Jebba Hubba, Hubby, Baby Bubba and the Kitty Combo!

Bathroom Renovation – The demolition

12 29 09'

Written by Jebba

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Jaws shark attack music playing in the background

Hubby decided to start the demo!

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Hubby enlisted FIL (Father-in-law) to help with the tear-down. They really got into it and were having a good time. Who wouldn’t like taking a crow bar, some mallets and whacking the heck out of some ugly pink tile? That’s right – you know you all wish you had some ugly pink tile to whack!
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It was all going pretty smoothly. Nugget taped up some boxes for the guys to put the debris into.
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And Trixie inspected the boxes for structural integrity.
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Like I said, it was all going pretty smoothly until…
Hubby: “Hunny? My Dad hurt himself”
Me: “WHAT? Are you serious? What happened?”
Hubby: “Yeah, I’m serious. Do we have antibacterial ointment?”
Me: “Ok come in here, sit down and I will look at it.”
FIL: (laughter)

After a couple minutes in the chair under the hot lights the REAL story came out:
Hubby was removing tiles from the ceiling and FIL was stooping down to get “something (investigation still pending)” and the tile flung itself from underneath Hubby’s crowbar and down onto the head of FIL (Father-in-law). Wherein FIL then said “Ow” and placed his hand onto the back of his head to feel what had happened. Hubby and FIL proceeded at that point out of the bathroom and into the living room to acquire medical assistance.
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If some of you can’t actually see the “gaping wound” in the above picture, don’t worry there you don’t need to adjust your monitor or rush out to the eye doctor, the gaping wound was more like a tiny cut that I couldn’t even see from 4 inches away. Blood definitely came out but, the hole miraculously closed up before I even got the ointment on it. Must have been a Christmas Vacation Week Miracle!

FIL pulled through and they went back to work. This time they started removing the soffit from the ceiling of the shower area and the plywood from the walls.
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It had been a long day and night so we sent FIL home to rest his noggin. I finished making homemade chicken soup for the next day- yum!
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And the the kitties… well.. they did what they do best.
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Category:

House & Home

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Bathroom Renovation – The beginning

12 28 09'

Written by Jebba

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This is the bathroom we bought (it came with the house)!
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Here are the finer points:
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After a week or so of showering we realized there was a leak! The leak was leaking its leakage into the basement. So we had to do some investigating to find out if the plumbing was leaking or if the grout in between the tiles was leaking.

First
Hubby and Fil (Father-In-Law) cut a hole in the wall of the guest room to see if the plumbing was leaking. They assured me it was the ONLY way.
IMG_7134I guess the hole didn’t end up being too large and we did accomplish one thing with that hole…we found out the plumbing was NOT leaking.

Second
We looked at the tiles in the shower and saw that a few areas were kind of raised and uneven. It was as we suspected water was getting behind the tiles because the grout was over 50 years old. Fil dug out a couple of tiles with hardly any effort and we saw the warped, yucky plywood underneath.
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Apparently using plywood was common practice “back-in-the-day” even though it isn’t as hardy against water damage as the water/mildew/mold resistant sheetrock/green board/purple board we use today.

Third
Well, we placed a temporary solution in the shower until we decided what was in the budget and what we really wanted to do to update the bathroom. Hubby took to calling it the “Serial Killer Shower” (Lovely right?) because… well… it kinda of looked like one. Plastic and duct tape covering all of the tiling so that no water would get into the gaps and leak into the basement.
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It’s not so bad — wet plastic sticking to you as you shower, toiletries on the floor of the tub, worry that your house is going to fall down because the leaking has somehow caused rotting underneath the floor of the tub and your holiday weight body is the straw that broke the camel’s back and your tub us going to come crashing down into the basement!!!!
Phew – I have to get a grip!

The tub did not come crashing down, and there wasn’t ever anything to suggest it would. I just think about a lot of things in the shower, LOL!

Long blog-post short — We decided to renovate the bathroom and you will all be updated soon!

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General

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Holiday Happenings

12 28 09'

Written by Jebba

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The Holiday Season was great! We got a lot of nice gifts and did a lot of home renovations on our “vacation” days.

Basically here is how the Tree looked after Neo had gotten to it.

Please note the big long branch at the top. It is obviously out of place because we can’t exactly figure out which branch goes where at this point. Also, most ornaments have been reassigned to the top branches and/or hidden from the Nugget who ripped them off the tree. And last but not least please note the dangling strands of light as they too incurred the wrath of Neo.

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And to All a Good Night!

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General

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…she was a sweet fluffy muffin…

12 17 09'

Written by Jebba

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Today is a sad day — my kitty-niece Josie passed away.

She was only 7 years old and we don’t know why she died so it’s very sad. Josie’s brother Bentley is doing okay. Hopefully Bentley and his Ma (my sister-La) won’t be sad for too long.

She was a sweet girl and we will miss her.
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General

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Portrait of Neo – The Nugget Heist!

