December 2009
31 posts
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Day 101 - New Year's Eve.
Here’s to the start of 2010 in my new home.
Tonight, I am making pizza and drinking champagne and watching movies.
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Day 100 - A recap.
100 days as a homeowner. The time has really flown by!
Here are some of the top accomplishments in my first 100 days.
Painted the living room, master bedroom, kitchen
Installed new closet doors
Fixed a leaky bathtub
Put ceiling fans in the living room and master bedroom
Had rodents living in my attic; killed the rodents living in my attic
Attended the annual HOA meeting
Got Internet...
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Day 99 - My toilet is dripping.
There’s a drip coming from the tank of my toilet. Sometimes I hear it and sometimes I don’t. It’s annoying.
Something else to look into.
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Day 98 - I heard noises again.
In my attic. Yesterday. I am not a fan.
I might need more poison. Or an exterminator.
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Day 97 - More new stuff.
In addition to my vacuum, I got some great new stuff for my condo for Christmas:
Coffee pot
Snuggie (not really for my condo, but it will always be on my couch)
Grill pan, cookie sheets, muffin tin
Home decor
Sign that says “eat” for my kitchen
Lantern made of recycled metal
Christmas decorations
“Wine Fund” jar
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Day 94 - Unplugging the Christmas tree.
My Christmas tree is on a timer. I know that is kind of nerdy, but sometimes I get home from work late and it’s kind of nice to walk in and have the lights twinkling.
I am off to my parents for Christmas and since I am afraid that my flame retardant tree might catch fire, I decided to unplug it.
I also turned my heat down to 60 degrees. It is supposed to snow, so it will likely be freezing...
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Day 93 - I opened the windows in December.
It’s officially two days before Christmas and it’s 76 degrees outside today. WTF?!
I opened all the windows in my condo today. Jersey enjoyed sitting in the window and it was nice to let some fresh air in…even in the middle of winter.
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Day 92 - My first house guest.
My good friend Jessica is visiting Texas for the holidays. She is crashing at my house tonight and will officially be my first house guest!
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Day 91 - A rug for my bedroom.
While at my parents house last week, my dad gave me an off-white rug he had been storing for me. It’s from my first apartment in New Jersey. It actually brought back memories of the first time I lived on my own and how owning my own home is such an accomplishment.
Anyway, the rug needs to flatten out and it is by no means permanent, but I finally have a rug for my bedroom.
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Day 90 - The pitter-patter of rodent feet is gone.
Yes! Success!
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Day 89- 45 minutes on the phone with AT&T.
I got my new laptop this week and I finally had the time to get it up and running with Internet.
I have had my wireless router sitting in a box and the service from AT&T turned on weeks ago. I actually looked in the box yesterday morning and realized that there were not instructions on how to set up my computer to work wirelessly with the Internet.
I spent 45 minutes on the phone with...
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Day 87 - It's fun to entertain.
One of the things I love about owning my own place is entertaining people. Last weekend, I had my mom and grandma over and last night I had some friends over. I made salad and pizza and we drank wine.
It’s also interesting to have people over for the first time. They have a different perspective on things and give some good ideas on updates and decorating. It’s also fun to have my...
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Day 86- Response from the HOA.
A few weeks ago I e-mailed the HOA about some issues at my condo. In short, they were:
Wood rot on the soffit (which could be the entry of the rodent in my attic, now that I think about it!!)
Leaky faucet (for a hose) outside
Sprinkler head turned so the water comes into my window and is causing the window sill to rot
A clicker for the gate
I heard back from them today. Here was their...
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Day 85 - The noises continue.
The noises were back last night. 1:30am, 2:15am, 3:30am.
I have come to the realization that something is living in my attic. I assume it is over the rodent persuasion, which I am not a fan of and hope it doesn’t find its way into my actual house.
Now what do I do?!
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Day 84 - Things that go bump in the night.
I heard noises last night around 1:30am. I think they might be coming from something on my roof or in my attic. Or maybe I am losing it. Either way, it creeped me out.
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Day 82 - Gifts from my mom.
My mom is great. She is always picking up random, little things for me and when she came to visit with my grandma yesterday, she brought me some cute housewarming gifts.
An angel made from a dried grapevine
Notepaper
A Christmas ornament with a cat on it and personalized with Jersey’s name (my cat)
A pretty painted wine glass (which I used that night!)
Pajamas (not really housewarming,...
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Day 81 - My grandma's first visit.
My mom and grandma came to spend the day with me today. It was my grandma’s first time to see my condo and I have to say, and not to brag, but I think she was impressed.
She poked around and looked at everything. She didn’t go upstairs because I still don’t have a railing and she is 86 (or 87?) years old and doesn’t “do” stairs.
Her visit actually motivated me...
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Day 80 - Fireplace.
I have a nice brick fireplace with a mantel in my condo. It’s pretty, but I haven’t used it yet and I am not sure I plan to.
My cat likes to go in it, so I have a fireplace screen covering it at all times. I also have some decor around it, so I would obviously have to move all of it if I decided to light a fire.
I sort of have a fear that I would burn down the house if I tried to...
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Day 79 - Staring at the vent...
I have been staring at this vent that is on the wall going up my stairs wondering how I can change the air filter.
I have two options: a) Wait for my dad to bring a ladder or b) Get creative with the ladder I own that doesn’t fit on the stairs…maybe have a friend here just in case I take a spill.
I am going with the former…not the latter. No pun intended.
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Day 78 - Rugs.
I am in need of a rug for my bedroom. I don’t know what color because I haven’t picked out paint yet, but I am thinking something neutral.
I also want a round rug for under my dining room table.
If only I had a lot of money…
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Day 77 - Canton trip.
This weekend, I went to Canton, TX. The world’s largest outdoor flea market.
After some hunting and pecking, I found some good stuff. I bought wrought iron letters in my initials for my bedroom (maybe a little cheesy, but I don’t care) and a metal trellis for my patio. I am looking forward to planting a vine so it will grow up it in the spring/summer.
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Day 76 - Procrastinating on painting.
I planned to paint my bathroom this weekend. I didn’t. After painting my living room and kitchen about a month ago, it’s very hard to get motivated to paint again.
I have a lot of time off in December, so I need to get on the painting - bathroom and bedroom.
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Day 75 - Dual-zone heating.
It’s been chilly in Dallas. I have been cranking my heat lately, but have been learned to live with it around 65-66 degrees. I also keep the heat downstairs and upstairs at different temperatures depending on where I am. If I am watching TV in the living room, the temperature upstairs will be around 62. Thank you, dual-zone heating.
My dad laughed at me. When I am at my parents house, I...
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Day 73 - HUGE blind.
When I moved in, there were blinds, not real blinds, like bamboo-ish, but nor real bamboo type blinds, on the doors leading out to my patio. I have a french door in the living room with two of these so-called blinds on them and they work great. I also have an extra large blind on the glass sliding door in the kitchen. And I hate it.
Think about having to open a gigantic blind every time you want...
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Day 72 - Mopping.
I use a Swiffer Wet Jet to mop my floors. It’s convenient to throw away the nasty, dirty cleaning pad, but I am pretty sure that no matter what kind of mop you use, it just pushes the dirt around your floor. That just makes me ask myself, are my floors ever really clean?
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Day 71 - Leaky faucet.
This weekend, I noticed a leaky faucet on the outside of my condo. The good thing is that I don’t pay for water here. The bad thing is that my dad couldn’t stop the dripping, even with a wrench.
I have a list of things to e-mail my HOA about and I can just add this one to the list.