More demo!

Now you see it:
...and now you don't:
I hope I didn't accidentlaly throw Max in the dumpster with the vanity! Hahahaha :p

Meanwhile, the alpacas had a beautiful day for grazing:

More Pics from Minneapolis

Posting some pics from our trip to Des Moines via Minneapolis week before last. The Minneapolis skyline!
The tan building in the center is the former Norwest Tower, now the Wells Fargo tower.

From here we headed to Uptown:
...which has soooo many cool places to go....like this! I don't think I have ever had a Falafel, but I would try one just to go inside a store with a crown!

And they have a Penzey's! So we stocked up on a few things there.

After Uptown, we headed down Excelsior Blvd. Not sure what this is, but I liked it, so I took a picture:
Nearby was a very new Trader Joe's, so we stopped in. It was super-nice, probably one of the nicest ones we've been in. There were lofts or condos above the store, which would be very dangerous for us to live in....

And then back towards the hotel, we passed the headquarters for Best Buy.
I used to work nearby, and remember when they first started building this several years ago. Was very cool to see the progress all the way to the opening. If I remember correctly, they bought all the houses that used to be here, fenced the whole area in, and demolished everything.

Bigger is Better!

Did I mention that renting a dumpster was a great move? I love it! And, the icing on the cake: when the dumpster people came to pick it up on Monday to dump it and bring it back, they dropped off a new, BIGGER one instead! Woot!
We have this till Friday. Everything goes now! Hahahahaha.

On the dark side, we have some evilness in the neighborhood. Joe called me out to the deck and pointed through the trees to the house across the street......
He's cutting the grass! NOOOO! It's March - no lawn mowing allowed until May! So what if it was 80 today - I haven't even gotten the mower deck put back on the lawn mower!! Bah....it only takes one, too. Now someone else will be out mowing tomorrow, and someone else the next day, and the next thing you know, we are the ones with the worst lawn. Grrrrrr.

90-Day Mark

We started this little master bedroom project the day before Christmas. So, we are at the 90-day mark, and while it's been a loooong project (and it's not done yet!!), it will make a difference.

Today's updates start with the Tool of the Day:
Since we don't have a sledgehammer, we decided to use the flat part of this ax, to tackle the ceramic tile in the master bath! With a few swings (ok, ALOT of swings), Joe had the floor in pieces in no time:
We wanted to get this done while we still have the dumpster, so this was the big project for this weekend. FYI, ceramic tile is a PAIN IN THE ASS to remove. And whoever put the backerboard down, did so with glue and 6,000 screws....:
Persistence paid off and we got most of it removed, and put a hunk of carpeting in it's place for now. I also finally removed the 2x4 in the ceiling that was hanging there from the former wall, and connected the wall where the old bath entrance was with a piece of new drywall:
Most importantly, we got the closet sanded and primed, and put up the clothes rods!!!! Yes, we will have to to take them down when we paint, but since we haven't even chosen the colors yet, I was itching to just get our clothes back in a closet. So, we have clothes! In our closet!

And in a purely psychological move, we also primed any walls that had that nasty red paint on them! NO MORE RED WALLS! Premature, yes. But the morale boost was worth it :)

Round 1

We've been busy since Wednesday filling up our little dumpster, and have made great progress!
The dumpster people are coming on Monday to take it away, dump it, and bring it back! I didn't realize they would come and get it and dump it as many times as we want during our 10-day rental! OMG!

We finally found the garage floor again, too:

And with the temps starting to get back to manageable levels, we declared Christmass officially over, and started hcking up the tree:
It will find it's way into a yard waste paper bag, and sit in the garage until the trash people start up their spring yard waste program. Bye, Christmas tree!

Early Delivery

Our surprise delivery came a day early! And if you guessed a new puppy, you were a little off:
Yes, a dumpster! Or roll-off container, to use industry jargon. I know - I get excited about the wierdest things. BUT...! This means we can finally get rid of all the junk that has accumulated in the garage since Christmas with this remodel project! YAY! I am super-excited.

Look! Inside!
I think I like their little logo the best:
Hahaha. We have it for 10 days. And can put up to 2 tons of stuff in it! I don't think we have 2 tons of stuff, but it's nice to know that we could put that much in if we want.

