2016 Slackers Club

[megaptera]

Jan 8, 2016 12:06:43 GMT -5 Chocolate Lover said:

Still slacking on that whole exercise thing. I really suck at this. I can't keep slacking though, I like my chocolate too much!

Same here. I thought once we adopted our pup, it would force me to get out and walk every day. But it's been so dang cold here (and I'm a big baby with cold), I've been making DS2 take him out. Once it gets a bit warmer out....

[bean29]

Jan 8, 2016 14:08:01 GMT -5 megaptera said:

Jan 8, 2016 12:06:43 GMT -5 Chocolate Lover said:

Still slacking on that whole exercise thing. I really suck at this. I can't keep slacking though, I like my chocolate too much!

Same here. I thought once we adopted our pup, it would force me to get out and walk every day. But it's been so dang cold here (and I'm a big baby with cold), I've been making DS2 take him out. Once it gets a bit warmer out....

Me too.  We have 2 dogs we own and a Shih tzu puppy we are fostering.  I think the foster pup is destined to join the family though.  We are getting too attached to him.  I do walk the older dogs on the weekend and pull my stints taking the puppy out, but I hate the cold.  I bought myself a warm long down coat to take the dogs out in.

We have had an exercise bike in our basement for about 5 years.  I have never used it (we got it from my parents).  I keep telling myself I am going to start riding the bike (In the am, it is tonight, and in the pm it is tomorrow).

[Tennesseer]

After the water heater flood in my home in 2011, I also had the inside of the house painted.  I only started hanging pictures back on the walls two weeks ago.  I was too lazy to hang them during the previous 4 1/2 years.

[Bonny]

Jan 8, 2016 13:52:40 GMT -5 kittensaver said:

Jan 8, 2016 10:17:38 GMT -5 bean29 said:

Kittensaver - Good luck with replacing the knob in your linen closet. I guess you just reminded me of one of the things we have been slacking on. I bought knobs and pulls for my basement bath and kitchen and they have yet to be installed. I was hoping our handyman/carpenter would do it for me, but his disability or SS apparently kicked in.  I will have to get DH to do it himself.  Maybe once football season is over. 

Inquiring minds want to know - what kind of Kitchen remodel did you get done in 3 1/2 weeks?  That is a real accomplishment.

Planning, planning, planning. 3 1/2 weeks was the actual time the contractor was on site, but we spent more than two months before that working on the design, negotiating the budget and gathering all the materials. It also took me a full week pre-construction to sort through 15 years worth of stuff, pack away what I was keeping and have a yard sale for the rest (what didn't sell went to Goodwill).

EVERYTHING was sitting in my garage (well, not the granite, it was in the stone fabricator's shop) and we agreed that there would be no change orders before anyone picked up the first hammer. So once it got started, it just went. There were no breaks - someone from some trade or other was there every day working (even Saturdays). There were no delays because everything was onsite and there was no waiting for something to come in. It helped that I've worked with this contractor before, and we understand each other and get along well. I know I will use him again. It also helped that once the demolition portion was done, there were no major problems or issues that got uncovered.

It also took me another almost two weeks to re-mount the shelving in the pantry closets and other cabinets, decide where everything was going, put it all away, change my mind and move stuff around, and add my finishing touches. 2 months out (we finished right before Thanksgiving), I'm still tweaking picky minor things. So in reality (and to be fair), it took more than 3 1/2 weeks - that amount of time was just the actual construction time.

I would LOVE to post some pictures, but I'm a luddite who doesn't want to have a photo service in the cloud.  If someone is willing to PM me an email address or smart phone #, I'd be happy to pass along my Before, During and After photos for someone else to post. [[ calling Bonny , if she's willing]]

Lol, you give me too much credit kittensaver! I've just posted to a unsecure section of Photobucket and posted the link here. Perhaps moon/Laura can help?

[Bonny]

I read this thread rather than do anything useful!

[moon/Laura]

kittensaver, I'm happy to "host and post" the photos if you want me to. You can email them to the forum email address (in the news feed on the home page).

[moon/Laura]

OK. Here are kittensaver's remodel pics. Before, during demolition, in progress and complete.

[Jaguar]

OH I just love the remodel kittensaver, purrfect!

