Basement Work Begins

I've started packing/ destroying the basement now. We had to remove the panelling on that wall because of some rodent (thank you Abby the hamster) and water damage. I'll hang new panelling and paint it white to match everything else.

I have a beautiful (and functional) stove, thanks to dad and Michael. Thanks to Ran and Michael all the wallpaper is gone from my kitchen. Thanks to Jean, Naomi and all the garage salers who came to buy stuff, I can now afford to hire someone else to do the work :)

On the recommendation of Dan and Michael I am hiring a guy to come and "skim coat" my walls in the closet bedroom and kitchen. It will turn out much nicer than anything I could do, and go much quicker. Here's hoping...

And don't worry-I didn't make dad work too much on Father's Day. And I (sort of) cooked a meal on my stove. Of course, I do feel bad 'cause I can't find his present. It's around this mess somewhere.

A Small Snag

I'm working on painting prep, but it's a slow process. Slower when I can't get the wallpaper glue off the walls. I think I've given up in the closet room and I'm just going to re-wallpaper. I spent most of last night trying to clean it, but with no success.

I patched holes and cracks tonight, and will finish washing the walls in prep for new wallpaper tomorrow. Not what I wanted, but I don't seem to have a lot of choice. Anyone know where to find inexpensive wallpaper?

Moving Along

Things are still moving at a breakneck speed.

Friday night I did some serious packing/sorting from my closet room. Dan says I only get a closet - not an entire room - so some massive consolidation was needed. Naomi saved me by coming over to watch The Devil Wears Prada and eat Chinese as we commiserated about the moving process.

I spent Saturday doing inventory and picking up packing supplies. That afternoon Michael and I picked up tables and garage sale stuff from Jean and grandma, and unloaded it at my house. I spent the evening packing and sorting - again.

Sunday Michael picked up stuff from Naomi that she wanted to put in the sale. Jean came over to help price and organize my stuff. Dad helped unhook electronics for the things I sold, and he took home some stuff he wanted. I had Craigslisted my TVs, mom's jewelery armoir and a DVD player. It's all sold. Yippee! I used that money to buy a new electric stove off Craigslist, and Michael went with me to pick it up last night. Of course the outlets have changed over the past 30 years, so I can't plug it in. He's working on fixing that for me today. He also hauled away the old stove and helped unhook the old hood from the cabinets.

God bless Michael - this would be much more difficult without him. Whoever would have guessed we'd turn into this? (And yes, I bought him dinner and gave him gas money as a thank you)

I did take a break Sunday and went to gossip with the neighbors a bit. I went to ask if I could buy some of their painting supplies (he was a professional painter prior to retirement). She wouldn't let me, but gave me everything I could ever need - much better quality stuff than I could buy too. Rollers, nap, coveralls, extenders, about 2 dozen paintbrushes in various sizes, putty knives in various sizes and 100 razor blades and scrapers. What fabulous neighbors I have - they are going to be a hard act to follow.

Next Steps

I met with Matt, my realtor, tonight. It was a good news/bad news kinda thing. There is a lot of work to do on my house, but it's all cosmetic.

I need to tear down the wallpaper in the kitchen/hallway area and repaint. Fix some small cracks in the living room and repaint, and of course, repaint my closet room. He also recommended scrubbing the kitchen cabinets with TSP (TCP?? whatever that stuff is) and installing new counter tops. New carpet is a possibility as well, but I may hire Stanley steamer to try and salvage mine.

All this by July 1. After sitting around and feeling overwhelmed, I called Dan for moral support. He helped tremendously and I got a few more boxes packed. I even got the first drawer emptied out!

This is starting to feel real.

We Got It

Well, Dan got it. He put an offer on the house we were looking at and it was accepted! It's in the Beacon Hill neighborhood. It has 4 bed/2 bath, tiny deck, yard (unfenced) for dogs and a view of Mt. Rainier. There are three parks within three blocks of the place. I am so excited! His closing is scheduled for July 10.

I meet with my realtor tomorrow. Wish me luck!

It's All Falling Together...

or apart, depending on your view. My house is officially turning into a disaster zone. On the bright side, I'm cleaning out 6 years worth of accumulated stuff. The downside is there is A LOT of stuff. I haven't even put a dent in cleaning my closet - and I've got 6 huge garbage bags full of stuff to go to Goodwill.

This shows my normally immaculate dining room slowing being taken over by stuff for the garage sale. You can't see the piles to the right of the camera, or the huge pile behind me. I have also filled up every empty box and bin I can find with stuff I plan on moving and have begun hauling it out to the garage.

This ain't gonna be pretty.

One Down, 893,909 To Go

I have packed my first box. Ok, it's a small box and it's just filled with books- but it's a start, right?

I looks like we are buying a house. We've spent the past couple of days scouring real estate websites and IMing back and forth on what we like/don't like. We found a few so far that might bear a second look. He's going to check out one or two this weekend.

The sheer amount of work that must be done is overwhelming. Anyone have sage words of wisdom to help me survive this?