Well, we had a busy weekend.
Saturday Andy and I put down tile on the kitchen floor. I can't describe how happy this makes me. We have been living with dirty painted plywood for almost a year now and the thought of a clean, nice floor is almost too good to be true.
It looks very nice and we are doing a good job. The floor slopes a little bit and we can tell, but probably no one but us will notice. We have just done the middle of the big open part of the kitchen. We still have to put a border around it and tile the cooking part of the kitchen. But I am so happy just to be making progress.
Today (Sunday) we started demolition on the new house on Chicamauga. What a job!! I will be incredibly painfully sore tomorrow. But we got a lot done. The right side had horrible paneling everywhere, so we took that out and found unsalvageable plaster underneath it. We removed the plaster too, a dirty, dusty job, and left the lathe. We will drywall over this.
We removed the ceiling in the front room, and then in addition to plaster dust, we were covered with coal dust coming from the attic. We were VERY dirty. See photos below.
We also knocked out a couple of walls in the central hallway. This house was originally built in 1899 as a single family bungalow with a large central hallway and rooms off either side. At some point it was converted to a duplex, left and right, and they used the central hallway for closets. Now we are getting back to the original floor plan.
But the best part was the fireplaces!! We uncovered two of the four and found the most beautiful tiles. The front room has green tiles with a man and a woman on the sides, and the dining room has a blue tiles with a lion on top and peacocks on the sides. They are very fancy, much nicer than the ones you usually find.
We were glad to see a house for sale today about a block down from the one we are fixing up, listed for $238,900. We were thinking we could get around $150,000 for our renovation when it's done. But if the house down the street sells even as low as $200,000, it will be very good news for us. Looks promising. Andy's last day at work will be this coming Wednesday, and then he will be full time in the house-flipping business. Wish us luck.
Love to all,
Becky
Sunday, December 18, 2005
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Thanksgiving and More House Buying
Well, I missed a couple of weeks because I was out of town and then had family here. But I'm back now!
We had some bad news the week before Christmas. Andy has been having dizzy spells and other miscellaneous issues and went to the doctor to find out what the problem is. Turns out he has a bad valve, just like Sara, and will have to have open heart surgery. The good news is he doesn't have to have it right now. At the moment we are on a "come back once a year" plan. I think Andy actually feels better knowing that he is not just being a hypochondriac. It will not be a fun thing to go through and I am not looking forward to it, but I am sure he will be ok in the end.
In happier news, Dad, Shannie, and Melea came down the weekend before Thanksgiving for a visit. We had a good time. Went to the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Opry. Made a trip to the Pancake Pantry, of course. Rascal Flatts, Carrie Underwood, and Vince Gill were all at the Opry, so we picked a good night. This was the first time Dad had seen the house since before we bought it, and the first time that Shannie and Melea had seen it at all. Dad walked into the kitchen and said, "Now this gives you an idea of what it was like." Add that to Jenni imagining that there were bugs in the sugar and I am now newly resolved to make some progress in the kitchen. The kitchen floor is next. No ifs, ands, or buts.
Dad and Shannie left on Sunday and I spent the first part of my Thanksgiving week off working on the guest room. We bought new curtains, bed linens, and a rug. Andy installed a toilet and I painted the room blue and did lots of cleaning. After Dad and Shannie's visit we concluded that the bathroom needed a door, so that was installed Thanksgiving Day. See below for before and after photos. The trim is not painted and none of the drywall issues were resolved, but at least, as Dave said, you don't shudder when you walk in now.
Andy and I had Thanksgiving dinner at Cracker Barrel after getting the door installed on Thursday.
Friday Jenni and Dave and the girls showed up around 1:00 and we headed to the Opryland Hotel. Spent a while admiring the Christmas decorations and then went through the ICE exhibit. 1.5 million pounds of ice carved into all kinds of amazing things. We even went down a slide made of ice. The temperature was 15 degrees and they gave everyone parkas to wear. Pretty cool (get it - ha!).
