kapachino

Category: home

  • On Being A Homeowner

    First of all, I want to say that I love love LOVE having my own home. We’ve been there three months now, and I can’t imagine living anywhere else. I’m going to gush about it for just a bit so bear with me. Here are some (not all) of the things I love about our house.

    The neighborhood. Quiet, well-kept, lots of trees, amazing location. We’re not even a minute from the major freeway that runs across Houston. So even though we’re far west, it doesn’t take much time to get into town.

    The yard. We have a pretty corner lot that is already nicely landscaped with a working sprinkler system installed. With the help of our lawn man Gomez (his first name is yet to be determined) and his fat dog who waddles around after him, we keep it looking nice.

    Garage. Detached, which was actually one of my top criteria for choosing a house. It’s big enough for our boat and two cars, with wall-to-wall peg board. We have yet to make use of said peg board, but we will!

    Floors. Hardwood flooring throughout the front half of the house, and the perfect burber carpet in the hallway and bedrooms.

    Layout. Lots of open space in the front, plenty of rooms, with the master bedroom all the way in the back for privacy. I especially like the cute little “nursery,” as we call it, that is attached to the master bedroom, even though right now it’s just my yoga room.

    Kitchen. Updated countertops, sink, and appliances with a good amount of counter space.

    It really is somewhere I could see myself living potentially for the rest of my life. But I’m new at this, and there are some adjustments. Here are some of the frustrations I’m experiencing that come along with owning a home.

     Our continued lack of furniture. We have friends who have a license to buy furniture at cost, so we ordered from them. We are getting a lot of pieces for a good price. Unfortunately, the chairs we want are backordered, and unless we want to pay two freight charges (we don’t) we have to wait until EVERYTHING is in to get ANYTHING. We have been waiting for over a month and still we don’t even have an approximate arrival time. It is getting really old not to have a table of any kind other than TV trays. Also, I don’t feel that I can really start decorating until the furniture gets here and I see how it looks.

    Leaky pipes. A few weeks ago we had a leak in our attic. I think I mentioned it – water literally pouring from the ceiling? Yeah. My father-in-law and a friend were able to patch up the leak, but eventually we will need to replace all of the pipes in the attic. Also, we now need to replace the drywall in the bathroom ceiling unless we want a colony of mold growing (we don’t). I can’t say for certain, but I’m pretty sure that’s not going to be cheap.

    My dog’s newfound chewing habit. Two days ago I came home to find that my dog Cleo (I know it was her) had chewed up the corner of the windowsill in the front room. She and Eddie, David’s dog, usually stick to ripping up trash and scattering it around the house, or chewing holes in the socks he leaves on the floor, so this surprised me. Yesterday, she was at it again and now it is about half chewed. This is not pretty! And also, I have no idea how to fix it. Cayenne pepper? Fake wood and paint? No clue.

    Choosing paint colors. I’d really like some new paint on the walls, and yes, I do plan on painting the wood paneling in our living room and the wood cabinets in the kitchen. Some people may not think that’s a good idea, but I like things bright. And we could paint at any time, because we actually have a good bit of money escrowed for paint from the sale of the house. But anytime I try to actually choose colors, I freeze up. What if the colors I choose end up looking horrible on the walls? I get so nervous thinking about it that I don’t do anything. I need a personal design coordinator. Anyone want to apply? I could pay you in Girl Scout Cookies.

    Quirks. Every single door to the outside of our house (all four of them) has a different key. To unlock all of these doors from the inside, we have to have a key. Am I wrong, or could this be a fire hazard? Also, random electrical outlets aren’t working, including all of those in the master and hall bathrooms. I am blow-drying my hair in the hallway. I looked for the fuse box, but couldn’t find it. Admittedly, I am lost when it comes to this kind of stuff.

    Whew. I think that’s it for now. Overall, the house is great, and I know that eventually we’ll get it fixed up. It’s just hard to learn all the stuff I need to learn about upkeep and repairs and decor. But I’ll get there.

  • We’re Quite Cultured

    Today my grandmother’s grand piano was moved into our front room:

    piano Don’t you just love the quality of my iPhone picture-taking skills?

    It’s not ours to keep; we’re holding it for my brother David because he claimed it. But right now he’s living with my other brother Barry and a roommate, and the spot for the piano in their house is being taken up by a ping-pong table. They have their priorities, you know?

    Having this piano here brings back memories. My family and I actually lived with my grandmother for a few years when I was in elementary school. The piano was in her front room, too, which I always considered the library. It was quite a bit more proper than ours though. That room was where I once read, out of boredom, a very old copy of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. We had some Christmases there, and our first computer. It was also where I took piano lessons.

    I’m not sure whose idea it was to give me piano lessons, but probably not mine. My teacher was a large, white-haired man named Monsieur Lucien, and whenever I said his name I used the most outrageous French accent I could summon. (And in my head that entire last sentence is also in an outrageous French accent.) During our lessons he used one of those metal pointers that are like mini telescopes, and he would whip that thing around and put fear into my heart. I wasn’t particularly gifted at the piano, but it didn’t help that I hardly ever practiced.