[Deleted]

Jan 8, 2016 21:26:40 GMT -5 moon/Laura said:

OK. Here are kittensaver 's remodel pics. Before, during demolition, in progress and complete.

Love the glass front cabinets and black and white kitty!

[Deleted]

I can't declutter because I'm a stocker. I stock up on food, beauty supplies, cleaning supplies, clothes. I hate to shop and hate to have to shop.

I stock up to much sometimes like I have too many new pairs of pjs and not enough room in my drawers.

[kittensaver]

Bump, so that bean29 and Bonny can see my kitchen pictures .

On a slacker note, I attended a college basketball game and 2 birthday parties this weekend - and got absolutely no housework done. I even skipped watering the plots in the community garden (my responsibility on weekends) because of the rain .

[bean29]

Kittensaver,

Thanks for the pictures. I am impressed with how it turned out, although, I am concerned b/c the old fixture over the island is from the same group of light fixtures we have in our house in our kitchen, dinette, dining room and living room   Hopefully that does not mean I need to replace them all.  JK.  If I was that insecure I would be replacing all my cabinets too b/c they are oak, and that is not the "in" thing either.  Maybe I will get motivated and take some pics for you all to see. 

I did get all the ornaments off the tree, and in boxes, I just have to have DH disassemble the tree (it is in 3 parts and put everything in the storage closet.  DH did not want to do it when I was not home, and I came to work for 5-6 hours yesterday.   

[Chocolate Lover]

Got my tree down but my bathrooms didn't get their deep cleaning this weekend. So I slacked some.

[jeep108]

I put off all cleaning this weekend, I didn't even get dressed yesterday.  I will be playing catch up all week.

[kittensaver]

Jan 11, 2016 10:44:47 GMT -5 bean29 said:

Kittensaver,

Thanks for the pictures. I am impressed with how it turned out, although, I am concerned b/c the old fixture over the island is from the same group of light fixtures we have in our house in our kitchen, dinette, dining room and living room   Hopefully that does not mean I need to replace them all.  JK.  If I was that insecure I would be replacing all my cabinets too b/c they are oak, and that is not the "in" thing either.  Maybe I will get motivated and take some pics for you all to see. 

I did get all the ornaments off the tree, and in boxes, I just have to have DH disassemble the tree (it is in 3 parts and put everything in the storage closet.  DH did not want to do it when I was not home, and I came to work for 5-6 hours yesterday.   

Well no worries, Bean, there's nothing "wrong" with the old fixture - as a matter of fact I ended up selling it for a few bucks at my yard sale, so it must be worth something! I replaced it for two reasons: first, until the remodel it was the only light source in the kitchen, but after I put can lights in the ceiling I no longer needed something so large and intense and second, it's not a bad style it just wasn't part of the look I was going after (it didn't fit my Urban Cottage design). The new pendant fixtures fit the house overall much better (and only provide secondary, specific lighting for the stovetop).

Nothing wrong with oak, either! As you can see, we did not tear the kitchen out back to the studs - we only did a "facelift." The cabinets were custom-constructed into the space in the late 40's and are of solid wood. There was no way I was going to pull out solid wood, well-built cabinets and put in cheap or even mid-range particle board boxes. So I kept the structure  - just rehabbing the insides and adding on new doors and drawers. The cabinet maker covered decades of old paint by sanding it all down and spraying it with several coats of lacquer - and it looks great. I'm sure (if you wanted to) you could do the same with the oak and no one would be the wiser (it would no longer look like oak - that is, if you were going after a totally different look). It would also save you quite a bit of money compared to putting in all new cabinets. Just a thought.

  

[kittensaver]

Jan 8, 2016 21:52:36 GMT -5 @xmascookie said:

Jan 8, 2016 21:26:40 GMT -5 moon/Laura said:

Love the glass front cabinets and black and white kitty!

Thanks - that's my precious shoulder-riding kitty Chloe, who was rescued from the euthanasia room of the shelter with about half an hour to spare. She's a tuxedo ragdoll and a total sweetheart (also a photobomber!)

[Bonny]

Jan 11, 2016 10:31:55 GMT -5 kittensaver said:

Bump, so that bean29 and Bonny can see my kitchen pictures .

