Musings of an Outdoor Addict

With the start of 2010, the big move to Houston, and new beginnings all around, we have decided to kick off a new blog. This blog will stay here as an archive for the time being, but you can start following the new blog here: This Joyous Jaunt

All week (well, starting on Monday night when I had so much to get done and not enough time) I kept saying that all I needed was like an extra day – a magic 24 hours where time stands still or something of the like. Last night, I was awarded this fine prize when Jeremy mentioned that we could leave Fayetteville on Sunday morning instead of Saturday. I mean, we won’t have any furniture when we get down there – nothing to unpack, nor will we have hot water since the gas hasn’t been turned back on yet. So, why kill ourselves to make it down there by Saturday night when we could stay in Fayetteville one more day and have all that extra time to pack the cars. We could actually relax for both Friday and Saturday nights because we’d have the main part of Saturday to get all the packing done and we’d even have a chance to go to the post office to change our address (I know, I know, we’ve been meaning to do this all week but it’s been so crazy it had to be postponed several times) tomorrow morning. So, I get my one extra day and I’m going to use it so that I can relax tonight and tomorrow night and get to enjoy our last few moments in town before we head out for Texas.

Wallpaper Removal

The wallpaper removal went quite well this weekend and we managed to pull off all the wallpaper remaining in the house. Whew! It was a lot of work but as far as wallpaper goes, it wasn’t anything to complain about. Each type (we had the top, bottom, and border in the Library and the foil type paper in the bathroom) was a little different but overall, the same methods worked and it all came down without a major fight. We did have to improvise a little with supplies – mainly in the mixing of the enzyme solution we used for removal and in a step ladder to remove the wallpaper from the top of the walls. For warming up the water for the mixture (we didn’t read the part about hot water until we were about to mix it), Jeremy ran to CVS down the street and bought some rubbermaid microwaveable containers. The old owners left the microwave (ironically, the exact model we have) so that worked out well for creating hot water. We also had to buy gallons of water at the store because the water in the house wasn’t turned on just yet. As far as the step ladder, we improvised with the island butcher block from the kitchen in the Library and when it wouldn’t fit through the doorway to the bathroom, Jeremy grabbed the recycle bin and stood the bucket from Lowes on top of that. It feels really great to have that part of the project done so that when we return next weekend, we can start in on the sanding and spackling the walls to prepare them for painting. You can see the progress below.

So, now we are officially owners of a house in Cypress, TX. We did our final walk-through yesterday morning and then went to the closing. Everything went very smoothly and we thoroughly enjoyed meeting the past owners. They were a lot like us only 20 years later with teenagers. They do a lot of outdoor activities like camping and backpacking and they had lots of fun memories to share from their 15 years living in the house.

After closing, we decided to grab some lunch and start getting things together for our wallpaper scraping project. I will say that we did manage to lose some time going back and forth from the hotel because we kept forgetting things we needed with us, but I guess that just comes with the territory of being away from ‘home’ which throws off your normal organizational plan. We found a Lowe’s and bought a couple things to get us started on wallpaper removal and we also took the time to walk around and get a feel for some things like light fixtures and touches we may want to add here and there in the house. We also started getting a plan together for Cabela’s dog pen that we will be building behind the garage that we have lovingly named the houdini doggie prison. I think we have a nice plan together that will be functional, relatively classy looking for a dogpen, and will keep in our little escape artist. We didn’t really get a chance to drive around the area when we were here before so the driving we have done this time around has shown that the area we picked is really nice and has lots of cute little shopping centers and lots of really lovely neighborhoods. I think we are really going to like the area.

We also had time to swing by the riding barn I found that I may try out – it is quite close to where we live and is a cute little farm. Our final task for the day was to do a detailed walk through of the house where we planned out what color we would like to paint each room and we also figured out what furniture will go where so that we have a plan for the movers next week. We are thoroughly enjoying our time in Texas and the weather is beautiful!

This afternoon we fly out of Fayetteville to close on our new house in Houston (Cypress actually) tomorrow. It is hard to believe that it has been more than three months already and it is strange to think we’ll be leaving for Houston permanently next week when we haven’t packed a thing. Since the movers are packing and moving everything, we just get to sit around and wait until Tuesday next week when they arrive to start packing. We are setting aside our photo albums and some keepsake items for safe keeping, along with an air mattress , the three pets and the things we will need for them. Other than that, the movers will be doing the rest.

We have been so blessed througout this entire process and I really feel like I’m just along for the ride. We found a house on our first trip (which wasn’t even a house shopping trip, but just a preview trip), the owners accepted our first offer, getting a loan and insurance set up was a very easy process, and now that we’re down to the wire and feeling slightly pressed for time, the only real things we are missing out on getting done are some things we decided to do before leaving Fayetteville. Things like finding our names on the UofA Senior Walk, eating a US Pizza, getting to spend time with our closest friends, etc. We’ve knocked off a few things on our list and it looks like we’ll get this all done in time, but it has made these last few weeks in Fayetteville slightly hectic.

So, if everything goes as planned tomorrow, we will own a house in Texas by the end of the day. The rest of the weekend, we will be stripping wallpaper from two rooms downstairs, so wish us luck on that. Who knows if there is sizing behind the paper or how well the glue is adhered, but only time will tell how easily the paper will come down. I did tell Jeremy this morning that I would consider sealing and painting it as a last resort. After that, we fly back in to Fayetteville Sunday evening and get ready for the movers Tuesday. The rest of the week, we’ll stay at my parents until we drive our two cars to Houston Saturday, March 13th. I’m sure the next ten days will be a whirlwind, but in an exciting way. I’m trying to live in every moment and just savor the time we have here.

The other night while I was on the phone in the back bedroom, I heard a sudden and strange combination of noises. One of them sounded like someone slapping something into the hard floors in the main part of the house, but I wasn’t quite sure of the origin of this noise. Another noise was much more familiar, which was the sound of Biscuitte’s collar bell jingling. My best guess as to what happened is that Mugsy (who has been quite petulant as of late) had attacked Biscuitte and that Jeremy, instead of using the spray bottle we fashioned for such purposes, decided to either throw something at him or was smacking him (maybe with the spray bottle?). I must point out that the smacking noise confounded me a bit because it was so loud and Jeremy is not one to beat an animal, however rude they might have behaved, and this was the noise of something both deliberate and prolonged. A few moments later Jeremy appeared in the doorway and asked me if I’d heard the racket. Of course I had. He laughed and said that the noise had surprised him as much as me (possibly more, considering his proximity to the event). After further investigation, it turns out that Biscuitte decided to investigate the area around the washing machine. In the crevice between the washer and the wall, we had a sticky mousetrap. (I know at this point you can see where this is going … but I’ll finish it out just to cover all the little details.) Anyway, I suppose Biscuitte managed to wander directly on to the mousetrap, at which point, she totally freaked out and then flapped her way all across the floor from the laundry room to the dining area, where the trap apparently dislodged itself from her paw. She did have to spend the rest of the evening outside because her paw was completely covered with goo from the trap that we didn’t want her tracking around, so I hope she learned her lesson. They do say curiosity killed the cat – luckily we use use sticky traps and not the real kind!