Saturday Dave and Andy took down the beam that has been hanging loose in the kitchen - finally! Now no one has to be afraid of anything but spiders falling on them. Jenni and I got down to the serious business of cooking and the only thing we managed to ruin (we being me) was the iced tea, so that wasn't too bad. We cheated on the turkey and bought it from Honeybaked Ham, but we made everything else. Mashed potatoes, brussels sprouts, Jenni's noodles from the Feast of the Hunter's Moon, corn pudding, sweet potatoes that we didn't actually eat, biscuits, pumpkin pie, and pecan pie. And of course a can of cranberry sauce (? - I don't know if the blob kind is really sauce) for Dave.
We napped after dinner and went to the Station Inn on Saturday night. I think that was the first time the girls have seen bluegrass and I think they had fun. Sunday morning they were up and gone early, and I enjoyed my last day of vacation.
Last item: we decided not to buy the house at 945 Silverdene. What with it being next to the power station and all, we weren't sure how much we could get for it or if we would be able to make any money from it at all. We have decided to buy another house at 1024 Chicamauga (photos below) and are at this point absolutely committed to closing. So this is a sure thing. It is a bigger house and on a better street, so I have high hopes of it turning out to be profitable. It will be a big project for sure. We haven't decided yet when Andy will quit, but probably around the end of the year.
Last item for real: for those of you who don't already know . . . . my brother and Kelly got married!!! They sprung it on us in an email. But I think we were all prepared ahead of time. Kelly reports that the baby is up to over 3 lbs and is doing well. She will be a girl named Adria Rayne Van Ostrand. Very exciting news.
Love to all,
Becky
We had some bad news the week before Christmas. Andy has been having dizzy spells and other miscellaneous issues and went to the doctor to find out what the problem is. Turns out he has a bad valve, just like Sara, and will have to have open heart surgery. The good news is he doesn't have to have it right now. At the moment we are on a "come back once a year" plan. I think Andy actually feels better knowing that he is not just being a hypochondriac. It will not be a fun thing to go through and I am not looking forward to it, but I am sure he will be ok in the end.
In happier news, Dad, Shannie, and Melea came down the weekend before Thanksgiving for a visit. We had a good time. Went to the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Opry. Made a trip to the Pancake Pantry, of course. Rascal Flatts, Carrie Underwood, and Vince Gill were all at the Opry, so we picked a good night. This was the first time Dad had seen the house since before we bought it, and the first time that Shannie and Melea had seen it at all. Dad walked into the kitchen and said, "Now this gives you an idea of what it was like." Add that to Jenni imagining that there were bugs in the sugar and I am now newly resolved to make some progress in the kitchen. The kitchen floor is next. No ifs, ands, or buts.
Dad and Shannie left on Sunday and I spent the first part of my Thanksgiving week off working on the guest room. We bought new curtains, bed linens, and a rug. Andy installed a toilet and I painted the room blue and did lots of cleaning. After Dad and Shannie's visit we concluded that the bathroom needed a door, so that was installed Thanksgiving Day. See below for before and after photos. The trim is not painted and none of the drywall issues were resolved, but at least, as Dave said, you don't shudder when you walk in now.
Andy and I had Thanksgiving dinner at Cracker Barrel after getting the door installed on Thursday.
Friday Jenni and Dave and the girls showed up around 1:00 and we headed to the Opryland Hotel. Spent a while admiring the Christmas decorations and then went through the ICE exhibit. 1.5 million pounds of ice carved into all kinds of amazing things. We even went down a slide made of ice. The temperature was 15 degrees and they gave everyone parkas to wear. Pretty cool (get it - ha!).
