so we called it “Stage 1 – Complete”, and went to watch TV. Rob is very good and patient and fantastic to do work with, because he doesn’t yell at me, and we have a fun time doing whatever we’re doing. I did tell him that at my parents’ place, loading anything anywhere that required two people, especially if one of them is my father, is a bit of a problem. There are orders barked, and because he’s not the most physically endowed man in the world, things invariably are harder to move around, and someone’s end slips, and then there are shouts of “tilt your side! Tilt it!” and “I AM tilting – you tilt YOUR SIDE!” and then “LIFT IT, lift it… No, LIFT it!” and then “Quit yelling at me!” and then “Where are you going? Don’t you want to get this in the house/car/wherever?”
So when we lifted the heavy sheets of drywall, which are actually two sheets taped together (which I believe I mentioned), and they hurt my hands, and I had to say “I’m gonna drop this if we don’t set it down for a minute…”, Rob didn’t yell at me at all to “lift your side higher” or “tilt it” or anything. He just said “OK.” And we set the sheets down so I could get a better grip. It was great!
The sheets were gently maneuvered into the basement, the only casualty of which was a lightbulb that was clearly in the way to begin with, so it was promptly executed, SMACK, by a sheet of drywall. That’ll learn it! Then, I had a doctor’s appointment on Saturday (yes, my doctor works on SATURDAY! Amazing!), so I had to navigate icy roads to get in to town to see him while Rob worked on the basement. When I got back, man, it was fantastic! There was drywall up all over the place! There were holes cut where they should be, and it looked very different from the giant open concrete room I had there before. We worked on it together for a while (well, I tried to put in the screws to hold the drywall up, but mostly ended up poking holes in the drywall with the drill and swearing profusely).
We stopped about halfway through the job and went to find something to eat. We stayed at Rob’s place on Saturday night because we had more parties to go to (I tell ya, it’s nonstop partying with this guy!), and on Sunday, we stayed in town visiting with Rob’s family most of the day. So we didn’t get back to the drywalling until Sunday evening. I over-ordered, of course, and have six sheets of drywall to take back. We have one little section that will be finicky to finish. I say “we”, but really, Rob is the one who did all the work. He measured everything, and did all the cutting, and fitted the finished sheets onto the wall. All I did was put in screws with the drill, which you would think would be easy enough, but, well, see above re: swearing profusely.
The room looks amazing. I think I would have paid more money for my place if it had had the room in it. I mean, it makes the whole basement usable. It makes the laundry equipment more accessible (in that if you were sitting downstairs watching TV, which is what the room is kind of designed for, you would be more inclined to do laundry without having to run up and down stairs every half hour or so to turn cycles on or off or put stuff in the dryer… I hate doing laundry for that exact reason). If someone wanted to, they could put in a nice bathroom downstairs with a nice Jacuzzi tub, which was my original plan as well. I was going to set up a nice theatre room, install a bathroom with a Jacuzzi tub, and then make the main floor into more of a guest-entertaining area where I’d have some Nice Furniture and laminate hardwood flooring.
Only now, I don’t have to worry about it. I just wanted to drywall the basement so my house will sell better. I had it framed up last year, and then never did anything with it. I had lofty plans! I was going to do the work myself! I was going to save money and make the house more valuable! But, as you know, I’m lazy lazy lazy, and did nothing. Well, lazy and lacking surplus funds.
So while I have not accomplished much in the way of packing, the basement is well on its way to being done, which makes me feel a lot better about the way time is flying by. I still have Christmas shopping to do, but it’s all fun stuff, and Christmas is a fun time of year, so I don’t mind at all. The animals have all been curious about what is going on in the basement. Rumble came downstairs to watch and sit on my shoulder for a while. Smudge frolicked around as the walls went up, although she was not at all keen on the noise the drill made. The NoodleDog and Cooter won’t come down the stairs to the basement – I think because they are kind of narrow and are not covered with carpet, so they might slide around and fall down. Cooter just looks from the top of the stairs, and the NoodleDog won’t even come near the stair area.
Now, though, it’s Monday, and the week looms ahead. I can’t believe it’s December 13th already – less than two weeks until Christmas. I still have so much to do to get ready to move. It just seems like time is flying by. I wish everyone happy Christmas shopping and safe travels this time of year!
