Between travelling for work and recent social trips, it’s been a tiring month of September so far – and October isn’t going to offer many reprieves, with visitors the next two weekends and my work trip to Vegas. Doing home improvements has taken a back seat for most of the month to the daily grind, so with a full weekend off of any real obligations, it was time to get to work. Of course, we started it out at Dolphins Stadium, watching the Phils lose, but both Friday and Saturday nights ended up being (relatively) tame nights. Early Saturday morning, I was digging up a couple of irrigation lines so that a new driveway could be poured; I was glad I got up early enough since 7 guys in several trucks rolled through Shady Banks around 7:30am and began digging up the yard next to the existing driveway as soon as they got there. 3 hours later, it was expanded 10 feet to the right and completely asphalted over, and we had ourselves a new driveway.
While the driveway was getting knocked out, Richie and a couple of guys from his Lukes’ Landscaping crew came over and knocked out a new fence. The old lousy chain link one and all it’s accompanying vegetation got ripped out; in its place (and where no fence was on the south side) is a nice wood 6 footer with gates in the middle. The north side is now ready for Mike to do some AutoCAD planning to see how we can make this place look a bit like the tropical paradise Jen and I pictured when we took the plunge.
To add to the fun, Schaen’s been over, doing mud work to the ceiling of the Florida room and the 2nd bathroom. By the end of the month, both of those rooms should be sanded, painted, and redecorated, and pretty much ready to go (Jen wants new tile in the Florida room, but the stuff we have in there now is serviceable, if not beautiful, so it’s not going anywhere anytime soon). And we’re adding two new exterior doors, in the FL room and office, to go with the impact windows we should be getting in early October. The only other thing to get done then will be a slider door where the windows are in the Florida room, but that might be pushed out to sometime in 2009 for fiscal reasons.
BIG W today for the 2008 NL East Champs Phillies. They're set to take the Brewers down, one game already done, two to go, and we can only hope the Dodgers and Cubbies push each other to the brink. I know, I know... a Philly fan can never get ahead of himself. Still, things are aligning much better this year then they did last year (although the lack of offense is still concerning). This afternoon, though, Cole Hamels threw an utter gem, no runs and only two singles over 8 innings, with 9 K's. Lidge gave a little life to Milwaukee before (finally) slamming the door. It's hard to believe, but Hamels is only 24 and is the youngest player on their roster. This is going to be a fun October.
Showing posts with label 1601. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1601. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Sunday, August 3, 2008
More House Construction
What a weekend for the house ... LOTS of work. The LR went from a livable area to a recreation of the E.T. house with all the plastic I had up, and went from a plastered drywall to sanded, primed, painted, and ready to be a real living room, FINALLY!! (not to mention it's a major upgrade from the wood paneling and fireplace). It looks a ton better in here with the majority of the room painted, even though we still have baseboards, crown, etc... to do. The interior door casing got the ax too, which was pretty easy since the termites did most of the work.
At the very least we can finally clean out the stuff in the Florida room so we can hit the ceiling in there next and get this living area livable. And now that the major work is done in the main areas, hopefully we'll see the terrazzo restoration we got done. We also went through all 2,100 wedding pictures and somehow narrowed it down to 220-something. House construction pictures here.
Sunday, Julie called to "stop by" tonight, and 3+ hours, a bunch of beers, and a bottle (or two) of wine later, Jen and her have now gotten Jen onto Facebook and harassed everyone on the internet. Julie knocked Zoe in the head coming inside, Jen took a fall on the (refinished!) terrazzo but saved her drink, and I got to witness this in the newly painted living room watching the Phils on ESPN (the Flyin' Hawaiian coming up big). It's been entertaining to say the least, but after working all day painting, ripping out the interior casings (that had been termite food prior to us getting it tented), and just making the place livable, it was nice to relax on a Sunday night with some shrimp, scallops, lobster, wine, and Phils baseball.
