Hello? Is this thing on?

 Holy moly.

I am still around.  Life has just been super busy.  

Since my last post (we were moving to Mason, OH), we moved into our house in Mason, sold the house in Mason, moved to Nashville (TN), and bought a house in Hermitage.  We've been in Hermitage for nearly 4 years...and are considering moving yet again, although staying in the Nashville area.

I moved to Nashville in May of 2022, and Dave and Abi followed shortly thereafter.  I got a job as a regional manager with Nashville Public Library, and spent 3+ years at their Southeast Branch.  On a whim, I applied for a Director position in White House, TN.  Imagine my surprise when I was selected.  I've now been at WHPL for 7 months (today!), and am looking forward to staying here until retirement. (One can hope anyway.)

Only one picture to share today...Cosmo the library's mascot.  Definitely the most popular staff member.

Our Mascot, Cosmo.

We're looking at a new house on Friday, and if we go for it, it will need a lot of updates.  Maybe it will be time to resurrect the blog?? Stay tuned to find out!

What goes around, comes around...

Gosh, again it's been almost a year since I made an entry to this blog.  But there's lots of activity chez Angela.

Let's start with the front door: 

Before

After

I re-stained the front door.  Matt helped me paint the trim around the door, and he removed the house numbers and repainted those.  Dave removed the old light fixture and replaced it (and the one between the garage doors). 

Who knew how much of a difference it would make just to re-stain the door?  I love it all over again.

We also have been doing a lot of interior work.  Most of what we've done doesn't photograph well...painting the ceiling throughout most of the house, and touching up paint here and there.  But we (well, Dave) changed the light in the entry way (FINALLY).

The brushed nickel finish with the grey walls looks amazing.  Then, when you add this: 

New Entry flooring

It just looks "put together."  

I've also worked on repainting the kid's bathroom.  We painted over the dark blue walls, and painted the vanity a "denim" color.  You can't really see the vanity in this picture, but trust me, it looks good.  The ceiling also got a coat of paint here, and the difference was crazy!

 

before

after

Today, a contractor is working on replacing rotting boards on the deck.  I'll be trying to get it painted in the next few days.  

And, well, the reason that we're rushing to get everything finished? We've bought a house in the Mason area.  I'm commuting about an hour to get to work, which has gotten old quickly.  So, we're selling this little house.  This place has been a refuge for me.  It was a personal triumph to be able to buy a house as a single mom.  I put myself through grad school while in this house. It's really been "home."  But it's time to make a new home with my new husband.  Pictures of the new house will come when the contracts are signed!

I've been silent...

...but that doesn't mean that progress has stopped at the house.

Abi graduated from high school this year, and a graduation party forced some home improvements.  We got the patio finished:

  
I have really been enjoying the outdoor space...as has Sierra!

I also FINALLY painted the master bathroom.  No more nasty neon Green.

Oh....it's still an ugly bathroom, and needs a complete gut job, but it's better.

Like I said, Abi graduated from high school this spring...but I also finished my MSLIS degree.

Now I just need to figure out how to pay it off. 

Not to be outdone, Matt has had some exciting news.  He was accepted into the Peace Corps, and will be serving in Sierra Leone beginning in June 2020.  He'll be teaching secondary science.  I'm so proud of him.

Next week Abi moves into her dorm (residence hall) at good old Ohio Northern. Good luck in Maglott hall baby-girl!  

She's wearing one of LDB's old sweatshirts here. 

Much more house updates to come in the next few months.  Stay tuned.

Finally attacking the kitchen...

...and it's been a challenge.

Remember the "before" kitchen?

There was wallpaper everywhere.  While removing the paper wasn't bad, I had to strip the remaining glue before I could paint.  So, I had bare, rough walls for over a year.  I've spent the better part of the last 3 days stripping the glue, and I can finally say that it's finished!

However...here's my kitchen currently:

Yep, that's my stove in the middle of the kitchen.  Actually, the fridge is in the middle of the room right now too.  Oh, and the old microwave has been removed.  Unfortunately, we had to remove the cabinet above the microwave to remove the microwave...so that part actually looks like this right now:

A new microwave, that matches the stove, refrigerator, and dishwasher is hopefully arriving today.  

Today, I'm planning on patching nail holes, and priming the walls.  The man in the paint department at Menards suggested a primer that neutralizes any remaining wallpaper glue in case I happened to miss any spots. After I get the wall behind the microwave/stove painted, I can put the stove back and install the new microwave.  Phew.  

I'm also thinking about doing a tile backsplash...

  

Now, just so you don't think that life is all work, here's photographic proof that I've also been having a little fun on my vacation...

Jeep hair, don't care. 

We celebrated Independence Day at my sister's house, and had the top down on the Jeep all day.  It was a fun, relaxing afternoon with friends and family!  Now, back to work...

A treat to myself...

Not much of an update, but D and I went to the racetrack on Saturday...and I did pretty okay there. So, as a treat to myself I bought a little addition to my landscape:

Isn't it pretty??

We also worked on the yard quite a bit on Saturday...mowing, more mulching, and some weeding.  Sunday, I did work on my office space quite a bit.  I need to buy a new desk chair (something that adjusts height-wise), but otherwise I feel like I am ready to rock the classes.  Bring it on Syracuse, I've got this!

Expect pictures soon...

There's not much progress to report on the house lately, but expect some updates/pictures soon.  I'm on vacation the first week of July, and the plan is to finally get the kitchen painted.

There have been some accomplishments lately.  Dave ran line from the basement into the back bedroom (my "office") so that I could plug my computer directly into the internet.  Why is this important?  I need a hard-wired connection for Graduate school.  Yep.  I'm finally going to be working on my MSLIS.  I've been accepted into the Syracuse University iSchool program.  Woot!  Classes begin in July, so after that last week of vacation, there probably won't be a lot of time to devote to the house.

I also planted some lilies and decorative grasses in the front yard, as well as some boxwoods to replace the overgrown bushes that we tore out last fall.

I'm still here!

I haven't updated in a while...there's not much to update about right now.  I finally got the Master bedroom painted.  I have my bed in there, but that's about it.  I need to get my dressers in there before I feel like I can hang pictures on the walls, etc.    The master bath remains a true mess.  (Why is bath fitter sooooo expensive!)

I repainted Abby's bathroom, a dark Xavier blue with a crisp white shower curtain.  Nice!  And, we updated the flooring in that bath.

This spring, I'd like to look at getting new siding and windows. I think that will make a huge difference in the curb appeal.

It's fun watching the flowers come up already.  I can tell that I've got daffodils and tulips.  I'm not sure what else I'll find in my yard, but I can't wait to see!!

Here's the excitement from this winter:

 

One of my neighbor's trees fell into my yard, and grazed my house.  Luckily, it was a small tree, and it didn't do any damage.