Getting back to Normal...

Well the first phase of fix up the condo is nearing completion. We are very happy how the bathrooms came out. I am still doing some work to finish up the kitchen. Now we have to start planning for replacement of our rugs in our dinning/living room & halls. We were thinking of hardwoods for this area and using area rugs. This would define the space better. We would then eventually replace just the carpet in the bedrooms with new carpet. This is the plan anyway...

On another note I read this an article about a year ago about a couple in NY that basically stop spending money. They were only trying to buy really what they needed in order to pay off credit card debt. I find this very interesting... seeing how consumer debt, credit, mortgage, and every other type of debt, is greater than it ever has been in the past. The real question to ask is could each of us actually stop spending? The thing this basically accomplishes is that it defines wants from necessities. Yes there are things you need to buy... just you need to be able define what that is and how much you really value them...

check out this challenge I found on MSN and let me know what you think??? I am really curious.
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/FindDealsOnline/CouldYouStopSpendingForAMonth.aspx

Home Improvement....

Well, last weekend we ripped up most of the lineoum in the Condo. We ripped up the kitchen and Cait's bathroom. It went terribly slow getting the Lineoum up in the kitchen. After a couple of runs to Home depot for tools and supplies we were finally able to get something that did a good job on the ripping. On Sunday we were able to lay down tile in Cait's bathroom. Her bathroom still needs the grout to complete it. Last night, Thursday March 1, I ripped up the Lineoum in the guest bathroom. On Saturday we plan to lay the tile in the kitchen and the guest bathroom and hopefully grout Cait's to finish her bathroom up. Then hopefully we can finish up on Sunday. Pictures will follow
On Saturday we tiled the kitchen and finished grouting Cait's bathroom. Cait's bathroom came out fabulous. On Sunday we tiled the guest bathroom and grouted the kitchen. We are still removing the grout off of the tiles in the kitchen. We also have to fix a couple of spots where the thinset shows through on the grout. We have to chisel the spots and regrout. Oh well. It is going a lot slower than we originally planned. I guess the end result will be worth it. We do not have full access to our kitchen as a result- no stove, washer, dryer, they are spread through the living rm and office. The refrig is connected to an outlet in the dinning area so we still have that. We have to microwave our foods for a few days. Luckily Cait is going to Albany so she will be away on Tuesday & Wednesday nights. Hopefully we will finish everything up this weekend and get back to normal...

Before



















Stripped Floor

Cait's completed bathroom


Kitchen Before

Kitchen almost done