Now back to the grind of the real world - at least now we have the semblance of a livable abode!
At the very least we can finally clean out the stuff in the Florida room so we can hit the ceiling in there next and get this living area livable. And now that the major work is done in the main areas, hopefully we'll see the terrazzo restoration we got done. We also went through all 2,100 wedding pictures and somehow narrowed it down to 220-something. House construction pictures here.
Sunday, Julie called to "stop by" tonight, and 3+ hours, a bunch of beers, and a bottle (or two) of wine later, Jen and her have now gotten Jen onto Facebook and harassed everyone on the internet. Julie knocked Zoe in the head coming inside, Jen took a fall on the (refinished!) terrazzo but saved her drink, and I got to witness this in the newly painted living room watching the Phils on ESPN (the Flyin' Hawaiian coming up big). It's been entertaining to say the least, but after working all day painting, ripping out the interior casings (that had been termite food prior to us getting it tented), and just making the place livable, it was nice to relax on a Sunday night with some shrimp, scallops, lobster, wine, and Phils baseball.
Now back to the grind of the real world - at least now we have the semblance of a livable abode!
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Making Up For Lost Time
I never realized how little free time I really had (or how much free time I waste) until I tried to do this blog thing a couple times a week. Man, what a pain in the rear... We’ve been working so much on the house at night I haven’t been able to do much typing, let alone get some pics and all up here. Will try and keep
the blogs shorter and more frequent
It’s more than a little appropriate that we now live in Shady Banks. Those of you from the Hoboken days will remember the apartment on Washington St. that Ninja, Rogish and I shared as the “Shady Apartment”, and the 90 Grand place as the “Shady Palace”, so it’s only fitting that Jen and I now live in Shady Banks. The “Shady Shack” does have a ring to it…
Thanks to some super work by Mom and Dad and the Facarazzos last weekend though, it might not have the Shack moniker much longer. We had a backbreaking Saturday that started at 8am and didn’t end until well after the sun went down; the heat, humidity, and lingering effects of the Phillies-Marlins game probably didn’t help matters. It was as productive a day as we’ve had with the house yet though – all three bedrooms are now pretty much set up, the kitchen has most of the stuff put away, and outside is much more organized thanks to the shelves we got from the Heinemann’s getting put together. Jen and I also traveled out to get a fridge, dishwasher, and oven/stove from some guy off of craigslist, so now we’ll actually have a fridge that will keep things cold (and at some point, a real dishwasher). Thanks to Fred, Dad got to get a fully operational powerwasher, and spent a good deal of Sunday afternoon making things clean in the backyard. To end the weekend, we finally got a chance to shove off from our dock, Fred and Doreen took the Sharpes out for their first sunset cruise from the casa.
This weekend was no different - work work work and some play thrown in. Our terrazzo floors were refinshed this week, and although they are still a little hazy, the difference in color was pretty dramatic and as they get mopped up. Since doing the floors required us to move all the stuff the 'rents has just set up, we spent a good deal of the weekend moving that stuff back into place. Friday night was Home Depot, dinner, and sleeping on a mattress in the living room - half of the Frank the Tank pretty good little day. Saturday night turned into the *other* half - after another day of cleaning up, and some great work by James the electrician and his plumber, to get our dishwasher, disposal, ceiling fans, light switches, etc... Jen headed out to a little waterfront place for Catie's birthday dinner, and I was going to drive over and meet them there after finishing up a little more housework. Those plans quickly changed when Fred's boat pulled up with some rum-soaked revelers wanting to join Catie's party. It was a quick cruise to Rendezvous, and we had a good time - and also found out that Cheryl and rum do not play well together. The party continued back at the new place - despite being a mess, we were able to set the Wii up and play golf, tennis, bowling, etc... Cheryl and rum AND tennis definitely DON'T mix!! This of course made for quite a slow Sunday today, but as the weekend winds down we're ready to hit this coming week with plenty more to do - finish the clean up from this weekend's construction, sand down the LR wall, and choose what windows to put in this place.
