Filed under: 99 days
If you’ve been tracking my progress on the master list for the past 3 months you’d know that I was this close to giving up. A pain setback, job loss, job gain, stress overload and sleep deprivation have made this a challenging summer!
And yet, in the past 48 hours what can only be described as a flurry of activity. I’ve painted, peeled, moved, made calls, cleaned and not quit. Whew, thank my stars I planned on finishing this on a holiday weekend! I’ll post a re-cap later on but here’s what I’ve accomplished in September:
2 Figure square footage of front and back yards Yard – DONE September 5th
3 Move rocks to garage Yard – DONE September 5th
4 Price sod Yard – DONE September 6th
5 Trim dead branches on trees Yard – DONE September 5th
32 Paint the baseboards Living Room – DONE September 6th
35 Get quotes for replacing frame Living Room – DONE September 5th
37 Paint front door trim Living Room – DONE September 5th
59 Paint door trim in hallway Hallway – DONE September 5th
60 Replace hallway light bulbs Hallway – DONE September 5th
63 Paint baseboards in hallway Hallway – DONE September 5th
74 Donate old clothes to Goodwill Master bedroom – DONE September 5th
77 Take nicer clothes to consignment Master bedroom – DONE September 5th
82 Peel off fish trim Bathroom #2 – DONE September 6th
86 Mop the bathroom floor Bathroom #2 – DONE September 5th
93 Scan family photos and organize Online/Other – DONE September 6th
I do have just one more item to finish, hopefully tonight:
100 Take a SPA day! BONUS
Do check out the original post as I’ve added before and after pictures.
Filed under: 99 days
Well it’s T-minus 13 days to finish the list and I have 17 more things to do. And I start a new job, including 2 days out of town training, today. Gulp. Might I note that 4 of the 17 items are painting projects that have been ongoing for weeks. Double Gulp.
I figure I can take a longer lunch sometime soon and finish 77 & 74 once those clothes are ironed (note to self: iron clothes). I have started peeling the fish trim (#82) but it’s going to take a few hours on the step stool to get all that glue off.
The price quotes for sod and the window frame can be done, maybe next weekend, by calling around town. If I get those numbers together I can call on my lunch break this week.
A few of the items were going to be done last weekend but my Dad had to put in overtime at work. I don’t know if I am willing to trim the tree branches and go in the attic to replace the hallway lights without backup.
Finally, the only item I can say for sure will not be completed is scanning all these family photos. Especially since Mom dropped off another few hundred on Friday. I will count that a success if I can hook up the scanner and reinstall the software.
Left to complete:
2 Figure square footage of front and back yards Yard
3 Move rocks to garage Yard
4 Price sod Yard
5 Trim dead branches on trees Yard
32 Paint the baseboards Living Room
35 Get quotes for replacing frame Living Room
37 Paint front door trim Living Room
59 Paint door trim in hallway Hallway
60 Replace hallway light bulbs Hallway
63 Paint baseboards in hallway Hallway
74 Donate old clothes to Goodwill Master bedroom
77 Take nicer clothes to consignment Master bedroom
82 Peel off fish trim Bathroom #2
86 Mop the bathroom floor Bathroom #2
87 Price replacement light fixture Bathroom #2
93 Scan family photos and organize Online/Other
100 Take a SPA day! BONUS
And I really want to do that last one…. see I have the goodies all ready:
spa day prep
… in my fridge! Well, not quite that many but I do keep some on stock for the necessary bribing that must occur for me to complete this dang list. Like for my cousin who helped me haul baseboards, my uncle who programmed the A/C unit and of course my Dad who installed baseboards, found me some nifty tools and re-textured a wall in the hallway this weekend.
Due to the help of family (and beer) here’s what’s been accomplished since my last update:
