Bang, Bang

As you know, we bought a house that needed/needs a bit of work.  When we got here the electrical was being worked on and we had some plumbing corrected/repaired.  Some odds and ends repairs around the house and new/used furniture and we were good to go.

The one issue insurance companies had was the roof.  How old was it? When was it last replaced? What do you mean you don't have records? When was the addition added? 1995?

them: You have to replace the roof. 
Us: the roof is fine, it's been repaired. There's nothing wrong with the roof, we're repairing the gutters and have extenders that divert water away from the foundation.  We're fine.
Them: you have to replace the roof or we drop you.

We went through two insurance companies over this and the current company wanted the roof replaced within three years.

Okay, fine.  In a state with tornado activity and trees that fall over practically once a month or more, we want to keep insurance on the house.  With some of Jackie's back disability money and a small loan, we now have a new roof and will have new gutters soon.

The roof is guaranteed for 30 years and the gutters for life (a system that will not need cleaning out, either). We didn't go with the most expensive nor the cheapest. 

Here are pictures

old roof - showing a little bit of wear.  Grayish in color

Beginning work

In progress.

cleanup.  They went around with magnetic strips to catch any stray nails and carefully pulled bits of tar paper out of the bushes and trees.  They used a blower to dust off the roof, porch, deck, etc.

Finished.

Do you like the green?

Shelves

We purchased a shelving unit - metal and solid pressboard - 6 shelves and the thing is huge, well over my head.  Okay, I hear it, I'm short. Well, it's well over Jackie's head too.  Now we've got all kinds of room to stock up on goods in addition to the pantry in the kitchen.

It cost us $60 at Sam's Club

Searching for Self

Here's some pictures of my thrashed room (we've been moving and cleaning and stuff).  I'm going to paint 1-2 walls and do some stencil accents on at least one.

Not sure when I'll paint - not going to try that in these temperatures (Ice storm alert!)

Here's the before shots:

 In this photo you can see my SIGNED Alice Cooper poster.  We will be going to see Motley Crue and Alice Cooper in August!  The Crue's last tour.  You can also see my spooky tree candle holder that I sometimes use on Shabbat - 7 candles.  The faux skull peering over a large poster leaning against the shelves holds my kippah/yarmulke

 View of some book shelves, a purple hat and red hat

 another view of red hat, purple hat and laundry on my desk

 Stacked wooden crates I use as a "night stand" - room for meds, books, dvds and place to stash crafts I work on at night (beading and stuff).  And Mulder - Fox Mulder (lame joke, I know)

north wall - with a glimpse of my Alice Cooper top hat.  On 3 walls up high are shelves that hold my action figures.

The walls are a sage green currently. One to two walls will remain green and I'll see if they mesh with the color I've picked for the accent wall(s).

New Stuff

Hey Mom;

We have a new washer, dryer and refrigerator and have settled on who we'll have do the roof and gutters.  Dealing with those amounts of money is a bit daunting, I'll admit.  I can't remember ever having a new refrigerator. Did we? I remember buying used/refurbished ones and we never had one that had water and ice coming through the door (we need a longer line/tube for that than what they brought - we'll get Chris to install that).

The washer and dryer will be able to handle the blankets we end up washing regularly and all are energy efficient.  The roof will be guaranteed for 30 years and the gutters for life.  That should make the insurance company very happy since this roof is probably over 25 years. 

Jackie also got us each a Kindle.  It's wild, Ma, instead of carrying one book and wishing you had picked the other, you could have 1,000 books on a device that only slightly larger than a paperback and thinner than most.  Wow. 

Missing you terribly and wish you were here to share this stuff.

Grady was supervising the cleaning of the floor before the appliances got here.  We got a good deal on them and Home Depot hauled the old ones away so they aren't taking up room in the garage or worse outside