So much for quick posts... (pictures coming)
the blogs shorter and more frequent
It’s more than a little appropriate that we now live in Shady Banks. Those of you from the Hoboken days will remember the apartment on Washington St. that Ninja, Rogish and I shared as the “Shady Apartment”, and the 90 Grand place as the “Shady Palace”, so it’s only fitting that Jen and I now live in Shady Banks. The “Shady Shack” does have a ring to it…
Thanks to some super work by Mom and Dad and the Facarazzos last weekend though, it might not have the Shack moniker much longer. We had a backbreaking Saturday that started at 8am and didn’t end until well after the sun went down; the heat, humidity, and lingering effects of the Phillies-Marlins game probably didn’t help matters. It was as productive a day as we’ve had with the house yet though – all three bedrooms are now pretty much set up, the kitchen has most of the stuff put away, and outside is much more organized thanks to the shelves we got from the Heinemann’s getting put together. Jen and I also traveled out to get a fridge, dishwasher, and oven/stove from some guy off of craigslist, so now we’ll actually have a fridge that will keep things cold (and at some point, a real dishwasher). Thanks to Fred, Dad got to get a fully operational powerwasher, and spent a good deal of Sunday afternoon making things clean in the backyard. To end the weekend, we finally got a chance to shove off from our dock, Fred and Doreen took the Sharpes out for their first sunset cruise from the casa.
This weekend was no different - work work work and some play thrown in. Our terrazzo floors were refinshed this week, and although they are still a little hazy, the difference in color was pretty dramatic and as they get mopped up. Since doing the floors required us to move all the stuff the 'rents has just set up, we spent a good deal of the weekend moving that stuff back into place. Friday night was Home Depot, dinner, and sleeping on a mattress in the living room - half of the Frank the Tank pretty good little day. Saturday night turned into the *other* half - after another day of cleaning up, and some great work by James the electrician and his plumber, to get our dishwasher, disposal, ceiling fans, light switches, etc... Jen headed out to a little waterfront place for Catie's birthday dinner, and I was going to drive over and meet them there after finishing up a little more housework. Those plans quickly changed when Fred's boat pulled up with some rum-soaked revelers wanting to join Catie's party. It was a quick cruise to Rendezvous, and we had a good time - and also found out that Cheryl and rum do not play well together. The party continued back at the new place - despite being a mess, we were able to set the Wii up and play golf, tennis, bowling, etc... Cheryl and rum AND tennis definitely DON'T mix!! This of course made for quite a slow Sunday today, but as the weekend winds down we're ready to hit this coming week with plenty more to do - finish the clean up from this weekend's construction, sand down the LR wall, and choose what windows to put in this place.
So much for quick posts... (pictures coming)
Friday, June 27, 2008
Movin' to 1601
This will be a collaborative post throughout the entire weekend of our continued rehab of the house and moving in on Saturday. The roof trusses have been supported; our friend Kevin had a crew of guys who busted their butt and got it done in a day, so the roof is ready to go. We also finished removing the fake fireplace and the rest of the wood paneling, the living room wall is completely clear.
Thursday night we got a lot of painting done; we had someone start painting earlier in the week, but he wasn't getting the job done real well, so we (well, T.J. - Jen hates to paint!) took over the job. As of Friday morning, we have bedrooms 1 and 2 painted fully (a sandy tan), bedroom 3 needs one more coat ("mauvey tan" according to Jen), the office/spare room is done, and there's a coat on the south walls in the living room and dining room, plus the entire hall (a greyish/blue, although it is tough to see). Jen got the rest of the old drapes down, and removed grates that the paranoid old lady had put on every door - it looks much better without the grates on there.