    At my first (and only) recital, I was a nervous wreck. I just knew it would be horrible, but people would console me by saying, “It’s just nerves, everything will be fine!” and other such nonsense. Because it did NOT go fine. In fact, I screwed up so badly that the audience started clapping before I was finished with the song. I ran into the bathroom and cried.

    Fast forward to my freshman year of college. I had some crazy idea that I would major in music, which required taking piano. Once again, I just couldn’t get myself to walk the few hundred yards to the music building to practice. I somehow convinced my parents that it would be a good idea for them to buy me a very nice keyboard so that I could practice in my room. I did practice a little more, but it didn’t really help. During our final recital, the page turner was late turning the page, my fingers got off, and I went the rest of the song playing wrong notes. The worst part was that no one in the audience could tell that the page turner had done anything wrong. The next year I changed my major to Christian ministry and philosophy, and I’ve barely touched a piano since.

    Although I’ve had a rocky relationship with piano in my life, it still makes me immensely happy to have this one here. Because now we have a front music room/library just like my grandmother. Now I actually want to learn how to play (not that I’ll follow through with that, though). But mostly because it’s part of my family history, and that is important to me.

  • Positive Self-Talk

    Or, Things To Be Happy About:

    1. We joined Netflix for the sole purpose of catching up with Gossip Girl. Also, I watched the season premiere of Dancing With the Stars last night. David watches both of these shows with me, and actually likes them.

    2. My house is clean, even the floors and couches. This is immensely soothing to my nervous system.

    3. There is a Yankee Candle burning 24/7 on my mantle.

    4. Watching Law & Order today, David spontaneously started singing to me, “Love In The First Degree.” He was inspired.

  • It’s Not Just For Looking Pretty

    Oh right, I have a blog, and it’s something I’m supposed to WRITE in. I guess I’ve given myself kind of a break, because of the whole my-husband-had-surgery-right-before-we-moved-into-our-new-house business. We are having a lot of fun being there, but it sure is a lot of work. We still have a lot of walls to paint, fixtures, furniture, and other necessities to buy, as well as unpacking and organizing to do. There are times when it’s overwhelming, because I simply don’t have the time or energy to get it all done anytime soon, which is what my personality dictates. David told me the other day, “You know how I can tell that you’ve been really tired lately? I can leave a mess in the living room and you don’t even say anything.”

    Anyway, my sister-in-law gave me a hard time about neglecting this thing yesterday, so please accept my apologies. I will try to do better. SO…here are some things that have happened:

    >My husband had surgery for a condition he has in his hips. It’s going to be a long, difficult process to fix, and please pray for him because he’s in a lot of pain all the time.

    >One of our dogs, Eddy, probably tore her ACL. The vet said it could just be sprained, but after two weeks of rest and a week of anti-inflammatories, she’s still not putting any pressure on it. Poor girl wants to be just like her dad.

    >I was the matron of honor in a wedding, and I gave my first toast. I was really nervous, but it went well. David danced with me on his crutches, and it was cute.

    >Christmas came and went. I worked on the 25th, and it was the busiest day I’d had in weeks. Only the sickest of the sick don’t get to go home for Christmas. No fun.

    >BUT, we celebrated the night before with David’s family, and the day after with my family. It was all very merry. I don’t have any pictures because my camera is dead, I lost the charger somewhere along the way of the 5 houses we stayed in, and the new one I ordered doesn’t work.

    >The book we’re reading now for book club, The Pillars of the Earth, is excellent.

    One more thing: If you are a friend of mine, and you are a female, and you live somewhere in my vicinity, and you are interested in being my bike riding buddy, please let me know! This year I am resolving to use the nice road bike I have, and enter a race at some point. But I won’t ride alone, so that makes it difficult.

    Alright, that’s what I’ve got for now. Happy Sunday!

  • “Home Is The Nicest Word There Is.”

    Since David and I got married, we have lived in five different houses. I currently have four different house keys on my keychain, none of which are my own. Our belongings are spread across west Houston and Katy. And then my husband went and had himself hip surgery, for which he must be on crutches for six weeks. All of a sudden his activities of daily living aren’t so easy anymore, and this has been an adjustment for both of us. I think that for any newly married couple this would be difficult, and my personality, which thrives on organization and orderliness, makes it even harder.

    After all of this, we finally – FINALLY! – have a home of our own:

    We closed on Tuesday, and we are moving in on Monday evening. The sellers are technically leasing the house from us for a few days. David and I keep joking that we should go over there and check on them – make sure they’re treating OUR house right! I know that moving will create its own stress, especially since we have next to no furniture, but we are just so excited and relieved.

    Sorry I’ve been gone awhile. My status as a nomad has made updating very difficult. I hope to be back with some regularity once we get settled in our new home.