12 17 09'

Written by Jebba

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This is Neo most days recently.
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If you are wondering what the heck he is doing, I will tell you. He is digging for ornaments!

Basically someone gave Neo an ornament to play with while they were decorating the tree. (Don’t worry they are the “shatter-proof” kind.) And that ornament became Neo’s favorite toy. It keeps him entertained literally for hours. The ornament has the one end that isn’t round of course so, it takes crazy hops and because it is so smooth it really flies across the hard wood floor.

Fast Forward to bed time. Neo is still in love with this ornament and he is STILL playing with it. It is really loud. Afterall, it’s a plastic ornament being batted into everything imaginable and across the hardwood floors. So, I had to take it away from him. I know I know, poor Neo.

After my fourth trip out into the living room in the middle of the night to take ANOTHER ornament away from NEO, I finally rub my eyes awake enough to see that as soon as I take the ornament away from him he goes over to a box that is now totally tipped on it’s side and he digs out another ornament!!! I had extra ornaments and I was going to just put them away or give them to someone but, Neo had found the stash!

So, I closed the flaps of the box, put that box into a bigger box and put a heavy decorative 12” high x 5” wide x 5” deep trunk/box “thinger” on top of that box.

The next morning the ornament box is wide open again and Neo is looking all innocent meowing for food.

Don’t feel bad for Neo he gets his way the majority of the time and he gets more attention than is possible I think. Here he is cuddling up to me (probably planning tonight’s ornament box break-in).
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Category:

Pets

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$5 Holiday Cheer!

12 16 09'

Written by Jebba

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Well, if you can’t tell by the photo, this post is about putting the christmas tree up. Once again we went to a yard sale to find something we needed. We got this 7 foot tall Christmas tree for $5.

This was a joint effort, and it went pretty easily. First Hubby put the base together while I dumped out all the branches from the box and began to organize the sizes.
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Once again the kit-cats were there to offer their support and expertise.
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After Trixie gave Neo her expert opinion he decided that he would sniff the tree a bit more to really experience his first Christmas tree.
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We had to figure out which sizes went together. Some were missing their handy-dandy color labels.
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Next we started putting the branches in place. It was easy and quick work. So easy, and so quick that we only got a picture of the first level and none of the other levels but, you get the idea right?
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Halfway through putting the branches up Nugget realized there was a TREE in the house! It dawned on him that when Trixie had said Christmas Tree she did in fact say the word “Tree”!! Soon enough he jumped in and climbed up the tree and sat there.
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Then he went back down the tree and sat under it.
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Then he climbed back UP the tree.
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Then he rolled around in the tree
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Finally we got the tree together and got Neo out of the tree(for the time being) and then we we were able to put the large top branch section on.
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Hubby put the lights on and we turned out the lights and enjoyed the glow of the colorful lights. Hubby bought about eight times the amount of lights we would need (only $1 a strand on Black Friday) and yes, he used them all.
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We added ornament a couple days later. And every day when I come home about half of the branches are out of place from where Nugget has decided to go up AND down the tree. It’s his first christmas I am going to be a little easy on the guy. No one likes a grinch!

Category:

General, House & Home, Pets

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Hubby’s handy-work: Desk Edition

12 10 09'

Written by Jebba

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Hubby is a do-er.

He has been at it again. Going around doing things.
Doing this.
Doing that.

Hubby decided that he needed to set up his desk area ASAP to start paying bills again, doing work online, and the all important computer video games! (I haven’t seen any video game playing yet. He has been awfully busy “doing” things. Poor guy.) So instead of lugging the HUGE desk into the guest room and setting it all up we brain-stormed and thought it was a good idea to utilize the “cubby area” in that room to make a built-in desk. The HUGE desk was a FREE desk from Hubby’s previous job and it has served it’s purpose well for many years so we did not feel bad about taking it apart. The two drawer units are being repurposed as drawers for the work-bench area. They hold a ton of tools and fit perfectly under the bench. It was meant to be.

So, Hubby set about making the desk. I heard a lot of beeping, banging, moving around, etc…

First – There was a trip to Home Depot to buy wall brackets and these:
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Then there was some beeping. Every time Hubby turned this tool toward himself it would start beeping like crazy….
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Then these two came out to play!
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First he had to drill a pilot hole I am assuming (into our freshly painted walls).
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Then I was recruited to help hold the desk top while it was cut down with a circular saw. I also held the shop-vac near the back of the saw to try and capture some of the sawdust as it came spewing out trying to get into our eyes, noses and mouths. I did a pretty good job BUT the shopVac didn’t.

I don’t have pictures of this sawing process because well I didn’t want to lose a finger… or a hand in the process. PLUS, I had to keep my eyes on Hubby’s fingers and hands too!

BUT, after the sawing happend a few more brackets were places and the desk top was put into place.
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Trusty level.
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Success!
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And here is the beautiful desk! And if you remember from the “Carpet Cave” post, here are the colors we chose for the walls which go great with the cherry stain on the desk top.
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It is really a prefect amount of space and it is custom to the person who will be using it the most as well as guests who have the good fortune of staying in this super chic guest room!