Of course... just as things were looking good at 1601, the condo goes haywire. We got home at 11 Thursday night, and flushed the toilet... and it clogs. Unfortunately this time, plunging the toilet didn't clear the clog - it pushed sewage water into BOTH bathtubs. Letting it sit and hoping it would clear itself overnight didn't do the trick, either. So we have two bathrooms that smell like a sewer treatment plant and a plumber coming over this morning. Hopefully this is NOT a sign of how things are going to go this weekend.
UPDATE: The move was successful if not exhausting. I forgot how much crap I had, not to mention all of Jen's stuff. we got 90% of it on the Lukes' Landscaping box truck. Mike and I loaded about half the stuff from the condo and got a helping hand from one of the guys he works with. Poor Dave ended up being late to a BBQ and it was his birthday to boot, but he made the process soooo much easier. We got everything packed and there with only two minor mishaps: first, I wasn't paying attention and was moving a box that was light and had pillows on top, and mistakenly thought it would have nothing breakable in it. Whoops - these oversized wine/martini glasses I bought Jen for us to decorate after the wedding are now in the recycle bin. Second, despite a good showing by Mike and I fitting everything in there as efficiently as possible, there was one soft cooler that didn't have anything supporting it and was pretty much going to fall over as soon as we hit the gas. Since we couldn't get back to it, I tried chest-passing a few blankets back there to keep it up. Bad move, at least when there's a bed frame sticking out, and its metal corner digs into your forearm. Blood everywhere, for the next 30 minutes, and soon to be a permanent scar as a reminder how unfun it is to move.
So our crew got everything moved in, in the one main trip, plus a second trip to get a grill from Lyn's and a kitchen table from Julie, and a third trip on Sunday by Jen and I to get the last few things from the condo and from our storage. It's a little tight in here now, but we'll get it organized over the next couple of weeks. Lyn got us some stuff from Costco, Jen scooted out after the main load was emptied on Saturday to hit a baby shower, and Opre and I went to get the grill/table, while Luke stayed behind and had a landscape crew come through and pretty much nuke the bushes and wood deck in the front of the house. It looks soooo much better cleared out in the front than it did with all the bushes. Corrine and Schaen stopped by, and John and Cheryl FINALLY made it over after saying they'd be there in the morning. We were able to make some semblance of the living room so that we could at least relax a bit, waiting for Jen to get home from a never-ending Cuban baby shower that was still going after 5 hours. By that time I was pretty much beat, so after some grilling and champagne with them, it was bedtime - our first night in the new house! Thanks to everyone who helped!!
Thursday night we got a lot of painting done; we had someone start painting earlier in the week, but he wasn't getting the job done real well, so we (well, T.J. - Jen hates to paint!) took over the job. As of Friday morning, we have bedrooms 1 and 2 painted fully (a sandy tan), bedroom 3 needs one more coat ("mauvey tan" according to Jen), the office/spare room is done, and there's a coat on the south walls in the living room and dining room, plus the entire hall (a greyish/blue, although it is tough to see). Jen got the rest of the old drapes down, and removed grates that the paranoid old lady had put on every door - it looks much better without the grates on there.
Of course... just as things were looking good at 1601, the condo goes haywire. We got home at 11 Thursday night, and flushed the toilet... and it clogs. Unfortunately this time, plunging the toilet didn't clear the clog - it pushed sewage water into BOTH bathtubs. Letting it sit and hoping it would clear itself overnight didn't do the trick, either. So we have two bathrooms that smell like a sewer treatment plant and a plumber coming over this morning. Hopefully this is NOT a sign of how things are going to go this weekend.
