Before we moved into this house at the end of 2001 we had to completely renovate the first floor.   Since then the basement has only got a little attention, mostly when I got time and we had some extra cash to spend, which of course wasnt often.  I had painted the office downstairs, when my friend moved in she painted the now playroom and bathroom downstairs.   In order to prepare to possible sell we have to finish up work in the basement.   we’ve been sanding, and doing drywall patches for a week or so off and on after the kids go to bed.    Last night Dean and I, but mostly myself(yes I am proud of this) tore out the laminate floor in the basement bathroom.  it was a mess and needed repaired so we just pulled that room all up and will patch the cement then lay down new laminate.   I’d love to redo more of the floor downstairs but we’re about out of money and we dont even know how much we’ll need to spend to fix the car and van.   We’ve already put $300 into the car and it’s still not working and Dean and the neighbor did the work on it.    So….luckily we got mostly everything we need to finish up most of the projects.  A big thing the realtor and even we said needed done was that we need a new basement door and a front storm door.   We are not sure we’ll have the money for those after the floor, the only reason we dont have them yet is because it takes 3 weeks for home depot to put them in and we were trying to find someplace else to do it.  tomorrow Dean’s going to check w/ some local contractors to see if it’s cheaper and takes less time.

Today my friend’s husband put up a celing fan w/ a light fixture in our kitchen, I am very excited about it. The fixture where it is hasnt worked in years and we just used a hanging Ikea light and it was annoying so now we have air circulating and light!! it’s awesome.  He also helped Dean repair and hang some new gutters, we ended up buying what we need and it cost a little under $300.   so much better than the 1100 estimate!

Tonight Dean and I painted some primer and the ceiling in the office.   We’re almost done the office painting and then that room is done.  Then we will finish the laundry/living area ceiling.  Tomorrow night after we sand some more spots in the bathroom we’ll put primer up and hopefully by the end of the week all of the painting will be done.  Once the painting is done we can work on the floor then hang up closet doors and rearrange furniture.   All of this work is being done after the kids are in bed, the last week and a half we’ve been up until at least midnight working in the basement.   It’s nice to see progress!   I am excited, even if we dont move the house will be so much nicer!  Another major project is our master bathroom on the first floor but that will have to be a weekend job since the sanding noise will bother the kids at night time.   so for now we work on the basement and hopefully next weekend work on our bathroom.    I’m suprised Dean and I are getting along so well while we do these repairs.  It’s nice having something to do  and see get done to completion.  It’s so neat to see what we can do that we didnt think we could.   I also bought the supplies to tile the backsplash in our kitchen but that will be one of the last things we do and may not do if we get to the point where we have a job for Dean and are ready to put the house on the market, the realtor said the kitchen was fine but I wanted the backsplash done a long time ago so we have the stuff and if anything we’ll take the supplies with us to use on our new home!

lots to do, I have been feeling bad but as long as theres work to do I will keep working hard to get it done.  I have a drs appt scheduled tomorrow afternoon but I am going to have to cancel, no sitter.  My friend has let us borrow her van for a few days so that’s nice, I was thinking I was going to have to cancel becuase I didnt have a car to drive.   but no, it’s because I dont have a sitter.  Dean is off this Friday, we planned for him to take off so we can work on the house during the day and get more done.  If anything so we can make a trip or two to the dump!   Fun stuff, working on his day off.  Well it’s late again. we stopped working early tonight since we are waiting on drywall and primer to dry before we can do more.   So maybe we can be asleep before midnight for once!   but not if we can stay awake for an episode of psych!