[Cayenne's Scrapbook] Into the Jungle

by **Cayenne** on February 22nd, 2010, 10:25 pm

*HUGS* Thank you, Mike. <3

by **Gossamer** on February 22nd, 2010, 10:42 pm

Mike's sweet... ain't he? But....I liked my idea of comfort better.

Sympathy lasts only so long, but twins... you'll get a good twenty years of mileage out of that set, I swear!

by **Cayenne** on March 6th, 2010, 2:12 pm

Okay, this weekend's to do list...

~~Bird cages: Gabby, Java, Cadbury, Max, Mickey~~
~~Pig cages: Bachelor, Condo~~

Do a drive-by to check out a firepit. (That sounds stupid, doesn't it? But there's a little house for sale and cheaply so) that has 'extensive fire damage', and I was telling Jaeden about it in chat last night, he called it a firepit. The name has stuck. Would have to gut it and redo it, from top to bottom, but we'll see how it goes.)
--------> Verdict: Nice long house. Really big. Worth seeing on the inside. REALLY extensive fire damage, though... pretty much everything has been boarded up. So we'll see.
~~Clean the living room.~~

~~to go over the map to talk with my real estate agent.~~

~~Get my desktop fixed, tech should be coming today to look at it.~~
I need to backup my laptop and my desktop (once it gets fixed).
~~Need to power up my mother's laptop and get it started.~~
-------->Working on updating it now.

Clean desktop desk off to accommodate two screens.
Configure second screen.

I need to clean my room.

Mod posts.

One or two locations for Zinrah, preferably three.

~~Introduce the boys~~
-----> Boar Meets Boars post coming later.

by **Alice** on March 6th, 2010, 2:24 pm

Go Mish!

You just reminded me to post my own to do list for the weekend. Hopefully both of us get our things done in time.

by **Cayenne** on March 6th, 2010, 3:42 pm

Fingers crossed, I say. Oi!

by **Cayenne** on April 30th, 2010, 1:24 pm

I want in on a pool of puppies.

And also... Yes, this is ten minutes of a dog eating, but oh, WHAT A DOG.

Not much going on with me right now besides the fact that work is picking up, and home life is busy. Parentals are due back on Sunday, the income tax season is drawing to a close (getting there... getting there...), which is good, since I'm sitting on a couple I can't do because the client isn't getting back to me with the requisite information. I'm almost kind of aiming for a toucan. Gabby's breeder has them, after all (he also has kookaburras. If he'd get me a kakapo I would then be able to die happy). My friend arrives May 8th. Cannot wait.

In other news, house hunting continues. Saw a decent place (though at the really high end of my range) in a really nice neighbourhood, but there were young families on either side of me, and only 4' chainlink fences. Grady would have gone insane. So. That place was very much out. Yes, it would have been the work of a bit to stick that sheeting on there that blocks off the sight of chainlink, but I want at least 5'-6' high fences. Grady has springs in his back legs, and I'm not joking. For a dog with a gimp back leg, he can jump high enough that you can SEE him over a 5'6" fence. I've found another place that's kind of nice, though, well, two of them. A lot can come on the market in the next two weeks, so we'll see what happens. Why two weeks? Because I want my dad here to go through things. He's been in contracting/plumbing/heating all his life, and he knows what to look for. In both places we've gone through before they left, where mom and I browsed around with my realtor (family friend), my dad went right to the basement. The basement is what tells the story of the place, and a basement that looks like crap means the rest of it is irrelevant - all your important stuff is down there, and if that stuff isn't right... meeeh. Next place.

My lacrosse team won last night, 6=3. Okay, admittedly, the other team started without a goalie, so it was 3-0 by the time one arrived for the next game. Still, I like to win, and it's nice TO win after a 6-0 loss last week. The referees have gotten worse, seriously. My brother made a perfectly legal, solid check, and did so consistently last night, so the ref calls him for 'violence'. Oh, please. This is the same ref, mind you, that told my brother his stick was illegal because it's got a metal shaft. He's been playing with that shaft for 5 years now, and no one has EVER said anything about it. The same ref tried to tell one of my boys last night that his helmet was illegal, too, since it 'doesn't have a strap from the cage to the sides!'... but that is a FIELD lacrosse helmet, and the mask is welded into the proper position. It's fine. Like I told him, don't worry about it. He's just finding something to complain about. My dad will take on coaching when he gets back, and I'll just assist. Which is good, that means I can work with whomever is playing net and let my father (who was my personal coach for the 20 years I've played) take the reins with the rest of the team. Inasmuch as I enjoy torturing teenagers for an hour... the old man will put them through far more than I do, so they'll get their weekly dose of torture in, and then some.

So that is the state of the Mish. Dawneytoh.

by **Cayenne** on May 9th, 2010, 9:21 pm

Game 3: Lost 5-4, literally at the last minute. I wanted to hit somebody. But there was some modicum of comfort in the fact that the player who scored the game winner is Oneida, and he's related to one of my team.

In other news:

My friend is here! I won't be in chat so much, and will be on and off online.

