In Search of a Day Off

My family and I have been working very hard since I got the keys to my new, old, manufactured home. I’m down to the last of the carpet that needs to come out so I can seal the floors but they must wait until the wood floors go down in other rooms so we have somewhere to push furniture. Life has been busy in other areas as well.

This week my daughter started working the first permanent job she’s had in 5 years. The temp service placed her there and after 6 months the company wanted her to stay and gave her a promotion. She has worked extremely hard for a very long time to find good work. I asked her if she thought the lower unemployment rate was valid. Her thought is there are so many that are no longer eligible for unemployment and have just given up looking for work. Many, like she had to do for a while, move in with family members and take whatever they can get to pay for groceries. They don’t get counted in the unemployment equation.

2 computers,3 monitors plus a laptop. Days go very quickly

She has had other offers to make positions permanent but this is the one that she felt was right for her. She’s happy there and they are happy to have her there. So last Friday she sent a text and asked if I wanted to come downtown, meet her boss, work mates and have lunch. LUNCH! I’m in. She had already worked so many hours that week that she was able to get off work at 1:00 p.m.

So I took the MAX (Metropolitan Area Express or light rail) downtown and found her office. Her boss and workmates were wonderful. I saw why she was so happy. Lunch was terrific and then we had some fun.

We didn’t even have to drive to the beach.

Now that looks like good fun.

I had planned to rip out more nasty carpet but celebrating with my daughter was worth a day off for me. We did enjoy it. Seems downtown was having a Sand castles in the City event. It was a very hot day and the workers were misting water on the sand to keep it damp for sculpting. It was so much fun to watch the kids having fun playing in the sand.

Wish I could have stayed to the finish. There were so many nice scultures

Then I was ready to catch the MAX back home and get back into work clothes. Before the night was over, one more room of carpet was out and the floor ready to paint. I even helped with my sister’s move. She will be staying here awhile as she looks for a place of her own in the area and some part time work. It’s been a busy week already. No more days off for me…till the next one.

How do you like to spend a day off and do you take them regularly?

From my heart to yours,
Marlene Herself

In Search of a Silk Purse

I know you’ve heard the old cliche, “you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.” Well, I beg to differ with that comment. I’ve done it and will do it again. How did I get hold of a sow’s ear in the first place? The price was right.

Good bones equals skylights in the kitchen. White paint reflects light and you can wash it now.

I was looking for bones, good bones. This place has them and somehow, they managed to cover the smell. I’d like to know how it was done and patent it. It had a musty smell but I think the realtor opened it up way before I got there and it was a dark house. All it needed was some white paint, right?

My son wanted a clearer view so he went on the roof and washed the outside. What a view from the kitchen ceiling.

I’ve been working on this place since June 14th and the work will continue for months if not years to come. The list kept getting longer as we worked. My son and daughter are both weary from helping. They were both more than generous with their time and muscle. I’ve moved in some of my sister’s furniture as she will be staying awhile till she regroups and this will save her some storage costs. Somehow, it all works, I hope. I just go with the flow.

I have more of this to do. Like the rest of the house.

My daughter did all the prep work and a lot of the painting. She doesn’t like her picture taken.

Once, many years ago when I was young and strong, I moved into a house that had been previously occupied by a classic hoarder. It took YEARS to transform that place from the sub-floors up to the roof and the yard. Many old friends drove right by the house because it became unrecognizable from its previous life.

The color on the walls was watered down (alot) paint. No washing this stuff

Happy laundry room. I can work in here now and not be depressed by it.

I find the process of transforming a house a true labor of love. This one is no exception. It felt sad and worn. Somehow, I feel the need to revitalize this house into the home it wants to be. The contractor thought I was a bit off when I said I need to take things slow and let the house tell me where it wants things and what it needs. Yup, I’m a hippy-dippy-woo-woo kinda girl. We are doing the Feng Shui treatments for the house as it sits on the lot sideways. (that’s not ideal) It’s all about the energy.

I really don’t know where to start. It got away from us.

