Home Renovations

So on the 15th and 16th we had our baseboard heating system installed. Score! The jackhammers arrived and created a whole bunch of dust but the job got done.

That was Tuesday and Wednesday. Also on Tuesday, mid dinner, our stove completely konks out! The salmon was done but not the edemame. Nope. Not working. Cursing and futzing ensued. Nothing.

Saturday the 19th was 'Blizzard 2009'. :) We had a lot of snow. And because we didn't have floors or much of a house, we didn't have a lot of time to buy a stove before the weeekend. So, in the midst of the snow storm, all four of us travel out to Sears to get a steal on a stove we didn't even know we wanted.

We returned home and had a good day of playing, crafting, wrapping presents,etc. It wasn't the weekend we planned. My fancy work party was cancelled due to the snow and the kids were to be with my parents so we could finish up the holiday planning. But since it snowed a ton, we all were at home enjoying the white fluffy stuff! Saturday afternoon, around 5, our house has a HORRID oil smell. Bad. Bad. We call Petro and ask about the smell. Since it was a blizzard, I was told that they were only responding to emergency phone calls. That made sense. They suggested opening up the windows for fresh air.

But that only made the furnance run harder. An oil smell is so gross! So we all went for a walk/treck in the snow! When we came home, we saw dark, thick smoke coming out of our furnance. So gross! I called Petro back and when I explained the situation, they decided it was an emergency.

We turned off our heated and waited. Ya know, with the blizzard.

The truck arrived and they set to work trying to fix our furnace. The problem was that it was just dirty (whew) and just needed to be cleaned (whew, whew!). But they had to take OFF the countertop!!

They did so and did a partial cleaning- enough to stop the horrid oil smell. They returned on Monday afternoon to finish up and fix the counter.

But when I left for work on Monday, we had an exposed furnance, no countertops, no floors and no working stove.

Crazy!



Also on Monday, I FINALLY make the call about the floors. To say that we 'reserached' this decision would be an understatement. First we got about 7 estimates- should we glue down, nail down, do laminate? solid woods? If we have the old heating system, we need to figure out what wood will work with that. Then we decided on the new system. Cue one month wait while we got estimates on THAT work. Meanwhile, we are living on concrete. We pulled up all of the floor in the living room in November. So 6 weeks later, we are still eating on a concrete living room. Then in December, we pulled up ALL of the carpet so our entire first floor was just a concrete mess.





So the phone call saying 'book it' was overdue. So I called on Monday of Christmas week. They said, "Well, we can put it in on Tuesday. Sound good? 8:15!?" After literally a three year wait, and nearly two months of concrete, we were given less than 24 hours to finish packing up our first floor, find child care for that day and GO with the house. It was a long night of packing. We couldn't have anything on the floor and you don't really how much crap you have until you have to pack it into the garage.

At 8:15am on the 22nd, our new floors arrived. And they are SWEET!! It is the BEST! And we have heat!!! So in less than ten days, we had jackhammers and new heat and new floors installed. And now we just need a working stove. (It has been a LONG two weeks of microwaving and crockpotting).

But seriously, as I told my parents who are helping us with a loan, "I left my house in the morning and came back to a HOME."

All are welcome to join us for dinner! (Well, as soon as we get a stove that works!)