Saturday Dave and Andy took down the beam that has been hanging loose in the kitchen - finally! Now no one has to be afraid of anything but spiders falling on them. Jenni and I got down to the serious business of cooking and the only thing we managed to ruin (we being me) was the iced tea, so that wasn't too bad. We cheated on the turkey and bought it from Honeybaked Ham, but we made everything else. Mashed potatoes, brussels sprouts, Jenni's noodles from the Feast of the Hunter's Moon, corn pudding, sweet potatoes that we didn't actually eat, biscuits, pumpkin pie, and pecan pie. And of course a can of cranberry sauce (? - I don't know if the blob kind is really sauce) for Dave.
We napped after dinner and went to the Station Inn on Saturday night. I think that was the first time the girls have seen bluegrass and I think they had fun. Sunday morning they were up and gone early, and I enjoyed my last day of vacation.
Last item: we decided not to buy the house at 945 Silverdene. What with it being next to the power station and all, we weren't sure how much we could get for it or if we would be able to make any money from it at all. We have decided to buy another house at 1024 Chicamauga (photos below) and are at this point absolutely committed to closing. So this is a sure thing. It is a bigger house and on a better street, so I have high hopes of it turning out to be profitable. It will be a big project for sure. We haven't decided yet when Andy will quit, but probably around the end of the year.
Last item for real: for those of you who don't already know . . . . my brother and Kelly got married!!! They sprung it on us in an email. But I think we were all prepared ahead of time. Kelly reports that the baby is up to over 3 lbs and is doing well. She will be a girl named Adria Rayne Van Ostrand. Very exciting news.
Love to all,
Becky
Sunday, November 06, 2005
Halloween, House Buying, and Paintballs
Well, Halloween was successful, for the most part. We had 275 trick-or-treaters and then ran out of candy. I think we got it just about right. We had to turn a few people away, but it was towards the end. Andy wore a wrestling mask and scared some of the little kids so badly they didn't want any candy. I manned the candy bowl sans costume.
When trick-or-treating was over, Andy's friend Bobby, Andy, and I headed to 5 Points for the Pub Crawl. We are getting to be old fogies and only made it to 2 bars. We saw some good costumes and played some pool.
Back in the real world, we were approved for an equity line of credit this week that we will be using to start the house-fixing-up business. And in fact, we have a contract on our first house already. We are supposed to close around the 22nd. I am not sure if we will flip it or keep it as a rental. I think we are going to do the fixup work and then see what it's worth at that time. It is a 2 BR, 1 BA brick bungalow built around 1930. The exterior is in remarkably good shape, but the interior will need some reconditioning. Horrible paneling everywhere. But a couple of really nice fireplace mantels. It is on the same block as Andy's house, at the other end, on the opposite side of the street.
So we are off. It must be real now. Pretty soon we'll be real-life entrepreneurs. Not sure when Andy is going to quit his job at the base. Maybe the end of the year, maybe shortly after we close on the house. We'll see. End of the year might be better as it's easier to sell and rent in the spring.
I went outside yesterday morning to find that someone had fired two pink paintballs at our newly painted house. They were still wet and not hard to clean up. I posted a message on the neighborhood listserv to see if anyone else had been paintballed. A couple of cars about a mile away were hit, but that seems to be it. I assumed it was kids from the projects, but my neighbor 3 doors down is convinced that it was a fanatical neighbor who doesn't like our paint color because it's not historically accurate. She posted a blistering message on the listserv because she thinks she knows who did it. She won't tell me who, though. I think the whole thing is kind of ridiculous.
I started work on the interior of the front door sidelights this weekend, and Andy is working hard to get a toilet installed in the guest half bath before family start arriving at Thanksgiving. He thinks he can have it done this week, which is good, because we also need to replace the faucet, and if we're going to replace the faucet, we might as well replace the sink and the countertop too. T minus 12 days and counting . . .
Becky
When trick-or-treating was over, Andy's friend Bobby, Andy, and I headed to 5 Points for the Pub Crawl. We are getting to be old fogies and only made it to 2 bars. We saw some good costumes and played some pool.
