A moment to whine….

Yah, I really have zero place to whine, but I’m gonna anyway.  Tis’ my space and I can do what I want here.

Can we just flipp’n get this house done already!  U-G-H!  We can see the light at the end of the tunnel, but the problem is, the light’s so bright that despite all our hard work, it seems like it’s taking FOREVER to get to the end of the tunnel.  *sigh*

Okay, I’m done whining.

House progress is moving along.  Chet just has trim to finish in the kids room.  I can literally hear the angels singing a joyful song with that.  Our room is really almost done with the paint.  We have one more coat of the upper color to do and then trim.  We decided tonight to scrap the crown molding there.  Too much work.

I got all the wall color done in the living room now.  So, all is left is to paint trim.  Why does that feel like such a daunting task at the moment.  I mean, there’s three windows, baseboard, shoe molding and three door jams…and a partridge in a pear tree!!

The hall bath has an hour of painting at the most and we have our bathroom, which really shouldn’t take so long.  But, I just feel like there         is            so               much             to              do.

The house will be ready when it’s ready.   I just want to get it on the market so we can seriously make offers on places ourselves.  I’m done with this place.  I’m ready to move on.  I’m ready for more space.  I’m ready to start this poop all over again.  PSYCH!

But, really, I’m ready for Chet to get back to running.  Me to not be stressed out about work and home improvements (have I mentioned that I’m sooooooo freaking busy at work, it’s a beautiful thing but stressful none the less).  I’m ready for the kids to have their own rooms and not have to keep Gabe up way past his bedtime because Rebeka decided she didn’t want to fall asleep easily.  I’m ready for more space.  I’m ready to move on.  And God willing, everything will work out.

Until next time…..hopefully soon we’ll be talking about FUN things, not home improvement!

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Every day is virtually Groundhog Day

At least that is how the last three months have felt to Chet and I, and admittedly, more for Chet.  We’ve been working on finishing 10 years of remodeling projects in the last three months, and finally, we are seeing the light at the end of this very long tunnel.

I should be posting pictures of all our hard work, but we’ve been very absent with the camera throughout this process, which now seems rather tragic.  For those who have been to our home, you wouldn’t even believe what our house looks like anymore.  This beautiful 1934 bungalow is just charming.  Granted, it has always been a charming home, but it’s just finally come together – just in time for us to sell it.

Why is it that we, as people, generally have a list of home improvements we want to accomplish and then only rush to do them right before we sell a place?  I mean, it would have been really nice to enjoy all the work we’ve (well, mostly Chet) put in over these past several months.  Oh well, the house is beautiful and it is my sincere dream that who ever buys this home will fall in love with it just as we have.

I do promise pictures soon of the work we have done.  Maybe, some time in the future when I unpack the old pictures of the house we took over the last decade I can post “then” and “now’s.”  I make no promises however.

I really owe Chet enormous gratitude for all his hard work and sacrifices.  I mean, he’s spent practically every single day since the middle of November working his butt off on this house, and for the last month, it’s been at the expense of his training.  But, if all goes as planned, the house will be ready to list on the first of next month and he can hit the trail running. ;o)

As for running, it’s going to be an awesome year.  He’s only planning on doing local 100’s this year, which will be a welcome relief for our travel budget.  But, aside from saving some money not traveling all over the western U.S., it’s going to be a really fun year.  Our good friends, Jim and Leslie are coming to the States from New Zealand.  They’re going to spend several months here in the U.S. running, visiting friends and hopefully spending some time with us.

Equally exciting is the planned Griswold Family Vacation by the Olgolvies who are planning on coming out.  Taylor is signed up to run the Tahoe Rim Trail 50 Miler this year.  So, the whole family is going to make a trip and we’re just thrilled.

So, over Tahoe weekend this year, we’ll have the pleasant company of Jim and Leslie – Jim’s running the TRT 100 and Leslie’s running the 50 miler.  That makes 3 great friends coming from out of town to run the various events.

And, God willing, we’ll have our house sold and be in a new home and have more than enough room for all our visitors to spend time with us!

Here it is, nearly 1 a.m. and Chet and I are finally taking a couple moments to unwind from the day with a couple of beers.  Pictures later.  For now, it’s time to take a deep breath, enjoy another beer and get myself ready to finish painting the interior of this house tomorrow.

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‘Tis the Season to be …..

Running, fa la la la la, la la, la, laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Chet’s training again. What does that mean, weekends are consumed with running, running and more running!  Whee!  Did I mention we’re trying to finish up all the outstanding home improvements on the house?  Oh, yah.

Chet’s keeping it local this year with his races, which will be a nice change.  He’s only committed to two 100 milers this year, Western States 100 and Tahoe Rim Trail 100.  Of course he has to do the Tahoe Rim Trail 100, this will be his 5th consecutive year running the event, and that leaves him and one other friend of ours who are vying for the first 1000 mile buckle.  A third 100 mile event is still out there for discussion…

I’ll be heading up two aid stations at different events this year.  While Chet’s running the Silver State 50 miler, I’ll be up at Ranch Creek.  And for the second year, I’ll be captaining the Tunnel Creek Aid Station at the Tahoe Rim Trail Endurance Races.  That combined with crewing Chet at Western States will keep me relatively busy on my version of the ultra front for a few months.

Last weekend was the first “big” run.  Chet and our friend Scott ran from the Auburn Dam to Granite Bay along the American River.  I had planned on meeting them approximately mid-way at Rattlesnake Bar to offer water, chips, peanut m&m’s and other goodies.  The kids and I were on our way to Rattlesnake Bar only to discover that the park was gated off and closed for the season.  Welcome to state budget cuts.  So, we loaded up all the goodies in the stroller and headed down to meet Chet and Scott.  After refueling them, we headed to Granite Bay where I loaded Rebeka in the backpack and Gabriel and I headed out for a pleasant hike.

The fun is only beginning and there are sure to be exciting things to come.

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