All sorts of new and exciting changes

Hi readers! (Okay, adding the "s" to reader is a bit of a stretch, but I retain hope)

At the encouragement of Wohn, and the realization that a lot of silly things happen to me on a daily basis, I thought, in the name of Ginapalooza, I'd stretch out my fingers, dust off my brain and issue a fearsome "bring it on!" to carpel tunnel syndrome. I'm back in Seattle after three years in glorious Washington, DC, and have finally settled in (more or less) to my new house, so no more excuses!

A lot has happened in my life over the last few years, primarily my uninteresting migration from (depending on how you know me, please fill in the blank here)into a married lady who is everyday becoming closer to perfection in the domestic arts. And when I say "domestic arts" I of course am referring to the skills I have adopted of late in the areas of plaster wall repair, attic ventilation, lock set installation and recreational saw'sall operation. Of course I also take pride in my set of fine bone China and make a mean pork chop. But you knew that part already.

I suppose nothing nourishes one's dream of becoming an amateur handyman quite like the purchase of a new home. Specifically, a new home that is anything but new. In January, we closed on the purchase of a 1926 Craftsman in the friendly Seattle neighborhood of Maple Leaf. Since then, I've spent a lot of money at Home Depot, and learned a lot about myself and my marriage. Some bad, but most of it good. One thing is certain: I clearly need to start blogging again.

I want to be clear; this will not turn into a blog about my new adventures of home ownership. I am not a first time home owner, and have already experienced the ups and downs of that rigamarole. I've experienced and processed the "hot damn, I really wish I could call the landlord to fix this!" moments (and there have been several), and I now seem to be finding a lot of this stuff actually kind of enjoyable and dare I say...fun. (Keep in mind of course that this could very well be my subconscious brain trying to help me cope with the costs of home ownership by categorizing them as "fun." I wouldn't put it past me.) I'm not sure if it's because the hardware stores in Seattle are so much better than the terrible ones I experienced in DC, or out of the necessity, as we now have more work than we can afford to pay someone else to do; but I'm suddenly finding that same sense of joy and excitement in hardware stores that I used to find in tack stores when I was a little equestrian with big dreams of having my own horse some day.

I used to love spending time at Mills Tack shop off of Northrup Way in Bellevue. The smell of leather and saddle soap; the peg board walls full of bits, nose bands, hoof picks and blankets. So many tools of the trade that I could use for my some-day horse*. I get that same feeling now at a good hardware store. Only now I actually have a real house in which to play with all of these toys. I mean tools.

In the three months that we've had this house, we've hired licensed professionals to update the electrical service and replace the old knob and tube wiring that was supplying much of the house; replace the furnace with a newer, more efficient model which is not on the verge of death; install a gas insert in the masonry fireplace; and repair a non-functioning kitchen range vent. We've also tackled some projects ourselves: installing dead bolts on all of the doors, repairing a non-closing storm door, replacing window sash locks, installing smoke detectors, weather stripping windows and doors, sealed leaks in some duct work, replaced old scary mystery insulation with new fiberglass insulation (R-49, woo hoo!), rehanging a bathroom door so it opens out instead of in, patching up some spots under the eaves of our attic where resourceful critters could easily get in and camp out for the winter, and creating hundreds of square inches of attic ventilation (still need to do one more roof vent, but we now officially have soffit vents).

My next goal is to be make storm windows for the house. We've got these beautiful old double hung windows that are lovely to look through, terrible to sit next to; I think they're made of mesh. Id like to have storm windows made in time for next winter, and I figure I'll probably need a year to accomplish this and should start now. But before I can make storm windows, I need a STURDY WORK BENCH! I have BIG IDEAS that this bench is going to be my inaugural project that marks the beginning of a fabulous new hobby. Yes, as of today, I fully plan to never buy another piece of furniture again, because I'm going to make it all myself! As long as I can keep all of my fingers, nothing can stand in my way! I'm going to start with with my bench, thanks to the instructions from my very own copy Start Woodworking magazine, which is like, Skipper to Fine Woodworking's Barbi. This is good, because when it comes to wood working, I am very much a Skipper; flat shoes and a can-do attitude.

Wish me luck. I'll be sure to post photos soon...


*I still want to have a horse someday, but still can't afford one, as all of our money seems to be going toward this money pit of a house...