Back in the real world, we were approved for an equity line of credit this week that we will be using to start the house-fixing-up business. And in fact, we have a contract on our first house already. We are supposed to close around the 22nd. I am not sure if we will flip it or keep it as a rental. I think we are going to do the fixup work and then see what it's worth at that time. It is a 2 BR, 1 BA brick bungalow built around 1930. The exterior is in remarkably good shape, but the interior will need some reconditioning. Horrible paneling everywhere. But a couple of really nice fireplace mantels. It is on the same block as Andy's house, at the other end, on the opposite side of the street.
So we are off. It must be real now. Pretty soon we'll be real-life entrepreneurs. Not sure when Andy is going to quit his job at the base. Maybe the end of the year, maybe shortly after we close on the house. We'll see. End of the year might be better as it's easier to sell and rent in the spring.
I went outside yesterday morning to find that someone had fired two pink paintballs at our newly painted house. They were still wet and not hard to clean up. I posted a message on the neighborhood listserv to see if anyone else had been paintballed. A couple of cars about a mile away were hit, but that seems to be it. I assumed it was kids from the projects, but my neighbor 3 doors down is convinced that it was a fanatical neighbor who doesn't like our paint color because it's not historically accurate. She posted a blistering message on the listserv because she thinks she knows who did it. She won't tell me who, though. I think the whole thing is kind of ridiculous.
I started work on the interior of the front door sidelights this weekend, and Andy is working hard to get a toilet installed in the guest half bath before family start arriving at Thanksgiving. He thinks he can have it done this week, which is good, because we also need to replace the faucet, and if we're going to replace the faucet, we might as well replace the sink and the countertop too. T minus 12 days and counting . . .
Becky
Sunday, October 30, 2005
Halloween in East Nashville
Well, it's been a rough week for us. The dogs got into a fight. Little Mama attacked Lily for no apparent reason and Andy spent 10 minutes doing everything he could to try to separate them with no success. He was finally able to get them apart when they got tired and stopped for a breather. Both dogs had to be taken to the vet. This happened about an hour before my finance final was supposed to start. I was late, bloody, hungry, and had no calculator.
But the final went fine, considering, and the dogs are OK. Andy's hand was bitten when trying to separate the dogs, but it seems to be healing. The vet said to turn the hose on them if it happens again. I don't know why we have never thought of this. I have also been told that ammonia is very effective - kind of like tear gas for dogs.
So we got through it, and things improved over the weekend. Halloween is a big deal in East Nashville. All kinds of events for 4 days or so. See my "HallowEast!" link on the right for everything you ever wanted to know about what's going on in East Nashville for Halloween.
Andy was asked to be a judge for the Halloween decoration contest. Last night he drove around and looked at all the decorations. I didn't go, but went out later to meet him and we went back to visit the best one. Here's a photo (from the tax records - doesn't show his decorations):
The guy must have spent at least $1000 on yard decorations - really elaborate. He also had a fantastic house and had what I guess was once Liberace's bedroom suite. Just an unbelievable house. I don't even know how to describe it. Built in 1876, 4300 square feet. His mantels were like something out of a gothic novel, and his pocket doors had to be 11 feet tall. 13 foot ceilings.
At 10:00 they had the "Drag Race" at 14th and Woodland, being a footrace which requires all entrants to be in drag to participate. One heat for the men dressed as women, and one heat for the women dressed as men. There were probably around 300 people there but only about 10 runners. It was fun. Makes me remember why I like East Nashville despite the vandalism.
Today we walked down to Bongo Java for the prize distribution for the Halloween contest. Also fun. Tomorrow night, of course, is Halloween. I am skipping class so as to be home for the trick-or-treaters. We are told that we should expect around 300. Apparently we get busloads from some of the local churches. We will close up shop around 8:00 and head down to 5 Points, where all the local bars are sponsoring a pub crawl. Drink specials and live music everywhere.
It should be fun. I'll give everyone an update. Maybe take pictures of the really good costumes.
Becky
But the final went fine, considering, and the dogs are OK. Andy's hand was bitten when trying to separate the dogs, but it seems to be healing. The vet said to turn the hose on them if it happens again. I don't know why we have never thought of this. I have also been told that ammonia is very effective - kind of like tear gas for dogs.
