motivation

We haven't been home much at all this summer so all of the projects on our to-do list have been majorly neglected.  The yard looks like a jungle and there's nothing going on inside of the house either.  It's gotten to feel pretty overwhelming - so much to do, so little time to do it.  I know, we aren't leaving this house anytime soon but it's still hard to have a million project ideas running around your head when you also have the feeling like you'll never actually accomplish anything.  To motivate myself to do some work around the house, I finally initiated a few smaller projects. Sorry, patio, new roof, and dormer, you'll have to wait a bit longer.

One of my favorite things about our new house is that it has a mudroom and separate laundry room.  Yeh, I spend the least amount of time in these two areas but that doesn't mean I love them any less.  The mudroom/side entryway is rather icky and drab.  I ripped out the makeshift cabinet thingy that was hanging on the wall by about 183 screws.  Even though that uncovered an equally as ugly bare wall, it was a relief to see it go.  We're planning on pepping up the mudroom with some board and batten on the walls - probably with a chocolate brown paint on the top portion.  Fingers crossed that project is checked off our list in the next week or two!  Until we get around to that, here's a quick look at the entryway before and after I ripped down the cabinet...

I also got two new lights today to replace these beauties. (Surprise, Joe!  You have your own project waiting for when you get home from work tonight!)

A few weeks ago, my brother and his fiance grabbed this bench for me - at only $12, it was a craigslist steal!  I cleaned up the rusty parts, sprayed them with a hammered-black spray paint, and painted the rest of the bench white.  This bench will probably go in the entryway with a few storage baskets underneath.  Here are some before and afters of that find...

Now onto the laundry room.  If you go back and look at the pics of the entryway, one of those doors leads to the laundry area.  (The other doors are to the garage, a huge storage closet that the previous owners used as an office, and the door leading into our kitchen.)  I didn't get to take any official "before pics" of this room because I have a 10-month old little rugrat who thinks naps are for losers so I had to take full advantage of him finally passing out in his crib this afternoon.  Before I took these pics, I took a few shelves off the wall, removed a couple metal filing cabinets and a horrific pinkish countertop they had resting on top of the cabinets. It still looks so dumpy in there but I wanted to get started on painting while I had a chance.  A few weeks ago I found a $5 gallon of paint during one of our many trips to Lowes.  Suggestion: if you need to paint anything and you happen to be going by your local hardware store, check out the "oops paint".  They always have an array of different colors and different types of paint and stains for next to nothing. As you can see, this was a darn good deal.  It was the exact color I was planning on painting this room and it was a kitchen/bath paint so it's mildew resistant - perfect for a damp laundry room.

I didn't want to press my baby-napping-luck and break out the roller and other painting supplies so I just started to paint around the trim.  Yes, I know that it's best to paint the entire space while everything is still wet so you don't see lines/seams but let's get real...I'm lucky I got this much done!  Here's a fairly realistic shot of the paint color.  Oh, and I'm not a horrible painter - the walls are just textured...

We're planning on stacking the washer and dryer to open up the space some more as well as to hide those pipes in the corner.  We're also planning on creating a storage/shelving/desk space along the open wall.  I'd like to add some trim to hide the imperfections along the floor, ceiling, and doorway to the mudroom as well as paint the back door white.  The floor would eventually have to go but we're more about the cheap/free projects right now.

One of these days we might even convince ourselves that an old deck post and a generator are better suited for the basement, not the laundry room...

Like I said earlier, I hope to have these two areas finished within the next couple of weeks.  There's still a lot to do in these to small spaces but getting things started has definitely given me the motivation to git 'er done!

P.S.  I'd like to thank the sleep gawds for making James sleep for 90+ minutes right now.

summer vacation.

Last week we took a vacation from work and did a whole lotta stuff but got a whole lotta nothing done.  

It was awesome.

Joe's Dad came to stay with us for a few days.  He lives in Cincinnati so this is only his second time getting to meet our little monster.  James was only a week old when Joe's Dad last got a chance to come to visit so it was probably like meeting a whole new grandson.  I feel like I'm picking up a bigger, smarter, sassier kid each time I get James out of his crib in the morning so I can imagine how it feels for his out-of-state-grandparents to go so long without seeing him.

Just for a little comparison, here's James from the same week his Grandpa came to visit last time as well a current picture... 

 

(Side note:  I think that first picture was taken minutes before he opened his eyes and reminded us soak in the moments of this sweet, innocent baby because after the first week or two of quiet newborn baby life, they turn into little demanding maniacs that refuse to sit still.  Yeh, and I can't get enough of that demanding maniac.)

This being James' first August meant that he gets to experience the annual Sweeny family gathering for the first time.  My mom and her six brothers all spent their summers growing up in a cozy (read: rustic, bathroom-less, running-water-less, daddy-long-legs-filled) cabin just outside of North Conway, NH.  When my cousins, brothers and I came into the picture, the tradition was carried on.  Every August we all gather as a family for a few days of chaos.  This year there was about 30 of us, 2 dogs, and several iPads.

During our time at The Cabin, we hung out by the fire...

Ate deliciously messy food...

Watched the kids dance around the kitchen...

We were entertained by the dazzling vocal stylings of my Uncle Donald...

José even made an appearance...

We made a trip to Echo Lake...

And explored the sand and water...

And shivered once Mummy said it was time to come out of the water...

A few of us spent the afternoon at Mt. Cranmore...

And showed off our new teeth...

And even fit in some time to relax...

Watching James interact with his extended family is a trip.  Its overwhelming for anyone to be thrown into the middle of such a loud bunch but he handled it like a champ.  He was especially entertained by his little cousins.  I'm glad that he has extended family close by so he can enjoy spending time with them and making memories just as we did growing up.  (Unfortunately, I have a feeling their memories will also include stealing cigarettes and beers and thinking they're being sneaky and that their parents are oblivious.)

We have a few more fun things on this summer's agenda but I'm looking forward to an event-less weekend.  I think there's one of those coming up in September - maybe then we'll get a chance to spend some time at home and get a few things done around the house!