When we finished the hoarder house, it sold for so much more than anyone thought we’d get for it. The new owners had decided to buy before they ever walked inside. Don’t think curb appeal doesn’t matter. My husband (last) couldn’t understand why I’d leave that house after all the work I put into it. It was never meant to be my home but it was happy for the facelift. Homes have energy and I think they are living things. Oddly, neither my sister nor daughter could remember my address at the apartment even though it was a lovely place. They both know this address already. It feels right to them.

It just looked too sad and blocked the way from the carport to the front door.

Landscaping will be important here. The first thing we had to do was take out a tree. I know, I hated to do it but the roots were in the water lines and it was an invasive variety. It looked so sad in front of the house. We are going to make a lovely path from the carport to the front door and give the roses that are there a chance to shine. They were hidden and too wet. To me, this is as much a creative endeavor as sewing, quilting or my embroidery. I hope to get back to some of them real soon but this place was rolling in something that needed to be cleaned

Yuck and double yuck. There was a lot of this hiding in plain sight.

and I really hope to make the house smile and welcome everyone more and more with each project done. This house and I are breathing life into each other and I know that silk purse is around here somewhere.

Do you think houses are living things? Do they speak to you?

From my heart to yours,
Marlene Herself

In Search of Tech Support

I haven’t written in several weeks. First I was afraid to jinx my good luck. When things “worked out”, I had no time to write anything cohesive. I was trying to stay awake long enough to pick up tech support at the airport. Flight was an hour late. I drove to the airport before it got dark and just waited. Tech support is important to a blogger and anyone who spends as much time on the internet as I do.

On Friday the 13th, I got these in my hot little hand.

I had been without internet for two days. I don’t think that’s happened since I first started using the computer. I had no idea how addicted (?) I am to the vast reaches of my wireless modem. I don’t excite easily but lose my internet connection and watch the electricity come off me. This last month I have e-mailed documents, printed them, signed them, scanned the signed copy back into the computer and e-mailed the document back to the sender. Did you know you can buy a house without ever seeing a human being? Then I learned how to play money on the internet. It’s like playing monopoly online. One click of the mouse and money’s all gone. You just bought some real estate that’s not quite Park place. But this time I have something to show for it.

Hydrangea by my front steps

If all works well, and you will know for certain by the appearance of this post, tech support landed safely and drove us to my new home. He will have to wade through bags and boxes to find the equipment he needs. Everything came out of the moving truck and the back of my car, landing squarely in the middle of every room, randomly.

Best move out of the 4 in last 4 years. Last one…I hope.

So short and sweet, I have managed to purchase a manufactured home in a park where I rent the space. Not ideal but I have no one living down or upstairs. I don’t have to tiptoe at night or at 4:30 a.m. when I wake. I can paint my walls bright white and hang my own window coverings. It will cost me the same each month or even less than renting my apartment. This place needed a LOT of work to make it fresh and clean. I even needed to replace a floor. The pet the woman “didn’t have” made a real mess in one room and small messes in many. That fact was well hidden until I had the keys in hand. I’ll tell you more about it as time permits but just wanted you to know I have not been resting on my ample laurels.

After I ripped out the carpet and tackless strip.

sewing chair will roll nicely on this and it smells better now. Oil based paint underneath to seal it.

This home park is like only a few I have seen. Plenty of green space around them and little fenced yards for your pet. The homes are permanent. They stay here until they fall apart and are replaced with another factory assembled home. I take care of my yard which is a perfect size for me. I even managed to snag a free lawnmower from someone moving on. My home was built the same year as my car so I’ll always know how old they are. They both need updating.

View from my kitchen window. Needs some care but it brings so much peace.

I don’t plan to see boredom until oh, 2025 maybe. I’ll send more pictures soon but tech support has completed his task and is scrounging the refrigerator for food I do not have at the moment. He’s going to have to wait till his next trip out to have mom cook his favorites. I’m just too tired right now. I might have managed the job of hooking up the internet but with everything else, it would have just been a bit much. You can’t beat a man at his own game. My techy took care of internet connection in 3 minutes flat. My tech support also hangs new shades, installs toilets and puts up shelves etc, etc, etc. I’m so lucky. All he needed was leftover Christmas cookies.

Who knew he would become my tech support and all round help? Just feed him.

Tech support riding the cart while shopping. They never grow up really.

How far would you go to get tech support?

From my heart to yours,
Marlene Herself