"Hey, jerks? My dog can open doors. Locked doors. Including triple-latched metal cages. I've seen her scale eight-foot rock walls and pull a tether meant for a dog twice her size out of the ground. We close every door in the house (except to the basement) when we leave. When we return, at least half of them will be open.

What do you want us to do, pick up the couches and put them away when we're not home? Take down the curtains and lock them up? 'Cause she's destroyed two couches and the window treatments. It is a little unreasonable of you to assume that we are not trying to keep things away from her. Sure, I fucked up and left my sunglasses out for five minutes because I had to use the restroom. My fault, too bad, I'll get new ones. It's unfortunate. But I'll thank you in advance not to lay into us about it and be glad that you guys have well-behaved dogs that didn't go to ninja school."

"Well, think about the zoo and how they have Mexican Wolves now. That's right up your alley: you're Mexican, and you like wolves."

"WHAT?! MEXICAN FUCK WOLVES?!"

Dear Craigslist,

When I post to your pets board inquiring after suggestions on where to board my dog while I am on vacation, I want suggestions on where to board my dog while I am on vacation.

When I say that my dog can't my crated, I mean that my dog can't be crated. I do not want people who run "boarding kennels" out of their homes to tell me that they will let my dog run free all day and crate her at night. Nor do I want you, Mrs. I-Am-A-Super-Dog-Trainer, to write me a long e-mail about how I need to crate my dog and how I am an awful dog owner for not crating her. I'm sorry that I followed all of those steps you listed in your e-mail and they didn't work because my dog is terrified of small enclosures. She is not one of your $1200 purebred German Shepherds, she is a rescue dog who was probably abused and locked up in a tiny cage before being abandoned, scooped up by the animal warden and locked up in a slightly bigger cage. Don't go telling me that I must not have trained her right, or that obedience training will solve all my problems. I can't crate my dog. Do you want to know what happens when I crate my dog? She destroys crates and causes $200 worth of injury to herself. Yes, I'm sure I followed all your precious crate-training steps correctly. Take all your holier-than-thou dog training certification and shove it where the sun don't shine, missy. Would you crate one of your precious, thousand-dollar babies knowing full well they'd get hurt? Didn't think so.

Also, when I say that I want a place with some experience dealing with dogs who have anxiety, I mean that. I don't want nasty e-mails saying that I have to cure my dog's anxiety before I go on vacation. I don't want other, nastier e-mails saying that I am a horrible dog owner because I should've "fixed" my dog's problem by now. I wrote an ad asking for advice on BOARDING KENNELS, not an open invitation for you to rip my methods apart. For your information, we are doing obedience training, we are trying to acclimate our dog to being alone, we are in fact consulting our veterinarian. Oh, and don't bring up how crating our dog is the only way to save our belongings from being chewed. I'd rather lose a $10 remote control then shell out another $200 to treat my dog's crate-related injuries. I said as much in my ad that our dog is slowly getting better, why would she be getting better if I'm not trying to help cure her anxiety?

I think, at this point, it is worth it to shell out the money to take her to PetSmart. I mean, hell, all the employees recognize my dog anyway. She'll get a nice private enclosure and I can add on supervised group playtime and alone playtime. The staff is there 24/7. Which is more than I can say for any recommendation I've gotten from Craigslist. Someone wanted me to take my dog to a place where the dogs free-roam all day and are checked on 4-5 times a day. So someone isn't there all hours of the clock? That is ridiculous. Dogs could be killing each other.

I'm halfway tempted to dope Angua up, stuff her in a crate and ship her to Arizona with us. :(

The only thing holding me back is that she hates crates.

I'd like to get over this funk. Something needs to happen, but I'm not sure what. I've been very lethargic and mopey for about a week now. Don't know why, but I'm a little tired of being cranky. Tris is cranky, too, and together we make for a big pile of unhappy crankiness.

I haven't really done any artwork in awhile. I think my last productive streak really burnt me out. It is kind of a shame, but on the other hand I don't really mind that much. I don't really have a whole lot of obligations concerning my artwork. I do it mostly for myself and I no longer really consider it a career. After all, I'm going to get into Case and become a kickass curator, haven't you heard? </pipedream>

Oh, and... I need addresses for seven thank you cards and then I will be officially done with the wedding. We finally have money to post the damn things, and then Tris will stop nagging me about it. Some of them were a pain to write, especially the ones were people gave us some shit that was not appropriate for a wedding. That kind of still miffs me. You're an adult, find an appropriate wedding gift. It's not that hard. When in doubt, write a check. Or maybe I'm just being ungrateful. I just don't think Spiderman crap is an appropriate wedding gift. But I was nice about it anyway. Meh.