On a slacker note, I attended a college basketball game and 2 birthday parties this weekend - and got absolutely no housework done. I even skipped watering the plots in the community garden (my responsibility on weekends) because of the rain .

Thanks so much for tagging me. I love it! Very suitable for your "cottage" style. Even better that you reused the old cabinet "boxes". I bet you love, love, LOVE having a solid surface counter top.

Now just to be annoying....  You do know that you could have done double-sided doors on that upper cabinet between the kitchen and the dining (?) room? I store all my glassware in mine. It's a nice effect because it allows a little more light in the kitchen from the outdoors and it makes it easier for guests to get their own @#$% wine glasses!

Our cabin kitchen is approaching the time to do some updating. I so hate the tile countertops with wood, yes wood! edging. It's a slippery slope of course because once I change the countertop I want to expand it a little to have some counter seating at the peninsula which means changing out the bank of drawers to doors and roll out shelves.....

[kittensaver]

Jan 11, 2016 16:35:51 GMT -5 Bonny said:

Jan 11, 2016 10:31:55 GMT -5 kittensaver said:

Bump, so that bean29 and Bonny can see my kitchen pictures .

On a slacker note, I attended a college basketball game and 2 birthday parties this weekend - and got absolutely no housework done. I even skipped watering the plots in the community garden (my responsibility on weekends) because of the rain .

Thanks so much for tagging me. I love it! Very suitable for your "cottage" style. Even better that you reused the old cabinet "boxes". I bet you love, love, LOVE having a solid surface counter top.

I sure do! I have ambitions to live a grout-free lifestyle. One more bathroom remodel to go and then I'm there

Now just to be annoying....  You do know that you could have done double-sided doors on that upper cabinet between the kitchen and the dining (?) room? I store all my glassware in mine. It's a nice effect because it allows a little more light in the kitchen from the outdoors and it makes it easier for guests to get their own @#$% wine glasses!

Yeah , once we were "in to it" I realized I should have glassed-in/double-door'd the upper cabinets (from this posted view, you're looking over the countertop to my TV room and then out the sliding glass doors to the back yard). But part of what made everything go so fast and so smooth was our agreed-to "no change orders" rule, so I stuck with it. Some day when I have extra money lying around  I will definitely go back and have it done. All my glassware and party ware is up there now, but you can't see it.

Our cabin kitchen is approaching the time to do some updating. I so hate the tile countertops with wood, yes wood! edging. It's a slippery slope of course because once I change the countertop I want to expand it a little to have some counter seating at the peninsula which means changing out the bank of drawers to doors and roll out shelves.....

Hahahahaha, you're singing my song! But seriously, a little planning (which I know you're good at) and you're all good to go. Wood edging to tile, hmmmm, and interesting choice (1970's?). But I have to tell you I LOVE my new butcher block island top. It's hard rock maple .

[Bonny]

Jan 11, 2016 17:18:11 GMT -5 kittensaver said:

Jan 11, 2016 16:35:51 GMT -5 Bonny said:

Thanks so much for tagging me. I love it! Very suitable for your "cottage" style. Even better that you reused the old cabinet "boxes". I bet you love, love, LOVE having a solid surface counter top.

I sure do! I have ambitions to live a grout-free lifestyle. One more bathroom remodel to go and then I'm there

Now just to be annoying....  You do know that you could have done double-sided doors on that upper cabinet between the kitchen and the dining (?) room? I store all my glassware in mine. It's a nice effect because it allows a little more light in the kitchen from the outdoors and it makes it easier for guests to get their own @#$% wine glasses!

Yeah , once we were "in to it" I realized I should have glassed-in/double-door'd the upper cabinets (from this posted view, you're looking over the countertop to my TV room and then out the sliding glass doors to the back yard). But part of what made everything go so fast and so smooth was our agreed-to "no change orders" rule, so I stuck with it. Some day when I have extra money lying around  I will definitely go back and have it done. All my glassware and party ware is up there now, but you can't see it.

Our cabin kitchen is approaching the time to do some updating. I so hate the tile countertops with wood, yes wood! edging. It's a slippery slope of course because once I change the countertop I want to expand it a little to have some counter seating at the peninsula which means changing out the bank of drawers to doors and roll out shelves.....