Preliminary observations: "Foodie" or "Non-Foodie" should be included in personality questionnaires, such as "drinker" or "nondrinker". It's kind of funny to try to ask her things, like how she likes her steak (have to explain the rare to well-done spectrum), try to coax her into tasting things as we're cooking, or try other things.

I anticipate tomorrow's poutine adventure not going well. XD

by **Cayenne** on May 14th, 2010, 10:35 pm

Alright. My friend is on her way back home.

Had a fantabulous couple days with her. I'll post pictures at some point.

Some quick notes for the curious:

She failed her Canadian citizenship test (read: hated the poutine).
Apparently, I walk wrong because I do not slouch and take tiny steps and shift my weight constantly. I don't like wagging my ass while I walk. I AM NOT A DOG. XD.
Heinously rainy weather for most of the week.
Swamps are interesting in the rain.
Beading is not for everyone.
The Maid of the Mist Ferry in Niagara Falls is a Bad Thing if you are hydrophobic.
Canadian highways around Toronto are NOT A JOKE during weekday rush hour. (Seriously, I was on it for 45 minutes, and there was construction, before I pulled off at an exit and told her that I WAS NOT DRIVING IN THIS. I can drive on the highways. I just don't like rush hour. XD)
Garmin GPSes can be a pain in the ass when they are Stubborn.
Apparently what we call scones are not scones (substitute many, many foods in here over this argument. XD)
Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs will kill braincells (I disagree, but whatever. XD)
Lacrosse is a freaky, bloodthirsty game.

I am in the process of getting back in action, and this weekend is going to be insane. So I shall aim for mod posts early next week.

by **Cayenne** on June 21st, 2010, 2:10 am

Well, for those who don't know already, I bought a house in May, and got possession of it June 18th. It's a gorgeous little place, and it's going to look even better when I'm done with it. We spent the better part of the weekend at it, getting the renovations started. No moving yet, but with luck? I want to be out of my parents' house in a month. Unlikely, but maybe. It depends on how soon my uncle can get over to paint.

So anyway, to start out, here's the layout of the house. This is not particularly proportionate. But the total square footage of the place is about 1,300.

# = Room (approx dimensions)
1= Enclosed front porch (6.5' x 21')
2= Front Hall (5.5' x 10.5')
3= Master Bedroom (11' x 15.5')
4= Bird Room (10' x 10')
5= Guest Room/Library (10' x 10')
6= Living Room (12' x 16')
7= Kitchen (12' x 15.5') and Eating Area (10' x 10.5')
8= Bathroom (5' x 12')
9= Back Hall/Laundry Room (12' x 16')

I was going to take pictures Friday night, but someone forgot the camera. >< Then my dad and brother beat us to the house, and started on the carpet before I could get my before pictures... so the pictures below are the pictures from the MLS (multiple-listing service)... all the stuff in there does not belong to me, but to the previous owner:

View of the front:

Backyard view 1:

Backyard view 2:

Side view:

Enclosed porch... awesome sun room:

Guest Room:

Bird Room:

Master Bedroom:

Laundry Room/Back Hall:

Eating Area:

Kitchen (they're basically the same room, but for a bit of extended wall that juts out a few feet:

Living room (view 1):

Living room (view 2):

So yes. Those are what it looked like before.

And on Saturday (June 19th)... this is what happened:

Cutting and ripping of the carpet... which was some 26 years old. I'm serious. We asked the guy (that's my dad and my brother. XD):

The beginning of the ominous carpet pile:

The living room floor, sans carpet and subfloor/carpet pad!

The front hall, less carpet, before the carpet pad came up:

This is the guest room floor... under the carpet pad were actually newspapers from the 1930s. I shit you not:

Close up of said floor:

Pictures of the dates:

So what did we get done this weekend?
1. All the carpet got ripped out. This was the living room/front hall/master bedroom/guest room/bird room.
2. All the carpet pad has been gathered and bagged.
3. All of the staples that held the carpet pad to the floor have been taken out.
4. Started removing the gawdafwul wooden paneling in the living room. We're going to put up drywall and paint that.
5. I have picked out paint colours for 4 rooms. 4 more to go (kitchen/eating area are going to be the same colour), and those are on short lists of 5 or less colours.

What has to be done:
1. Energy audit (Tuesday... basically, they come over, look at your house, and get you money from the government for doing energy-conscious upgrades that you were going to do anyway).
2. Locksmith (also Tuesday).
3. Installation of new furnace (the current one is over 30 years old).
4. Install an air conditioner. Dude used to have window ones instead of central air.
4b. Install water heater. Current one is a rental. Hell to the no.
5. Get the ducts cleaned and remove old sheet metal pipe from crawlspace.
6. Get the electrician over. Need more outlets in master bedroom, living room, kitchen/eating area.
7. Get the window dude over.
8. Get my uncle to paint the entirety of the house.
9. Install new flooring (and reseal any linoleum that's popped up). (linoleum in guest room/bird room, sealed hardwood in the living room/master bedroom/front hall).
10. Eventually repair my little shed. It was built in 1970.
11. Replace low rickety wooden gate. Grady could jump that.
12. Move. Stat.

by **Gossamer** on June 21st, 2010, 2:14 am

Yea! I'm so happy for you girl! What a labor of love!