I now have every adult reader Discworld novel, which means that I have 33 of the 36 books. I'm missing the last three of the YA series, and then my mission in life will be complete. Until October, when Unseen Academicals comes out. What I really can't wait for is Raising Taxes (I lurves me some Moist Von Lipwig) but I think I Shall Wear Midnight will be written first. Not that I don't like Tiffany Aching, but she's not my favorite. Oh, and I want another Watch book. I need some CarrotxAngua resolution. Someone cure Alzheimer's right now so that I can keep enjoying my literary crack, please.

I also do not like how Unseen Academicals comes out in October and I am going to see Sir Pratchett in September. I would much rather like it to be the other way around.

Oh. And I have no clue what book I'm going to take to have signed. Probably Thud, because its the only one I have in hardcover, but I'd like to maybe get a hardcover of Going Postal or Night Watch.

Alright, I'm done geeking out. Really. Promise.

I hate intake day. Answering tons of questions about my life sucks. Anyway, yay, I get to go back for weeks on end. But I *will* eventually get that recommendation letter and Janet (her name, it's Janet) said I can be back in school come August. So that's good.

Petcarerx.com is not filling my dog's prescription for some reason. I wrote a quick e-mail to their customer service to ask what is up. If it is a problem with my vet, I will throw a nice shit-fit. The cheapest pharmacy I could find to fill it was $40 a month, which is unacceptable. Petcarerx.com is half that. If I have to spend $40 a month, Angua will not be receiving medication, and I will be very unhappy. *shakes fist*

Actually, if it is a problem with the vet I think I will take her to another vet, show them the script, and ask if they can write one and play nice with the online pharmacy.

In other Angua-related news, we are slowly learning commands. Slowly.

Also, she ate the TV remote today. I ran to Wal*Mart and bought a new, cheap one.

I would really like either a fruit beer or some ice cream right now. Possibly both. I'd like to head down to Mike's, order a #9 and some ice cream. Three problems: a) I currently have company, b) no one is going to go out with me for beer and ice cream, and c) I do not have the disposable income for beer and ice cream. But I'd really like some anyway. I have blueberry ale in the refrigerator... but no ice cream. :(




....annnddddd, thats it for today.


P.S. Go see UP. It is sooooo good. I cried throughout the entire movie. So did Tristan and everyone else I know. <3

I CAN HAS PSYCHOTHERAPY AT 12:45 ON MONDAY

HELL YES

Today's to-do list:

1. Call doctors
2. Walk Angua
3. Visit Borders and get a new yoga DVD

Tris and I stopped by the mall last night so I could pay my store credit bills. When we walked into Express, I saw the most amazing black shirtdress. I've been looking for a black shirtdress for a long time (our friend Kara has one and it looks really, really good on her) and I want one really, really badly. So I grabbed a 10 and tried it on, and it was too snug. Tris suggested I try the next size up. I am not a size 12 and I will never be a size 12. I paid my bill and left shirtdress-less.

I decided to wait until the dress goes on sale and try again. It is $60 right now, which is pretty acceptable, but I am not a size 12 and goddammit I will lose eight pounds and buy a size 10. The doctor's office also clocked me at 168 on Tuesday, which is totally unacceptable. Especially since I am skinnier now than I was at my wedding, so I have no clue how I could possibly weigh that much.

Also, that dress would look damn good on me if I could fit into it.

So, awesome black shirtdress is Motivator #1.
( Here, have a look at the dress. )

Motivator #2 comes in the form of estranged ex-boyfriend. He said something about exercise yesterday because he does kung-fu (wtf, who does fucking kung-fu for fun?) and I nonchalantly replied that I was bored and thinking of taking yoga back up.

Yoga. It's like exercise... for people who hate moving. Also, my mom said it made me calmer. Once I said it, I actually thought about taking it back up for real.

Yoga is something I can do in the privacy of my own home where no one (except maybe the dog) will look at me. I'm down with that. Exercising in public is horrible, everyone watches you, and all exercise, no matter what it is, makes you look like an idiot. In public. Not okay.

And maybe if I got some muscles Tristan wouldn't make fun of me so much. :)

Doctors! I think I am going to call Kenneth A. De Luca & Associates first. They're main office is in North Ridgeville, about 25 minutes away from me. While not the closest option, they have a lot of doctors who specialize in everything under the sun, and they also administer cognitive assessments... which I'm admittedly still curious about. :) They also do group and psychiatrics on an as-needed basis, which might eliminate my need to do any further doctor-shopping.