It was a successful project and Hubby deserves a big pat on the back!

Category:

House & Home

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Neo, NuggNugg, Nuggie, Nugget, Mr. Nugger-Roo

12 04 09'

Written by Jebba

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Poor Neo had to take a ride in the Neuter Scooter to get his “procedure” done.

I pick him up tonight at 7PM and I hope he isn’t too mad at me for leaving him there. He was so upset when I left him that he didn’t even want to say goodbye but, I picked him up and squeezed him anyway. Then he went right back into his carrier and hid in the back. It broke my heart.

We didn’t know he was on a website or anything until after we had adopted him but, this is the picture the shelter had their website when he was up for adoption. They were calling him Nick then (Now he goes by a myriad of names and fully responds to almost half of them which are listed in the title above). He looks so tiny and so scared.

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And here is Nuggey cuddling at the old apartment.

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We can’t wait to get him back tonight and take care of him while he heals.

Trixie won’t admit what she was looking for but, she was walking around looking behind couches and doors trying to find *something* last night and this morning.

UPDATE! – Neo is doing well! He was back to normal the next morning!!

Category:

General

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Painting Confusion?

12 03 09'

Written by Jebba

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I guess it was kind of confusing that Hubby decided to paint at 9PM last night but, Trixie was the most confused. I understood it was a small area and should have gone quickly. I also understood that Hubby is a “do-er” (as previously stated) and he loves making our house a home. But, I guess what I didn’t understand was how a small painting project could become such a huge mess.

Dripping paint, wet paper towels, guarding the paint tray from kitty paws, duct taped paint brush extentions, making sure Hubby didn’t fall down the steps, it was tiring and all I was doing was sitting there… snapping a couple photos. But it all got cleaned up so I guess no harm – no foul.

Anyway here is the project documentation:
We had to paint the vestibule area going down to the basement. We kinda felt like it had trapped years worth of smells and it was definitely dirrrtyyy. We took a floor lamp into the area to see what we were doing. (You can see some of the paint already on the wall. Ahhh progress.)

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Although hubby got a roller extension rod for the very high ceilings. He had to figure out how we was going to paint the corners since the roller doesn’t exactly get all the way into the crease. Not to worry here’s how he worked it out.
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Meanwhile at the top of the steps a whole other situation was occurring…
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I’m not sure why Hubby didn’t answer poor Trixie but there are three possible reasons why he neglected her:
1. He didn’t hear her. Very unlikely since she takes after her Mom.
2. He was high on fumes from the paint and thought her voice was delightful music for him to work by.
3. He was ignoring us all trying to get the painting done before he fell over from exhaustion He did work all day and drive 45minutes both ways..

I guess you can decide which reason it was but whatever it was, he kept right on working.
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Finally both kitties made their way down the steps and Hubby said: “Hey Kitties.”
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Category:

House & Home, Pets

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$30 Dresser – Estate Sale Finds!

12 02 09'

Written by Jebba

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So, I needed a dresser. I used to keep my clothes in this modular cube shelf “thinger” and I was tired of it. We were going to try and give the modular cube shelf “thinger” away but no one would take it. Sad. (Don’t worry it is in the Painting room now. And it is holding paint, crafts, etc)

So, at the recent estate sales I was on the hunt to find a dresser. And of course I found a bunch and could choose the size, style, and price. We found a dresser at the first location and I wanted to keep looking and keep my options open so we kept going. I knew it was the perfect dresser but, I am always on the hunt for a slightly better deal.

Long story short, we went back to the first location and the dresser had been marked down $5, and I asked her if she would take another $5 off and she said okay. Tadaaaaa!!! $30 dresser with a little bargaining!!!

This dresser is HEAVY. A really nice guy helped Hubby carry it to the car… the whole time I am assuming it is one of the Estate Sale workers and turns out he was just there “shopping” like us. So Nice!

I scrubbed it and cleaned out all the drawers. Don’t worry the splotches are just some damp spots from cleaning.
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It has a really nice curve to the front of it.
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I did have some supervision and that was “helpful”.
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And then we moved it into the bedroom. I should have documented how we laid it down on a door mat and slid it across the floor. Moving it that way made it SUPER easy and kind of fun!
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It has a couple slight chips in the front on a couple of the drawers that I am going to fix. And, I originally thought I would paint it black and spray the hardware shiny silver BUT, I think maybe once we paint the bedroom and get rid of all the yellow I will see what tone would be best. The yellow of the bedroom is really overpowering everything right now. ACK!!
“Mesa Tumbleweed” a lovely beige-kahki-little bit of warm red tone-color is what we chose for the walls and we hope to paint the room soon!

I am really pleased with my $30 dresser. It holds a ton of clothes and serves it’s purpose. And, Bonus, it didn’t have to go take up room at the landfill!

RECYCLE – REUSE – REDUSE WASTE! , & Keep the GREEN in your Wallet!!
This has been a public service announcement brought to you by jebba hubba verde!

Category:

General

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