39 Price replacement shower head and faucets Bathroom #1 – Done July ?
57 Finish filling picture frames Hallway – DONE August 1st
62 Program A/C unit Hallway – DONE July 28th
68 Choose a paint color Guest Room – DONE July 27th
85 Clean the wood cabinets and doors Bathroom #2 – DONE July ?
88 Price replacement shower heads and faucets Bathroom #2 – DONE July ?
90 Catalog books I own Online/Other – DONE August 2nd
That leaves me with just a few more items to finish by Labor Day. Namely:
2 Figure square footage of front and back yards Yard
3 Move rocks to garage Yard
4 Price sod Yard
5 Trim dead branches on trees Yard
7 Plan backyard hardscapes Yard
20 Organize kitchen cabinets Kitchen
28 Touch up brown paint on walls Living Room
31 Measure the couch for a custom slipcover Living Room
32 Paint the baseboards Living Room
34 Get color samples of the paint and carpet Living Room
35 Get quotes for replacing frame Living Room
37 Paint front door trim Living Room
38 Price replacement light fixtures Bathroom #1
43 Mop the bathroom floor and clean up paint Bathroom #1
44 Paint baseboards Bathroom #1
59 Paint door trim in hallway Hallway
60 Replace hallway light bulbs Hallway
63 Paint baseboards in hallway Hallway
64 Sort and organize linens by size Guest Room
69 Take down and wash mini blinds Guest Room
74 Donate old clothes to Goodwill Master bedroom
77 Take nicer clothes to consignment Master bedroom
82 Peel off fish trim Bathroom #2
86 Mop the bathroom floor Bathroom #2
87 Price replacement light fixture Bathroom #2
93 Scan family photos and organize Online/Other
99 Organize work files and archive Online/Other
100 Take a SPA day! BONUS
Gotta get workin’!!!
Oh look, I suddenly got productive!
1 Distribute soil in back flower beds Yard – DONE August 3rd
36 Have cable company out to fix tvs Living Room – DONE August 3rd
*no need for a cable guy; 15 minutes on the phone and it was fixed!!
49 Prime and paint door frame for closet Office
office closet
an hour later:
with paint!
96 Update movie database with films I’ve watched Online/Other – DONE August 3rd
A few more things accomplished this week. After getting a lot of the little tasks out of the way in June it was time to finish a few of the more complicated items.
I didn’t have a mop…. so I found one I liked at a good price and ta da!
27 Mop kitchen floor Kitchen – DONE July 10th
Paint prep is brutal. Lots of cleaning, taping, throwing up plastic on the walls and drop cloths on the floors. It took 3 coats but I finally finished:
52 Paint closet header white Office – DONE July 10th
53 Paint door trim Office – DONE July 10th
That makes a grand total of 59 items completed on the list! Now that I’m at nearly 60% complete with this list it’s time to hit the harder items that involve a larger time commitment. Such as…
Today we tested the sprinkler system in the backyard and I cleaned out more of the dead grass and branches. My goal this week is to complete:
7 Plan backyard hardscapes Yard
And I’m slowly narrowing down my favorite pictures and scanning them so I can check off:
57 Finish filling picture frames Hallway
My uncle is back in town and was kind enough to give me an interview for a newspaper article I wrote on A/C maintenance. He will hopefully be helping me with
62 Program A/C unit Hallway
A little more prep work this week; I printed out my rental history at the video store, I’m moving books from the shelves so I can paint in the office and cataloging as I go and I am nearly done transferring photos (4GB already done!). By next weekend I should have finished:
90 Catalog books I own Online/Other
96 Update movie database with films I’ve watched Online/Other
98 Organize my photos and backup on USB drives Online/Other
Of course I bought 3 new books today so it’s a work in progress – just like me!
I purposely excluded items that have to be done and redone like dishes, laundry and vacuuming. Right now I’d love to mop the bathrooms, wash the mini blinds and finish up some painting but my parents are sleeping. Sigh. I guess tomorrow is soon enough!
It’s been a busy two weeks, let’s catch up on the list. Last Sunday I was accomplishing this:
18 Clean out Fridge and wipe shelves Kitchen – DONE June 14th
when my back went out.
This happens often, no need to worry. A long day on the couch with nothing but movies and sleep is usually great. Unless you’re me, missing a shift and work and worried about being able to move on Monday morning.
Shout out to US pharmacuticals! Back on my feet and in less pain by Wednesday when I started tackling the rest of the list:
41 Clean the mirror Bathroom #1 – DONE June 17th
45 Clean desk chair Office – DONE June 20th
48 Polish desk, drawers and sides Office – DONE June 20th
54 Wash 1 window in office inside and out Office – DONE June 21st
56 Clean air vent in hallway Hallway – DONE June 16th
61 Tack down phone cord in hallway Hallway – DONE June 20th
66 Vacuum floor and closet Guest Room – DONE June 20th
67 Wash 1 window in guest room inside and out Guest Room – DONE June 21st
78 Wash sliding glass doors inside and out Master bedroom – DONE June 21st
84 Price new toilets Bathroom #2 – DONE June 21st
97 Update Racers and Savers thread Online/Other – DONE June 16th
That makes 52 things accomplished in 3 weeks. Woah. See? I work better with deadlines! In college this meant I could finish a paper, study for finals and attend a debate tournament without breaking a sweat. Now it means my house looks better in a very short timeframe.
This week has been a little weak on the postings primarily because I felt like crap and didn’t get a whole lot accomplished. Except sleep. I definitely got a lot of sleep!
I’m glad that I got so much done the first week (36!) so I could rest this last week and not get behind. I know, no one is forcing me to get this list done but I’m my own worst enemy.