My GP said that in fall, if I'd like, she'd write me another script for Effexor. I think I might do that. I told her I didn't want to do it right now, because after last year I am really tired of drugs. Going back on a regimen in fall sounds like a plan, though, if it'll keep me from floundering around and dropping out of school again. :) That'll probably look better to B-W, too, as awful as it sounds. "Hey, I'm in therapy and taking mood-stabliizing drugs! Let me back in!"

Sooo... I think I may have an actual plan now. It's good to have a plan. I like plans.

I was going to call doctors today, but now it is getting late and I have so much to do still. So... I might put it off until tomorrow.

I kind of fell into a bad mood sometime Monday night, and I've been trying to fend it off. I do feel a little better today, though, so tomorrow I might have some motivation to call those doctors.

I cleaned out my car yesterday--vacuumed it top-to-bottom, cleaned out the trunk, cupholders, glove compartment, all the little nooks and crannies where I'd put things and forget about them. That made me feel really good... I also picked up in the living room and vacuumed hardcore. Of course, it's been about 24 hours so now you can't tell; the healthy layer of animal fur is back.

I need to finish picking up the kitchen and clean it, then go to the post office and bank.

Also, Dylan texted me at four in the morning. To see if I was awake. No, not awake, but I was after I got the text. Thanks. I sent a text back around 11 with the details of my sleep schedule.

I need to finish my laundry from yesterday! Gah, so much to do and so little motivation to do it. This is what I was trying to express to Tristan at dinner yesterday. We were both really mopey, and I didn't want to make dinner because the kitchen was still a disaster, so we went to Maya. One of my favorite sayings is "I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired"... I came up with it all by myself, yeah, I'm clever. But it is true, I really am sick and tired of being sick and tired.

So many people seem to think this is some sort of cakewalk. Like my parents (who mean well, really) are constantly pointing out that I'm happier now that I'm married and have a dog. While that may be true, I hardly think of myself as "better". I don't panic as much, but that's only because I removed myself from the situations causing most of the panic. I'm not as depressed as I was, but I'm still pretty damn moody. I get sick easily and I'm constantly tired. My insomnia hasn't gone away. There are days when I don't get out of bed, and there are days when I get up at seven o'clock and spend the entire day being super-productive.

Meh.

At least my GP is super-cute. I love her so much. Last year, I got a letter from the Clinic saying that she was transferring her practice out of the Strongsville office, and I was very sad. The letter made it sound like she was going to main campus, downtown... I wouldn't drive all the way downtown to see a GP. I saw her on Tuesday and I found out that next month she is moving to an office in Fairview Park. I am totally willing to drive to Fairview Park to see her. That makes me really happy, because I hate new doctors and I absolutely adore Sandy. If you need a doctor, go see Sandy. She is amazing.

So, cleaning and errands today, calling doctors tomorrow, and then weekend. Who wants to do what? :D

After a lot of trial and error, I've finally found an acceptable toy for my dog.

Angua has, up until now, rejected every single toy I have given her. This latest addition is a rope toy that is, supposedly, steak-flavored. I don't know how you add steak flavor to rope, but apparently you can. I chewed on it a little. I don't think it tastes like steak. It tastes like rope.

Anyway, she'll sit and contentedly floss her teeth with the ends of the rope, although we haven't quite got to where she'll chew on the actual knots. And I've gotten her to play a teeny, tiny bit of tug-of-war with it. She doesn't quite get the basic concept and I have to keep encouraging her to tug it away from me. :)

Its certainly better than the other recent development concerning Angua. That's the one where she gets bored and decides to chew apart our couch.

Things I Want to Accomplish This Summer

1. Find a goddamn therapist.
I'm currently 4/4 on this one. Seriously, four different doctors have all been like "OH NOES SORRY CAN'T". Which I think is ridiculous.

2. Get back into B-W so I can get the hell out.
I swear to god, if B-W gives me shit about this, every newspaper in the area is getting an editorial letter about how B-W treats their students.

3. Lose ten pounds.

4. Finish at least five chapters (about half) of SEKRIT PROJEKT.
Also, finally finish chapter one so I can send it to a few publishers.

5. Paint the master bedroom (gold) and hallway (beige).

So, I'm trying to sell my "back-up dress" from the wedding on Craigslist, because I need the money and don't need the dress. Two people e-mailed me, and I'm e-mailing with the first responder right now. I hope I can sell it and get as much as I'm asking for it. I'd like to see if I can find the original tag that was on it, I think my mom might have it.