OMG this is taking forever! We started "mudding" last weekend. I think we are about 1/2 way done:We did manage to get the closet interior area sanded and a 2nd round of mudding on, which we will sand this week. If all goes according to plan, we will prime and paint the closet area this weekend, so I can put up the clothes rods and get our clothes back! Hallelujah! We also have something arriving on Thursday that I am very excited about. No clues yet, but watch for pictures Thursday evening! Ok, one clue - it is bigger than a breadbox!

I snapped this picture of Max after explaining to him the exciting item that is arriving on Thursday:He seemed geniunely intrigued and showed great interest, but I really think he was just hoping he would get another doggie treat simply for listening to me.....

Dream Analysis and Pictures From Minnesota

Who's good at dream analysis? I have this scary ability to remember parts of my dreams. Sometimes that's good, sometimes that's bad! I had the following dreams the other night, and I always like to try and figure out what they mean:

Dream 1: We were in a plane, taking off (from where, to where - I have no idea). We were up front and the cockpit was open, so the pilot was talking to us, and we could see out the front of the plane. The pilot tells us right after we take off that we need to make a brief landing...in the lake. We weren't more than 100 feet off the ground, and he gently lands it in a big lake. The water is really choppy and the waves are big. As he is taxing across the lake, I look back to see if any of the other passengers think this is a little scary...and there are no other passengers! That's all I remember of that one.

Dream #2: I am clearing out brush around what I think might have been my Mom's house. As I cut out some hedges, I come across a small yellow plastic tube about 6 inches long, dangling out of a concrete wall. Attached at the end is a spider 3/4 of the way out of a cocoon like thingie. It's little legs are moving like it is ready to break out. Just as I reach in to try and touch it I get my arm tangled in cobwebs, and a black window spider lands on my arm and bites me. I clearly remember the red hourglass on the spider.


I had these both on Saturday night. I haven't come up with any good interpretations yet. Other than I just have wierd dreams. I won't even tell you about the one I had where a pregnant pelican landed on the roof at work.....


On to pictures from our trip! If you drive from Minneapolis to southern Minnesota, you wll drive right by these:

They used to be part of some air museum, but the museum closed, and they now sit in front of a small local airport. These would be great to have in the front yard. Imagine putting Christmas lights on these babies!

The other thing I always found intriguing about Minnesota is water towers! I swear every city has it's own water tower with it's city name on it:
You always know where you are in Minnesota because of the water towers!

This was not in the plans....

It's MARCH! Hellooooo? Who has snowstorms in March? This was the scene by early afternoon:...and this was by late afternoon:
Yes, the Christmas tree is still on the deck....but it still looks good!

In other news, Joe had a nice little surprise for me as we were heading to the airport for Des Moines:
A trip to Vegas!! YAY! I love Las Vegas!!! He had been planning this for our anniversary, but because of my work trip, we are going in 3 weeks instead. I can't wait!

We're Back!

We're back from Des Moines! I have lots of pictures - but let me get started with this!
The Marriott picked ME as Guest of the Day on Wednesday! I AM SPECIAL! I got my name on the little stand at the front desk, and a little goodies package. So it was only a bottle of water and some cookies....who cares! I was Guest of the Day!! The respect I always wanted! Woo!

And now, a picture of some ducks.....

Midwest Madness!

So! Tomorrow we leave for the great midwest! As in, Des Moines, Iowa. Where it better not snow and strand us in! ><

We'll be gone for most of the week next week. We got Spike and Max off to the "pet resort", and someone decided once the suitcase was out, that she likes to travel too: Kitty loves suitcases. If I thought Joe wouldn't notice (oh, and I guess the TSA), I would try and sneak her with us.

We're taking the camera, so I will be on the look-out for fun and exciting - and hopefully odd - pictures from our trip.

Be back on Friday.

March Madness!

And I'm not talking basketball! It snowed today. Boo! It's MARCH! Aren't we done with this?

What's sadder is that this made schools decide to close today:
After all was said and done, we got maybe an inch and a half. In my day, it took a good 5 inches to even think of closing schools!

In other news, we are still plugging away on the master Bedroom Project. 95% of the drywall is up - finally - and we are going to start mudding and sanding week after next:

There have been a million little things to take care of

I'm itching to get the walls primed and painted - and the closet finished! I am sooo tired of having clothes scattered throughout 3 bedrooms.