Shamelessly stolen from another blogger

I am shamelessly forwarding this on from another blogger... www.rechelleunplugged.com
I have to also say that when I forget her blog address it is without fail that I type 'rechelleunleashed' rather than 'unplugged' because she accomplishes much unleashing on this blog. Some of her posts seem very reactionary to her environment -- probably the reason I Will Never Live in Smalltown Midwest. Rose pointed out this comedian was the wacky husband fellow from Arrested Development.

Have I told you about my frog?

For about 4 months I have had a frog in my house. It lives in the space between my bay window and bedroom door, somewhere around the floor. I hear him/her croaking. I thought it was trapped and going to have a slow death, but this many months later it still sporadically croaks. And just this morning, it had a frog-ly answer back.
Great, I am breeding frogs in my house. At least they are cute and very small. (although they sound gargantua by their croak)

This man is my doppleganger

Except I have hair, no muscles, no building skills and am female. Other than that, we are twins. At least in what we say. I found him when cruising for home improvement/building/restoration shows online. He has a show "Holmes on Homes."
The whole beginning part of the show when he is demolishing, or figuring out what he is fixing... he is complaining about the workmanship, skillset or lack there-of of the previous project workers.
"This isn't even attached to anything... They drilled right through the cable line.... here is an unsupported header.....they punched holes through here and you can already see the beginning of black mold.... this wiring is not attached to anything.... this light can is hanging by one wire....these stairs are supported by a 2" x 3"" You get the picture. Many times when I am figuring out house stuff, I have similar conversations. Mostly internally, but sometimes out loud.
Image courtesy : www.holmesmagazine.com

Budgeting a bathroom

The original bathroom for our farmhouse is 101" by 81". It was the only bathroom for 70-90 years, depending on when they built indoor plumbing and when exactly they added another bathroom upstairs (looks like 90's construction)
We changed the configuration, took out a bath and added a shower, moved the vanity and window. Tore out all the layers of linoleum both on the floor and wall. (sigh)
I was loathe to take out one of the few built-in storage units in the house, but did it since that is where the vanity now stands. Plus, found out that it was built over a heat outlet. So now we have heat in the room.
My original budget was $6000. Actuals are below:
Electrical contractor : $1300
Plumber: $1600
Flooring: $240
Toilet: $200
Tile: $45
Vanity: $60 (floor model sale - a scorchin' deal)
Fixtures :$110 + $60 (craiglist, restoration hardware and kohler)
Shower unit; $800 (craigslist, kohler)
Drywall, ceiling repair and window move : $450
Floor prep :$133
New window : $140

Craigslist saved my rump on this one. The fixtures and shower unit would have been totally out of my price range (who really pays $499 for a shower control ONLY) That total savings was $4700. The shower unit, kohler faucet, restoration hardware bath fixtures --boxes and boxes of them --(mirror, lights, towel rack, etc) were all new, unused in their original packaging. The only difficult thing was the finish. It is a brushed bronze, not really what I would have picked, but the price was right! It looks a little fancy in my bare bones house... but it is fantastic to have a bathroom downstairs again. And a toilet that can flush what a kid can produce without clogging. That right there is worth the money.

Portlandia

If you ever wanna know what it is like living in Seattle or Portland... here you go.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/205428/portlandia-i-dream-of-the-90s#s-p1-sr-i1

Gotta love it, this place can be over the top. I think my favorite part is when they go to the Portland restaurant and get the personal bio of the chicken they want to have for dinner. The "free-range on four wooded acres chicken" with attached photograph and name (Colin? something ridiculous... because lord knows we name our chickens well... Goldie for the gold colored one etc.) And then they get in their old Volvo wagon and go see where the chicken was raised to make sure it is all okay with them. Omigod. The funny part is that this is not a pie-in-the-sky scenario. It rings true for the NW. Wacky. Love it. (It should be noted we do also have normal people who shop at Safeway and just buy the damn plucked bird in the plastic bag without knowing the name...)
Image courtesy : http://www.ifc.com/portlandia/

Being Married, being divorced

When I can step back mentally from my life, I see it is a giant continuum. When I am in it day-to-day, staring the grindstone right in the nose and not able to get a wider perspective, all I see is a long to-do list. Because of my inability to prioritize (or lack of desire to) divorce is just another item to cross of that big to-do list. Unfortunately, it also has much emotional crap tied up in it which makes it a bigger item to cross off. Unlike, say, putting up the bathroom mirror, which has very little emotion connected with it, other than if I smash my thumb flat with the hammer. Then there would be emotion.
Other folks around me also give perspective. I happen to have individuals who are all in various stages of partnerdom. And that lends mental assistance to what I am doing with Michael. This marriage thing is not an easy path, and when I hear tales of new marriage, of old marriage, of no marriage, there are struggles. Take two people, raised differently, plop them in the same relationship, and it can be dicey, cranky and insanely fun. How we handle it, how we cope, is a great guide (or not) on how I can navigate through these strange waters. I am just hoping I don't have a heart attack from the crazy anxiety. Fear sucks. Especially since I don't normally operate from a fear-based existence. I try to look at it as a Big Adventure that will soon be over.
Photo: The second of three big piles that were thrown out the bathroom window during the remodel. It seemed appropriate.

Weather, work and life

Two days ago: snow, 20`.
Today : Sun and wind, 50`.
Tomorrow : ?.
At least when it is freezing my window doesn't leak --always thinkin' of the good side of things......
Have been getting calls from my ol' job and the things they are doing. It is hard and difficult to turn off the 'director' button when you no longer work someplace. So alot of times I am very quiet. Which, as anyone who knows me will tell you -- is not my usual state. I suppose it is good for me to learn to be quiet.

Husband and I are finalizing our divorce. It has been drawn out, slow, and amicable. The sticky point is the kids, as I think it should be in all divorces that have 'em involved. We are doing our best with them, since we both love them to high heaven. I am very thankful husband puts them first, also. This divorce thing is a very eye-opening experience. Brings out all your core operating systems as a being. As in what makes you operate and hold yourself together in times of tough. I am fairly sure I will survive this whole thing, but it seems very appealing at times to bury my head in a hole in the ground like an ostrich. But I slog on.
On a house note: I took my first shower today. Probably the first shower that has occured in this house in 25 years. Not including water leaks that shower water into the basement....