Hahahahaha, you're singing my song! But seriously, a little planning (which I know you're good at) and you're all good to go. Wood edging to tile, hmmmm, and interesting choice (1970's?). But I have to tell you I LOVE my new butcher block island top. It's hard rock maple .

1994. I'll PM you the link to the (hopefully) new property manager's site.

[CCL]

Jan 11, 2016 15:01:01 GMT -5 kittensaver said:

Jan 8, 2016 21:52:36 GMT -5 @xmascookie said:

Love the glass front cabinets and black and white kitty!

Thanks - that's my precious shoulder-riding kitty Chloe, who was rescued from the euthanasia room of the shelter with about half an hour to spare. She's a tuxedo ragdoll and a total sweetheart (also a photobomber!)

I love the glass-front cabinets,too, especially on the island. You know you have to keep those tidy now, don't you?

[kittensaver]

Jan 11, 2016 22:10:29 GMT -5 CCL said:

Jan 11, 2016 15:01:01 GMT -5 kittensaver said:

Thanks - that's my precious shoulder-riding kitty Chloe, who was rescued from the euthanasia room of the shelter with about half an hour to spare. She's a tuxedo ragdoll and a total sweetheart (also a photobomber!)

I love the glass-front cabinets,too, especially on the island. You know you have to keep those tidy now, don't you?

Yep I do . . . but my cookbooks went in there, so it will be easy to keep it tidy .

[anciana]

Jan 5, 2016 9:21:26 GMT -5 anciana said:

Oh, I definitely belong here so, please, don't close the thread! I hope to, some day, graduate to full on declutter and organize thread but not there yet.

Our city will pick up trees left on the curb this week and next week. My goal is to take all the ornaments down and get the tree to the curb in one week or less. I like to keep the house decorated till just after the 6th too : )

Phew, the tree is out of the house and all the decorations put away, and just in the nick of time.

Now what? I guess I need another goal to try to reach but I'm slacking on figuring it out

[kittensaver]

Well - I posted on January 7 that I needed to get off my backside and fix/replace a knob on a drawer in my linen closet.

I finally just go around to it this morning . It only took me a week .

[Ombud]

I bought a printer on Black Friday ... finally open it -- unable to download driver for laptop (windows 7) -- returned it today. Too much trouble to hook it up as the driver is no longer available online for the Windows 7.

[Ombud]

Best intentions? My Declutter / organize / to do list:

1. Find new PT job 
2. 'Contractor's' list:
Hall bath
o Replace mirror, sink
o Remove light, install overhead fan with light
o Paint all including ceiling
Bedrooms
o Paint [inc ceiling in DD’s old room]
o Remove blinds and install new rods
o Office: light switch
o Move TV from GK's room to mine
Family room: contrast color behind bookshelves - moved to #7
Living room, hall: paint
Garage: chain latch on side door
Kitchen: oven screw missing
Side yard: nail up one board
3. Coit: Clean carpet, tile, heater vents, dryer vent
4. GS1's new room 

5. Kitchen counters

6. Family room (find new sofa - flooring - sm paint job) 

7. Landscape front yard


#1-4 done ex behind open bookshelves.
#7 will be just a better walkway from street to porch + roses (English Garden / California native softscape)

So that leaves planning kitchen counters (dn really bother me), family room flooring / sofa / me painting wall behind open shelves ... moved from #4. So why can't I get to it?

[kittensaver]

I played slacker again this weekend . Sibs needed me to help clean, sort and pack up mom's (age 92) small house (well, not the whole thing, just the rooms that have carpet) so that new carpet can be installed today. I gave them as much of Saturday as I could, but had plans with out of town friends for Sunday and chose not to cancel them. I do a LOT for her, and I figured they could pick up some slack for me this one time (and they did - YAY sibs!). 

[kittensaver]

Jan 8, 2016 21:26:40 GMT -5 moon/Laura said:

OK. Here are kittensaver 's remodel pics. Before, during demolition, in progress and complete.

Bump - so that The Captain can see the photos. I know she was getting bids a while back. Captain if you kitchen is done, I'd love to see it!

[zibazinski]

Love your new kitchen!!

[Blonde Granny]

Great job, it looks terrific!

[busymom]

DH finally took down the Christmas wreath off our front railing.   It was easy to forget about, since we usually leave the house through the garage this time of the year...