I dropped off my blue party dress and one of Tristan's suits at the dry cleaner yesterday. I haven't worn the dress since Shannon and Kevin's wedding last year, and there was a great big spotty stain all down the front that had somehow gone unnoticed. So the dry cleaner is actually going to wet-clean the dress and try to get the stains out. If that fails, I am out $20 and one blue dress, meaning that Saturday morning before Renee and Brandon's wedding, I might have to go emergency dress shopping. Last time I went emergency dress shopping (the day before Jackie and Jei's wedding) I ended up with a gorgeous, red Ralph Lauren dress that I paid all of $25 for... that was a size too big. And I've lost weight since then, so now my gorgeous, cheap red dress fits like a potato sack. I think I am going to call up the lady who made my wedding gown and see if she can take it in for me, and maybe raise the hem a little bit. It hits about mid-calf and I think I'd like it somewhere just below my knee, about two inches up.

( Here, let me show you what I mean... )

I've decided to start trying to post more photos in my LiveJournal. You folks seem to like photos.

I have a giant grease burn on my wrist. Tristan texted me that he was starving at work yesterday, so I decided to surprise him with a picnic dinner because it was so nice out. Except I decided to do this at 3:30, leaving me not a lot of time to make a meal, pack it up and then get to MTA. So I was hurrying and not really paying a whole lot of attention to small details. Small details like the ends of dish towels that have made it into the frying pan.

So I flicked the dish towel out of the frying pan... and right onto my right wrist. It's not the worst grease burn I've ever gotten (that one came from the deep fryer at Giant Eagle) but it's pretty bad and it hurt like hell. So now I've got a nice series of blisters and missing skin to show off. It's lovely. The location of the burn is really difficult to bandage (right where your hand meets your wrist), so I've just been Neosporin'ing the shit out of it and putting a gigantic Band-Aid on when I need to leave the house.

The food was good, anyway. :)

A List Of Things My Dog Has Maimed And/Or Rendered Unusable, In No Particular Order
1. the DVD/surround sound remote
2. A Sham-Wow
3. A lint roller
4. My glasses
5. Numerous kleenex
6. A Kleenex box
7. Toilet paper
8. A catnip toy
9. The piano
10. The living room curtains
11. A pillow
12. A dog bed
13. Her collar
14. A pair of sandals
15. Two pairs of shoelaces
16. A screen door

A List of Things My Dog Has No Interest in Maiming or Rendering Unusuable, In No Particular Order
1. Any of her toys



I love my dog. :)

I've got sort of a rough plan for our Arizona trip...

September 3: depart Cleveland, OH arrive in Phoenix, AZ
                       I'd like to arrive in Phoenix by one o'clock so that we can visit the art museum.  There's a flight departing Cleveland at 9 o'clock and arriving in Phoenix at 12:25.  We could check into the convention hotel around 1 and take the Metro Rail to the museum and back.

September 4-7: Tempe, AZ
                          Wherein I get to breathe the same air as Terry Pratchett, and maybe even touch him.  Now taking bets as to whether or not security kicks me out by Monday.
                         

September 8-10: Williams, AZ
                     We'll check out of the hotel on the 7th, take the Metro Rail to the airport and rent a car using our wholesale club membership.  I <i>really</i> want to rent a convertible, but it is twice as much as renting an economy vehicle, so it looks like we're renting a Chevy Cobalt.  I'm thrilled. :(  Then we'll drive north to Williams, AZ, where we'll check into a hotel and spend two days poking around the Grand Canyon, and then spend another day driving Route 66 to the Grand Canyon Caverns.

September 11: Williams, AZ-Phoenix, AZ
                        We'll check out of the hotel in Williams and drive back into Phoenix.  We'll check into a hotel and then drive to the Phoenix Zoo.  Also, if by some act of god we didn't make it to the art museum on the third, we can tack it onto today.

September 12: depart Phoenix, AZ arrive in Cleveland, OH
                         We will drive to the airport, return to the car and hop on a plane back to Cleveland... then we'll get to relax (and pester people with vacation photos) the rest of the weekend before returning to our regularly scheduled lives, haha.