So we got through it, and things improved over the weekend. Halloween is a big deal in East Nashville. All kinds of events for 4 days or so. See my "HallowEast!" link on the right for everything you ever wanted to know about what's going on in East Nashville for Halloween.
Andy was asked to be a judge for the Halloween decoration contest. Last night he drove around and looked at all the decorations. I didn't go, but went out later to meet him and we went back to visit the best one. Here's a photo (from the tax records - doesn't show his decorations):
The guy must have spent at least $1000 on yard decorations - really elaborate. He also had a fantastic house and had what I guess was once Liberace's bedroom suite. Just an unbelievable house. I don't even know how to describe it. Built in 1876, 4300 square feet. His mantels were like something out of a gothic novel, and his pocket doors had to be 11 feet tall. 13 foot ceilings.
At 10:00 they had the "Drag Race" at 14th and Woodland, being a footrace which requires all entrants to be in drag to participate. One heat for the men dressed as women, and one heat for the women dressed as men. There were probably around 300 people there but only about 10 runners. It was fun. Makes me remember why I like East Nashville despite the vandalism.
Today we walked down to Bongo Java for the prize distribution for the Halloween contest. Also fun. Tomorrow night, of course, is Halloween. I am skipping class so as to be home for the trick-or-treaters. We are told that we should expect around 300. Apparently we get busloads from some of the local churches. We will close up shop around 8:00 and head down to 5 Points, where all the local bars are sponsoring a pub crawl. Drink specials and live music everywhere.
It should be fun. I'll give everyone an update. Maybe take pictures of the really good costumes.
Becky
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Most Recent House Photos & Trip to LBL
Just posted the most recent photos of the house for whoever is interested. One from when we bought the house, also, for comparison purposes.
Andy and I spent Saturday at Land Between the Lakes with Jenni (sister) and Dave and the girls. We had fun. They have an Elk and Bison Prairie, which we visited, and I got a little closer to the bison that I would have liked. I was afraid for my car. We didn't get many pictures because the camera battery died. When Jenni and Dave get theirs posted, I'll put some more up.
We did a little hiking and then Andy left to come back to Nashville around dinner time. I stayed, had dinner at Jenni and Dave's campsite, and then we all headed back to the lodge where I was staying. The lodge had an indoor pool and hot tub, sauna and steam room, and we spent some time there before I turned in for the night and Jenni and family went back to the campsite (suckers!). Had breakfast this morning and then headed home.
I spent the rest of the day studying for my finance final on Wednesday and cleaning the house. Andy and I finally found the dead mouse that has been smelling up the kitchen. It had gotten into a box of cereal in an unused cabinet. From now on all food products go in airtight containers as soon as they're opened. I'm just glad we found it. Pretty soon I would have been having bad dreams about it.
Becky
Andy and I spent Saturday at Land Between the Lakes with Jenni (sister) and Dave and the girls. We had fun. They have an Elk and Bison Prairie, which we visited, and I got a little closer to the bison that I would have liked. I was afraid for my car. We didn't get many pictures because the camera battery died. When Jenni and Dave get theirs posted, I'll put some more up.
We did a little hiking and then Andy left to come back to Nashville around dinner time. I stayed, had dinner at Jenni and Dave's campsite, and then we all headed back to the lodge where I was staying. The lodge had an indoor pool and hot tub, sauna and steam room, and we spent some time there before I turned in for the night and Jenni and family went back to the campsite (suckers!). Had breakfast this morning and then headed home.
I spent the rest of the day studying for my finance final on Wednesday and cleaning the house. Andy and I finally found the dead mouse that has been smelling up the kitchen. It had gotten into a box of cereal in an unused cabinet. From now on all food products go in airtight containers as soon as they're opened. I'm just glad we found it. Pretty soon I would have been having bad dreams about it.
Becky
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