You Gotta Love That

Thermostat set at 63 and the house a balmy 70 degrees.

Sometimes that Mike really knows what he's talking about! I have to admit, when he first started babbling about some cellar-dwelling, wood burning stove-type thing that could heat the house, I had my doubts. But the man pulled it off. Screw you, Keyspan.

Oh Crap.

Tagged!?! I'm not so sure I can come up with 8 random facts about myself (sad, isn't it?). I'm also not so sure I even know 8 other bloggers well enough to tag them (also sad). But here goes anyway, because I really like Jen and she's the one who tagged me :)

1. I am a HUGE Lost fan and am counting the days til January 21st!

2. Mike and I were high school sweethearts and started dating at the ripe old age of 16. There was a five year relationship hiatus in there somewhere, but obviously things worked out the way they were supposed to.

3. I gained 12 pounds during my last pregnancy and gave birth to an (almost) 9 lb baby. One of the few genetic traits I'm thankful for is the ease with which I have gone through my pregnancies.

4. I can moonwalk.

5. My husband lost his best friend five years ago. Cullen is (middle) named after him.

6. I fell in the "log ride" at Canobie Lake Park when I was six. Obviously, I survived.

7. Mike and I renovated our entire house via craigslist. You name it, we got it on craigslist. If anyone out there needs any reno on a budget tips, we're your guys.

8. I am a Tetris prodigy.

Okay, now I'm off to find 8 blogger friends...this might take a while.

Tis (Almost) the Season

On Monday, when I left for work, there weren't any speakers in my kitchen ceiling. On Monday, when I got home from work, there were. Just like that. Magic.

Last year, when Mike was putting up new ceilings on the first floor, he wired the entire floor for in-ceiling speakers. We didn't actually have the speakers at the time, but he made a "map" of the wires, for when the time came. And the time came on Monday, with the purchase of the first set of speakers.

They still need to be painted out to match the white ceiling, but they aren't as terrible of an eyesore as I feared they'd be.

When we bought the house, there was a little broom closet in the kitchen that would be surviving the gut job, so Mike and I decided this would be a great place to house all the electronic components for our surround sound and ceiling speakers. I had an old set of bi-fold doors and a single door from that set ended up fitting the frame perfectly! No adjustments needed.

The door's frosted glass front ended up being a surprising bonus, as all of our remote controls work right through the door and that eliminates the need to open it. All of the unsightly electronics and wires are conveniently hidden. We still haven't decided if we should paint the door or not.

Although he won't admit it, the real reason Mike wanted ceiling speakers throughout the house is for Christmas music. Yes, that's right, he is going around cutting holes into our brand new ceilings and installing speakers in every room so we can listen to Christmas music throughout the entire first floor of the house. He's just one of those people who loves everything about Christmas. And most of the time, I love him for it. Our radios (house and car) have been tuned to the "Christmas music station" since they began playing (on November 1st!).

All in all, I think the speakers are a nice idea. At the very least, they'll make for nice ambiance during our first Christmas party in the Big Yellow House.

On another note, Cullen continues his run as Kid Most Likely to Give an Adult a Heart Attack. Honestly, the kid has zero sense of caution. On Monday night, while attempting to climb up the wrong side of a chair, the chair fell backward on top of him, hit him in the face, and caused his right canine tooth TO GO RIGHT THROUGH HIS UPPER LIP. Clear through to the other side. I've heard of this happening, but had never seen it and promptly proceeded to flip out until Mike assured me that there was nothing that could be done for it, and cleaning it would be enough.

To top THAT off, once Cullen had calmed down (which literally took five seconds - I was still breathing into a paper bag at this point) he went for some extra gross-out points by chugging a large bottle of ORANGE JUICE while every adult in the room simultaneous groaned and cringed. The kid didn't so much as bat an eyelash.

Oy. My heart can't take much more of this.

Mudroom, Interrupted

I have written (complained) before about the complete and utter lack of storage space in the Big Yellow House. Which, in a 3,000 sq. ft. house seems slightly ridiculous. Supposedly, the lack of storage is due to the fact that back in the day, say 1897, people didn't generally own 1,200 outfits and 500 pairs of shoes. Not that I do (although my husband will tell you otherwise). It just seems like I do - comparatively speaking.

The little mudroom off the kitchen was a part of the house that really sold me on the place. Not only is it conveniently located, but it's not too big and I've always liked the idea of using a back door entrance. Now, with two little boys who, I swear, secrete dirt from their pores, I like the idea even more.

Mike has created a really great plan for the mudroom, complete with custom Mike-made, bench, cubbies and coat hooks. I have been waiting with bated breath to have full access to and use of our new mudroom. Til then, we have coats on chairs, coats on doors, coats on coats. Seriously. They. Are. Everywhere. We need this mudroom like Gary Busey needs rehab.

We were full steam ahead on the project for the last couple of weeks, painting the room the ever-popular Monroe Bisque and hanging a (nice looking!) drop ceiling. We begrudgingly decided to go with a drop ceiling in the mudroom, as the second floor laundry will be directly above this space. You know, just in case. Mike got enough done for me to get these "sneak preview" pics in:

The true paint color kind of got lost in the rainy-day-8:00 AM light. In person, it looks nice and warm. We think the bead board is original to the house and Mike did a really great job patching it. And I have to admit, even I, the World's Biggest Drop Ceiling Hater, actually like the ceiling. Yep, things were lookin' pretty good!

Unfortunately, Mike has recently deemed himself "burnt out." He says he doesn't know why. Hmm, might have something to do with the renovating an entire house while working a full-time job while watching two dirt-secreting kids 32 hours a week. But I'm not a doctor.

Obviously, the important thing here is for Mike to rest and relax til he feels up to getting back to work. He doesn't seem to consider this an option and I gotta say, I get worried sometimes. Maybe some of you can talk some "take care of yourself!" sense into him?

Surely I can live in coat hell for another couple of weeks. It's a lot nicer than asbestos hell and lead paint hell.