I'm kind of thrilled that this is turning out to cost a lot less money than I expected.  I mean, my parents are paying for our hotels and airfare, which is really cool of them, but I was really concerned about the cost of the rental car.  I'm going to play around to see if we can get a car for cheaper, but right now it looks like $400.  It seems like a lot, but for five days and two drivers, that's pretty damn good.  I might see if it'd be cheaper to smoosh Phoenix all together and then have the car for not as long, but I'd rather not change hotels in Phoenix because that'd be... kind of awkward, lol.  The convention hotel isn't <i>that</i> pricey, but it's still more than I'd spend if I were going on vacation normally. 

Things to think about.


 

Not much new to report. I ordered new glasses last week and wanted to share.

These will be my regular pair, in silver satin:
http://www.apairofshades.com/ba/asp/ProductID.240254/ab/frames/frdetails.htm

And... I can't find a photo of my shades anywhere, but they're really neat, angular Guess frames.

Anyway, I couldn't decide between the two frames, and I'm still having second thoughts. Which is silly, because it's not as if I can take them back to the store and have it changed, haha. I'm thinking I should've gotten the Guess frames for regular eyewear, because they are heavy plastic frames, and I dig heavy plastic frames. The Oscar frames are really modern-looking, but the Guess frames were just downright classy. They're brown on the outside and orange on the inside, but since I'm having brown lenses put in them I don't think anyone will be able to tell.

I was going for kind of a "hot professor/librarian/historian/insert-academic-title-here" look. :)

I ordered them from the wholesale club, so they were relatively cheap. Relatively. I have to layer a half-dozen coatings and filters on my lenses, so they always cost beacoup money. :(

I wish I had enough money to have lots of glasses. My grandmother was an optician, and she had dozens of pairs of glasses. Whenever the store ordered a new frame that she liked, she had a pair of glasses made.

Found out yesterday that shirono also ordered new glasses--so its like a double surprise, getting mine and then finding out what hers look like. :D



I'm using my Issac Asimov icon because its the only icon of mine that has anything to do with glasses.

Bizarre Things I Want At Some Point In My Life

1. A llama.
2. A Triumph TR-3A.
3. A pet goat.
4. An Atari 2600.
5. A full set of the Encyclopaedia Brittanica.
6. An unabridged Oxford English Dictionary.
7. A dogsled.
8. A raincoat and boots... for my dog.

I am more than ready to get back to B-W. Not because I harbor any warm, soft feelings for the place, but because I should've earned a Master's degree by now and am hanging out about twenty credits from graduation. Total fucktards have managed to graduate in less time.

Except I need to have a letter from a therapist to get back into school (gag me, please) and have so far been entirely unsuccessful at finding one. I think I'm going to try getting a new GP and then begging and crying until I can get a recommendation, because the DIY-approach has not been fruitful.

People have been saying I seem happier off medication. I wouldn't go jumping to conclusions.

I am currently reading this book, and it is rapidly becoming one of my favorites. I really wish more people weren't completely stupid about religion.

Angua's most recent feats of destruction: she bashed up her face trying to escape her kennel, causing $130 worth of damage to herself. The vet wants me to take her to a $300 dog whisperer (not happening). The vet did, however, con me into buying a couple of expensive behavior-therapy toys that Angua has shown absolutely no interest in whatsoever.

Oh, and then the she ate my glasses. No, really. They're currently held together with tape and I get a headache from trying to see through the giant crack and teethmarks in the lens. I'm calling my eye doctor tomorrow and trying to get new ones made ASAP. I'm not really upset about it, since I needed new glasses anyway.

That's about it.

Okay, so I need to talk about Star Trek and how it made me shit myself.



I'm actually reading a lot of negative reviews on the internet right now. Which makes me sad, because it wasn't that bad. It is not the greatest movie of all time, definitely, but it isn't that bad. A lot of hardcore Trekkies are really upset that it's not canon.

Uh, okay, first of all we're in an alternate universe/time travel situation, so canon does not apply. I found myself getting really miffed at times, but then I remembered that oh hey, this isn't really how things happened. It's kind of a weird and at times awkward plot device, but there it is. No reason to be upset.

Second of all, if it were canon no one would've gone to see it. I'm sorry, but the franchise has been crashing and burning for years and years now. There was a brief spark of shining glory with First Contact, but let's take a look at Insurrection, Nemesis and the steaming crap-pile of a TV show that is Star Trek: Enterprise. Did you want to see another movie where the aging cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation prances around issues of interstellar diplomacy? I didn't think so. Shut up and enjoy your popcorn.