UPDATE: The move was successful if not exhausting. I forgot how much crap I had, not to mention all of Jen's stuff. we got 90% of it on the Lukes' Landscaping box truck. Mike and I loaded about half the stuff from the condo and got a helping hand from one of the guys he works with. Poor Dave ended up being late to a BBQ and it was his birthday to boot, but he made the process soooo much easier. We got everything packed and there with only two minor mishaps: first, I wasn't paying attention and was moving a box that was light and had pillows on top, and mistakenly thought it would have nothing breakable in it. Whoops - these oversized wine/martini glasses I bought Jen for us to decorate after the wedding are now in the recycle bin. Second, despite a good showing by Mike and I fitting everything in there as efficiently as possible, there was one soft cooler that didn't have anything supporting it and was pretty much going to fall over as soon as we hit the gas. Since we couldn't get back to it, I tried chest-passing a few blankets back there to keep it up. Bad move, at least when there's a bed frame sticking out, and its metal corner digs into your forearm. Blood everywhere, for the next 30 minutes, and soon to be a permanent scar as a reminder how unfun it is to move.
So our crew got everything moved in, in the one main trip, plus a second trip to get a grill from Lyn's and a kitchen table from Julie, and a third trip on Sunday by Jen and I to get the last few things from the condo and from our storage. It's a little tight in here now, but we'll get it organized over the next couple of weeks. Lyn got us some stuff from Costco, Jen scooted out after the main load was emptied on Saturday to hit a baby shower, and Opre and I went to get the grill/table, while Luke stayed behind and had a landscape crew come through and pretty much nuke the bushes and wood deck in the front of the house. It looks soooo much better cleared out in the front than it did with all the bushes. Corrine and Schaen stopped by, and John and Cheryl FINALLY made it over after saying they'd be there in the morning. We were able to make some semblance of the living room so that we could at least relax a bit, waiting for Jen to get home from a never-ending Cuban baby shower that was still going after 5 hours. By that time I was pretty much beat, so after some grilling and champagne with them, it was bedtime - our first night in the new house! Thanks to everyone who helped!!
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
House Construction (Destruction?)
Well we're in, so now the fun starts! We got a full day in on Sunday and a pretty good night in on Tuesday, although we're exhausted right now. We also have someone in there painting and got our friend Kevin to get some guys up there and do some repairs in the attic, so things are moving along. On Sunday, despite some torrential rain, we started taking down some of the tacky 70's wood paneling. It brightened the room up right away, as the wood and fireplace duet made the room feel smaller - although removing some of the 30 year old curtains probably helped too. Zoe was not a lot of help.
On Tuesday, T.J. cleaned up outside and kept removing the the wood paneling, while Jen took on the faux fireplace. Whomever put the darn thing in there really did a job - the fake brick facade concealed a mountain of cinderblocks, with some quickcrete in the openings for good measure. So Jen got to work (and has the blisters to show for it) getting through about 2/3rds of the concrete monstrosity before T.J. finished it off. Of course, we didn't have much of a plan for disposal, so while some of the debris made it back to our condo's dumpster, there's still a heap of concrete (and a layer of dust) laying on the floor. Can't wait for tomorrow... It looks a lot more open than it did before, with the fireplace and the wood paneling having both been scrapped.
On Tuesday, T.J. cleaned up outside and kept removing the the wood paneling, while Jen took on the faux fireplace. Whomever put the darn thing in there really did a job - the fake brick facade concealed a mountain of cinderblocks, with some quickcrete in the openings for good measure. So Jen got to work (and has the blisters to show for it) getting through about 2/3rds of the concrete monstrosity before T.J. finished it off. Of course, we didn't have much of a plan for disposal, so while some of the debris made it back to our condo's dumpster, there's still a heap of concrete (and a layer of dust) laying on the floor. Can't wait for tomorrow... It looks a lot more open than it did before, with the fireplace and the wood paneling having both been scrapped.
Friday, June 20, 2008
The new house... almost... and we're in!!
*Almost* there... a snafu in the mortgage application led to the closing being rescheduled for Tuesday, but God (and Countrywide) willing we'll be finalizing today. More updates tonight, hopefully with pictures!
UPDATE: The underwriters at Countrywide are a bunch of incompetent JO's, we're up to lunch on Wednesday and we still are waiting on them. Unbelievable, they still hadn't given a final review approval to a few things (like our marriage certificate) and it's getting ridiculous. We're hoping by this afternoon...