See, I’m in my own little world. But it’s okay, everyone here knows me!
After a solid 12 hours of sleep yesterday I set out to get some things done this morning. As you can see from the previous post I spent some money but am still doing rather well on my monthly budget. Here’s my accomplishments for the day:
21 Price new kitchen door knobs Kitchen – DONE June 13th
22 Price dishwashers Kitchen- DONE June 13th
50 Put more pictures on the wall Office- DONE June 13th
70 Price wall mounted lights Master bedroom- DONE June 13th
If you want to access the original post that has been updated with each completed task you can find it here.
It’s been a busy few days, not all of them uber productive round here. Friday was a nice day off when I picked up dinner after work (free with coupons) and spent some time with my Grandpa for his anniversary. Saturday I painted in the garage, went to a comedy show with Mom and then work from midnight to 2am. Sunday was largely relaxing with just the closet project to focus on before working again that night.
I hope this week will see me doing all the pricing I need so I can adjust my July budget accordingly and also making the rest of the painting decisions. Here’s what I’ve accomplished the last few days:
14 Extend gray primer the length of the wall Garage – DONE June 6th
16 Touch up gray primer on wall Garage – DONE June 6th
71 Pull out boxes of clothes Master bedroom – DONE June 7th
73 Clean off shelves in closet Master bedroom – DONE June 7th
76 Sort clothes Master bedroom – DONE June 7th
83 Pick out paint for bathroom walls Bathroom #2 – DONE June 6th
On a side note: Congrats! to the incomparable April for finding her first home and getting a great deal on it! I hope the escrow process goes smoothly and your summers are soon filled with home improvement type projects that will similarly drive you batty.
Personally I think the burst of productivity at work is simply carrying over at home where I get more personal enjoyment from accomplishing tasks. Sadly, this isn’t getting me far at work because even though summer is our busiest time of the year, the economy has slowed enough to influence our work.
So I’m archiving, finishing scanning projects I started months ago and putting a huge emphasis on quality and getting my invoices correct the first time. I refuse to take on the work of the other slackers in my department though (at least not without a raise).
But enough about the boring stuff, today is Day #4 and I finished 12 things!
11 Rearrange the couch in the garage Garage – DONE June 4th
12 Recycle plastic bags in car and garage Garage- DONE June 4th
13 Collapse packing boxes Garage- DONE June 4th
40 Wash bathroom rug Bathroom #1- DONE June 4th
46 Measure for baseboards Office- DONE June 4th
55 Measure for new bookshelf Office- DONE June 4th
65 Measure walls for square footage for paint Guest Room- DONE June 4th
72 Select accent paint Master bedroom- DONE June 4th
75 Select paint color Master bedroom- DONE June 4th
80 Measure bedroom for baseboards Master bedroom- DONE June 4th
81 Measure corner for TV cabinet/hutch Master bedroom- DONE June 4th
89 Wash the bathroom rugs Bathroom #2- DONE June 4th
That makes and even 30 things accomplished in just 4 days! It’s amazing how much I can get done when I’m not procrastinating. This weekend I’m likely to finish up the small paint projects that have been plaguing me for months and then do some cooking for next week’s meals. The weekend after this one I’ll try to tackle the big clothes projects.
Well I feel like crap on toast so an uncharacteristically short post today. I managed to get a few things done:
10 Price chest freezers Garage – DONE June 3rd
42 Measure the mirror space Bathroom #1 – DONE June 3rd
58 Price entry way mirrors Hallway – DONE June 3rd
Here’s hoping I bounce back tomorrow and get a few more things accomplished.
Don’t be fooled into thinking that I’ll be finishing all 99 things by the end of the week or even the month! Most of the tasks on my list involve two of my nightmares: making decisions and lots of prep work. I can guarantee I’m not going to blow through 5 or 6 of the larger painting projects on a week night, ever.
But for now I’m really enjoying getting some of the smaller tasks out of the way. Mostly these are chores that aren’t pressing but bug me to know they’re not done. Like tightening the doors on my kitchen cabinets. That’s done (except two screws are missing) and now when I get popcorn or cups I won’t be annoyed that the door is wobbly.
Here’s what I accomplished today:
6 Trim roses in the backyard Yard DONE – June 2nd
9 Distribute soil in front flower bed Yard DONE – June 2nd
19 Note loose doors and missing knobs Kitchen DONE – June 2nd
23 Find scratch and dent appliance stores Kitchen DONE – June 2nd
24 Touch up red paint in kitchen Kitchen DONE – June 2nd
30 Clean tiles around fireplace Living Room DONE – June 2nd
79 Vacuum the carpet and closet Master Bedroom DONE – June 2nd
91 Change the oil in my car *50,000 miles* Online/Other DONE – June 2nd