The casting on Kirk/Spock/McCoy was absolutly amazing (also, young Leo McCoy = my new boyfriend). While I liked Simon Pegg as Scotty, he could've had some more screen time. I am not totally sold on Anton Whatshisface playing Chekov. The accent was cute, but way overdone. I mean, by a lot. Yes, Chekov has a ridiculous accent, but damn.

The plot was a little weak. There were a lot of happy coincidences and "oh look now X is a crew member, out of nowhere, yay" moments. ( SPOILER: ) Apparently Christopher Pike is a wicked judge of character. Uhm, btw, Christopher Pike has always been one of my favorite characters, because I'm a nerd. I was really happy about there being so much of the good captain in the movie. Anyway, things just seemed to fall together in really odd ways.

Oh, and uhm, yeah, ( MORE SPOILER: )

So, basically, I loved the hell out of this movie. It was visually stunning and well-cast and even though the story was, uh, odd... I loved it. I cried in the theatre, no, really, at the parts with Leonard Nimoy. Oh, Leonard Nimoy. Old Spock just pops up (a bit too conveniently, like everyone else) and starts tying things in with the older movies, and it made me cry, because I'm a girl and I cry at everything.

I also have to say that this movie has done something horrible and opened the floodgates to my fourth-grade fangirl obsessions. Tris bought me the first season of the original Star Trek on Blu-Ray for my birthday, and... yeah, I've been watching that. And I really want to re-watch The Next Generation and Voyager (but only seasons 1-3 because let's face it, everything from season four onward was just bad). I was never a great big fan of Deep Space Nine, but I'd eventually like to try that again, too. Maybe I can stomach all the politics now that I'm not, you know, twelve.

So, yeah, I'm a Trekkie. I'm a surprisingly hardcore Trekkie who has been hiding it for years and years and now I have a reason to break out my communicator again yes I have one shut up shut up. And I'm a Trekkie who loved the new movie even if all the other Trekkies in the world hated it.

Boo, hiss. :P

Welcome to my list of domestic pipe dreams.

A lot of this stuff is stuff Tris and I would like to do when, you know, we can actually afford to live in the house again. Little stuff like painting and replacing curtain I'm doing when I can, but stuff like the bathroom (which is really a health hazard) and the kitchen (which is just laid out retardedly) are going to have to wait, possibly for quite some time.


MASTER BEDROOM
-Paint (dark gold or rust)
-Curtains (ivory? red?)
-Under-bed storage boxes
-Storage cubes for bottom of my side of the closet
-Actual laundry hamper for bottom of Tris' side of the closet
-Bookshelf?
-Rip puffy-caulk out of the closet... seriously, wtf?

GUEST BEDROOM
-Sell coffee table and end table on Craigslist
-Bookshelves
-Replace carpet

LIBRARY
-Sand & stain floor

BATHROOM
-New tile & shower liner
-New bathtub
-Replace ventilation system
-Rip out wall cabinets
-Water-saving showerhead
-New sink top and/or faucet, possibly new cabinet

DINING ROOM
-Strip paint from ceiling beams
-Stain ceiling beams to match living room
-Tear down wallpaper
-Install wainscoting on lower half of wall
-Paint upper half of wall (bright red)

LIVING ROOM
-New curtains
-Stain bay window?
-Blow insulation into at least two walls and into closet walls
-Paint accent wall to match future dining room (bright red)
-Clean and re-paint white walls (smoke damage)


KITCHEN
-Strip paint, tear down wallpaper (UGH WHY)
-Re-paint (bright orange)
-Replace cooktop fan/vent? (nasty)
-Replace oven? (v. old)
-Replace cooktop and oven with actual range?
-Do... something about the refrigerator area
-Replace cabinets/countertops?

BASEMENT
-Replace veneer "walls" with actual drywall
-Tear out dilapidated, off-kilter "workshop"
-Pour cement pad for washer & dryer
-Make bathroom window/wall not retarded (goes with ripping out veneer)
-Move shower box to bathroom area? (why was it built 30 feet from the rest of the bathroom?)
-Extend bathroom to include laundry area somehow?
-Rip puffy-caulk out of window


FRONT YARD
-Replace bushes in front of house with bushes that don't suck
-Plant flower bed extending to the tree in the front yard and wrapping around back
-Replace steps to front door
-Remove concrete by the garage, replace with flagstones

BACK YARD
-Replace deck
-Once replaced, rail in deck
-Cover dug-out fire pit, use metal fire pit on deck
-Fence off yard by side of house for garden
-Kill grass, till, plant garden
-Remove concrete by the garage, replace with flagstones
-Replace existing fences with privacy fence