UPDATE II: Signed the documents last night, should have the sellers sign this morning and finish the transaction by lunchtime. What an exhausting day yesterday was, and we didn't even get the keys to boot. Jen and I went to bed before 9:30...
AND FINALLY
...We're in!! We got it!!! Click on the title above for the Google Map of the house. After a good deal of hassle, the keys were in our hands by 4pm. T.J. ran a few errands (including getting a microwave off craigslists for $20) and got stuff from the house, including one doggie, and met Jen at the house. We got ready and then walked into 1601 as ours for the first time.
There's a kitchen that needs some updating, a dining room, a living room with a fake fireplace that might not be real, but might be a little tough to move since it seems like it's made out of real brick. Off the living room is a small den that likely used to be a Florida room, with a side office/bedroom off it and a laundry room. The master bedroom faces the street, with what seems like the original bathroom. There's a second and third bedroom on the west side of the house, facing into the backyard and towards the water.
Ahhh the backyard. We have 33' of waterfront, with a dock that needs some new boards. Zoe loved having the yard but totally wanted to go in the water; at one point she snuck over to the neighbor's dock, so we had to build a temporary fence to keep her in. We loved being able to sit on the dock and dangle our feet over the water, even if Jen swore she would never go in (ha ha riiight!) because there were fish swimming all over like crazed poissons after happy hour. The front yard also offers a lot of space, and there's a side part of the yard that, once redone, will be nice. And one of the biggest selling points is that it is on a cul-de-sac AND is right across from a big park with a playground, baseball diamond, and basketball court. For where it is east of 95 and on the water, it offers a lot of land/space.
We had our first meal - delivery by Dominos, with some champagne (thanks Jules!) on the dock as the sun set. Not a bad start to many good days and nights with family/friends in that backyard. Click here for the entire album of pictures from the house.
UPDATE: The underwriters at Countrywide are a bunch of incompetent JO's, we're up to lunch on Wednesday and we still are waiting on them. Unbelievable, they still hadn't given a final review approval to a few things (like our marriage certificate) and it's getting ridiculous. We're hoping by this afternoon...
UPDATE II: Signed the documents last night, should have the sellers sign this morning and finish the transaction by lunchtime. What an exhausting day yesterday was, and we didn't even get the keys to boot. Jen and I went to bed before 9:30...
AND FINALLY
...We're in!! We got it!!! Click on the title above for the Google Map of the house. After a good deal of hassle, the keys were in our hands by 4pm. T.J. ran a few errands (including getting a microwave off craigslists for $20) and got stuff from the house, including one doggie, and met Jen at the house. We got ready and then walked into 1601 as ours for the first time.
There's a kitchen that needs some updating, a dining room, a living room with a fake fireplace that might not be real, but might be a little tough to move since it seems like it's made out of real brick. Off the living room is a small den that likely used to be a Florida room, with a side office/bedroom off it and a laundry room. The master bedroom faces the street, with what seems like the original bathroom. There's a second and third bedroom on the west side of the house, facing into the backyard and towards the water.
Ahhh the backyard. We have 33' of waterfront, with a dock that needs some new boards. Zoe loved having the yard but totally wanted to go in the water; at one point she snuck over to the neighbor's dock, so we had to build a temporary fence to keep her in. We loved being able to sit on the dock and dangle our feet over the water, even if Jen swore she would never go in (ha ha riiight!) because there were fish swimming all over like crazed poissons after happy hour. The front yard also offers a lot of space, and there's a side part of the yard that, once redone, will be nice. And one of the biggest selling points is that it is on a cul-de-sac AND is right across from a big park with a playground, baseball diamond, and basketball court. For where it is east of 95 and on the water, it offers a lot of land/space.
We had our first meal - delivery by Dominos, with some champagne (thanks Jules!) on the dock as the sun set. Not a bad start to many good days and nights with family/friends in that backyard. Click here for the entire album of pictures from the house.
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